Our Progeny

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Warning: This fic will eventually contain shonen ai and possibly yaoi. Gore in this chapter as well. SasuNaru, NaruSasu, past SasuOC (barely mentioned). There is also one major OC and a few minor OCs in the future.

Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. Flames will be ignored.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter. I will try to respond to the longer reviews with e-mails. My apologies if I skipped you by accident.

“Dialogue”
‘Thoughts’
Flashback
---.---: break/ time lapse
oooOooo: Scene change

Our Progeny

Summary: Set 5 years in the future. Naruto comes across a young boy while on a mission and takes him in. Who is this boy and what does he have to do with Naruto and Sasuke?

---.---

The next couple of days were spent setting up a routine: Naruto and Yahiko would wake up at the crack of dawn in order to train, and since Naruto was never very good with book learning most of the training was practical. The blonde figured that Iruka-sensei would teach Yahiko the other stuff at the academy.

Next, Naruto would go off to perform a quick one day mission and Yahiko would spend the rest of the day between the house and the fox glade. After a few lessons on trap detection and studying the other trap locations, Yahiko was able to travel on his own.

When Naruto finished his mission they would eat ramen either at home or Ichiraku and get ready for bed. Yahiko had asked for a “ninja story” the first night he slept in his new room and Naruto had found himself telling the boy about his first missions. It was nostalgic and a bit therapeutic to recall the past. After Yahiko fell asleep, Naruto would retire to his own bed and they would start again the next day.

oooOooo

After a week of training and missions, Naruto decided to take a day off to relax and bond more with Yahiko. He would take the boy into the woods for some extensive training.

‘I might even teach him Kage Bunshin no Jutsu,’ Naruto thought. ‘He knows all the basics like Bunshin, Henge, and Kawarimi no Jutsu… Actually, scratch that,’ Naruto snickered. “I’m going to go over chakra control with him. We’ll do tree and water walking. Maybe after that I’ll teach him the Kage Bunshin.’

---.---

As soon as Naruto and Yahiko left Sakura, Ino and Shikamaru snuck into the Uchiha mansion and began to set up for the party. Sakura had casually asked Tsunade when Naruto’s next day off would be at the hospital and after finding out, Ino had nagged Shikamaru into helping them set up.

oooOooo

Back in the forest, Yahiko was having a little trouble with tree climbing. Naruto snickered and Link just watched curiously and barked every time Yahiko fell.

After a particularly loud yell of frustration, Naruto decided to offer a little more advice than “concentrate your chakra so that you stick to the tree”.

“Alright buddy,” he chuckled, “let me help you out a little. You need to apply the perfect amount of chakra in order to stick to the tree: too little and you fall off, too much and you break the tree bark. This requires a lot of focus so try to clear your mind and concentrate your chakra to your feet. I know that you’re frustrated but this is an extremely important skill. If you master chakra control then you can theoretically master any jutsu. Besides, it took me a few days to get this right.”

Yahiko just nodded and resumed training.

They trained really hard for two hours longer than they had planned, mostly because Yahiko refused to stop. He had made a lot of progress, but he still hadn’t made it to the top of the trees yet.

As soon as Yahiko caught his breath, he decided that he was going to ask Naruto if he could finally take Link out of the forest.

“Naruto, Link always tries to follow me when we leave, and I feel safe when I’m next to him. He looks out for me and I look out for him. I really want to take Link back home with us.”

Naruto however was adamant about keeping Link within the safety of the glade.

“It’s just not a good idea Yahiko,’ Naruto explained. “If any of the villagers saw Link, they would try to kill him. He’s much safer in the forest.”
“I guess so,” Yahiko said with a small pout. “I just really wish we could play together back home.”

After that they left but neither of the two humans noticed the small black shadow that started to follow 30 seconds later.

oooOooo

Everyone had been waiting in the Uchiha mansion for hours and they were all incredibly bored. Kiba kept threatening to leave and Shikamaru had fallen asleep. Finally, Akamaru barked a few times and Kiba announced that Naruto and Yahiko (they had figured out his name from Tsunade) were on the way. Everyone masked their chakra and hid behind the furniture and in the shadows.

