Identity Crisis

Sorry for the long wait. Long wait equals longer chapter though! Enjoy!

Special thanks to the amazing Starlight Devil who has made me a fanart of Identity Crisis! I feel so very flattered to have my very first fanart. Quite a gorgeous picture: http://starlightdevil.deviantart.com/art/Naruto-Identity-Crisis-75808065.

Identity Crisis

Chapter 5: Advice or Warning?

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto hollered, as he approached the memorial stone where Kakashi stood, staring at the names etched into the plaque. Naruto felt his heart racing as he saw that his uncle was where he had hoped he would be. He felt that if he got Kakashi to listen to him, then maybe he would be able to convince him that Sasuke’s soul was really trapped inside of him. Naruto even had proof now in the form of Sasuke’s snake summons. Dokueki was wrapped firmly around his leg muttering something about how warm he was, and Naruto couldn’t help but grin widely. The entire time that he had headed to look for Kakashi, his mind had been whirling. It Dokueki hadn't vanished when Sasuke had "died," if she was still around, then that meant that Naruto had proof that Sasuke wasn't completely gone! A summon's should vanish with the summoner's death, right?

"Naruto," Kakashi greeted. "I was just about to leave-"

"No!" Naruto half-groaned, half-yelled. "I need help. You're being a really terrible sensei and uncle by avoiding me," Naruto said harshly.

Naruto watched as hints of different emotions passed through Kakashi's visible eye. He knew what he had said to Kakashi was harsh, but he would guilt trip Kakashi as much as he felt was needed in order to get Kakashi to listen to him and finally stop moping. It worked. Kakashi didn't move.

"First of all, you gotta stop moping. This isn't like you, and if I were you and you were me you'd tell me not to mope, and that you weren't mad at me and all that," Naruto said wisely, crossing his arms defiantly in emphasis.

"Add that I don't hate him. That might help," Sasuke said, and Naruto almost jumped, once again forgetting that Sasuke was in his head. It was ironic that as much as Sasuke was on Naruto’s mind, the idea that Sasuke was in his body still caught him off guard at times.

"And Sasuke doesn't hate you," Naruto added. Kakashi looked at Naruto, his visible eye softening sorrowfully. A tenseness hung in the air as Naruto stared at Kakashi, pleading for his uncle to say something, pleading for him to stop being so unlike the Kakashi he knew.

"I don't hate you either," Dokueki hissed out. The tense atmosphere was broken immediately.

"She just makes you want to strangle her, doesn't she?" Sasuke groaned.

"I don't even know who you are," Kakashi said, and Naruto was pleased to note that Kakashi's eye seemed to have softened, and there was a slight upward crinkle to his eye, indicating a smile, even if it was small.

"This is Dokueki, Sasuke's summons' snake! She didn't disappear when Sasuke supposedly died, which means that he's still alive!" Naruto grasped Dokueki from around his body and held her up for Kakashi to look at.

"Thissss issss undignified," she grumbled at Naruto's treatment as Naruto held her up towards Kakashi. She stuck her tongue out at him and wiggled her tail, trying to swat at Naruto. "I'm getting cold," she complained as her head turned back to look longingly at Naruto. Naruto ignored her protests.

"Look! See! She's a snake summons ‘cuz she can talk and all! She was Sasuke's snake summons. She's a bit of a pervert, kinda like you come to think of it, but she can help prove that Sasuke is still alive!"

"Naruto-" Kakashi began, and Naruto had known Kakashi long enough to know the note he had taken would indicate some sort of reproach or mini-lecture.

"No, listen, please! Sasuke's still alive, and his soul is inside my body. He's not dead; at least, not completely," Naruto said, his eyes pleading, begging Kakashi to believe him.

"She did not disappear when Sasuke died?" Kakashi asked, looking quizzically at Dokueki. Naruto's face brightened. He could see the wheels working behind Kakashi's head.

"Nope! She's been helping Sasuke from the beginning," Naruto said, relieved.

"Why didn't you disappear when Sasuke died?" Kakashi asked Dokueki.

"I hate going back to my summonssss realm. I avoid it at all costssss. Sasuke must be still alive since I am still here," Dokueki said. Kakashi put his finger and thumb up to his chin, thinking.

"Interesting. So you avoid the summons’ realm?" Kakashi asked.

"Yessss."

"Who summoned you?" Kakashi asked.

"Sasuke!" Naruto interjected, annoyed, but Kakashi held up his hand.

"Who summoned you?" Kakashi repeated. Naruto turned to look down at where Dokueki was wrapped around his leg, noticing that she looked rather confused.

"What do you mean?" Dokueki said.

"Was it Sasuke or was it Orochimaru?" Kakashi asked.

"Sasuke," Dokueki said.

"I did," Sasuke confirmed.

"Hmm. Are you sure it wasn't Orochimaru and that he's still alive?" Kakashi asked.

"Of course she's sure!" Naruto said. Kakashi gave Naruto a look that silenced him.

