You weren't disappointed when Sasuke's attempt at using the Kamui to return back to your world failed; in fact, you were prepared for failure, as you saw it coming. No, not because of your lack of faith for Sasuke's proficiency in his dojutsu, but because of your intuition that with your team's luck, it can't be that easy. While the Kamui dimension is still pretty much usable to transport people and objects, the portal only opens up within this world's familiar locations (specifically, places Sasuke is familiar with, which is not really that much).

There must be a reason why Kakashi and Sasuke had Obito's Sharingan react that way-- to transport all of you in an unfamiliar world you have no prior connections to. It can't be just a coincidence, can it? First time is a coincidence; second time is a pattern; and so far, there is no third time to have confirmations. Not to mention there are multiple variables you have to consider, as you and Kakashi ended up in different bodies, whilst Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto reverted back to their genin bodies.

Sasuke mentioned it was unintentional, as the eye acted out on its own the moment it was transplanted in his socket. While Kakashi didn't explicitly say what happened to the both of you was an accident, it was still wordlessly implied as he was just as clueless.

So, that left Kakashi and Sasuke to experiment with the Mangekyou Sharingan (with Sakura supervising) at the forest clearing you and your partner trained in, while you and Naruto went out to the urban city to shop for ink and brushes (the brush and ink you bought last time were not spared from the mini-explosion when you attempted fuuinjutsu with this body. Kakashi still shamelessly chuckles whenever that memory was brought up, the dick).

Although, since now you have to use fuuinjutsu and experiment with your seals with Mina watching, it would seem you'd task Sasuke to make her and Kaminari forget, after all. Your sealing art-- even hints of it--cannot be shared to any third party, as it is part of your secret arsenal. Shinobi tend to be stingy with their techniques.

"Nee-chan, this is so boring. Why can't we just already buy the brush and leave?" Groaned the blond twelve-year-old as you picked a brush and checked its bristles, with your other hand carrying a basket that contains your selected ink, scrolls and paper.

"There's a certain brush for a certain art, Naruto. Especially for something as delicate as fuuinjutsu," You explained patiently, before returning the writing utensil back to its display. "What we need is a medium fine brush that's soft, but firm enough to retain its shape even when coated in ink." Apparently, this world was so advanced that there are literally hundreds kinds of brushes you can't keep track of, unlike in Konoha, there is mostly the standard one-- for both writing and sealing.

"But why not bring someone else?"

"Because Kakashi and Sasuke are busy finding our way back home, and Sakura is their doctor in case Sasuke's eye bleeds from overuse," Walking towards the shop's next aisle, you side-eyed him from your shades, a playful smirk on your lips. "You make it sound like you don't want to spend time with me,"

"Wha-- That's not true!" You simply chuckled at his exclamation, before poking his bare forehead (all hitai-ates are to be left at home when in public) with your pointer and middle finger, having him yelp out an "Oi!".

"I know, but quiet down. There are still people in this store, even if there's only a few," You lightly scolded with an amused smile, before that smile turned into a rueful one. "Besides, this way, I can finally teach you what your mom taught me."

With eyes of understanding, Naruto briefly looked away and observed the brushes from the opposite aisle, before deciding to pick one up.

"Ne, is this right?" Picking up the brush the blond presented you with, you hummed in contemplation, checking the material. Huh, a medium fine brush that's soft, but firm enough to retain its shape even when coated in ink-- exactly how you described it.

With a proud smile, you wrapped an arm over the boy's shoulder, hugging him close; this time, he only reacted with an affectionate grin.

"I knew you have a knack for this."

~*~*~

"Eh? Why is there a crowd over there?" Naruto pointed out the moment the two of you exited the art supply store, easily spotting from a distance the growing group of people herding around somet-- ah, there's a hero-villain match going on merely two blocks away.

"It's a villain fight, and people want to watch," You simply shrugged, before walking away to the opposite direction, expecting your orange-wearing student to follow. "Kind of a safety hazard to stand and watch, but civvies, y'know?"

"Really?! Then, shouldn't we help?!" He frantically asked, as you eyed the crowd with subtle distaste; the dislike was not for the people, but rather for the established law in this world.

"No. Not while I'm still technically a student," You said with a light frown. "Anyone who engages with a villain without a hero license would either be reprimanded or imprisoned, depending on the severity,"

"That's... That's not right. What if you can really help?" He stared longingly at where the action is happening, no doubt his self-righteousness urging him to interfere.

"It's illegal, but some people do help when they can," You informed him, before expounding. "Those people are called vigilantes, but are still wanted by the police," This seemed to have lit up an idea within his head, before tugging on your arm.

"Hey, hey, why can't we become vigilantes?" He asked excitedly, his baby blue eyes looking suspiciously more innocent than usual.

