8 Chapter 8

The next morning, Naruto walked up the stone path leading to the front door of his old home, his black book in hand hiding his face. He was dressed in his casual wear which was his black pants and shirt, accented by his white Namikaze jacket. Knocking on the door, he heard the girly shout of his sister informing the others 'I got it!' He waited for a few more seconds, listening to her small feet charge towards the door. When it swung open, her eyes looked up into his. "It's Nii-san!" she informed.

"Hello Imouto." Naruto greeted as he stepped inside.

"Are you here to have breakfast with us?" she asked him.

Naruto finished kicking his shoes off his feet. "Yes I am." He smiled at her.

She smiled back. "Kaa-san made a big breakfast today." She said grabbing his hand and dragging him towards the kitchen as if he didn't already know where it was.

The two walked into the room in which Minato and Menma were already at the table waiting to eat. Naruto smiled when they looked his way.

"Hey! Nii-san! I saved you a seat!" Menma yelled out, adamantly patting the seat next to his.

Naruto walked over to him with a smile. "Thank you Otouto." He said. "Good morning Tou-san."

"Morning son." Minato replied as he stood up to shake his hand. "Your mother will be right out, she just stepped back in the kitchen to get the rest of the food." He said as Naruto looked in that direction.

"I think I will help." He said walking into the kitchen. He saw his mother with her back to the door as her hands fidgeted around the counter, unsure of what to bring first. "Good morning Kaa-san." Naruto greeted with a smile.

Kushina yelped lowly as she spun around. "o-Oh. Naruto-kun." She said with a clearly forced smile that was in place to hide her nervousness. To her surprise, the blonde boy that was nearing her height walked over to her and embraced her in a hug.

"Here." He said grabbing her extra pair of pot holders. "Let me help you." He grabbed one of the remaining two dishes she had on the counter and carried it out with Kushina right behind him.

"Ugh, finally the foods here!" Mito shouted in relief. "I'm starving."

Menma, in his ever present need to annoy her quipped, "You're always starving." That's all it took to kick off their first argument of the day. The others as always zoned out as Kushina and Naruto set the last two dishes down. As soon as they took their seats, everyone began serving themselves.

For a while, the actual conversation remained silent as Menma and Mito continued their argument around the bites of food they inhaled. Naruto, Minato, and Kushina just listened on with different expressions. Minato in indifference, Kushina in embarrassment, and Naruto in amusement. Eventually Naruto bud in.

"You two sure do fight a lot don't you?"

Mito was the first to reply. "It's baka Menma's fault. He's always annoying me." She said shoveling another mouthful into her face.

"Yeah right! It's always her who starts it!" he refuted, completely disregarding the blatant fact that it was actually him who started it this time.

Kushina pushed the hair from her face and coughed into her hand to draw attention to herself. "Menma, please use your inside voice." Menma knew it was meant in a much more threatening way than it was said and shrunk back into his seat a little bit.

Naruto noticed and chuckled at the commanding power of his mother. "You know Kaa-san." He said grabbing her attention. "You may just be the scariest mom in Konoha." She smiled bashfully as she knew it was meant as a complement. "Although, some of the Nara children could argue it is in fact Yoshino-sama."

Kushina smiled. "Oh, Yohsino's actually pretty nice if you get to know her."

"Indeed. I have only briefly met her, but during that time, she was looking for her son, Shikamaru, with a frying pan in hand. I am sure what happened when she caught him was far from pleasant." He said smiling. Kushina smiled at that.

Minato chose then to add in. "I'd throw in Mikoto into that wager as well."

"What? Mikoto-chan isn't that bad." Kushina said.

Minato chuckled. "Um, I've heard stories." Kushina chuckled as well. She knew her best friend was a bit fear inducing at times, but it wasn't to an extreme degree. The duration of the family breakfast went by without a hitch after the conversation was started. They spoke of all kinds of things from the old missions Minato and Kushina had been on, to Naruto's first mission. They were for a brief moment a normal family like they were supposed to be. That fact alone is what put Kushina's mind at rest. For the first part of the meal, she was still a bit timid about Naruto's uncaring attitude at his neglect, but now, she was feeling as though they were closer than ever, which of course they were.

The family event came to an end when Minato finally had to head to work, leaving Kushina and the kids at the house. With their new found energy from the meal, they begged Kushina to let them show Naruto how strong they had gotten. Kushina at first denied the request, explaining to them that Naruto was too tired from the long two week mission he had just come back from, but Naruto told her it was fine.

