บท 3: Chapter 3

The Rasengan in Menma's hand died out as he peered up into eyes he has not seen in a very long time now that he thought about it. Sasuke allowed the ball of fire within his own hand to die out as Itachi gave him a knowing look before poking his forehead with his middle and index fingers.

"Naruto-nii?" Menma asked. Clearly surprised by the sudden entry. Kushina and Mikoto came jogging up, stopping a ways away seeing it was handled.

"Otouto." Naruto said with a grin. "Picking fights on your birthday?" he asked letting his wrist go.

"Naruto!" Kushina yelled a bit louder than she meant to. "I uh." She said unable to find her words as she was now face to face with a child that should by all rights hate her guts.

"Hey Kaa-san." He said with a small smile. "It's okay. It was just a little playground skirmish, no harm done." He said putting his hand on Menma's hair and rustling it up.

Menma pushed his hand away glaring up at him. "It was his fault!" he yelled pleading his case to his older brother. "He's the one who cheated!"

"That's a lie! Naruto-nii!" Sasuke yelled in defense. "He's just being a baby because I beat him!" his rant was ended when Itachi squeezed his shoulder gently.

"No you didn't! And don't call him nii-san!" Menma yelled in reply. Naruto chuckled at the little verbal spout and rubbed Menma's head.

"It's fine Otouto. We win some we lose some. As Ninja we're expected to cheat. Had it been a fight you'd have lost regardless." Menma listened in finding truth to his brother's words as he at one point heard his dad say something similar. Naruto, seeing his downtrodden expression, leaned down closer so that he could whisper in his ear. "But, had it been a real fight, I'm sure you would've won hands down."

Menma's face lit up with a smile as he turned to his brother who had his fist out towards him. Understanding the gesture, he fist bumped his brother and looked over to Sasuke who was also receiving some form of praise as he and Itachi high fived. When they caught eyes, they both grinned and took off back to the playground where everyone else was watching the spectacle.

Naruto looked over at Itachi already figuring he had said something along the same lines. "Oh Itachi. Lying to your little brother?" he asked jokingly.

"Not one bit." He said with a smile. "You'd know, you helped train him." Their conversation ended when they walked over to their mothers. "Good Evening Kaa-san, Namikaze-sama." He greeted.

"Hey Itachi-kun, Naruto-kun" Mikoto replied. Kushina just gave a quick nod with a strange expression on her face.

"Hello Mikoto-sama, Kaa-san." Naruto said waving his hand at the two women.

"So." Mikoto said with a sigh. "What happened with those two?"

Itachi and Naruto walked until they were on either side of their respective mothers looking out to the children playing. Itachi answered her question. "Ah, it would appear Sasuke used unfavorable tactics in their game to win."

Mikoto sighed again. "That boy. He's just like his father. Can never admit when they've lost." She said shaking her head. From there Mikoto and Itachi got lost in their own conversation of who Sasuke was more alike. Kushina however had her perplexed expression directed at Naruto. In her musing earlier, she was sure she hadn't seen him in years. But, they lived in the same house. That's neglect. Hell that's borderline child abuse. Yet, he seems as if nothing has ever happened. Like he's been there forever.

She watched him as he pulled out a little black book and began reading. Examining him further, she saw the headband around his neck. 'But, he doesn't graduate for another week… right?' Her mind then traveled back to the way he was able to stop Menma's attack. It would take a skilled ninja to do something like that.

"Well." Mikoto said after a fit of laughing, breaking Kushina from her thoughts. "We better head home. I've got to get Sasuke ready for the festival." She said bidding Naruto and Kushina a farewell. "You coming Itachi-kun?" she asked as she walked towards the children to get Sasuke.

Itachi nodded before turning to Naruto. "I already spoke with Yugao-san. She says we are to stay on call." He said as Naruto nodded. With that, he nodded back and followed his mother and little brother away from the park and back to the Uchiha compound, leaving only Naruto and Kushina sitting on the bench.

Now alone, Naruto decided to address the elephant in the room, er in the park. "Kaa-san?" he said getting her attention which was already on him. "Is there an issue? You have been staring at me for quite a while."

Kushina blinked a few times. Tucking her hair behind her ear she looked back out at Mito and Menma. "Oh… I'm sorry Naru-ku…" she said, her voice fading out.

Naruto looked at her strangely. "Are you feeling ok?" he asked.

"No, yeah! I'm fine!" she said perking up too quick for it to seem natural. Clearly forced, Naruto gave her an unconvinced 'mhm' before sticking his nose back into his book.