"Naruto, I know you're desperate to have any connection that indicates that Sasuke is still alive, but you have to look at the facts. He is not alive-"

"Yes he-"

"Tsunade told me what you told her," Kakashi said. Naruto glared down at the ground. He wished that he hadn't said anything to Tsunade. He wished that he had kept his mouth shut about Sasuke living inside his body. Or at least, he wished he had thought to make it sound a bit more plausible.

Kakashi sighed, and ran a hand through his hair, ruffling it.

"Naruto, I know I have been avoiding you, and for that I am sorry. But you have to see reason. You come to me with a snake that is clearly a snake summons, a snake summons that once worked for Orochimaru-"

"He'ssss a bastard! I hated him! The cold prick!"

"-foul mouth and all, she needs to be interrogated."

Sasuke opened and closed his mouth, and Naruto put his hand up to his jaw, feeling the way that Sasuke's soul moved within his own body. Sasuke didn't bother to apologize for his sudden movement, despite the fact that it clearly had caught Naruto off guard. He hadn't thought of that possibility. Sasuke had never really thought of Dokueki as someone that could have been a possible threat to anyone, and it had never crossed his mind that a summons would be interrogated.

"Interrogated?" Dokueki asked fearfully. "With, cold, cold instrumentssss and all?"

"I have never heard of a summons that did not want to return to their respective summons' realm, and it seems a bit convenient for you to claim that you do not want to go back," Kakashi said.

"It's not like that at all!" Naruto said angrily.

"Naruto," Kakashi said sharply, and Naruto just glared at him. This wasn't what he had thought would happen. He thought it would help clear things up right away, not get Dokueki in trouble. "You have suffered a terrible, terrible loss. Grasping at any hope possible is not unusual, but taking unnecessary risks is not a good idea. Even if she was summoned by Sasuke, and even if she did not vanish with his death-"

"He didn't really die!"

"-there must be a logical explanation as to why."

"He's not dead," Naruto said, pleading with Kakashi to believe him. "Please, you have to believe me." Kakashi walked forward towards Naruto and placed his hand comfortingly on Naruto's shoulder.

"If your friend here cooperates, and we obtain some useful information, than we can go through all the possibilities of why you claim Sasuke is still alive," Kakashi said gently.

"You still don't believe me," Naruto said, accusingly.

"I want to," Kakashi said quietly. Naruto sighed. He knew that Kakashi was still upset about the fact that he thought he was responsible for Sasuke's death (well, he was responsible for destroying Sasuke’s body, yet still), but everything would be so much better if Kakashi and everyone else would just listen to him and realize that Sasuke was not dead – but very much alive.

Sasuke was restless inside of Naruto's body, wishing that he could get out. He felt so frustrated that no one believed Naruto, and not just for his own sake. It was one of those instances that it just seemed so unfair that the truth was right out in front, yet no one was willing to recognize it. It was agonizing for Sasuke to watch Naruto go through the same torment Sasuke was sure Naruto had gone through as a child, all for his sake. He hated to think how Naruto was feeling as he tried to convince people of what he said, almost like how Naruto had had to convince everyone that he was not the demon that everyone associated him with. It killed him to watch Naruto have to defend his sanity when all the clues were right there if anyone just bothered to look at them properly.

"I will take Dokueki right now to the Hokage tower, and I will be the one to personally speak with her."

"Fine. Let's go!" Naruto said slightly annoyed.

"Not with you there, Naruto," Kakashi said quietly.

"He'ssss scary! I don't wanna leave you Naruto, my love!" Dokueki said, and Naruto could tell she was really quite mortified. Kakashi looked down at Dokueki, amusement dancing in his eyes.

"You've got spunk. Don't worry. I won't make the mistake of mistreating one of my nephew's friends," Kakashi said. There was an unspoken "again" that hung in the air. Dokueki sighed, mumbling something about how she supposed it wouldn't be all that bad as she let Naruto hand her over to Kakashi. She grumbled as she wrapped herself around Kakashi's shoulder.

"I heard storiessss about you from Sasuke. You’re supposed to be powerful but lazy. But did I hear right before? I didn’t know that he'ssss your uncle Naruto," Dokueki said, looking at Naruto.

"I believe he did say I was his uncle – being a terrible uncle in fact – when he first saw me," Kakashi said.

"I wassss attached to Naruto. He'ssss too warm for me to properly pay attention to what he sayssss," Dokueki confessed.

"Hey!" Naruto said indignantly, just about ready to shove her over to Kakashi with that statement.

"You're hissss uncle, right?" Dokueki said to Kakashi.

"I think we just confirmed that," Kakashi said.

"Do you know that your nephew hassss become a man?" Dokueki said, wicked amusement laced in her voice.

"Wh-what?!" Naruto all but choked out. Dokueki glared at Naruto.

"You gave me up without a fight! I'm letting everything I know spill!" Dokueki hissed.

