Homecoming

Just a reminder, this story was written in 2003 and is now complete. I'm just reposting the chapters. Thank you very kindly for the reviews! :)

Part Eleven
The Windows of the Soul

Iruka leaned back on the railing as he watched Naruto locking the door of the apartment. He studied the blond with a sad smile. To say Naruto had changed was an understatement. It wasn't just his physical appearance – though it was partly the reason as well. Somehow, Iruka expected to see the same young man with the boyish look when he'd return. At age 20, Naruto still looked like a teenager, short and high spirited. It was quite a shock to see that the boy returned as a man. Naruto was now his height, but there was also an air of seriousness surrounding him. Iruka remembered Kakashi had told him something about the nature of Naruto's seal. Could it be that after all these years, Naruto was now one with the fox?

"Iruka-sensei?" Iruka raised his eyes when Naruto leaned over to face him with a sparkle in his baby blue eyes. The same familiar sparkle. "Is everything okay? You looked spaced-out."

"Sorry, I was just thinking about something." Iruka blushed and straightened, heading towards the stairs. "Let's go."

Naruto smiled and followed him. For a while they walked side by side in an awkward silence. Then after a moment, they both talked at once:

"Naruto-"

"Iruka-sensei-"

They chuckled briefly, before saying together "Go ahead." Followed by more nervous laughter.

"Naruto, how are the missions with your team going?" the Chuunin asked finally. "Kenji doesn't give you any problems, does he?"

Naruto raised his brow, looking at his ex-teacher. "Kenji? He's fine. He's a good boy."

"Really? He was quite the trouble maker in the academy." Iruka smiled. "Unlike any other student I've ever had."

Naruto smiled. "Heh. Well, I guess now he feels he needs to be more serious. Iruka-sensei, how was Ryoichi, in the academy?"

"Ryoichi?" Iruka gave Naruto a brief glance. "He was an excellent student. Quiet and serious. Top marks in everything."

"I see…" Naruto rubbed his chin. "Just like… just like his father then, ne?"

"Yes. Except maybe… well, Ryoichi had some friends in the academy. He didn't shun himself like Sasuke."

"I see…" Naruto repeated. "I guess that's good…"

"What did you want to ask me?" Iruka asked after a moment.

"Just that…"

Iruka threw the blond another glance. "So, have you met any of your friends since you've returned?" he asked in an attempt to sound cheerful.

"Um, no," Naruto said quickly. "Haven't had time…"

"You've been here for almost a month already."

"The kids are really consuming my energy." Naruto smiled brightly. "I'm exhausted when I get home."

"You sound like an old woman…" Iruka grumbled and then stopped walking. "You don't think they blame you for what happened ni-"

"Oi, isn't that Konohamaru?" Naruto interrupted him. "Hey, Konohamaru!" he turned away from Iruka and walked over to his young friend.

"Naruto!" Konohamaru smiled and waved at him. "I'm so glad I sent Iruka to fetch you." He put away the hoe he was holding and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "I took the opportunity to do some work for the woman, now that I have a bit downtime." He smiled and stepped onto the porch in the front of the large, one level house. "Come on in, please."

Naruto and Iruka followed Konohamaru inside and took off their shoes. Naruto raised his head when he heard footsteps. He raised his eyes as a blue-haired nicely curved woman walked in.

"Naruto-nii, this is Kaeda-chan, my wife." Konohamaru introduced them.

"Pleased to meet you, Naruto-senpai." She bowed slightly. "Good evening, Iruka-sensei."

Naruto felt his spirit lifted as he followed Kaeda inside the house. Maybe going out was good for him after all. It took his mind off the silly painting mission, off the detestable lord's wife, off the twins and most importantly - it took his mind off a certain Anbu captain he encountered earlier.

"Hey there, Hana-chan." Iruka passed by Naruto and bent down, cooing at a baby. Naruto raised his eyebrow, looking at the baby. She was sitting in a high chair, smiling with sparkling big black eyes and a black tuft of hair. She squealed at Iruka in excitement.