"So. Where will the party be?" he asked her casually.

"The party…" she whispered in slight confusion. "Oh right. The uh… the party. It's at the house." She muttered out. "It's at home…" a little softer.

Naruto nodded from behind his book. The conversation fell silent as Naruto read and Kushina watched the children at play, mentally berating herself on how awful a mother she was. Her heart was breaking piece by piece and the silence between them was making it worse. It hurt worse that Naruto seemed so easily forgiving. In an unexplainable way, she wanted him to hate her. She wanted him to hate all of them for leaving him to the wolves. She wanted him to tell her how much she hurt him by forgetting about him. She wanted him to say anything that would justify the feeling of hatred she felt towards herself. All she got was a smile and a wave with a sweet 'Hello Kaa-san'. She felt sick to her stomach.

"Kaa-san? Do you enjoy reading?" Naruto asked suddenly, breaking the thick silence between them.

Kushina, caught off guard at first, processed the question. "Um. Reading?" she asked as he nodded. "No I can't really say I do… your father is the reader…" she said, a bit disappointed she didn't have that in common with him.

Naruto nodded. "Ah. I figured as much." Kushina saddened a bit more at that. Was he calling her dumb? "You always seemed like the type to see the beautiful world yourself instead of reading it in a book written through someone else's eyes."

She looked over at him in confusion. Was he complementing her? Really?

"I guess Tou-san put the books down when he met you, huh?" he asked with a smile as he looked at her. Her confused visage remained the same. "I read in a book written by Kiori Kotari, a poet of rice country, which said, 'Through my books I experience life in all aspects. They are my eyes for the sights I can't see and my ears for the songs I can't hear. But, one day, I will meet someone who, in a strange way, will share their sight and ear with me. So that I may, one day, put my books down… and enjoy life through my own eyes.'"

Kushina dazed off in thought of the mesmerizing words. She had never heard anything so beautiful. It made her reminisce, briefly, the many adventures she and Minato ventured on. The amazing sights they witnessed as they traveled the shinobi world. Naruto made it seem like people like herself who didn't like to read were somehow special. As if they were so brilliant, they didn't have to understand what they were looking at to appreciate its magnificence. She smiled and realized she still had yet to answer his question.

"Yeah… yeah I guess he did." She finally responded.

Naruto smiled as he looked out towards his little sister who was playing tag with her own group of friends mainly consisting of the clan heiress's of the Hyuga and Yamanaka clans as well as a young girl with pink hair. "Mito is a lot like you huh?" he asked in wonder drawing her attention to the little redhead. "I hope she stays that way." He whispered gently.

Kushina smiled allowing a tear to fall from her left eye, away from Naruto's view. She couldn't take much more of this if she was honest. It was tearing her heart apart bit by bit. Wiping the stray tear, she allowed the thick silence to settle back in. The minutes rolled by and the only sounds present to her were the normal sounds of children at play, distant chatter, and Naruto occasionally flipping pages.

"Kaa-san?" he said standing to his feet, getting her attention. She gave a 'hmm?' in reply. "Would you like some lunch?" he asked suddenly.

Looking up, Kushina was surprised to see it was already a bit pass noon. She didn't realize how long they had been out there. Apparently it was more than a few hours. "Oh. Yeah, I guess it's about lunch time." She said getting to her feet calling out to her children. Off to their long awaited meal of the gods!

Walking into the new and improved Ichiraku's Kushina, Mito, and Menma looked around in amazement. The place was amazing. There were tables all over the place with booths lining the side. When they walked in, they were greeted by a woman they hadn't seen before.

"Oh my." She said in amazement clearly recognizing the family of the Yondaime. "Um. Welcome to Ichiraku's Mrs. Namikaze! I am pleased to serve you!" she said clearly excited by the group. She almost didn't notice Naruto.

"Oh! Hey Naruto!" she called out again.

Naruto smiled at her and waved. "Hello Hakari-chan."

"Please follow me. I'll take you to your booth." She said grabbing a stack of menus. The family weaved through the restaurant waving and smiling at the other customers who stopped their meals to say hello to the Namikaze family. They made it to the back booth that had a reserved card on the top. She took it off and quickly wiped it down for them to make sure it was clean.

Menma and Mito sat on one side against the back wall to which they could see the rest of the restaurant. Naruto allowed his mother to slide in first and he sat on the edge. Hakari passed out the menus before giving the table one more smile. "Ok guys, I'll give you a minute to view the menu and I'll be back to take your order."

