Author's note: I don't own any of the characters. They belong to Masaishi Kishimoto. The original characters belong to me.

Chapter 4: An Ambitious Weekend Part 1

Uzumaki residence, Konoha

Nashiko was now lying on the couch in her living room. She had been doing that for the last hours since arriving home from that unpleasant confrontation with Inojin. Before heading home, she and her mother had dropped off Ochinko to his parents. His father Sai became upset about his son's condition, but Sakura had ensured him that Ochinko was healed and this fine. Both Sai and his wife Asami were always busy on work and they had a brief break from work when Ochinko had come home.

While lying on the couch, she could barley hear her mother having a private conversation with his father, who had just returned home from work. As much as she wanted to eavesdrop on them, she didn't bother, given her laziness for the approaching weekend. She noticed her younger, blonde-haired brother Haruto reading a book. He briefly took a glimpse at his sister.

"Nashiko, is it true that you were involved in a fight?" he asked her concerned. Nashiko shrugged casually.

"Nah, it was just an altercation, you know. But don't get me wrong! I punched that jerk face, Inojin and sent him flying. Hah! To think that he underestimated the strength of a girl! He should've seen that coming!" the young girl began laughing cockily. Haruto dropped a sweat at her sister's overconfidence. He also expressed some concern for her.

"Look Nashiko! I admire your enthusiasm and all, but you shouldn't really underestimate a guy like him. After all, he is one of the last Uchiha's children. Who knows what Inojin might be capable of" Haruto said uneasily while mentioning her classmate. Haruto was not necessarily the bravest shinobi, but he had a friendly soul.

Nashiko became confused at her brother's uneasiness. Not only did Ochinko view Inojin of concern, but her brother did that too. She thought about him and his twin brother Shunsuke. Sure, Inojin could be an arrogant brat sometimes, but he wasn't necessarily evil. The same thing could be said of Shunsuke, who was among the most kind-hearted persons she knew in class. She had known the twins for a long time and wanted to become better friends with them. The same thing could be said of her other classmates, like Ochinko.

"Well, I take your advice, little brother! But you shouldn't be so concerned about me! Inojin might be a scary to someone, but he doesn't scare me at all!" Nashiko said confidently.

Haruto sighed while continuing reading his book. "Fair enough, I only hope you know what you are doing, big sis!" he responded to his sister's confident remark.

The young girl's thoughts were suddenly interrupted when she felt her father's presence beside her. He was smiling at her as usual. Nashiko merely watched her father with wondering eyes. Yes, Naruto had changed a lot since becoming a father of two children such as Nashiko and Haruto, but he still maintained his same easygoing persona.

"Hey Nashiko, are you feeling alright?" Naruto asked his daughter in a fatherly manner.

"I'm fine daddy! Mom must have told you what happened after school, right?" Nashiko asked while denying any uneasiness around her. Naruto nodded.

"Tell me, pumpkin! How was the feeling of fighting against Inojin?" Naruto asked with curiosity in his voice. Nashiko widened at the fact that her father was interested about her fight. But this made her more than happy to reply back to her father.

"Well, it was tricky to begin with, but once I realised that he was a lose cannon, I went full power! I used the jutsu you taught me and punched his arrogant and smug face!" Nashiko said confidently, causing her father to force a chuckle on his face.

"Wow! You sure remind me a lot of both me and your mom. You are very headstrong and get easily ticked off!" Naruto said and he started laughing. Nashiko stared at him outrageous. She could also hear Haruto laughing in the background, but her attention was focused mostly on Naruto. She didn't necessarily like being compared to her mother, especially when it came to the easily ticked off thing.

"What! I don't get easily ticked off, you frog-loving pervert!" she retorted, making her dad confused.

"Whoa! Easy there, sweetheart! How can I be a pervert when I'm already married to a strong and beautiful woman like your mom? Well?" Naruto tried to act cool when questioning her. Nashiko facepalmed, as did Jiro.

"I don't think you realize it daddy, but I've seen you when you're reading those dirty magazines mom forbids you to! Are you interested in other women, perhaps?" Nashiko teasingly asked her father, making him sweating with awkward.

"Hold it right there, young lady! I'm a grown up man, so I can do whatever the heck I want, you know!" Naruto responded firmly, but he suddenly got his head banged by his short-tempered wife. Sakura stared at Naruto dispassionately while angrily gritting her teeth.

