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Yuudai glared at his teammate. The very idea of being called a coward made his blood churn. Girl or not, teammate or not, there was no way he was letting anyone get away with that! He fell into a fighting stance, his golden eyes narrowed at his opponent, “Don’t think I’ll be going easy on you.”

“Oh, so now you’re willing to fight?” Akina’s dark gaze swirled as it shifted into the crimson Sharingan. Once she had him upset, she knew Yuudai would be hardly a match for her. And the kekki genkai just gave her an added advantage, “Alright then, bring it on!”

“Anno…Uchiha-chan, this probably isn’t a very good idea.” The warning of the pigtailed girl was, however, wasted amidst the tension.

“Oh no, Mi-chan. It’s a very good idea. Yuu-kun may not know it, but his little emo act is a load of bull! It’s about time that someone knocked some sense into him!” The Uchiha youth kept her crimson gaze trained on the boy, not risking becoming distracted.

“Yeah, but Kiba-sensei did say we shouldn’t fight. And he had a point! We’re supposed to be a team.” The teal eyed girl could sense the rage building between her teammates. She was honestly concerned that someone would get hurt, “Besides, you know that your parents would be angry!”

“Wouldn’t want your parents getting pissed off, Uchiha.” Yuudai growled, waiting for his opponent to make the first move, “Maybe you’d better run home and forget fighting.”

“I meant you too, Uzumaki-kun!” Mine insisted, “Your dad…”

“What, the Hokage?” Yuudai shook his head, “Who cares! He’s not my dad!” His gaze never left Akina, and he once more addressed her, “Are you gonna fight, or are you just going to stand there! If you’re so keen to knock some sense into me, do it already!”

The tension that had been building snapped like a rubber band. Akina launched herself at Yuudai, shouting as she did so, “You selfish little jerk! Hokage-sama took you in! And that’s how you talk about him?”

Yuudai managed to dodge the first blow, a fist directed at his face. He was about to make a comment of his own when Akina’s foot connected with his gut. He was sent spiraling head over heels. By the time he landed a few yards away he had regained himself and angled his feet below him. The blue-clad Uchiha was once more charging him, her fist ready to collide with his gut. The moss-haired boy caught her wrist, knocking the blow aside. His own attack was launched, a kick to the head. But the Sharingan allowed Akina to see the move coming, and she quickly ducked down, sweeping her own leg beneath the boy. Although he was precariously balanced on one foot, Yuudai sprang away from the kick, landing feet away just in time to be caught in the jaw by a clenched fist.

“Alright…you’ve had your little fight,” Mine tried in vain to interject, but her teammates ignored her plea.

“Took me in?” Yuudai spat as he wiped a trickle of blood from his split lip, aiming a blow for the Akina’s gut, “Out of pity, like some stray animal!”

“For Kami’s sake!” Akina shouted in reply, kicking his fist aside, and twisting in an amazing feat of acrobatics to balance herself on her palms as she landed a kick on Yuudai’s chest, which sent him toppling to the ground, “A couple of kids make some dumb remark, and it becomes your whole life! Hokage-sama took you in out of compassion! He cares about you, and if you’d get your head out of your a**, you might realize other people do too!”

“Like who? You? Kiba-sensei? If you care so damn much why are you always making my life such a hell!?” dragging himself up from the dirt, Yuudai launched a fierce series of blows, hoping the sheer number of attacks would catch Akina’s Sharingan off guard.

In rapid succession Akina blocked the moves, her Sharingan able to read them perfectly, “Because you make it impossible to do anything else!”

The Uchiha girl was about to set in with a barrage of her own when a voice echoing in the street stopped her, “Onee-chan!”

She turned to see a young boy with ebony hair and green eyes running her way, flanked by girls clad one in red, and one in green, with their hair in buns. Each girl had one pale eye, and one chocolate brown eye. While she was distracted, Yuudai took the opportunity to land a punch on her chin, sending her stumbling back a few step. The advancing boy and his friends skidded to a halt at the sight.