"Konohamaru," Naruto said as Konohamaru walked into the dining room. "You didn't tell me you're a father!"

The younger man laughed and scratched his head. "I wanted to surprise you. Worked, hm?"

"Yeah…" Naruto smiled.

"She's nine months old. Her name is Hana."

"Everyone has kids now, it's unbelievable." Naruto's tone was a tad melancholic. Iruka and Konohamaru exchanged uncomfortable looks.

"Except for you, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto returned to his normal cheerful note.

"I have a lot of kids. All the children in the academy are my kids." the Chuunin smiled. "Well, shall we sit down?" He shifted the subject. Naruto was acting strange since his return. Obviously, despite all the years that had passed, he was still not over Hinata's death. Before he left the village, he shunned himself in his apartment for days. Iruka suspected the blame Naruto took upon himself was still burdening him.

"Wait, I'm still waiting for another guest."

"Another guest?" Naruto leaned on the chair.

"I, uh, I invited my superior." Konohamaru stepped over to Iruka, as if hoping for the older man to shield him from Naruto's glare.

"Your superior," Naruto reiterated. "You mean, Sasuke?"

Iruka, who was beaming at the baby, turned to look at Naruto. "You haven't even seen Sasuke yet?"

"Look, Naruto, I know what you've told me…" Konohamru mumbled. "But Sasuke is my commander, I've invited him over for dinner many times… I practically owe him my life."

"Why-" Iruka started asking, but then Naruto shifted his stare to the door. Iruka sighed. Something weird was going on. How come he was kept in the dark about something regarding Naruto and Sasuke?

To his surprise, Kaeda returned to the dining room, followed by Sasuke. The handsome, dark-haired man stopped in his tracks and dropped his soft smile when he noticed Naruto.

Iruka and Konohamaru sweatdropped as they looked at Naruto and Sasuke. The temperature in the room seemed to have dived a few good degrees.

Naruto scanned Sasuke, trying to hide his surprise. The aura around Sasuke as he walked in chatting briefly with Kaeda-chan was so relaxed and different from what he sensed before. Almost like Sasuke was feeling at home. His clothes were also a nice surprise. A tight faded jeans and a cream colored turtle-neck kashmir sweater.

The infant bounced in her seat and squealed, relieving the tension in the room. Naruto smirked and closed his eyes briefly.

'Time to play your part, fox-boy.' He thought to himself and dug his nails into the padding of the chair.

"Good evening, Sasuke-kun," he said with a smirk. His eyes not leaving Sasuke's wary eyes.

"Naruto." Sasuke nodded slightly and walked in.

"Nice to see you. You look good," Naruto uttered, his eyes telling his ex-companion a different greeting. 'Play along or I kill you.'

"Same." Sasuke chose to be laconic.

Much to Naruto's agony and Sasuke's discomfort, once dinner was served and everyone were sitting at the table; they've found themselves facing each other again. Naruto started to suspect a larger conspiracy on Konohamaru and Iruka-sensei's side.
Tonight, he decided, he will be just a normal man, visiting his friend of old.

"Naruto-senpai." He was caught by Konohamaru's wife with the spoon halfway into his mouth. "I've heard so much about you."

He smiled nervously. "I hope only good things." In the past he used to love being the center of the attention. Having everyone look at him gave him a sense of accomplishment. Right now, however, he wanted nothing more than to be ignored. Knowing Sasuke was just as uncomfortable and avoided looking at him was a bit of a comfort.

"I was wondering though…" Kaeda continued talking although Naruto felt he missed most of what she was saying. "Where have you been all these years?"

They all turned their heads when Iruka's spoon fell and clanked on the plate. "I’m sorry…" he mumbled and blushed.
Konohamaru and Sasuke shifted in their chairs. Kaeda, who returned to the Leaf village only in the recent years and wasn't familiar with Naruto and the circumstances, dared to ask the question that sat at the tip of everyone's tongue.
All three men looked curiously at the blond Jounin, waiting for his reaction. Naruto was always unpredictable, but they didn't expect him to tackle the subject without hesitation.

