Little Orange Book

His children's shoulders and muscles were set rigidly and the air stilled. They tried to comprehend what had just been said. Each child was confused by the admission, but Yoshiro's face was contorted into barley concealed betrayal. Slowly lowering his wrists Naruto could feel the tension in his muscles pull his body into itself. He tried to be brave to finish his explanation; the explanation of his absence, the reasons why he hadn't been there to see their first steps, their first words, their first everythings. He was wondering if they were really reasons or useless excuses for them.

"These bracelets are special." He held his wrists again to them, "they were designed with me in mind actually." Naruto tried to laugh at the irony of receiving a gift from village finally, but the sound stuck in his throat. "These bracelets are keyed, well I shouldn't start with that. There are, well, these seals that are, um." He couldn't believe how badly he was stumbling over his words. Naruto hadn't been like this since having to explain for the first time he had killed some one on a mission.

"Just spit it out." Yasu it seemed had finally lost his patients and was not the only one that looked betrayed. Naruto could hear Yoshiro's teeth grinding together as he tried to keep the tears from falling from his eyes.

"There are seals around the border of Fire Country that create a barrier. They face the outside of the barrier so I can't get to them. My bracelets are keyed to these seals. I can not leave this country. If I do, the seals on the inside of the bracelets activate and knock me on my ass."

Brows furrowed in the three foreheads before him and Naruto could feel his own tears build behind his eyes and his heart break. They looked exactly like Miyako when she was frustrated.

"You didn't try hard enough." It was not an accusation from Yasu, but a bold declaration of fact that tore a little of Naruto's heart.

"But you can do anything." That ripped into Naruto's very soul. Yoshiro read of nothing but betrayal. "You said that you would come for us. Okaa-san said that, even though she grumbled a little after that. She said that you were coming for us." Naruto weighed his words, trying to find the best way to make Yoshiro understand.

"It wasn't my choice Yoshiro. I physically could not leave the cell they had locked me in. Trust me. I tried. I tried so hard that," Naruto's blue eyes dulled as memories best forgotten resurfaced to play a demented game with him. Nights screaming in pain as sick experiments were tested to see how fast a demon could heal. As each memory flashed by, they fogged and receded back into the recesses of his mind. "I tried so hard to get back to you guys, so hard."

The broken family watched each other in the quiet of the apartment. Distant sounds filled Naruto's ears as the diurnal village gave way to the nocturnal inhabitants, the tapping of sandaled feet on the roof above him gave no hint of knowledge of what was happening beneath their feet.

Refusing to meet his father's eyes Yoshiro stared out the cracked window, "I'm not hungry Otou-san." Pressure built on the inside of Naruto eyes at the despondent voice in his tod and he nodded his head before realize what he was agreeing with.

"No, I am sorry Yoshiro, you have to eat something, all three of you. It was a long day and we don't know what is going to happen tomorrow so. Try and finish the ramen." Each child looked doubtfully at the bowl in front of them before pulling clumps of cold ramen out and chewed on the noodles mechanically, and Naruto just watched them.

After eating a few more bites of the ramen Michi paused and swirled the contents around in the bowl. Poking at the merging mass of paste before glancing at her brothers, then at Naruto and took a shuddering breath.

"Otou-san?" Eyes softening Naruto nodded towards Michi to continue, "Why did you go to prison?" He poked at what was in his own bowl before looking back into Michi's eyes noting the boys were watching the exchange closely.

"Let's leave that for another day, hm?" Again, each child looked disappointed at the statement while strangely relieved at the same time. Creases wrinkled their foreheads, but their right eyebrow was raised just enough to show how much they thought that some thing was a miss.

It amazing Naruto how similar their mannerisms matched each other, from simple gestures to manners of speech, Michi's being quiet a bit more polite than the boys. One thing that did stand out the most to Naruto was how they spoke. Their voices were soft but firm, the tone of Suna, not the loud emotional Konoha dialect.

Again Naruto dwelled on the missing years of his children. Looking up he watched them finish the last of their food, and realized that he hadn't paid attention to his food in the least. He had missed part of his kits life because he was brooding about their past. Naruto then painfully and with much reluctance admitted that he sounded like the teme.

Naruto nodded to himself and spoke up for first time during the solemn quiet that had settled over them.

"I promise not to miss out on any more of your lives." Yasu scoffed into his empty bowl before glaring at his father.

"Don't make promises that you can't keep." Yoshiro looked away through the crack in the window while Naruto leveled his stare at his youngest kit.

"I don't." That, in itself, startled Yasu into silence and he locked his jaw, glaring at the innocent bowl in his hands. Naruto stood and picked up each of their half eaten ramen dishes before going into the kitchen and depositing them into the sink. "It's getting late, you guys crawl in bed ok?" They looked at each other before all heading to the bathroom, Yasu helping Michi of course.

The sink faucet started. It seemed they were going to share his tooth brush, disgusting. Yoshiro's muffled voice murmured through the thin wall and two twins stumbled out, one with a foamy mouth, to the kitchen sink. The door clicked behind them. This routine was followed through for each kit one kicking the other out and taking their turn until all three were done and settling into the bed.

Yasu and Michi laid their heads at one end of the bed while Yoshiro was at the other. His oldest didn't have a pillow so Naruto went and gathered a clean jacket, balled it up and gave it to him. Yoshiro gave him a shy smile and from the corner of his eye Naruto could see his kit bury his face into the clothe, breathing in his scent.

"Goodnight kits." The boys shuffled further into the covers while Michi poked her head up to pear over the top of the thin blanket.

