Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

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Sushi on the Floor

The moon was high and the dark sky provided Takeshi with a cover in which he used to express himself. His father's cruel words racing through his mind as he slide down the side of an alley wall, his knees to his chest as silent tears of shame fell swiftly from his dark eyes.

No one was out at this time of night, aside a few guard shinobi who were doing the night patrol. Takeshi shook his head. He needed a place for tonight, just one night. And then tomorrow he will go back home and recover some of his things. He had enough money saved up to get a cheap one bedroom apartment and pay a few weeks rent.

His mother had always made sure he put some money away from each mission and odd job he had done since he was just eight years old. Takeshi smiled; his mother was the most amazing woman he had ever known, stronger then strong and far braver then anyone had ever given her credit for. He had heard his Uncle Neji and Uncle Naruto talking about a time she almost died trying to save Uncle Naruto. She stood her ground.

So why did she marry Father?

Takeshi looked around the empty streets before looking down the alley way, he stepped out onto the barren street and walked towards a large house close to the woods near the outskirts of the village.

Looking up at the dark sky and seeing it glittering with stars reminded him of the story his father had told him, just once, about the night he first noticed his mother. Her dress, her smile, how her shyness and hidden strength had caused him to become curious about her, but mainly he spoke about her eyes and how he thought they looked into his soul.

Takeshi was the only one out of his sibling to hear his father's side of view. He was told when he was only four but he still remembers the words and the look on his face when he spoke about her. Yet he had never heard him declare his love for her.

Did he love her? Does he know what love is?

It wasn't long before Takeshi came upon a large house with plenty of beaten trees at the front and a cold blue stone pathway leading to the house. The curtains were closed but small rays of light leaked through.

Taking in a deep breath Takeshi knocked on the door.

There was silence, then the door slowly started to open, eyes similar to his mothers peaked through the crack before the door swung open.

A tall man with long dark brown hair tied back in a low pony tail looked at him with stoic silence before raising his eyebrow, "Takeshi, what are you doing here at this hour?"

Takeshi opened his mouth to speak but before he could a woman with warm chocolate eyes and short chestnut brown hair popped around the man with a large smile on her pretty face, "Oh my Takeshi, we weren't expecting you." Her smile faded fast after she saw his red eyes, "Oh sweetie is something wrong?"

Takeshi knew that they would find out by morning and didn't want to lie to his Aunt and Uncle, "Uncle Neji, Aunty Tenten…" Takeshi took a deep breath as both adults looked at him slightly worried, "I'm gay."

There was silence, his Uncle stared at him his gaze unmoving, his eyes unblinking, Takeshi wasn't sure if he was breathing. His Aunty Tenten looked confused for a moment, "Are you sure?" she asked in a whisper.

"Yes, yes I am. " Takeshi stood taller, almost like he was trying to puff himself up, and nodded curtly.

Tenten smiled a big smile, "Well come in Takeshi, I know it's warm out there but you don't plan on staying out there all night do you?" Takeshi smiled, his Aunt Tenten hasn't changed. Takeshi moved past his still stunned Uncle and went into the warm glow of the kitchen.

Takeshi looked at his Uncle with a bit of worry, "Umm, Aunt Tenten is Uncle Neji ok?"

Tenten simply looked back at her husband and smiled, "He's fine." After seating themselves on the kitchen chairs Tenten leaned over and whispered, "He stayed like that for over an hour the first time I told him we were having a baby. He's not really good with surprises you know." She leaned back and laughed. Takeshi couldn't help a small chuckle.

Tenten looked at her husband and back at her nephew, "Look Takeshi, whatever you are is fine with me. Your Uncle may need some adjusting but he'll be fine." Her hand rested on his arm and Takeshi took comfort in her acceptance.

"NEJI! Are you going to let every moth in the village into our home?" Tenten called to him, Neji jumped slightly and closed the door. With an expressionless face he walked towards the kitchen table and sat across from his wife and nephew.

He sat tall with his hands out in front of him, "What do you mean gay?" He asked and Takeshi heard a tiny giggle escape from his Aunt.

"I mean gay." Takeshi replied trying to get his Uncle to understand that he was gay.

Neji nodded for a second before asking, "How gay?" This time his Aunt Tenten couldn't seem to contain herself as she let out a loud laugh for moment before catching a look at her husband's serious face and stopped laughing… out loud.

Takeshi sighed, "Uncle, I like men. I do not like women. I like men." The fact that Takeshi said it out loud stunned his Uncle for a few moments.

Looking at his hands Neji sighed, "Your family?"

"Mother was… more accepting then father." Takeshi cringed slightly; his father had asked him to leave. Had ordered him to leave, he had disowned him, his own son.

