Been a year since you've seen an update on this story, sorry about that; I'm happy to still see new followers and favorites for this story, which does make me feel guilty for not updating this story. I did finish the rough draft for this story months ago but became too lazy to edit it myself, I did glance through the chapter for any run-ons and such. So if you spot any mistakes, please bare through it, I did just want to get it out so I can continue on; but do send a message if you spot one or more.
And one more thing before you start to read on, there was a question about Naruto's family tree, Darklife21, I have the Uzumaki-Namikaze family tree at the bottom of the page. Eventually, the rest of the family will be introduced in the story; I did try to keep Naruto's younger siblings in character to when they were young in the anime. Key word: try.
I hope that this makes up for the lack of an update for a year, and that I am currently brainstorming for the next chapter; so don't expect it out so soon. Hopefully it won't take another year... heh.
Anyway, enjoy the update; review at the end, please!
A Promise: Chapter 5: Introductions Are Needed, So Be Nice
January Monday afternoon, 12:07 pm.
Just above the average height of five feet, blood red eyes that are framed by recently dyed dark locks that tickled his now smooth cheeks, just after a recent shave. Uzumaki Menma sighed when he walked out of the shower and down the hall to his room that stood across his other brother's, Kurma, room; opening the door, careful not to bang it on the closet that was standing just feet behind it. The room its self is bland, having finally moved in three months previously; the walls white, with no pictures hung, the only colors in the room being the bed covers and the curtains. Two windows sat across from the door, one partially hidden by the closet, were covered in navy blue curtains that went hand in hand with the red bedspread.
Draping the damp towel around his neck he turned to the closet, having to semi close the door, and started to pull out clothes to wear for the second half of the day; choosing a black long sleeve button down shirt, with a pair of folded dark tight jeans. Closing the closet, he moved to lay the clothes on his roughly made bed and took note that a lump that is no longer there. Glancing around the room for his phone that lay on the nightstand under the second window, Menma checked the time. "Told him to take morning classes, we'd have more time during the day…" Menma muttered, about to toss the phone onto the bed when he remembered that he had to call Naruto right around now. With one hand he unlocked the phone and pulled up Naruto's number, pressing call; the other hand returned to the towel and continued drying off his extra dark hair.
With the phone ringing, Menma pressed speaker and raised the volume, seeing as he didn't have to keep quiet, before dressing himself. Dropping the slightly darkened towel on the floor, Menma sighed at the sight of hair dye that was still left over in his hair; with a shake of his head he continued to dress. Half way through, he realized that he was missing a pair of boxers. Groaning he dropped the jeans and walked over back to the closet; pulling open the drawer, pulling out the first one on top. "Hello?" Jumping at the voice he turned to the phone, smiling at the sound of his distracted brother; quickly putting the boxers on, Menma stood over the phone.
"Naruto!" Menma reattempted to wear his jeans correctly when Naruto was talking to someone softly.
Menma stopped moving around, listening to his brother; "No, nap time," Menma tapped the screen of his phone to make sure that he had the right number. "Ah, ok; Hey, Menma!"
"Hey, Aniki," Menma shifted away from the phone, an eyebrow raised in wonder at who Naruto was talking to just a few moments ago. "You said you wanted to talk, what's up?" Menma finished closing his pants and pulled the shirt on, not buttoning it just yet.
"Ah, right, about that," sigh, "I have a favor to ask of you."
This caught Menma's full attention; Naruto rarely asks others for help. Menma can count the number of times that his brother asked other people for help in one hand. Of course, if one ignored a certain Uchiha who was an exception to every rule. "I'm listening," sitting on the bed, he turned the speaker off and held the phone to his ear, "what happened?"
"Nothing serious! I just want to know if you could stay with Natsu until I get home. That's all," Naruto said.
Hearing the nervousness in the voice, he knew that something major must be happening at the moment; "Why? He's a big boy, as you keep telling everyone, Aniki. Or were you lying?" Holding his breath, waiting for Naruto to respond, but instead he's given a rushed answer.
"I just want you to be there with Natsu since there is going to be someone heading over-"
"Aniki-" Menma was cut off, worry building in his gut at the stress in Naruto's voice.
"-and he doesn't want to be alone, and I don't know this person, with him while I'm still at work-"
"Naruto!" Menma shouted into the mouth piece and instantly he was greeted with silence, "What's wrong? Who is going to be there?"
A tired sigh could be heard from the other line with a soft voice replying, "Itachi is living with us again, Menma."
'About time, that bastard!' Menma smiled briefly before remembering Naruto's 'situation'; "Then there is only one thing that I can ask you as one of your younger brother," a soft and small chuckle brushed Menma's ear, "are you ok with that?" When there was no response or a sound that there would be one, Menma spoke again; "After what the two of you have been through, after what the two of you did together, only for him to leave you like that and reappear in front of you," Menma truly had to know, thinking of the bright smiles only Itachi could bring out, "is it ok for him to be this close again?"
"You were always the brains with us, you know that right?" A watery chuckle drifted off the phone followed by a deep and shaky breathe, "Yeah, I can take it, Menma."
"Physically," Menma laid down on the bed, wincing at the wet hair against his neck, "I believe that you can. Mentally, I know that you'll struggle but still be able to overcome it; but what concerns me is that emotionally you won't."
"Menma-"
"Naruto, he hurt you when he left, he hurt you when he didn't call you, he hurt you when he married someone else." Menma sighed, remembering finding his strong willed brother broken, looking so lost; "I just don't want you hurt again; you wear your heart on your sleeve, Aniki!"
"I said that I can take it, Menma," Naruto's tone changed, lowering it when a line is crossed; Menma guessed that he did whenever he spoke ill of Uchiha. "He didn't hurt me that much, anyway-"
Menma's eyebrow twitched at that, his mind pulling up the multiple memories of the sight and sounds of his brother whenever he answered the phone or door. "So whenever we called or visited, it wasn't Uchiha that you were asking for?" He knew that he hit a low blow by the intake of air from the other end; but he is not going to apologize for the hard truth. It was just a couple of years ago that they, he and Kurma, were able to rebuild Naruto, able to live and function without having to wonder if Uchiha was coming back or not. They weren't able to rebuild Naruto to his full glory, as there was a certain piece, or a rather large piece, that was missing.
