Third person pov

"So you've been living here?" The Hokage looked around the dingy apartment with a critical eye. "Yeah! The owner is sorta nice. He makes me do some stuff sometimes tho..." Naruto mumbled, looking down. The Hokage stilled, glancing down at him. He was almost afraid of the answer. "Like what..." He asked hesitantly. "Just fixin' stuff on th' roof and stuff. Just chores." Naruto's reply was vague, but not too bad. "Alright. Well, you won't have to do anything for him anymore." The Hokage assured with a smile, looking down at Naruto and away from the extremely bare apartment in front of him. Naruto blinked up at him with two big eyes.

"We're going to get you a new mattress." Hiruzen's tone was rather sorrowful. This place was in horrible condition, not to be lived in. One of the panels on the door was covered by a piece of cardboard, there was a hole in the ceiling, and he could smell mold growing somewhere. The floors were uneven, and there seemed to be water stains everywhere, implying the roof leaked when it rained. The kitchen had nothing but a fridge and an oven along with some counters. The oven's door was taped shut, and the stove only had a single burner plate on it. The fridge was sputtering loudly, and Hiruzen didn't want to know what might come out of the sink when he turned it on. This was no place for a child. Hell, not even for an adult. "Actually, Naruto. I changed my mind. We're going to go purchase some boxes. You're moving out."

Naruto jumped slightly in fake surprise, looking around the bare apartment. So maybe it wasn't exactly the same as his one in his past life. Same room and all, but in far worse condition. This told him that in the previous timeline, the Hokage had had the place fixed up before he moved in. Still, Naruto was glad he'd gotten to see it again, even with the absence of his many ramen posters. "I wonder where you'll be going now." Kurama inquired. 'I... I really have no idea. This never happened before. I'm guessing I'm going to end up with him or with the Nara's. It's clear that Shikamaru and I are close, as well as Sasuke. But I doubt the Uchiha clan would take me." He predicted. "When'd you get smart?" Kurama's face twisted in a sarcastic way, almost. Naruto found his lips turning upwards before he could stop them. 'Shut up.' He joked. 

"Come on, Naruto. I believe I saw a hardware store not to far from here." The Hokage coaxed, snapping Naruto from his daze. The blonde blinked, nodding happily. "Believe it!" He scurried out the door, and Hiruzen closed the door behind him. The Third laughing mirthfully as Naruto bolted down the hall. He was glad to see that despite the circumstances, Naruto was just as buoyant as ever. He sped up in order to catch up to the hyper-active blonde.

~

"Sasuke-chan..." The mother trailed off, her eyes wide at the end of his story. Tears soaked her cheeks, and even Itachi and Fugaku looked ready to bawl. The stoic clan head couldn't hide his disconsolate face from his family, and didn't try to either. Itachi had sort of frozen, simply staring at Sasuke who'd just finished telling what had to be the best lie he'd ever told. He was careful to make himself stutter. To make his voice and body shake, and to make himself cry like he'd never cried before. "We've been calling it the Cantaloupe Happening." Sasuke mumbled in attempts to make himself sound smaller. To make that seemingly innocent title look like a defense mechanism against the trauma. "That's... are you... are you okay?" Itachi wheezed weakly. "Of course he isn't!" Mikoto wailed, reaching forward and taking the boy into her arms. 

"Should I schedule an appointment with a counselor?" Fugaku's voice was gruff but clearly shaken. "I..." Sasuke looked up at his father seriously, fresh tears falling from his eyes to up the pity factor shot his way as he pretended to be okay. "I think I'll be okay." 

"We need to take you to the hospital." Itachi's voice sounded ghostly, as though his soul'd left his body. Sasuke shook his head. Looking at him, he looked shaken, scared and small. Like a terrified child, which he should have been in this situation. "I... I don't want to." He whispered, looking at the ground. "But your eyes and your-" Itachi cut his mother off, petting her back. Sasuke began to shake in her grasp, his fist clenching. "What happened to him?" Fugaku asked his son, his voice deadly. He would kill whoever did this.

"He's dead." Sasuke's voice sounded hollow. He looked at them with pained eyes that made all of them flinch. Sasuke prided himself in inhabiting his roll. "How?" Mikoto's voice was soft and soothing. She patted Sasuke's hair as the boy carefully used chakra to form the injuries needed to explain what'd happened. It was hard, and he was sure he'd have random bruises all over himself from trying to correctly mold his chakra without them noticing. "I...I killed him." Sasuke's voice shook.

"Then you-" Fugaku's eyes widened. Mikoto cut him off, her eyes wide. "Sasuke, do you have... do you have...?" She trailed off, her eyes full of tears. "I-" Sasuke looked like a deer caught in headlights. "Sasuke, you need to tell us." Itachi said in a soothing tone. Sasuke took a slight step back, shaking his head. "No... no, I can't." He denied, his single hand shaking. "Sasuke." Fugaku said slowly. 

"I-I can't!" Sasuke turned and ran out the door before any of them could stop him, heading straight for the Nara clan compound.