"I've done some espionage missions," he said after a moment. "The last one was beyond the Great Sea in the White Colonies."

The three other men gasped in surprise.

"You… you were?" Iruka stuttered. "That's… why…"

"I've only kept contact with the hag- uh, I mean, Tsunade-sama, for this reason." Naruto smiled at Kaeda. "I'm afraid I can't say more than that." His eyes shifted to Sasuke and he met the other one's gaze. Naruto expected him to quickly drop his eyes, but Sasuke continue to stare at him daringly.

"The soup is excellent." Naruto changed the subject and looked away from Sasuke.

"Thank you." The blue-haired woman smiled.

They continued eating quietly as soon as Kaeda brought the main course to the table. "Um, could you pass me the pepper, please?" she asked after sitting down.

"Here you go-" Naruto's hand landed on Sasuke's hand, as they both reached for the pepper.

For a moment, they stared at each other. Naruto felt the shocks of electricity running through his burning hand, yet for some reason he couldn't move it away. It seemed to be too long before Sasuke pushed his hand away, handing the pepper caster to the hostess.

Naruto clutched his fist. His palm was still tingling. To his relief, the conversation around the table shifted to other things – like the fragile relationship between the Leaf and the Hidden Sand village, the politics of the Fire Country and the rise in taxes. Naruto found himself completely at ease as he conversed with his companions light-heartedly, cracking jokes about the Fire Country lord's wife that made even the stoic Sasuke almost lose his poker face.

Time seemed to fly and soon Kaeda announced it was time to rest before the dessert. Iruka was busy cooing at the baby, while Konohamaru was eager to tell Naruto about his recent adventures. Sasuke was just resting his chin on his hands, before getting up. Konohamaru looked at him.

"I'm going out for a walk," Sasuke explained and left the dining room.

"He was acting weird tonight…" Konohamaru said quietly as soon as Sasuke left the house. "It's been a while since he was so impassive like that. He usually even holds Hana-chan and-"

"It's probably because of me, don't get so worked up about it," Naruto smiled wryly.

"Is everything okay, Naruto?" Iruka intervened.

"Why won't it be?"

"I know many years have passed, but Sasuke used to be your best friend."

"I wish people would stop telling me that," Naruto sighed. "Times change, people change."

"I wonder if it's about the rumors…" Konohamru pondered aloud.

"Rumors?" Naruto looked incredulously at the young Jounin. "What kind of rumors?"

"Konohamru," Iruka said quietly. "Don't tell me you believed those rumors."

Naruto felt sweat starting to form under his headband. He was about to blurt out a denial about the nature of the relationship between Sasuke and him, when Konohamru talked again.

"No, I found them idiotic. But now I wonder if they had any truth in them."

"What were the rumors?" Naruto asked with a calm smile.

"Well, the rumor was you were angry at Sasuke for marrying…" Konohamaru swallowed and lowered his voice. "Errm, Sakura."

"They said that?" Naruto asked quietly.

"Everyone thought you were still in love with Sakura, and was hoping for a chance, when Sasuke snatched her," Konohamaru revealed. "They said they saw you and Sakura hang out together a lot."

"Konohamaru…" Iruka stopped him again, without taking his eyes off Naruto. "Give it a rest."

"I want to know," Konohamaru insisted. "It's been so many years, but it feels like it was just yesterday. Until today I didn't know why you left us, Naruto-niisan. Why you left me!"

Naruto stuck out his bottom lip, lost in thought. "Well, I couldn't just tell everyone that I was leaving to become a spy."

"I don't buy it." Konohamaru shook his head. "You were weird before you left. And you're even weirder now. It's like I don't know you anymore."

