Homecoming

Part Twelve
In Need of Change

The first morning rays of light penetrated through the blinds, coloring the room in orange and golden stripes. Sasuke sighed and rolled onto his back. He had spent most of the night cleaning his room. He had picked up the scrolls that had been passed on in his family for generations, making sure they were unharmed, stored all his weapons in one pile in the corner, put all his dusty clothes in the washing machine, and threw away the trash that remained. Since he hadn’t been alerted of any special missions, he hoped to find a replacement for the routine patrol so he could spend the day sleeping while the children were away. He got up from his bed and dressed in the black kimono that he had left in the laundry room the other day, thus saving it from the disaster.

Sasuke had already put the side dishes on the table, when Ryoichi walked into the kitchen and sat down. "How come you're here?" he asked Sasuke.

"I thought I'd treat you two to breakfast," Sasuke answered in the same tone and put the green tea on the table, before sitting down in front of the child. "Where's your brother?"

"Who knows?" Ryoichi shrugged and picked up his chopsticks. "Probably still sleeping."

"Go wake him up," Sasuke said. "You need to leave soon."

"Why should I wake him up, it's his-"

"Ryoichi, put down your chopsticks and go wake him up," Sasuke interrupted.

The boy looked at his father in surprise. Sasuke motioned slightly with his head and Ryoichi frowned and got up, leaving the kitchen.

A few moments later he returned and slumped in his chair, picking up his chopsticks again. "He's in the bathroom."

Sasuke leaned his chin on his hands. "We'll wait for him."

"Why?" Ryoichi asked in disappointment.

"Because we're family."

Ryoichi huffed and put down his chopsticks again. "So what?"

"So we're going to eat together, and I don't want to hear another word about it."

"The food will get cold," the boy muttered. "Since when do we have family dinners anyway?"

"Since now. I think this could be a nice change," Sasuke said.

The boy gazed at him in suspicion. "Did you hit your head or something?"

Sasuke was about to reply when Kenji burst into the kitchen, shouting. "Ryoichi! You bastard! Wait up!" He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the dinner table and his brother and father both looking at him, with slightly raised eyebrows.

He blushed and walked over to the table. "Uhh… what's going on?"

"Would you sit down already so I can eat?" Ryoichi glowered at him.

Kenji returned the glare and sat down. His face brightened when he saw the dishes. "Itadakimasu!" he called and snapped his chopsticks, burying them in his bowl of rice.

"Hmm…" Sasuke mumbled quietly. "Listen, Kenji…" he started saying, making the boys slow down with their food. "I was thinking…"

Kenji stopped eating and raised his eyes carefully to his father.

Sasuke curved his mouth and rubbed the back of his head. "Do you want me to sign you up for some taijutsu lessons?" he finally asked. "A friend of mine runs a taijutsu class."

Kenji gaped in surprise. "Really?"

"Yes." Sasuke nodded. "He's a taijutsu specialist."

"I want I want!" Kenji practically bounced in his chair.

Sasuke smiled lightly and nodded. "Fine. I'll tell him." He looked at Ryoichi. "Do you want to go as well?"

"Not really." Ryoichi shrugged.

"I'll sign you up as well," Sasuke said and got up, clearing his own dishes from the table. He didn't think that class was going to suit Ryoichi, which was why he had asked Kakashi to act as the boy’s private tutor, but there wasn't any harm in trying.

"You better go now or you'll be late."

Ryoichi grabbed his bentou box and left the kitchen without a further word. Kenji hesitated before looking at his father again. "Um…"

Sasuke looked at him.

"I'm, uh, I'm sorry about your room," the boy mumbled and turned around. "See ya!"

Sasuke watched the boys picking up their backpacks and walked back towards his bedroom.

***

"Oi, I forgot to prepare a bentou box!" Kenji winced as the boys were about to leave the house. "I'll catch up with you later!"

"Fine, moron, but hurry up." Ryoichi walked away.

Kenji hurried back inside the kitchen, opened his bentou and started filling it with food and leftovers from breakfast. He pushed it into his backpack and left the house again. As he walked into the street, he noticed the wrecks of what used to be his father's closet and the shelves, piled up next to the garbage cans.

'It's only seven in the morning and he already cleaned up his room AND made breakfast?' He absentmindedly noticed a stray cat rummaging through the garbage, tossing trash out onto the ground as it searched for leftovers.

Kenji shrugged and was about to continue walking when he noticed a crumpled photo on the ground. He picked it up and realized it was the same picture he had seen the other night.

'I knew it! Naruto-sensei did something horrible and father really hates him now!' Kenji furrowed his brow and chased the cat away from the garbage can. He looked inside, and dug out a large brown envelope. He opened it and saw more pictures inside.