"DON'T YOU EVER BE THAT DISRESPECTFUL TOWARDS OUR DAUGHTER YOU DUMBASS!" Sakura angrily shouted towards him. Haruto, who was still too young to learn these words, had his ears covered thanks to Nashiko's hands. Naruto was lying on the ground in fear of his aggressive wife.

"Why…c-can't….you….control your anger, Sakura?" Naruto awkwardly asked while struggling to get back on his feet. Sakura sighed in annoyance while taking a seat beside her daughter.

"Listen closely, Nashiko. I thought that in the weekend, me and daddy would have a little chat with Inojin's parents. His father is staying there over the weekend, so we thought it would be a wonderful opportunity to discuss about your confrontation with Inojin earlier" Sakura told Nashiko, making her surprised.

"Oh, okay. But won't me and Haruto be coming along with you?" Nashiko asked her mother.

"Well, based on the events from earlier, I have a little uncertainty of you being safe with Inojin. I mean, Shunsuke is nice, but his twin brother is different. Plus, this is a talk between grown-ups. We will do this considering the fact that Sasuke is staying over" Sakura noted with her voice of reasoning. But Nashiko was still confused with what she heard.

"What has that to do with anything related to Inojin? You always know Shunsuke is a nice guy. And I've heard their dad is a very cool one too" she asked her mother, but Sakura waved her hand at NAshiko whimiscally.

"Let's just forget this, for now! C'mon, it's Friday Night! Shouldn't we enjoy ourselves in front of television or something?" Sakura asked cheerfully and Naruto immediately responded.

"Now you're talking! How about some popcorn? Are you with me, Haruto?" Naruto asked his son and he jumped off his chair to follow his dad into the kitchen. Nashiko and Sakura were sitting on the sofa, with Nashiko completely lost in thoughts. But tonight, she would just enjoy herself, for now!

Ochinko's house

Ochinko was now painting a picture he had been working on for days. Both his father and his mother Asami Nakano were both impressed by their son's galleries. Ochinko was known to have drawn many pictures. In fact, he drew a lot during class, something which made him socially awkward. While painting, the door to his room suddenly opened. It was his mother, who was noted for her long teal coloured hair. Ochinko smiled at his mother and took a break from his painting.

"What is it mother? Is something wrong?" he asked Asami.

"It's nothing, my little child. I just came here to tell you that your father is coming home late tonight, so I'm afraid he won't be joining us this Friday night" the woman said with disappointment in her voice. But Ochinko merely smiled.

"That's okay, mother! We both know that father is striving to support us as a family. Besides, you and I can do something together!" he stated with his proposal. His mother chuckled.

"Very well, shall we go downstairs and find something on television?" Asami asked her son sweetly. Ochinko merely nodded with his friendly smile.

The painting had helped him forget the confrontation with Inojin from earlier. And the Friday night would help things better. He had thought a little about how Nashiko were doing. The teal-haired boy never underestimated his classmate's headstrong personality. However, he also thought how Inojin was doing. Hopefully he would have much to think about the actions he did earlier. But still, Ochinko felt ashamed for meddling into something he wasn't interested in. Perhaps he was acting quite idiotic about the insult he gave him. He wanted to somehow apologise to him, but communicating with the likes of Inojin was very difficult indeed.

Uchiha residence, Konoha

Inojin was now walking through the corridor outside his room. He had recently been taking a nap after the conversation he had with his mother. Now, he wanted to talk to her again. It was about something related to school, not the incident from earlier. He had gotten over it, although it was difficult to do so.

When he got downstairs, he smelled something good in the kitchen. He thought it was his mother cooking dinner for the Friday night. But as he reached the kitchen, he found Shunsuke standing there. He was cooking the dinner. This made the long-haired boy surprised.

"Oh Inojin, you're awake!" Shunsuke exclaimed cheerful while chopping a fish. His twin brother stood there in silence.

"Shunsuke, why are you doing the cooking? I mean, where's mom?" Inojin asked him, wondering why he was doing this.

"Well, since dad is staying over I wanted to make some delicious sushi! So I took the responsibility of cooking the dinner. Besides, mom and dad really needed a private conversation so…" Shunsuke stopped when he could hear Inojin barking an angrily demand.

"Where are they!?" he demanded an answer from his twin brother. Shunsuke sighed before replying.

"They're in the living room. But look, Inojin! Don't be so harsh on dad. I mean, he deeply cares about us, especially for mom! So can you please pretend you're…" Shunsuke stooped answering, when he noticed his brother leaving the kitchen. The short-haired boy merely sighed in disappointment at his Inojin's disrespectful manners.

