Hi there! This is the first chapter of the "Truth Arc". It's kinda of small, but I hope you'll like it.

On a side note, to those who watched Samurai X/Rurouni Kenshin, did you know that the author claimed that if the did a sequel, Kenshin's son Kenji would be an antagonist? He would learn to imitate Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū moves just by hearing about them. While Kenshin remarks to his young son in the chapter Kenji will one day inherit the sakabatō after Yahiko, Watsuki reveals in this spinoff story, Kenji would have to fight Myōjin Shinya, the son of Yahiko and Sanjō Tsubame, for the right to inherit sakabatō after Yahiko himself. It also states that Kenji, who is a genius, would grow up to be "more twisted than Saito and more egomaniacal than Shishio".

Doesn't that remind you of someone? ^_^

Anyway, that was the reason I choose the name Kenji, for this chapter's antagonist. Enjoy!

Revelation

啓示 (Keiji)

A year and four months later

April 4th

With four years and eight months old, Sasuke was no baby.

He remembered vaguely living with his father in a village by the sea when he was three. Now, they lived in another village near a mountain, but they had stopped in many other places.

His Tou-chan had told him they had to travel so he could get a job and that was why they were always moving. But Sasuke didn't mind, he had already been to many places that most kids only had heard of such as beaches, deserts, rivers and oceans.

In his childish self-centeredness, Sasuke had no idea what his Tou-chan job was, and wasn't very interested in finding out. All he knew was that his father went to work in the morning so he had to leave him in kindergarten and had pick him up in the afternoon.

However, sometimes, his daddy could not come to get him and Sasuke had to go to Mrs. Irino's home, who was the mom of one of his classmates, Irino Ryo.

Ryo was the first friend that Sasuke made when he went to kindergarten. On the first day, Ryo asked Sasuke if he wanted to go play with him and his friends. After that, he began to play together with the other boys too: Daichi, Junpei, Akito and Kenji. They used to play catch, hide and seek, go to the swings and slide. They also played samurais and ninjas sometimes.

Since his father had told him a story about ninjas, Sasuke had been amazed by these warriors. Ninjas were strong, agile and discrete. They seemed so cool and powerful in the story books and mangas that its Tou-chan had bought!

After leaving the kindergarten, Ryo's mother and other ladies took them to the playground, so they could play. The six boys enjoyed themselves but Kenji was strangely bad-tempered, he did not accept any of the other children games and when he lost, he pouted.

When were playing catch, the ball flew away and run Sasuke to pick it up. He then noticed that one kid was sitting a swing, away from them. Sasuke picked up the ball and stared at the boy, who should be more or less his age but he was all dirty and his clothes were torn. The boy stared at Sasuke with a haughty expression and Sasuke merely grabbed the ball and returned to his classmates.

"Ne?" Sasuke asked. "Who's that kid over there in the swing?"

The other boys noticed the ragged boy.

"Nobody knows his name" Ryo said. "He doesn't live in the village. He just comes and goes all the time."

"He can walk around alone?" Sasuke asked, uncomprehending.

"He's an orphan" Kenji said with contempt. "He can do whatever he wants!"

"What's an orphan?" Junpei asked.

"It's a kid who has no parents. Probably he was so ugly at birth that his mother threw him in the garbage" Kenji said, with a cruel smile.

"Ryo!" Mrs. Irino called. "We gotta go! Sasuke-chan, you'll stay in our home until your father comes to get you!"

The two boys said goodbye to their friends, and each one held Mrs. Irino's hand. But before leaving the park, Sasuke took one last look at the orphaned boy, who stared at him with envy.

In Ryo's home, the two boys were playing in the living room with various toys. Ryo's younger brother, Hisao, was only two years old and liked to play with his stuffed elephant with them. Ryo was constantly saying that he thought Hisao was annoying! He wanted to imitate him in everything and was always following him everywhere. However, Sasuke remembered that when Hisao fell down the stairs Ryo started to cry because he thought his brother had died.

"Nii-chan! Elephant!" Hisao squealed, displaying the soft toy.

Ryo snorted angrily.

"I know, Hisao... You showed that to me a million times."

"Elephant! My! "

"Good, now go away" Ryo ordered, wanting to play with his toys in peace. "Go play with Mama!"

"No! Nii-chan! Want Nii-chan! "

"But I don't want you! Go away! "Ryo shouted.

Hisao began to cry, clinging to his toy and ran into the hallway. Ryo snorted and continued to play with his toys.

"Cry baby..." Ryo muttered between his teeth.