The cat meowed and Kenji looked around. 'I'm going to be late…' He took off his backpack, stuffed the envelope and the crumpled picture inside and started running to the meeting point.

***

"Good morning." Naruto smiled and waved when Kenji finally appeared in their meeting place.

"About time," Hikari muttered and folded her arms.

"Okay, let's go." Naruto started walking and the three children followed him.

"Ready to get your ass kicked?" Ryoichi sneered as he brushed against his brother.

"We'll see about that." Kenji smirked at him and ran ahead, catching up with Naruto.

"How are you doing today?" Naruto smiled brightly when the boy joined his side.

Kenji's thoughts of mistrust were quickly washed away and he beamed back at his teacher. "I'm good!"

"How'd you get those extra bruises?" Naruto asked.

"Oh, that…" Kenji touched the bandaid that covered his nose. He had two more on both side of his face. "I kinda helped cleaning the house…"

"Hey Ryo-kun," Hikari said, catching up with Ryoichi. He took his eyes off Kenji and Naruto and looked at the blonde girl.

"I talked to my father, he didn't tell me a whole lot but Naruto-sensei is pretty close to the Fifth."

That caught Ryoichi by surprise and he stopped walking for a moment, looking at her. "Close how?"

"I don't exactly know. The necklace Naruto-sensei is wearing was given to him by The Fifth many years ago, and it belonged to The First." Hikari shrugged. "Actually my mother told me that part… she likes to gossip. She also said…"

"What?" Ryoichi asked when she stopped talking.

"Well I don't know how true it is, once she starts talking she never stops…" Hikari took a breath when Ryoichi cleared his throat. "She said it's likely Naruto-sensei will be the Sixth Hokage if…" her voice trailed off.

"If what?" Ryoichi urged her.

"She didn't get to finish. Father told her she's not supposed to talk about it."

"That Naruto is likely to be the Rokudaime?" Ryoichi snorted. "No offense, but I think your mother is a bit off her rocker…"

"Sometimes I think so too," the girl said. "Anyway, what do you want to do?"

"For now, he's not so bad. I'm going climb on that wall and show him… and hopefully soon we'll get a C-rank mission."

"I just want to finish with that painting job already. It's ruining my nails."

Ryoichi gave her a look and shook his head.

About thirty minutes later, the boys were already running up the wall, their mind focused on reaching the top.

***

"They're not bad," Naruto said as he watched the boys. He was absently painting the wall next to Hikari.

Ryoichi panted, clinging to the wall. He crouched and looked up. He was almost at the top. Still breathing heavily, he turned to search for his brother. Kenji was catching up to him. He no longer cracked the wall as he ran, finally having learned the right amount of power he needed, but it was still not enough to get him to the top.

'This is annoying. I'll be the one to reach the top.'

"That was great, Kenji!" Ryoichi looked down when he heard Naruto's enthusiastic voice. "Did you practice?"

Ryoichi glared as he watched his brother running a hand through his messy hair and laughing nervously. "Yeah, a little."

That Naruto was starting to piss him off again. He jumped down, landing perfectly on his feet and brushed his clothes from the dust.

"You're doing very well, Ryoichi," Naruto said. "Living up to your name."

"Of course," the boy growled.

"How about we have lunch?" Naruto suggested with a smile.

"Mou…we’ve only been here for three hours," Hikari said. "And we haven't even covered a third of our part. If the mistress happens to stop by, it could get ugly."

"Don't worry, don't worry," Naruto chuckled. "Why would she stop by?"

"Because she arrives at the Leaf every day at approximately twelve P.M. It takes about ten minutes to arrive at the Leaf by cart, and it is now eleven A.M. the gate is over there, so chances are she will stop by."

Naruto blinked. "How do you know her timing?"

"My father is the Hokage's consultant, he gripes about it a lot."

Naruto put his hands on both the boys' heads. "We won't continue painting until we get these boys to the top."

"Yes!" Kenji squealed. "How bad can that old hag be anyway? It's not like we're not doing our job…" his voice trailed off as he looked at the wall. "It's not like we're not going to do our job, eventually."

"Yeah, not much choice there." Naruto sighed.

"Are you done talking?" Ryoichi punched Kenji's shoulder. "Let's race up there."

"All right!" Kenji narrowed his eyes. "Get ready to lose, bastard."

"In your dreams, stupid."

They both faced the wall, standing next to each other. They performed a seal and concentrated chakra to their feet, before starting to run up the wall quickly.

Both Naruto and Hikari looked up at the rather close race.

"Wow, when they go at it, they really go at it," Naruto hummed, impressed.

"Ryo-kun will beat him," Hikari said. "Kenji is all right, but he's not like him."

"Shall we put money on it?" Naruto asked.

"I'm not allowed to gamble. I'm only eight."