Uchiha still has his heart, his love, in his grasp even after all this time. 'And he better have taken care of it if he's living with Aniki!'
Naruto sighed, a soft and defeated voice drifted through the phone; "Not everyone is perfect, you know."
"Which is why I'm asking if you can handle this emotionally, Aniki. No one wants to see their idol so defeated like that, as a child or an adult, because you know what?" Menma asked a small smile on his face.
"Huh? Why?" Naruto asked, curiously; Menma imagined Naruto tilting his head to the side, showing confusion and curiosity like a child.
"Because it means that you have these things called 'feelings' built in you, that you're human!" Menma gave an overdone shudder that was well done as he heard Naruto's laughter filter through the phone. When Naruto had quieted down, Menma spoke once more; "We worry about you, Aniki, we want what's best for you, even if it means seeing you with the one who caused the whole problem."
"We're not in a relationship, Menma, we're just roommates; nothing more." Naruto whispered, "All I need is for you to stay with Natsu until I return home from work."
Menma sighed and nodded, "Alright, but I'm curious as to why you want me there; like I said earlier, Natsu is a big boy." He ran his free hand through his hair, wincing at the dry spikes; mentally groaning that he should have fixed his hair before calling, not everyone can be like Naruto, letting the hair do whatever it wanted and still make it work.
"He is a big boy! It's just," Menma could imagine that Naruto was rubbing the back of his neck, "Itachi's assistant is going to be there around four, if he gets out at the same time as Natsu, and Natsu said that he didn't want to be there alone with them."
"Alright, alright, I'll be there," Menma agreed, "so who's coming over?"
"Hatake Kakashi, the assistant, and Itachi's oldest, Sai."
"How many did Uchiha have?" Menma asked, from what he remembers it was very rare for an Uchiha to have more than one child, well according to Itachi.
"He has two; Sai is four and I have the youngest with me, Sasuke is a year and a half." Naruto muttered, "You want to know the strangest thing about them though?" Menma hummed, "Sai is a near replica of Itachi, except of one thing: Sai has bits of blond hair."
Menma sat up, his eyes narrowing at the piece of information, "Blond?"
"Yeah, I didn't notice it until this morning when he was being picked up; Sasuke also has blond hair, but where Sai has Itachi's eyes Sasuke has a dark blue look to them."
"Like if your blue eyes were mixed with his dark eyes, huh?" Menma whispered, shock running through his body. 'Who did he marry?'
"Strange, huh?"
Same day, 3:20 pm, Leaf Academy entrance.
Namikaze Natsu stood in front of the school, surrounded by the crowd of students at the end of the day, smiling at one his older brothers who waited at the gate. Dressed, like the rest of the male students, in a dark blue blazer that covered a short sleeve white shirt with black pants and a pair of black shoes. Shaking his head at the sight of Menma; if Menma didn't dye his natural blond hair they would be mistaken as twins, if one ignored the nearly twenty-year difference. "What're you doing here?" Natsu asked after forcing his way towards his brother, eying the unnatural dark hair that covered his head, including the thin eyebrows.
Said owner of this extra dark eyebrow was raised at the shock in his youngest brother's voice, "I thought you wanted me to stay with you until Aniki came home?" Menma moved his arm behind Natsu's head, his hand resting on the opposite shoulder and started to walk. "Why are you staring anyway?" Menma looked down to him before looking up briefly, stopping Natsu before walking into a busy street, they were quickly joined the crowd of kids that waited at the corner for the light to let them cross.
"The hair!" Natsu laughed, "I told you to do it over the weekend not the beginning of the week!" Holding his stomach as they crossed with the crowd across the street; red eyes looked at one another, both smiling despite the "glare" that Menma was giving him. "The eyebrows too? Really?" Natsu chuckled, trying to breathe after that huge fit of laughing; hey, it's hard to laugh one's butt off while walking forward in order not to be left behind or stepped on!
Menma snorted; "My school doesn't start for another week, by then it wouldn't have mattered when I recolored my hair and yes the eyebrows too; awkward having black hair with blond eyebrows you know." The two walked the few blocks to the apartment, not really having to be careful as the cars were not as frequent the further they went from the school. "You know who is coming?"
Natsu looked down, away from Menma's eyes, and nodded; biting his lower lip as a question made its reappearance that stood in front of his since the phone call from Naruto this morning. 'Are we going to be a family, like he promised?'
Menma didn't say a word, not wanting to draw Natsu from deep thoughts; Natsu would tend to act like Naruto when he would be in a deep thought, lost until there is an answer. Pulling his baby brother closer to him, he continued the journey to the apartment; making sure that Natsu wouldn't trip over anything while his mind had wandered off with Menma keeping him physically grounded. Fifteen minutes later they made their way up the path with the playground to the left and the apartment to the right. Walking passed the playground and parking lot to the stairs, they climbed up to the third level; pulling out his keys, Menma picked out the orange key and placed it into the key slot. "He's really back then…" Natsu looked around having stepped in first; his darkening red eyes wincing at the bright colored toys stored in the corner of the living room under the window that weren't there Friday morning.
Closing the door, Menma forcing himself from locking the door by reflex and instead slightly pulled back the curtains that hang just to the side of the door, showing that someone is home. Taking off his black shoes and placing them to the right of the door out of the way; following after Natsu and finding him in what was once a guest room. The room wasn't painted nor were the beds a different color than their bland color, but it was noticeable that someone had claimed the room. If the amount of toys left of the room and books to the right were any indication. "It would seem so," Menma leaned against the door frame looking down to Natsu who was staring at the items in the room, "unless you're playing with your toys again?" He chuckled and left the room at the sight of a red Natsu; his newly darkened cheeks made it seem that his equally dark red eyes bled in embarrassment.
