Disclaimer: I do not own the original Naruto characters used in this fiction, just the couples' kids.
Parents:
Sasuke & Sakura—Kiku and Daisuke; Neji & Tenten—Cho and Ryuu; Naruto & Hinata—Kitsune and Naien; Shikamaru & Temari—Shikarou, Tomoko, and Takara; Kiba & Ino—Misaki (and Shiroko); Itachi & Hana—Katai (and Chairomaru); Kakashi & Kurenai—Rei; Gaara & Matsuri—Yua; Unknown—Raiden, Osamu, Manako (and Aoko), Soshina, Takeshi
Ages:
Kiku, Raiden, Cho, Osamu, Katai, Manako, Rei, Takara, Tomoko—all 16; chuunin
Daisuke, Misaki, Kitsune, Shikarou, Ryuu, Yua—all 13; genin
Parenting 101
Story 37: Decisions
Life is full of decisions—it's only a matter of time before they catch up to you.
It was early morning, the sun barely peeking over the horizon; it was cold, the sky was light blue and orange, and dew droplets adorned the surrounding plants and greenery. Most of the village was still in their slumber, or just beginning to wake up. You could say it was relatively peaceful.
However, as per usual routine, the Uchihas were already awake and in the midst of their early-morning training.
They mainly worked on light training, such as sparring. They considered it a "warm up" for the rest of the day. (Hey, they weren't born ninja-material; it was the way Itachi and Sasuke had been brought up, so they intended to restore the Uchiha beliefs in the generations to come.) Katai and Chairomaru were sparring against Sakura, Daisuke was sparring against Hana, and Kiku was sparring against Sasuke and Itachi. They usually tried to switch things such as sparring partners and their training focus on a daily basis as a sort of review, and to better drill it into their minds.
Kiku twisted out of Itachi's grasp and kicked, knocking Sasuke's sword into the air, which she caught by the handle before putting distance between her father and uncle.
They smiled approvingly at her.
"Better," Itachi commented. "Much better."
Kiku rolled her eyes and laughed.
"Now, let's brush up your sword techniques," Sasuke announced, extending his hand.
She handed him back his sword, producing her own from the sheath strapped to her obi, right before Itachi came up from behind.
On the other side of the field, Sakura was dodging Katai's and Chairomaru's double-team attacks as they came at her from almost all angles. Of course, usually Sakura trained Kiku due to her medical training, but people didn't think much of the other types of things a medical ninja must master.
"You have to master your predictions," Sakura lectured as she pivoted on her foot, avoiding Katai's hit from the left and Chairomaru's from the right.
"How do you master prediction?" Katai asked with an exasperated laugh.
Sakura smiled at her nephew. "You don't. I'll tell you something," she informed. "Medical ninjas focus on taijutsu because it does not require chakra—that we save for the healing. And in order to be able to heal our comrades, in a medical ninja's case, we must be more on top of our guard than anyone else as to not receive damage so that we're able to do our thing."
"So what about in my case?" Katai asked.
Sakura chuckled. "In your case, it's to keep yourself alive. Now try again."
With Daisuke and Hana, Daisuke was nearly avoiding his aunt's swipes by tumbling forward and springing back onto his feet, back into a fighting stance.
Hana did a back flip and stood upright as well, tilting her head slightly as she surveyed her nephew's move.
"Good. Your form's a lot cleaner than before," she approved.
"And?" he egged on.
"You're timing's improved as well. You're now a whole 3 seconds farther from getting your head sliced off."
"Ha ha."
"Seriously—that does happen out on the field."
Daisuke rolled his eyes. "And?"
"I'm not saying it, Daisuke," Hana informed.
"Aww."
"I swear, you're just as bad as your father," Hana mused with a chuckle, adding, "and uncle."
"I heard that," Itachi called from their end of the field.
"Look, the sun's out," Daisuke pointed out, looking beyond the horizon where the sun was finally starting to show itself. "Guess that means it's breakfast time!"
They all laughed. "Agreed," Sakura said as she stretched her hands up into the air and rolled her shoulders back, trying to get herself together after her consecutive pivots and leaps and dodges due to sparring with Katai and Chairomaru. In seconds, her family was surrounding her, and headed towards the Uchina compound.
All but one.
Kiku stood lingering, almost in a world of her own. She didn't seem to notice her family was leaving the yard.
No on seemed to notice this right away except for Sakura, who jumped to cover her.
"Oh, Kiku," Sakura said suddenly, making Kiku snap out of her thoughts to look at her, "can we talk for a minute?"
The rest of them were now watching.
"Sakura?" Sasuke asked.
"Oh, just mother-daughter girl stuff," Sakura smiled, waving them away. "We'll meet you inside."