-break-

Now, the three stood in the backyard. Kushina sat on the porch as she watched Menma and Mito face off against their older brother who, much as Kakashi often did to them, pulled out a book to read as a way to infuriate them. She chuckled at their frustrated expressions, finding it cute that they still let it get to them. Their teamwork was clearly present in an attempt at least as Mito went around Naruto so that they could attack him from different directions.

"Don't underestimate us Nii-san!" yelled Menma as he threw a kunai his way charging in behind it. Without looking up, Naruto smiled and plucked the kunai out of the air with ease. Tossing it over his shoulder, he could hear Mito jump out of the way.

Catching Menma's wild haymaker, Naruto shifted his body over slightly, causing the blonde to sail over his shoulder, crashing into his sister. "Ugh! Menma-baka! Get out of my way!" she yelled pushing him over as she charged the blonde with his back to her. She went for a roundhouse kick to his face from the back that he simply put his free hand up to block. Catching her ankle, he yanked her gently as she flipped to stay up right.

Menma went in for a drop kick that Naruto stepped out of the way of. Sadly for Menma, Mito had been going for an axe kick that he didn't see. Her heel came crashing down on his chest. "Ah! Quit hitting me! You idiot!" he yelled at her.

"Then get out of the way!" she yelled back, flipping to her feet and squaring off against Naruto in her taijutsu stance. Naruto just kept reading his book. When Mito charged, she pulled a kunai midway to her target. Naruto, still without looking, dodged each of her attacks as he poked at the back of her hand with taps she found to be completely ineffective. That is until her Kunai slipped from her hand and she instead tried to punch him in his face. Naruto didn't dodge it. In doing so, she jammed three of her fingers. Jumping back, she finally noticed her hand, for some unknown reason, refused to close.

Menma came in next with a Rasengan at full blast. Naruto awaited the attack and leaned slightly out of the way, delivering a jab towards Menma's bicep. Instantly, the ball of chakra dispersed and he was sent stumbling forward. As he tried to catch himself, he realized only his left arm would move. His right just wouldn't extend, in fact he couldn't even feel it anymore.

He looked over at Mito who was still cradling her unresponsive hand. Without saying anything, both of them knew the other was done, and so did Naruto. "You two are not bad at all. Individually you could outclass most anyone in your class, but your teamwork is poor. So poor, I doubt you'd be able to function properly on a battle field in any situation." They both looked down in shame. "Konoha operates mainly on teamwork. It will be your most valuable skill when it's time to become active ninja."

"He is right you two. Your father has told you this as well before." Kushina added from the side. "Hearing it from Naruto should drive that point home."

"Yes Kaa-san." The two replied simultaneously.

The group was surprised when an ANBU agent dropped down next to Naruto. He whispered something into his ear in which Naruto nodded at. When the man shunshinned away, Naruto addressed the others. "It would seem I have been requested elsewhere." He said as he walked up grabbing onto Mito's hand and Menma's shoulder. Green chakra incased his hands. When it died out, the two rolled out their respective injuries in amazement, as they could now move them again.

Naruto walked back towards the porch to bid his mother a good day. "Thank you Kaa-san for the amazing breakfast. It was as great as I had remembered it." He embracing her in a hug.

"Thank you, Naruto. You're always welcome to join us… whenever you want to." She replied as he nodded with a smile. Waving on his way out, he left the compound to whatever it was he was called to. Leaving Kushina, Mito and Menma to continue their training with a new plan. Focus on teamwork.

Hours later, the night sky swallowed the remnants of Konoha's daily activity, handing the reins over to the night life of bar hopping or late night dinner dates. It was around this time that Naruto and Itachi were walking out of the ANBU HQ. A whole day spent listening to briefing after briefing, the two were exhausted and hungry. Their feet brought them towards the side of town that held many of the family friendly restaurants and stands.

They were still discussing the topics they were briefed on over the hour long meeting. It was a mandatory, last minute, event that was originally just to congratulate and send off the newly retired ANBU Captain, Kenji Horo. The man was handing down the title to another one of their superior officers, and a former student of his, Commander Omaru Yosha. From there, the speaker decided then would be the best time to not only refresh the group on the regulations set by Shikaku Nara during his brief time as acting Hokage, but also inform them of the regulations the Yondaime had added to the mix. Naruto wondered the entire time just how long his father had been working on such a thing.

With all of that nonsense out of the way, the two boys were on their way to enjoy themselves a nice meal somewhere. They just couldn't decide where. In their venture to find a place suitable enough to appease their immense hunger, they ran into someone that Itachi immediately wished they had not.

"Hey Itachi-kun." A girl with black hair and eyes to match said as she and a man resembling her perfectly walked over towards the duo. "Hello, Naruto-san."