"Maybe you don't. Maybe it's better this way." Naruto stood up. "I'm going to breathe some fresh air, call me when the dessert is ready, okay?"

Konohamaru furrowed his brow and watched his idol leaving the room. Iruka rested his hand on his shoulder.

"He needs some time. For us, many things have changed and it’s easier for us to confront the past. He's just returned after almost a decade of absence. He has to deal with everything that happened after avoiding it for so long. For him, that incident was his last memory from this village."

***

Naruto leaned against the door and sighed, closing his eyes. "I thought you went for a walk." He turned aside to look at Sasuke, who was sitting on the bench in the shadows. The light of the porch never reaching his face.

"Hn."

Naruto curved his mouth and then walked over and sat down next to Sasuke. "Konohamaru told me sometimes you play with Hana-chan… I kinda wish I could see it." He chuckled. "I mean, you with a baby… even though you have children, I just can't picture you-"

"What are you trying to do?" Sasuke finally asked in an irritated voice. "No one's here now, so drop the act."

Naruto stopped smiling and leaned back. "I liked… for a moment back there, it felt like old times."

"Well, this isn't old times. This is now," Sasuke said coldly.

They continued to sit tacitly next to each other. Naruto expected Sasuke to get up and leave, but he didn't make a move. Naruto shuffled his feet.

"The clothes look good on you."

Sasuke continued to sulk.

"Right, I already said that." Naruto laughed nervously. "But you look good in anything, ne? even Anbu uniforms." he let a sarcastic tone sneak into his voice.

"I didn't join the Anbu because I wanted to," Sasuke said quietly after a moment.

Naruto perked his head in surprise and looked at him in curiosity.

"I've never told anyone, but-"

At that moment, the door was opened and Kaeda stepped out into the porch. Naruto got up.

"Oh there you are. Why were you sitting in the dark?" she asked. "Well, the dessert is on the table and everyone is waiting for you."

Sasuke got up and passed by Naruto, brushing against him. Naruto watched him disappear inside the house before stepping in as well.

***

"Owwwahoo…" Kenji yelped as he tried to grab onto anything that would stop or slow his fall.

"It hurts…" he mumbled as he landed on the ground in a thud. He sat up and rubbed his sore hands together. His palms and knees were already covered in bleeding scratches and abrasions.

"Yo!" he was startled when the silver-haired Jounin suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Kakashi, what are you doing here?" he quickly put his hands on his knees, hiding the bruises.

"I've come to train Ryoichi. What are you trying to do? Fix the antenna?"

"No." Kenji blushed and straightened up, moving his hands from his knees. "Just, practicing something…" he raised his eyes to the Jounin. "Hey, can I train with you again?"

"I'm sorry, tonight we're working on fire elements. Your father forbade me from training you." Kakashi ruffled the boy's hair and walked away. Before he passed the gate, he said quietly but loud enough for Kenji to hear; "You need to concentrate and focus on the wall, not on your feet."

Kenji perked his head in surprise, but before he could say anything, Kakashi was gone.

"How does he always know?" the boy sighed and then looked at his bruised hands. "I don't care if I die, I'm going to do this! Naruto-sensei will be so shocked. I'll show him I'm better than Ryoichi!" he encouraged himself and then concentrated chakra to his feet again.

***

Exhausted, Kenji raised a shaking hand to take hold of a salient bricks, climbing his way to the roof.

'can't… must…' He could no longer even think coherently. He slumped down on the roof and took a big breathe.

'I'm such a loser…'

He rolled onto his back and looked up at the starry night sky. "Father is so disappointed in me… I don't want to disappoint Naruto-sensei as well… he's the only one that even gives me a chance…"

His thoughts were disrupted by voices outside. He flipped onto his stomach again and crawled to the other side of the roof. Lowering his head, and hiding from the streetlight's illumination, he watched his brother training the fire elements jutsus, while Kakashi was standing under the streetlight and reading a book.

