Back again, had slight writers block for a little bit, then came up with something that I liked.. unfortunately the story didn't go that far in this chapter. Next chapter should have some action in it.

Disclaimer: Yah, yah, I don't own Naruto, don't rub it in…

Chapter 2: A Blue Shirt

The fireball cleared; Sasuke still started intently in the direction of the jutsu's caster. As the flames in the camp died down, he could see the boy still standing there, now wearing an 'uh-oh' expression on his young face. The two pairs of dark eyes met, and the younger ones broke into tears, afraid of the elder.

Now Sasuke was at a loss of what to do. If there was one thing he didn't handle well, it was crying. He stood up from his slightly crouched position and walked over to the bawling boy.

"I didn't mean to do it! I didn't!" the boy cried between his sobs. Having observed others react to similar situations before, he emulated what he thought was the best action; he put a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Sh… it's alright," he said in the best soothing voice he could muster. But his words were lies; his food was gone, his extra clothes, his camp… basically all he brought. Only things left were his kunai and shiriken, fastened to his leg: but metal doesn't particularly taste good. On top of all this, it started pouring.

Flashes of lightning and booms of thunder could be seen and heard: they were near. The boy immediately stopped crying and screamed as the first raindrops sprinkled his hair. "Mommy'll be mad I'm still out!" he exclaimed as he took off into the woods. Sasuke followed him, hoping that perhaps this boy's parents would be kind enough to give him some place to stay the night. Sleeping in the rain was something he'd done on missions, but did not particularly want to do on vacation. Besides that, Sasuke wanted to know more about the boy. Something in his gut didn't feel quite normal—or was that just because he hadn't eaten since he left Konoha this morning?

The boy had used a jutsu, which was riddle enough, since he bore no evidence of a hidden village affiliation. That the jutsu was an Uchiha jutsu intrigued him further. And now, following the boy through the forest, Sasuke found someone else to add to the list: the boy moved through the forest with abnormal speed and agility then befit normal children his age. Judging from how he moved, the boy had to have had ninja training…not that the jutsu casting didn't give that little idea away.

The chunin ninja cleared the trees in time to see the boy running across a small field and into a lone house on the edge of a small river. It was a fairly modest looking house, but it looked in good upkeeping: with a small fenced garden of vegetables, fruits, flowers, and herbs next to it. A cherryblossom stood in the front yard, shading a hammock rocking wildly in the storm's fury. Sasuke hurried over to the overhang above the sliding front doors, reminiscent of the traditional Japanese homes: reminiscent of his house, actually.

Inside he heard a woman's voice "Ohjiro I told you to come home before it started raining"

"I'm sorry Mommy, I trained too long," a child's voice replied: that of the boy from before. The woman sighed loudly.

"I told you to go play, not train," she said in a gentler voice. "Go upstairs and change, dinner's almost ready." The sound of feet moving away prompted Sasuke to knock on the door, but all that changed was that one of the two moved faster, almost running through the house. Soon the footsteps returned; Sasuke's trained ears determined that they belonged to the same person who had run off earlier. The doors slid open and a pair of hazel eyes met his own.

"Eh, hello, may I help you?" the woman asked politely. She was in her early twenties, with fair skin, dressed in a dark blue modified kimono without sleeves and with slits cut up the sides to allow for better movement. Underneath you could just see that she on a pair of shorts matching the kimono in color. Her feet were bare, since she was at home, her dark hair was pinned up in a bun, and she wore an apron that bore evidence that she was cooking, a.k.a. there were new stains. The woman standing before him vaguely reminded Sasuke of someone, but the identification alluded him at the moment.

"Uh, yes," Sasuke replied, an odd feeling—which was clearly not hunger—arising in his gut. "The boy—uh, your son… he burned down my camp." The woman's eyes widened. In them, Sasuke saw surprise, confusion, and perhaps even a touch of fear. He could tell that she wanted to know how her son burned down the camp, though she already guessed the answer; Sasuke volunteered the information. "Your son, he... uh… used a jutsu."

The woman's eyes were narrowed, seeming to try to see through Sasuke. "You are… a ninja?"

"Yes, of Konoha," Sasuke replied politely. "I was wondering if you would be so kind as to give me a place to stay the night. This is my vacation and I would rather not sleep in the rain…" His eyes looked away from the woman's and off to the side as he shyly made the request, not used to having to ask for favors. But, oddly, at these words, the woman seemed to relax.

"Of course, it's the least we could do after Ohjiro burned down your camp," she said with her normal cheery voice. "Please come in. Ohjiro, please come down here," she called upstairs while stepping aside to let Sasuke in.

The inside of the house was just as upkept as the outside, with shoes neatly stowed on a rack by the door. He removed his shoes and placed them neatly on the floor next to the rack, then took a step up into the main house. The floors were wood, and in the rooms he could see the floors were tatami, with the traditional sliding doors at the entrances. "Your house is nice, Mrs…" Sasuke complimented

"Just call me Izumi," the woman replied. She motioned to a room. "There's the living room, Ohjiro should be down shortly, and dinner'll be ready in a few minutes. Just make yourself at home." Sasuke nodded and headed to the living room. Inside, he sat down on the squishy couch and looked around. Nicely furnished, the room had the couch, a few red futons scattered on the floor, and decorations all around. The centerpiece seemed to be a elegantly carved chest with a simple, yet majestic flower arrangement upon it. Above that on the wall was a painting of the character that meant eternity. There were numerous flower displays in the house, as Sasuke had observed earlier, yet it just nagged him slightly that there seemed to be no pictures, not even of the family.

Ohjiro's footsteps could be heard bouncing down the stairs. Sasuke didn't look over, still checking out the room, and the child's footsteps led him to the kitchen and his mother. "Ka-san!!!(Mom!)" he called, the conversation audible to Sasuke's ears.

"Ohjiro, go apologize to the Ani-san in the living room for burning his cam…" Izumi's voice trailed of and suddenly changed. "Ohjiro! Go change your shirt right now."

"But Ka-san! Oto-san gave me this shirt, he said it symbolized the fam…"

"I don't want you wearing it right now," Izumi snapped. "Go change now."

"But…"

"Please, Ohjiro, just listen to Ka-san. Go change." There was a short pause. "Please? You can wear the shirt another day, maybe when Oto-san gets back."

"Alright…" Ohjiro ran upstairs again. Sasuke looked out the door just as the child dashed by. He saw him only for a split second, and it once again prickled his curiosity. Did Sasuke's eyes just trick him, or did the child's dark blue shirt look reminiscent of Sasuke's shirts—a shirt that would be embellished with the Uchiha fan… the symbol of the clan…

Hope you liked that

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Kirsta