“You JERK!” Akina shouted, launching forward with a hard hit, her fist driving into Yuudai’s gut. The blow knocked the wind out of him, and the moss haired Genin toppled to the ground gasping. She pushed stray hair from her crimson gaze; which continued to focus harshly on the defeated boy.

“Onee-chan?” The green eyed boy looked from the collapsed Yuudai to his sister, obviously bothered by the sight, “You and Yuudai-kun got into a fight again?”

“Don’t worry about it.” His older sister reassured him, reaching out to muss his hair, “How was your first day of training as a Genin?”

“Great!” The boy’s concern faded as he pointed to his two companions, “These are my teammates, Hyuuga Sumi and Hyuuga Kagami!”

“Nice to meet both of you,” Akina bowed slightly to the twins. While this was going on, Yuudai had regained his composure, and was struggling to his feet.

Mine gazed at him in concern, taking a step forward, “Uzumaki-kun, are you okay?”

“Tch.” That single syllable was all he breathed before stalking off down the street.

“Yuu-kun, seriously, if you were a little friendlier, then people would be nicer to you!” A familiar voice called after him, the pink banged girl having her final say. As Yuudai retreated to nurse his wounded pride, and a split lip, he could hear her talking to her brother.

“That idiot Uchiha.” Yuudai muttered to himself as he walked through the dusty streets of Konoha. He reached to his lip with his thumb and wiped away some blood that had already begun to dry, smearing it across his chin in a thin line, “She doesn’t know a damn thing!”

Yet, as he walked, images of those in the village floated through his mind. Who was it that for all these years had made him feel so inferior? Visions of his classmates from the academy drifted to and from the surface of the thoughts. Nothing but smiling faces, turned away by a sharp word. The cruel and sneering features of taunting were spread across the faces of those older than himself. Probably the last class from the academy to actually have the Chuunin exams, at least two years ahead of him. And when Naruto’s face found its way into the dancing memories, it seemed so kind. Even when scolding him, the face held a sort of sorrow. Was what Akina had said a truth? No…Yuudai shook his head. He couldn’t allow his guard to fall. They would only hurt him again then.

The green-haired youth paused, glancing up as he caught his reflection in the window. Blood smeared across his features. His lip had begun to swell where it had been split. He could already feel the bruise forming in the shape of Akina’s foot against his ribs. The Hokage would be mad…that was for sure. Naruto was always yelling at Yuudai for getting into meaningless fights. The Genin scoffed, looking at the dusty road as he licked his thumb, scrubbing away what was left of the smeared blood. He reminded himself that he didn’t care what the Hokage thought.

“Oi! Yuudai!” The shinobi’s golden gaze snapped up in surprise to see a grinning blond man with whisker marks upon his cheeks striding toward him, the cloak of the Hokage swirling proudly about him. Naruto waved at his adopted son, “You never ate breakfast, so I thought we could stop in at Ichiraku’s for some ramen! You can’t skip out on lunch too!”

“Umm…” Yuudai blinked, having been suddenly jerked out of his thoughts. Doubtless, the offer would be revoked once Naruto noticed the battle scars upon his features, so why should the boy accept?

“Eh?” The Hokage stopped and stared at the split lip, which looked swelled and sore, “Kiba had you guys sparring, huh? Looks like a tough day of training! Well, let’s go get that ramen!”

A bead of sweat trickled down the boy’s brow at the older man’s obliviousness. Not for the first time he wondered how on earth Naruto had become Hokage. A soft gurgle from his stomach, however, reminded him that he had more important things to think about, “Fine. Let’s go.”

It was awkwardly silent as Yuudai and his adoptive father made their way towards the Hokage’s favourite dining venue. The Genin’s golden gaze remained focused on the packed dirt of the street, and he knew that sooner or later Naruto would discover he had been in a fight with his teammate, and that then he would be reprimanded. It was not so much that the idea of having the Hokage angry with him, or his father’s disappointment in his actions concerned him; at least that is what he told himself. He simply hated to be told that he was wrong.

