Sasuke Uchiha

Ryuu teleported to Minato's House.

"Already back?"

Ryuu nodded.

"Sorry I took so long, how's Kushina doing?"

"Are you kidding me? You only took 2 weeks." Ryuu's eyes widened.

"Two weeks?! I thought I was gone for nearly two months, I thought I was going to miss your son's birth!"

Minato tilted his head in confusion.

"Are you feeling unwell or something?"

Ryuu shook his head.

"No, I'm fine. Thanks for the concern anyway."

Ryuu prepared to leave.

"By the way, on the day you and Kushina are about to have a child, I want to be there to protect you, I have a bad feeling about that day, is that alright?" Minato nodded.

"Of course, just get some sleep and we'll talk later."

"Will do." Ryuu teleported.

'That's strange, his teleportation looks different, it seems faster too, not to mention that strange chakra flowing in him and even those tattoos…'

Minato said to himself.

Ryuu teleported back home, where he found Kakashi and Sakumo having dinner. He said he didn't want any and went to sleep.

The next day arrived…

Ryuu woke up early and went to get Itachi and Shisui.

"Itachi, let's go for some training, Shisui will join us." Itachi nodded.

"I'm really glad that you've taken Itachi under your wing," Fugaku said.

"Of course, and I'll be there for your next child.

Do you have a name yet?"

Fugaku shook his head.

"Mikoto said she's expected to deliver him in a week or so, but I still don't have a name for him yet." Ryuu nodded.

"How about Sasuke, a tribute to lord Third's father, plus it sounds way better with the last name.

Sasuke Uchiha."

Fugaku smiled.

"That's a fine name, I'll talk to lord third and ask him if he approves."

Ryuu nodded.

"I'm ready to go," Itachi said as he ran towards Ryuu.

"Well, when you come back tell me all about it, ok?" Itachi nodded.

They took Shisui and went to Ryuu's training grounds.

"Big brother, what are those tattoos on your chest?"

"These are special tattoos, they make it easier for me to access seals, instead of relying on scrolls."

Itachi nodded.

"Can I have one of them?" Ryuu shook his head.

"Sorry, Itachi, you'll have to reach a higher level of Fuinjutsu, such as a grandmaster, to have one of these.

Anyway, now that Shisui is done preparing, it's time I teach you both some lessons." Itachi and Shisui nodded.

"Shisui, for you I have a special jutsu I should've taught you a long time ago."

Shisui widened his eyes.

"What jutsu do you plan on teaching me this time?"

"This one." Ryuu held his hand out and charged it with lightning chakra.

Shisui's and Itachi's eyes widened.

"That's the same one that Kakashi used against you."

Ryuu nodded.

"It's called Chidori, with your skill and speed using this jutsu will make you a lethal shinobi and it will make you one step closer to earning a lesson where I teach you another jutsu.

Take your time practicing this jutsu, there's no need to rush plus this jutsu takes a lot of chakra, you can only successfully use it for a limited amount of time." Shisui went to train more.

"Now Itachi, it's time our real lessons begin."

"I thought you said you'll teach me later."

Ryuu nodded.

"But I'll start early because you're my favorite cousin."

"I'm your only cousin." He said in a low tone.

"Right, but it doesn't matter.

Today we're starting your Shurikenjutsu and taijutsu.

I already know you'll learn this when you start going to the academy but I want to train you, you know."

Itachi nodded.

They began training.

'Shisui is progressing really fast with that Chidori, not as fast as Kakashi, even so, he's doing well.

Itachi's Shurikenjutsu is still very impressive even at this age.

He started out slowly but now he's doing it well, he's been hitting the center of the target multiple times and his taijutsu isn't bad.

After a few hours, we finished training.

Itachi was so tired he could barely walk, I made it harder for him by making him carry a huge and heavy boulder made of ash.

I used the gravity seal on both Itachi and Shisui and made gravity heavier.'

"That'll help you two get fit and increase your stamina."

This continued for a week.

Ryuu was at Rikuto's house.

"Today is the day, Sasuke is born today and uncle has thrown a large party to celebrate, are you coming?"

Rikuto nodded.

"Alright, I'll come get you."

Ryuu teleported back to Fugaku and Itachi who stood by while Mikoto was holding her newborn.

Itachi poked his cheek and stared at him.