Sasuke, meanwhile, felt sorry for Hisao. He just wanted his Nii-san to play with him, and Ryo had sent him away.

"Ryo?" Sasuke asked. "You don't like Hisao?"

"Huh? Hisao is a big baby! He is always nagging me!"

"So ... you don't like him?"

Ryo looked down and pouted.

"It's not that I don't like him... I just don't like that he's always bugging me to play with him."

"I think Hisao wants to play with you because he likes you" Sasuke said.

Ryo looked at the living room door with a sad expression. Finally, he got up and went to his younger brother's room, where he was sitting whimpering. Ryo approached him and gave him a hand.

"Ok... you can play with us but you can't scream or cry" Ryo said, pulling his brother back to the living room.

Hisao smiled and grabbed his elephant, sitting next to his Nii-chan and Sasuke. After some time, Ryo and Hisao's grandmother joined them in the living room, sitting in a rocking chair and knitting a sweater for her youngest grandchild.

"Obaa-san?" Ryo asked. "When will Tou-san come home?"

"Hm? He should be back to dinner..." the old lady replied.

"Oh... so he'll be tired again..." Ryo whined. "Whenever Tou-san works, he never plays with me!"

Sasuke stared at his companion.

"My Tou-chan said he would play with me when he came from work" the raven said.

"Oh? He won't play with you!" Ryo said. "When adults come home from work, they just want kids to leave them alone."

"Ryo!" his grandma intervened. "Adults work all day so that children can eat and have a house to live in. When they come home they deserve to rest."

"I know! I know! "Ryo replied, pouting."Kaa-san and Tou-san are always saying that."

"Tou-chan promised he would play with me!" Sasuke insisted. "He always keeps his promises."

A few minutes later, someone rang the doorbell. Mrs. Irino opened the door quickly, shouting joyfully.

"Oh! Naruto-san! Good afternoon."

"Good afternoon, Irino-san" Naruto greeted with a kind smile.

"Work went well? I knew you have been receiving many requests lately. "

"Everything is going great. I hope that the villagers are happy with my work..."

"Everybody feels much safer since Naruto-san came to our village," Mrs. Irino said. "Just yesterday my sister told me how you helped to carry their heavy furniture to the attic. They were very impressed!"

Naruto grinned and scratched his neck, a little flushed. He would never get used to compliments after being so criticized and denigrated in his youth.

"Really? It wasn't anything special... "

In the living room, Sasuke heard his father's voice. The child got up and ran to the lobby.

"Tou-chan!" Sasuke shouted joyfully, hugging his father's waist. "Okaerinasai, Tou-chan!"

"Hey!" Naruto exclaimed and took Sasuke in his arms. "How's my boy? You did you behave?"

"Huh Huh!" Sasuke nodded, clinging to Naruto's shoulders. "Let's play, Tou-chan? What are we going to play?"

"Sasuke-chan..." Mrs. Irino interrupted. "Your father must be tired. He worked all day and needs rest. "

Sasuke looked at her before looking down, very disappointed. Ryo had been right after all...

Before the disappointed look in his son's eyes, Naruto smiled indulgently.

"I said I would play with you. And I never go back on my word" Naruto said, making Sasuke his open eyes with astonishment and joy.

"Really?" the child asked.

"Of course. We can play whatever you want!"

Shortly afterwards, Sasuke hid himself behind a tree, covering his mouth to smother his laughter. They were playing hide and seek in the forest around the village and he could hear his father trying to find him.

"Hmm ... I think Sasuke hid too well," Naruto said. "Maybe he's that way!"

Naruto moved to the opposite side of where Sasuke was hiding. The boy leaned against the tree, hearing the sound of his father's footsteps moving away. Laughing between his teeth, Sasuke peered through the trunk. The coast was clear!

He was about to change his hiding place when he felt a hand on his head, making him flinch.

"I found you... Sasuke!" Naruto said with a sly smile as he turned to Sasuke.

"Oooh! You found me!"

Naruto giggled and patted his hair.

"I always find you!" Naruto said and began to tickle Sasuke.

Sasuke tried to escape from his Tou-chan's hands, and threw himself against him. The two fought on the floor, rolling in the grass, shouting and waving. Sasuke also tried to tickle Naruto and the latter responded by grabbing him by the armpits and lifted him into the air. The child opened his arms and laughed with satisfaction.

The setting sun lit the mountains of red. Naruto got up from the ground, completely dirty with earth and grass. Sasuke was also filthy and exhausted, but seemed happier than ever sitting on the floor, smiling.