Taking notice of his son’s strained silence as they passed below the hanging fabric which marked the entrance to Ichiraku; Naruto turned and glanced down at the boy. He took in the sight of the furrowed brow, the downturned corners of Yuudai’s mouth, “Did training go alright?”

The hint of concern in the Hokage’s voice caught the Genin’s attention, and his gaze lifted, briefly meeting the blue eyes of his adoptive father before he shrugged and looked away once more. Sliding onto a stool in front of the counter he replied, “It went well enough.”

Naruto sighed at the boy’s unresponsive attitude. Just once he wished he could get Yuudai to talk to him, to be straight about something. He took a seat beside the mossy-haired Genin, and in very short time a smiling woman approached them, “Hello, Hokage-sama! Always a pleasure to see you!”

“Hey, Ayame-chan,” Naruto grinned at the woman he had known since his own Genin days, “Where else do you think I would go for ramen!”

The older woman laughed and shook her head slightly, “You may have grown up, but you’re still the same Naruto.”

“Believe it!” He laughed as well. At his side his son was gazing into the distance, looking thoroughly bored by the conversation.

“Ah, I see you brought your son with you today! Long time no see, Yuudai-kun!” The Genin twitched slightly at being called Naruto’s son. He hadn’t viewed the Hokage as his father in a very long time, “How old are you now? Fourteen?”

“Yeah.” Yuudai confirmed, with a small nod of his head.

“Well,” Ayame pulled a small notepad from her apron, “What can I get for you two?”

“Hmmm,” Naruto licked his lips as he thought of all the delicious varieties of ramen he wanted to eat, “Why don’t you start me off with some shrimp,” He turned to the Genin at his side, “What about you, Yuudai?”

Yuudai shrugged, “I guess I’ll have the same.”

“Right. I’ll get that for you then.” She jotted the orders on the pad and slid it back into her pocket, a bright smile on her face, “And tell you what, it’s my treat for today! Naruto-kun, you may be Hokage now, but you should try to stop in more often! We don’t see you nearly as much as we used to!”

“Hey, running Konoha is a big job, dattebayo!” He laughed with a grin, “But I’ll try to come by when I can!”

“You do that.” With that, Ayame went about the task of preparing the ramen they had ordered, leaving the father and son to continue their previous discussion.

“So,” Naruto smiled at Yuudai, “Who did Kiba have you sparring with?”

“Huh?” Yuudai blinked, unsure of what the Hokage was talking about.

“That fat lip,” His father replied, gesturing to his own lips with his thumb, “Who were you sparring with?”

“Oh!” At this point the Genin recalled that Naruto had assumed the injury on his face had come from a training spar arranged by his sensei. Not exactly lying he replied, “Akina.”

Precisely then, who should walk through the door but a crowd of five, the pink banged kunoichi among them. At the head of the group was a face long familiar to Naruto, a comrade whose return he never ceased to be thrilled at, “Sasuke! Hey Sasuke, over here!”

“I heard you,” The dark haired ninja replied with an exasperated sigh, though a smile played on his lips as he made his way over to his friend. Close behind him followed his children and his wife, a pink haired med-nin also familiar to Naruto.

“Well thanks for saying hi to me too,” She remarked sarcastically, arms folded over her chest. Though it irked her to have been overlooked by her former teammate, she understood. After all, Naruto had risked his life bringing Sasuke back home – they both had – and he was a very important part of both their lives.

“Ah! Sorry Sakura-chan!” Naruto chuckled nervously, recalling the many times in their early years as Genin that the fierce girl had pummeled him for stupid mistakes. Of course, as they had matured into adults, her temper had dulled some, but she still retained the fiery spirit that had drawn him to her in their youth, “Of course I’m happy to see you!”

“Well, that’s more like it!” She smiled, moving to Sasuke and wrapping her arms loosely about his waist. She cast her pale green gaze to the boy seated at Naruto’s side, “Hello, Yuudai-kun. How are you?”

“Alright, I guess,” Yuudai responded with a shrug. His golden eyes drifted to Akina, and narrowed as they landed on her. He could see that her own dark gaze was focused on his swelling lip.