They didn't seem entirely convinced, but they accepted this and decided to not push matters any further. Knowing how things usually went around here, if there were something suspicious happening, it wouldn't be too long before others were in on it as well.
When they'd left, Kiku's distant expression had turned to a troubled one.
Sakura studied her for a moment before cautiously speaking.
"Does this have to do with…?" She trailed off, but it was obvious to Kiku what she'd be hesitant to say.
Kiku nodded.
"What's wrong? How do you know?"
Kiku looked at her mother for a moment, before turning to continue to stare incredulously at what she'd been transfixed on before. Sakura followed her gaze, and in the first few seconds, didn't see anything particularly out of the ordinary. But that's when she saw it. It was nestled at the roots of a tree several meters away. It stood out so greatly despite being far away because of its color.
A red flower.
And (judging by the way Kiku looked at it) she could only guess it was a red chrysanthemum.
Similarly to the Uchiha family's ritual of training together as a clan, the Hyuugas also trained together, though rather than it being a somewhat daily thing, theirs was a weekly gathering, which so happened to fall upon that same morning. Because the Hyuuga clan was larger and fairly more complex when it comes to family members than the Uchiha's, it wasn't as pleasant. Though, Cho, Ryuu, and Kitsune didn't mind being there so long as Naruto, Hinata, Neji, Tenten, Hanabi, and Hizashi were there with them, and rather than them being alone with the Hyuuga elders.
"Remember," Hanabi had told them countless times whenever she'd answer the door and find them waiting to start their morning, "your parents raised you specifically to avoid the childhood they had to go through. Try to be tolerant of them, because we're all biting our tongues here."
So they'd sit there and behave politely and well-mannered, exchanging hushed jokes amongst each other, their parents, their Aunt Hanabi, and their grandfather Hizashi.
"Well done," Hizashi said, nodding in approval.
Cho, Ryuu, and Kitsune straightened out of their gentle-fists fighting stance and bowed, all slightly panting and a little sweaty. As one woman dropped by and placed a tray with tea prepared down for them to drink, they walked over and sat, and Cho's scattered weapons and scrolls disappeared with a quick puff of smoke behind them.
"Are you guys done making a mess of the yard?" Hanabi asked jokingly as she appeared from the hallway, smiling at them.
"Yes, I think they've trained enough," Hizashi answered. "They still have training for the Konoha-Suna Exchange Program later today, right?"
The three nodded.
"Agreed," Hanabi said. "Besides, we've got visitors."
Ryuu, Kitsune, and Cho looked up at the word "visitors" and at Hanabi. She stepped aside, and before Ryuu could register anything, he was being tackled to the ground in a huge hug. Yua's giggles filled his ears and he laughed as well, hugging her back before sitting back up and propping himself up with one arm, the other around her waist.
"G'morning!" Yua exclaimed, pecking him lightly on his cheek.
He reddened just a little, especially since this was taking place in front of his aunt, grandfather, and the rest of the Hyuuga household.
"Yua, he just finished training!" a scolding voice reminded, and Ryuu looked up to see Shikarou, Daisuke, Misaki, and Shiroko standing beside Hanabi. Shikarou frowned. "And, is this going to become a regular thing?" he questioned. "That is my cousin you're all over."
"He's not 'all over' her," Misaki argued. "And you should be happy for your cousin and best friend."
Shikarou grumbled unintelligibly.
"Sorry, man," Ryuu said, grinning.
"I think you should just let it go," Daisuke advised.
Shikarou rolled his eyes but sat himself beside Kitsune.
She smiled at him. "What're you guys doing here this early?"
"Visiting, of course," Misaki answered. "We've got until noon before we need to report for training with Takeshi, and these idiots didn't know what to do with themselves. I figured you guys ought to be done by now, but if you weren't I think I would've had Shiroko rip both of their heads off."
Shiroko barked once, and they laughed.
"What should we do then?" Kitsune asked.
However, Hanabi interrupted their conversation. "Leaving so soon, Yua? Would you like to stay for dinner?"
Ryuu rolled his eyes as he and Yua got up, and Yua was instantly snatched out of his arms by his aunt. Hanabi absolutely adored Yua, though it was hard to find someone who didn't admire the Sunagakure princess. He knew that when she said "dinner" she meant—
"Would you like to stay forever?" Hanabi gushed, squeezing Yua into a hug.
Yua laughed. "How about I just come back for dinner?" she asked, grabbing Ryuu's arm. "Now, let's go get breakfast."
"And the interrogations?"
"She hasn't gotten anything yet," Soshina reported, swinging her legs slightly as they dangled on the edge of the bed. They were in Kiku's room once more with the door closed and locked. Though Sasuke was at headquarters and Daisuke was in the midst of the exchange program training, they were still wary about the discussion. "She doesn't ask too many specific questions, and every time we leave the headquarters she reports that nothing's changed."