"If I had hands, I would strangle her," Sasuke said.

"Why you little-" Naruto said, as he himself reached out his hands towards Dokueki. Kakashi stepped back out from Naruto's reach even more amused than before.

"I could tell there was something spunky about you," Kakashi said, looking at Dokueki. Dokueki turned her head from Naruto to look up at Kakashi.

"I thought you were afraid of him. What happened? And Kakashi-sensei, don't listen to everything she says," Naruto said, his face crimson red in embarrassment at the types of things that Dokueki could tell Kakashi. His sensei. His uncle. Oh...how embarrassing! Kakashi gave a little wave, and a little grin as he vanished from sight with a little "poof" of smoke.

"The first thing I am going to do when I get a body back, is strangle her," Sasuke hissed. Naruto sighed, and rubbed his hands over his face.

"At least he's not pouting," Naruto said.

"I'd rather he pout than hear all that she has to tell him."

- - - - - - - - - - - -

"What do you think she's saying to him?" Naruto asked, running his fingers through his hair. If Sasuke thought Naruto wouldn't complain about him doing so, Sasuke would merely have shrugged his shoulders for a response.

"Something perverted about our relationship," Sasuke said. Naruto could merely nod. He had headed back to his apartment, looking up at his ceiling, wondering at the bizarre day he had had. Going over to see Sakura had produced an unexpected friend...or whatever Naruto considered Dokueki...and then said friend had ended up being carted off by Kakashi for interrogation. However, with the way that Dokueki had gone so giddily with Kakashi gave Naruto a very, very bad feeling.

While Naruto thought about all the different types of things that Dokueki could (and probably would) say that would make it quite clear to Kakashi the depth of the two males' relationship, Sasuke was pondering on how to broach the subject with Naruto about not finding another body.

Losing his body had been a deeper blow to Sasuke than he had realized. He had (almost) been willing to give up his body in order to pursue his dream of avenging his clan by killing Itachi, but now that he had no body, Sasuke wasn't sure he wanted another one. Having another's body seemed disgusting and vile to Sasuke. His body had been powerful, intact with a blood limit line no less. How would he find another body that he would be able to use without frustrating himself? It wasn't as though there were any more Uchihas left that he could take over their bodies, not that he would want to steal one from a family member...

And yet...

Without having a body of his own, and only able to "use" Naruto's body at night with very restricted limits of where he could go and what he could do, Sasuke had had a lot of time to think. While Sasuke had always wanted to kill Itachi, he had been somewhat distracted while in Sound with the idea of obtaining the mangekyou
sharingan through "killing" Naruto to think through a lot of things properly. Sasuke hadn't dwelt on the pain that he had felt, the hatred, the utter darkness that seemed to consume him at the thought of his brother. Instead he had focused on training and thinking about Naruto. Naruto had been his light while he was in Sound, and Sasuke was sure that if he and Naruto hadn't developed the relationship the way they had that things would have turned out quite differently.

However, now that Itachi was dead, and Sasuke had very little to do save think, a lot of things became clear to him that he was sure he would have thought of much sooner if Itachi really had been the only thing on his mind.

Sasuke had figured out why Itachi had wanted to kill his family. Itachi had been involved in an incestuous relationship with their cousin, but the real question that Sasuke hadn't asked himself before was how had Itachi managed to kill the entire clan all on his own?

It was something that had bothered him. Something that he couldn't get out of his head. He knew his brother was insanely powerful, but one Uchiha with a newly awakened mangekyou sharingan versus and entire and elite ANBU squad of fellow sharingan users? Something about it seemed off.

Sasuke was sure that Itachi's biggest opponent would have been their own father if Itachi hadn’t had the advantage of being his father’s prized child for so long. Itachi had had some sway of their father, even if it had dwindled towards the end of his father's life. Who would expect their own son to murder their father and mother? Not many. But to murder an entire clan on all one’s own…?

"...probably drawing out the details on things she didn't even see..." Naruto grumbled, and Sasuke's musings were brought back to Naruto as he could hear Naruto flinging something up and down, the whizzing sound as it twirled and then caught in Naruto's grasp.

Naruto twirled a kunai in his hand, wondering what types of things Dokueki would say, wondering if it would get him in trouble in some way. Naruto knew that Kakashi had been somewhat supportive of his and Sasuke's "relationship" before Sasuke had left for Sound, but Naruto didn't know what everyone else would think. How would Tsunade-baa-chan react when she learned about his and Sasuke's relationship? Would she think he had an even bigger reason for him to be insane?

Sakura. What would Sakura think to learn that Naruto had been. – well, technically still was – romantically involved with Sasuke? Sai. Heh. Sai wouldn't care, Naruto mused to himself. The worst from him would probably be a comment about the size of dicks and stuff. Captain Yamato...Naruto wasn't sure what he would think, but he seemed pretty laid back about things like that.