“Akina! Aren’t you even going to say hi to your teammate?” Her mother chided.

“Hello, Yuu-kun.” She muttered, averting her gaze. She really hadn’t meant to hurt him so badly…but if there was one thing she had poor control of, it was her temper.

“Don’t call me that.” Yuudai responded automatically, his eyes narrowing further.

Between Akina and her younger brother Yasuo stood a tall, lithe boy with a short, low ponytail wrapped in crimson ribbon most of the way down. A small smirk spread on his lips as he spotted the swollen lip, “Get in a fight?”

“Maybe…” was the grumbled reply. By this point Ayame had returned and was setting the ramen they had ordered in front Naruto and his son.

Looking to Sakura and Sasuke the older woman smiled, “Well, get Kakashi-san in here and it would be a team seven reunion!”

Her joke did little to break the tension between the younger generation. Akina looked at the boy who was still smirking at her teammate, “Taro…don’t.”

“Don’t what?” Taro shrugged, “It’s not like I was planning to point out that he got his a** kicked or anything.”

“Taro!” His mother cut in scolding him, “You keep that up and you’re going to get your own a** kicked when we get home!”

“Maybe I should come back for your order later…” Ayame murmured, unnoticed as she stepped away from the counter.

Taro Uchiha flinched at his mother’s scolding. Turning his dark gaze towards her he sheepishly explained, “Sorry, Okaa-san. I was just joking!”

A small smirk flickered over Sasuke’s lips at his son’s reaction. He knew his oldest child’s desire to appear tough tended to interfere with his common sense at times. But if there was one way to snap him back into place, it was to bring Sakura into it. She was about the only thing he could think of the boy would openly show fear of.

“Onee-chan,” Yasuo spoke, not thinking of the fact that the idea of a fight would get his sister in trouble, “I think you hit him a little too hard…”

“Ototo!” She hissed, but it was too late. Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura had heard the comment and put the equation together.

“You two were fighting, again!” The three former teammates replied in unison, voices tense with anger at the two Genin’s constant battling.

“Yuudai! How many times have I told you not to do that?” Naruto sighed exasperatedly, “You need to get along with your teammates!”

At the same time, Sakura was scolding her own child, “What were you thinking?”

“I’m sorry Okaa-san!” She attempted, but her mother continued going.

“You shouldn’t be fighting with your teammates!” The pink haired woman gestured to Yuudai as she spoke, emphasizing the point.

“I know, but –” again her attempt at an explanation was interrupted.

“But?! But what! Teams are supposed to work together!” Sakura continued to rant. At this point however, she herself was stopped by a louder, younger shout.

“You tell me and you tell me! You act like you actually care or something! You say you’re my father, but you don’t even trust me to go on a mission! You don’t trust any of the Genin though, do you? So why the hell do we even bother training!!” Yuudai’s voice was rising in pitch as his rant continued. By the time he was done, even people on the street had stopped to stare at the ramen shop. He stormed away, his bowl of ramen still untouched as he burst out onto the street. He halted, noticing the eyes focused on him, the people staring only increased his frustration and anger, “What the hell do you want?”

With that he took off at a run, racing through the streets and not stopping until he reached his destination, his so-called home. He burst into his room, and slammed the door shut behind him.

“That’s why we got into a fight,” Akina sighed once the boy was gone; “He’s always disrespecting Hokage-sama, even after all that he’s done for Yuu-kun!”

“Well that’s a matter for Yuudai and Naruto to work out on their own!” Sakura began, “It wasn’t you’re place to –”

“Stop,” A clam voice cut in. Sakura turned to see Sasuke, his arms folded, eyes closed as he sighed softly, “Sakura, you’re overreacting…you and Naruto both. Akina…your mother’s right. It’s not your place to try to make Yuudai respect his father. Still, how many fights did the three of us get into?”

The last statement was directed to his teammates, who glanced at each other as they remembered their youth. Naruto grinned at the memories, “He’s right, we did fight a lot, ‘ttebayo.”

