Kaanri (deviantART) created this neato fanart. Thank you!

I peeked out from inside the bushes, my mind going blank as I stared at all of the Akatsuki members. They stood, silent and motionless. All members accounted for, except Itachi.

How is Sasori among them? I wondered. When Pein's invasion hit, the prisoners were sent on lockdown. They were physically incapable of leaving their prison until the warden released the seals—but others could still reach inside to them. Most of the prisoners had actually survived Pein's attack, due to their positioning in the village and sheer, dumb luck. Pein hadn't resurrected any of the prisoners, anyway (somehow).

Sasori had been one of those survivors, and Kitsune told me that he was still being kept in T&I to undergo rehabilitation.

Why was he going under rehabilitation?

No clue. To be honest, I was still trying to decide if he really was under rehabilitation—or at least the same kind of rehabilitation I was thinking of—or if that was code for something else.

So to see him standing amongst the other Akatsuki members, excluding Itachi was...

Confusing.

"... And they all have some troublesome abilities to boot," Shikamaru grunted, his voice holding a tense edge, and coming out distorted from my radio ear-piece.

"We're ready to go, awaiting orders," came Shino's stoic voice.

"Alr—"

"Rasengan!"

My eyes widened in disbelief as I saw my dear brother rush off, head first, thoughtlessly, recklessly into some of the most dangerous criminals in the fucking world.

His Rasengan connected to the ground, sending a large explosion to rock the clearing, and most of the Akatsuki flying back. He leapt back and squatted on a nearby rock, shouting, "I won't run. Bring it on, you assholes!"

None of the Akatsuki members replied verbally, but Pein dashed towards Naruto making a swipe at him. Naruto leapt up into the air to avoid the attack, and that's about when I saw Kakuzu leap up behind him in the same instance.

With a snarl of annoyance, I launched myself into the air towards my brother, just in time for Kakuzu to kick him in the back. With my hands outstretched, I quickly grabbed onto Naruto's arm and using the momentum of my liftoff, I whirled around, throwing Naruto back up at Kakuzu.

Naruto gave the miser a feral grin, another Rasengan built-up in his hand. It slammed against the bounty hunter's chest, and Kakuzu's face twinged with pain before he was sent spiraling away. I somersaulted to the ground to ease my momentum when I landed. When my feet connected to the ground, I deftly ducked underneath Pein's oncoming assault.

Why hasn't he just pulled you to him and stabbed you? Something's not right. Well, something's just wrong about this entire situation to begin with.

They smell weird. I can't explain it, but... they smell... off.

I twirled away from Hidan's scythe, just in time for Chōji's expanded hand to grab me from behind and pull me towards him and Ino. Shino's insects quickly swarmed my vision of the Akatsuki, and I clucked my tongue in irritation. Chōji set me down in front of him and Ino; I quirked an eyebrow.

"You certainly reacted quickly," Ino told me, smiling in exasperated amusement.

I shrugged. "I suppose."

"Yosh, guess it's my turn," Chōji said, before he transformed himself into a human boulder and began barreling towards the Akatsuki members. I could hear Naruto's shouts of annoyance off in the distance, as well as the resounding smack that (probably) came from Sasuke.

I sighed, rubbing my temple.

('･ω･')

In the end, the Akatsuki members fled before we could properly take care of them—or for Kurama and me to figure out just what the hell was going on.

"I heard you guys chased away the Akatsuki!" Tsume, Kiba's mother, exclaimed, her arms folded across her chest. Kiba just smiled, and continued to pet his companion, Akamaru.

"They weren't very difficult to deal with, though," Kiba commented.

Tsume grinned. "Don't say that. As expected, though, my kid can get things done when needed!"

The feral woman slapped her hand across his back, sending Kiba stumbling forward with a grunt, and Akamaru whining sympathetically at his friend.

"Speaking of Akatsuki," Inoichi said to his daughter, Ino, "it's only comprised of incredibly strong individuals."

Chōza, Chōji's father, grinned at his son. "Successfully countering them is a Jōnin-level accomplishment."

Chōji rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Is that so?"

"It is! We were all talking about it," Inoichi said, smiling. "We're going to recommend to the Hokage that all of you be promoted to Jōnin."

"It is certainly an impressive accomplishment," Itachi said to Sasuke, smiling gently at his younger brother. Sasuke gave what had to be a sheepishly-pleased expression (or as close as he could get to having one), and tucked his hands into the pockets of his pants.

Ino's eyes lit up. "We can be Jōnin? Really?"

Tsume grinned. "Have some confidence. We all already agreed upon it."

Naruto bumped his shoulder against mine, his gazed drifting away from all the happy families. I felt my lips pull up into a small, humorless, but understanding smile. "Come on, Aniki. Let's go home."

"Yeah," Naruto said quietly.

No one commented on our departure.

.

I shut our door behind us, trying to think of ways to lighten the somber mood that had fallen around us. On the way home, all we could see were parents and their children. It seemed to put a darker tone on Naruto's day, and he was sullen all the way home.

"Naruto?"

"Mn?"

Naruto took off his shoes, and headed over to his bed, right beside my own. I slipped my own shoes off, and crawled into his bed beside him. He glanced over at me, and I flopped onto him, hugging him tightly. "I love you."

His arms came around and he hugged me. "I love you, too, Imouto."

"You know you'll always have me."

"I know."

"And Papa and Momma are always with us, even if we can't see them."

Naruto only shrugged at that. I frowned and rolled off him. "... Maybe you should talk to Iruka, Naruto?"

"Huh? What makes you say that?"

I smiled. "Because Jiraiya-sensei isn't in Konoha at that moment, and you look like you need one of those talks."

Naruto flushed. "I do not! I'm fine."

"Uh-huh. Just do me a favor and talk to him. If my hugs aren't doing the trick, then you need Iruka or Jiraiya. Simple as that."

Naruto huffed. "Hmph. Fine, I'll go. If only to keep you from nagging me."

"Oh, I can really nag you if you want."

"No, thanks though."

"For example, I could start nagging on how stupidly reckless you were earlier—"

"Really, I'm fine without the lecture."

"You sure? Because I have plenty more ideas to nag you on."

"I'm sure. See? I'm putting my shoes back on. Be back home in a bit."

I smiled. "Okay. Have fun."

Naruto gave a snort as he shut the door behind him.

Do you really think him talking with Iruka will help?

I don't know. I just got the feeling that's what he needed to do. This whole day has been weird. And depressing.

Mn. The idiot is sorely missing your moronic parents.

They aren't morons.

Debatable.

I'm so not getting this argument with you.

Because you'd lose?

Because you cheat.

How could I possibly cheat?

Pump me so full of chakra, I can't think straight, because I'm too hyped up? Guilt-trip me? Change the subject when it looks like you're losing? Harass Naruto to blackmail me into losing on purpose?

... There aren't any rules saying I couldn't do those things.

Uh-huh.

I stood up from my bed, and hopped out the window, not bothering to put my shoes back on. I hopped up onto the rooftop and began to jump across each one.

There was something off about this day. It felt familiar, but only in a vague sense. I felt... compelled to do certain things. Having Naruto talk to Iruka was one of those things. The other was...

I jumped down from the rooftop building, into the small, empty park.

What are we doing here?

I don't know. I just feel like I should be here.

Entering the park, I found Naruto sitting upon a swing by himself. He staring down, rather gloomily, at his lap. Quietly, I hopped down beside him, and then sat down onto the nearby swing. "... So... not a good talk with Iruka?"

The park was fairly quiet that night, and it looked a little lonely. It was a small park, with tall wooden fences that surrounded it, and even taller trees that shaded it. There was only a couple red swings, a few tiny slides, and a sandbox. Peeking through the trees' leaves, I could clearly see the bright stars of the night, despite all the lights Konoha brought.

Konoha just about done with its reconstruction. Only a few more areas needed the repair work.

"Tch," Naruto muttered, stubbornly continuously looking down. "It's not right. Everyone else's' parents can nominate them for Jōnin, while we... We don't even have parents."

"It's odd to see you pessimistic."

"Am I not allowed to be anything other than happy?" Naruto retorted.

"Of course you're allowed to be whatever you want to be," I assured him. Reaching over, I grasped his hand and squeezed it. "You know I love you no matter what."

"I know," Naruto said softly, squeezing my hand back.

"How touching."

Naruto and I immediately bolted up, and Naruto's eyes bulged. "You! You were the one at the Summit that attacked us. Madara!"

"How wonderful that you remembered me," Tobi said dryly, pulling out an orb. "But, I suppose... it doesn't really matter."

Naruto's face twisted into a snarl. "I'm really not in the mood for your bullshit, so I'll have to kick your ass quickly!"

"Such confidence," Tobi chuckled, tossing the orb up into the air.

White light surrounded the both of us, and when it died away, Naruto and I were left alone. Naruto scoffed. "Coward. He ran away."

I stood up from the swing, tilting my head and shaking off that strong sense of familiarity I got from that situation. "Well... it doesn't matter now. Let's just head home, okay?"

"... Alright," Naruto said, standing up and shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Hey, what are you two doing?"

We both glanced over to the entrance of the park. Hinata, Kiba, Akamaru, and Shino were all peering at us. Although the strange thing about it was that their outfits were vastly different. Or at least Hinata's was the most different, with a fishnet crop top, open jacket, and booty shorts. Naruto didn't seem to notice, but I couldn't quite stop staring.

"Good timing, guys!" Naruto exclaimed, stepping out of the park, with me following right behind him, "Madara was just here."

Kiba blinked at that. "... So?"