"Damn that Ryoichi…" Kenji whispered. Then a thought sneaked into his mind and a grin spread on his face.

'If he refuses to teach me… I'll teach myself!'

He crawled down from the roof and entered the house through the open window in the bathroom. He washed his hands and picked up a few band-aids for his scratches.

"Now…" he smirked to his reflection. "Where does he hide the scrolls?"

The boy left the bathroom and headed to the master bedroom of the two levels house. For a moment, he stood in front of the closed door and hesitated. He's done a lot of tricks in his academy days, but if there was one person he was truly afraid of, it was his father. It's not that his father was scary looking, okay maybe with his Anbu uniforms – Kenji could remember when he and Ryoichi were very small, and took shuriken throwing classes, he came to pick them up one evening. It was the first time Kenji had seen the Anbu uniforms and he became the class' laughing stock when he wetted his pants. - But his father was fair looking. What made Kenji feel intimidated was the black eyes. Much darker eyes than his or Ryo's. These eyes made him shiver if he looked at them directly. The emotions in his father's eyes were just unreadable to the young boy. He just had a feeling that he wouldn't want to face his father when he's truly angry. It was like a killing intent.

Kenji shrugged the disturbing thoughts from his mind and put his hand on the doorknob.

'Father would never be so mad at me to look this way…' He thought and pressed on the knob, peeking inside the bedroom.
After a brief moment of slowing down his heartbeat, Kenji stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. He looked around the room in curiosity. The last time he was in this room was so long ago, probably even before he joined the academy at age six.

The room was wide and very tidy. A few cushions were fixed neatly on the large bed in the center of the room. On the right wall, next to the window, hung a huge wallscroll with their family symbol printed several times in different directions. There were a few brown stains splashed over the sign, especially on the lower end. A wooden closet stood on the left side of the room, next to shelves full of scrolls upon scrolls.

Kenji curved his mouth. "So many…"

He walked over to the shelves and raised his head to look at the scrolls. "He'll notice if I take all of them…" he whispered to himself. 'Maybe I'll take a few at a time…'

The boy rubbed his nose, scratching away the bandaid. 'Maybe he hides the really cool ones in his closet… maybe I'll learn a jutsu that even Ryoichi doesn't know!'

He walked over to the big closet and slid the door open. "Woah, he's so tidy!" the boy chirped and covered his mouth with both hands. 'Oops, I hope no one heard me…'

"Wow, his katana!" the boy's eyes sparkled as he spotted the sword leaning against the back of the closet. He reached out and grabbed it, falling back on his buttocks. "So heavy!! It looks so light!" he said in amazement and started to pull the sword out of the sheath.

"Cool!" he admired it and continued to pull it out. "It's beautiful…" he ran his finger over it and cringed, dropping the sword. "Ouch! It's so sharp!" he put his bleeding finger in his mouth.

After a moment he got up and grabbed the sword again, trying to wield it. It was too heavy so he held it with both hands.
"I, Anbu captain Uchiha Kenji, leader of assassination squad five!" he called out, lifting the sword higher. "I challenge you for a fight!" he tried to hold the sword with one hand. The sword started to fall and he tried to balance it. Falling inward, the sword cut through the wooden shelves of the closet, causing the shelves to collide and fall down to the bottom of the closet.

"Shit…" Kenji uttered in disbelief. He was so shocked, he lost his grip on the sword again, and as he tried to grab it, it cut through the side wall of the closet, before falling to the floor in a loud clank of metal.
In front of the boy's horrified eyes, the closet couldn't support itself anymore with the loss of the side wall and collapsed to the floor, taking down the shelves with it. Kenji was so shocked he didn't even move when all the wooden shelves came crashing on him and the scrolls spread around the room.

'I am so dead…' Kenji thought as he perked his head through the pile of broken woods, clothing, weapons and scrolls. He managed to free himself and sat on top of the pile, checking under his shirt for injuries. He was fairly covered with bruises and scratches, but it wasn't something unusual, he was always covered in them. The bruises were easy to explain.
Kenji swallowed as he looked at the mess he made. 'How on earth am I going to fix that? I need a miracle.'

