Chapter 1 - A New Home

Naruto was at his desk, typing up something on his laptop while Shikamaru gave him a report.

"...and apparently a huge battle went down at some canyon in the Land of Earth a few days ago. Witnesses say the whole canyon lit up," he said.

"Couldn't that have just been lightning striking down? It was raining that day, wasn't it?"

"Well, lightning typically doesn't strike in the form of giant, blue lion. Trust me – what caused the explosion was jutsu not Mother Nature."

Naruto stopped typing and thought for a moment. 'A blue lion coming from a thundercloud... I only know one guy who could've made that happen.'

Suddenly, a ninja burst into Naruto's office. "Lord Hokage! Something urgent has come up!"

Naruto shut his laptop. "What is it?"

"It's Sasuke Uchiha, sir! He's at the village gates, and he's demanded that you see him immediately!"

Hana patiently tapped the chokuto against the ground while he and Sasuke waited. It was night when he and his master approached Konoha's gates. Sasuke had told some ninjas on guard duty to go fetch the Hokage. That confused Hana for several reasons. One – because the ninja were extremely surprised to see Sasuke. Two – because they obeyed, albeit reluctantly, and went to alert the Hokage at Sasuke's request; and three – because Sasuke chose to stand outside the village instead of simply entering and going to the Hokage himself.

"Master, is there a reason why you didn't enter the village?"

"Technically, I'm a runaway shinobi who should have been either imprisoned or executed for my old crimes. Luckily, the Sixth Hokage pardoned me, and I was allowed to go free."

"Then why aren't you living in the village? Why do you keep journeying around the world all the time?"

Sasuke stared at the village from outside. "Is it... guilt? No, that would be too simple. ...It's complicated, I guess."

Sasuke kept looking ahead. A man donning a cloak with flames on its tails and a red hat, accompanied by a bearded man with sharp eyes, was approaching him. The two stopped in front of Sasuke and Hana, and the cloaked one removed his hat. Stocky blonde hair and a serious face were underneath. Hana only needed to take one look at this man to know he was the Hokage. The aura he gave off, it was enormous; almost awe-inspiring. Hana had only just met this man, but he already wanted to acknowledged by him.

"It's been a while, Sasuke," the Hokage said.

"That's right, Naruto."

Naruto put up his hand and Sasuke grabbed it. The two shared a smiled. Hana could sense the air of camaraderie between the two. It even made him break out into a smile.

"Haha! You haven't changed a bit!" Naruto exclaimed. "You and I should to catch up over some drin-"

Naruto suddenly noticed Hana. Hana who had black hair like Sasuke. Hana who had black eyes like Sasuke. Hana who was currently holding the chokuto that Sasuke had never allowed anyone else to hold before. The seventh hokage made a shocked face.

"Sasuke... Did you have an affair behind Sakura's back?! Oh my god... Who's the mother? Is it Karen? Don't tell me that me and your secret illegitimate son are related?!"

Sasuke made an agitated face and snatched Naruto up by his collar. "He's not mine, you idiot! All this time and you still don't know to think before you speak?!"

"What else am I supposed to think when you finally come back to the village, and you bring a kid with you?!"

"How the hell did Konoha trust a fool like you with a position like the Hokage?!"

"Ahem..." the lazy-looking guy that Naruto had brought with him gathered their attention. "Not to interrupt your touching reunion, but for Sasuke to come back to the village must mean he's got serious business he needed to tell you. Am I right?"

The lazy-looking man shot Sasuke a look. It was obvious to Hana that, unlike the Hokage, this man didn't share such a close relationship with his master. Sasuke released Naruto.

"Shikamaru's right. I encountered something during my journey that you and all the other kages should know about, Naruto..."

Shikamaru made a disbelieving face after Sasuke finished explaining what had happened on his journey.

"Are you serious? This Jingoro guy that nobody's heard about managed to fight you to the point where you had to summon Susano'o, and he still got away?"

Naruto cupped his chin. "...This is serious. Basically an S-rank criminal is running around and decimating clans and towns at random."

"Not at random. He claims that he's purging injustice and spreading righteousness," Sasuke quoted.

"So he's a psychopath too? Wonderful. Anyway, we should talk more back at my office. Come on."

"Wait. Before that, I need to take care of him."

Sasuke glanced at Hana. Naruto and Shikamaru looked at the boy too. Hana suddenly felt very shy.

"He's the boy who's clan was destroyed by Jingoro, right?" Naruto asked. "What's your name, kid?"

"I-it's Hana, Lord Hokage! Of the Fujikaze clan!" Hana sputtered.