Before she turned to leave Naruto stopped her and whispered something in her ear. She nodded and walked off. Now, the table sat in relative silence as Naruto read his book and Mito and Menma argued over whatever could be argued over.

Kushina felt a bit awkward sitting there with all of her children. Her mind still had no idea how to wrap around the fact that they forgot about one of their children. She wanted so badly for someone to at least talk about it, but he seemed not to care for it. Why did it hurt more that he didn't? Shouldn't she be relieved?

"So. How do you like the new place?" Naruto asked directing his statement to his mother even though he didn't look her way.

Kushina peered over her shoulder at the décor which she only briefly glanced at. "It's uh… It's beautiful." She said vaguely.

"Why thank you. We've worked very hard on it." A new voice said shocking the group.

"Teuchi!" yelled Mito and Menma scurrying out of their seats to give the man a hug. Ayame walking up right behind him.

"Oh! I knew my favorite family hadn't forgotten about me!" he said scooping the kids up. Naruto scoot out allowing Kushina to get up and greet them.

"Hey Teuchi." Kushina said with a smile giving the man a hug.

"Kushinaaa" he replied wrapping her up as well. "It's so good to see you!"

"It's great to see you too." She replied hugging Ayame. While everyone retook their seats, Teuchi and Ayame began to explain their improvements and the need for expansion. They rambled on for so long, Mito had to remind everyone what they had originally came there to do.

"Right! The ramen!" Teuchi exclaimed. "Don't worry, I already know the order. It is the Namikaze special after all." He said as he and Ayame headed back to the kitchen to prepare the food. Again, the table fell somewhat silent as the kids found something new to argue about as they always did. Kushina again fell back into her own mental state of depression over what she had done and Naruto was stuck in his book as usual.

Their attention was drawn to the front of the restaurant however as there was even more commotion than when they had entered. Whoever was coming in seemed to gain enough praise for a few of the patrons to stand and greet. Seeing who it was, Mito and Menma were the first to react with a simultaneous shout of "Tou-san!"

Minato quickly greeted those around him as he followed the waitress to where his family was. His face was set in an indescribable expression. A mixture of worry, sorrow, sadness, anger, and grief all barely masked by a smile.

Once Naruto saw who it was, he smiled and turned back to his book. Kushina continued looking in desperation. She and Minato caught eyes as he came into view. Just by looking they could tell the other was thinking the same thing. All Minato saw was his wife. He didn't have time to exam the others at the table before walking up as his attention was continuously being drawn towards people welcoming him back.

Arriving at the table in panic, "Kushina, we need to t-…" he began until he finally noticed the subject of his worry. "Naruto…"

He stood there shell shocked for a moment as his two youngest crashed into his mid-section together. He didn't know what to say. He was fearing the worst as they were in such a public area. The troubled expression on Kushina's face told him Naruto had already said a few things to her. No question he'd have more than a few for himself.

"Hello Tou-san." Naruto said casually as the kids sat back down. Seeing there were no more seats he quickly got to his feet. "Here, sit down." He said gesturing towards the booth as he asked the table next to them if the empty chair was an extra. After confirming it was, he thanked them and set it at the open end.

Minato looked around the table in confusion. Mainly towards Kushina who had his hand in a deathlike grip beneath the table.

Seeing the whole family was now together, Naruto thought it rude to have a book out so he stashed it for the time being. Menma and Mito again, as always, began an argument that the others zoned out of. Minato and Kushina felt so tense and awkward that it would've been hard not to notice. Naruto of course saw it and wondered what the cause was. He tried to think up a conversation that families would have at a dinner table. In a few of the fictional books he read, the family dinners that described this type of silence always consisted of some dramatic incident weighing heavy on the minds of the characters. The silence would usually be broken by a joke.

Thinking up something quick, he opened his mouth in an attempt to break the ice, but as soon as he did, Teuchi and Ayame came to the rescue delivering the food. They had planned on the inhuman family devouring bowl after bowl so they brought more than necessary so each of them got one. After greeting Minato and bidding the family a good meal, he left them to their dinner.

Menma and Mito tore into theirs with a vengeance now making it a competition to see who could eat it fastest. Taking his jacket off and draping it over his chair, Naruto watched the spectacle in amusement before turning to his own bowl. He twiddled his chopsticks at the noodles still uncomfortable with the silence that settled back in. Peering over, he saw his father doing the same as him and his mother staring at the Naruto fish cakes in her bowl with glossy eyes.

Finally having enough of it, he cleared his throat. "So, will you be retaking office tomorrow?" he asked Minato who was caught off guard.

"o-Oh, yeah." He muttered out before clearing his own throat. "Yeah."