"Your father?" Neji looked his nephew in the eye while Tenten placed her hand upon Takeshi's.

"He… Father had asked me to leave." They all knew that Sasuke had done no asking. Takeshi leaned closer to his Uncle, "I-I was wondering if I was able to stay the night?"

Tenten gasped, squeezing his hand, "Of course Takeshi. You are family." Her eyes held nothing but love; her eyes reminded him of his mothers. He can never forget the moment he let it out, how her eyes went from shock to disappointment to fear. But she loved him and he knew that she would be ok with it over time.

Neji stood, the chair scraping against the wooden floor, "You can stay in the spare room as long as you need it." He left the room avoiding eye contact.

The room was small but it held what it needed, a bed, a dresser, and desk. "Aunt Tenten, is Uncle Neji going to be ok?" Takeshi stood in the doorway while his Aunt made the bed up for him.

After tucking the sheet under the mattress she turned and smiled, "Oh Takeshi. Your Uncle is fine, give him a day and he'll be complaining about how your posture is bad." She laid out the quilt and set the pillows. She sat on the neatly done bed and gestured for Takeshi to join.

"Your Uncle understands you in a way. You see Takeshi, your Uncle married me." Her warm eyes suddenly became distant and sad, "He fought to marry me, to be with me. He went against everything his family held dear and he came to my side, he's never left. The Hyuuga's came after us. They were ready to brand your Uncle's forehead with a traitors brand, it was because of your Uncle Naruto that they weren't able to."

Takeshi was confused, he had never heard this before, "What do you mean?"

"Naruto had been Hokage for only two months before changing the Hyuuga tradition, before… before setting the birds free, letting them out of the cage. It was only seconds before they were about to perform the jutsu that Naruto showed up. He had gotten it outlawed. The Hyuuga Clan ignores us now only because they have too. It's because of Neji that we are together; he chose what was right for him, for us. And because of that we have two beautiful children." Tenten smiled and looked at Takeshi while gripping his hand.

"Listen to me; you cannot try to be someone that you aren't. You cannot be something you aren't. If you're gay, you're gay. And you will always have people around you that will love you." She gave him a kiss on the forehead before standing and walking to the door. "It's past midnight, you need some sleep. Today's been a big day." She turned out the light and closed the door.

He sat there in the dark processing everything he had heard. His Uncle had defied everything his had been taught and he was fine, married and had children. So why can't he? Why can't he be married with children at his Uncle's age?

He closed his eyes and imagined a life in which he raised his beautiful children with his partner, they would love each other, he would be a bit taller than Takeshi, would have shorter hair, he's have to know how to play an instrument, be good with pets.

They'd have pets. A cat, a dog, maybe a pond in the backyard with some fish and ducks…

The children would have dark black hair and his eyes…. maybe hazel would be nice, and they would listen to their parents. Every night they'd ask for us to read them a bedtime story and we would, we'd act out different voices and the kids would laugh.

A life like that, why can't he have one?

Takeshi could feel himself starting to disappear into the blissfulness of sleep and for a few hours, he had that life.

A Few Years Earlier

"Throw it here you ass!" A young girl yelled at her friend, she was tall for her age with bright green eyes and blonde hair with pink undertones. She was wearing an orange jacket that was smudged with mud and shorts that were torn. She was jumping up and down hoping her friend would obey her wish.

Her friend held the ball, he was shorter then her but only barely, he had spiky dark blue hair and hazel eyes. He wore long baggy pants that had been torn during the game and his shirt was roughed with small holes, "You'll get your turn, let Takeshi have a try!"

Takeshi sat on the damp log watching his friends, for him the idea of tearing his clothes or getting them dirty wasn't his idea of fun. He didn't want his parents to have to buy new ones.

The blonde haired girl bounded over to him her bright eyes almost glowing, "Come on Takeshi! Are you going to play?" He eyed her clothing and clenched his jaw, "Ok ok, all I have to do is get that ball into that hoop?" He knew the rules already but he knew how much she loved showing off.

"Well yes. But the ball isn't allowed to bounce off the ring and you have to choose a spot to throw it from, it has to be more than 100 meters away ok? If you fail then you have to go a dare that is picked by your friends… us!" She swept her hand around the muddy area showing only her and the boy with the ball.

He sighed, "Ok ok, Akemi throw the ball to me." Akemi had been one of his best friends since he started school.

Akemi nodded and smirked, he threw the ball with a force but Takeshi was a Uchiha so naturally he was able to catch it. "Where are you throwing from, Takeshi?" Akemi asked.