"Dammit! Why these things are always happening to me?!" he slammed his hand angrily on the wooden pile. A piece of paper flew from the stack and he watched it in disinterest as it looped in the air a few times before landing on the floor… next to a picture.

Kenji furrowed his brow in confusion and slipped himself away from the rubble, crawling on four over to the picture.
Just as he suspected, it was a picture of –

"Eh?? Naruto-sensei?" He grabbed the picture and looked at it in puzzlement. "But he's so young here!" He flipped the picture and read the scribble. The hiragana letters were rounded in a weird way with a spiral in their curves.

'To my favorite JOUNIN – CONGRATULATIONS!!! Hold on to this, it will be worth millions in the (very very) near future. Respectfully yours, Rokudaime Hokage. JOUNIN.'

Kenji reread the note again and furrowed his brow. "What's the meaning of this? There isn't Rokudaime Hokage, even though the Godaime is supposed to be very old…"

He looked at the picture of Naruto-sensei again. "Can't be that…" he looked behind him at the mess he made. 'Father would never be friends with someone like Naruto-sensei… they're too different.' Kenji's brain started working faster as he tried to look around the wrecks. "Maybe he was a friend of mother? But she was a Chuunin, so it can't be he meant her." He spotted a framed picture and fished it out of the ruins. "Damn, the frame is cracked…" he cringed, thinking again about his father's wrath. Then he shrugged, accepting his fate and started removing the shattered glass from the frame, until it didn't hide the picture anymore.

"Kakashi… awww, father's a child in this one... and looking as happy as ever…" Kenji snickered, observing the image of his father as a child. "That's mother…" he said as his thumb passed from Sasuke to the girl in the middle. 'Too bad it's not in color… I heard she had pink hair…' He thought, before looking at the third child in Kakashi's team. 'That's… uh, that dumb looking boy is…'

"Naruto-sensei?!" he snorted and covered his mouth. "He looks so silly."

'Until I was twelve years old no one even acknowledged my existence. They've just ignored me.' Kenji suddenly remembered what Naruto-sensei once told him.

"He was in father's Genin team… with my mother too…" the boy started to ponder as he continued to stare at the picture. 'So how come no one says anything? Father doesn't want to hear anything about him… Kakashi didn't say Naruto-sensei was also his student… and Naruto-sensei didn't even mention he knows father… he acts as if he never heard of him before…'

A loud rattle startled Kenji and he looked around. 'Shit! I have to get out of here and pretend like I was never here!!!' He quickly shoved the framed picture back to where he pulled it from and got up. 'I guess something really bad happened… Naruto-sensei wasn't in the village for a long time… maybe he was a missing nin and did something awful and…' Kenji thought as he absently made his way through the wrecks of woods. Suddenly, the door opened and he yelped in surprise and stumbled on the wood, falling down to the floor.

Now he could taste the blood in his mouth.

"What are you doing?" the question was rather quiet, calm and stoic, considering the mess he made in the uber clean and tidy room. Kenji swallowed as he looked at the pair of black shoes in front of his eyes.

Slowly he lifted his eyes up from the shoes, to the pair of light faded jeans, the cream color sweater, and finally to a pair of unreadable, scary pitch black eyes.

"I…" he cringed. "I was…" he lowered his eyes to the shoes again.

"Get up from the floor," Sasuke said angrily but still without raising his voice. "Stand up."

Kenji hissed in pain as he got up, still not daring to look at his father.

"What are you doing in my room?" Sasuke was still keeping his anger in check.

"I was…" the boy shuffled his feet.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you."

Kenji slowly raised his head, feeling the heat in his cheeks. "I heard a noise… and… and…" he licked his bruised lips. "I thought…"

Sasuke folded his arms. "Don't lie to me, Kenji. Just tell me what you were looking for."

