Note: Short chapter, I know, I did it again, however, some important information on the Uchiha clan (in this universe) comes into play, and it does set the stage for some struggles down the line. Enjoy.

                                                                                              ~*~

Something was bugging him. Really, with all things being considered it was hardly important, and yet it weighed on his mind. The thing was, he was sure, positive even, that the name Madara was familiar, yet he couldn't remember where from. It was that kind of nagging pulling sensation on his mind that meant he would have been yelled at for forgetting.

However, no one really knew who he was here, which was strange in all ways for someone such as he, as his past was scared vividly by people knowing exactly who he was, or rather what he represented.

Managing to shake himself from his thoughts, he focused his attention rather avidly upon the man walking beside him, and the blond was forced to conclude, that yes, Madara was indeed taller than Jiraiya, by four inches at least.

This did not intimidate him, after all he had always had a more slender frame, still looking up at someone to the point of which he was near to craning his neck was an odd feet, never mind the very simple fact that simply turning to look at the man his eyes were only granted with the sight of his abdomen. Intimidation, not a factor, dignity was another matter altogether in his eyes.

Placing his hands behind his head in an attempt to regain himself, he stared ahead where he was greeted with an odd sight.

There was a small group of people all of them walking down the gravel pathways waving to each other politely in greeting while heading in their own directions. Some were standing tall and rigid, muscles taut, and faces made of stone, those people wore katana or bo's or spears attached to there back with large rappings of bandages tied at the waist. The clothing itself on these individuals seemed only to be of a high collar lifting and slightly shielding the face which descended into a robe reaching the knees. Some wore pants while some wore skirts, and all of them had their hair done down, most all of them having it reach their shoulderblades.

The other people seemed far more relaxed with soft faces, with mostly gentle tilted eyes and a small shimmer of lip paint or grease and pinched rose cheeks.

They, unlike their grim faced counterparts were dressed only in robes -or was it a kimono, he couldn't quite tell- with a large sweeping haori overtop. Their hair was far longer as well, most all of the people wearing this style of clothing had their hair grown almost to their ankles. These robes were all of fine material Naruto knew, as they seemed to flow like water despite their cream, and neutral tones. The robe -kimono?- underneath was of either a dark fern, a deep brown, or a chocolate brown, the haori overtop -fastened by the twine on the sides, keeping the rest of the robe out of sight.- were mostly done in a cream white, milk brown, or a soft pink. Even with having seen multiple different garments and customs in his travels with his mentor he had never quite seen such a contrast between such a small gathering of people.

Blinking, his eyes unexpectedly caught onto a large stone pillar with words engraved: reading "Uchiha Chiku" with the Uchiha insignia painted on both sides of the engraved lettering. Tilting his head, he asked himself if that was explanation enough for the people's clothing, not settling on an answer, he ignored his own question, and followed Madara into the inside town of the village.

"Madara-sama."

"Madara-sama."

"Hello, Madara-sama." Many people, both those stone faced, and those kind eyed greeted his companion, bowing politely. Naruto delved into his mind for a moment, not understanding, before realization dawned, and Madara's choice in clothing became evident, he was an Uchiha! Well that explained the cold, frigid chakra the man had, and the attitude, and well, nearly everything to be honest. Uchiha Madara... Unfortunate his mind still had no recognition for the name, he knew it, he was aware of this, he had certainly heard it before from Iruka and Tsunade, but he could not for the life of him remember the origin of the man. Someone important in his clan, important enough to be called 'Lord' of all things.

Many of the passersby gave him assessing looks, as if judging his character before even having met him. Instinct crawled at his stomach, and he adjusted his posture so that he walked slumped over ever so slightly, keeping himself a small a target as possible. His hands finding his pant pockets quickly after that. Their stares were nothing like the ones he was used to, the feel of them was different against his shoulders, they weren't looking in accusation or disgust, but uncertainty and thinly held curiosity.

A man came up to them, face held with a calm expression even while his fingers curled around themselves from where they were peeking out from underneath the milk brown haori. He was one of the few with shorter hair, reaching down only to his shoulderblades and ever so slightly wavy. Wearing a robe underneath of fern green, the colour matched his eyes, combined with his light brown hair he looked to be a child of the earth itself.

"Hello Madara-sama, who have you brought with you?" His voice was gruff, reminding the time-traveled teen of the kazekage he knew and cared for. Beside him, Madara motioned slightly with his hand, waving it slightly in a circular motion before placing it on his hip.