“It’s part of growing up.” Sasuke shrugged as he continued, “Unfortunately, as shinobi the children of Konoha are forced to grow up quickly. Childish fights must be avoided.”

The three young Uchiha’s looked at each other. Akina bore a slight look of shame for her earlier actions; Yasuo was nodding in agreement with his father’s words. Looking at Taro, it was difficult to decide what he might have been thinking. Perhaps he was simply digesting the information without showing any signs, or perhaps he planned to simply disregard it.

“You’re right, Sasuke-kun.” Sakura smiled gently at her beloved husband, she returned to his side and kissed his cheek affectionately.

Hearing that the argument had ceased, Ayame took the chance to tend to the customers. Once more approaching the Uchiha brood, she ventured a timid smile, “Now, can I get you anything?”

“Two chicken ramen, two beef and a shrimp,” Sasuke replied, the family having discussed what they were hungry for on the way, “Thanks, Ayame.”

“Alright,” She jotted the order down and stepped away from the counter, calling over her shoulder, “Coming right up!”

“Hey, Ayame!” Naruto called, his voice carrying a dejected tone, “Yuudai already headed home…could I have a take-out container for his ramen?”

“Sure, Hokage-sama! Just a sec, okay?” She sent him a smile, which he returned, and set about her work, preparing the Uchiha clan’s order to cook, and then fetching a small plastic bowl with a lid for the Hokage. When she returned to give him the container, she found him in conversation with Sasuke.

“You can’t blame the boy for being frustrated,” Sasuke was saying to his old friend, having taken a seat beside the blond. Beside Sasuke sat his wife, and beyond her were his children, seated in order from oldest to youngest. The Uchiha patriarch continued, “He’s been spending two years training, with no real experience.”

“I know,” Naruto sighed, “It’s just so dangerous these days…there aren’t any missions I would dare to rank below an A with the risk of ambush where ever you go…”

“We were in plenty dangerous situations when we were his age. The first real mission we went on, where we helped the bridge builder…it ended up an A rank, didn’t it?” It seemed like so long ago to Sasuke, ages. So much had happened in his youth, much of which he’d rather just forget, “And by the time I was your son’s age…well…”

Naruto nodded, himself reliving the old days. His smile was small and sad, his eyes glazed over as he stared at his untouched ramen, “It’s him; you know….the one they’re looking for. I tried to tell myself it wasn’t. That if I kept him here, he’d be safe…but it’s him.”

“Whether or not he’s the one they’re after…you can’t protect him forever. He’s a shinobi…a soldier. At his age, we had very similar problems.” His onyx gaze dropped as he glanced towards his shoulder, thinking of the curse mark Orochimaru had placed there so long ago, “The Akatsuki were after you…and I had only vengeance on my mind.”

“I was hoping that he could avoid being hunted.” Naruto chuckled half heartedly, “If I remember right it wasn’t exactly a blast. Though we had our good times.”

“So…what makes you so sure it’s him they’re after, anyways?” Sakura broke into the conversation. Though her children were eating silently, they strained to hear the adult’s hushed conversation.

“Twelve years ago…when Kiri was attacked and Sai, Sasuke and I, along with other Anbu ops went to help out…the survivors described the attackers,” Naruto explained, “They had golden eyes and hair that ranged from silver to deep blue, and I guess the shades of blue in between. Anyways, apparently there was a guy who’d settled in the village a few years earlier who fit the same description, light blue hair and gold eyes. He got married, had a kid…he and his wife were killed in the attack…but they managed to keep the kid safe.”

“It was Yuudai…” Sakura concluded. She’d never heard the entire story, only that Naruto had discovered the orphan and taken him in, “But maybe it’s not the same people!”

“The few shinobi who’ve survived recent attacks give the same description,” Sasuke confirmed, causing his wife’s frown to deepen, “And there’s more. Water attacks that we’ve only seen once before are being used against the teams that are attacked.”