"That was once!" Natsu's shout was muffled by the walls as Menma had moved down the hall towards the kitchen, hoping to find that Naruto had some leftovers. Opening the fridge doors, looking around for any plastic containers that contained Naruto's food with his back to the hallway that Natsu came stomping out after him, his face a light shade of red now, "Menma!"
The elder brother in the house turned to the youngest, a smirk in place, "My bad," he sighed dramatically, "I shouldn't have said that they were you're old toys." Natsu nodded, walking over to the cabinets a few feet away from the fridge, "Who gave you your new toys?" Menma chuckled when Natsu turned and glared at him, sticking out his tongue.
Ten minutes later, both mentally agreeing to wait until Naruto came back so they could eat, Natsu sat at the bar that separated the kitchen from the dining room. "Menma, you know who is coming?" Menma leaned against the bar across from Natsu, a half cup of juice standing between them with the jug not too far from the cup.
"Aniki said that Uchiha-san's assistant is coming by to drop off his son, Sai," placing his elbow on the counter, he rested his head in the cradle of his hand. "He told me that you didn't want to be alone with them, so here I am," Menma reached over and rubbed Natsu's flat locks, smiling at the half glare that came from Natsu. Shoving the hand off half-heartedly, he grabbed Menma's cup and drained it of the last contents; placing the cup back he turned his head towards the open door of the once guest room. "Natsu, you need to cool it," matching red eyes jerked back to him, "I don't think Aniki needs more problems on his shoulder with you acting like a brat."
Natsu huffed, resting both arms on the counter with his head on top; "Then they should have stayed away!"
"Natsu!" Menma glared at him, shaking his head; 'He's too much like us…'
"It's true!" Natsu shouted, throwing his arms in the air, eyes showing the anger and fear; "He left us! He left to marry some girl when he was with Aniki! He said that he wouldn't leave, he promised!" Natsu hissed, tears threatening to fall; neither had heard the door opening nor hearing it lock in place. "He promised," he whispered, swallowing thickly, "he said that a man is not a man if he can't keep a promise."
"Maa, seems we came back at the wrong time, ne, Sai-chan?" a tall gray haired man with a mask that covered the lower half of his face appeared at the edge of the kitchen and living room. In the man's arms was a barely awake child, rubbing his eyes with his small hand, and a small plain blue backpack in his hand under the child.
Menma stared at the man, eyes wide; 'How did he get in without us hearing him and what's with his hair?' "Hatake-san?" Menma moved away from the counter, glancing at Natsu who had his head down; when he turned back to the other man, he nodded at the question. "I'm Uzumaki Menma," Menma gave a small bow before raising his hand, motioning to Natsu, "and this is our youngest brother, Uzumaki Natsu." Both men watched the boy as he slowly stood up from the stool, he bowed to the gray haired man before walking, very quickly, to his room down the hall.
Menma sighed when he heard the door slam shut, followed by a click from the lock; "Is there a place I can lay him down?" Menma turned back to other man nodded, "And please, call me Kakashi, I'm not that old." Menma gave a small smile when Kakashi gave a smile, his eyes turning into an upside down 'u'.
"This way," Menma led them out of the dining room to the room; showing the room to Kakashi, he glanced at Natsu's door, seeing the light on and a shadow moving from side to side before stopping. Seeing that Kakashi was in the room, laying the child down, murmuring for him to go back to sleep, he walked back to the kitchen, glancing at the clock. 'Four 'o'clock, thirty minutes then.'
At two minutes before three pm., Hatake Kakashi stood, along with the rest of assistants or butlers, at the front gates of Amegakure Private School; nodding to the others, he stood by the passenger door in the back of the car. Looking down at his watch on his left wrist, watching the seconds ticked by before it hit three as the bell rang; moments later the doors opened with students overflowing, trying to get away from the school quickly. The air filled with little children's laughter, older children waving bye or making plans to meet later in the day or in at a certain area. Quickly the assistants and butlers nodded to another once more before opening the door for their employer's son or daughter, closing it and driving away. Kakashi waited until there were just a few left before moving his hands to his back pockets and leaned against the car. Looking at the watch once more before his hand went into the pocket; five minutes after three, Uchiha Sai came out of the doors and walked into the nearly empty path that stood between the gate and front door.
'Who would have thought that little children could be the worst bullies?' Kakashi sighed, he waited until Sai came up to him, standing in front of him with his head held high but eyes dull. "Hey, Sai-chan, how was your day?" Kakashi moved to rub his head, staring at the little boy who started to breathe hard. Quickly opening the door, Kakashi helped him in and placed the navy blue backpack on the floor by Sai's feet; wiping away the stray tears that fell before closing the door gently. Entering the driver's side, Kakashi buckled in and started the car, "You have your seatbelt on, Sai?" a moment later there was a click before Kakashi saw a nod through the mirror next to him.
Thirty minutes in traffic, Kakashi was finally able to make it out, the freeway opening as he headed towards Naruto-san's home; thirty minutes of hearing Sai sniffing behind him and Kakashi looked to see him rubbing his eyes and chest. "What's wrong, Sai?"
Sai sniffed once more before swallowing a couple of times, trying to clear his throat before attempting to talk; "Hurts," he whispered, his voice broken.
"What hurts?" Kakashi glanced back into the mirror, thinking of a quick route to the hospital.
"My heart," Sai answered.
"Your heart?" Kakashi moved to the next lane, heading to the hospital near Naruto-san's home.
"Mmm," Sai nodded, "they say mean things today."
Kakashi sighed a bit in relief, "They hurt your feelings, Sai?" Worry slowly replacing the fear of Sai being physically harmed.
"Yes, it's dumb though," Sai muttered, his eyes slowly closing as his arms fell onto his lap.
"What is?" Kakashi asked, noticing that Sai was falling asleep.
"Emotions," Sai yawned, "why have them when they hurt you? I wish I didn't have," yawn, "any," Sai whispered before falling asleep to the rocking car and warm air.