Akamaru growled and bit Kiba. My eyes widened in surprise at that, and Kiba whirled around on his canine companion. "Oi! You ass! Quit doing that. I don't want you here, any more than you want me here, you stupid mutt. Why couldn't I have been a cat-tamer instead?!"

Akamaru snarled, and my eyes narrowed. "Kiba! Apologize to Akamaru this instant."

"Yeah, Kiba," Hinata said, folding her arms across her chest (well, more like under her chest thus pushing her boobs out more. It was getting harder not to stare at them now) and cocking her hip. Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "You better apologize to Akamaru this instant. You know Nee-chan loves dogs."

Nee-chan?

Kiba shot me a sour look, while Akamaru snorted at Kiba. Then pointedly, the dog walked over to me, and rubbed his head playfully against my side. I gave him a warm smile in return, beginning to run my fingers through his fur, petting him. Both glad to have a canine be affection with me, and a good distraction from Hinata's rather obvious show of her boobs.

"Are you and Akamaru having a fight or something?" Naruto asked, thrown for a loop by the odd interaction.

"What are you talking about? We're always like this," Kiba muttered. "I don't see why Kaa-chan won't just let Naruko-chan have the stupid mutt."

"Naruko?" Naruto echoed.

Hinata turned around to face us again, smiling warmly at both of us. "So, so, Nee-chan, Menma-kun, what are you guys doing over here?"

I shrugged. "Just sort of came together here, ya'know?"

Hinata gave me a smile. "Aa, Nee-chan."

Why is she calling me Nee-chan? And why is she wearing that... that outfit?

"There you are," came a deep, and very familiar voice.

My heart stopped, my breath caught in my throat. Kurama, from inside of me, started snarling and howling all sorts of curses. Naruto also stopped, his brow furrowed in confusion, as he turned around.

Slowly, oh so slowly, I turned around as the Uchiha Madara approached me. He was in a casual kimono, wearing a flippant expression. "You missed our training session, Naruko-chan."

I started hyperventilating.

SAGE FUCKING CUNT-GUZZLING CHICKEN SHIT MAGGOT PIECE OF –

"M-M-M-Madara-sama," I squeaked.

"Madara-sama," Hinata greeted, bowing lowly. Shino and Kiba followed suit, while Akamaru gave a small bark.

"What the fuck?" Naruto questioned, looking positively confused. "Okay, seriously, what the fuck?"

– WORTHLESS LYING MANIPULATIVE SAGE-DAMN TRASH –

Madara shortened the distance between us, then grasped my arm, dismissing the others. "Come along, now. We should be able to squeeze in some last minute training, Naruko. Menma, be sure to tell your parents."

I was wheezing. The Uchiha Madara was in front of me. No. Maybe. What? This had to be an elaborate genjutsu. I knew this scenario, somehow, somewhere. Big genjutsu. Idol in it. Defying the laws of nature. What?

Just... what?

My mind just couldn't process what was transpiring.

– DISGUSTING VERMIN! I'LL RIP OUT HIS FUCKING SPINE AND SPOON FEED HIS EXTRENALS TO HIM –

"Imouto, why is Kurama going apeshit?" Naruto asked me.

"Uh," was all I could manage, staring in dumbfoundment at my favorite character ever.

– MIWAKO SNAP OUT OF IT! THIS IS JUST LIKE THAT SAGE-DAMNED MOVIE. RAARGH! LET ME OUT. LET ME OUT THIS INSTANT. NARUTO. MIWAKO. I DON'T CARE WHO. JUST LET ME OUT SO I CAN BUTCHER THIS –

Kurama let out a string of curses, that had Naruto turning pink, and me finally snapping back down to reality. Movie. Kurama had mentioned a movie, and that's about when things clicked. Tobi had a practice Infinite Tsukuyomi. He originally brought Naruto and Sakura into the genjutsu, and the world it created was what they had desired deeply at the time.

That explained why Madara was here.

And apparently wanting to train me. It was certainly true I had a deep level of affection for him (certainly not love, but akin). When I was a little girl, confined to a hospital bed, and withering away, his feats of strength astounded me. Certainly, all the other characters of Naruto were impressive in their own right, and for a while I was in awe of them, but then when he came along...

Well. He made their feats look like child's play. It was easy to develop a sort of fascination with him as a child. From there, I entered the fandom, and became caught up in his hype. I wasn't emotionally, or intellectually mature enough to resist it, in actuality. I was swept away by the thrill of being a fan; of feeling camaraderie between perfect strangers who share a common interest. It was along the same lines of how Kurama became my second favorite character. Well, that and I could sympathize with his plight (being confined in a decaying physical body, and unable to do a damn thing about it).

In spite of my fascination with the character, I had long ago come to terms with the fact that yes, I would be fighting and him, and yes, I would kill him if I could.

That didn't mean I had let go of my childish infatuation (it was amusing to see it grate on Kurama's nerves, for one thing). It just meant I had separated the Madara I would face, and the Madara I had watched as two separate beings. Two separate entities.

Naturally, the desire to meet the Madara I had watched would be present in this genjutsu.

"Um," I said, fidgeting nervously, "actually, I think... Nar-er-Menma and I need to head home."

Madara's eyes narrowed. "As the Hokage's daughter, it doesn't do to shirk on your training. Menma has already completed his training for today. You, on the other hand, have not."

"Then I'll work extra hard tomorrow," I promised, before I promptly substituted myself away, grabbed Naruto's hand and began to run like hell before my inner fangirl took over and I threw caution into the wind.

"NARUKO!"

I SWEAR IF YOU STOP FOR HIM, I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!

I am running as fast as I friggin' can!

('･ω･')

We broke through an alleyway, out of breath. We entered a rather busy street, with many shops lit up brightly and offering various delicious food. My sense of smell was pleasantly surprised by all the warm baked goods a local pastry offered down the street. After we caught our breath, Naruto gulped, "That was weird."

"Mn," I agreed. "I—"

"Chōji, we should really try those all you can eat BBQ," Shikamaru cheered, as he, Chōji, Ino, Sakura, and Sasame rounded the corner and started strolling down the street.

I almost did a double take at Ino's new outfit and significantly flatter chest, as well as Sasame's new outfit and outrageously larger chest.

What the fuck is up with all these new chest sizes?

No longer did Ino wear her rather revealing fishnet-crop-top-short-skirt combo, but instead donned a fair more modest long purple skirt, with an equally modest purple turtle neck. Her hair, which was normally in a ponytail, was now laid to rest, completely free.

Sasame, on the other, wore a fish-net crop top complete with a sleeveless dark blue vest, booty shorts to match, and long black boots. Her hair was pulled back into a long pony tail.

Shikamaru, and Sakura, thankfully, looked exactly the same. Chōji, however, was incredibly skinny.

"You know I don't like those places," Chōji said irritably. "It's a waste of money."

"But something to eat sounds nice right about now," Sakura put out mildly, smiling openly.

Sasame looked like she was going to add something, but stopped dead when she saw me. Her eyes lit up with utter glee, and her cheeks turned rosy. She squealed and ran towards me. "Naruko-chan!"

"Sasame-chan?" I asked, completely confused, after she launched herself at me—

—and promptly kissed me.

"WHAAAAAAAAT?!" Naruto screamed in horror.

My eyes bulged. My heart was hammering inside my head, and I could feel the blood rushing up to my cheeks. I pried Sasame off me, wheezing and trying my damndest to squash down my rising sense of embarrassment (mortification? Horror? Panic?), as well as kill all those stupid butterflies in my stomach.

Sasame just giggled, wrapping her arms around my waist and proceeded to nuzzle my neck. "I missed you, Naruko-cha-an~"

"What the fuck," I whispered.

"THAT'S WHAT I'D LIKE TO KNOW!" Naruto screeched. "What the hell were you doing to my sister?!"

"Sasame-chan!" Sakura scolded. "You know you can't just kiss Naruko-chan like that so suddenly. You know how Menma-kun is, and we don't want poor Naruko-chan fainting again, now do we?"

"But, but," Sasame objected, "I can't help it. I see her, and I just lose it."

"What is happening," I continued to whisper, as a dawning horror started to settle upon me. "Oh fuck. Do I have a girlfriend? I can't have a girlfriend. I have enough issues with myself! I CAN'T TAKE ON SOMEONE ELSES' ISSUES! FOR GOD'S SAKE I'M PRETTY DAMN SURE I HAVE COMMNITMENT ISSUES!"

Naruto yanked me away from Sasame's arms, trying to calm me down, while I was having a panic attack.

Holy shit I can't be in a relationship. Oh my God. Oh my God. OhmyGod.

Sasame pouted. "I'm not your girlfriend, yet, Naruko-chan. Although, I'm surprised you haven't passed out yet. I knew you would get used to my affections eventually!"

"If you aren't her girlfriend, then don't kiss her!" Naruto snapped. "Shh, shh, it's okay, Imouto. Calm down."

I was wheezing at this point. Oh my God. I can't have a boyfriend or girlfriend. I can't even fix my own problems! What am I going to do with another persons' problems?! Oh, God. WHAT IF WE'RE ALREADY ENGAGE!? I CAN'T HANDLE A MARRIED LIFE RIGHT NOW.

Calm down, you idiot. She said she wasn't your girlfriend.

It took a couple of seconds for my brain to catch up to what Kurama had said. I swallowed roughly, nervously looking over at Sasame. "You aren't my girlfriend, yet?"

Sasame looked positively petulant. "... Not yet."

I let out a breath of relief. "Oh, phew."

Naruto patted my back.

"But, are you okay, Naruko-chan? You're acting kinda funny," Sasame said, tilting her head curiously.

"That's rich coming from you," Naruto snarked.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "She's probably just scatterbrained from your stupid kiss."

