Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any Kishimoto's characters. But those in Naruto's family (wife & kids) are mine and possibly a few others... I haven't decided it I will add anymore random creations.
I am aware that it has been WAY to long since I last updated this story. I am really sorry about that because I hate waiting on updates!
I won't lie, I struggled with this chapter a bit and I am not sure if I like it a lot. But I really hope that everyone else does. Feedback and suggestions are welcome… hell, they are encouraged!
Thanks to the reviewers: Ninjaru, PopthePuff and Tuna-and-Froggy.
As always, enjoy! - laydee kai
A Hokage's Path: The Downfall of Evil
Chapter Four
Naruto sat in silence near the small memorial located in the walls of his compound. His eyes were closed and his breathing was steady. He prayed for the peaceful rest of his parents and his youngest son. He prayed for the best possible out come to what was looming over the horizon. He wish he could have just prayed for peace, but he knew that it wasn't possible.
Yuri gracefully crossed the distance between her and her husband. She placed a hand on his shoulder as she lowered herself down to join him. The silence was soon disturbed by Naruto's heavy sigh.
"Naru-kun, what's troubling you?" she asked.
"Nothing new really."
"How was the meeting?" she continued.
"Productive. I have a mission for you."
"A mission?"
"Well, more of a mini-vacation really. I need you to travel to Kiri and speak with the Mizukage on my behalf. I would have sent Sakura but she was being stubborn so she's going to Suna instead."
"You know I don't mind going home, but why not send someone else?"
"The nature of the information. I trust no one but my advisors with it so that's who I am sending. Kakashi and Baa-chan are going to Iwa, Jiraiya is going to Kumo and Shikamaru is accompanying Sakura so nothing happens like her last mission there."
"I don't envy Kakashi or Tsunade one bit." Yuri replied.
"Do you think that there will be trouble in Iwa, too?" Naruto asked.
"I would hope not, but I think it's wise that it's them going. I think that they can handle it. And let's be honest, who would really want to be on the receiving end of Tsunade's temper?"
Naruto snorted, "I have been."
"Not in the same way." She used her body to nudge Naruto. "I think that they will pause to listen with a former Hokage presenting the information. They will be fine."
Naruto bobbed his head causing his hair to sway. He rubbed his hands over his eyes before he pushed his hair back. He looked at his wife.
"Mission is slated to leave in the morning."
Yuri reached up and gently brushed her hand against Naruto's cheek. "Naru, this will be the easiest part of this whole thing. Like you said, mini-vacation." She smiled sweetly.
"I can't help but worry… and I won't stop worrying until this whole thing is over."
"I know. But lets try to be as normal as we can for now. Dinner is ready."
Naruto smiled at his wife. He knew that she was right. What was coming couldn't be stopped, but that was no reason to let it halt their current lives altogether. He stood easily and offered her his hand. When she obliged, he quickly snatched her up and tossed her over his shoulder. Her laughter filtered through the yard and Naruto quietly joined in.
It was quite around the dinner table. Naruto watched his children eating their food slowly. It seemed that Iruka had managed to keep the twins very busy today helping out around the academy. He smiled inwardly as he thought of Takeshi complaining the whole time while Yuki scolded him for whining.
Naruto cleared his throat and was satisfied when he had three pairs of eyes firmly fixed on him.
"Twins." he called out.
"Yes, Father?" the answered in unison.
"I have a very important mission for you two."
He paused so he could let it sink in. He was amused at the eager twinkle in their eyes. However, he didn't fail to notice the stern look on his wife's face. He winked at her before continuing.
"Your Mother is leaving in the early morning to curry an important scroll to Kiri. I need you two to accompany her and provide extra protection."
There was a soft clatter as Takeshi dropped his chop sticks and gaped. "Really Father?"
"Yes. I never lie about missions, son." he said gravely. "Plus you get to visit with your Uncle while you are there."
Takeshi threw a fist in the air as he celebrated in his chair. He was never very good at hiding his emotions and excitement was always the hardest. Naruto briefly looked at his daughter to see her still eating her food, not nearly as enthusiastic as he thought she would be.
"Yuki-hime? You don't seem very excited about your first mission."
"I'm not." she answered as she brought the chop sticks back to her mouth.
"What?" he brother yelled. "Why aren't you?"
"Takeshi, you never pay attention to anything do you? First of all, we haven't even graduated the academy yet, we can't receive missions. If it was something that was really that important, as Hokage, he wouldn't send us. And then add in the causal toss in of visiting Uncle… this isn't a mission. We're just taking a trip with Mother to Kiri."
"You are so smart it's down right frightening at times." Naruto said with all seriousness. "You are very correct in the majority of things you stated, however, your Mother is bringing something very important and highly classified with her. Since you two have such a knack of evading my ANBU, I just thought you could be extra eyes and ears."
"So it's not a mission?" Takeshi asked, sadly.
"Sorry, I'm afraid not." Naruto answered.
"Not a sanctioned one at least." Yuri added in hopes of cheering Takeshi up. It didn't work.
"So that means we aren't going to get paid?" he added with a whine.
Naruto covered his laughter with a fake cough. "Well, not really. But I do have a present for you both."
He noticed this time that both children seemed excited. He reached into his pocketed and produced two boxes. One was pink and the other was blue. He handed the pink to Yuki and the blue to Takeshi. Again, both parents watched in awe of the subtle difference of their children. Takeshi shredded the paper to get to its contents while Yuki slowly and deliberately removed the paper.
Yuki marveled at the sturdy yet feminine bracelet that came from her box. She ran her small fingers over the circled piece set in the middle. She slipped it over her wrist and studied it some more.
"Jewelry?" Takeshi groaned. "Men don't wear bracelets!" He looked at the thick silver cuff his father had just given him.
