Okay, again I am sorry, but I plan on finishing my stories no matter how long they take. No matter how many times I may seem like I have disappeared, I will come back. You know, unless I die or something, but that probably won't happen anytime soon. Now onto the story.
(and yes, I am using some of the sections from the original story of mine.)
Disclaimer: Now if I owned Naruto, it would not have ended like that, now would it?
XxX
"See you later Sasuke-kun!" Sasuke heard the girls behind him squeal as he left the academy. He rolled his eyes and continued walking away from the school even though they were only allowed to leave if a family member was present. Itachi was supposed to walk with him, but he had received a call from him again saying he couldn't make it on time and that he'd make it up to him later. The teachers were hesitant on letting him go, but allowed him to anyways because they had also received a call of permission from Itachi and trusted Sasuke.
The eight year old took his time to get home at first, stopping by the river for five minutes and running home the rest of the way after, knowing that his older brother would probably be done with whatever he was doing by then.
Sasuke ran through his house's front gate and doors. When he entered he sat on the front steps inside of the house and tore off his shoes. "I'm home!" He shouted and threw his school bag onto the ground.
His mother stepped out from the kitchen and stood in the doorway. "Welcome back Sasuke, how was school today?" Mikoto, his mother, asked him.
" Same as usual; boring, the other kids are so slow." He explained, crossing his arms and walking towards his mother to hug her quickly.
Mikoto hit him lightly on the top of his forehead. "Be nice Sasuke. If you're not nice you'll never make any friends. Why don't you give the people a chance to be your friend?"
"I did, but they're just too annoying so I don't want them to be my friends." Sasuke mumbled and walked into the kitchen to eye the food that was being made, fried tilapia with Onigiri balls.
Mikoto gave him a warning eyebrow lift. "What was that I heard?" She questioned.
Sasuke turned around nervously and gave a weak smile. "Your food smells good and I'll give them a chance?"
Mikoto laughed. "Lying isn't good Sasuke and I am serious about you being nicer to the others. Now go and get Itachi and your father; lunch will be finished soon."
"Hai," Sasuke said, running up the stairs towards Itachi's room excitedly.
XxX
"Pakkun don't eat that!" Naruto screamed at the pug who tried to eat a wild mushroom on the forest ground. Said dog looked up and wagged his tail, continuing to walk along the trail with Gai following behind.
"What a magnificent day to be outside." Gai said to no one in particular. Naruto smiled. It has already been a month since he promised Kakashi he would walk Pakkun with Gai-sensei in trade for not telling his parents about his last attempt to sneak out, totally worth it since he didn't mind the over enthusiastic adult.
The three were headed down an old path that led to a small stone-paved clearing in the forest, one only Naruto and Iruka knew about. The clearing had a single wooden swing tied to the branch of an overgrown tree and a black metal bench. Naruto called this spot the "magical forest" because when he was younger, he and Iruka accidentally stumbled upon it when it was dark looking for Pakkun. Iruka urged him to leave as soon as they got there in fear of danger, but when Naruto looked back, hundreds of lights began floating around him and Pakkun appeared from nowhere. After they retrieved the dog he tried to run back to it, but Iruka dragged him away, promising to come back another day, yet they never did.
Until later on he didn't realize those lights were actually fireflies, but that didn't stop him from wanting to come back. The entrance to the clearing came into sight, or at least for Naruto it did. It was a lot more eroded compared to his first encounter. Roots of plants came out from the few stones that were in view, thick bushes and grass overlapped the pathway, dirt rubbed over the top, looking like a dead end rather than a clearing.
"Come on Naruto-kun, we must head back, the path has ended." Naruto was about to continue anyway, but he felt the leash tug. Pakkun began to follow Gai back towards the mansion. "Today is a good day to go on a run. What do you say Naruto, shall we go and run back?" Gai began to jog in place while Pakkun whimpered and tugged to follow. Naruto sighed and headed back. Maybe another time.
XxX
"Hey Naruto, how was your day?" Minato greeted his son as he entered the dining room. Naruto looked tired, arms folded on the table with his head resting on top of both.
"Ngh, tired" he mumbled, not lifting his head up. After finishing their walk with Pakkun, Gai decided to spend the rest of the day outside since the weather was so marvelous. Usually it's the adult who gets tired, but in this case the kid had gotten beat out.
Minato chuckled. "I bet. I saw you and Gai-san running outside my office window, much more running than what I could have ever handled."
Gai let out a loud chuckle. "Your father is such a funny man. Back when he was younger he used to be one of the fastest men in his village. When I went to the academy he used to attend, all of the staff and students would talk about him being the legend they called the Yellow Flash. They used to say he ran so fast that it seemed as if he were to teleport from place to place. Amazing right?"
Naruto lifted his head up in interest. "Really? Is that true dad?"
Minato shook his head and sat down next to his son, plate being set in front of him. "The citizens always exaggerate. I was only just above average." Naruto let out a pouty face, placing his head back in his arms, uninterested. "...But why not one day when I'm not busy we and your mother go out for a run together.
Naruto's head shot up so fast it almost caused a whiplash. "Really? We can?" He practically screamed in his father's face. Minato laughed and rubbed his hair, nodding. Naruto's eyes sparkled and practically ran out of the room to find his mother. "Mom! Dad said we can go running! Can we go tomorrow? Are you busy? Let's go tonight even!" he screamed out of the dining room, searching for his mother.