Naruto chuckled at his anxiousness, and ruffled his hair.

"Calm down, Hana. I only asked for your name. Don't get all flustered on me."

"Y-yes sir..."

Sasuke smirked. "Anyway, I decided that leaving him on his own would be too dangerous. He's a good kid with a good heart, but the darkness that's looming over him..." Sasuke closed his eyes and recalled past images of himself. "I don't want him to become like me. Naruto, I want you to make him a legal citizen of Konoha."

"Alright. Done."

Shikamaru shot Naruto a look. "What the hell do you mean 'Done?!' Naruto, you're the Hokage, but you can't just all the sudden-"

"Also, I want you to make him a student at the Ninja Academy."

"Also done."

"Dammit, Naruto! Listen to me!"

Naruto patted Shikamaru's shoulder. "Relax, Shikamaru. Trust me, Sasuke would never ask me to accept someone he thought might jeopardize Konoha's safety. He probably cares more about Konoha than you and I do." Naruto looked back at Sasuke. "Do what you have to do, Sasuke. I'll be waiting in my office when you're ready."

Naruto and Shikamaru left Sasuke and Hana at the gate. At his master's gesture, Hana followed him into the village. Hana's head whipped back and forth. Konoha was, by far, the largest village he had visited yet, and according to Sasuke, what he was seeing was only the old village. An enormous city had been established in Konoha, and Hana was just dying to see it for himself. After spotting a good focal point, Hana gave Sasuke's sword back to him.

"Master, can you hold this for a sec?" he asked.

After handing the sword off, Hana starting climbing a tall pole in the middle of the village. He still didn't know how to wall climb, so he literally had to shimmy up the pole inch by inch. Sasuke snorted as he watched him.

"Maybe I was wrong before. I don't think even Naruto had this much energy when he was young," Sasuke said.

Hana eventually scaled the pole. Atop it, he had what must have been the best view in the entire village. Konoha laid out before him. He could see the Hokage rock faces, one of which was shaped after the man he had just met at the gate. He also saw the huge metropolis above them. The city's lights were blooming.

Hana smiled while the night breeze tossed up his hair. "So this is Konoha - the Village Hidden in the Leaves, huh?"

Sakura had just begun making dinner when Sarada walked into the kitchen. She was donning a white apron while she turned on the stove.

"Mom, you came home later than usual tonight," Sarada said while seating herself at the table.

"Sorry, sweetie. I had to meet with Lady Tsunade and Shizune today," Sakura said putting a pot of water on the stove. "Something really urgent came up."

Sarada saw that the table was clean, save for a thick binder she didn't recognize. "Unknown-nin Autopsy Report," the binder read.

"Does your being late have anything to do with this binder?" Sarada asked while opening it.

Sakura turned around and saw that Sarada was flipping it open, skimming through the written reports and observing the photographs.

"Sarada, don't look at those! There are graphic pictures in there!"

Sarada rolled her eyes. "Graphic pictures? ...It's just photos of cut up dead people, Mom. No need to make such a fuss."

Sakura cringed. Only ten years old and her daughter was already as jaded as her dad. Sarada kept flipping through the binder. She stopped when she found a diagram of the autopsied person's chakra points. Or at least it was supposed to be.

"Mom... Something's wrong with this picture. It says "Chakra Network Diagram," but I can't find the chakra points or pathways."

"That's because there weren't any." Sakura started chopping vegetables. "A few days ago, that man's body was found washed up on a coast in the Land of Snow. We couldn't tell from his clothes whether he was affiliated with that country or not. All we knew was that he had be murdered. There was no obvious point of impact, so he was brought to Konoha where an autopsy was performed. Shortly into the autopsy though, the surgeons noticed that the man had no chakra points."

"So... they were destroyed when he was murdered?"

"Apparently, he didn't have any to start with."

After Sakura finished chopping vegetables, she held the chopping board over the pot and swept the vegetables in. Sarada was still busily staring at the photographs. A man without any chakra points should have been impossible. Even people with little to no chakra and who can't perform ninjutsu have a functioning chakra network. Sarada knew the surgeons wouldn't have made such an obvious error in their report though. They were professionals. This man's strange biology must have been the reason people like Tsunade and her mother were called. This was a brand new phenomena.

Sarada's hummed in thought while she kept going over the binder's contents. Her thoughts were eventually disrupted by the sound of the doorbell.

"Sarada, could get that?" her mother asked while digging through the cabinets for spices.

Sarada sighed and closed the binder. She had a crabby look on her face when she went to answer the door.