Sasame whirled on Sakura, a fire lit in her eyes. "It wasn't stupid! It was true love."

"Right," Sakura said dryly.

Sasame balled up her fists. She snarled, "You wanna start something, flower bitch?"

"The fuck did you call me, slut?"

Ino and Chōji sighed at the two, while Shikamaru giggled.

Naruto leaned in and whispered to me. "Let's get out of here while they're distracted."

"Good idea," I whispered back.

"And where exactly do you think you two are going?"

We both froze at Sasuke's tone. Our heads snapped around, and I took note of Sasuke's new outfit.

Sasuke cocked his head. "Didn't we all agree to go to the hot springs tonight?"

"Uh," was all Naruto could say.

Hesitantly, I said, "Um... sure?"

Sasame immediately stopped glowering at Sakura, and looked positively thrilled. "Eep! Bathing with Naruko-chan~"

Naruto whitened, and promptly positioned himself between a nose-bleeding Sasame, and myself. I, however, just sighed.

('･ω･')

I sat down in the warm waters, looking around at the closed bath house. The bath itself was fairly large, with enough steam rising up that it made it more difficult to discern everyone. Sasame wasted little time in sitting next to me, grabbing my arm and hugging it close to her.

I gave her a look that was somewhere between mortified embarrassment, and genuine annoyance. I didn't care for having panic attacks, so I was little annoyed at her causing one, if only by accident. Still...

This Sasame wasn't anything like the Sasame I knew. I much preferred the polite, shy kunoichi, to this clingy fangirl.

Hinata gave me a sympathetic look, because in that instant, she substituted herself for me, and grabbed onto Sasame. Sasame gave a squawk of disapproval. "Hinata-chan!"

"I can't have you clinging onto my Nee-chan," Hinata clucked, her expression positively feral. "What kind of future wife would I be to Menma-kun, if I couldn't protect his sister?"

So that's why she's calling me Nee-chan. Well... Gotta say, she gets the job done, I thought, watching how Hinata then proceeded to effortlessly hold Sasame in place.

Sakura and Ino exchanged giggles at the exchange, while Tenten gave a soft groan.

"You're covered in new bruises, Tenten-chan," Sakura cooed.

"Itai-itai-itai! That hurts, Hinata-chan!" Sasame whined.

"Oopsie," Hinata giggled.

"I can't help it," Tenten sighed.

"Honestly, you're such a klutz," Sakura teased, and Ino covered her mouth and let out another dainty giggle.

Tenten smiled at the two girls.

"Hinata-chan! That hurts!"

I don't want to know, I thought, keeping my eyes on Ino as she started to speak.

"Well I hurt you if you hold still!"

"Tenten-chan, you really should stop trying to use those shinobi tools," Ino said. "They're dangerous."

I scratched my cheek absently.

Suddenly, Hinata let out a gasp. "This feeling... don't tell me...!"

Hinata released Sasame, standing up. A furious expression washed over her face, and then I recalled this very scene. If I remembered correctly, Neji was a major pervert. With his Byakugan, he could see thing anything—any wall between the girls' and boys' baths would mean nothing for him.

Sasame, seeming to recognize what was going on, snarled. "Oh hell no, he is not trying to look at my Naruko-chan."

"Your Naruko-chan?" I muttered.

"That bastard, Neji-nii. I'll fucking kill him!" Hinata growled. She ran out of the bath, with all of us behind her. As quick as we could, we started getting dressed, but just as I was about to slip on my last bit of underwear, the roof gave away above us and Ino screamed.

Hinata, finished wrapping her towel around herself, stormed towards Lee, who laid in a crumpled heap where the roof gave in. Sakura and Sasame, who had also put on their robes, surrounded him. I gave him a dry look, and pulled up my underwear, brushing my hair out of my face. I turned towards a horrified, and rather catatonic, Ino, and quietly started to help her finish getting dressed.

Hinata grabbed Lee. "Damn you, Lee. You said you were training, but you were peeking instead?!"

"N-No!" Lee defended. "When I was on the way back from training, my clothes caught on to something. It was just a coincidence I fell through here."

"Oh, so you coincidentally tripped on the roof of the bathhouse?" Tenten summarized dubiously, already finished getting dressed. After I had helped Ino finish dressing, I then turned to finish getting dressed myself.

"I'll kill you before Neji-nii," Hinata said, lifting him up. Sakura cracked her knuckles.

"I'll help you with that," Sasame purred, and Sakura grinned maliciously.

"Make that three," Sakura said.

"Hey, what happened?" Naruto demanded, pushing the curtain apart as he stormed into the girls' changing room with the other boys behind them. They were all just wearing towels around their waists. Ino gave another mortified, although silent this time, scream, and pulled me in front of her, shielding her. Despite her being fully dressed, and I was just in my underwear.

Perfect logic, right there.

"Lee was peeking!" Tenten accused.

"What," Naruto demanded.

"What? How shameless!" Neji exclaimed.

Sasame grabbed onto Neji's hair, a dark glower on her face. "Like you're one to talk!"

Lee made a sort of spastic movement, causing Hinata to drop him. He turned on his heel and sprinted away. Hinata snarled, "After him!"

Hinata grabbed her clothes, and started to change while she chased him. Sasame, Sakura, Tenten, and the boys (excluding Naruto) followed in pursuit. Naruto and I exchanged glances.

Then Naruto seemed to realize I was just in my underwear and made a sort of choking noise. "WHY WERE YOU NOT DRESSED?!"

"Because this is no different than seeing me in my swimsuit," I deadpanned, turning away and starting to get dressed.

"IT'S COMPLETELY DIFFERENT."

"Oh, yeah? How so?"

"It—It just is!"

After I tied my ribbon around like an obi, I twisted my hair up into a sloppy bun, deciding to let it dry that way. "Whatever. It's late, and I'm kind of hungry and tired. We should head home."

Naruto gave a sigh. "Alright. Let me get dressed."

"So it's okay for you to stay like that, but I can't?" I muttered under my breath as he left.

"Damn straight it is," Naruto shouted back at me.

I rolled my eyes, and then noticed that Sasuke was leaning on the door frame, completely dressed. He gave me a lazy smirk.

"What?" I asked him suspiciously.

"I thought you should know," he told me, "that I fully appreciated the fact you didn't get dressed right away."

I made some odd squeaking sounds, my face turning bright red and another panic attack greeting me.

Sage damn it. NARUTO. THAT DISGUSTING UCHIHA IS HITTING ON YOUR SISTER.

"DAMN IT SASUKE!" Naruto roared, charging back, but Sasuke was already gone.

('･ω･')

"Let's see... home would be... thatta way," Naruto said, turning towards where our apartment would be. I shook my head, grabbing his hand.

"No. Naruto, you do realize we aren't in the same Konoha anymore, right?"

Naruto blinked at me. "Well..."

"We're either in a very good genjutsu, or another world. Regardless, this isn't the Konoha we know, and these clearly aren't the friends that we know. We aren't Naruto and Miwako here—we're Naruko and Menma. And remember what Madara said? He told you to talk to our parents. Naruto, we have parents here."

Naruto's eyes bulged. "What?"

"It's true," I told him. "And with that in mind, our scent patterns are different in this world. I can smell... I can smell Menma and Naruko's regular routine throughout the village, and I can definitely say they don't live where we do."

Naruto fell quiet. "Then... then do you know where they do live?"

"Aa. I can find it."

"... Do you... do you think our parents will be there?"

"I don't know," I admitted. "They might be out on a mission, or they might not be."

('･ω･')

We stood outside the apartment, and Naruto placed a hand on my shoulder. I shook my head. "I don't smell anyone inside. It's just us for the night."

Naruto sighed. "Alright."

I reached for the doorknob to the front door, finding it unlocked. Gently, I pushed the door open, and took off my shoes. Naruto followed behind me, mimicking my actions. We traversed quietly through the hallway, and I flicked on the lights as we went.

It was a spacious and luxurious home. Certainly not overly expensive, but it definitely had a sort wealth to it. I had confirmed, upon our way here, that Papa was the Hokage. Although, I didn't see Tsunade's head on the mountain anymore.

On the walls were many pictures. Mostly of the four of us, but occasionally Kakashi, or Jiraiya joined in. Naruto approached the picture of our tenth birthday. There was a giant cake, and we sat in front of it, our eyes lit up with excitement. On top of Naruto's head was a little toad—Gamakachi, if I wasn't mistake—while Pakkun sat on top of my head. Papa and Momma were behind us, grinning widely for the camera, with Jiraiya right behind them and giving them both bunny ears. I figured Kakashi was the one taking the picture.

My hand ghosted over his shoulder, before I brushed past him into the kitchen. It was a wide kitchen with an island counter. I opened the fridge, pulling out numerous fresh ingredients. "... Go get washed up. I'll make some dinner."

Naruto continued to stare at the picture for several seconds, before he shrugged and headed away.

What are you going to do?

Do? Nothing. For starters, it's a test of the genjutsu. He can't keep us here forever. We'll naturally break from it.

In the movie they didn't.

In the movie, they didn't have all the information.

True enough. What about the real Menma and Naruko, though?

Don't care. Like I said: it's a test of the genjutsu. We'll be out of here within the week, and everything will go back to normal for this make-believe world. For now, though, I just wanna make what memories I can.

I suppose that makes sense. No use fighting it when it won't harm you, and it'll go away naturally.

Exactly.

I ended up making a curry and rice dinner. I called Naruto away from his room and for dinner shortly enough, and he joined me at the table. We ate in comfortable, if a bit thoughtful, silence. When we were done, Naruto cleaned up the dishes, and I kissed him on the cheek before heading to bed.