"Because it's a waste of time," You dismissed, hoping that that's the end of that, but of course, you knew better. This is Naruto Uzumaki, and once he has a goal in mind, he plans on succeeding with nothing but pure, sheer stubbornness.

"It's good training though! And it's not like we actually follow the rules much!" Other than the laws of Konoha that Naruto is somehow adept at bending, Team 7 really isn't rule-compliant, which has your group fall under the Chaotic Good category.

'Y'know what? Why the hell not?'

'So, you're really gonna let him play you like that?' You pretended not to hear Mina's comment.

With a defeated sigh, you led Naruto back to the shopping district for additional supplies, which had the blond give you a foxy grin, knowing that he has you wrapped around his finger.

There are times you wonder if it's really you who's the expert manipulator.

~*~*~

"WE'RE BACK!" Naruto announced within the uninhabited forest, the swaying of wild leaves and the occasional chirping of birds being the only white noise. The authentic scenery makes you feel like you're back in Konoha's forest, somewhat easing your defensive aura.

"That took longer than expected," Kakashi remarked, as soon as you and Naruto entered the team's hearing vicinity, your purchases in arm, and the extras with your blond student. It would seem that the additional purchases caught your partner's attention, along with Sakura's and Sasuke's. "Oh? What else did you buy?"

"Something we'd like to suggest," You replied vaguely, before setting the items by the nearby tree, then spotting a wooden crate you haven't seen before. "What's that?"

"Something we'd like to use," Kakashi mimicked your earlier response airily with a mocking eye-smile. When you playfully scowled at him was when he answered truthfully. "The crate is filled with extra weapons I packed for our mission; luckily, I stored them in the Kamui dimension, and here they are."

"Huh, convenient," You nonchalantly commented.

"Can't ever be overly-prepared with paranoia," He shrugged. "Mind making sealing scrolls for them?"

Wordlessly complying, you fished for your sealing supplies from your shopping bag, before setting them on the ground, sitting crisscross afterwards.

"Alright, Naruto, I'm about to finally teach you fuuinjutsu," You declared with a small smile, before taking off your shades, as you gestured for him to sit next to you. You then prepared the ink, paper, and brushes, whilst Kakashi and Sasuke resorted back to conversing about the Kamui dimension. "We'll start with my demonstration of making a storage seal, and then we practice your calligraphy, as I familiarize you with kanji."

"Yeah, the squiggles!" The blond cheered, not hesitating to plop himself beside you.

"... Right, the squiggles, but they're actually called kanji." You corrected, suddenly realizing how tedious your kanji calligraphy lessons with him would be, if he can't even recognize a single kanji character and instead resorted to calling it squiggles.

Minato... Kushina... If you can hear me, please bless me with eternal patience for your son.

"Pft, moron." You heard Sasuke snicker, temporarily pausing his discussion with Kakashi, as Naruto glared at his direction.

"What was that, teme?! Can't hear you over your failure on getting us home!"

"You--"

"(Y/n)-sensei? Why did you buy these?" Sakura interrupted, cutting the rivals' bickering short, as she opened up your additional purchases which consisted of three animal masks, and white and red paint. The animal masks resembled that of a fox, a hawk, and a badger; frankly, Sakura already has a vague idea of what this hints at.

"Naruto suggested the idea," You stated, before Naruto followed with excitement.

"We're gonna be vigilantes, dattebayo!"

"Wait, really?" Sasuke asked incredulously. "Us? Play heroes?"

"Why not?! We're helping save lives!" The jinchuuriki exclaimed.

"I mean, I researched some of this place's illnesses, and so far, they can be taken care of by iryo ninjutsu; even the incurable ones," Sakura subtly encouraged.

"Isn't vigilantism illegal here?" The ravenet questioned, to which you just shrugged, finding it ironic that a former terrorist is worrying over doing something illegal.

"If I'm not allowing it, I wouldn't have bought those,"

"Maah, maah, already trying to break the law, (Y/n)-chan? You're bad influence," Kakashi teased, before nonchalantly facing the students and asking. "What would your vigilante team name be?"

"Team 7, duh!" Naruto responded, as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.

"That implies there's more of us," Sakura remarked, unsure.

"Good, we intimidate people with non-existent numbers," Kakashi then knelt down next to you, with Sasuke and Sakura following his example.

And then, your team discussed.

~*~*~

By the time your group went back to the apartment, it was dusk. The kids were at awe with the colorful light show on the way home. The mentioned light show was of the city buildings lighting up at night; their colors brighter in the dark.

If Konoha has its grand Hashirama trees, then Musutafu has its embellishing skyscrapers.

Being the last one to enter the flat, you then closed the door behind you and immediately applied the privacy seal you made when Naruto was busy learning his jouyou kanji earlier. His progress? His kanji looks like an abstract art made by a child who had a seizure mid-brushstroke. The worst part was that was his best.