He wasn't obsessed with running or anything, he found it fun, but he liked the idea of actually spending time with his parents. His parents were always both working so hard, so he understood why they barely had time to spend with him. Besides, he always had the workers to talk to and the internet to explore, so he had nothing to complain about. However, if he could change anything, spending more time with them would be tied to being able to visit Konoha, the village which his father governs.
"Naruto what are you saying?" A red haired woman said down the hall, his mother.
"Mom! Dad said we can go running! Can we go tonight? Please?" He ran up to his mother. Any of the tiredness he felt from running with Gai was now gone.
Kushina took the boy's hand as he approached her at full speed. "Maybe some other day, but not tonight, it's too dark out."
Naruto's lip puffed out and looked at his mom, swinging their arms as high as he could as they walked back to the dining room for dinner. "What about tomorrow? Or the next day? Or even the one after that!" he began listing off random day.
"Heh you're like me when I was younger. Where do you keep all that energy? In your stomach?" She asked in an amazed voice as she bent down and poked the side of his stomach. Naruto laughed when it began to tickle. The two turned the hall with held the dining room. "We'll see when we can go out. Maybe even after we can have a picnic or something. Just the three of us."
Naruto's smile grew even wider and squeezed her hand harder, excited for the days to come.
XxX
It's been a week since they had made Naruto the promise, yet they still could not find any time to go on a run.
"Asuma-sensei." Naruto whispered to the adult in the room as he laid upside down on his bed with a handful of cards in his hand. "Do you know if my dad's busy today after his meeting?" he asked as quiet as he could. When there were other adults in house who were foreign to him, he was not allowed to make too much noise or leave his room.
Asuma shook his head. "I'm not sure but we can ask when he's done talking to the man. Do you have any Aces?"
"Goldfish." he said, motioning his head towards the pile.
Asuma laughed at the kid. "It's 'go fish' not goldfish." He said as he took a card from the deck.
Naruto rolled back onto the bed and stared at the other rather than asking for a card. "Asuma-sensei, I need to go pee." he spoke in the most serious voice, slowly placing his cards down and using the other hand to hold his bladder.
"Then go to the bathroom?" He said questionably.
"But the bathroom's at the end of the hall and I'm not allowed to leave, but I really need to go." He began to bounce a little on the bed in attempt to stop his bladder.
Asuma put his cards down. "Just go there quietly and you'll be fine. Make sure no one else sees you."
Naruto waddled off the bed and out of the room. "Thank you and don't look at my cards." He whispered, heading as fast as he could to the bathroom.
Asuma rolled his eyes at the kid. "Who would cheat at go fish?" He said to the empty room.
XxX
"Thank you Fugaku-san for coming all the way over here. I really appreciate it." Minato spoke as the two adults stood up from their places in his office.
"It's no problem Minato-san. It's a pleasure to come back here. How long has it been, five years?" Fugaku asked. Minato stilled a bit in his steps, eyes furrowing. Fugaku noticed Minato's small change in behavior and widened his eyes. "Excuse me for that, I mentioned it without realizing.
Minato put on a small smile. "It's okay. It has been quite a while though. How is Mikoto and your sons?"
Fugaku relaxed a little, but still watched Minato's behavior. "They are all doing fine. Sasuke is almost done with his second year of primary school(1) and Itachi actually graduated early and is now working with me."
Minato looked at the other in surprise. "Wow really, isn't he only seventeen?"
Fugaku nodded. "He graduated last year. Danzo just recently retired, so now I am the head of the ANBU and Itachi has gotten a position as Crow."
Minato was even more surprised. He already knew Fugaku had gotten promoted, hence the meeting today, but he did not realize it was Itachi who was Crow. "He does realize how dangerous that job is? He could get killed."
"Yes I had warned him about it, but he seemed to be very passionate about accepting it."
"I see." Minato motioned his hand towards the door, both of the walking towards it. "I will go make a copy of the contract and the guidance rules, you can either wait in here or the hall, either way." Minato began to walk to a room connected to his office while Fugaku stepped out into the hall. "Oh and by the way," he heard Minato's voice from the inside, "if you want to say hi to Kushina I can take you to her and you're welcome to stay for dinner."
"No I am fine, but I would love to see Kushina again. You two should come and visit our home sometime soon." Fugaku got no response, most likely due to Minato possibly not hearing him. A flush and a door opening was heard from above him. He went to the railing to see who it was, possibly, Kushina. As he looked up, all he saw was a flash of blonde which disappeared seconds after. "How did he get up there so fast?" Fugaku asked to himself, assuming Minato had gotten out from the other door to go to the restroom.
"Here are your papers, I'll take you to Kushina right now. She is most likely in the livingroom. I'm sure she'd love to see you." Minato smiled and led him down the hall.
Fugaku let out a small chuckle. "I see that you are still keeping your reputation as the Yellow Flash." Minato tilted his head to the side in confusion, but laughed anyways.
"I really wasn't all that great back then." He confessed as they walked towards the living room on the second floor.
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Alright, here was the second updated chapter. I updated all of them on the same day, so you can continue onto the third.
Really, thanks for reading.