"You'll be angry."

"Well, I already am, Kenji. If you talked straight maybe I wouldn't be."

"I wanted to get some scrolls…" the boy lowered his head again.

"Scrolls?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes, looking at the boy suspiciously.

"Because I wanted to teach myself the fire element jutsus! Because it's not fair only Ryoichi knows!" Kenji raised his voice, this time looking at Sasuke.

"I told you, it's not for you. You nearly got yourself killed when I tried to teach you," Sasuke said quietly. "Not everyone can do it at a young age."

"But Ryoichi can?" Kenji's voice was still high pitched.

"Yes, he can," Sasuke said quietly. "Now go to the bathroom and clean yourself up, you're bleeding all over."

Kenji huffed and looked down at his bleeding hands and knees. He dropped his hands and walked away, with his head hung low.
"And don't ever play with my sword again. It's not a toy. You could have seriously hurt yourself." Sasuke said before the boy left the room.

Kenji turned around. "I'm not a baby I'm a ninja!" he shouted in anger. "And I'm not the junk of this family! I'm also an Uchiha and I can do everything that Ryoichi does!"

Sasuke was taken aback by the boy's outburst, but didn't let it show. Hiding his emotions was so imprinted in him; his body was doing it automatically.

Kenji was still flushed, glaring at his father and waiting for his reaction. When it didn't come, he turned around and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

Sasuke sighed as he was left alone. He looked around at the disaster in his room. Like he wasn't troubled enough with thoughts of the blond nuisance that gave him as much pleasure as a thorn in his side, now Kenji was also starting to worry him (more than usual).

Sasuke never thought of himself as a person that would make the perfect father. He wasn't a natural children lover, and didn't pretend to be a kids expert, but he actually did care deeply about his children. And it wasn't just because they were his namesakes and his advanced blood carriers. It wasn't because he sacrificed the love of his life to bring them to the world. And it wasn't because of that foolish girl Sakura who sacrificed herself for them. He cared about them because he loved them. Because it didn't feel like he was living in a ghost house anymore, because they were living for him. Their laughter and bickering was something he loved to hear (Granted, only to a certain extent before he missed his peaceful and quiet personal space). Ryoichi made him smile with his determination to be the best and Kenji made him laugh with his silly pranks (even if he had to clean up after him and face the angry villagers). At least he felt alive. After Naruto left he thought he would never feel alive again.

Wasn't a parent supposed to worry about his children? Ryoichi made him worried, because he reminded him too much of Itachi, especially when he was around his brother. And Kenji made him worried because wherever he went troubles followed.
To the kid's perspective, it might have been a fun experiment, but Sasuke seriously thought the child was going to die, when he sat by his hospital bed for five whole days. And losing another person he loved so much wasn't an option.

Naruto was right. He was selfish. He didn't want to go through that pain again. Killing Itachi was the hardest thing he has ever been through, and if it weren't for Naruto, there was no reminder of the great Uchiha clan, except for the flags in the graveyard.

Sasuke sighed and moved some broken woods with his boot, attempting to find his katana, when the picture of much younger Naruto flew right at him from the wreckage.

He grabbed the picture in surprise. 'I forgot I kept it.' He thought as he looked at the image of eighteen years old Naruto, smiling broadly as ever and happier than he'd ever been, after they've both passed together the Jounin exam. It was only half of the picture. That silly Naruto tore the picture in half, forced Sasuke to scribble down a few words for the memory on the back side, and took Sasuke's half of the picture to himself.

Sasuke flipped over the picture and read the dedication he hadn't read in years. A small smile spread on his lips. "That complete moron…" he whispered.

A small tear paved its way on Sasuke's cheek, before it was wiped harshly away and he crumbled the picture and threw it back to the pile that used to be his closet.
'I'm not going to chase ghosts anymore. I don't need him anymore for a reason to exist. I have a reason. Two of them.'


TBC