---.---

Back at the gates, Naruto and Yahiko were just walking up the main path to the Uchiha Mansion. Naruto had noticed something was wrong as soon as he’d entered the gates, but he recognized the scents and chakra signatures of most of his friends.

‘I guess they’re having a welcoming party for Yahiko,’ he thought. “That’s nice of them but I wish they’d have told me about it first. I’m not sure if Yahiko is ready for this kind of thing.’

Naruto led Yahiko to the front door and prepared himself for some damage control. He was sure that Yahiko would be really nervous in front of so many shinobi and one little incident could set him off.

As soon as Naruto opened the door, disaster occurred. Everyone materialized into view the way only ninjas can, and before they could yell “surprise” Yahiko went white as a sheet and ran away.

“You guys should have told me about this,” Naruto explained. “He’s really shy and afraid of other people right now. If you wanted to meet him, I would have introduced you to him one by one.”

Sakura started to apologize.

“Naruto, I...”
“It’s OK,” Naruto interrupted. “I just need to go talk to him and calm him down. I’ll bring him back if I can but if not I’m going to have to ask all of you to leave.”

With that, Naruto disappeared to chase after Yahiko.

---.---

Yahiko was scared out of his mind.

‘They all came out of nowhere and I didn’t sense them at all. I couldn’t even detect that huge dog.’

When Yahiko paused to collect his thoughts, Naruto was able to find him. There was a slight moment of panic when Yahiko thought that Itachi was chasing after him, but when he realized that it was Naruto he relaxed.

“Hey buddy why’d you decide to run?” Naruto asked. “The party was for you.”
“I’m not good with crowds, especially ninja crowds,” Yahiko explained with watery eyes. “It… it reminds me of him.”

Yahiko continued as tears fell silently from his cheeks.

“When he abandoned me, no one would help me. He killed people and did other horrible things there. The villagers would get together in groups sometimes and try to hurt me and even though I’d get away a lot sometimes they’d trap me.”

He pulled Naruto into a hug again and started to sob.

“Oh Dad, it was horrible.”

As soon as he realized what he just said, Yahiko held his breath. He didn’t know how Naruto would react. Naruto felt the boy in his arms cringe and decided to assure him that everything was alright.

“Don’t worry buddy. You won’t ever be helpless again. And Yahiko?

The boy looked up from Naruto’s soaked shirt.

‘He’s never called me by my name before,’ the young boy thought. ‘Something important must be happening.’

Naruto’s eyes started to tear as he too became overcome with emotion.

“I would be honored to have you as my son.”

They held each other tightly for many minutes: The boy thought about how lucky he was and how safe he felt under the protection of the man who was more of a father and more of a family to him in these last weeks than anyone had ever been in his entire life, while the young man thought about the family he never experienced and the chance he now had to make sure that the same thing didn’t happen to the child he considered his own.

‘I wonder if this is what Sasuke thought about when he dreamed about starting a family after killing Itachi,’ Naruto wondered, ‘It feels real… nice.’

After a while, Yahiko fell asleep as the emotional and physical drains of the day finally took their toll. Naruto didn’t have the heart to wake him, so he muttered a quick wilderness survival jutsu to keep them warm and dry and prepared himself for sleep.

Link found them an hour later lying in the woods. He snuggled in between the two humans and quickly fell asleep. The three of them huddled together for warmth and comfort the rest of the night.

oooOooo

Sasuke got into the village without much trouble. He entered Konoha under the cover of darkness, and he would have gotten in without a hitch if Konohamaru hadn’t of been in charge of wall duty that night. The leader of the “Konohamaru Corps” had grown up and was very similar to his grandfather. Sasuke had even heard rumors that Konohamaru had managed to achieve the Monkey King summoning.

The younger shinobi almost sensed Sasuke, but after a few moments, the Uchiha heir was able to enter undetected.