Kiku sat down at the edge of the bed beside Soshina, draping her arms around her. Soshina leaned into Kiku, resting her head on Kiku's shoulder.
"Will you go?"
Kiku looked down at her in confusion. "Go?"
Soshina looked hesitant. "To meet… Raiden-nii-san… are you going?"
Kiku's eyes darted upward, and met her mother's. They hadn't discussed the matter of the small note they'd found with the red chrysanthemum, though they'd already read it. It'd been Raiden, saying that she and Cho needed to meet them that night just outside of Konoha's borders.
"I don't think I can afford to skip out," she answered, though she was still staring at her mother.
Sakura gave a defeated look, knowing that her daughter was right. She wasn't sure whether or not it was her motherly instincts, or if she was just being a push-over because Kiku was romantically involved with one of the Black Knights, but she felt as if she was letting too many things slide.
This subject lingered in her mind as she stood there, leaning against the bedroom wall. She wasn't sure how long they were in that room before Soshina finally fell asleep, but once Soshina was tucked in, the light blue sky was only just beginning to darken outside. They probably had only a few hours before she would have to help Kiku and Cho leave Konoha to rendezvous with whoever it was they were meeting with.
"Is this really such a good idea?" Sakura asked once they closed the door and headed towards the kitchen.
Kiku shrugged.
"But you're going anyway?"
"Of course."
Sakura shook her head. "You have your father's stubbornness," she muttered.
"And your persistence," Kiku reminded, not missing a beat.
Sakura paused at this as they sat down at the kitchen table. Kiku was pretty much following her footsteps; whether or not the results would turn out alright in the end like hers had with Sasuke or end disastrously was still left to be seen. Sakura wanted to intervene, to tell everything to Sasuke or Ino or someone; she wanted to do something that would convince Kiku and Cho to slow down and not plunge head-first into this Black Knights chaos. She wanted to convince her that maybe things were not as they seemed.
But she couldn't bring herself to lie.
She saw the way Kiku got whenever she'd just talk about him. She'd get that certain sparkle in her eyes, her cheeks would flush slightly, and she looked like she was floating on cloud nine. It was hard not to feel like everything was going to be okay when she stared at that expression.
That expression…
It was the same expression, she was almost positive, that she wore when it came to Sasuke.
Perhaps being a hopeless romantic was genetics.
"And you're sure about this?" Sakura asked. "You're willing to give up your life for Raiden, despite his history? Are you ready for that decision at your age?"
"Were you?"
She paused and, as Kiku's words really hit her, her hands anxiously curled up into tight fists on her lap.
Kiku knew that saying that was a pretty low blow, especially since it was her mother of all people, but she didn't think that Sakura would be convinced any other way. "Sorry," she said instantly, averting her eyes as Sakura looked at her. "But there was no other way to get you to listen."
"I've been listening, Kiku, and I don't think it's safe," Sakura insisted. "Kiku, I've been in your position, and I know now how dangerous everything was."
"I'm not making your mistakes, Oka-san," Kiku reminded sternly, finally looking Sakura in the eyes. Her own eyes were fierce, and Sakura knew that there was no hope of budging her daughter from her choice. "What you went through with Oto-san is similar, and I know you don't want me to be hurt, but its two different experiences. I won't learn anything unless you let me."
And that was pretty much that.
Sakura knew that what she said was true; she'd said something similar to Tsunade years ago before leaving to go after Sasuke.
Before anyone could say anything else, there was a knock on the door. "Kiku?" Cho's voice called.
Kiku looked at the door for a moment before standing up.
"Just promise me," Sakura said suddenly, making Kiku pause halfway between the table and the front door. "Promise me that no matter what happens, you'll never forget that we all love you. The both of you." Sakura's hands curled even tighter. "And remember: I'll always support your decisions."
"I love you, too, Oka-san," Kiku said. "And everyone else as well."
And with that, she was out the door.
A/n
Quote from Chapter 36: "And family means no one gets left behind. Or forgotten."—from Lilo and Stitch
OOOH(:
Guess who you get to see next chapter!! :D
Plus, some older characters that are NOT my OCs shall make their appearance!
Any guesses on who they may be???
I'm sorry it's been awhile since I've updated, but I've been having computer issues and I've been distracted by a lot of things such as school and whatnot. But don't worry, I shall be sure to pack each chapter with all the good stuff and update sooner!!
Thank you for being such wonderful readers!
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Ciao! Au Reveoir! Zai Jian! Hasta Lavista! Ja Ne! Goodbye (till next time, at least!)