It didn't take long to figure out which room belonged to me—the scent alone was enough—but it became rather painfully obvious when I opened the door. The room was filled with canine plushies, many pictures featuring friends, the Pack, and the family, as well as numerous fūinjutsu scrolls scattered about.

Moving at a lackadaisical pace, I pulled my hair free from the bun and headed towards the closet.

I opened the large—very large—closet, peering at the variety of clothes. At the top, I saw that there were labels written above each section of the closet. One read formal, another read pajamas, a third read training, and so on. I quietly padded into the closet, looking over at the pajamas.

The majority of them were oversized shirts with some shorts or long pants thrown into the mix. I grabbed one, and gave it a careful sniff.

Rowan. It was drenched in Papa's scent. Even though I had only met Papa a couple times—one from the time travel, and the other in my head, I memorized his scent with every fiber of my being.

I sniffed another one. It was covered in Kakashi's smell. The third one I sniffed was Jiraiya's.

The following one, I sniffed, but it had a new scent I didn't recognize. Frowning, I sniffed it again. It had a feminine scent—it reminded me of ash.

That would have been Kushina's stench.

I froze.

I was holding... Momma's...?

I held it tightly against me. It seemed Naruko had a habit of borrowing others' t-shirts. I couldn't entirely blame her. It was a pleasant feeling... falling asleep wrapped in a comforting scent. I had borrowed several of Naruto's, Kakashi's, and Jiraiya's shirts before. None of them complained, so long as I returned them after I washed them.

Perhaps it was just an odd quirk of mine, but I didn't care.

I sniffed Momma's scent again, and smiled.

I decided to sleep in that shirt tonight, wanting very dearly to memorize this scent, as well.

('･ω･')

I awoke slowly, cuddled warmly in the blue comforter. The window at my bedside had transparent white curtains, so it did nothing to hide the sun from me. With a groan, I pushed back the comforter and sat up in the bed.

Then, I grabbed the shirt and sniffed at it.

Still smells like Momma.

That brought a smile to face, and I climbed out of bed.

After getting ready, I headed into the kitchen to find Naruto had already made an omelet breakfast. He looked up at me, giving me a grin. "That was a really comfy bed."

"Loved that comforter," I agreed.

Naruto placed an omelet on a plate and handed the plate to me. I gave a quiet thank you and headed towards the table. A couple minutes later, Naruto pulled up the chair beside me, and set his own plate down.

As we ate, Naruto asked, "So if this is another world, what should we do?"

"Kurama and I have figured out that we'll return to our own world within a week," I said.

Naruto blinked at that. "How do you figure?"

"Do you really want me to go into a detailed explanation about how?"

Naruto thought for a moment. "... Not really. I care more about the results than the scientific mumbo jumbo."

"Good." Wasn't sure how we woulda explained that, anyway. I cleared my throat. "For now, we should probably try not to draw too much attention to ourselves. We need to act normal. From what we know... well, I guess I have a tendency of fainting frequently, from what Hinata-chan said, so I'm probably a bit shyer here."

Naruto scratched his cheek. "Hmm... no one really treated me like they were surprised by how I was acting."

"What I gathered from what Hinata-chan said, you're an overprotective big brother," I teased.

Naruto grinned. "But, I'm already like that, so it's okay."

"Let's see... our parents are alive here."

"That's going to be weird," Naruto admitted, "but not too bad. Should be a nice change, yeah?"

"Maybe," I mused. "Hmm... Hinata-chan, and Sasame-chan are aggressive here. So we shouldn't be surprised by them acting like it. Sasame is, apparently, in love with me. Tenten is a klutz, Ino is shy, and Sakura seems pretty much the same."

"Neji and Lee are perverts," Naruto said, "and Kiba hates dogs, but loves cats. Shino hates bugs, Shikamaru's an idiot, Chōji's a grumpy smart person, and Sasuke seems to be the same."

"We'll just have to hide our reactions to most things, and let others react first before we do," I advised.

"Okey-dokey," Naruto said easily.

"For today, we should just focus on gathering information," I said, finishing my meal and standing up. "Let's start off by heading to the Hokage's office. That's usually the best place to go if you need information."

"You're right. Baa-chan will know what's up," Naruto said, grinning.

"Doubtful she'll be there," I said, grabbing both of our empty plates and heading to the sink. "Just look at the mountain, Aniki."

('･ω･')

I opened the door to the Hokage's office, Naruto peering behind me. It looked far more organized than Tsunade's office usually did. All the paperwork was neatly filed away on the right side of the desk, and there was a plush couch with cushions and a rug on the far left side of the office. Book cases filled the walls, and the windows were left wide open, but I could see subtle sealing arrays drawn around them.

The desk was large and curved like Tsunade's, but it also had a fair few pictures on them, and a potted plant—a kind of blue flower that I didn't recognize.

"It's... empty," Naruto said in disbelief.

"Well, no one was home last night, so," I trailed off.

"What are you two doing here?"

We whirled around, only to find a very relaxed Kakashi leaning at the edge of the doorway. My eyes lit up. "Kakashi-sensei!"

"You both should know that your parents have returned, yet," Kakashi said.

"Then what are you doing here?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi seemed to smile at us behind his mask. "I was dropping off my report. They may not have returned, yet, but they're due back any minute."

"Then we'll just wait here for them," I decided.

"Who, us?" Papa asked, flickering into the room with wide, wide smile. He looked exactly like he did from my memories, his Hokage cloak still fluttering behind him from the movement. Momma walked into the room a heartbeat later in her Jōnin attire, rolling her eyes in exasperation.

"Papa!" I exclaimed, throwing myself at him the second he appeared. He picked me up with ease, and started to twirl me around.

"There's my little girl," Papa said happily.

"Menma, we aren't going to let those outdo us, are we?" Momma asked, winking, and beaming. Naruto's face took on a reddish hue, but after watching me and Papa for another heartbeat, he gave a wide smile and ran towards Momma. He hugged her tightly, and then picked her up and started to spin her around. "H-Hey! I'm supposed to do that to you, dattebane."

"But I'm taller than you," Naruto objected.

Momma pouted. "You don't have to remind me. You should have just stayed a cute little toddler forever."

"What are you talking about?" Papa asked, having finished spinning me around. "They are still toddlers."

"Oh, how silly of me. I forgot," Momma teased.

"Hey! We are not," Naruto protested.

I just giggled, moving away from Papa and hugging Momma. Papa reached over and grasped Naruto's shoulder, pulling him towards him and ruffling his hair. Naruto gave a squawk of indignation, but his smile conveyed he didn't actually mind the action.

Momma kissed the top of my head, and cupped my cheeks. "How are you, dear?"

"I'm fine," I said, brimming with happiness. "How was your guys' trip?"

"It was fine. I don't get to leave the village for a mission often, so when I had completed all my paperwork a week earlier, I just couldn't resist," Papa chuckled. "And how can I help you, Kakashi-kun?"

Kakashi held out the folder. "Here's the mission report from last month."

Papa sighed. "Late as ever, I see. Well, stick around for a bit. There's something I need to discuss with you, anyway."

"Yessir," Kakashi drawled lazily.

"Should we leave?" I asked, and Momma placed a hand on both our shoulders. Naruto glanced back at Momma, smiling brightly.

Papa shook his head. "As much as it pains me... I'm afraid this concerns you two, as well. The female jinchūriki from Kumo was kidnapped. You know about the masked man, who indiscriminately collects rare jutsu and kekkei genkai, right?"

I could practically hear Naruto's thought: Tobi? From the Akatsuki?

"He's an internationally wanted S-class criminal," Kakashi answered. "But if he's going after bijū now..."

"Mn. Recently, Jiraiya-sensei went up against him," Papa said, "and has been grievously injured. Don't worry, you two, he'll make a full recovery. Tsunade-hime made sure of that. However, he's currently in a coma and won't be awake for some time. Before he passed out, he made sure to convey one message: There is only one way to defeat the masked man. We have to use the sealing scroll, the Book of the Crimson Moon."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"Apparently, Jiraiya-sensei witnessed a prophecy on Mount Myouboku. The prophecy said that the masked man could be defeated using the Book of Crimson Moon that Jiraiya-sensei would find. Since the Great Toad Sage's prophecies always come true, Sensei followed the prophecy and put his life on the line to get the Book of the Crimson Moon. But, he was gravely injured and fell unconscious before he could return to the village. Knowing he wouldn't make it to the village fully conscious—and realizing timing would be crucial—he hid it somewhere along our border, and sent a frog to tell us its exact location."

"Then where is it?" Kakashi inquired.

"Once Gai returns, Kakashi, I want you, Gai, Kushina, and myself to personally retrieve this. It's too crucial to leave to chance."

"Let me go on that mission, as well," Naruto demanded.

"My, my, you're really worked up," Papa said, smiling in fond amusement.

"Of course!" Naruto said. "No one messes with Pervy-Sage and gets away with it."

Momma sighed in exasperation. "Menma..."

"Um, there's something I want to clarify, though," I said, glancing at Papa. "It's... it's just one masked man, right?"

"Right...?"

Weird. Wonder where my counterpart is.

"Well, it's been a while since the whole family has gone on a mission together," Papa mused. "Alright. I'll allow it."

('･ω･')

The four of us had walked home together, and when we entered it, Momma stretched. "Ah, it's good to be back."

"I know what you mean," Papa said, smiling in bemusement. Then his eyes lit up. "Ah! I almost forgot. Sorry, Naruko-chan."

"Huh?" I blinked vapidly. "What're you sorry for?"