Then Fugaku picked him up from Mikoto.

"Did you decide on a name?"

Mikoto asked.

"Yes, Sasuke, Sasuke Uchiha." He said with a smile on his face.

"Oh, that's a fine name, but it's…"

"Yes, it's the name of lord third's father, but I've already asked lord third about it."

"I see…" Mikoto continued, snogging her son.

Ryuu smiled, seeing them that happy.

"Don't act like a stranger, come in Ryuu, you're part of this family too."

Ryuu's eyes widened as he hesitantly entered.

"Sasuke, we'll raise him to never dishonor his name," Fugaku stated as he raised Sasuke towards the sun.

Fugaku gave Sasuke over to Ryuu.

Ryuu smiled and held him.

'Sasuke… I won't let you be led into the path of darkness by the likes of Obito, Danzo, and not even my friend Orochimaru will lead you into that path, I'll do whatever I can to help you…'

Sasuke held onto Ryuu's finger.

Ryuu's warm and touching moment was interrupted as he felt a sudden envious and cold gaze as Itachi stared at them.

"Itachi, from now on, you and I have a responsibility that we share forever.

We must protect Sasuke and make sure he will be strong enough to stay away from the wrong path in life."

Itachi nodded.

'That's right, big brother and I will do anything and everything we can to protect you, Sasuke.'

After that, Fugaku threw a massive party, he invited many people from the clan and also invited Minato and Kushina.

Minato was invited because he was the Hokage and Kushina was invited because she's close friends with Mikoto.

Shisui and Kakashi came too because they were close friends of Itachi and Ryuu, and of course, Rikuto was there too, being the initial heir to become the clan leader.

Ryuu turned around, surprised by the guests who arrived.

Shibi Aburame and Shikaku Nara, and all the other clan heads with their children.

"It's been a long time hasn't it Ryuu?"

Ryuu greeted Shikaku.

"Yeah, it has been a while since we last met."

Ryuu looked at the young boy Shikaku was carrying.

"I'm guessing that's Shikamaru, right?"

Shikaku nodded.

"Yes, this is my son, Shikamaru."

Ryuu smiled.

"Shibi, it's good to see you too."

"I'm surprised you remember me, given that we've only had the same mission one time."

"Yes, but in that one mission you made a great impression, I rarely forget people with great impressions."

Shibi smiled.

The evening ended and people headed back home, some of them had already gone earlier after giving their presents.

"Uncle, I have to leave now, thanks for having me here, it's always a pleasure staying with you all, even if it's only a few hours."

Fugaku nodded.

"The pleasure is ours, you have a permanent place in this house."

Ryuu smiled and then he teleported out of there and above the Hokage statues, where he found Ichika sitting alone on top of Hashirama's head.

"Ichika? Sorry if I'm intruding but, you've been here for 2 hours. I just wanted to see if you're alright."

"I'm fine."

Ichika stubbornly replied and looked away.

"Well, if you need to talk, I'm listening."

Ichika glanced back at Ryuu as if she was ready to talk, but looked away again.

Sigh.

'He wouldn't get it…'

Ryuu sat down.

"If you aren't going to talk to me, would you mind listening to what I want to say?"

"Fine," Ichika replied.

"A while back, Minato, Kakashi, Shibi, Choza and I went on a mission together, it was a secret mission in the land of wind.

On that mission, someone revealed to me that someone I care about is going to die soon and that I couldn't change the future."

Ichika's eyes widened.

"I've been trying to get stronger to save that person, but recently, I lost my most powerful move, and now…

Now I'm not so sure I can save them, even with my new power, I have a strange feeling that I can't do anything about it.

This has been bothering me for a while, I can't come up with a solution or a way to save them.

I went to Uzushiogakure and in the temple, I stayed for a month and rushed my training so that I could come back and save them, but once I came back, I realized I was only there for 2 weeks."

Ichika frowned and turned around.

"Ryuu, why are you telling me this?"

Ryuu looked at her.

"Well, it's because…

Honestly, I'm not sure, I just find it easy to talk to you, you know?"

Ichika blushed.

"Ryuu, can you keep a secret?"

Ryuu nodded.

'What am I doing? I can't tell him, can I?' Ichika spoke to herself.

"Come with me." Ichika led Ryuu into the forest behind them.