It gave you a migraine.

Suffice to say, it's a tiring day today.

"Sakura, mind activating them, please?" You gestured to the plastered seal, knowing fully well that if you used your unstable chakra, it would only blast a hole in the middle of the door.

"I wanna try!" Naruto enthusiastically volunteered. "I'm the one learning fuuinjutsu, remember?!"

"Uh, yeah, no. We're not experimenting here, especially that there's a high chance you could detonate it rather than activate it," Kakashi interfered, lightly pushing the blond away from the door (you felt kinda bad that you sighed in relief at this).

"Aw what? Activating seals is the only fun part in fuuinjutsu." Naruto sulked, before deciding to head towards the kitchen in another room.

"Anyway, Sakura, please?" You gestured back to the door.

"Sure, (Y/n)-sen-- huh?" Carefully eyeing your intricate seals, Sakura was unsure where to charge her chakra. "This is a privacy seal? They look different,"

"That's because I customized them," You explained. "People here basically don't have chakra signatures to detect, so I had to tweak the seal to allow anyone with chakra signatures to enter instead." Holding Sakura's hand, you then guided her where to apply her chakra, to which she obediently followed.

You hummed in approval seeing the seal glow cyan in activation, before it soon faded back to its original inky black color.

"But what if we aren't the only chakra-users here?" Sasuke cautioned.

"I also topped it with the motion sensor seal and the soundproof seal. With my blood in the ink activated by Sakura's chakra, only the two of us can be alerted of who passes and goes," Well, it's actually Mina's blood, and the seal would be alerting the three of you, but it's exhausting to think of the logic behind it.

After putting up all your privacy seals with Sakura's help on every window, you then went back to the living room.

Laying down the bag of your used supplies, you plopped yourself down on the room's sofa, temporarily resting your eyes before eventually going back to your task of finding a way to literally tear into time and space with the use of ink and paper just to get home.

... Putting it like that just made your head hurt more.

"That bad, huh?" Your partner mused, as he watched the two remainjnf genins disappear to their room. "Y'know, we might need a bigger apartment and more budget for necessities if we're gonna stay here long. They're still borrowing our clothes, after all. Kaminari's rent money is not enough,"

"Shut up, Kakashi. You make it sound like we're struggling parents," You groaned, as you removed your sunglasses, then using your arms to cover your eyes from the light above you.

"I mean, technically, we are," He humored, before sitting on the sofa's armrest near your head. It didn't take long before his airy facade faded, and his eyes darkened. "Have you considered that there's a possibility that we can't return?" He questioned solemnly, as you lightly frowned at the thought of being stuck in this place; in this body for the rest of your life.

"Honestly? No. As long as I haven't ran out of every seal theory I've yet to use, there's still a chance," You stated, not budging from your current position. It took a while to comprehend, but the fact that while there may be a seal to return you, it might take you a lifetime to complete it-- or never at all. The thing about fuuinjutsu is that nothing is impossible with it; its only limits are its seal master's imagination. You worry that yours may not be enough. "And... And if I fail... at least, I have you and Team 7 with me, don't I?"

...

Despite being so different from Obito, you both have the same optimism, Kakashi thought, a bitter smile making its way underneath his mask.

"I miss nii-san too..."

Ah, Kakashi didn't realize he had said his thoughts aloud. But then, he hesitantly relented to the small opening for emotional closure. It gets tiring to pretend that what happened in-- what led to-- the Fourth Shinobi War didn't happen. The topic was too daunting for Kakashi to tread in; too heavy. Too painful for both of you, hence why he didn't bother to try discussing anything about it.

However, the fact that he got a positive reaction from you, encouraged him a little to talk, but he wasn't bold enough to drop the subject just like that.

Or perhaps, the small cowardly voice in his mind said, it may just be best to leave it be.

'Time heals' is what they say, right? There was no need to open that can of worms, if there really was no need to. Kami, Kakashi is not good with this. He doesn't want to pretend that the Fourth Shinobi War never happened, but he doesn't want to be the first to discuss it either; what a dilemma.

In the end, Kakashi settled that he will voluntarily talk about it only if you were the one to open the conversation.

...

"... Is it just me or do you also smell something burning?" You inquired, eyes now open in alert, as you and Kakashi have your sights focused on the direction of the kitchen. From your angle, you can't see the stove, but you just know it's being used-- Naruto!

As if on cue, you heard the blond's voice exclaim that dreadful announcement:

"Guys! The food is black, so dinner is ready!"

Oh... Oh no.

With a synced mind, you and Kakashi looked at each other with unadulterated horror, as Sasuke and Sakura exited their room with changed clothes, their faces easily morphing to disgust when they caught a whiff of Naruto's cooking.