"I almost forgot," Papa said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "I'll go ahead and release him."

"Release—?"

Then Papa reached out a hand and placed it on my stomach, smiling warmly. I felt a rush of warmth, then suddenly a sharp ring of dizziness, then...

There was a puff of smoke.

When the dizziness passed, I realized that there was a new individual in the room. He was about the same height as Papa, with long, straight, flame-red hair. He was cloaked in scarlet attire—the cloak had long, tattered sleeves, and a large hood that engulfed his head. But, it was opened and revealed a rather elegant black and red kimono, with intricate fire designs.

A heartbeat passed of pure, and utter silence as we realized what had just happened.

Kurama, now human, raised a shaky, trimmed-nailed hand to his face. He paled, and his expression morphed into utter disgust and horror. "No... No! Why?! WHY AM I A DISGUSTING, FUR-LESS, SOFT-SKINNED HUMAN?!"

That was when Naruto lost it. At seeing Kurama's utter despair, he howled with laughter. "AHAHA! YOU'RE A BISHIE-HUMAN. PFFFFT."

"No, no, no, this cannot be happening," Kurama wailed, clutching his head. When I started giggling at the ordeal, too, he snarled and took a menacing step forward.

Or tried to.

He wobbled, then lost his balance and face-planted. This just caused Naruto to squeal with laughter, and I to have a harder time to breathe. "Sage damn it! How the hell do you two idiots get anywhere without tails to balance you?!"

I snorted and erupted into another fit of giggles.

"What's gotten into you, Kurama?" Momma demanded.

Kurama's expression was torn between horror and disgust, and mutinous. He snarled, "Release this! I refuse this form."

"No!" Naruto gasped out quickly, still wheezing and giggling. "Please, please, no matter how much he begs otherwise, do not ever release this."

At Kurama's fearful look, Naruto and I let out peels of giggles. We were clutching on to each other, and slowly sinking to the floor, gasping for air, red-faced and flying high.

While Kurama was starting to hyperventilate, Naruto and I slowly calmed down. Well. I did. Then Naruto got another good look at Kurama and lost it all over again. Stumbling, I reached for Kurama, offering him a hand. He eyed my hand warily, but grasped it after a moment of thought. Using my chakra to enhance my strength, I yanked him up in one fluid motion.

He wobbled, and I grabbed his arm and draped it over my shoulders, pulling him into me, and thus causing him to lean on me. "Here, you can lean on me, 'til you get your balance sorted."

This set off another peel of laughter for Naruto.

Kurama's face was flushed, and his lips drawn back into a silent snarl. Nonetheless, he continued to lean on me.

"What is going on with you?" Papa asked curiously, looking at all of us.

Momma sighed. "I swear, kids these days..."

"I am no child," Kurama hissed.

"You might as well be with that attitude," Momma retorted. "Well, no matter... I'll go ahead and get dinner started, though it might take a bit."

"That's fine," Papa said easily. "I have some work I need to do, anyway."

"You always do," Momma teased.

Naruto had finally stopped wheezing with laughter, and was looking up at Papa excitedly. "Can... can I see you work? I mean, you know... see what it's like and all."

Papa grinned. "Of course. Come on, let's head into my office."

"Okay," Naruto chirped.

"Ah, um, then... Kurama and I will head out for a bit," I said, starting to guide the furious Kurama out the doors. "And, ah, you know... let him cool off for a bit."

"Unbelievable," he snarled, starting to mutter rather creative swear words under his mouth.

The second we were out the door, he let out another, rather crude, string of curses that had me blushing. "Would you calm down? It's temporary."

"It's disgusting," Kurama spat.

"You'll get used to it," I said, amused. "I knew part of my dream was having the bijū be free, but—"

"Never in this manner," Kurama said vehemently. "Don't you dare turn me into this pitiful thing. I swear if you do..."

"I won't," I assured him. "It's too weird seeing you like this. Besides... this is just another form of prison for you. When I free you, it'll be complete freedom."

Kurama fell silent at my words, turning his face away from me. "... I will hold you to that."

"Come on, let's walk around for a bit. You need the practice, anyway."

He sneered at me.

('･ω･')

Kurama was able to stop leaning on me after about ten minutes of walking around the village. We had ultimately chosen a more secluded route, in hopes of avoiding others. The path we were currently walking on was definitely without human life. It was an old paved road that lead through a small forest in the village. There were a couple of street lights to illuminate the way, but for the most part it was pretty dark, and quiet.

The trees were tall above us, but not overbearing. I could see some of the stars twinkling on the painted night sky above us. There were too many lights on in the village to properly see them, but it wasn't impossible.

"We should probably start heading back," I told him, taking in a long breath of the clean air. I let it out slowly, completely relaxed.

"More than likely," Kurama agreed.

"I hope you're done cursing," I said, grinning teasingly at him. "Momma looked ready to flay you alive when she heard that first sentence."

Kurama snorted.

"You have some very colorful vocabulary, especially in regards to Madara-sama."

"He's vermin," Kurama muttered under his breath. "Disgusting, ugly, filthy abomination. What is the appeal? I do not understand."

I gave him an amused look, smiling coyly. "I liked him for his feats, and that like turned into admiration and idolization due to my age. I had idolized him for so long, it just stuck with me, and carried over."

"He's not that strong," Kurama sniffed.

I just patted his shoulder consolingly.

"But other than that, I do not see the attraction or why he had such a devoted fandom," Kurama grumbled.

"I suppose most teenage girls would find him attractive. The anime writers even made him a bit... romantic... from what I understand. How he asks people to dance with him. There's an innuendo in there."

Kurama's nose crinkled up and he raised his voice several octaves higher. "Dance with me? Dance with me?" He adjusted his voice each time he asked the question, adding a mocking twist, or condescending tone to it, or putting greater emphasis on other words. "Dance with me? Will you dance with me? Will you dance with me? Will you dance with me? Will you dance with me?"

I giggled at his exasperated look. Kurama huffed, folding his arms across his chest and glaring at the ground. "What is the appeal? The attraction? The fascination? Dancing, fah!"

"I can understand the appeal of dancingwith someone," I said. "Although, not in the way Madara-sama implies. Dancing with a friend is fun... it's just, like, getting lost in the moment. Relaxing. Enjoying yourself."

Kurama gave me a disgusted look.

Suddenly, my smile took a more smug and predatory edge to it. "Kurama... could it be... perhaps... you don't know how to dance?"

Kurama's cheeks turned a bright red, and he glowered at me. I knew, if he were in his true form, his ears would be flat against his head and he would be snarling at me. As it was, his lips were already pulled back in a silent snarl. "Why would I ever bother to learn?"

I laughed, my face lighting up. "Oh, don't be a stick in the mud. Come here, as your best friend, I'll show you how to dance."

"Who ever said you were my best friend?" Kurama grumbled petulantly.

I only gave him a knowing look, causing his cheeks to turn an even brighter shade of red. It was amusing to be able to so easily read his emotions on his face. As he wasn't used to his humanoid form, he didn't have complete control over it, and probably didn't even realize he was blushing in embarrassment.

Gently, I reached for his hands. He allowed me to grab them, and place one on my hip, while holding the other. I stepped a bit closer to him, and then I grinned wickedly up at him. His face was morphing into what I would define as a pout.

Does he even realize he's doing that? I inwardly giggled.

Slowly, I guided him around, having trouble containing my amusement at seeing his glower/pout.

"I don't get it," Kurama half-sighed-half-growled.

"You're overthinking it," I said. "Just relax. Just you, me, and the movement."

His brow furrowed, and he stepped on my toes. I let out a yip of surprise, and his face lit up with smug amusement. I stuck my tongue out at him. "You aren't supposed to step on your partner's toes."

"Whoops," he responded, still smirking. "So sorry."

He stepped on them again. I shot him an annoyed look.

The seventh time he did it, I accused him, "You're doing it on purpose."

"Maybe," he allowed. "It's amusing to see you get annoyed."

I glared at his smile, but relaxed. "Well, at least you seem to be enjoying yourself."

"Yes, it's fun to step on your toes," Kurama agreed. I laughed at that, and we stopped spinning around. "Are we done?"

"Guess so. You finally admitted to having fun dancing, so my work here is done," I said, shrugging.

Kurama swatted me behind the head lightly, offering me a mildly annoyed look. "Brat."

"I love you, too," I told him.

His cheeks were bright red, and he was giving a small, pleased smile. I knew Kurama hadn't really lived a very... friendly... life. So, it was probably a bit of a surprise to be so obviously doted upon. I liked to imagine that he enjoyed it, and from his human reactions, it was certainly starting to feel that way.

It was pretty awesome getting indirect confirmation that Kurama valued my opinion enough to enjoy it.

"At least you're walking easier," I told him. Kurama glanced over at me.

He lifted his head up, and sauntered ahead of me. "Naturally. I am a genius, you know. Of course I mastered this art."

"Mastered, huh?" I teased, skipping ahead of him. I turned around, stopping short just in front of him and peering up at him, my hands clasped behind him. "Mmm? Really? You mastered it?"

"Of course," Kurama snapped, his cheeks tinting red again. "Now get out of my face, you pest."

I laughed, turning back around.

"N-Naruko-san? Hey guys, look! It's Naruko-san's, the hero's daughter."

I tilted my head as a trio of shinobi approached us. They were nameless to me, and I didn't recognize their scent. "Can I help you?"

"Oh, wow, I don't see her bro around, either, this is a great chance!" one of them cheered.

I blinked. "What?"

"Hey, wanna be my girlfriend?" another asked.

At the word girlfriend, I seized, already starting to feel the first panic attack come on.