"Someone to be monitored, not to closely mind, observation only, apparently he is of a distinct clan to the Senju, Hashirama has asked the Uchiha clan to shelter him." Madara explained, although Naruto was slow on their sentence structure he could recognize what the taller man had said, at least in rough translation; 'I want him watched closely, however, under no circumstances will there be violence, he is of the Senju family line so be cautious, he was asked to be watched by us for a reason.' Not that he minded, to be honest, if only to himself, he would have done the same thing, well, Kakashi or Sasuke or Sakura, or hell even Sai would have, he knew he of all of them would have been the least discreet.

The stranger regarded him with a simple glance of his whole body, before he settled on a smile, and waved in a gesture to follow.

Unsure, he looked to the tall man beside him for confirmation, the man gave it in the movement of his eyebrow being lifted ever so slightly, which he was lucky to have seen as the bangs of his hair moved to cover his face as a slight breeze blew through. Rolling his eyes at the vague Uchiha speak, he was relatively rusty at, he took it to mean impatience, and he moved towards the man already beginning to move down the rock and dust path deeper into the district.

He noticed absently, that this man's footsteps were also measured, however, unlike Madara and Hashirama's steps which were measured in a way that made their feet seem light, and tread without a sound. This man's walk was controlled and measured in a way that demonstrated grace and lack of extra weight, which Naruto found peculiar to say the least.

Ignoring the prickling at the back of his mind to inquire about the strange difference, he focused instead on smiling bright, and not poking his nose into a culture he didn't understand yet. Jiraiya had always made sure that he was respectful about cultural difference, and really, he could not thank the man enough for that lesson.

"Kon'nichiwa," he greeted, unsure about just how to go about introducing himself. He had been told his manner of speak was strange in this time, so he decided on something far more restraintful. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, nice to meet you!" The man gave him a large grin, and he knew he had done adequate enough.

"Uchiha Kou, pleasure."

"Can I ask where we are going?" Kou turned to him slightly, keeping his posture to on the road ahead of them however,

"Ah, well while not directly said, Madara-sama implied that you are to be taken to my house for a temporary time, at least until you are declared a citizen by the Hokage. Me and my Hōmupawā (Meaning: House Power.) will be temporary... guards I suppose, monitoring your movements. There has not yet been a consensus on how to ingrain new citizens into the Village, so I do not know when you will be free of our care." While his tone was light, there was a waver in his speech, as if unsure of just what to divulge and what to keep in shadow. His grease painted lips were thinned, and his eyes shifting ever so slightly to his left. Naruto thought it was not that the fact that man was lying, more of, he simply did not know how to respond appropriately, which was understandable he concluded, it was an unusual situation to have thrust upon one's self. Instead he focused on a more lighthearted question.

"What do you mean when you say 'house power?'" Kou gave a large smile at that, his shoulders relaxing ever so slightly.

"Ah, you don't have such a system in the Senju clan, forgive me, I had all but forgotten. Well, the house power refers to the born Uchiha of a married couple, you see? Uchiha females are born infertile, hence it was decided centuries ago, during the Era of Warring States, that any who marry into the clan female or male are not permitted to fight in a battle, regardless of experience. As to protect the growth of the next generation. Thusly the term 'house power' came about in order to empathise this fact." Kou spoke with such a reverent voice, as if it was such a normality, which Naruto regarded, it was, at least in the Uchiha clan, he knew nothing about the Uchiha clan who had briefly lived in his time, so it wasn't as if he could compare.

"That isn't, what I was expecting it to mean." He finished rather bluntly unintentionally. The married Uchiha beside him simply laughed in good humor, obviously having expected a reaction similar to what he had said.

"I imagined so, the Senju clan don't have many fertility problems as I understand it." They both laughed at the mention of fertility, an unusual thing to discuss so openly as it were.

"So, who are you married to then?" He asked, giving a coy glance to his companion, smirking at the flush that arose to his neck even though nothing inappropriate had been implied.

"Ahhh.... Uchiha Naori." The man muttered, yet he held in place a small smile of sorts at the mention of his partner. The shine that glinted in his eyes, told Naruto that the man was very much in love with whoever his spouse was, glad for it, he nodded to himself. Besides, he was hardly going to judge a tradition that was obviously not an issue, even if it may be in the future with the sound of it.