"It's getting late," Naruto said. "It's best to go home."

"Oh... we have to? I want to play more!" Sasuke said, but his stomach conveniently chose that moment to growl with hunger.

Sasuke blushed and Naruto laughed.

"You're all dirty and starving. What you need is a good bath and dinner "Naruto handed his hand. "We can always play later. Let's go home?"

Sasuke had so much fun that he didn't want to go home, but he was really hungry. The child nodded, grabbed Naruto's hand and stood up.

Hand in hand, father and son moved through the almost deserted streets of village. Beside them, a stream went down the hill, before flowing into a lake. Their waters shone, irradiating white and orange reflections.

Naruto remembered the many times he came home at sunset alone. His heart ached whenever he watched his colleagues in the Academy return home with their parents, while Naruto had to return to an empty house where there was nobody to talk to, to force him to eat healthy foods or bathing.

Often he fell asleep crying, wishing fervently that his parents were there with him.

When Sasuke also became an orphan, he passed by him almost every day when he came home from the playground. Sasuke never played with anyone; he just sat by the river. When both their eyes crossed, they pouted and Naruto went on his way. They never talked to each other.

At that moment, Sasuke walked cheerfully through the streets, talking about what he had done in kindergarten and what he wanted to eat for dinner. The child looked at Naruto with a big smile and Naruto smiled back, holding his hand tighter.

They were returning home together as a family. The family that Sasuke had lost and the family Naruto had longed for all his life.

Neither of them was alone anymore.

April 5th

The four year olds' sensei was a lady named Mayura. She was married to one of the village doctors, she had a three year old daughter named Masumi and she was eight months pregnant.

Mayura-sensei had been outside the village for five months because she had had to take care of her ailing mother, who lived in another village. When she entered the classroom with her huge belly, the children cried in admiration.

"Sensei! You are so fat!"

"How did you become so big, sensei?"

Mayura smiled and her students sat in a chair in front of them, massaging her belly affectionately.

"I'm not fat, children" she explained. "I'm having a baby."

Children approached their sensei and stared at her huge belly in disbelief.

"Is there a baby?"

Mayura nodded.

"Yes ... My baby is here, inside my belly."

"Sensei! Where do babies come from? How are they born?" one boy asked.

Sasuke also approached the other children and sat on the floor like them.

"Ah... well..." Mayura-sensei tried to explain. "Babies are born from their mama's tummy."

"Eh? Babies come from the belly? How do they get in there?"

"Well ... Papa puts a seed inside Mama's tummy. This seed grows in her belly and, after several months, a baby is born. "

While the children exclaimed with admiration, Sasuke was very quiet. He didn't have a mother, he never had. His whole life was just him and his father... he never thought about his mother. He thought there was none. But if babies are born from their mommy's belly, where was his?

"Since babies come from their parents, they look like them. They may have the same eyes or even the same hair or nose" Mayura said. "Why don't you kids draw your family? That way, you can see how you are alike. "

"Hai, sensei!" the children answered, picking up the crayons and started drawing.

Kenji didn't want to draw. He hated having to think about parents or families! His father had left home to buy cigarettes and disappeared. His mother had been very worried and had him searched everywhere but without success. Everyone thought his father had been kidnapped, had an accident or died. Two days ago they had finally found him: he fled with his pregnant lover and made a new family, abandoning Kenji and his mother.

Since he discovered the truth, Kenji hated to see the other kids happy with their parents. It wasn't fair that their parents loved them while his father had abandoned him.

Rising from his seat, Kenji peeked on his classmates drawings.

Sasuke was about to finish his drawing. He had drawn his Tou-chan and himself playing in the forest, until he felt a presence behind him.

"Why are you drawing?" a voice asked. Sasuke turned and saw Kenji, smiling with scorn.

"What?" Sasuke asked, confused.

Kenji looked at the drawing filled with hatred. The damn ninja's son had always his dear father with him! Kenji hated them and their happiness.

"You can't draw a family! You don't have one!" Kenji said.

"What... what do you mean?" Sasuke replied. "Of course I have! I have my father! "

"Are you stupid? You don't look anything like Naruto-san! You are totally different!" Kenji spat the words like they were poison."You're adopted!"

Sasuke opened his eyes wide.

"Adopted...? What does that mean?"

"It means your father is not really your father! Your real parents threw you out or Naruto-san stole you from them! Naruto-san is not your father!"

Sasuke felt his heart beat faster and his throat dry.