Naruto's family. Naruto groaned. He wasn't quite sure what his family would think if they learned that he liked guys. He had a feeling with the way they talked about him – or indirectly talked about him – becoming the next daimyo, they would want him to reproduce in order to continue on the family line or something like that. Naruto had never had the need to try and impress a family before, or fit in with family ties, and Naruto really didn't want to disappoint his new found family if they were homophobic. Not that he didn't like girls. Breasts were nice and all, and he had even liked Sakura for a long time.

The real issue was that he still loved Sasuke.

Naruto ran a hand through his hair, dwelling on that last thought. When Sasuke and he last has sex, he had been sure of Sasuke's feelings for him. But their situation had changed quite dramatically since then. He was fairly certain that Sasuke loved him, but how would that work out right now? Naruto shook his head, deciding not to dwell on that. He would find Sasuke a new body. But…would he be able to look at Sasuke in his new body as Sasuke?

And that haunting dream of the Yondaime – of his father – telling him what he was doing was wrong still rubbed him the wrong way.

"AAAARGH!" Naruto yelled, throwing the kunai so hard that it stuck in the ceiling. There was so much going on in his life; the death of Sasuke's body; Sasuke's soul's inhabitance in his body; the duties he was encountering with his family; a weird dream that left him puzzled and slightly disturbed; friends and loved ones who didn't believe him when he tried to tell them Sasuke was still partially alive; weird transformations of his body after every time he slept. It was all so damned annoying, and he felt that he had no control over any of it.

"Frustrated?" Sasuke asked, and Naruto was grateful to hear that Sasuke didn't sound amused, but rather more concerned than anything else.

"Yes," Naruto grunted. Naruto rubbed his eyes and laid back on his bed, feeling drained. He felt more and more tired as this whole mess dragged on. His body felt sluggish. "I feel really exhausted," Naruto said.

"I wonder if the fact that I take over your body when you sleep is beginning to wear out your body," Sasuke mused aloud. He had wondered for some time if the fact that Naruto's body going through strange and unexplainable transformation was taking a physical toll on Naruto's body. He didn't realize that Naruto felt tired though. For Naruto to say that he was tired was something big. Naruto was usually very proud of the fact that he pushed himself harder and harder, never giving up, never complaining about things being too hard or too tiring. Sasuke smiled, remembering the way that he and Naruto had trained so hard in order to learn how to properly concentrate chakra to their feet during the tree climbing exercise.

It seemed like so long ago that they were placed on Team 7, and that they were told that they would have to work together. Sasuke and Naruto had come a long way: that was for sure.

"What are you grinning about?" Naruto asked, feeling Sasuke's soul-self grinning over his features.

"Just remembering how competitive we were back when we first started training together," Sasuke mused. Naruto smirked.

"We were? I thought we still are competitive with each other," Naruto said, grinning widely. Sasuke's smile vanished.

"It's a little more difficult for me now," Sasuke said quietly. Sighing, Naruto rolled his eyes.

"You're so negative. We'll figure things out. Once someone actually listens to me, I'm sure baa-chan or Kakashi-sensei or Sakura-chan will find a way to get you a new body," Naruto said confidently.

"What if I don't want to leave?" Sasuke murmured.

"Don't want to leave? I hope you don't want to leave Konoha again," Naruto said, his voice raising at the idea that Sasuke would want to leave. Sasuke shook his head, and Naruto groaned as he felt Sasuke's head moving overtop of his features.

"I mean, what if I don't want to leave your body?" Sasuke asked. Naruto's eyes widened.

"What? Why not?" Naruto asked, incredulous.

"What if I want to stay in your body with you?" Sasuke asked.

"Well that's just stupid. You can't do that," Naruto said. It was at times like these that Naruto wished he could see Sasuke's face. He could feel Sasuke's body tense ever so slightly, but he wished he could see the look on Sasuke’s face. Sasuke might be good at hiding his emotions from other's, yet Naruto was sure he would have been able to read Sasuke's facial expression. Right now, Naruto was sure Sasuke wasn't happy about something.

"Why can't I?" Sasuke asked defiantly.

"This is my body," Naruto said.

"Why can't it be our body?"

"What the hell are you talking about? Can you hear yourself? Our body? Why don't you want your own body?" Naruto demanded.

"I like yours just fine. I won't get my real body back, so why go into a lesser body?" Sasuke asked.

"You can't be serious. I control my body," Naruto said, beginning to get angry.

"But when you sleep, I control your body," Sasuke pointed out. Naruto went rigid.

"You sound like what Shukaku did to Gaara."

"Are you accusing me of being a demon inside of you Naruto?" Sasuke accused icily.

"No!" Naruto said. "Damnit Sasuke, what's gotten into you? Why don't you want your own body?"

"I like being in your body."

"But I can't really touch you when you're in my body. I can't really feel you, and I know you can't feel me at all," Naruto murmured. Naruto and Sasuke didn't talk for a few minutes, Naruto looking up at his ceiling, wondering what Sasuke was thinking. Stay in his body? Why? It didn't make sense to Naruto.