“The same attacks as twelve years ago?” Sakura’s guess was validated as the two men nodded in response. Tears began to well up in her green eyes as she sat silent for a few moments. By the time she had started talking again, they were threatening to spill over, her voice quaking, “Alright, so it’s him! Naruto, I know you want to keep him safe…so do I! My babies are all shinobi now! But we can’t protect them forever!”

“S-Sakura-chan! Don’t cry!” Naruto looked at her wide eyed. He’d always hated to see girls cry, or anyone cry for that matter. But especially Sakura, who still held a special place in his heart.

“Naruto…” She struggled to keep her voice calm and yet strong as the tears trickled down her soft cheek, “W-we have to let them go…sooner or later, even if we keep them here, those men are going to find out where Yuudai is! They’ll come here and attack. Keeping him here won’t really prevent the danger…you know that!” She wiped away the tears, and sniffed softly, forcing a small smile on her face, “Besides…they’re stronger than you think…I believe in my children…in all of our children. We’ve taught them well. I have confidence that Lee, Kiba, Hinata and Shikamaru can lead them through any danger…like Kakashi-sensei did for us!”

By this time, Sakura’s voice had grown strong enough that even her children could clearly hear her. They glanced at one another, unsure of exactly what was being said. Only knowing that it had something to do with Yuudai, and why the Genin were not allowed to go on missions. They knew about the attacks, but were unaware of the whole story, the connection between the attackers and the Hokage’s son.

Naruto nodded slowly, his face bearing a serious expression as he thought over what his friends had said. At last his mouth shifted into an oh so familiar grin “You’re right, as usual, Sakura-chan. But if I let the Genin go on missions…they’ll want to be allowed to become Chuunin next. So I know just what to give them as a first mission, dattebayo.”

Sasuke and Sakura glanced at each other as Naruto began to eat his ramen, falling into silence. What was their former teammate planning? They had an idea, but didn’t know for sure.

“Oi,” Naruto murmured through a mouthful, “Aren’t you gonna eat?”

Blinking as they looked at the counter in front of them, the couple realized their order had been filled while they were talking to Naruto. Each taking hold of a pair of chopsticks, they gave the customary thanks before beginning to eat.

Quickly finishing his own ramen and emptying Yuudai’s meal into the small plastic bowl, which he then pressed the lid onto, Naruto stood and turned to leave. As he went he called over his shoulder, “Well, I got stuff to take care of! See ya around!”

Forty-five minutes after his angry departure from Ichiraku, Yuudai still lay on his bed, his eyes closed as the day’s events ran through his head. Perhaps he had overreacted to the Hokage’s scolding, but he wasn’t about to admit it! He sighed softly, shifting into a sitting position as his golden eyes slid open.

It was just then that there was a rap on the door. Without waiting to hear Yuudai respond, the knocker opened the door enough to stick his head in, revealing himself to be Naruto, “Yuudai, can I come in?”

Yuudai shrugged, not turning to face his adoptive father, “I don’t see why not. Even if I said no, you wouldn’t listen.”

“Probably not,” Naruto entered, bearing the plastic bowl from Ichiraku, whose contents had been reheated and were giving off a delicious scent with the steam that poured from the noodles, “’Cause food is more important than being angry, ‘ttebayo.”

The Genin sighed, taking the food as the Hokage offered it. Breaking open a pair of chopsticks, he began to eat slowly, not wanting to reveal just how hungry he really was, “What do you want, anyways?”

“To say I’m sorry. I guess I overreacted at Ichiraku. I mean, I had my fair share of fights with Sasuke. Not that that means you should fight! You still have to try to get along!” He added the last two comments as an after thought, not wanting his son to think he was condoning the constant battles with Akina, “Anyways…you eat. I’ve got some work to get done!”

As Naruto turned to leave, Yuudai let out another sigh, “Oi, Hokage.”

Naruto cast a sapphire glance back at the boy, “Yeah?”

“Thanks.” There was a short pause, “For bringing the ramen, I mean.”

“No problem!” The Hokage’s face shifted into a bright grin. And with that he left the room, bound for his office where he had several important things to do before the next day.