Hello guys, here is the second chapter to this story, hope you enjoy.
In response to the one review regarding Minato's and Kushina's age; well in the AU they are both older than they are in canon, so in this universe Kushina had Naruto when she was in her twenties and had Natsumi in her thirties.
Well anyways read and review to tell m what you think.
6 years later…
Six year old Natsumi sat at Ichiraku's as she happily ate her bowl of ramen, she suddenly choked on a mouth full as she swallowed she grabbed a glass of water and gulped it down, a hand patted her on the back,
"Hey, hey, you're not planning on trying to surpass your brother in ramen eating are you?" said a eighteen year old Naruto, Natsumi just grinned;
"Of course, just you watch nii-san, I'll have surpassed your ramen eating record in no time" Natsumi exclaimed as she resumed eating, Naruto could only chuckle,
"you are still one hundred years early if you think you can beat the record of the Great Naruto-sama" he called out, the two siblings laughed, too engulfed in their own little world; Uzumaki Naruto was a special Jounin of Konoha a rank he was given by the Third Hokage who believed he had the skills for it, though Naruto could easily have made it to a fully fledged Jounin he rejected the offer knowing full well that the responsibilities that came with the rank would prevent him from looking after his little sister; after the death of his parents Naruto decided to study the arts of Fuinjutsu even going as far as studying under Jiraiya whenever he was in the village; after six years of studying the arts Naruto became Konoha's Fuinjutsu specialist his skills claimed to have even surpassed the Fourth Hokage. Ayame a waitress working at the local ramen stand Ichiraku frowned at Naruto gently hitting him over the head with the menu,
"don't encourage her Naruto, Natsumi is a growing girl she can't be eating ramen every day, it is your duty as her elder brother to make sure she has the proper diet" she scolded, Naruto merely smiled at her waving her off,
"ah, don't worry about it Ayame we both get plenty of nutrients, right Natsumi" the young Uzumaki gulped down the remainder of her ramen before nodding with a bright smile, however Ayame looked skeptical,
"is that so..." she eyed Naruto once more, "well then care to tell me what kind of things you cook up?" Naruto gave her a nervous laugh, looking away in embarrassment as he was caught red handed, Ayame raised a brow shaking her head,
"that's it from now on I'll be cooking your dinner" Naruto and Natsumi jumped in surprise,
"eh!" they both called out,
"that's right, I need to make sure the two of you are eating healthy" Naruto tried to push back the idea,
"there's no need for you to cook our dinner every day, I mean we've survived for six years, that's got to say something" Naruto explained, Natsumi by his side nodding in agreement, Ayame sighed,
"your right" the two Uzumaki's grinned, "I'm going to be cooking all of your meals from now on!" she declared immediately shutting down the victory Naruto thought he had. Ayame can be considered to be one of Naruto's childhood friends, having met the girl at a very young age and with their similar interests; cooking for Ayame and ramen for Naruto of course, the two became quick friends. Naruto looked to Natsumi with a grin,
"well, there's nothing I can do about that, looks like we've got a new member in our household" at those words Ayame turned red before quickly turning around going back to work,
"don't misunderstand Naruto, I'm only doing this because I'm worried about Natsumi's health" Naruto grinned, as did Natsumi;
"what about Natsumi's health?" a new voice asked, the Uzumaki's turned to see two Hyuuga's sitting down next to them,
"sup Hinata, Hanabi" Naruto waved to them, Natsumi grinned to the two giving them her own greetings,
"good afternoon, Naruto-kun, Natsumi-chan" Hinata said smiling to them, Hanabi jumping onto the seat next to Natsumi began chatting with her; Hyuuga Hinata, a Jounin shinobi of Konoha was the heiress to the esteemed Hyuuga clan, a very strong and kind individual, she treated everyone with respect, to which point everyone in her clan absolutely adored her; however do not let her kind nature deceive you, for behind that kindness was a deadly kunoichi, excelling in taijutsu, her skills rivaled Konoha's Sublime Green Beast of Prey Might Guy, having mastered every technique that her clan had to offer, she decided to expand her skills and pursue different taijutu styles.