---.---

The estates were in better condition than he would have thought. It was clear that someone was taking good care of his house but they weren’t home right now. He nodded in satisfaction: it would make his task easier.

Sasuke snuck in and visited his family’s shrine. He paid his respects to the dead and formally mourned for his wife and son for the first time. It was a difficult experience but there was a sense of comfort in the process. He’d visited the shrine weekly before he left Konoha, and he knew that both his families- the new and the old, appreciated his efforts. When he finished, Sasuke prepared to leave as quickly as possible.

It was right before he passed the kitchen that he noticed it. The smell of cooked ramen was in the air. He’d grown accustomed to it after living with Danah, and he only knew of one other person in Konoha that ate that much ramen.

‘I’m going to check, just to make sure,’ he assured himself, ‘just a look to see if it’s him.’

Sure enough, Naruto was the caretaker of the Uchiha Estates. Although the rest of the house was clean, the master bedroom was a mess. Naruto still had that silly nightcap and there was still a picture of Team 7 on the dresser, but it was the picture next to team 7 that caught his attention.

On one side of there was a ‘new’ team 7 picture that included the new Shinobi Sai. The other side however was a picture of Naruto with a small boy no older than his son would have been.

‘He looks a lot like I did when I was young, except for that smile. Does this kid have a past like Naruto’s or mine? Is Naruto the reason he smiles just like me? I’d like to meet him, some day.’

Sasuke left, but for some reason the image of that boy staying with Naruto was burned into his mind. He kept thinking about his son and how life would have been different if he had been alive.

oooOooo

Shortly after Sasuke left Konoha, a shadow observed the three figures gently sleeping in the woods. Anger flashed in his eyes and plans were put into motion. Something would have to be done.

---.---

Naruto was the first one to wake up in the morning. He noticed Link, but decided not to mention him just yet.

‘I’ll let them sleep,’ Naruto thought. ‘Link seems extremely determined to spend a lot of time with Yahiko and I guess it’ll be safer and easier if they do it with my help.’

After thinking about Link for a bit Naruto picked both sleeping kids up and walked back to the Uchiha Mansion.

---.---

Once again the next few days were spent establishing a routine. Naruto decided to take a week off from missions to introduce Yahiko to all of his friends. Although the boy liked everyone he really seemed to get along with Konohamaru and Kiba, probably because they were still kids at heart. He also seemed to really like talking to Shikamaru. The lazy jounin would always complain about “how troublesome” looking after Yahiko was but he’d never send the boy away when he visited or say no when Yahiko wanted to play a board game.

After a day of training and meeting with Konoha nins Yahiko would spend some time with Link and his siblings, and then he and Link would go back to sleep in Yahiko’s room.

---.---

Link’s whimpering woke him up in the middle of the night two weeks later. The small fox was shaking with fear and was currently poking his nose at Yahiko’s face trying to wake him up faster. There was a sense of urgency in the air, and Yahiko woke very quickly. When Link saw that he was awake, he took Yahiko’s hand in his mouth and started to lead him to the door.

‘Something’s wrong,’ Yahiko thought. ‘Link hasn’t grabbed my hand like this since the first time I met him.’

As soon as Yahiko finished dressing Link yipped once urgently and led him out of the house. Yahiko chased after him but he had never seen his friend move so fast before. It seemed like the kit knew every shortcut through both the village and the forest. Yahiko was out of breath and he was having a hard time keeping up with the fox. Luckily he knew where Link was headed; the trail they had started on led towards the glade. A few minutes after losing sight of Link, Yahiko noticed something that scared him into finding another level of speed: there was smoke in the air.

