Dear Khomeini,

I like the sound of that. Is that alright with you? I am currently at Ichiraku's with Fudo. He thought it'd be a good way to get my mind off of certain things. He says it's bad to dwell on things that don't matter. I think they matter, but I guess they don't. I'll tell you about it later.

-Ryuu

The Uchiha closes the book, feeling a presence behind him. Turning, he sees Fudo hovering over his shoulder. Heat rushes to the shorter male's face. "W-what are you d-doing?" Fudo grins. "You named your journal?" Ryuu's eyes widen, sadness and fear lacing his features. Fudo notices the look on his face and tries to backtrack.

"No no no! I didn't mean anything bad by it! Oh, please don't make that face!" A few tears slip down Ryuu's face before Fudo grabs it and presses a kiss to his forehead. "I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to taunt you. I'm not like Jomei. I just thought it was cute." Ryuu smiles a bit. "Thank you." Fudo grins and orders food for them both.

Fudo and Ryuu are walking towards the training grounds, so they can train off the food they ate earlier. "Come on. Attack me. I'll go easy at first, then no mercy." Ryuu nods, a determined gleam in his eyes. He pulls out a couple of kunai and charges at the redhead. Fudo easily blocks the attack. "Don't go easy on me, Ryuu! Attack me like I just shredded your journal and danced on the remains! Attack me like I'm Jomei and I'm about to throw your journal into acid!"

Ryuu twitches. His grip tightens on the kunai and he launches himself into his attacks. Not planning a strategy or anything of the kind. Fudo is able to shove Ryuu onto the ground. "You've gotta do better than that! You left yourself wide open! Don't be reckless!" Ryuu attacks again, more carefully. Fudo kicks Ryuu in the chest.

Ryuu skids a few feet back. He pauses, huffing and trying to bring his breathing back to normal. "Don't focus just on offence. Work on defence as well." Ryuu screams, gripping his hair at the root. "I CAN'T DO THIS!!" "You did good, Ryuu." The small Uchiha snaps his head in the direction of the voice. "Papa?" There was no one there. Fudo sets his hand on Ryuu's shoulder. "Let's take a break. Maybe we could talk?" Ryuu hesitates before nodding.

Fudo leads Ryuu to a tree to rest on. The Uchiha takes a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. Before he could speak however, his father appears behind him. "Ryuu. We need to talk." Fudo growls at the older Uchiha. Ryuu begins to panic. "W-what are you d-doing here, papa?" Sasuke frowns. "I've been following you all day." Fudo nudges Ryuu behind him, attempting to protect him.

A sigh slips through Sasuke's lips. "I need to tell you that we weren't talking about you that night." Confusion appears on both the boys' faces. "Around the time you turned 4, your mother found a dog. It was matted and malnourished. We couldn't tell what type of dog it was. Dobe hokage was talking about how it was basically useless. I agreed with him. But I couldn't get rid of it. Your mother would've killed me." Ryuu stares up at him in confusion. Sasuke smirks. "Your mother is vicious when she wants to be. Anyway, you know that mutt that's been hanging around Kiba and Akamaru?" Ryuu nods.

"That's the mutt that Hinata took in. She named it Akane. That's who we were talking about that night. I would never try to give you up. I meant it when I said I loved you, Ryuu. You're my son. I'm proud of you, even if I don't say it often." Ryuu smiles widely. "Thank you, papa." Sasuke kneels down and gathers Ryuu into his arms. Ryuu happily hugs him back. Fudo huffs. Maybe Sasuke isn't as bad a person as he thought.

"Come on, Fudo! Hurry! We're going to miss training with Soba and Kotone-chan!" Fudo laughs. "Why are you complaining? You're on my back! I'm doing all the work!" Ryuu joins his laughter. "It was your idea so don't blame me for your laziness." Arriving at Kakashi's house, they let themselves into his training area. Kotone and Soba turn and greet the two, along with an unexpected extra person.

"J-Jomei??"

The white haired boy grins. "Hey, guys! I was just telling your teammates to tell you something, but I guess I'll do it now. I'm going traveling. Tall Pops is coming with me." Ryuu fights the urge to frown, forcing a smile instead. "That's g-great!" Fudo nudges him. Ryuu nods, taking in a deep breath. "I just wanted to tell you that I...um...I like you!" Jomei freezes. Heat creeps up his neck to his cheeks. "Why on earth would you say something like that?! That's--" Amazing! Adorable! Wonderful! "Disgusting! You're just some little kid that has a diary and cries to his mommy." Fudo flinches. He could swear he heard the exact moment Ryuu's heart shattered.

He knows that wasn't what Jomei wanted to say. That idiot. "O-oh. Um...s-sorry you feel that w-way...I'm sorry I f-feel this way too." He turns to his teammates. "I'll train some other day. Bye, you guys." Jomei steps forward. "Ryuu, wait--" The young Uchiha flinches away. He turns and runs. Before Jomei could follow him, Fudo snatches his arm. "I think you've done enough. Just leave him be. I'll talk to him later. I think it's best for you to just leave." Jomei sighs, nodding in reluctant agreement.

Kotone looks at Fudo worryingly. "I hope he'll be okay." Soba suddenly is serious. "I'm sure he will be. He just needs time to himself. Hopefully, he'll be back to normal in, at the very latest, two days." They nod. Hopefully.