Naruto NG: Laughter Love and Lament

Lee stood up . . . which ended up knocking over the chair. "S-Sakura-chan?!" He asked in complete shock. His wife giggled with a blush and nodded. Her smile reflected the absolute cheer and joy she felt. She was walking on the clouds. Lee could see it in her eyes.

"I'm pregnant Lee. We're going to have another baby!" She practically squealed. The Jounin looked at his wife a moment before breaking out into such a wide grin that his family cringed from the flash of light.

"This is absolutely wonderful!" He declared wrapping his arm around her waist. His other hand grasped hers firmly and she returned the soft squeeze. He kissed her cheek softly. "Looks like you boys will have another sparring partner soon enough."
Tatsuo grinned.

"Will it shove Tadoa's face in the dirt too?!" He laughed earning a glare from his twin.

"Hey you were the one who pulled on my ear! You know I'm sensitive there and so you cheated!"

"So, did not! You just have no talent!"

"Just say that again!" Tadoa growled pinching his brother's arm.

"Ow!" His brother protested before returning the favor . . . before the family could even realize what was happening, the boys were rolling on the ground trying to strangle each other.

"Boys!" Sakura shouted. But, it didn't get their attention. "Boy's! Boy's stop it!" She growled. Lee quickly intervened and went over to the twins. It was easy enough to pull them apart and hold them by the scruff of their spandex . . . they were fairly small for their age.

"Tadoa Haru Rock . . . Tatsuo Ichi Rock!" Lee growled sternly. "You two go up to your rooms right now and cool off!" They flinched and nodded fiercely. Their father placed them on the ground softly   and they darted up the stairs. Sakura sighed and rubbed her temples lightly.

"It's all your fault you know." She groaned reaching for a plate. Lee took it before she could and wrapped his other arm around her waist.

"What is?" He asked kissing her on the cheek.

"It's your stupid genes making those two crazy."

"Mh hm? Because you don't have your own violent tendencies?" He chuckled. Sakura smirked and reached for the plate again but Lee pulled his hand back. "Nope. I got the dishes. You go and relax."

"Lee you really don't have to-mmmph!" He silenced her with a gentle kissed.

"You heard me the first time . . . don't make me tell you again." He warned. His wife looked at him with annoyance for a moment, but let it go.

"You really don't play fair you know." She said matter-of-factly. She kissed him softly and was released. She giggled walking up to the bedroom. "Don't take too long." She winked before disappearing. Lee's eyes shot open and you can be sure that the kitchen was clean in record time.
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Clouds had begun to roll in covering the night sky covering the comfort of the diamond stars. Tomiko wiped the last of the tears away and sat up. She stared at the overcast. Odd, how it seemed to reflect her mood. She waited a moment until the moonbeams from the evening peaked through the dark cotton. The light caused the blood on her knuckles to flash a dark red.

The bandages had torn off her hands . . . she would have to wrap new ones after she removed the splinters. The light hid behind the clouds again, so she stood up. Her eyes drifted down to the music player. She stared at the engraving before kneeling down. She picked it up and flipped it over a few times in her hand, careful not to rub dried blood on it. 'To my little girl, make daddy proud.' She read it over a few times sitting back with her knees pulled to her chest.

As much as she didn't want to admit it, she really wanted her father . . . as well as her mother . . . to be proud of her. She longed to hear them speaking to members of the village with pride about their amazing little fighter. She wanted them to hold her once in a while and tell her how hard she was working . . . but . . . that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. She tucked the player back in her pocket and stood up. She didn't want to . . . but she went back inside.

Luckily the house was quiet. She guessed that her mother had probably gone to bed by now. Her parents had shared separate beds ever since they had found she could no longer have children. Her father however . . . was most likely going over Konoha records to find her a suitable mate that would provide the best offspring. That really was all he cared about. It wouldn't matter how old the guy was. It wouldn't matter if she loved him or not . . . he just had to have good genes.

"Tomiko?" She jumped at the familiar dead sound of his voice interrupting her thoughts. She turned to face him. "Y-yes father?"

"Hmm . . . I did not know you returned today." He said. His daughter sighed inwardly. He never could be bothered to care what she was doing. He grabbed her hand and looked it over. He flipped it over a few times as he admired all the marks and splinters.

"I'm guessing from the blood that you didn't get these on your mission."
Tomiko blinked and nodded once. It was so strange for dear old dad to care about what happened to her. "So, you were training again?" She nodded, unsure of what to say. "Hmmmph. Goes to show you what those teachers know. Those idiots had to stick you on the team lead by that Lee-baka. He's not hard enough on his kids! All that stuff about scars being earned in battle and not by people you trust or yourself bah! He's an idiot! Don't you ever listen to a word he says do you hear me?!"