When he finally arrived at the living room, Inojin was both surprised and angry at the same time. He stood in the opening and watched his father making out with his mother on the couch. They were enjoying themselves like a couple would, but Inojin resented that. Ino noticed her oldest twin son standing and she immediately loosened herself from Sasuke's embrace.

"Inojin, you're awake! I didn't see you there. What's the matter sweetie?" Ino asked her son who was standing there with his arms crossed. His gaze was completely fixed upon Sasuke, who was gazing back at him. Ino noticed them both staring at each other and became concerned.

"Hello, Inojin. How are you feeling tonight?" Sasuke asked in his normal and neutral voice. Inojin kept staring at him with little enthusiasm.

"What does it matter to you? You know how I always feel!" Inojin replied bitterly. Sasuke was still giving him his displeased look.

"Really, I actually don't know how you feel. Now tell me son: is it true that you were involved in an altercation with some classmates of yours?" Sasuke wanted an answer from him. Inojin merely gritted his teeth in anger.

"If you must know, then yes! I was challenging both Ochinko and Nashiko to a fight. But members from the Interrogation Squad interrupted us and ceased it" Inojin explained to his father, who was now closing his eyes. To his son's and wife's surprises, he forced a chuckle on his face.

"You mean with Naruto's daughter? Now that's interesting" Sasuke remarked.

Ino decided to speak up. "Sasuke, don't try to encourage him to do something like that. He got into trouble with Captain Ibiki" Ino tried with a half-heartily attempt to make her husband see reason while hugging him. Sasuke shrugged.

"You don't say. I'm just amused that our little boy is doing something useful! Especially when it comes to please me as…" Sasuke was immediately interrupted by his son's aggressive voice.

"I didn't do that in order to please you!" Inojin lashed out while glaring at his father. Sasuke stared at him with interest, but suddenly chuckled again.

"Then why did you challenge them? Do you mind telling me why?" he asked his son sarcastically.

"I only did this because of mom! One of those idiot classmates of mine insulted her!" Inojin replied coldly, his glare never leaving his father. Sasuke started to laugh softly at his answer.

"Are you telling me that all this commotion started because of a small mentioning about your mother? Don't be ridiculous, Inojin!" he reprimanded his son, which made Inojin angrier.

Ino stood in the middle of the two, trying to end their commotion. "Sweetheart, don't start this again! It's Friday night! Can't we all please enjoy ourselves as family just this night? It would mean a lot to me, as well as Shunsuke!" she pleaded to them both while standing in the middle. Both her husband and her older twin son stared at her with normal glances, ones that Uchihas were known to have. After a few minutes, Sasuke shrugged.

"Well, I don't have anything against being with my family on a Friday night. It's just our little spoiled brat here who refuses to socialize when I'm around!" Sasuke stated while briefly giving his son a disapproving look. The long-haired boy glared daggers at him, given the stare he received from his father. However, Inojin also wanted to make his mother feel happy, considering how busy she was heading the flower shop. He also knew that Ino had been experiencing many difficulties thanks to the altercation from earlier. Taking a deep breath, Inojin controlled his mind and spoke plainly.

"Okay mom. I will join you in this time. But I don't wanna acknowledge him, though" Inojin pointed out while speaking to his mother. Ino sighed relief. Usually it was very difficult to get the family together, given the troubled relationship between her husband and her oldest twin son.

"Then why don't we all go sit in the kitchen? I'm sure Shunsuke must require help with the cooking!" Ino tried to change the subject and motioned her husband and son to follow her. They went into the kitchen, hoping to get some dinner. Ino hoped that it would calm down the grumpiness in both Sasuke and Inojin.

During dinner, the Yamanaka-Uchiha family was enjoying delicious sushi at their table. While eating, Shunsuke decided to ask his father about something important. Ino and Inojin paid attention to what was about to be said.

"Hey dad, there is something I've been wondering about. Was it true….the Uchiha clan….was cursed?" he asked his father uncomfortably. Sasuke merely lit his head up and stared towards his younger twin son. Ino stopped eating and watched the scene, as did Itachi.

"Shunsuke, why are you asking me a question like that? Is there something your mother has told you?" Sasuke asked sternly while briefly glancing at his wife, who immediately waved her hand.