"You won't ever be able to get rid of me if I stay in your body. You could get rid of me if I was in another body," Sasuke finally said. Naruto didn't respond.

Sasuke's words scared Naruto. To Naruto, Sasuke was beginning to voice more and more of Naruto's own fears. He liked the fact that Sasuke wouldn't ever be able to leave him again if he was stuck in his body. But that was what worried Naruto. It felt like what Sasuke was saying was more like something that he, Naruto, would say. And Naruto's own thoughts seemed more and more like Sasuke's.

It was like they were merging into one person, and it frightened Naruto to think that he might lose himself. It frightened him even more that Sasuke might lose himself to Naruto.

"I think we're becoming too much like each other," Naruto finally said.

"That's not a bad thing," Sasuke insisted.

"It doesn't bother you that we're slowly becoming more and more like each other?" Naruto asked.

"'Course not. Means you're getting smarter," Sasuke said, smirking.

"Asshole. Maybe you're getting dumber," Naruto snapped.

"Are you implying you think you're dumb?" Sasuke asked, amused. Naruto opened and closed his mouth, unable to come up with a coherent comeback for Sasuke’s question. Instead, he settled for relying on insults.

"Jerk."

"Idiot."

"Prick."

"Bastard."

"Dobe."

"Sexy."

"..."

Naruto grinned to himself. "I win," Naruto said as he put his hands behind his head his grin getting wider and wider until-

THWACK.

"OWWW! You bastard!" Naruto yelled, clutching at his abused nose where Sasuke had punched himself hard in order for Naruto to feel it too. "Doesn't that hurt you when you do that kind of shit? Geeze!" Naruto asked, rubbing his nose. Sasuke's wince was enough to confirm Naruto's question.

"Maybe I am getting dumber," Sasuke mused. Naruto put his hands up to his nose, touching in gingerly. If that had been a real hit, it would have probably broken his nose. He half hoped it had broken Sasuke's spiritual nose.

"I'm going to go find Kakashi, see if he's gotten anything out of Dokueki. We need to get you out of my body, and fast. I don't think I would have even done something that stupid," Naruto said as he jumped out of bed, dashed out his door, and went off to find Kakashi.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

"What do you mean we can't see Kakashi-sensei right now?" Naruto asked Iruka-sensei angrily. Iruka sat behind the desk of the Hokage tower, working as usual on his weekends when he had off from the Academy.

"By we, I think you mean to say "I." And what I mean by you can't see Kakashi-sensei, I mean that he's busy at the moment and not to be disrupted," Iruka said calmly. Naruto crossed his arms and sighed. He hadn't seen Iruka-sensei in a while. He felt kind of bad. Of everyone, Iruka was the first to really care for him. Even so, he was frustrated that Iruka-sensei wasn’t cooperating.

Naruto looked down at the floor debating with himself on what to say to Iruka-sensei. He could feel his old teacher's eyes on him, and Naruto didn't want to look up to see the same pitying look in his eyes that most everyone else had been giving him when they had thought he was grieving for Sasuke's death.

Sighing, Naruto scratched the back of his arm before looking up at Iruka-sensei, deciding that he needed to try and get someone to believe him that Sasuke was alive. (He wasn't sure Dokueki really counted in terms of helpfulness.)

"Ne, Iruka-sensei," Naruto said, using a voice that he didn't have to pretend to be happy and chipper. Iruka-sensei knew how to see through his false cheeriness anyway.

"Yes Naruto?" Iruka asked quietly, leaning forward in his chair, and placing his chin on his propped up elbows.

"Did...did Tsunade-baa-chan tell you she thought I was going crazy?" Naruto asked. Iruka looked down at his hands, and Naruto frowned. Iruka's silence was answer enough.

"Not in so many words, but she told me she was concerned. She said you've been hearing Sasuke's voice sometimes," Iruka explained calmly, in that caring teacher sort of way.

"He really isn't dead. Not really. His soul is inside me, and I can hear him talk to me sometimes," Naruto said.

"Tell him the very first day of class when I entered, he told me he was impressed with the way I positioned my grip on the kunai," Sasuke said suddenly. Naruto almost rolled his eyes. If Sasuke had only offered information like this before! Naruto repeated what Sasuke had said, telling Iruka that Sasuke had just told him.

Iruka's eyes widened ever so slightly.

"I did tell him that. But are you sure you're not just remembering things he told you?" Iruka asked. Naruto closed his eyes and clenched his fist. He didn't want to get mad, especially not at Iruka.

"Tell him..." Sasuke rattled off a long complicated formula for avoiding detection at a specific altitude in winds up to 30mph on a cloudy day with a temperature of 8.3 degree Celsius or 47 degrees Fahrenheit. Naruto had to hold up his hand when Iruka began to talk again so he could listen to what Sasuke was saying.

"Er...can you repeat that slower?" Naruto asked.