"Oh for—" Kurama slapped the palm of his hand against his face. "You stupid humans. Get out of here, leave us alone. She's with me."

"Oh, sorry," one of them responded. "Come on guys."

After they left, Kurama slapped me over the head. "Stop panicking."

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Phew."

Kurama gave me a dry look. "You're going to have to fix that. Weren't you the one who wanted kids?"

"I don't have to have a husband or wife to have kids," I muttered. "Besides... with my body, I'd have to adopt, anyway."

Kurama sighed, then frowned thoughtfully. "That was something I forgot to ask you. You freaked out about the idea of having any sort of romantic connection, not the fact that that girl kissed you. Doesn't that usually cause some sort of reaction for girls?"

"What? First kiss? Eh. Genjutsu, so it doesn't really count."

"No. The fact that she was a girl."

I tilted my head. "Why would that bother me?"

Kurama shrugged. "I don't understand you humans. You get upset over the silliest of things."

Scratching my cheek thoughtfully, I answered, "Well, I don't care that a girl kissed me. I like girls just as much as boys (maybe a bit more, actually), so it doesn't really make a difference. And again, with my body, I would have to adopt anyway. So if I ever end up getting over my own issues, and marrying a girl, then so be it."

"Kudos for you," Kurama responded sardonically.

I snorted. "Not that you actually care one way or another."

"This is true," Kurama agreed.

"But, hey, you made a pretty good fake boyfriend," I told Kurama, grinning up at him.

Kurama's eyes narrowed, and a sneer crawled its way on his lips. "Oh, did I now? And why, pray tell, are you notin a panic attack at the mention of boyfriend?"

I gave him a funny look. "Because it's you, duh. You're my best friend and I trust you with everything. We already know pretty much all there is to know about each other, so I'm already taking on your issues with my own. Don't get me wrong, though, I don't want you as my boyfriend. But, maybe, if you weren't already a gazillion years older than me, a giant fox, and, well... not human, then... sure. I'd probably be okay with it."

Kurama barked out a laugh. "So just as long as I wasn't me? Good to know."

An idea crossed my mind and I glanced at my best friend thoughtfully. "Do bijū even date?"

Kurama's laughter grew loud, and more patronizing. "Do we even—? Oh, brat, of course we don't. For starters, we are literally constructs of chakra given personalities. We have none of your basic human desires, such as the desire to sleep, eat, or... reproduce. We have no need for any of those things, so why would we instinctually crave for them? Secondly, who would we even be interested in? Again: we are literally constructs of chakra. We don't even have a definite gender or form. We chose these forms now because that is how the Sage originally designed us and we've been too lazy to change it, or too uncaring, or maybe even too sentimental in some cases.

"I chose the male gender because that is how I identified myself in the beginning—and it seemed to better suit the name the sage gave me. You have to remember that we were all parts of the Jūbi—which was literally a demonic tree. Thirdly, how would we find someone who could match us mentally? Or at least myself. You said it yourself—I am a gazillion years older than you. I've seen, and experienced far too much to be content with a naïve brat. And after decades of being confined with humans, I would more than likely be disturbed to be attracted to someone so young (never mind the fact that I cannot naturally be attracted to anyone to begin with!).

"So no, Miwako, bijū do not date," Kurama finished.

"A simple no would have sufficed," I said cheekily.

He flicked me on the nose. "Brat."

I laughed. "You love me anyway. I'm your bestest friend in the whole wide world."

"Shut up," he responded eloquently.

('･ω･')

"We're home," I called out.

"Welcome home!" Naruto and Papa shouted from down the hallway. I could smell delicious food from a little ways into the kitchen—curry? Kurama's nose crinkled beside me, and he brushed past me, heading directly towards my room.

There wasn't a doubt in my mind that he would be hiding out there and far away from the smug Naruto until Papa would release him of his human form.

Kushina's head popped out of the kitchen. "Good timing, Miwako-chan. Dinner's ready, everyone!"

Naruto was the first one to rush towards the kitchen, his eyes lit up. Then, seeing it was just Kushina and myself, he pouted. "Aww, the asshole isn't here."

"Be nice," I scolded him.

"But, but..."

The warning look I gave him caused him to wisely stop protesting.

('･ω･')

After dinner, I laid in my bed, burying my face in my pillow, debating if I wanted to sleep. Kurama wasn't in my room anymore (when I returned from dinner he mentioned something about staying on the roof). I didn't have long to debate, however, because Momma opened the door to my room and poked her head in. She smiled at me, and I returned the smile easily. I sat up on my bed, and Momma sat next to me. "I didn't get the chance to say it when you came home, so I wanted to..."

"Thank you," I said sincerely.

Momma leaned towards me and kissed my temple. "Welcome home, Naruko."

I buried my face in her shoulder, and wrapped my arms around her. She smelled like warm summer days—a bright, crispy scent washed over with dew and flowers—and ash. Her hands rested on my back, and she gently rubbed it. "I love you."

"I love you, too," she told me, her tone light. I looked up at her, and her eyes brightened. "You're so affectionate lately, what brought this on?"

I shook my head and buried my face back in her. "I just... it's nice to have a home, and..."

"You will always have a home, Naruko," Momma whispered. "Home is where your loved ones are, and you will always be loved."

Naruto's, Kakashi's, and Jiraiya's faces flashed through my mind, and I stiffened.

Is that true?

Is that... what defined a home?

In my first life I didn't really have a home—I loathed the hospital and what it meant for me. When my loved ones visited, there was always this heartbreaking atmosphere that drudged up all sorts of unpleasant feelings. It was oppressive and heavy, and in some cases I dreaded their visits. I didn't like feeling so horrible emotionally, like I already did physically, so it was just an overall disheartening experience.

Don't misunderstand me, though. I adored my family. I loved them, but I also hurt them. I had slowly driven my mother into a fierce grief that nothing seemed to shake her out of, and I broke my Papa's heart into tiny little pieces. Even my big sister, Lala, was distraught (though she did her best to hide it).

In this life time... well, I hadn't ever considered Konoha to be home. I loathed the village with every fiber of my being. I accepted that I would always, in some manner, hate it. I would feel disgust for the villagers, and if I could leave it without any sort of repercussion, I would.

However...

I didn't mind it so much. It didn't eat away at me like it used to. Since I had found my own inner peace—my own acceptance at the situation, it didn't gnaw at me in the back of my mind. There was only cool acknowledgement when I thought about it.

I didn't care for Konoha, certainly, but I did adore the people inside the village. Or at least a fair few of them. And I believe that at least a handful cared for me. My brother, Kakashi, and Jiraiya were the big ones. Possibly Kitsune, and maybe Sasuke, but I wasn't entirely certain.

Those trio definitely considered Konoha their home, and now that Konoha had embraced Naruto as their hero... well, there was no way Naruto would want to leave it.

If anything, he just became more motivated to stay.

It would seem I would never be rid of Konoha, and I would never leave it.

If home was a place where my loved ones were, then did that mean the place I hated was my home?

How ironic.

Momma raised her hands to my pigtails and started to untie them. "Do you mind if I brush your hair, Naruko? It seems like it's been far too long since I have."

I lifted my head, smiling shyly. "I don't mind at all."

Momma beamed at me, and I helped her undo my pigtails. When my hair dropped down freely, Momma reached towards my nightstand and grabbed a golden brush off it. I turned around, sitting up straight. Momma gently grabbed my hair, and pulled it towards her. She began to run the brush through it in long, pleasant strokes.

"Momma?"

"Mm?"

"Hypothetically... what if... what if I told you that I knew a friend who hated her home, but all of her loved ones were there?"

Momma gave a small humming sound. "Does she hate her loved ones?"

"No! She... she loves them very much."

"Then it shouldn't matter where they are. If she truly loved them, then just being with them will make her happy," Momma told me.

"What if that place was filled with... with a lot of bad memories?"

"Then she'll just have to make new ones—better ones."

"I... see."

We lapsed into a comfortable silence; Momma content with brushing my hair, and I, completely lost in thought.

So then... maybe...?

('･ω･')

The following day, Gai had returned to the village and Naruto, Papa, Momma, Kakashi, and Gai set out to retrieve the scroll. Papa offered me to join them, but I respectfully declined, citing there were things I wanted to take care of.

This was, surprisingly, true.

Even if this was a genjutsu, there were some interesting ideas that could not be ignored. For example, how Kurama was able to walk around, completely separate, from me without me dying.

It didn't take long to find the fūinjutsu notes Papa had upon that little tidbit.

"Damn," I said, whistling as I looked over them.

Kurama sat beside me, peering at them. "... Damn."

"These are convoluted," I said, staring in frustration at them, "but at an overall glance they look right. This is a very damn good genjutsu."

"This genjutsu can only draw upon what you and the caster knows," Kurama pointed out. "I know you are a natural in fūinjutsu, but your skills alone aren't enough to come up with something like this."

"So Tobi must be pretty good at fūinjutsu, too," I muttered. "Makes sense, all things considered. So this design actually works given what Tobi and I know in fūinjutsu? It looks over complicated, though."

"It's a start, however," said Kurama.

I nodded my head. "Yeah. They should be gone all day, but I'm not sure that's enough time to properly dissect this seal. Just look at it—it's even got a repression seal, meaning what's drawn on here is only the first layer! There could be hundreds of layers. I say we just memorize what we can of the seal for the day, and when we get back home we can properly analyze it. Maybe Jiraiya-sensei would have some ideas, too."

Kurama's eyes narrowed. "Do you trust that man with such a sensitive subject?"

"Maybe not at the moment, but this is going to take us a while to complete, anyway. I bet, after the war, he'll be inclined to help us. Or at least, I hope."