"OK, this is far enough."

They stopped running.

"I've never told anyone about this, so I hope you can keep this a secret.

Not even aunt Tsunade knows about this."

"Ichika, I promise, I won't tell anyone."

"The thing is…

That mission in Kumogakure really took a toll on me.

I requested the details for the mission to be kept and even now, only Orochimaru-sama and lord third know about it in Konoha.

Aunt Tsunade doesn't know the details as well, and neither does my mother.

I haven't talked to any of them, so sometimes I come here just to relax."

"Ichika, I know about what happened in Kumogakure."

"What?"

"I always knew you have wood style, especially from the first day we met, I sensed how powerful your vitality was, and then I also heard about what happened in Kumogakure.

You never talked about it much, I wanted you to tell me on your own, it seemed like a burden to you and so I didn't push it."

Ichika frowned and looked away as if she was trying to avoid his gaze.

"Before I came to Konoha, I used to feel this strange connection to nature.

One day, when I was at home, we were talking with my mother about it and my father must've overheard me.

He hid two scrolls in my room; I woke up, and I went out to read the scrolls and attempt to use wood style.

My father caught me but he wasn't mad, he convinced me to try it when they were present so that I didn't get hurt.

I performed it but I couldn't control it and ended up hurting my mother, and killing my dad." Ryuu's eyes widened.

"Ichika I'm sorry…"

"Since that day, I vowed never to use it again…

I've lived with regret ever since then, and my regret grows even stronger when I use wood style.

When I came back from Kumogakure, lord third requested an audience with me, and we kept my wood style a secret.

It surprised us the third Raikage didn't mention it, but I heard he's dead now, I'm guessing he took that secret to the grave."

"Yeah, I heard he died right before the war ended, and that Kumogakure had been cautious since then. His son took over as the next Raikage."

Ichika nodded.

She sat down and looked at the stars while she was lying on a tree.

'She looks so depressed.' Ryuu sat next to her and looked at the stars, too.

'I don't know what I should do here…' Ryuu looked at Ichika, awkwardly looking for a way to help her.

'I got it!' Ryuu stood up.

"Come on, get up, I have something to show you."

Ryuu offered her a hand.

"What is it?"

"Just trust me, you'll regret not seeing this when you had the chance," Ryuu said with a smile.

"Ryuu, I…" Ryuu took her hands.

"Let's go." Ichika blushed and stood up.

"Stand here for a sec."

Ryuu stood in front of her and made a hand sign.

"Wood style: Deep forest bloom!"

A giant rose crawled to the surface and picked Ryuu up.

"You coming? It'll be fun, you know."

He held his hand out.

Ichika was hesitant, but she took his hand.

Ryuu controlled the flower and continued growing it, with two more following it and releasing pollen.

Ryuu controlled the pollen and made sure it didn't harm anyone, instead, it released a sweet scent.

"I can see the entire village from up here, have you done this before?"

Ryuu shook his head.

"Does it matter?" Ryuu said with a smirk.

Ichika smiled.

"Aunt Tsunade warned me you like to pull stunts like this, I guess I should've listened to her." Ryuu smiled.

"Yeah, right, like you'd ever listen to her."

He stood up and jumped to the other flowers.

"Come on, it's fun." Ichika folded her hands and shook her head.

"No way! What if I fall?"

"I'll catch you, don't tell me you're afraid of heights, you're a shinobi after all, and here I was thinking you were fearless." Ryuu held his hand out, smiling.

"You think I'm… fearless?" Ryuu nodded.

Ichika jumped on the petal, she stumbled a little but Ryuu caught her and put his hand around her back.

"I told you, I won't let you fall," Ryuu said in a calm voice.

Ichika blushed.

Ryuu and Ichika looked deeply into each other's eyes.

They moved closer to each other.

"Ryuu." Ryuu was startled by a sudden deep voice and almost dropped Ichika.

"Is something wrong?" She asked, not knowing what happened.

Ryuu shook his head.

"N-no, just give me a minute."

Ryuu walked away.

"What is it, Nobu?"

"Your heartbeat was speeding up, I thought she did something to you and so I wanted to inform you."

Ryuu's head dropped depressingly.

"Nobu, your timing sucks."

Nobu tilted his head.

Sigh.

Ryuu left and went back to Ichika.