"so what about Natsumi's health" Hinata asked again,
"Ayame nee-chan says she's going to be cooking for us from now on" Natsumi said, Hinata raised a brow before looking at Ayame who still had her back turned,
"maybe I should assist you Ayame-chan" Hinata said a little too sweetly for Ayame's taste, the young waitress looked to Hinata with a smile, her eye twitching with annoyance,
"don't worry Hinata-sama" she replied, "I wouldn't want you to get your hands dirty" Hinata's eye twitched at her response,
"nonsense, in fact I insist" as the two girls continued their exchange, Naruto could only watch in confusion as he slurped on his ramen, he always found Ayame's and Hinata's relationship amusing and weird, the two considered each other the best of friends spending a lot of time together doing various activities, however whenever he seemed to be involved the two always turned competitive always trying to outdo the other; it was a little weird for him. As the girls continued to bicker Naruto was thinking back, he was pretty sure there was something he was forgetting today, and just as he was about ignore the though someone tapped him on the shoulder, turning around he looked into the dark eyes off Uchiha Itachi, he gave the blonde a disapproving look,
"you do realize you were supposed meet with the Hokage two hours ago" he said, and as if a light bulb went off in his head, he brightened up,
"oh yeah so that's what I forgot" he grinned scratching his head in embarrassment, Itachi rolled his eyes,
"just get yourself there Hokage-sama is waiting for you" still grinning Naruto placed some money on the counter before standing up,
"this should pay the bill" he said to the waitress, they two girls stopped their bickering as they turned their attention to the retreating boy,
"I'll be gone for just a minute, do you think you girls can look after Natsumi while I'm gone?" he asked, they smiled nodding. Naruto ruffled his sisters hair before walking towards the Hokage's tower with Itachi; speaking of the Uchiha, as a child he managed to graduate the academy at the age of seven and became chuunin at the age of ten before becoming an ANBU soon after; however because of this he became isolated from society losing all sense of human nature, he would have lost all his emotions had it not been for the support of his mother to maintain his sense of love; learning of this problem the Sandaime Hokage had forced him to join a genin team in order to regain his humanity, and with the help of Naruto and Hinata the two became his best friends to the point he actually considered them his second family.
"So what does the old man want with me?" Naruto asked, Itachi shrugged,
"not sure, however he did say that your presence was important" Naruto shrugged and grinned before slinging his arm over Itachi's shoulder,
"so how's everything back in your clan?" he asked,
"normal; however I believe father has started Sasuke's training"
"maybe we'll get a mini-Itachi" the blonde teased,
"I sure hope not, the Uchiha doesn't need another mindless killer" Itachi replied genuinely concerned, Naruto waved him off,
"ah, don't worry about Sasuke, he's got you!" he exclaimed "and if you ever need any assistance, just bring him to me, I'll set him straight" the Uchiha let out a small chuckle,
"now I'm definitely concerned for his sanity"
"oi, what's that supposed to mean" Naruto called out, chuckling Itachi shook his head,
"nothing, nothing".
Within the Hokage's office, Sarutobi Hiruzen sat in silence frustration building up within, he glanced at the report in front of him as the feeling of dread had also started to build up, after all these years as Hokage he thought he had seen everything, heard of every possible tale no matter how bizarre it would be, yet now here he was reading possibly the most absurd news he could ever imagine; there was a knock on the door, before Naruto and Itachi stepped in,
"what's up?" Naruto greeted, Itachi bowed before walking out the door leaving Naruto and the Sandaime alone; Hiruzen sighed at Naruto's grinning face,
"Naruto would you please" he asked the blonde, blinking Naruto nodded before making a series of hand signs, seals began forming on the ground as they webbed themselves around the room, seconds later they glowed before turning back to normal; nodding at his handiwork Hiruzen turned to Naruto,
"now that no one can hear what's going on, I want you to read this report" he handed the piece of paper to Naruto, the young seal master stared at the document his smile slowly fading before looking to Hiruzen with serious eyes,
"is this accurate?" he asked, the Hokage nodded, "what are your orders?"
"nothing at the moment, however if what Obito says is true then not only is Konoha in trouble but the other shinobi villages as well, in a sense this could possibly lead to war" eyes narrowed, he didn't know how to respond to this,
"we can't just let them do as they please, we need to stop them" he called out,
"and I agree, however without further proof and understanding of these people we'll be walking right into a death trap; we need more information"
"then send me out!"
"you know full well I can't do that, and besides what will happen to Natsumi if you're gone?" Naruto seemed to calm down at the Hokage's reason,
"very well, what do you want me to do in the mean time"
"keep a closer eye on your sister, I have a feeling they are not fooled by our decoy" nodding, Naruto scratched his head in frustration before walking out the door canceling the silencing jutsu in the process; he met up with Itachi who stood outside waiting for him,
"what did the Hokage want?" he asked, Naruto shrugged his shoulders,
"you know, this and that" Itachi raised a brow not believing a single word but went along with it; when Itachi was initiated into Naruto and Hinata's team there was little to no interaction between them, in fact when Naruto first met Itachi he hated him, well more so his attitude than Itachi himself while Hinata was relatively passive about the whole ordeal it wasn't until Naruto had learnt of Itachi's upbringing did he start to warm up to the boy, and it took a total of two months to finally get a smile out of the Uchiha which Naruto still considers to be his greatest accomplishment; now after all these years the two were the best of friends even going as far as considering each other as brothers. The two made their way out of the tower as Naruto was suddenly tackled by a yellow blur, laughing he ruffled Natsumi's hair,
"come on nii-chan you promised to play ninja with me today"
"eh! you mean we weren't playing before?" he exclaimed, Natsumi pouted,
"of course not! we still haven't decided on the mission yet" breaking out a grin Naruto stood up dusting himself off,
"alright then, what should today's top secret mission be?" Natsumi got into a thinking pose, both Naruto and Itachi stared at her intently, a light bulb went off,
"let's prank the Hanabi-chan's place"
"Natsumi-chan, I don't think Hiashi-sama would appreciate..." but Itachi was cut off by Naruto,
"that's my little sister, always thinking big" he cried out followed by a laugh, Itachi didnt really know how to react though he wasn't surprised either, he sighed before walking towards his clan compound,
"just don't get into too much trouble you two" he said over his shoulder,
"don't worry Itachi nii-san we won't get caught" the young Uzumaki called out, Itachi didn't say anything merely waved in acknowledgment as he disappeared into the distance. Naruto turned to Natsumi who grinned in excitement, he gave her a thumbs up and the Uzumaki signature grin,
"now then, to the drawing board!" Naruto exclaimed.