"I didn't say anything," Iruka said, looking confused and slightly concerned at Naruto's behavior.

"Sasuke's trying to prove that he's a genius, and I'm an idiot. He's saying this long complicated thing that he knows you would know I would never know in order to prove that he's in here with me," Naruto explained. Iruka raised his eyebrow in surprise, but waited as Sasuke slowly told Naruto the answer again, Naruto repeating it to Iruka in spurts.

Iruka's eyes widened as Naruto finished explaining the problem.

"If a kunai weighing .75kg hits another trajectory of the same mass going at..." Iruka began rattling off a problem that had Naruto's eyes glazing over.

"3.2 meters per second," Sasuke answered.

"3.2 meters per second," Naruto replied back automatically. Iruka's eyes widened.

"Oh my..." Iruka trailed off, slowly sitting back in his chair. "No offense Naruto, but I don't think I've ever had you correctly answer an elastic physics question, let alone produce a correct answer in your head," Iruka stated. Naruto slowly smiled, ignoring the slightly under-handed insult.

"So...you believe me?" Naruto asked happily. Iruka slowly nodded.

"YATTA!" Naruto yelled happily, launching himself over the table, and embracing Iruka in a huge hug. Well, he would have if Sasuke hadn't said;

"Don't make a fool or yourself, dobe."

"Listen, Naruto," Iruka began, looking at Naruto very seriously. "I do believe you, but you have to understand that what you're saying is a bit strange. You will have to wait for Kakashi to finish with the investigation he's conducting with your little friend," Iruka paused, looking kind of puzzled about the fact that Naruto had made friends with a snake. "More proof is necessary. The more we know, the better it will be to help you out," Iruka said, smiling. "Come back tomorrow. I believe they will need to keep Dokueki over night."

"Why keep her over night when-" Sasuke began, but Iruka (unknowingly) cut him off.

"I will see you tomorrow, then?" Iruka asked.

"Yep! Thanks Iruka-sensei! Ja matta!" Naruto yelled, waving at Iruka, a bounce in his step as he left the building.

Iruka's smile faded as he watched Naruto go.

"I told you he's adamant that Sasuke's alive," Kakashi said as he seemed to appear out of no where by Iruka. Iruka grit his teeth together and glared at Kakashi.

"Naruto's your nephew, and yet you don't believe him. I think you need to speak to your nephew before you go about making it seem like you know everything," Iruka snapped before turning and walking out of the room.

Kakashi raised his eyebrow, looking after Iruka. It wasn't the first time that the two of them had argued about Naruto. Kakashi clearly remembered the time that Iruka had tried telling him that Naruto was not ready to enter the Chuunin exams, and Kakashi had pushed for Naruto – and Sasuke and Sakura for that matter – to enter. Kakashi was sure that Iruka was just being over-protective.

"He'ssss probably just jealoussss," Dokueki said knowingly, popping her head out from underneath Kakashi's vest.

"Jealous? What do you mean?" Kakashi asked.

"Naruto'ssss your nephew but he caressss for Naruto like a father would. You have taken the closest position as a father figure for sweet, warm, Naruto. He’ssss jealoussss that you’re Naruto’ssss uncle and he’ssss not," Dokueki said.

"Sasuke did tell you quite a lot about everyone. And you kind of creep me out with how much you seem to fancy my nephew," Kakashi said airily. "Mah. I suppose it’s okay. Just don't bite him or anything."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Dokueki hissed innocently. "Now about that Icha-Icha seriessss you were telling me about..."

"Great series. But you still have some hours of interrogation left," Kakashi said, amused. Dokueki hissed angrily.

"Kakashi-san, I thought you were cool like Naruto. I'm tired. Let me go," Dokueki whined.

"No. I need to ask your more questions."

"I told you. Sasuke issss alive."

"And I told you, I think you're not telling me everything."

"Sasuke likessss to bang Naru-"

"Not that!" Kakashi grabbed Dokueki's snout, cutting her off before she continued. "You're quite the pervert."

"Takessss one to know one."

"If you give me more information, I will lend you my Icha-Icha series," Kakashi said in an attempt to bribe Dokueki. Her eyes widened delightedly. Kakashi smiled behind his mask. One of the most effective interrogation techniques, when possible, was to befriend the subject in order to gain their trust. Using the Icha-Icha series as a way to get Dokueki to tell him information had been most useful so far. Kakashi was waiting to see her reaction when she realized the great series he was talking about really wasn’t a limited edition, and that she could get it anywhere, not just from him.

Oh how Kakashi enjoyed being sneaky when he could.