"Y-yes father." She said gritting her teeth. She pulled her hand away ashamed of herself. How could she be so stupid? Of course, he didn't care. He approved of the 'training' she was doing. He approved of her damaging herself for what he believed was his sake.
"Goodnight. I'm feeling a little tired." She said grabbing the banister and making her way up the steps.

"Good night Tomiko. Make sure to take out those splinters so that you don't get an infection. We'd hate to half to halt your training."

"Yes Father." She mumbled. She turned left around the corner into the hall. There was only really storage up here. Stuff her mom and dad collected and bought and traded. She couldn't help but find it bitterly amusing that her room was on the far end of this hall. The room was luxurious, but it was still just a room. It held nothing special for her.
She cracked open the door and stepped one foot inside.  She stopped to look around the virtually empty room. In the center against the wall, was a huge king sized bed just for her with Uchiha crest sheets and covers.  There was a night stand on either side with a vase of black roses on each. . . Helga must have come through the room during her cleaning.

On one of the night stands . . . sat her favorite book. The black cover was wrinkled and torn and the pages had enough dog ears for a whole litter of puppies. The white blossom on the front had been scratched and faded to where you almost couldn't see it.
She sighed as she looked at the grey walls. She really just wanted this day to be over. She went into the bathroom and opened the mirror. She searched through all the painkillers and small hidden bottles of Sake before her hand found the tweezers. She carefully pulled out the splinters and replaced the bandages on her hands. She brushed her teeth to rid the taste of dried blood from her mended tongue and slipped into a pair of comfortable boxers and a tank top with the crest of her family. With a relieved sigh she fell back onto the bed and grabbed the book from its place by her bed.

She opened to the first page and began to read aloud. "The Black Rose thorn . . . chapter one. . ."
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"Fumiko, honey?" Hinata asked with a tired sigh. "What are you still doing up?" She asked spying all the toys on the floor. Her daughter was about to answer, but she was interrupted.

"Annoying the crap out of me!" A purple haired girl growled scratching the whisker marks on her cheeks. Her pointed teeth made her look more menacing than she was. "She keeps playing with those stupid dolls! I can't sleep through her giggling!"

"Mayumi calm down." Her mother sighed. The poor tween always did get irritable when she was tired.

"Fumiko, dear . . . why aren't you in bed?" The four year old pouted, looking up.

"I can't go to beeeed . . . Ke-Ke hasn't come to say Nika-Nika yet." She whined. Hinata smiled softly. Fumiko and her brother had always been extremely close. She kneeled down to the girls level and cupped her cheek. She rubbed her thumb over her face softly.

"Dear, he's talking to Da-da right now. Lay down. He'll come kiss you good night soon."

"No! I'm waiting for Ke-Ke!" She huffed crossing her arms.

"Fumiko-"

"Mom I got it." Kenta said walking in. The Hokage's wife looked up and sighed in relief.

"There you are. What did your father keep you for this time?" The blond shrugged and sighed.

"Proofreading his paperwork again . . . the lazy fool." He chuckled.

"Ke-Ke!" Fumiko cheered running to her brother who picked her up and kissed her cheek.

"Hello Fumi-chan. Did you miss me? The girl giggled and buried her face in his neck.

"I missed you! I missed you!" she declared. Kenta chuckled and put her on the bottom bunk.

"Mom. Go to bed. I'll get Fumi-chan to sleep." Hinata nodded tiredly. Kenta chuckled and hugged her softly which she gladly returned.

"How did you grow up so fast?" She laughed sadly. He was going to be moving out soon. And everytime she thought about it, it made her sad.

"It only seemed fast to you, Mom." He replied and kissed her forehead . . . he had even grown a head taller than her. "But, really . . . go to bed before I get dad to make you."

"Ok, Ok I'm going." She conceded. The door clicked softly shut and Mayumi laughed.

"You are such a momma's boy."

"And you are daddy's little girl." He cooed mockingly making her blush.

"Hey . . . I so am not!"

"You so are!"

"Hmph! I'm going to sleep." She said turning over. Fumiko frowned, not wanting to be ignored.

"Ke-Ke!" She whined. The young man laughed and crouched to sit by the bottom bunk.

"Do you wanna here about my latest mission in the Land of the waves?" He asked knowing the answer

"Yay! Tell me Ke-ke!" she cheered.

"Allright. Well . . . going into the land of the waves we had to pass over the 'Great Naruto Bridge' . . .

Fumiko listened with great interest and enthusiasm to her bedtime story . . . as did mayumi who secretly loved hearing of all the exiteing missions her brother was allowed to participate in . . . and of course she was curious as to the bridge named after her father.