"Goodnight," she took a moment to glance at Yasu, whose back was to Naruto, "Otou." Then quickly she dropped down into the creaky mattress and closed her eyes. Naruto watched and listened to the noises that they made before going to the light switch and flicking the tiny room into darkness.

He shuffled to the couch and threw himself onto it and was interrupted with savage jab from a hard object in his pocket. Reaching in he pulled out the little orange book that was the legacy of the Toad Sanin.

The ninjas greatest weapon disguised as the most dirtiest, ridiculous, over the top romance novels ever written. Civilians and ninja alike have access, Suna and Konoha genin to sanin, but that wasn't the point. If a ninja was reading this book for stories they would find it, but if they were looking for something more it would only be only right underneath the surface. Underneath the underneath. Another ingenious little tool for a ninja was the ability to pull and replace pages in the book to hide messages for other ninja.

Using the Icha Icha Paradise books a ninja could learn about the worlds gossip or send coded messages to fellow ninja.

Pulling his flashlight from another pocket Naruto switched it on and started paging through the book. Scene after horrible scene was passed until he came to the first sentence that had one too many commas. If there was one thing that Naruto learned from Jiraiya it was that he was a meticulous man, when he was passionate about something that is.

Carefully he worked his way through the code that was inside the few paragraphs. It seemed that Sasuke wanted to meet up with him, tonight. Glancing at the clock then back at the message Naruto realized that Sasuke wanted to meet up with him fifteen minutes ago. He dropped the book onto the table before turning to his children who he knew was not asleep yet.

"You guys stay right here. You hear me? Don't move!" With those parting words Naruto ran from the room. Unwittingly leaving three very awake children with one very bright, very suspicious book.

Meanwhile Naruto was racing out the window and scaling the building to the rooftop of his apartment to see the visage of a very dark scowl in a way of a greeting.

"You dobe, are late."

"It never bugged you this much when Kakashi was late! Besides I just read your message." Shadows obscured Sasuke's figure but Naruto was able to make out the heave his shoulders made in a silent sigh before continuing.

"Whatever dobe. We have more important things to talk about any way." Sasuke looked out across the roofs and seemed to loose himself in thoughts that Naruto couldn't understand. Scenting the air he could tell that there was a definite change in the atmosphere surrounding Sasuke, the sharp scent of sweat prickled his nose and was coming around the teme's hands.

"What is so important that you gave me that awful book, bring me out her in the middle of the night, and become so suspicious?"

"Naruto," Sasuke lost his voice for a moment before drawing upon the inner Uchiha pride and steeling himself for what ever he needed to say, "the village isn't as you remember it."

"No shit."

"No, will you just shut up!" This shocked Naruto, yes Sasuke yelled at him, but it had been a very long time since the deep furrows between the Uchiha's brow had been that deep, and his lip had curled just so, to expose the sharp canine on one side of his mouth in a silent snarl.

"Jeeze ok sorry. I'll shut up." Sasuke ran a hand through his hair and looked around once more.

"How much do you know on the leadership in Konoha?" Naruto could only stare at Sasuke for a time before slowly answering.

"Is this a trick question?"

"No. Now answer." Scoffing at him Naruto started to talk.

"The head of the village is the Hokage,"

"Wrong." Naruto started at the abrupt interruption that Sasuke threw at him. "You are wrong. The head of the village is not the Hokage, and hasn't been the Hokage for eight years now."

The hard fought for and earned talent of chakra suppression that Naruto had inflicted upon himself cracked just enough, and his nails sharpened without his permission.

"What?" The world for Naruto was becoming so much clearer, and, as he looked into the shadows and watched the slight nervous twitch of Sasuke's jaw, brighter.

"The Hokage has not made any important decisions concerning the village in eight years." Naruto could taste the blood from his lip as his canine slit it.

"You must speak a little more clearly Uchiha, and not in circles."

"The leader of Konoha is not the Hokage, but the council of Konoha…" Chakra spikes in the roof adjacent to the one they were standing on caught Naruto's attention, and hearing the gasp from one of the figures he could guess that he was not entirely human in his visage at the moment.

"May we ask what is going on Uzumaki-sama, Uchiha-sama?" Narrowing his eyes at the anbu that appeared Naruto snarled in warning.

"No you may not."

"I insist," but before he could continue a familiar figure to Naruto appeared from behind the anbu.

"I got here as fast as I could when I felt the chakra! Naruto-nii-san what's going on?" It was Konohamaru and, with this new clarity to the world Naruto couldn't understand how he had got there so fast. If he remembered right Konohamaru wasn't suppose to even be in the village at the moment. Glaring at the younger boy Naruto set his paranoia to the side to analyze later and jerked his head allowing him closer.

"Konohamaru don't worry about it. Sasuke and I were only talking."

"It seemed a lot more than talking!" Naruto gently ran his nails down the back of his neck to keep from slicing himself open and huff.

"Well we are done for tonight." Deliberately turning to keep the anbu in his peripheral Naruto looked to Sasuke. "And I will see you and your kit tomorrow. Don't forget our play date now."

"Hm" With that, each shadow disappeared and Naruto scented the air to be sure they were not in his territory. Anbu were still stationed around his apartment but far enough away to appease him. With little thought to anything else, but the now pressing matter of the safety of his children Naruto scaled down the wall back into his apartment.

A.N. I got a flame! It was a bunch of curse words calling me something that I actually can't remember. I think the flamer might have been confused though because it was for the first installment of this story (A Fallen Shinobi), and I think they were angry because of how the first one ended, not realizing that it continues into this one. Who knows I don't really care, I would like to say that life sucks, aaaand leave it at that.

If you guys see any ridiculous errors please tell me! Please and thank you!