"Let'ssss talk," Dokueki hissed excitedly, oblivious that Kakashi was using her perverseness to get information out of her.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Sasuke felt his body shift as Naruto fell asleep and his soul "took over" Naruto's body. It was a strange sensation, to see the least, when he was in Naruto's body and had control. Sasuke knew that Naruto's body was going through major issues since it was transforming and housing several entities. He knew that Naruto's body probably needed rest, but Sasuke was restless. He got out of Naruto's bed and began to walk around Naruto's apartment. The transformations that Naruto went through as he slept wouldn't start for a little while, and Sasuke enjoyed the feel of Naruto's body pre-changing into part-Kyuubi part-himself and staying part-Naruto. Naruto's body always seemed to be full of energy, and Sasuke finally understood why Naruto never seemed to want to sit still.

Walking around Naruto's apartment aimlessly, Sasuke began to go through Naruto's drawers and cabinets in search of food, something he had yet to do, but felt was necessary now since he was hungry. Or Naruto was hungry. They were hungry, Sasuke finally decided on. Sometimes it was hard for Sasuke to figure if he should differentiate between Naruto and himself. However it worked out, the body he was in was hungry, and Sasuke wasn't going to wait for Naruto to wake up to eat. Sasuke searched through the cabinets, looking for something edible other than ramen, a task he found extremely hard. It was disconcerting to see the endless rows of ramen. Sure Sasuke knew Naruto liked ramen, but he was slightly appalled at the fact that Naruto had nothing else in his house to eat.

Tapping his fingers, Sasuke thought about what to do. He really didn’t want ramen. Yet Sasuke was hungry now, and he sure wasn't going to wait for Naruto to wake up to eat. Shrugging his shoulders, Sasuke decided that as long as it was dark out, and as long as he did it early enough, there really shouldn't be any harm in going out to the village to get some decent food.

Sasuke looked through Naruto's dresser drawers, looking for clothes to change out of pajamas. Smirking to himself, Sasuke found the outfit that Naruto had worn when he had seen Naruto on his sixteenth birthday. Feeling mischievous, Sasuke put on the formfitting, black turtleneck, the black pants, and the long black overcoat with an orange flame pattern on the bottom that looked similar to the fourth Hokage's cloak – Naruto's own father. Sasuke particularly liked the jacket. One thing that Sasuke had always been proud to wear was his clan's fan symbol. Sasuke felt that Naruto ought to dress more like his father had, more like his family probably would like him to.

The idea of Naruto as Hokage and daimyo amused Sasuke greatly. He could see Naruto pulling off being Hokage, but being daimyo – while Sasuke was sure Naruto could do it – would probably bore Naruto. Being both Hokage and daimyo would be plausible since Naruto would have high positions both in the ninja and non-ninja communities.

Looking at Naruto's appearance in the full length mirror on the back of Naruto's bathroom door, Sasuke realized Naruto still didn't look exactly like he had when Sasuke had met him.

"Glasses," Sasuke murmured to himself. He had meant to ask Naruto why he needed glasses, and more importantly, why he didn't wear them. Sasuke searched Naruto's bedside stand, finding the glasses. As he looked down at the glasses, Sasuke frowned. He didn't feel that Naruto needed glasses. In actuality, he felt that Naruto had good eyesight. Even so, Sasuke put the glasses on.

The change in clarity was immediate. Sasuke was taken aback at how clear everything had become with simply putting the glasses on. The difference made Sasuke wonder if perhaps he had needed glasses. As he turned to look at Naruto's new appearance back in the mirror, and the gentle style of glasses that Naruto had chosen, Sasuke mused his body would have looked good in glasses, as long as it wasn't those huge glasses like what Kabuto wore, or like the thick rimmed glasses that Orochimaru's one subordinate, Karin, liked to wear.

Sasuke shook his head. He hadn't thought about Karin or the other people of Sound in some time. She had liked him, and it had bothered Sasuke a lot. There had been one occasion that he had been very close to telling the female shinobi that he was gay, but he had a feeling she was a closet yaoi fan, and thus it wouldn't have made much difference in her fangirlishness.

Shaking his head, Sasuke decided he better head out to get food quickly before Naruto's body began to change.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

It was amazing to see the amount of once-overs Sasuke received as he walked down the streets of Konoha in the outfit he had chosen for Naruto. Sasuke wondered why Naruto didn’t wear this outfit more, wondering why he wore that orange jumpsuit. Not that it was hideous, but it was not very fashionable in Sasuke’s opinion. Clearly Naruto wasn’t one that thought that he needed to worry about his looks, but Sasuke knew that appearances were more important than merely looking good.

The way one looked, the way one held oneself, was a good determiner of character and of actions. Sasuke wondered if Naruto understood that if he was to become Hokage and daimyo, he would have to be more conscious about what he wore. Smirking to himself, a smirk that if he had been passing by a reflective surface would have looked rather odd on Naruto’s features, Sasuke decided he would be a good advisor to Naruto. It was another thing to add to the list of reasons why Sasuke should stay in Naruto’s body.

Sasuke passed by a group of girls staring at him and giggling. Their dresses left little to the imagination and they waved at him suggestively. Sasuke walked by them coldly.

"He looks so cool! I heard he was the daimyo’s grandson or something like that, and a ninja no less. "

"Why haven’t we tried to go after him before?"