Naruto nodded. "That's great. I think Shikaku-sama was just about ready to quit the other day." He said with an amused tone.

Minato looked at the boy unsure of what to think. Was he not mad? The whole time he spent looking for Kushina, he had gone over many scenarios for what to expect when he faced him again. He expected anger, heartbreak, indifference, or anything else. But, not this. Not whatever this was. "Um.. Yeah. That sounds like him." He replied back forcing a few chuckles out.

Naruto smiled, happy they at least got the conversation started. "I guess Hokage isn't for everybody." He said chuckling as well. "If brains is all it took then we'd be run by the Nara clan… with mandatory cloud watching every other hour." He said receiving an actual chuckle from his father to his amusement.

"That's true." He said with a smile. "Or maybe an official nap time for the whole village." He said as he and Naruto shared a laugh with Kushina smiling off to the side, shaking her head.

"They're not all bad. I mean, Yoshino isn't like that." Kushina said defending her friend.

Naruto and Minato ended their laugh to plead their case. "Yes. But, she was not born in the clan. She was merely married into it."

"And according to Shikaku she does have her moments." Minato said with a few remaining chuckles. Figuring it an unfair match up, Kushina just chuckled along and began to eat her ramen.

"Do you plan on becoming active again Kaa-san?" Naruto asked.

Kushina slurped the noodles hanging from her mouth so that she could answer. "No. I think I'm just going to keep training Mito and Menma until they have gotten out of the academy. After that, I may consider it." She replied.

"Ah." Naruto said. "That is a sound plan. Will you be their Jonin sensei?" he asked.

"Well, I'm not sure. I think your father wanted Kakashi to be their sensei." She said looking his way.

Minato slurped the noodles in his mouth as well. "Ah, that is the plan." He said still chewing. "I mean, if he still wants it of course."

"Kakashi-nii sounds like a swell idea." Naruto said. Before the conversation could continue, a very unexpected statement left the mouth of someone none of them expected.

"I thought you were dead." The table stopped everything and peered over at Mito in shock. Her eyes glued on Naruto.

"Mito!" Kushina exclaimed. "Why would you say that?" she demanded.

Mito looked back at her mother in confusion as she didn't understand why she was in trouble. "What? We haven't seen him in years." She said pointing out the concern Minato and Kushina had been dreading.

"Mito that's…" Minato said trying to explain, choking on his own words. He looked to Kushina for assistance, but she didn't seem to have anything to say either. In an attempt to get something out, he muttered, "We haven't seen a lot of people in years."

"Yeah, but… He's supposed to live with us." She replied in confusion. "He doesn't come to breakfast or dinner or training or any of that."

Minato and Kushina were at a loss of words as they didn't know what to say. To their glee, Naruto answered. "Well, Imouto. You and Menma hold a very special power inside you. A power that you have to learn to control as soon as possible." He explained.

"You mean the Kyubi?" she asked.

Naruto nodded, "Yeah. The Kyubi… Well, in order to gain control over it, it takes a lot of practice and training. That's why you guys have been on a very strict schedule. From the moment you guys woke up to the moment you went to sleep you have had something to do, right?" he asked receiving a nod from the both of them. "Well, you see me? I'm much too lazy to do what you guys do." He said receiving looks of amusement from the two.

"You're lazy nii-san?" Menma asked.

"Oh, the laziest. What you guys do is way too much. You must be superheroes or something." He said receiving giggles from the two. Minato and Kushina watched the scene in wonder. There was a piece of them that felt guilty about what they did, but there was another that told them he understood. Now that Menma and Mito were at a decent enough level, they were both determined to train Naruto as well.

Well… that's what they were hoping for.

Mito, now comfortable with the explanation, was still hungry as Menma took the last bowl. Seeing Naruto barely ate his second one, she asked him for it. "Nii-san, are you gonna eat that?"

Naruto shook his head with a smile as he passed it to her. In doing so, Menma's eyes lit up with shock and awe as Naruto's left sleeve raised up from extending his body and he could see his bare arm. "You have a tattoo!?" he exclaimed.

Minato and Kushina both stopped their eating, hearing the exclamation. In Konoha, it was illegal for shinobi to have tattoos. Well, there was one exception.

"Ah, yes I do." Naruto replied rolling his sleeve up so they could see.

Menma and Mito leaned in, poking at it as if it were something you could feel. "What is it?" Mito asked.

"It's my ANBU tattoo." He said looking down at it as well.

Both Minato and Kushina thought the same thing. 'ANBU!?'