"Don't be ridiculous Sasuke! Why would I ever tell our boys such things?" Ino asked her husband, who continued to glance at her. He was giving her a disapproving glance, yet Ino was still trying to prove her innocence.

"Quit speaking nonesense to me, Ino. I'm asking whether you…" before Sasuke could continue to attack her verbally, Inojin butted in by angrily scolding his father's disrespect.

"Don't talk to mom like that, you bastard! You should show some manners when conversing with women, especially your wife!" Inojin barked, thus earning him a glare from his irritated father.

"What's the matter, boy? Are your still upset that you lost the match from earlier today?" he asked him with a slight smirk on his face. Inojin responded by narrowing his eyes back at his father. Ino was beginning to feel uneasy. She didn't want them to start another altercation.

"Inojin, Sasuke! Remember what you two promised me! No fighting over dinner!" she tried to remind them about their promise. But her son and husband continued to glare at each other. She could feel a growing animosity between them. All was quiet, until Shunsuke spoke up.

"Can we please just stop this? This altercation has gone too far! I cooked the dinner, and I would really appreciate if you all just enjoyed your dinner. But Dad, about what I said…" before Shunsuke could continue his conversation with Sasuke while trying to reasoning with his family, Inojin suddenly interrupted him.

"Shunsuke, don't even bother speaking to him! You know he only expresses disappointment in you! He can't even help his own sons like a real father!" Inojin stated while trying to convince his twin brother to stop reachin out to Sasuke.

"I am the father of this household and I have an obligation to help my sons. Besides, you don't get to dictate your brother's wishes, punk!" Sasuke stated calmly. Hearing this really angered Inojin.

"Why don't you shut that arrogant mouth yourself, you cold-hearted son of a…" before Inojin could threaten his father, Shunsuke covered his mouth by using his hand. He wanted to stop this commotion, because it really felt like nothing of this was helping.

"The truth is dad…someone in the grocery shop…..insulted me!" Shunsuke said sadly while staring down towards his food. Ino became shocked and moved closer to him, while Sasuke watched Shunsuke with interest.

"Then why did they insult you? You hadn't done anything to harm them, right?" Sasuke asked his son, who was still staring towards the table. He began sniffing and they could see small tears coming out of his eyes.

"No….it's just that….they said I was never fit to be a ninja because….I was an Uchiha" Shunsuke said while trying to hold back his tears. His mother looked at him with concern.

"Awww, Shunsuke! Of course you are fit to be a ninja. Don't be so harsh on yourself!" Ino tried to cheer him up, but she was suddenly surprised by her husband putting his hand on Shunsuke's head. The young spiky-haired boy lit his head up towards his father, who was staring at him neutrally.

"They may be right that there were many Uchihas who were twisted and I….counted myself among them long ago" he said lowly while staring down towards his son, who tried to pay attention to what he said.

"B-but Uncle Itachi was never twisted! He was a hero who sacrificed himself for the Leaf, right?" Shunsuke asked while sniffing. His twin brother widened at the mentioning of his deceased uncle. Their father had told much about him when they were younger, including his great accomplishments. Truth is, the young long-haired boy didn't know much about him, only through the stories he had heard from Sasuke.

Sasuke smiled lightly at him, something he rarely did. "Yes, but not just him, many others also inherited the Will of Fire" he stated lowly. Ino watched the interaction between Shunsuke and her husband with a sad smile. Inojin on the other hand had a neutral expression on his face.

"Shunsuke, do you want to rest? Your father and I can clean up, since you cooked everything" Ino asked him and he nodded silently. Shunsuke then left the table and went up to his room. This left only Inojin and his parents in the kitchen. But Itachi was about the leave the kitchen, when his father suddenly called to him.

"Hey, where do you think you are going!? Since you didn't assist Shunsuke with the cooking, you will help us clean the dishes! So get back here!" Sasuke commanded him while he was washing a plate.

Inojin sighed irritated before answering. "Yes! I will help MOM with cleaning the dishes, but not YOU! So don't expect me to kiss your ass, old man!" he angrily told his father as he approached his mother.

Sasuke glared at his son with a serious expression. "Fine, I didn't want to kiss your ass either!" Sasuke hit back and returned to his business.

While both her oldest twin son and husband were doing things separately, Ino merely sighed as she did her part of the cleaning. She wondered how the weekend at the house was going to be. She also knew that Naruto and Sakura wanted to come over for a visit. This was something she looked forward to, but she knew the reason behind this visit.

To be continued...

Author's note: Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Updating soon coming up!