Kakashi sighed, turning on the radio on a low volume he continued towards the original destination; dreams that turned into hope for Naruto to be the one to protect Sai in the way his own mother would never do. Looking down at the clock, seeing that it was three thirty-nine pm Kakashi estimated that they'll arrive in roughly twenty minutes. Having memorized the path to Itachi-sama's new home, he could remember the reaction that Naruto had pulled out of Sai by simply making sure that he was ready for school before they left. From seeing how Naruto cared for Sai this morning, one would think that it's a parent's nerves, worried that their child would be scared for going to school, when they had met just two days ago. Naruto cared for them as if they were his and Itachi's not someone else and Itachi; Naruto would be the one to stop and prevent him from building the wall that Sai had to create to keep his emotions away, to keep his heart safe.
Getting off the highway and turning onto the streets that lead toward the apartments, looked at the time when stopping at the red light; it was three fifty-two pm when Kakashi was two blocks away. He pulled up to the apartment, and parked close to the stairs before he turned off the car, staring at the sleeping child in the backseat. Getting out of the car, Kakashi moved to Sai's side and brought him out as well, careful not to wake him from a much needed nap; with the child in his arms, Kakashi grabbed his backpack before closing the door and locking the car. Up the three flights of stairs, he headed towards the door on the left; Kakashi was about to knock when he saw that the window curtains were open so he checked if the door was unlocked.
When he opened the door slowly, he looked around the gap to make sure it was the same apartment from that morning when he heard a couple of voices from further in.
"Natsu!"
'Sounds a bit like Naruto-san,' Kakashi thought, he opened the door more and walked in slowly and quietly.
"It's true!" a shout shocking Kakashi, nearly waking Sai in the process by jostling him; "He left us! He left to marry some girl when he was with Naruto! He said that he wouldn't leave, he promised!" Closing the door with a soft click; Kakashi could hear the boy's broken heart in his voice. "He promised; he said that a man is not a man if he can't keep a promise."
Kakashi walked towards the sounds of their voices, making his presence known. When he introduced himself he didn't look at Natsu, the near carbon copy of Naruto; not wanting to hurt the child's pride at being seen with tears falling as he left the room. Feeling Sai twitch at the slam of the door, Kakashi asked if there was somewhere to lay Sai down and followed Menma to Sai and Sasuke's room. Walking into the room he immediately knowing which side is Sai's due to the items around the room. He pulled back the covers and laid him down gently; Kakashi sat and untied his shoes and placed them on the side of the nightstand. When done with the shoes, the cover was pulled over Sai; Kakashi ran his hand through the dark locks before heaving himself up and closing the door.
Menma turned around in the kitchen at the sound of a door closing, believing it was Natsu, to see Kakashi looking at the door he closed for a second before walking away to the kitchen. "Would you like some tea or hot chocolate?" Grabbing the bright orange kettle from the stove, checking if there was water in it, and moved to the sink under the single window in the kitchen.
At the bar Kakashi sat down on the stool that Natsu had occupied just a few minutes before; "Some tea would be nice," Kakashi gave a thankful smile to Menma when he finished filling the kettle and made his way back to the stove, lighting the burner and placing the kettle over it. Both waited in silence for a few minutes, Kakashi looking around the apartment, not really having a chance earlier with a hyper Sasuke, while Menma stared at him.
"How do you know Uchiha?" Menma pushed himself away from the counter next to the stove to the bar table; hands on the counter, Menma leaned on them bringing his face close to Kakashi. "Who are you to him?"
"I should be asking you that," Kakashi smiled, his eyes turning into upside down 'u's ; "I work at Uchiha Corporation as his assistant, Hatake Kakashi." Kakashi tilted his head to the side, "And you are?"
Menma cleared his throat, "Uzumaki Menma, I'm a school teacher and a tutor for all grades," he started, moving back to his side of the counter, "I know Uchiha through Naruto." Kakashi opened his eyes and raised an eyebrow, "They were friends before they started dating," Menma rotated his wrist, "then broke up out of nowhere."
Kakashi nodded, his eyes looking away, "I see, makes sense…" he muttered to himself.
Menma raised his eyebrow, "What makes sense?" behind him the kettle starting to whistle.
"Hmm?" Kakashi turned back to him, that strange smile appearing on his face, "Oh nothing," he waved his hand, "but I believe that the water is ready." Menma narrowed his eyes before turning to the stove; switching it off, Menma reached over and grabbed four coffee cups and placing them on the counter. Grabbing two tea bags and hot chocolate mix, with each one getting a cup he poured the steaming water into the cups as evenly as possible.
"Menma," Naruto's voice calling out from the front door over a whining noise, "you still here?" Kakashi got up and moved in the direction of the voice, Naruto quickly spotted him; "Kakashi-san," Sasuke wiggling down from his grip, "you're here." Naruto managed to let Sasuke go from his grip, not releasing his laptop case or Sasuke's two bags.
Kakashi squatted to the floor with his arms open for Sasuke who came charging at him, "Yes, just ten or so minutes ago; I hope that Sasuke-chan wasn't too much trouble." Wrapping his arms around the small body, he looked into the navy blue eyes that shined with love and joy; picking him up, Kakashi gave a little toss into the air, Sasuke squealed in laughter.
"No, he took his nap a couple of hours ago," Naruto smiled at the two; Naruto dumped the diaper bag and bag of toys the couch to his left, being careful not to spill anything. Looking around, coming to the conclusion that if Kakashi is here then so is Sai; "Where's Sai?"
Menma motioned down the hall, "Hatake-san put him to bed," Kakashi nodded before giving another small toss of Sasuke into the air. "I made some hot chocolate for you and Natsu, it still cooling off right now," Menma said loudly as he returned to the kitchen to the cups, pulling out four spoons and stirred the contents. Naruto came in behind him, eyes glancing at the laughing pair in the living room, saying "Thanks" as he grabbed the mug, blowing at the contents. "The other cup needs to go to Natsu, Aniki," Menma hinted, looking at Naruto over his cup as he took a quick sip of his tea.