"Speaking of the war..."

"Yeah?"

"I have an idea on what to do with the Jūbi. Remember, on our little... vacation... as missing-nin, I had you plant seals at appropriate locations?"

"Anchor seals, yeah, so I could be at those locations in an instant."

"Well there's one more step we'll need to complete," Kurama told me, smiling maliciously. "The idea came to me while watching Naruto train in senjutsu, and after seeing this seal design, I think I have a basic idea on how to go about achieving this."

"And what idea is that?"

Kurama leaned in and whispered his plan to me, unable to keep the smug smirk off his face. When he was done, I continued to stare at him for a couple minutes before a smile lit up my face.

"Kurama," I told him in all seriousness, "you're a genius!"

Kurama sniffed. "Obviously. We should go ahead and try drawing up the basic concept of the seal and test it out while in this world. I'd rather we didn't attract unwanted attention in the real world, and in this world we have more leeway for making a mistake with it."

"You've got two hands," I told him, "and there's some sealing ink with parchment on the desk. You get started on that, and I'll get started on memorizing this."

Kurama smirked. "Consider it done."

('･ω･')

Apparently Kurama's form could only last roughly twenty-four hours. Because right when evening began to fall, Kurama made an odd noise and then disappeared in a puff of smoke—not unlike a shadow clone dispersing.

Well, that was unpleasant.

Unpleasant?

It felt like I was being squeezed through a tiny glass tube.

Sounds... definitely unpleasant.

Indeed. However, I now I have access to the both of you. Naruto and the others are returning to Konoha, they just passed the village gate.

I'll go ahead and clean up, then. Not sure how Papa would take to the fact that we, essentially, broke into his office and went through all his fūinjutsu notes. Rather not start any unnecessary conflict.

Understandable. They should be back within thirty minutes.

Do you know which design of seals you would prefer? I wasn't paying much attention to the ones you tested.

The best one I was able to draw up that worked rather well is the smaller parchment by the window. No, the other window. Yes, there. No, under that pile. There you go. Finally.

I held up the slip of paper—it was no bigger than the palm of my hand, but I recognized the repression seal drawn inside of it. How many layers?

Thirty-two.

Holy fuck. You did that in under an hour?!

More like half an hour. Keep in mind I have had well over centuries to learn fūinjutsu. I also stayed inside one of the greatest fūinjutsu masters of all times—Uzumaki Mito. Moreover, your mother was nothing to sniff at either. I would bet she was better at fūinjutsu than Jiraiya ever could be. It's hard not to pick up on these things.

That's still impressive!

I could practically feel the smug pleasure rolling off Kurama. I am an impressive person.

Clearly. Do you think this design will work for our purposes, or should we set aside some time to try and tweak it?

For our purposes it will work, but I would rather we had more time to work on it.

Okay. We can sneak out a couple nights and head off to the Forest of Death. Hardly anyone trains out there.

Very well. Were you able to memorize the layers?

Enough. I'll give you the memories, though, just in case.

How many layers?

Sixty-seven.

Hmph.

('･ω･')

I had just finished cleaning up our little mess five minutes before a giant explosion rocked the city.

It's Menma. He attacked the vault just as your moronic father sealed away the book.

I didn't waste any time in disappearing in a flash of red, before reappearing beside Naruto, once again thankful that Naruto always kept one of my anchor seals on him. The Hokage's tower was just a large crater with bits and pieces of the concrete sticking out of the ground. The night sky seemed almost oppressive in this intense atmosphere that Menma had created.

Naruto caught sight of me and gave me a grim nod. Papa and Momma immediately flickered to stand in between us and Menma.

Naruto's counterpart stepped out of the smoke, covered in a long black cloak and wearing an ANBU fox mask. His hair was a bit longer than Naruto's, and dark as a new moon. Behind him stepped nine oddly shaped puppets, each wearing an ANBU fox mask.

I vaguely wondered where the Kitsune of this world was.

"I thank you for retrieving it from within that barrier," Menma intoned. "I'll take back the Book of the Crimson Moon now."

"I won't let you," Papa snapped.

"I have no use for small fry," Menma muttered, and then the nine puppets launched themselves at us. I leapt back and away as a white tiger puppet snarled at me. Pulling out my tanto, I flickered towards it and swung down. It maneuvered out of the way and snarled at me.

Behind you!

My body barely caught up to Kurama's words before Menma himself had grabbed me. I twisted, prepared to substitute myself out of his grip, however, a third puppet moved more quickly than I. A sharp pain jabbed at the back of my head before darkness enveloped me.

('･ω･')

I blinked my eyes open blearily, and I soon found myself staring at Menma—masked—and Naruko—also masked. Naruko's black hair was pulled back into long pigtails, and she wore an entirely black kimono with an electric-blue flower pattern on it. "A-Ah, ano... you're awake?'

"I am," I said. "I don't suppose you would be willing to talk?"

"Talk?" Menma snorted, folding his arms across his chest. "There's nothing to talk about. You're our hostage. Your life in exchange for the Book of the Crimson Moon."

"There's actually quite a bit. For one thing, my brother and I do not belong here."

"What do you mean?" Naruko inquired softly.

Menma shook his head. "It doesn't matter. You are our prisoner now, so you will do as we say."

"A-Ano, Nii-chan... maybe... maybe, um, we should listen to her?" Naruko asked, fidgeting nervously.

Menma placed a comforting hand on his sister's shoulder, his entire posture softening. "Imouto..."

"Please, Nii-chan...?"

He sighed. "Alright. Speak, girl."

"You've encountered a masked man, have you not? An orange masked man, to be precise. He brought us to this world. We do not belong here, and surely you can sense a wrongness when you are near us."

Menma seemed to be sneering at me behind his mask. "An understatement. I get sick just looking at you."

I shrugged. "Understandable, given that we're counterparts. You hold the Kyūbi, just as I do. This is your world, and that man stole us from our home world and forced us here. It caused a backlash ripple effect, as two Menmas, and two Narukos couldn't be running around so willy-nilly, could they?"

They stiffened when I mentioned their names.

"That's... our names...?" Naruko trailed off. Confusion colored her tone.

"You don't have much memories before you were criminals, I am guessing," I inferred. "You don't even know who you are. That's because by bringing us into this world, we assumed your lives, temporarily."

"Then taking you out will restore it," Menma snarled.

"Yes. But you don't need to act. He can't hold his grip in this world, and when he loses it: we'll be taken out, as well," I said. "I suppose if you really wanted to end it so quickly instead of waiting, you would have to kill him."

"And what? We just take your word for this?" Menma demanded.

I shrugged. "Makes no difference if you do or don't. Like I said, we'll be kicked out of this world one way or another."

"You're the most annoying student I have ever had the displeasure of teaching."

My eyes widened as I saw a glowing blue Susano'o grab at me and yank me free. I was pulled back and far away before Menma and Naruko could even react. In seconds, I was standing before a very irritated Madara, a worried Naruto, and a slew of Akatsuki members.

"Thanks?" I offered hesitantly.

Madara's eyes narrowed. "Hokage-sama isn't able to take care of this mess personally, as the village was directly assaulted, so he needs to remain there per protocol, but he did task us with freeing you."

"Don't think you can get away with this," Menma snarled angrily, summoning up those nine puppets.

"Don't think I'll forgive you for kidnapping my sister," Naruto retorted.

"By the way," Madara drawled, "you missed training, again."

"Sorry?"

Madara smiled pleasantly at me, although there was a rather cold edge to it. "Not yet, you aren't."

Oh, dear. Why didn't I get a warning, Kurama?

I stopped paying attention to what was happening with Naruto the second it showed up.

Madara-sama is a he, not an it, I corrected.

I beg to differ.

With a snarl, Naruto launched himself at Menma, the Akatsuki following suit. Madara watched it transpire for a moment, before snorting, and shaking his head.

"You aren't going to join in?" I asked hesitantly.

Madara glowered at me. "I trained the both of you. If my students couldn't handle someone like him, I would have to kill you both myself. I am returning to the village. My only task was freeing you. You are freed. Clean up this mess that you caused by getting yourself caught."

I winced. "Yessir."

"And if you miss any more training, I will hunt you down and personally see to it that you don't do so again."

"... Yessir."

Madara then turned and headed away, leaving me with rather mixed feelings. He's a lot meaner than what I thought he would be.

FINALLY. Do you see how disgusting he is?

I think he's a grumpy pants. I really hope our plan works and he stays dead.

It better work. I refuse to give him the satisfaction of coming back to life.

Mm-hmm.

There was a quiet squeak to my left, and I turned around to face the owner of said squeak.

I stared at Naruko, and she fidgeted under my blank gaze. To my right—and her left—our brothers began their rather loud and destructive battle.

"A-Ano...! S-So, um... I-I will fight you!" Naruko declared, still shifting anxiously.

I awarded her with an unimpressed look. "I'm quivering in fear."

"R-Really! S-So... prepare yourself...!"

"Uh-huh. I'd rather not. Do you really want to fight me?"

She looked down and shuffled her feet.

"I'd rather watch our brothers fight, and then jump in if things get hairy," I said bluntly. "I know Naruto can handle himself just fine and dandy against your brother—especially with the Akatsuki helping out. Moreover, it just seems like a waste of time. I'd offer to try and reason with the two, but, well, that didn't work out so well in the first place."

Naruko sighed, her shoulders slumping in relief. "Y-Yeah... I think... I think it would be best if we saved our energies, um... just in case."

"Besides, if I were to engage in a battle with you, I would become distracted and I wouldn't be able to offer ready assistance to my brother if needed. In all honesty I would rather always be ready to help my brother, and it seems rather pointless to battle someone who isn't all that into it."

