Child of the Leaf

Chapter Twenty-Three

by operadeglace

There were no audible words while the honorable Hokage and his progeny were eating.

The clinking of chopsticks on ceramic bowls, slurping noodles, filtering broth, and the occasional chewing of pork cutlets were the only sounds between them. After the meal was through, both blonde males placed their empty bowls in an impressive stack of used bowls, leaned forward on their elbows and closed their eyes to enjoy a moment of warm, full, contented bellies with a deep sigh of appreciation.

"Thanks… dad. I, um, I'm pretty sure that was the best ramen I've ever eaten in my life." Shinachiku says happily as he pats his stomach. Truthfully, he had already eaten at the Ichiraku establishment with Ino, but the food tasted a little richer to him now that he was eating with his real father, the Hokage of Konohagakure.

"I know, right?" Naruto grins, stretching backwards a bit. He enjoyed the feeling of having his children near him once more, except, this child, he knew absolutely nothing about. He doubted that he would have much time in the future to bond as much as possible with his eldest boy to make up for the lost years, but he definitely did not want to repeat the errors that he made in raising Bolt.

No time like the present, then…

Shinachiku was startled as Naruto abruptly stood up, his chair spinning a little from his quick disembarking.

"Let's go! I have something to show you!"

A few minutes later, they were walking along a pathway perched high above lower Konoha, at a place affectionately dubbed, "The Lookout" by surrounding residents. A soft hum of insects and buzzing of an electric light that was recently installed in the area carried through the cold air around them.

"So, uh… tell me about that girl who followed you from Suna. Is she your girlfriend?" Naruto asks as he sits on the railing separating the walking space from a precarious cliff overhang.

"Yeah! Ayaka's the greatest girl. I've known her ever since we were kids." Shina replies with rosy cheeks, his body teetering absentmindedly over the railing as he sat near his dad.

"Everyone bullied her in school because she was a chubby kid, and I guess I could relate with my forehead being so… you know." Naruto sadly watched his son rub his forehead self-consciously, reminding him of his mother. He never understood why they would ever want to hide such a beautiful, prominent feature.

"But, she didn't get sad, like me. They would call her fat, ugly freckle face, annoying… but, she would just fight back! I decided that I wanted to be strong because she was!"

Shinachiku reminded Naruto of his younger self more and more.

"That's when I found out, I really liked her because she made me better."

And more.

"And, she's super cute, isn't she? I'm a lucky dude."

And more.

"Did you still think she was cute when she was chubby..?"

"She was always cute. Back then, there was just more of her to be cute."

And more.

"Hey, wow!" Shinachiku's eyes lit up as he recognized where they were. "This is Hokage Mountain, isn't it? Fourth wonder of the world?! I read about this in school! Always wanted to see it up close, in person!"

He pointed excitedly towards the large, stone effigies above them, staring into the inky horizon with their stoic, unblinking eyes.

"That's your dad." Naruto took his turn to proudly point at himself. His enthusiasm faded once he noticed a few splatters of paint, remnants of his younger son's tampering, and frowned.

"Who's the guy with the face mask?" Shinachiku's voice once more, cuts into his negative thoughts. "He looks really cool."

"Eh," Naruto shrugged casually. "That was my old sensei. And that female Hokage, there, was your mom's master."

This impressed the younger ninja even more.

"Whoa. My parents must be some of the strongest ninja in the village, being trained by Hokages and all."

"They called us the legendary Sannin, like our masters before us. We helped to bring the last Great Ninja War to an end."

"Wow. So much wow's!" Shinachiku was properly geeking out, then he stopped, and a look of confusion crossed his un-whiskered face. "Wait, Sannin? There were three of you?"

"Well, the third person was in our team. He's…" He paused before saying 'Sakura's husband'. "Sarada's father, Uchiha Sasuke."

Naruto jumped to his feet and grinned happily at his first born, as if to inadvertently change the subject.

"Yup. I guess your pop and his team are the best, strongest, coolest ninja in this village." His whiskered cheeks rose as his smile broadened exceedingly, causing Shinachiku to mindlessly swing his head back to laugh.

And he started to fall backwards.

Off of the cliff.

Before he knew it, the world was upside down, and he could feel his father's warm hand grasping his ankle firmly...

Then, the world faded to black, and he was oddly, right-side up.

Wh…what the..?

To the sand nin's terror, a large set of slit-pupil eyes glowed before him. He backed away slowly, his arms in front of him in anticipation of an impending attack. A huge, fire-furred animal stalked out of the darkness of wherever Shinachiku mysteriously found himself to be.

D-dad..?

Each inch of the creature that made its way into the light revealed that it was a fox, with many tails and many teeth. Shinachiku could hear its breath ripple through the air like giant smithy bellows, menacing and nightmarish.

It looked very hungry to him, staring at him like a devour-able morsel.

In desperation, the young ninja yelled at the top of his lungs, desperate to come out of the strange situation in which he was currently entrapped alive.

"PLEASE, DON'T EAT ME! I haven't bathed in over a week!"

To his surprise, the monster froze in place, a look of surprise on its face, as if it understood him.

Slowly, tooth by gleaming tooth, it opened its cavernous mouth, as if to swallow him. The giant demon fox then started to do something the boy did not anticipate…

It began to laugh.

It laughed in loud, deep, heated waves that washed over the boy's entire body, and when it had partaken in enough laughter, it began to speak.

"This little clutz is definitely your son."

-end of chapter 23

Story by ODG, operadeglace

Note: Thank you, everyone, for your kind reviews! I'm sorry for taking so long! I will try to finish this story as promptly as I can.