Identity Crisis

I know, I know. I’m so sorry again about the late update! Once I finally did sit down to write this it came really easily. But just in case you don’t remember what’s going on, here is a recap:

Recap: Sasuke’s soul is trapped in Naruto’s body. Naruto wants to find a way to get Sasuke a new body, but Sasuke’s not so agreeable about the idea. It doesn’t help that people don’t believe Naruto, though he is finally starting to win a few people over. However, Naruto’s long last family still doesn’t know about Naruto’s houseguests – Sasuke or Kyuubi – but they are expecting quite a bit of him. Sleeping also hasn’t been too easy for Naruto. He keeps dreaming about his father giving him a cryptic warning, but he can’t figure out what it means. Naruto’s got a lot on his plate, and it doesn’t help that Sasuke takes control of his body when he sleeps. Sasuke’s too restless. A restless Sasuke is never a good thing, and he even went shopping in order to pass the time, unknowingly complicating Naruto’s life a whole lot more than was necessary. Now females have been seeking out Naruto at his grandmother and great-grandparents’ home in pursuit of a romantic relationship with him. On the bright side, a few more people are starting to believe that Sasuke is actually inside of his body, and he has a meeting with Tsunade to try and convince her a second time that he’s not crazy...


Identity Crisis

Chapter 7: Keeping Secrets or Telling Them?

"Hurry up brat, I haven't got all day," Tsunade said as Naruto stood in the middle of the doorway waiting to come in.

"I'm here," Naruto grumbled, but quickened his pace anyway. He had hesitated for a moment before he had entered the Hokage office because Sasuke had gone still. There was a peculiar expression on his face, but as Naruto could only feel and not see Sasuke's facial expression, he was having a hard time discerning what the heck had gotten Sasuke to shift moods so suddenly. He had stopped in order to try and figure out what face Sasuke had made, only for Tsunade to rush him in.

Tsunade sat in (more like flopped into) her seat behind the Hokage's desk. She propped her elbows up and rested her chin on her fingers with freshly red painted nails.

Naruto, as usual per shinobi, stood in front of her desk at attention, wanting to speak, but feeling somehow uneasy with the fact that Sasuke was being so still and silent.

A small part of him wondered if Sasuke was still slightly traumatized with his great-grandfather's overly detailed explanation about sex, but he had a feeling that wasn't it. Sasuke should have been feeling more eager about the situation, more willing to help convince Tsunade that Sasuke was residing in Naruto's body so they could figure out a way to get Sasuke his body back.

"First, and foremost," Tsunade began, her golden eyes gleaming at Naruto, "What the hell are these?" she demanded icily, nudging at a stack of papers on her desk. Naruto had to do a double take, taken aback by what she was talking about. His gut reaction was to say, “how the hell should I know? It's on your desk!” but he actually took the time to examine what Tsunade had pointed at.

"Umm," Naruto hesitated, not sure what they were until he saw the heading "Formal Application Form For One Date With Uzumaki Naruto" splashed across the top. Attached to most of them were pictures of girls that Naruto was sure that he had never seen before in his life. Naruto groaned. "That's my great-grandmother's doing," Naruto whined.

"Well why the hell are they being sent here?" Tsunade demanded angrily.

Sasuke's laughter made it hard for Naruto to think of an answer, and he almost growled because he was sure that Sasuke would have a better idea than he would if the bastard would just speak up.

"I don't know," Naruto mumbled.

"They want to have your ninja babies," Sasuke finally said, smirking.

"Bastard," Naruto hissed. Then again, maybe he should stay quiet.

"Excuse me?" Tsunade thundered. Naruto put up his hands defensively.

"No – no! Not you. Uh, remember, Sasuke's in my head, er, body and he talks to me and I called him a bastard because, he's, well, being one," Naruto said as Tsunade looked murderous.

"Smooth," Sasuke said, his smirk growing.

"Right...Sasuke," Tsunade said, her murderous look fading until she looked at Naruto concerned.

"You've talked to Dokueki and Kakashi-sensei, and they believe Sasuke’s residing in my body. And Iruka-sensei believes me too," Naruto said in a rush.

Tsunade looked at Naruto before looking down at her desk with the stacks of forms on it.

"Sasuke...talks to you?" Tsunade asked. Naruto felt the tension in his shoulders leave, not having realized he had been so tense before.

"Yes."

"Then let me talk to him."

"Fine. Just talk, he hears you. He can't see you, but he can hear you," Naruto said, feeling even more and more relaxed.