"What about you Naruto-san, are you married? Courting?" Kou glanced at him, looking to his hands hidden in his pockets, looking for a wedding band or something of the sort. Naruto pulled one of the hands out of his pockets to scratch his neck, nervous rather suddenly, it was the whole topic altogether. As he recalled his very brief -not so brief- crush on Kakashi-sensei when he was young -still had.- therefore he reasoned that the nervous twitch of his hand, and sweat on his neck was from the private question, and not the longtime worry he had harbored that he simply was not attractive.

"Oh, no, not me, not really that... Well look at me! Not um... really. I MEAN- I'm.... No." He stopped, aware that his rambling was impertinent at this point, blushing heavily at the entire display. Kou laughed breathily beside him, covering his mouth with his hand in a show of polite manner. Naruto stared at the man in slight disbelief unused to such particular conduct. The friends he had from his time were more lax when it came to manners, yawning loudly, or belching without a care. He resigned himself to the fact that maybe he might have to rein in his own demeanor ever so slightly, at least until they got used to him. A daunting thought, but if they accepted him then it would be worth it, a fresh start perhaps, if he could pull such a thing off.

Not for the first time, he secretly wished for Sasuke to be here with him, surely he would get a kick out of his resolution to be more polite, nevermind the fact that he missed the man. He wondered: Did Sasuke even know he was gone? Who was going to help him harbor his hatred if he couldn't anymore?

He shook himself quickly, already feeling the dark weighing him down. He had done enough of that in the past four days he didn't need such depressing thoughts festering around in his mind anymore. Tuning his attention back to Kou, he gave a brief laugh at his own statement, as the man's eyes were still smiling.

"Well Naruto-san, I'm confident you will find someone, I am sure you will garner many looks once not dressed in such.... Austentatious clothing." Not expecting such a comment he felt heat in his cheeks flush with heat, it wasn't as if he hadn't heard remarks on his state of dress before, it was only the simple fact that Pervy-sage had chosen this particular jumpsuit that had his mind in a slight bind. For although he had resigned himself to the fact that his whole clothing and mannerisms might have to change as to not raise suspicion he had never really carefully considered the fact that he wouldn't be able to wear his bright orange anymore, it was just as much a part of him as his eyes or hair. The thought of giving it up was strange and a little destabilizing. Not to mention it had been a gift, and he had hardly ever received such a treasure.

Kou, vigilant it seemed, switched the conversation onto something less vexing on his mind, and he found himself deeply engrossed in a conversation of gardening of all things. He found that Kou was indeed quite pleasant company, and he really and honestly was interested in the techniques he had for weeding and fertilizing as he hadn't heard anything similar before. It was fascinating, mostly because of his own interests he could admit. He had always wanted a garden of his own, it was difficult to maintain even his potted plants in his small apartment, so listening to someone speak of their own garden was enlightening, that and he had never really met anyone in Konoha as invested in plants as he, although he had heard Hinata dabbled in such things on occasion. There was Ino, of course, however, she was usually impossible to find.

Kou as well, seemed equally as pleased to be speaking to someone who shared his interests.

They had ended up in the garden behind Kou's house, and Naruto had been only vaguely surprised at the fact that Naori -Kou's partner- was second in command, meaning overseer of the Uchiha's housing and petty issues that the head of the clan was far too busy to focus on personally. It was an interesting collaborate in his view.

The garden was beautiful, and Naruto was slightly ashamed to admit his envy at the large expanse of land he had to work with. Nevertheless, he was mostly pleased to just be somewhere with such a vast amount of different plants.

"There is one plant I could never seem to master which is ashame, it is Madara-sama's favourite." Kou admitted quietly, a saddened tilt to his smile, and his posture was stiff with shame. On impulse, Naruto turned and gave the man his full attention, which didn't seem to entirely register with the young man, but his body slackened from losing unseen weight. "Red Chrysanthemums, I could never seem to grow them."

"Can I try? I might be able to help!" He flashed a grin, the somber mood and tensions from the Uchiha's face drifted away, and Naruto had never quite seen a reaction like it before.

"Oh please! My Hōmupawā and Madara-sama are in a very important relationship, he enters our house and garden every week for a tea and clan matters. If you could have the flowers blossom he would be elated!" The sunshine boy felt the need to aid the brunet, for were they not friends now? Although, he did feel as if he was finally beginning to understand why that name was so familiar, he still could not see just who the man is.