"He’s cute!"

"I’d love to have his ninja babies!"

Sasuke gritted his teeth, listening to the girl’s chatter. Ninja babies? Did they not care that he could hear him? It was unnerving to hear the types of comments that were directed at him, well, more so at Naruto.

Naruto seemed to get a lot more attention dressed like this, and Sasuke quickly realized why Naruto decided to dress down. Sasuke walked on, ignoring the girls as they called out for him to stop and talk to them as he headed to the grocery store in order to get some food.

Little did Sasuke know that going out like he had all of the troubles he would cause for Naruto.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

"You must be careful of your choices. Weigh your options. The better idea is there! What you were thinking about before really wasn't a good idea."

Naruto looked about him, trying to find where the voice was coming from. It was the voice from his dream the night before...

With that thought, Naruto realized he was dreaming again, and that the voice was the voice he had given to his father's dream self. Once again his father was giving him advice – or a warning.

"It is a warning. Advice is a suggestion. This is a command – if I had the ability to enforce it of course," Yondaime's soothing voice answered dream Naruto's unasked question.

"I still don't get what you're talking about. More details!"

Yondaime scratched his head as though thinking about how to explain what he was talking about better. Naruto would have been satisfied just to get a damned explanation.

"Sasuke's right," Yondaime said finally. Naruto's eye twitched.

"Why is Sasuke right and I am wrong, and about what?" Naruto asked, grumbling. Yondaime didn't answer, but just smiled again sadly.

"You know," Yondaime said cryptically. Naruto nearly rolled his eyes.

"Obviously I don't or else I wouldn't have to ask!" Naruto shouted. Yondaime's face darkened at Naruto's words, and Naruto suddenly found his chest feeling tight. His father looked disappointed. It wasn't a good feeling to have his father, dream father or not, looking at him so disappointed.

"I'm not disappointed in you. Just disappointed in the lack of communication," Yondaime said sadly as his figure began to dissolve.

"Wait!" Naruto yelled uselessly, his arm outstretching towards his father as his dream began to fade around him.

Naruto felt like his body jerked forward as he reached out for his father, only to find himself suddenly wide-awake and reaching out and stumbling forward. Quickly catching his balance, Naruto expected to find himself in his apartment bedroom with his usual bout of changes.

Instead, Naruto found himself in Konoha's 24-hour indoor market with a shopping cart filled with food he would never have chosen for himself.

"What the hell?" Naruto asked, wondering if he had been sleepwalking. The few people who were doing their shopping so late looked at him like he was crazy before going about their business.

"Damn. You woke up," Sasuke's voice rang out.

"Sasuke! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING TAKING MY BODY OUT AT NIGHT?!" Naruto yelled at the top of his lungs. The few people turned their heads to look back at him. A few of them hurried to the cashier to get out as quickly as possible. Naruto laughed slightly and waved, feeling rather sheepish as he realized that only he could hear Sasuke's voice.

"You're so loud," Sasuke said.

"You're so fucking dead when we get home," Naruto muttered under his breath. He was livid. It was not a pleasant experience for him to wake up after dreaming about his father to find out that Sasuke decided he wanted to go out shopping in his body.

"I'm already dead," Sasuke bit back, rolling his eyes.

"The hell you are. Even if you're body is, doesn't mean I'm going to let that stop me from finding you another body to bring you back fully," Naruto said. "It's creepy to know that you used my body to go shopping."

"I was hungry," Sasuke hissed.

"I have ramen."

"Only ramen."

"What's wrong with that?"

"You need to eat more types of food."

"Sir," a man from nearby Naruto said. Naruto turned to look at him and read the nametag off of the badge that read ISHIDA in big bold letters. "Please take the conversation with the voices in your head outside of the store. You're scaring the customers."

"There's only one voice, and he's an ass," Naruto grumbled to the man before heading to the cashier. Without thinking, Naruto bought all of the groceries that Sasuke had selected. "Stupid guy. Voices. There's only one. And what kind of a name is Ishida anyway? Sounds like a wussy name," Naruto muttered. "And Sasuke, you're an ass. If you take my body out again without my permission, I'll make sure to get you a new body and the first thing I'll do is kick your ass."

"You wish dobe."

"Bastard."

"Usurokatonkachi."

"Why the hell am I dressed in this?" Naruto asked, suddenly looking down at his outfit.

"Your jumpsuit is hideous."

"It is not! You just have no fashion sense."


Next Chapter: Wife or Life Mate?


Yes, I know it’s been months. I’m sorry! I’ve had lots going on, BUT the point is, that I updated. You’re all happy, right? Right? -_-"

I couldn’t resist that Ishida comment at the end there. For those of you who don’t know, in the series Bleach, the Japanese voice actor who does Sasuke in Naruto, also does the character named Ishida in Bleach.

Leave a way for me to contact you if you want me to let you know when updates occur.

Reviews greatly appreciated. - Jelp