"Shit, I forgot that after Sakura, it's Naruto's turn to cook," You said aghast, remembering that usually in missions, each member rotates roles to practice each survival skill, just so none of you would have to rely on the other if one were to separate.

Normally, Naruto is average in roasting wild meat, if not a little burnt, but having his way in the kitchen is an entirely different story.

You forgot to tell him that he shouldn't cook dinner!

You were so tired that it totally slipped your mind, and now, you all have to pay the price.

'It can't really be that bad, can it?'

'You underestimate him.'

The four of you collectively entered the kitchen, only to see the whiskered boy finish placing all the bowls filled with 'dinner' on each of your respective sides of the table.

"That... doesn't look edible," Sakura was the first to speak among your gawking reactions. And indeed, she was, unfortunately right. You can't even tell what the dish was supposed to be; it looks like some kind of green stew with black meat, mixed with too soggy noodles, and you're not entirely sure what the floating white spots are-- they suspiciously look like egg shells.

"It looks disgusting." Sasuke deadpanned, as Naruto squawked indignantly.

"Hey! It looks delicious, asshole!"

"I don't even know what that even is,"

"You must be going blind with that fancy sharingan of yours if you can't tell what it is! It's obviously ramen!"

"Good ramen doesn't look like that,"

"It is good ramen!"

"Then eat it, dobe." The ravenet smirked, as Naruto continued to glare at him. Sasuke's dare was apparently the last straw for the knuckleheaded ninja.

Sitting on his seat, Naruto picked up his bowl of 'ramen', while still remaining eye contact with the Uchiha, before digging his chopsticks on the dish to pick up the noodles. (Kami, the soup is thicker than it looks. How the hell did Naruto manage that?).

You all stood by the kitchen doorway, watching with morbid fascination as the loaded chopsticks made its way to Naruto's mouth.

Sakura had to look away; Kakashi had to swallow back a bile; Sasuke's smirk grew wider, and you willed yourself not to shiver.

Naruto's reaction was immediate.

"Hey, it's actually not that bad," He said, while chewing.

Huh, so maybe you really shouldn't judge a book by its cover.

However, Sakura and Sasuke (and maybe Kakashi) remained unconvinced, but it was only Sasuke who voiced out his thoughts.

"I don't believe you."

"Well, here, taste it yourself!" The blond gestured at the other untouched bowl of ramen, to which Sasuke immediately seized the dish with impatience to prove Naruto wrong.

With a chopstick full of noodles, Sasuke took a bite only to spit it back out on the bowl with such obvious revulsion, then proceeded gagging, his pale face now tinted green.

"HAHAHA, YOU ACTUALLY FELL FOR IT!" Naruto hollered with glee, before spitting his chewed noodles back to his bowl, which had Sakura and Kakashi nauseous.

'This is unreal.'

Ah, you should've known this was a prank.

"You moron!" Sasuke's green face now turned red, either from embarrassment or anger. "You wasted our resources just so you could prank me?!"

After a long moment for Naruto's laughter to cease (which made you thankful that you applied the privacy seals), he was now calm enough to reply.

"Nah, I just really don't know how to cook."

The entire room deadpanned.

"You're unbelievable." Sakura remarked, clearly annoyed.

Kami, you're just so fucking tired.

Sighing, you closed your eyes and leaned your head on Kakashi's shoulder in both exasperation and fondness.

"We're having onigiri for dinner." You announced, to which you saw Naruto's instant sigh in relief. Good to know that his taste buds aren't that dysfunctional to continue eating whatever the hell he made. "Naruto, you're doing the dishes."

"Aw man."

~*~*~

My version of Naruto does NOT have the Otsutsuki rabbit goddess bullshit; tis guaranteed alien-free. Black Zetsu is now Madara's Will in my canon. This plot point will be touched in the prequel "Same As It Always Was", which I will be posting the prologue soon.

And yes, Obito is your older brother asdfgjjkl

I reread this book, and woof the editing I have to do is whack. The word count is also whack. Other than the prologue, the chapter with the least word count is 2600+, with 5600+ word count being the most. My average is apparently 3500+. I honestly didn't realize I write that much, but it does explain how the book has already reached a hundred pages asdghjkkl.

Anyway, once again, thank you for all of your support! I can't reply to every comment, but I read each one and I appreciate it! It motivates me to know that people like what I do for fun ^^

Also, please do consider my discord invite;;; (The link is in the external link and I think you have to access it in a desktop to see it??)

I made a new discord server specifically for this book, because I honestly need straight and immediate feedbacks, along with in-depth discussions. Frankly, I need various perspectives, just so I'm sure that the readers could see where I want the story to go. I worry that only I could see my intentions, like for example, how I represent a character; so, I need a balanced and an unbiased point of view.