Every Generation

Just a fic with my next generation OC's, a scene that happens when they're someplace around fourteen. This is part of a much larger fic that will probably never be finished, but I felt like writing this scene.

***

"Zangetsu, where are you going?" Ryota knew full well where the path led- outside of Konoha. The Uchiha been there before, when his father had shone him the beginning of all of his mistakes. Now his teammate walked it.

"Go away, Ryota." Zangetsu did not turn around, but Ryota saw his fists clench.

"Why are you leaving?!" Stepping forward, Ryota grabbed his shoulder.

Instantly Zangetsu whirled, and red Sharingan eyes met deep black ones as Zangetsu knocked Ryota's hand away. Now they stood facing each other.

It was surreal. Everything was silvered in the moonlight, but with his Sharingan Ryota could see every detail anyway- including the scratched forehead protector not quite hidden by Zangetsu's dark pink hair.

"Ryota, scram." Glaring, Ryota stood his ground.

"No. Zangetsu, why are you doing this?" A bitter look crossed Zangetsu's features, and then he bolted.

"Zangetsu!" Ryota followed him into the trees, frantically keeping track of him in the darkness with the Sharingan. Damnit, why was Zangetsu doing this?

Suddenly Zangetsu turned and Ryota saw his hands making seals. The Sharingan enabled him to recognize the jutsu immediatly. Ryota leapt clear of the branches just as Zangetsu slammed a bleeding thumb down, the summoning circle appearing beneath it.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Nezumi Doton!" Instantly dark rats covered the trees, all honing in on Ryota.

"Zangetsu, get back here!" Dodging the rats, Ryota saw that his teammate was on the move agin. He cursed, then turned in midair, making his own seals.

"Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!" The fireball burst from his mouth, engulfing the moving mass. Landing, he scanned the area for a second, determining that he had gotten them, and then hurried in the direction Zangestu had gone.

He caught up with him a few minutes later- Ryota knew it wasn't a good idea to fuel his legs with chakra from the Sharingan, but he didn't really have a choice.

Without warning, Ryota dropped down on him, grabbing his arms and pulling them behind his back, slamming Zangetsu to the ground.

"Ryota. Let me go." Zangetsu's voice was soft and hissing, and Ryota remembered his father noting the boy's resemblence to the first Snake Sannin. Hell, Zangetsu even wore the stupid earring because he knew it freaked people out.

"No. Not until you tell me why you're leaving and let me convince you that it's stupid." There was a moment of silence, and Ryota almost thought that his teammate was listening to him. But then, faster than Ryota's body could react to, Zangetsu twisted, his legs coming up at an impossible angle to hit him away, getting to his feet as Ryota felt his back hit a tree, hard enough to jar his concentration, letting his eyes fade back to green.

But Zangetsu didn't dart off again. His eyes were narrowed he was shaking with- rage? Ryota wasn't sure. There was something off...

"Damn you Ryota, do you want to know why I'm leaving?" Ryota only had time to widen his eyes before his back whacked into the tree again, but this time it didn't register. Zangetsu's hand was between his head and the bark, threaded through black hair, but that, too, was lost on him.

Zangetsu was kissing him.

His teammate- his male teammate- was kissing him.

Ryota tried to supress a gasp of surprise, but his brain had frozen. The mouth on his was hot and desperate, and Ryota wondered, in some vague corner of his mind that was still working, how he had missed whatever had caused Zangetsu to act like this.

Then Zangetsu pulled back, and Ryota still didn't react, the shocked, frozen feeling spreading.

"Because I love you, idiot." And then he was gone.

Ryota's knees buckled as his focus returned, forced back as his mind gave way to turmoil, and the Sharingan reactivated. But he didn't give chase.

***

"Does this thing happen every generation?!" The Rokudaime paced in his office, and went to slam his hand on his desk before remembering that he'd already done that, the scattered papers all over the floor reminding him before he even completely turned toward the broken desk.

"Naruto, at least this time it isn't power-obsession." Sakura shot a glare at her husband.

"How can you be so calm about this?!" The ANBU captain sighed.

"Because there is nothing we can do. Tracker nin have already been sent out, but it looks like he headed for Mist." Sakura wilted at that, and even Naruto frowned.

"And they've been taking in missing nin from other villages since they were founded. Bastards," Naruto said bitterly, then turned back to Sasuke and Sakura.

"How is Ryota taking this?"

"Badly. He's been training his Sharingan, trying to get the third tomoe. I think he's convinced he could have done something if he'd noticed sooner." There was a brief silence. They all knew Ryota fairly well- and they knew that, short of changing his orientation, there was probably little the Uchiha heir could have done. Naruto broke the silence.

"And their third teammate? Midori?" Sakura answered the Hokage this time.

"She knew." Naruto's eyes widened.

"She what!?" Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"She knew, dobe. Apparently her and Zangetsu had a heart to heart on that. It figures my son is around you enough that he wound up with the shyest girl in his year in love with him."

"Damn, this is a mess..." With that, all three were in agreement.

***

The end... for now. Someday I may get around to writing the rest of my Naruto: Next Generation fic, but that'll be a while off.

And if someone guesses where Zangetsu's name came from correctly, they get a cookie.