"Right. Well, if Ryoichi wins, I'll give you thirty."

"Heh. Whatever."

"What is going on here?" A shrill voice reached their ears.

"Shush, not now, we're watching." Naruto waved his hand absently as he looked up at the two racing boys.

"What. Do. You. Mean. Watching?!" The shrill voice was now very close to his ear.

"Oh… it's you…" He smiled as he turned around to face the Fire Country's mistress. "Ma’am…"

"What are you doing?! You're supposed to be working!" she shouted at him.

"We are. We're working and training," Naruto explained.

"I don't pay you to train! I'm paying you to paint those horrible, vulgar, slandering, defaming-"

"Slandering and defaming are the same," Hikari said and immediately bit her tongue in regret when the woman glared at her. "I mean, yeah, bad writing."

Naruto stepped in, pulling Hikari behind him. "Well, listen, ma'am. We'll get the wall done."

"Shit!" The boys both jumped down, making the woman shriek in surprise.

"I was an inch ahead of you!" Kenji yelled at his brother.

"You wish, loser!"

"Wanna try again?! I nearly touched the top this time!"

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" the woman hollered. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY WALL?! I WILL TALK TO TSUNADE AND BY GOD, IF YOU DON'T GET PUNISHED FOR THIS, I WILL-"

"Hey, hey, no need to get excited," Naruto said, smiling through clenched teeth. "The boys are doing what I told them to."

"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO ME THIS WAY, BRAT? DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?" she shrieked and glared at him.

"Like you'd let me forget it," Naruto sighed. "Look, I've promised Tsunade I'll be nice to you, but if you threaten my-"

Her eyes nearly popped out as she tried to menace him with a fierce glare. Her voice was less strident though, possibly due to the shock that he had dared to speak up to her. "You've made cracks all over the wall! I paid you to paint the wall, not destroy it!"

Naruto gritted his teeth. "Your wall…" He walked closer to it. "Will be FINE!" He raised his voice as he slammed his hand on the wall.

His three students, the mistress and the servants that stood meekly behind her, watched shocked as the red flame that sprang from Naruto's hand disappeared into the cracks on the wall and sealed them completely.

"What was that?" Ryoichi asked with his eyes wide open.

"Wow…" Kenji mumbled.

"Yeah…" Hikari agreed in disbelief.

Naruto walked back to the mistress, casting his shadow over her. "Any other questions or requests? I was about to teach my students some genjutsu…"

The woman backed away in obvious fear. "Just get that wall painted. When I return I expect to see at least half of it ready." She lifted her chin haughtily and walked away to her cart, followed by her servants.

"That went rather well, don't you agree?" Naruto smirked and looked at his students. "Are you ready? We'll have a ramen break soon."

"You're in deep shit now, Naruto-sensei," Hikari said quietly watching the cart disappearing.

"Yeah, I guess Hokage will kick my ass." Naruto smiled, his eyes closing into slits. "Could be fun!"

"That guy…" Hikari shook her head and sighed.

"That was SO COOL, Naruto-sensei!!!" Kenji ran to Naruto's side.

Naruto smiled heartily and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Maybe I got a little carried away…"

Ryoichi sneered in disapproval. "Your chakra isn't normal. It's supposed to be blue," he said offhandedly as he examined the clean wall, then he returned his eyes to his teacher. "Hey, Naruto, are you human?" he asked with a smirk.

Kenji took a step back, furrowing his eyebrows. "What are you prattling about, asshole?"

Ryoichi shrugged. "No one was talking to you, stupid."

"Why you…" Kenji lunged at his brother, but Naruto grabbed his collar, pulling him back.

"You better get to the top of the wall already. We really do need to get some of the wall painted before the hag returns."

Ryoichi narrowed his eyes, observing his teacher and his brother one more time before facing the wall again.

"I'm going to beat this jerk no matter what!" Kenji announced with resolve.

He performed a seal, bringing his chakra to his feet. 'Concentrate. You can't let him win. You can do it!'

As he put his foot on the wall, he could feel his chakra synchronizing with the stone. This time it was different. He could definitely make it. He nearly stopped breathing altogether as he ran quickly up the wall. It truly seemed endless. His eyes were focused on the blue sky that grew nearer and nearer, until suddenly he felt that the wall had ended. Or his power had. He felt his legs slipping. But the end was so close. He reached out his hands, grabbing the bricks. He could still make it. He could…

"What's the matter?" he heard Ryoichi asking with a jeer. "Ran out of strength?"

Kenji raised his eyes and saw his brother standing on the wall, looking down at him. He frowned as he watched Ryoichi walking over to him calmly. The damn snot wasn't even out of breath!

"Need help?" Ryoichi's eyes glimmered, a devilish grin smeared over his pale face.