oooOooo

The sounds were very quiet but Naruto was aware of them anyway. He was able to make out the distinct sounds of ninja gear being equipped in the half-awareness sleep all jounin possess. His subconscious brain registered the noises as Yahiko so he wasn’t unduly worried. Perhaps he was going out for some extra chakra control training. Water walking had been giving the boy some extra trouble, and Yahiko had adopted Naruto’s work ethic. It was the second sound that caught his attention: Link’s single bark had been full of worry. The merge with Kyuubi allowed Naruto to communicate on a very basic level with foxes and the yip had conveyed urgency and also… fear. By the time Yahiko and Link ran out, Naruto was already dressed and checking their room. He found nothing out of the ordinary, but noticed their chakra signatures were heading into the forest. Naruto quickly created a shadow clone and sent it after them. He would go to Tsunade to make sure nothing was wrong.

oooOooo

Yahiko arrived at the glade and into chaos. The trees were burning and two Rain Nin were fighting with something next to the glade. When Yahiko moved closer, he noticed that the foreign shinobi were fighting two foxes. ’Sune and Link were fighting to protect their home and the broken bodies of Link’s siblings were at the edge of the clearing. There was so much blood and the small kits had numerous needles pierced through their bodies.

At that moment, the nins jumped back from the fight and each flung two of the umbrellas they were carrying into the air. ’Sune knew what they were up to and flung Link towards Yahiko. She prepared to leap away but she was too late. Yahiko heard the Nins simultaneously yell “Jouro Senbon no Jutsu!” (1) and the sky rained needles. ’Sune desperately tried to dodge them, but there were just too many. She was pierced at least thirty times and collapsed with a yelp of agony. Link cried in pain and anger then struggled to gain his footing. His call attracted the attention of the closer of the two Rain Nin noticed this and threw two Senbon at the fox’s rear legs causing Link to fall once again, unable to move.

The enemy nins prepared to advance and Yahiko readied himself to defend his first friend. Right before he charged, Yahiko saw a blur that could only have been Naruto intercept the two nins. Unfortunately for Naruto, it looked like they were prepared for him. A net shot out and snagged the Konoha shinobi in the air and the nins threw all of their remaining umbrellas in the air.

“Jouro Senbon no Jutsu!”
“Dad!” Yahiko screamed as the senbon struck.

He sighed in relief when the smoke cleared and the only thing within the net was the remains of a log.

‘Kawarimi no Jutsu! I should have known. No one would get my Dad that way.’

Yahiko’s eyes were starting to burn from the smoke but he could still see very clearly.

‘Where is he?’ he wondered.

Suddenly Yahiko spotted him: Naruto was up in the air ready to start his counterattack on the two nins, but they were ready for him once again.

“Fool!” one of them yelled, “Do you think that that was our last attack? Jouro Senbon no Jutsu!”

Another set of needles rained down on Naruto, but instead of piercing his flesh, there was a loud pop and Naruto disappeared in smoke.

“Quickly!” the other Rain Nin yelled, “Kill the fox and let’s get out of here. The owner of that clone can’t be far away!”

Yahiko drew a kunai and prepared to fight again.

‘I will protect Link. Even if it costs me my life.’

His eyes were still burning, and he felt strangely calm.

‘Is this what it feels like to prepare to die? I never thought that I would be able to face it so bravely. I hope you’re proud of me, Dad.’

---.---

Naruto was seconds away when he felt the chakra increase that indicated the defeat of his clone and with it the knowledge of what was happening. Yahiko was falling into a trap. He was attacking two rain nin, but there was one more behind him.

“Yahiko!!!” he yelled out of pure desperation as he burst through the clearing, “Son!! Noooooo!”

He wasn’t going to be fast enough. After all this time, he still wasn’t powerful enough to save those that he cared for.

Yahiko heard Naruto’s warning and started to turn, but it was too late. Naruto yelled inarticulately in anguish and all Yahiko caught was the flash of a kunai. Blood splattered the ground… and time seemed to stop.

TBC…

(1) Umbrella Senbon attack. See narutofan . com for full description.

OK. I know that was evil. But I promise that I will try to get the next chapter out within a few days.

Next time: The conclusion of the battle and the start of a journey (no cliffhanger though).

I’ve also decided to restart the e-mail alert list I have for Our Progeny. If you would like to be added to it, please send me an e-mail or leave a review.