"I do." Naruto answered as his slid his sleeve back revealing a bracelet almost identical to the one he had gifted his son.
"It has Father's marker in it, Takeshi." Yuki answered softly.
She could feel the warmth from her father chakra the resided in the marker.
"That's right, Yuki. Your mother has one and now you both have one. You may think that this isn't a mission so you don't have to be careful once you cross those gates. But you do. There are people out there who would hurt you to get to me and it's not just because we are on the brink of war."
"And once you are away from here, enemies won't pass you over because you haven't graduated from the academy. Sure, at the academy they try to prepare you, but they can't… not really. Your Father and I trained you and made sure that you had other teachers who would teach you to take care of yourselves. As hard as we try, we won't always be there. We don't expect there to be any problems on our trip, but that doesn't mean something couldn't happen." Yuri explained to her kids.
Takeshi and Yuki both looked at each other and then back at their parents. Yuki nodded as she went back to eating. Takeshi took a moment to study the bracelet before clamping in down on his wrist. He gave his father a determined look before he picked up his chop sticks to finish dinner.
- - xXxXx - -
Naruto's eyes cracked open as he felt his wife slip from his bed. He watched her form retreat into the bathroom for her morning rituals. He grunted softly as he hoisted his body from the warmth of the blankets. As he stood, he straitened his pants before he moved to the door. The stairs made a faint sound of protest as he glided down them towards the kitchen. Naruto flipped the light on and laughed at what he saw.
Sitting in the dark, fully packed and clothed were his children. Naruto examined their black clothing and serious faces.
"You aren't going on an assignation. You can wear colored clothing if you like." he said with a small smile still lingering on his lips.
"We are taking this seriously, Father." Takeshi answered.
Naruto's eye fell on the small black hilted katana strapped to his son's back and then to the familiar short sword gripped tightly in his daughter's hands. Yuri had been adamant about teaching them the art of the sword and true to the blood that flowed in their veins, the excelled with a blade.
"As you should." Yuri's voice flitted in from behind her husband.
He turned to face her and grinned a devilish grin at her. Strapped to her back was the Kubikiribōchō, her pride in weapon form.
"Have I told you how attractive you are when you wield that blade?" he asked as he closed the distance.
"Father!" Takeshi gagged.
Yuri giggled at her husband as she batted his hands away from her hips.
"Naru, go shower. We have to go."
He gave her a peck on the forehead as he slipped around her and sped up the stairs. Naruto raced through his shower and dressed quickly. He didn't want to miss a minute of the time he had left with his family. When he came back down stairs, his wife and children were already outside talking with Tsunade and Jiraiya. He stopped briefly and admired his family. They all made him proud.
He strolled out to meet them. "Good morning."
"Morning, Brat." Tsunade grunted.
"Did you drink too much last night, Baa-chan?" he smiled. "I'm sure Daifu wasn't a very good example."
"Oh shut up, Naru." Jiraiya fussed. "It was the other way around."
"Some how I believe that." he laughed under Tsunade's glare.
Feeling the tension starting to build, Yuri smiled, "Shall we then? I'm sure the others are waiting."
The six of them turned and began the trek to the front gates. It was littered with small talk and pleasantries, which seemed to make the time pass quickly. Naruto saw Sakura's pink hair and the spike of Shikamaru's as they neared. He nodded happily as he saw that Kakashi was on time and seemingly deprived of any literature.
"Good morning you three." he greeted. "Are you ready for this?"
Sakura seemed to be bouncing in her place with excitement. She was truly happy to be going to Suna and have the chance to see Gaara.
"As ready as we are going to be. I really hate sand, it's so troublesome because it gets into everything." Shikamaru stated.
"Oh, can it! Let's get moving." Sakura beamed.
Shikamaru waved to the others as he turned to walk to the gate. Sakura hugged the twins tightly and wished them safety before waving to the others. She jogged to catch up with her travel companion and in a blink they were in the trees headed towards Suna.
Kakashi slouched near Tsunade as they said their farewells. Tsunade eyed him carefully as they walked out the gates.
"I'm glad you didn't bring that smut with you. It's bad enough that perv lives next door to me!" she said loudly.
Jiraiya wiggled his eyebrows at Naruto, "Don't let her fool you, she loves it." And with a slap on the back, a wave to Yuri and a ruffle of the twins hair, he was gone and on his way.
Naruto stood at the gate with his family for a moment. He kissed his wife deeply and pulled her close.
"I love you, Yuri-chan. Travel safely." he said softly to her.
She echoed her love and wishes into his ear before kissing him again. Reluctantly he let her go and turned to face the kids. He squatted down to eye level with them and placed a hand on each kids shoulder.
"Remember what we talked about. This is real, so act like it." his hands traced down their arms and landed on the bracelets. "Push your charka into them if you need me and I will be there. Always." he looked sincerely into their faces. Using his grip on their wrists, he pulled them close. "Take care of your Mother, have fun and behave. I love you both."
The returned the embrace.
"I love you too, Father." Yuki whispered.
"I do too." Takeshi replied.
Naruto let them go and stood tall. He smiled at them all and waved. He watched the two children flank their Mother as they walked out the gate, all three with their blades in tow. A small influx of his chakra made their markers warm and they turned to look but he was gone.
Yuri looked at her kids with a playful smirk on her lips, "In the trees and you better keep up."
They watched their mother launch herself and her massive blade into the trees. They looked at each other and smiled in excitement. A challenge, no matter how it was issued, was always met by the Namikaze twins, always.
Okay, so not much really happened in this one. I'm sure it may even be slightly boring. And for that, I am sorry… but I had to get them out the gate and they are. More shall happen on their journeys… - l.k.