"Eat shit!" Kenji growled, and hoisted himself over, landing flat on the top of the wall. "I was close enough!" He looked down and nearly fell over when he saw how high they had climbed. "How do we get down?"

"You can jump."

"Shut up, asshole. Don't look so smug, you only beat me by a minute."

"That's all that counts." Ryoichi shrugged and walked away. "I'm going to use the stairs over there at the old watch tower."

"Hey, wait for me!" Kenji started running after him.

***

Naruto finished his cup ramen and raised his head, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He leaned back against the tree trunk and watched the children. Ryoichi and Hikari were eating quietly from their bentou boxes. Kenji sat alone at a distance, his arms wrapped around his knees. Naruto sighed and got up, stepping over to the boy.

Ryoichi and Hikari looked on as their teacher crouched next to Kenji.

"Hikari," Ryoichi whispered. "Do you think you can ask your mother more about that Naruto?"

"Ryo-kun…" The blonde lowered her chopsticks and looked at him. "Are you planning something?"

Ryoichi narrowed his eyes looking at Naruto. "I want to know who that guy is… his power… it's incredible…" he hissed and clutched tight his fist. "He pisses me off."

"Come on, Kenji, cheer up. You did reach the top. You were excellent!" Naruto was still trying to encourage the young boy.

"But he got there before me!" Kenji pouted. "I should have been there before him!"

"You'll have your chance to surpass him. You shouldn't see yourself as inferior." Naruto touched the boy's arm lightly.

"I'm not! I'm not inferior!" Kenji jumped to his feet. "I'll beat him!"

Ryoichi continued to look at his brother with a dark gleam in his eyes. "Yeah," he whispered to Hikari without taking his eyes off his brother. "I have a plan." He leaned in, resting his hand on her shoulder. "I'm going to need your help though," he whispered in her ear and she nodded.

"Okay, it's time we get back to work," Naruto said and clapped his hands.

"Hmm, Naruto-sensei?" Hikari got up and cleared her throat as she approached her teacher.

"Ah, yes," Naruto muttered and searched his pocket, taking out a few rolled bills. "I hope I didn't catch that old-hag-Tsunade's luck in gambling," he grumbled as he handed Hikari one of the bills.

The girl smiled sweetly, looking up at him. "Ne, Naruto-sensei, is it true you got that necklace from Hokage-sama?"

Naruto's hand flew to grab his necklace. "Who told you that?" he asked.

"My mother mentioned it." Hikari shrugged. "So it's true then." She threw Ryoichi a glance and he shrugged and looked away.

***

"I'm home!" Kenji announced as he ran inside the house, throwing away his shoes in the process.

"Yo." Sasuke, dressed in his black kimono, leaned on the kitchen's doorframe, sipping from a cup of green tea. "How was the mission?"

"Stupid," Ryoichi huffed and started to walk away towards the stairs.

"Wait, we're going out." Sasuke stopped him when he reached the stairs. The boy's hand tightened around the railing.

"Going out where?"

"Taijutsu practice."

"Are we?!" Kenji started bouncing and clapping his hand. "YAY!"

Ryoichi wasn't as thrilled as his twin brother. "But Kakashi is-"

"I know. I want you to try it out. You might pick up something useful." Sasuke stepped into the kitchen. "Let's go."

"I'll just put my bag in my room! Wait for me!" Kenji chirped and ran up the stairs.

He opened the door to his room and threw his backpack to the bed. He was about to leave when he saw the brown envelope falling from the bag, along with the crumpled picture of Naruto-sensei.

He walked in and picked it up. 'I forgot all about it…'

He was about to open the envelope when he heard a knock on his door.

"Are you ready, stupid? We're going," Ryoichi said.

Kenji hurried to shove the envelope and the picture back into his bag and put it carefully under his bed.

***

Kenji and Ryoichi followed Sasuke into a large field not far from the academy. A group of young boys and a few girls were running around the field, shouting. Another group of children were doing sit-ups fervently.

"251… 252… 253…"

"Wow…" Kenji mumbled as he looked on. "That looks like hard training."

"Of course! It's all about hard work if you want to become a great ninja!" A cheerful voice made Kenji jerk back in surprise.

Both he and Ryoichi blinked as they saw the man in front of them. He was wearing a tight, green bodysuit and orange leggings. A red Leaf head protector served as his waistband and his black hair was cut into a round bowl shape.

The boys gaped, looking at his thick, bushy eyebrows and his round black eyes with thick lower lashes. He gave the twins a shiny grin.

"Hello, Lee," Sasuke said quietly with a lopsided grin and reached out to shake hands with the man.

"Those eyebrows…" Kenji mumbled. "And those eyelashes…"

Ryoichi forced his mouth to close. "I'm going home!" he barked and turned his back on Lee.


TBC