Takeshi stood his ground, "From right here of course." Akemi looked at him, "That's more than 300meters from the hoop!"

"I know that, but I can make it because-"

"Because I'm a Uchiha…" Takeshi looked at his two friends, who spoke the words together.

"You've said it a lot." Akemi whispered, he looked at the girl as Takeshi started to straighten up, "What do you think Sushi? Will he make it?" Takeshi glared at them through the corner of his eye.

Sushi smiled, "Of course he will, he's a Uchiha." Takeshi ignored them and through the ball and watched as it fell flawlessly through the hoop.

"I am a Uchiha, Uchiha's are foolish, and we don't do things unless we know we can do them." Takeshi flipped his long black hair over his shoulder and sat down on the log.

Sushi giggled as Akemi stared at the hoop. "That was well played my friend." Akemi said.

They sat for awhile talking like always, Takeshi and Sushi would take about work, Akemi wasn't a ninja but he loved to hear about their missions and would often talk about his own school.

"It's boring really; we have to do so much work." Akemi complained, "If I was a ninja I'd be able to beat you both."

"You would not!" Sushi exclaimed loudly, "I'm the strongest there is!"

Takeshi scoffed, "Please I could beat you with one hand tied behind my back."

Akemi laughed, "You two are the same you know?" He paused for a moment and looked at his watch, "Sushi weren't you meant to be home at 6pm?" Her bright green eyes looked at him, "Yeah why?"

"Because it's almost 6pm." Her eyes widen and she grabbed his left arm, closely looking at the watch it read 5:52pm.

"Oh God mum is going to freak out. I said I be home by six to sing Happy Birthday to Jiro, I'm 13 and been treated like a child. I got to go guys. Takeshi I'll see you in class tomorrow, Akemi I'll see you here tomorrow." She glared at him in a playful way, "And we'll see who win king of the hoop!"

It wasn't long after their friend had left that it started to drizzle, "You need to be home soon?" Akemi asked Takeshi, he shook his head, "No, not for an hour. You?" "Nah, same as you."

"I found some tunnels the other day want to see?" Takeshi didn't really want to; it would be muddy down there from yesterday's rain, "Sure why not."

It wasn't a long walk but by the time they had gotten to the tunnels the rain had stopped, hopefully until they had both gotten home. "Come on Takeshi, they are so cool!" Akemi slide down the slippery sides of the tunnel, he held out his hand to Takeshi. His oval face and smiling smirk as he held out his hand made Takeshi wonder if he should be doing this, but Akemi's eyes held so much wonder and excitement Takeshi didn't want to say no.

He took Akemi's hand and his heart skipped a beat and his face felt warm.

Standing at the entrance to the tunnels Takeshi saw nothing but darkness.

"Are you sure we're allowed here?" He asked looking at Akemi's confident face caused him to feel a little sick in the stomach.

"No one has used these in years, step inside, and come on." Akemi took a few steps inside before turning around, "come on Takeshi."

Takeshi took no more than three steps before rain came bucketing down, it was heavy and Takeshi was shocked for a second but then suddenly something else over took him when Akemi spoke, "Looks like we'll have to stay here for a bit." His heart pounding and he felt like vomiting.

It was freezing; Takeshi saw the first few flakes of snow, the first snow of the season. Out of nowhere warm arms wrapped themselves around him, a warm body behind him. Akemi muttered in his ear, "You looked cold."

His heart felt like it was going to break out of his chest, his face was burning, Takeshi had no idea what was happening, it never happened before.

"Akemi…D-Do y-you think we s-should make a run for it?" Takeshi offered, his body shivered as his friend breathed and the warmth tickled his ear.

"O-Of course… I-I was going to say the same thing." Akemi almost threw Takeshi away from him. "We'll go on three." Akemi smirked, "We'll be home in no time."

It felt like no time to Takeshi, it felt like what had happened was a dream. As he got home and told his mother not to worry, yes he'll dry off, yes he'll put his wet clothes in the hamper, yes he's have a warm shower. Takeshi locked himself in his room.

He was in wet clothes, he was freezing, but he felt like he was on fire.

Next Chapter: the bubbles barely covered anything, he saw the tops of her breasts, the long length of her smooth legs, if there was even an inch of less water Takeshi swore he would see everything. "Want to get in?" He smiled, "Move over."

"Sasuke, I need you to think about what you're asking from this family." Hinata whispered, "I need you to think about us, our children, our future." "I know what you want Hinata, I can't give in. I'm not weak, I'm not going to let him come back. He can't, I've signed the papers. In a few days he will not longer be a Uchiha."

Then you must understand why I am doing this…" Hinata didn't hide the tears falling from her sad eyes.