And who isn't real.

Naruko smiled tentatively. "R-Right."

('･ω･')

"Nii-chan!" Naruko screamed, leaping up into the air to catch her falling brother. I had watched the fight, completely prepared to teleport to my brother's side the instant Kurama told me he could use help, and felt a bit conflicted. While, logically, I knew it would best if I didn't interfere (as Naruko would, obviously, join in the fray and I would be forced to either focus on her or Menma, leaving Naruto alone and thus unable to immediately help him), I still disliked it.

Even if all of this, technically, wasn't real.

When Naruto had delivered that last punch to Menma, knocking him unconscious and sending him hurtling towards the sky, Naruko wasted no time in catching her brother.

I flickered towards Naruto's side as he stood unsteadily on his feet. I offered him my support, and he gladly leaned on me. The Akatsuki, after taking care of the puppets, had taken to watching everything transpire from the side lines.

"I did predict this outcome... but it seems you really did win."

Naruto and I looked over to Menma's body, while Naruko fretted over him. Tobi slowly materialized above him, startling Naruko.

"This battle did exceed my expectations, though. I never would have thought you and the Kyūbi could ink so strongly."

"All that's left is to beat you, then," Naruto said, his eyes flashing with stubborn determination.

"You are injured," I told him. "You will stay here. I will take care of this.""

"Looks like you don't understand the situation you are in," Tobi said as he slowly disappeared into Menma's body in a flash of purple light. Naruko gasped in disbelief as Menma abruptly stood up, a Sharingan whirling in his eyes.

"Release my brother!" Naruko demanded.

"Not yet," Tobi purred.

I clapped my hands together.

Let's in this quick. Full nine tails.

I could feel Kurama's grin stretching widely inside of me. A burst of golden light captured me, surrounding me entirely.

Naruto's golden form in canon came only because he unsealed Kurama. His acceptance, also, allowed Kurama's volatile chakra to level out. In combination with this unsealing, it allowed for a completely calm, controlled, and unhindered bijū chakra to encase him. Naruto did not have the time or energy to learn how to perfect the amount of chakra he could draw upon.

Anything less than nine tails worth would have resulted in an imperfect form—the form I normally took. While doing this resulted in the more... painful... form, it also allowed a more gradual adjustment to Kurama's chakra. Bijū chakra was, no matter how controlled, still dangerous to the human form. When drawing upon nine tails without having built up resistance, it considerably shortened the user's lifespan.

Naruto, however, was able to bypass this due to his sage mode, which dramatically increased his vitality, healing regeneration, and overall stamina. The senjutsu and bijū chakra, when properly mixed as Naruto had done so in canon, nulled all of the horrible side effects to using bijū chakra.

I did not know senjutsu, nor would I be able to unless I got rid of my contract with the Pack (as it was customary to only hold onto one contract at a time). Naturally, I did not want to lose the Pack, so I opted out of learning senjutsu. Instead, I took Kurama's suggestion and began to slowly build up a natural resistance to using his chakra (and so, I normally drew upon the imperfect form).

I already had a nice head start, given how I regularly drew upon his chakra, and now with him unsealed, more of his chakra would regularly flow through me.

I preferred drawing upon the more imperfect form simply because it wouldn't decrease my lifespan (anymore, thanks to the level of resistance I already obtained), and it would help me build up even more of a resistance.

That didn't mean I would restrict myself to it entirely, though. What's a few years shaved off for the insurance of my brother's safety? Not that I would lose years at this point, given my level of resistance, more like a few months, but still...

Back to what I was previously saying, however...

The golden cloak that Naruto donned upon in canon was the result of drawing upon all of Kurama's chakra at once with no restraint, completely at inner peace, and in complete control. That explained why his normally red chakra turned into a bright golden fire (it also explained why when he gave less than nine tails worth of chakra to the other shinobi, it was the standard red cloak).

It didn't explain the clothes change, though. Kurama theorized it was, in part, because of Naruto's mentality. The seal drew upon Naruto's mindscape, and Naruto's mind was often the link between Kurama and Naruto in canon. When Naruto drew upon Kurama's chakra, it could be theorized that his own imagination took a... subconscious... role and assisted with the new... look. How or why Papa had a similar design, also could not be determined, or confirmed. Perhaps because Papa had seen Naruto's look, he subconsciously believed that was how it was supposed to look and then mimicked it?

As it stood, my own design wasn't quite so similar. I had the golden fire, certainly, and the bright red eyes, obviously. However, the golden fire cloaked my entire figure in one, solid color. I didn't have the darker designs, like Naruto did. I was just wrapped up in a warm cloak like I normally was in the imperfect version (minus the tails—although I could summon the tails and hands like canon!Naruto at will).

"Whoa," Naruto whispered.

"Don't worry," I told Tobi, "this'll be over soon enough."

Tobi sneered at me through Menma's body, and before he could make a single movement, I was before him and delivering a vicious kick into Menma's chest. I held back, so my kick wouldn't go straight through him (as I didn't want to kill Menma right before Naruko's eyes... I found that idea rather disturbing), but it did send him flying back and crashing into the nearby cliff side.

I wonder if I'll actually lose a part of my life from drawing upon this form in a genjutsu.

Probably not, Kurama reasoned.

I didn't waste a second in flickering towards the battered form of Menma. His body was definitely past its limits—Tobi wouldn't be able to do much while he possessed him. Tobi struggled to force Menma to lift up his body and move, but it was too late. I had already reached the two and I snapped out my hands and grabbed one of his shoulders, deftly dislocating it before doing the same to the other.

Tobi snarled in frustration before pulling himself out of Menma's body and making a grab for me. I leapt back, resisting the urge to smirk at him.

With a practiced hand, I pulled out my tanto and twirled it in my hands. Before I could make another move and try to decapitate Tobi—or castrate him, I didn't have a preference—Papa and Momma appeared before me in a flash of golden light. Papa's long white Hokage cloak billowed behind him.

"What are you guys doing here?" Naruto exclaimed.

"You picked up Minato's kunai, you know," Momma said, not moving from her spot.

I glanced around to see Naruto pulling out one of Papa's special daggers—one that I occasionally used as an anchor seal. His eyes lit up in recognition of it.

"I don't know who you guys really are—or what you mean by when you said you came from a different world," Papa began, and I shot Naruto an incredulous look—he looked rather sheepish, "but I can't think of you guys as strangers."

Tobi scoffed. "Is this destiny? Oh, well. I'll let you keep that Kyūbi—"

I threw my tanto at Tobi, watching it soar through the air.

"—a while longer."

The tanto directly hit the hole in Tobi's mask, and he shattered.

I sighed, releasing Kurama's cloak from me and turning to face Naruto. "You told them?"

"It slipped out," Naruto confessed.

"Menma-niichan!" Naruko cried out rushing over to her brother. Her mask had fallen off, and her black hair was slowly returning to gold.

Papa and Momma's eyes widened. "Naruko?"

Naruko glanced over at them, her eyes watering. "Momma... Papa..."

The two adults wasted little time in rushing towards Naruko's side, and Momma grabbed hold of Menma, holding him in her arms.

Naruto watched the exchange with rather watery eyes before he abruptly turned away from them. I felt my own heart constrict, but it was only for a brief moment. I knew this wouldn't last—and I had prepared myself for this moment long ago. I had come to terms with how we lived our lives, and how Papa and Momma—the real ones—were long gone.

It wasn't something pleasant to think about, certainly, but it wasn't unbearable.

I moved to stand beside Naruto, my own back turned towards the reunited family. I grabbed his hand and smiled.

White light began to surround us, and I glanced down, finding that we were slowly turning transparent.

"This is goodbye," Momma whispered, glancing back at us.

Naruto bit his bottom lip for a second, and swallowed roughly. Then, he forced a smile on his face, and a cheer in his tone. "Thanks for coming to help us. Also, though we spent only a little time together, I'm really thankful. This was the first time I've had this opportunity since I was born. Thank you for the food. Thank you for worrying about me, for getting mad, and for staying alive."

I squeezed his hand and the white light took us over.

('･ω･')

I raised my hand and rubbed at my eyes. When I lowered my hand, I then looked over at Naruto. He was smiling at me. "That was... that was really something, huh?"

"It was nice," I agreed softly, smiling in return. "But... this is our home, right?"

"Right," Naruto echoed, not noticing my use of home, then his smile turned into a grin. "At least we don't have to deal with those creepy counter parts!"

I thought back to the clingy Sasame and the pervy Sasuke, and shuddered. "Yeah. But, um, you know..."

"Mn?"

"Pictures," I said quietly. "Let's... let's take lots of pictures of us and our friends. I want... I want to make a home. A real home."

Naruto's eyes widened considerably. "Here? You want to make a home here?"

I shrugged, remembering my conversation with Momma. "Home... home is where your loved ones are, yeah?"

His eyes started to shine, and he sniffled loudly. He then abruptly turned away from me and started wiping furiously at his eyes. I felt a little panicked at that, and I quickly ran around to stand in front of him, but I froze when I saw his expression.

I was astounded by the emotions pouring out from them—the emotions that his eyes brought to life. His feelings of... joy, and love, and sheer happiness... they were overwhelming. And almost... contagious. It was like, I was almost happy for him.

No. It wasn't like I was happy for him.

I was.

From the pit of my stomach, it grew. That warm, fuzzy feeling of ecstatic energy.

I was happy.

Naruto sniffled again, and I beamed at him, offering my hand to him. "Come on. Let's get something to eat."

"Y-Yeah," Naruto rasped. "And then... and then let's go home."

"Mn."

Home.