"That's not true!" Sasuke shouted, not wanting to believe it. "You're lying!"

"So where is your mother?" Kenji asked, smiling before the shocked expression on Sasuke face. "You have no mother! You're an orphan! Your real parents hated you and dumped you!"

"Shut up!" Sasuke growled, throwing himself against Kenji.

The two boys began fighting fiercely against each other, punching, kicking and biting until Mayura-sensei finally got them apart.

Naruto was surprised when a woman informed him that Sasuke had been sent home because he had been in a fight with another boy. Sasuke had always been so calm that Naruto could not imagine what would have happened.

The blond ninja rushed to finish the mission and returned home. Next to his apartment was one of the employees from the kindergarten with Sasuke. The boy was leaning against the wall, staring at the ground with a furious expression.

Naruto thanked the employee for having brought Sasuke and said goodbye to her. After opening the apartment door and into the house, Naruto asked Sasuke.

"Sasuke, why did you fight with one of your classmates?" Naruto asked, but Sasuke was still staring at his feet. "What happened?"

Sasuke raised his face and glared Naruto in the eye, causing the blond to recall the glare full of hatred that he saw in Uchiha Sasuke's.

"I'm adopted?" Sasuke asked ferociously.

Naruto's eyes widened with shock.

"Sasuke... what ...?"

"I'm not like you! You're blond and have blue eyes; I have black hair and black eyes!" Sasuke exclaimed."We're nothing alike! Nothing!"

Naruto remained silent. He did not know what to say.

"Why don't I have a Kaa-chan like everyone else? Where is she?"

"I..."

"A baby comes from the mother's belly. Where's my mother?" Sasuke continued, feeling the tears behind his eyes. "Was I adopted? Was I born to other parents?"

Sasuke stared at Naruto intensely, hoping that the latter would contradict him. He didn't want it to be true. Please, it could not be true!

Naruto had to control himself not to shiver. He always knew this day would come, but he wasn't ready. He didn't know how to explain everything to Sasuke, but he knew he could not lie to him. Sasuke deserved to know.

"Was I adopted?" Sasuke asked again, his eyes shining in anticipation and nervousness.

Clenching his fists tightly, Naruto replied.

"Yes... you were."

Sasuke's dark eyes widened with shock and horror. He felt like the floor was crumbling beneath him. The child began to back away, shaking his head.

"No... No..."

"Sasuke... is not that simple. Let me explain... "

But Sasuke continued to move away from Naruto.

"You lied to me..."

The child was confused, angry and sad. He knew nothing now! The family he had was a lie!

"You're a liar! You're a damn liar" Sasuke yelled.

"Sasuke! Don't be mean!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Mean? You lied to me! You're the one who's mean! "

Naruto grabbed the boy's arm, but Sasuke walked away filled with anger.

"Don't touch me!" Sasuke growled, tears running down his face.

"Sasuke..."

"Shut up! I hate you! You're not my real father!" the child cried and ran to his room, slamming the door hard.

Naruto ran a hand through his eyes and sighed deeply. He approached Sasuke's door and almost knocked... but gave up. Maybe Sasuke needed some space, it was best to leave him alone a bit, at least until he calmed down.

Naruto went to the living room, sat on the couch and buried his face in his hands. Remembering the last words Sasuke said, he wept in silence.

Sasuke jumped into his bed and wept. He no longer knew who he was... it was as if his whole world had fallen apart.

His Tou-chan was not his father; he would never be like him. That hurt him so much that he thought his heart would explode. And where were his real parents? Was he like them? How did they look like? Why did they leave him?

Why? Why had this happened? Sasuke wished that nothing had happened. He hated Kenji. He hated his parents for leaving him. He hated Naruto for having lied and pretended that he was his father.

He hated Naruto for not being his real father.

When Sasuke turned to look up at the clock on the bedside table, he realized he had fallen asleep. Outside it was very dark.

Sasuke got out of bed and opened the bedroom door into the hallway. The house was completely silent and Naruto could not be seen anywhere.

The young raven went to the front door and turned the knob, opening it up.

Glancing at the empty corridor, Sasuke clenched his fists tightly and left the apartment. The child ran down the stairs and out into the deserted street.

He had to find his real parents.

Sorry, cliffy again!

Unfortunately, I'm going back to college and I'll be very busy from now on. I have 2 exams every 15 days, interships and reports to make, that's why I tried to write as much as I could during the summer.

I'll try to keep writting and I'll upload as soon as I can, but obviously college comes first.

Thanks for reading!