Chapter 2: A New Family, And an old one

"Kaa-san!" Kushina looked up quizzically from the dishes she was cleaning, searching for the source of the call. "Kaa-san!" She heard it again, louder and closer this time. A young boy slid into the kitchen, his bare feet slapping against the tiled floor. The tall red-haired woman chuckled at her adopted son's antics before putting down the bowl she had been wiping.

"What is it Tatsuya-chan?" She asked with a smile, bending down to his level. The small boy beamed up at his mother, his sunny face practically glowing. Kushina felt a surge of love for her son, gently stroking his whiskered cheeks.

"Tou-san is hiding again!" Tatsuya exclaimed, his green eyes sparkling with excitement. Kushina laughed more loudly this time as she struggled to stand up straight again, using the counter to support herself. Tatsuya just stared curiously at his mother, walking up to her and placing his small hands on her large round belly. "Kaa-san, when is my otouto going to be finished cooking?" He asked innocently, making Kushina laugh even harder.

"A few more weeks Tatsuya" She answered, somewhat regretting letting Minato explain to Tatsuya why she had been slowly getting larger in the past months.

"How does he fit in there if Kaa-san already has a fox in her tummy?" Tatsuya asked, tilting his head. Kushina sighed, another thing she regretted Tatsuya being told about.

"You know we'll tell you when you're older, now come on, if Tou-san is hiding what do we do?" She said, changing the subject. Tatsuya groaned, annoyed by her lack of explanation, but quickly covered it up with a beaming smile. He let his brow crinkle cutely in thought.

"We find him! But Tou-san's using the Hiraishin, I think that's cheating!" He said, pouting slightly. Kushina just raised an eyebrow as she looked around, using her senses to try and locate her wayward husband.

"Really? Well, I think you're right Tatsuya-chan; that is cheating." She said with a wink. She quickly raised her arm and smiled down at her adopted son, "And cheaters need to be caught." Suddenly a large golden chain shot out of her palm, darting through the various rooms of the small two-story house the family lived in. It snaked about, coiling around the rooms until it sneaked up behind an unsuspecting blonde man in one of the upper rooms.

Before Minato knew what was going on, he suddenly found himself completely ensnared by the same large glowing chain, completely immobilized as it carried him through the house. He came to a floating rest in front of his laughing son and amused wife. He tried to keep a stern face, but he couldn't stop his smirk from breaking through.

"Now Tatsuya, I didn't think you would bring your mother into this, it was supposed to be a fair game." He said teasingly. The six-year-old just shook his head furiously in that way only young children could.

"Nuh-uh! When I go to the academy I'm going to be a shinobi and a shinobi has to use every advantage to win!" He said proudly. Minato just chuckled as his wife finally released him from her special chains, rubbing his wrists where they had been secured just a little too tightly.

"Well, at least you're right about that." He said fondly as he bent down and brushed his son's smooth black hair. "But what's even more important than that?" He asked him gently.

"Teamwork and always sticking by your comrades!" Tatsuya answered without hesitation. Minato nodded with approval as he patted his son's hair again.

"Right." He stood up again, giving a soft kiss to his wife as his son turned away in embarrassment at the loving action.

"Aww Tou-san, Kaa-san, why do you have to do that around me!" Both parents just laughed as they stared at their son with bemusement. Kushina especially stared at the young boy critically, so like she had been when she was that age, yet in every other aspect he was his father's son. She was just happy he seemed to inherit so much that most people would never believe that Tatsuya is adopted if not for the different looks.

"Now Tatsuya-chan, one day you'll find a girl you like and you'll be doing the same things with her." She bent down again, this time helped by her husband as she wrapped up her son in a hug "Then you can have your own family." Tatsuya just nodded warily, his mother was always stressing the importance of family.

"Yeah, I just wish you didn't have to do all the yucky stuff in between." Minato laughed at that as he helped Kushina regain her feet, enjoying his son's naivety and innocence.

"Aww but Tatsuya, that's the best part." To prove the point he quickly captured Kushina's lips in another searing kiss, once again to Tatsuya's embarrassment and annoyance. He blushed and ran out of the room, yelling annoyances and various amusing things that only made the two adults chuckle. Minato turned back to his wife, or more specifically the lump now very prominently emerging from her shirt. "And how are my girls today?" Kushina just sighed as she leaned back on the counter, cupping her hands under her cumbersome bump.

"Very tired, although little Naruto seems as restless as ever, I swear he's going to be worse than Tatsuya." Minato nearly blanched at that but recovered well, it wouldn't do for a Hokage to panic over a little thing like childbirth, now.