Hinata sat quietly in her room reading through some scrolls about taijutsu techniques, she looked to the clock next to her it was three o'clock, normally this would be the time she would start her training however something told her she should probably stay indoors for now, her eyes looked to the two photo's that were sitting by her desk, the first one was of her team when she and Naruto were Genin, the picture had Naruto standing in the middle giving the camera a thumbs up and his signature grin, Itachi who stood to his left wearing his chuunin vest giving the camera a blank look, she stood to the right looking shyly at the camera shrinking into the jacket she wore, and finally their Jounin sensei, Uzumaki Kushina, she stood behind the three Genin wearing her Jounin vest and hair tied into a high pony tail, she too had a wide grin that mirrored Naruto's; the second photo was new taken only recently, the three of them, Naruto, Itachi and herself standing side by side all with sincere smiles. Hinata smiled to herself, the three of them still upholding the name of Team Kushina; there was a sudden eruption of noise from outside her door, standing up she quickly made her way to the courtyard and what she saw could only be described as amusing, she watched as many of the branch and main members of her family running around trying to find the culprit as they were covered in multiple colors of paint, Hinata looked to her father who was also a victim to the prank stand in the middle shaking in anger,
"UZUMAKI!" he screamed out; giggling at the Uzumaki siblings new handy work Hinata had to give them props by managing to do it without getting caught by any of the her family,
"what happened?" she heard Hanabi ask from behind her, letting out another chuckle Hinata returned to her room with her sister in tow,
"you know the usual Uzumaki package" she said, Hanabi looked back and could only blink at the havoc that was caused before turning back to her sister,
"onee-sama?" she called out,
"what is it?" the young Hyuuga looked hesitant, but after finding the confidence she looked to her sister with determination,
"father has been training me in the basics of the Juken for three years now, I was wondering if you could teach me now" Hinata looked at Hanabi with interest,
"why? is there something wrong with father's teachings?" Hanabi shook her head,
"it's just that you are considered to be the strongest in the Hyuuga clan, I mean even father praises your skill; I want to be just as good as you" Hinata smiled a little honored that her sister wanted her to train her,
"did you speak with father about this?" Hanabi nodded,
"he said as long as you agree he will allow it" Hinata's smile widened,
"very well then, we can begin tomorrow" Hanabi beamed at her sister, excited that she would get the chance to train with the Hyuuga's and possibly one of Konoha's strongest shinobi, "in the mean time we should probably help clean the compound".
The Uchiha compound was surprisingly quiet at this time of day, normally the streets would be crowded with people but today was different; having finally made it back Itachi was itching to get something to eat having missed both lunch and breakfast, for the entire day Itachi was helping the Hokage with documents regarding the Uchiha clan, mostly things to do with the funds of the Konoha Military Police Force,
"oi Itachi!" a voice called out, turning he came face to face with the one and only Shisui Uchiha, one of and probably the only person in the entire Uchiha clan that Itachi considers as a friend,
"Shisui" he said,
"I've been looking everywhere for you" the other Uchiha exclaimed,
"what for?" Shisui shrugged,
"just wanted to see my best friend" Itachi smiled, chuckling a bit,
"you want to get something to eat?"
"sure why not, I haven't eaten all day"
"you too huh" Shisui didn't say anything merely shrugged once more; Itachi was suddenly tackled almost falling over he quickly found his footing and looked down,
"nii-san" six year old Sasuke called out, smiling the elder Uchiha brother ruffled the boys hair,
"what are you up to?" he asked the boy, Sasuke smiled, pulling out some kunai and shuriken's,
"I've been practicing" Shisui quickly pulled Sasuke into a headlock ruffling his hair even more,
"so you want to be a shinobi like your brother" he said, Sasuke a little annoyed with his hair constantly being messed up broke free from Shisui's grip,
"that's right, I'm going to become the best shinobi in the clan and join the Military Police Force" Sasuke proclaimed proudly,
"quite the dream you got there" Sasuke nodded to Shisui before looking to Itachi,
"that's my little brother for you" smiling approvingly to his brother, "he has a dream worth fighting for" Shisui's face faulted,
"you pulled that right out of Naruto's book" Itachi looked at his friend innocently,
"whatever are you talking about?" the other Uchiha rolled his eyes while Itachi chuckled, Sasuke was happy that his brother acknowledged his goal but was a little confused by what Shisui meant,
"nii-san do you think you can help me train?" the young Uchiha asked, Itachi chuckled before poking his forehead,
"maybe next time Sasuke" said boy frowned as he rubbed his temples, "come on lets go get something to eat" at that Sasuke immediately brightened up as he followed his brother, with Shisui close behind.