Naruto sighed and nodded, giving a pout when he had to put his mug down; he grabbed Natsu's and headed to his door at the other end of the hallway. When passing the living room, Naruto saw that Kakashi was attempting to stand Sasuke on his feet saying that he had to leave. "Kakashi-san," a black eye turned to him, "you can stay for diner, we have some things to discuss, don't you think?" Hearing a sigh before seeing a quick nod, Naruto continued to his destination: Natsu's room.
Knocking on the door, a soft "come in" was given; walking in the room slowly, trying not to distract Natsu who had his homework out and around his desk. Looking for a spot to set the cup that wasn't too far from the child but not too close to the numerous papers; choosing to move the large and thick text book a bit to make enough space for the cup so that it is within reach. Resting a hand behind the wooden chair, Naruto watched as Natsu easily solved problem after problem; a memory quickly passing through his mind of Menma when they were preliminary school. Menma quickly and easily solving the hardest problems in school, having his two older brothers proud of him even if they were barely passing the subject themselves. "Aniki?"
Blinking away the fond memory, just before Itachi started to tutor him, he turned to his youngest brother, a smile on his face. "Yes, Nat-Nat?" Naruto gave a chuckle at the glare that he was given, a glare that would make Kurma happy.
Rolling his red eyes at his brother, "Can I ask you something?" Naruto tilted his head to the side, wondering why Natsu was asking such a thing; he nodded for his brother to continue. "Why are they here?" the question itself shouldn't have been a surprise, Naruto knew that Natsu would ask eventually. But that didn't mean that he had an answer for him.
Naruto moved from the behind the desk to the bed, grabbing his back pack and placing it at the foot of the bed; his mind blank as he tried to come up with an answer. Sharp pain hitting him in the chest, remembering that a younger Natsu would cry himself to sleep, asking or begging to see "'Tachi-nii;" Naruto could remember the pain that filled him when he told Natsu that he'd be back, trying to calm himself down rather than the child. 'There's no way for me to lie to him,' Naruto sighed mentally; looking up to see that Natsu was turned to him, uncertainty filling his eyes. "Itachi is living with us."
"Why?"
"Because, Itachi had wanted me to be the boys' godfather," Natsu scrunched his eyebrows, confusion written all over his face, "and he also wants me to help him raise them." The confusion changed into anger.
"Why? They're not yours!" Natsu stood up from his desk, causing the chair to bump into the desk, a few drops of hot chocolate leaked over the edges of the cup. Naruto stared at Natsu, wanting him to let out whatever anger he had inside him; "They're not related to us, there's no reason for them to be here, even if you are their 'godfather'!" Natsu hissed out the words, his red eyes bright with anger, his hair seeming to move slowly sway to invisible wind.
"It does not matter what you think, Natsu," Naruto's calm voice responded, mentally hitting himself for not closing the door all the way, "they will be living here until Itachi believes that he can handle them on his own." He stood up, daring Natsu to say anything more, "Until then, I want you to introduce yourself to them and be nice."
Natsu huffed and returned back to his seat, "I have to finish my homework now, there's a test later in the week."
Seeing as he was no longer going to have Natsu's attention, as Naruto left the room saying that Natsu had to eat dinner with them. With a soft sigh, Naruto walked away from the door towards the kitchen; when entering he moved to the set of drawers to pull out a simple cook book. Looking through the table contents, he picks to go with Curry; simple and fast. As he gathers what he needs for the recipe, Menma asks if he can help with the vegetables; once everything is set and ready, Naruto covers the pot with its lid, sets a timer for forty-five minutes, and turns to Kakashi.
Taking a breath Naruto came to stand next to the counter that divides the kitchen from the dining room; across from him is Kakashi, the older man waiting for him to start, and beside Naruto, standing between the two, is Menma who is looking at them both. "I'm curious," Naruto starts, "how do both boys have blond hair when Itachi and his entire family are brunette?"
Menma glanced at Kakashi before looking back at Naruto, seeing the dead-serious look in his now hard blue eyes. "Aniki," he whispered, not able to say anymore.
Kakashi only sipped the last of his tea, slowly as if thinking of a way to answer or to change the subject, which he doubted he would be able to. Naruto saw this and continued, "Or Sasuke's eyes?"
"His eyes?" Menma asked.
Naruto nodded, "I told you earlier over the phone, Sasuke's eyes don't look black like Itachi and Sai's." Naruto never took his eyes off Kakashi, seeing the older man slouch a bit, "Who did Itachi marry?" Naruto whispered.
Menma nodded, "That's a good question to ask," crossing his arms, "considering that the children look like a perfect mix of both Aniki and Uchiha." Naruto sputtered a bit, sending a blushing glare to his younger triplet.
"You must understand," Kakashi set the empty cup down, "I wish to respect Itachi-sama's wishes, if he has yet to tell you, then I will not do it instead of him."
"What's wrong with Aniki knowing who Uchiha married its public knowledge." Menma brushed off with a wave of his hand, a frown on his face.
"It was a secret from the public, only known to those in higher society," Kakashi said evenly, "but it is now known as it was made public that Itachi-sama is no longer married to her."
"To who?" Naruto whispered.
"I'll explain what I know, Naruto-san," Kakashi said, not wanting to upset either of them.
Looking over his shoulder, Naruto saw that remaining time on the timer, "Good, you have thirty-eight minutes to explain." Menma nodded, his stomach grumbling as a reminder that he was still hungry.
Dinner was ready, bowls half filled with rice on one side and the curry on the other side, the dishes resting and cooling at the table. Sai was woken up by Naruto on his way to tell Natsu that dinner was ready; groggy from his nap, he kept rubbing his eyes until Naruto told his to wash his face to wake up. Naruto had asked how Natsu and Sai's day was; Natsu that he was loaded with homework and was having a bit of trouble with a subject. Menma, being a teacher and tutor that he is, offered to help him after dinner, asking what it is that Natsu is having trouble with. Kakashi had finished eating is attempting to help Sasuke get food into his mouth rather than the floor or his bib. Naruto turned his attention to Sai, noticing his dark eyes looking around the table before resting on him.