"Just a few more weeks Kushi-chan." The woman just sighed and nodded as she returned to wiping up the bowl she had been working on. Unlike her friend Mikoto, whom she had been pestering endlessly, she had no idea what delivering a baby was like. After all, this would be her first time."

"Right, Mina-kun, then we get to watch Tatsuya in his first days at the academy." The blonde smiled as he began walking out of the room. "Hey, where are you going?" Kushina asked curiously, following him with her eyes.

"I'm going to go and train Tatsuya some more, it won't do for a Senju or an Uzumaki to be left behind in the academy!" Minato said cheerfully as he went searching for his elusive son. Kushina just smiled sweetly as she turned back around; she winced as she felt the baby kick again and rubbed her swollen stomach soothingly.

"Just a few more weeks Naruto, just a few more weeks." She whispered to her unborn child, feeling a mix of excitement and nervousness.

Sometime later,

Tatsuya stood in the middle of a clearing, a blindfold over his eyes as he held a single kunai by its handle. Minato watched him with a smirk as he slowly walked around his son, barely making a whisper with his feet. Six kunai were scattered around the edge of the clearing, each bearing the same three-pronged design and the same sealing formula on the handle.

"All right Tatsuya, you have to listen carefully. Feel for the slightest disturbance, your reflexes will do the rest." Minato instructed him softly, making sure not to give away his position. The blindfolded boy just nodded as the muscles in his arms tensed in anticipation. He waited until he felt his father leave the clearing, noting how the wind died down completely. He was left with an eerie calm, his ears twitching ever so slightly as he listened out for even the most minuscule changes in the environment; sorting out the animals from the more unnatural sounds.

Finally, Tatsuya spun on one foot, pivoting at the same moment he flicked out his kunai, letting it sail perfectly straight toward what he hoped was his target. He lifted a corner of his blindfold to look at his father, holding the kunai he had thrown. With wide eyes he stared, realizing it was a few inches from his father's throat. His father coughed as he pulled the blade away, blinking slightly at his son's unerring accuracy; it was on par with an Uchiha.

"That was good Tatsuya, I think you have 'listening to your environment' down." He praised him sincerely as he tossed the kunai back to him. "Your accuracy is spot on too." Tatsuya grinned broadly, jumping up and down in a little celebratory jig as his father chuckled.

"But that's no excuse to get complacent, remember to always keep training no matter what the circumstances are. If you aren't at your peak then how are you supposed to protect your comrades..." He knelt, pulling his son up onto his shoulders, much to the little boy's delight "...or your family?" Tatsuya just nodded determinedly, fire in his eyes with a wide smile as he made an internal promise to never stop training and to always protect the people closest to him.

"Minato!" The blonde spun around, unintentionally making his son giggle as he was thrown about atop his shoulders. His expression became more serious as he saw an Anbu there to summon him. After nodding to Tatsuya and putting him down gently, he vanished in a swirl of leaves.

Uchiha clan

Clan head residence

Itachi returned home with his mother, who was carrying his baby brother Sasuke in her arms. They had been out for a walk, enjoying the rare sunshine and fresh air. Itachi had been quiet and reserved, as usual, but he had smiled a few times when Sasuke had giggled or cooed at him. He loved his little brother, even though he didn't show it much.

They entered their large and elegant house, which felt cold and unwelcoming. There were no signs of laughter or joy, only silence, and gloom. They saw two other Uchiha elders and three high-ranking ninjas coming out of the clan head's room, followed by Fugaku, Itachi's father. He was the leader of the Uchiha clan and a respected police captain.

"Welcome back, Mikoto, Itachi." Fugaku greeted them with a stern nod. "How is Sasuke doing?"

"He's fine, Fugaku," Mikoto said softly, holding the sleeping baby closer to her chest. "He's growing fast and healthy."

"That's good to hear," Fugaku said, glancing at his youngest son with a hint of pride. Then he turned to his eldest son, who was standing quietly behind his mother. "Itachi, I need to talk to you."

"Yes, Father?" Itachi said, looking up at him with his dark eyes.

After sending off the guests, Fugaku asked Itachi "How far along are you in the fireball jutsu? Show me."

Itachi nodded and walked alongside his father in the serene calm wind to the training ground near their home. They reached the pool where they occasionally trained together. Itachi took a step forward, concentrating on his chakra while performing his hand signs with incredible speed. His father watched him intently as if trying to gauge his full potential.

After finishing his sixth hand sign, Itachi took a very deep breath and exhaled a massive blast of white-hot fire.