"Who visits somebody's house this late at this night?" she mumbled.

She opened the door and her attitude changed in a wink. A dark haired man who resembled her was standing in the doorway. His presence made Sarada freeze up like she was in the Land of Iron.

He smiled. "Sarada... You've gotten taller since I last saw you."

"...Dad?"

Sasuke placed a hand on his daughter's head and rubbed her hair gingerly. "I'm home, Sarada."

Sarada was struck dumb. She couldn't speak. She really wanted to say: "Dad, I can't believe you came back!" Or ask: "Are you staying for good? You aren't going to leave Mom and I again, are you?"Or tell him: "I've become the best student at the ninja academy while you've been gone! Bolt, Shikadai, Inojin – Shino Sensei said my grades are better than all of them!" But she didn't. More specifically, she couldn't. She just stood in front of her father, with a blank look on her face.

"Sarada, who's at the do-" Sakura came to the door with her apron still on, and a knife still in her hand.

She dropped the knife once she saw her husband's face. "Sasuke... You're back."

"Yeah. I'm back," Sasuke said.

Sakura covered her mouth, but weeps still managed to creep out. Tears rolled down her cheek and hit her hand. Sasuke approached her and wrapped his arm around her.

"I'm back..." he repeated.

Sakura kept sobbing as she hugged her husband. "You jerk... It's been over a year, and all you can say is 'I'm back?' You jerk!"

"Is there anything else you want me to do?"

"I want to you keep holding me!"

Sasuke laughed softly and hugged Sakura tighter. Sarada silently watched her parents. She finally manged to open her mouth.

"Dad... Dad I-"

"Master, is alright if I come in now?" came a voice from outside.

Sarada looked through the opened doorway. Standing outside was a dark haired boy holding her father's chokuto. Sasuke looked back at the boy with a tired look on his face. Sarada had never seen him make such an expression before.

"Is that you were waiting for, Hana – for me to give you permission to enter?" he asked.

"You shouldn't say that like it's not a big deal, Master. It's always rude to enter another person's home without their approval," the boy said while coming in.

Sakura stared at the boy, tears still wet on her face. "Sasuke... Who is this boy?"

"This is Hana," he answered.

Sakura looked at Hana. She noticed that Hana had black hair like Sasuke, and had the same eyes as Sasuke, and was currently holding the chokuto she had never seen anyone but Sasuke wield.

Sakura broke from Sasuke's grasp, distraught.

"Sasuke! Dammit! How could you?!" she cried. "...Who was the other woman? Was it Karen?!"

Sasuke scowled. "For the love of... Will you and Naruto get your heads out of the gutter?!"

"Oh... So that's what happened," Sakura said after Sasuke finished explaining who Hana was. She hugged up to Sasuke on the couch. "Sorry for thinking you had an illegitimate child behind my back, honey..."

Sasuke shot her a look, and she quickly inched away from him.

"Anyway... Since Hana is an orphan, I thought it be best for him to stay here village," Sasuke said. "Furthermore, I was thinking he could stay at this house specifically."

Sakura nodded. "That's great! It'll be like having a new member added to the family. Right Sarada?"

Sarada was sitting in an armchair, balancing her chin on her hand. She grunted in response. She didn't bother making eye contact either.

"Good. Now that that's settled, I have to meet go meet Naruto," Sasuke said while getting up. "Hana."

Hana, who was surveying the Uchihas' wide bookcase looked back. "Yes?"

"I'm leaving you in this house's care. In response, I expect you to protect it like you would Guruma village. Understood?"

Hana saluted. "Sir, yes sir!"

Sasuke gave him an approving look as he left the house. Sarada noticed it. It made her feel a bit annoyed for some reason. It was minor, but prevalent; like a fly buzzing obnoxiously at her ear. She watched Hana as he turned his attention back to the bookcase.

'...Dad brought home a really big fly,' she thought.

Sakura stood and headed for the kitchen. "I should finish making dinner," Sakura said while getting off the couch.

She looked so giddy walking to the kitchen the kitchen. Likely because, for once, she wouldn't be making dinner just for two again. She stopped at the kitchen's entrance, and glanced over at the 'fly.'

"Hana, make yourself at home. Dinner will be ready it a bit, OK?" she said.

Hana smiled softly at her and nodded. Sakura headed into the kitchen, and Hana just kept smiling. 'Make yourself at home' - those words made Hana feel giddy as Sakura. They provoked the opposite reaction in her daughter. The two remained in the living room until dinner, completely oblivious of the others emotions. It was an interesting night at the Uchiha household.