Seeing Naruto looking at him, Sai turned his eyes towards his bowl, trying to finish it without getting in trouble. "Sai," Naruto whispered, Kakashi glanced at them for a second before looking back at Sasuke who was fighting for the spoon. "Sai, how was your day?"
"Okay," Naruto frowned at the soft voice.
"Did you do anything fun?" Naruto leaned toward him; Sai shook his head, "Learn anything new?" another negative. "How about your homework?" dark eyes met his, "Do you need help with it?" Negative. "Well, can I look over it just in case?"
"If you want to," Sai whispered; Naruto sent a small smile towards him, happy to hear him speak.
As it neared seven, Menma received a call from Kurma just after Kakashi left, complaining that he was stuck with his annoying boyfriend. Naruto giving Menma two to-go bentos before he left, laughing that the food wasn't for him. When left alone with three kids, one hiding in his room as Menma gave key points to help with the homework, a toddler slowly keeling over, and a four year old finishing the second half of his homework.
Naruto sat in dining room next to Sai, looking over the finished part of his assignment; stumbling towards him was a sleepy Sasuke, rubbing his eyes before lifting his arms, pulling at Naruto's shirt. Looking down at his side, a smile appeared at the sight of a sleepy Sasuke; picking him up and sitting him on his lap. Sasuke moved to around only to end up laying his head on Naruto's chest, his arm slipping between Naruto's, his other hand moving to his mouth. Naruto looked down at his chest, running his hand through the soft hair, chuckling at Sasuke who was sucking his thumb in his sleep. Looking over the last page before he caught up to the page Sai is currently working on, he turned his attention to the older brother.
Pointing out for him to rewrite a word or two as they went passed the line or if it was spelled incorrectly; when all his papers were done, Naruto looked at the clock and saw that it was eight-thirty. "Put your things up and grab your pjs, I'm going to get your bath ready," Naruto carefully got up from the chair and headed to the bathroom. Walking in and turning on the light, Naruto moved over to the tub to start the bath; playing around for the right temperature for both boys. Kneeling on the hard tiles, Naruto tried to stand Sasuke up while he stripped him of his clothes and diaper.
Having put the dirty clothes by the door in a pile and the diaper in the trashcan, Sasuke slowly woke up at the cool air that was hitting his warm body and to the sound of running water. Naruto, having seen him, smiled at him, "Ready for a bath, Sasuke?" Checking the water temperature once more, Naruto lifted Sasuke and sat him in the tub splashing the water on the boy.
For a moment Sasuke frowned, looking around what little he could see over the tub before looking around himself. "Bath?" he asked, touching the steady growing water with his chubby hand, staring in awe when he hand went through. Naruto leaned over the side, his hand scooping up water and splashing it at the shocked Sasuke when he was soaked. Slamming his hands in the water, trying to grab the water, Sasuke giggled, sending a toothy smile to Naruto.
The door opened to show Sai standing on the other side, in his arms is a set of dark pajamas; Naruto slowly stands up, turning off the tap when the water has reached Sasuke's lower chest. "I'll be in the hallway, call for me when I can come back in, okay?" Naruto tells Sai as he leaves, waiting for Sai to respond with a nod or verbal answer. He gets a nod. After closing the door Naruto walked to the boys' room, not that it was far from the restroom, looks through Sasuke's clothes and a fresh diaper. Giving up on picking out a set of clothes he grabs a dark navy blue one piece that has a picture of a duck on the front; smiling at the article of clothing, Naruto steps out of the room, wondering if he still has toy duck from Natsu.
"Naruto-san!" a small voice calls out just as Naruto returns to the bathroom door, followed by the sound of splashing water and Sasuke giggling. Opening the door to find a small puddle of water has fallen onto the titled floor, Sasuke splashing water and giggling, and Sai who is rubbing his eyes. "Stop it, Ototo," Sai turns his back to Sasuke trying to keep the water out of his eyes.
"Sasuke," Naruto's firm voice catches their attention, "stop being mean," placing Sasuke's clothes over Sai's clothes, that sit over the lid on the toilet, Naruto grabs two towels. One on the clean clothes and the other by the tub, giving Naruto cushion so he knees won't hurt giving Sasuke a bath. When kneeling Naruto pulls out and squeezed a small pink rubber duck, grabbing Sasuke's attention before he started to play with the water; handing it to Sasuke Naruto turned to Sai. "Tired?" he asked, his hand going under Sai's chin, his free hand removing Sai's fists to see his eyes.
"No," Sai stiffens at the touch, his eyes barely opening before closing them tight. Sai can feel Naruto gently rubbing around his eyes, moving his wet hair out of the way to keep it from dripping more water in his eyes.
"Does it hurt?" Naruto whispered, now and then glancing at Sasuke who is in awe at the floating duck, trying to make it sink.
"A little," Sai whispered back, his hands going back to rub them.
Naruto stopped messaging and instead stopped Sai's hands from coming up to his face, "Don't rub them," seeing dark eyes that had a small tint of red surrounding them look at him, "your eyes are turning red. If you keep rubbing them they'll still be red by tomorrow and then you can't go to school."
Laying his hands down and into the warm water, Sai asks, "Why I won't I go to school? I'm not sick."
"Right you're not sick, but your eyes will be red, they'll call for someone to pick you up believing that you are sick." Naruto answered patiently, "I'm going to bath Sasuke and you just close your eyes, the pain should pass soon, there was no soap in the water." Naruto moved to Sasuke, pulling him close to the side of the tub and started to bathe him; after a quick bath, Sasuke nodding off once more, Naruto glanced at Sai, smiling at the sleepy child as he gripped the tub wall his eyes slowly opening then closing.