Fugaku was astonished and barely managed to conceal his surprise. This was the best fireball he had ever seen from someone who was not a chunin. He composed his face and said "Very good" in a proud voice. As the next head of the Uchiha clan, "you must be one of the village's most powerful ninjas. To ensure the status of our clan." Fugaku then started walking back, but stopped and said in a very somber tone "Don't let your current jutsu get to your head, Itachi. The world we live in is a cruel one, which will punish you for being powerless or for not wanting power." He took a deep breath, turned around, and looked at Itachi eye to eye with a severe look. "Come, Itachi. I will take you somewhere. Pack light, as we will be returning before nightfall."

Despite being surprised by his father's unusual and sudden offer, Itachi nodded and took his water bottle and some buns as silently as possible while not trying to wake up his tired mother and newborn brother.

"Where are we going, father?" He asked quietly as they walked out of their house.

"You'll see soon enough," Fugaku said curtly, not giving any details.

Itachi sensed that his father was not in the mood for conversation, so he kept quiet and followed him obediently. He wondered what his father wanted him to see or do. Was it some kind of training or mission? Was it related to the clan or the village? He had no clue, but he trusted his father's judgment.

They walked south from the Uchiha compound for a long time until they reached a forest. As they entered the woods, a putrid smell assaulted Itachi's tender nose. He flinched slightly but tried to ignore it.

He looked behind him to see if his father was still there, but he was gone. He felt a surge of fear and confusion, but he quickly suppressed it. He knew that panicking and crying would not help him. He had to think logically and calmly. He reasoned that there were two possible situations. One, a ninja had attacked and killed his father without making any noise, which was highly unlikely. Two, his father was testing him, which was more probable and the only situation where he could do something. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he walked forward on the narrow uneven forest road

Just after a few minutes, he heard a faint and raspy cough. He followed the sound and found a dying ninja lying under a tree, missing a hand and a leg. The man wore a headband from a different village, one that was at war with Konoha. He noticed Itachi and weakly uttered the word "water".

Itachi felt a pang of compassion for the wounded man. He knew that this was a dangerous situation, that the man could be an enemy or a trap, but he couldn't just let him die. He had been taught to help the powerless and the needy, to follow the will of fire and the Uchiha code. He decided to give him some water, hoping that it would ease his pain. He approached him cautiously, holding his water bottle in his hand.

However, before he could reach him, he saw a flash of silver and then felt a sharp pain in his arm, followed by a powerful blow in his stomach. He fell to the ground, clutching his bleeding wound. He looked up and saw his father standing there, holding the hand of the wounded ninja who had a kunai coated with blood, Itachi's blood.

"Itachi, you always were a generational talent, a talent unseen in the Uchiha clan since the days of Madara Uchiha." His father said in a grave, grim, cruel voice. "However, you always had one flaw: kindness. The Uchiha code is filled with amazing phrases and moral values as is the will of fire However in this world there is only one truth as shown by Madara and Hashirama, The most powerful of their time. I want you to learn, Itachi. I want you to learn the harsh reality of this world. I want you to learn that power is everything. Power is what makes you strong, what makes you respected, and what makes you survive. Power is what protects your family, your clan, and your village. Power is what you need to seek, to obtain, to master. Without power, you are nothing but a weakling who will be crushed by those who have it.

His father threw him a kunai. "Today it is time that you prove to me and all of the Uchiha clan that you have what it takes to be a true ninja a powerful ninja," He said, pointing at the wounded ninja with his sword. "You know what I want you to do. You are too smart not to realize."

Itachi picked up the kunai with a very shaky hand, very unsure of what he was about to do. He looked at the wounded ninja, who was staring at him with fear and hatred in his eyes. He looked at his father, who was staring at him with expectation and contempt in his eyes. He felt tears rolling down his rapidly changing eyes. He felt anger, fear, confusion, sadness, betrayal.

He thought of his mother, his brother, his friends, and his village. He thought of his dreams, his hopes and his ideals. He thought of his love, his peace, his justice. He thought of everything he wanted to protect and everything he wanted to change. He thought of what it meant to be a ninja and what it meant to be an Uchiha.

He thought of everything and nothing at the same time.

He ran forward and plunged the kunai with all his strength into the heart of another person as he wondered with tears rolling down his rapidly changing eyes "Is this what it means to be a ninja? Is this what it means to protect everyone?"

That day another young soul's innocence was taken by this cursed world.

Author's notes:

There goes another chapter please read and comment. The Itachi part really took a long time to write during that whole time I couldn't help but think how corny this all sounded. I mean if I read this I would definitely think that this is very corny but I couldn't really think of anything to change to make this less corny. The next chapter would be about the big day you know where Naruto would be born…maybe.

Please leave some feedback I am very new to any kind of creative writing.