Grabbing the ready towel, he picked up Sasuke and wrapped him up in it, drying off the half asleep toddler; when completely dry and barely damp hair, Naruto put him in a fresh diaper and dressed him in the one piece. "Don't fall asleep, Sai, I'll be right back," Naruto gently poked him on the neck, and was given a giggle. Quickly checking the water, careful not to drop Sasuke that lay fast asleep in his arms, he let some water drain; when it was half the amount, he closed it drain and added more hot water. Leaving the door half open as he left, Naruto went back to the boys' room and lay Sasuke down on his bed; making sure that the mesh wall was secure he returned to the bathroom.
Turning off the tap, he kneeled again by the tub; scooping and dropping the warm water onto Sai's head, he started Sai's bath. Washing out the suds from the hair, dark eyes were wide open, watching Naruto; Naruto smiles at Sai, "Want to finish?" Sai nodded, a small smile on his face. Naruto turned around to sit on the towel with his back to the tub, his eyes closed, "Sai, can I ask you a question?"
"Yes?" Sai answered, barely heard over the splash of water.
Naruto turned his head to the side, wanting to hear Sai's answer to his question; "Do you remember what you said this morning?" The grunt that he was given would have made Itachi proud, "That I look like a nice mommy," Naruto turned so that he could see Sai's head.
Sai looked down, a light pink blush colored his cheeks with his wet hair covering his eyes, "Yes."
"Why did you say it?" Naruto asked, "Don't you like your mommy, Sai?" Recalling that their mother would tell things to Sai behind Itachi's back.
For a moment Naruto believed that Sai wouldn't respond, which he didn't mind, but he kept thinking about what Sai said earlier. "Mother," a shaky voice froze Naruto's heart, "she isn't nice," slowly Sai's dark sad eyes turned to Naruto. "She didn't care for us like you do; you have only been with us for a little bit," he whispered, "and you nicer than Mother."
Looking into those dark eyes, seeing the emotions that the child would not show on his face; the pain that filled this child's voice brought a chill to Naruto's heart. 'What mother couldn't love their child?' Naruto recalled Mikoto, Itachi's mother; Itachi was told that she didn't want a child, but her perspective changed when she had him. True, she refused to have another, but she cared for Itachi, even if she couldn't show it outwardly; Mikoto was the one to bring compromise between Itachi and his father, Fugaku. "I see," Naruto whispered, "some people don't see how amazing it is to have a kid or two," in his attempt to have the boy laugh or smile the least. "I grew up with six other boys in the house," Naruto shook his head with a smile and Sai turned to him, "it was crazy every day and night; too loud and always messy," Naruto made a dramatic groan, causing the sad child to give a small smile. "But you know what," Naruto got onto his kneels, his elbows resting on the edge of the tub, his finger tapping Sai on the nose, "we loved each other." Sai scrunched up his nose in confusion, "We loved each other so much that we cared about one another, even if it meant taking sides in the family, even if it meant that we had to get away from one another."
"What do you mean?" Sai asked.
"What I mean is that your dad saw that you were being hurt, Sai," Naruto rested his head on his arms, staring straight into those dark eyes, "your dad saw that you were being hurt so he took you and your brother away from it. Even if it meant him being far from work, from your school, from your grandparents, or even your friends," Sai moved back and tilted his head. Naruto noticed the reaction but moved it to the side, wanting to think on it later; "Your dad loves you enough to protect you from those that hurt you," Naruto reached out and poked Sai on the forehead, knowing that Itachi would do the same to his boys, "and that's what matters. Your mother might not have been nice, but your father loves you, Sai," here Sai looked down, his body causing ripples in the water, "it's not hard to love two beautiful and smart boys, either." Naruto had to swallow, his chest becoming tight as an image came to his mind that he was there for the boys the whole time, where he is truly related to these beautiful boys. But it is only a dream, one that, he doubt, would ever come true.
"Father would talk about you a lot," Sai muttered, a shaky breath echoing in the bathroom, "that you would like us a lot and that you would take care of us when he couldn't." Sai rubbed his eye as a yawn came from him; Naruto heaved himself up, catching Sai's attention, and grabbed another dry towel. Holding the towel open and up for Sai to stand and be covered by the cloth, "Right?"
Picking the child up and then setting him on the floor, Naruto turned around to give him privacy and just before he could answer Natsu comes running into the restroom, shifting from one leg to the next, "Needs to go, Aniki!"
Moving his hands to his hips, Naruto glared at his younger brother, "Sai is changing," believing that Natsu would get the clue.
But apparently his bladder must be jamming the signals to his brain when he responded with: "And? I gotta go!"
"There's two bathrooms, baka!" Naruto glared harder, feeling Sai move behind him.
Natsu blinked before shouting "Right!" as he ran down the hall to Naruto's room and Naruto nearly shouting "No running in the apartment!" after him.
Sighing at his brother's stupidity, he looked to Sai, seeing him wide awake now; "I'll stand outside this time okay? Just come out when you're done," Sai nodded slowly. Standing outside with the door open an inch or two, Naruto remembered Sai's question. "What did you ask about?"
"That you'll take care of us," Sai said through the door, "when father can't care for us, will you?"
Feeling a tug on his lower back, Naruto turned to a sleepy Sai who was once more rubbing his eye; turning and kneeling down, Naruto picking him up and turned off the lights as he went to his room. "You don't even have to ask, Sai," he whispered into his ear. Briefly checking on Sasuke as he passed by the room; Naruto continued walking to his room and sat down on the bed, cuddling Sai to his chest to dry him off. As quick as Sasuke's hair dried when wet, Sai's didn't dry as quick; when Naruto's arms began to tire, he slid the sleepy boy on to the bed and went to the bathroom, barging in on someone. "Hey!" Natsu turned to the side, trying to cover himself, "I'm using the restroom here!" his voice cracked a bit as embarrassment colored his face.
Naruto rolled his eyes and reached for his blow-dryer that sat on top of his sink, "It's useless to cover yourself, Nat-Nat," Naruto looked over his should as he left, "I had to bathe you, you didn't like anyone else giving you a bath." He closed the door before Natsu could answer, snickering when his younger brother called him a liar. Unraveling the cord from the device and plugging it up to the socket behind the nightstand, Naruto sat on the bed setting the blow-dryer to the lowest setting. Carefully picking up Sai and sitting him on his lap, he dried his damp hair, his finger brushing through the soft hair that he seemed to have taken from Itachi.
That's how Natsu found them when he walked out of the bathroom a few minutes later, a small blush still coloring his cheeks; seeing the content look on his Aniki's face, a look that he hasn't seen since he was younger. Slowly walking out of the room, his eyes on his brother, he closed the door some before heading to his own room. Looking at the clock, having read it little passed nine pm, he debated if to read his new book or go to bed early.
After Sai's hair was completely dried, Naruto carried him to his bed and tucked him in, checking on Sasuke one more time before leaving the room. Closing the door half way, he headed to the kitchen to clean the dishes; a few minutes later Natsu appeared next to Naruto, holding out his hand to take the wet dish and dry it himself. "I thought you were asleep," Naruto looked down to his brother.
Natsu shrugged, "How long are they going to stay?"
"As long as Itachi needs to," Naruto whispered, not liking the tone in Natsu's voice.
"Aniki," Natsu placed the last dish in the cabinet, "are you really over him?"
A few minutes passed, Natsu watching from the sink as Naruto checked over everything in the kitchen was put up, before he answered, "I will never be over Itachi completely, but I can get passed him." Naruto stood in front of Natsu, his arms on his shoulders, "I can never get rid of the fact that Itachi was my first love," Natsu's face turned red in shock, "or him being my first boyfriend," Natsu tried to escape, his face changing from red to a pale and nasty green. "It's not something that you can really, truly get over, but I can get over it." Naruto smiled at Natsu's reactions and dropped his grip from the younger sibling, chuckling at the rushed "good night" before hearing the door slam shut. Laughing as he left the kitchen, having turned off the lights, and moved to sit in the living room couch; turning on the T.V. in the dark room, his eyes whatever is on but his mind going back to the conversation that happened earlier.
FLASHBACK
"The woman that Itachi-sama married was Yamanaka Ino," Kakashi looked straight into Naruto's eyes, "whatever small differences that you can find between Itachi-sama and his sons are due to her, as their mother." Menma nodded, staring at his older brother in worry; "It's why they both have some blond hair and why Sasuke has a blue tint to his eyes."
Naruto took a deep breath, curling his hands into fists to keep the anxiety at bay; "Do we look alike?" When Kakashi tilted his head to the side with a wrinkle appearing between his eye brows Naruto rephrased the question; "Does um Itachi's previous wife and I look alike?"
"Surely you must a little, Aniki," Menma rested his arms on the table looking at the two others, "I mean, blue eyes and blond hair… But why are you asking?"
Shifted from foot to foot, a slight blush appearing on his cheeks, "Because the other day," Naruto rubbed the back of his neck, "Sasuke called me 'mommy'." Two sets of eyes stared at Naruto, both smirking at his discomfort, "What?"
Menma nodded, smirk still in place, "Yeah, I can see you as a mommy, Aniki," Naruto tilted his head, "you have a slim figure, Sasuke probably confused you with her as he thought you were a girl." Naruto gave shout before reaching over and pinching his brother on the arm.
"Yes," Kakashi nodded, ignoring the two for a moment, "you two do look alike; it was most likely why she was picked to be married to Itachi-sama."
Naruto turned back to Kakashi, "So then I'm a replacement for her, for the kids?" he whispered.
Menma rubbed his arm at where he was attacked, shaking his head, "You didn't hear what he said did you?" Blue eyes glanced at him, "Aniki, Kakashi-san said that it was why 'she was picked'," Menma looked to Kakashi, "and what do you mean by that?"
Kakashi sighed, "It's not my place to tell."
Naruto raised an eyebrow, "But you're going to tell us anyway…"
Kakashi shook his head, "No, I'm going to tell you what I know," he smiled; both Naruto and Menma rolled their eyes. "A few years ago, when I was working under Fugaku-sama, I had to draw up a list of daughters that were not married, were of age, blond, blue eyed, and could tie two companies together."
"Someone like Ino?" Naruto whispered.
Kakashi nodded, "Yes, her family had their fingers in all sorts of medical experiments that are helping to heal those with advanced illness; if Ino and Itachi-sama would marry it would profit both companies." Kakashi paused, "When I asked Fugaku-sama why he needed this list he said that it was the last thing he would do to pressure his son."
"What?" Naruto and Menma leaned close to Kakashi, confusion written on their faces.
Kakashi chuckled, "You sound the same," he ignored the twin glares he received, "Fugaku-sama meant that he is not going to force him to do or be something that he is not. I do believe that his older brother, Madara, helped 'change' his mind," Naruto and Menma nodded slowly, not quite understanding Madara's significance in Itachi's life. "Madara has always had a soft spot for Itachi-sama," Kakashi explained, "saying that Itachi-sama would be able to achieve what Uchihas would never allow nor know."
"And what's that?" Naruto asked, his eyes wide.
"That," Kakashi said, "I have no idea, but I do know that he'll do whatever he can to make it possible. And by the way," Kakashi looked into Naruto's eyes, "I think that you're burning the food, the timer went off a couple of minutes ago." He smiled when Naruto hurried to turn off the stove.
Since this is a really long chapter, don't expect more of them! I didn't actually think it would be this long but I really wanted to make it up to you guys, but still no more long chapters if I can help it! Right, the Uzumaki-Namikaze family tree (well, list actually):
Parents & Current age in story:
Uzumaki-Namikaze Kushina, 51 years
Namikaze Minato, 52 years
Children & Current age in story:
Uzumaki Naruto, 29 years
Uzumaki Kurma, 29 years
Uzumaki Menma, 29 years
Namikaze Yahiko, 15 years
Namikaze Nagato, 13 years
Namikaze Natsu, 10 years
Namikaze Karin, N/A
I hope that this answers your question, Darklife21. Review just before you close the tab or go looking for another story!
Thanks!
-yoli