"Uchiha," Tsunade said, her tone changing completely, "Why did you abandon Konoha over three years ago?" Naruto tensed, not liking the first question out of Tsunade's mouth, but waited for Sasuke’s answer anyway.

And waited.

Sasuke didn't speak.

"Sasuke, say something," Naruto muttered angrily.

Still, Sasuke didn't say anything. Naruto started to feel panicked. Not only was Sasuke not speaking, but Naruto couldn't feel Sasuke moving at all.

"He's not talking?" Tsunade asked. It was clear to Naruto that her tone indicated that she thought Sasuke wasn't speaking because Sasuke wasn't really there.

"Just...just ask another question. I mean, that was kinda harsh of you Baa-chan to start off with something that won't make him want to talk."

"So are you saying that Sasuke is hiding behind you and not answering my question, or he's not really there to answer my questions?"

"He's...he's not talking to me right now. And he's not moving. Usually I can feel him move, in a way. It sort of feels like I can feel his movements over top of my own. He's being still and quiet. There's not even a little fidget," Naruto admitted finally.

Part of Naruto was really starting to panic now. What if something had happened to Sasuke? What if he had truly disappeared? Why wasn't he responding?

But the other part of Naruto was beginning to get furious. Sasuke hadn't wanted to get a new body. He had wanted to share Naruto's. Part of Naruto realized that Sasuke was being quiet on purpose so that it would make it seem like he wasn't really there.

"I think the bastard is doing this on purpose," Naruto growled out. Tsunade looked at Naruto, a little surprised. Naruto smirked. Tsunade's eyes widened even more. "He doesn't want out of my body. He wants to share it for some stupid, messed up reason. He's trying to make it look like I'm insane. And even if Sasuke's being a prick about it, I'm sure Kakashi and Dokueki will figure something out to convince you – or Sasuke – otherwise. But believe me, I’m telling the truth!"

Naruto turned, feeling furious at Sasuke when Tsunade called him back. Sasuke was keeping his emotions in check, and Naruto could feel no sign of movement or any detection that Sasuke was there.

"What makes you think we're done here?" Tsunade asked as she rested her chin upon her folded hands held propped up by her elbows.

"It's obvious to me that Sasuke's not going to speak to you or even me right now. So what's the point?" Naruto asked bitterly, feeling betrayed.

"You truly believe that Sasuke resides in your body," Tsunade stated, more than asked. Naruto answered her anyway.

"Yes."

"Uchiha Sasuke," Tsunade said, raising her voice slightly. "If Naruto is telling the truth, then you are being a fool. You are a parasite, using his body when it belongs to him. And, if such proof happens to exist that states that you are indeed somehow co-existing as one entity inside of Naruto's body, does that mean that we should punish Naruto for your crimes?"

And finally, Naruto felt Sasuke stiffen, and Naruto stiffened slightly too as his movement took him off guard.

"Ha! Sasuke finally reacted to that one," Naruto said, smirking again.

"Indeed," Tsunade murmured, frowning, looking intently at Naruto. "I could see his movement," Tsunade murmured. Naruto's eyes widened.

"What?" Sasuke finally blurted out. Naruto clenches his fists angrily.

"The asshole has finally spoken, and asked, ‘what?’" Naruto repeated, feeling livid.

"When you stiffened, it wasn't your normal posture. At first, it almost looked like something that you might have tried to mirror, but the muscles in your shoulders are too different to pull off that move. You and Sasuke have different shoulder structures, and therefore different types of bodily reactions. The one that your body just gave me when you stiffened did not match the normal movement of your shoulders. It shouldn't be possible with the difference in the width of your shoulders, but then again, Sasuke residing in your body shouldn't be possible either."

"Does this mean you believe me?" Naruto asked, his eyes wide and hopeful. Tsunade sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"I suppose it does – however!" Tsunade all but yelled in order to prevent Naruto from interrupting her. "This does not make things easy. In fact, it complicates things. There are so many questions I have that I can't even think of them in a coherent manner at the moment."

"Well, for starters – at night, Sasuke sort of takes over my body and he becomes the one in control. It's kind of annoying because I don't feel like I've been getting any sleep. Then I wake up in the morning looking like a mesh of myself, Sasuke, and even Kyuubi."

"What do you mean he takes over your body?" Tsunade demanded.

"When I sleep, he sees out my eyes, I guess you could say, and controls my body's movements. He actually was the one that's responsible for those papers," Naruto said pouting.

"What?" Sasuke and Tsunade said together.

"He went out last night, shopping for crying out loud! And all these girls saw me. He doesn't like my orange outfit, and he decided to dress me in something else, which apparently these girls liked a lot. I don't understand why they don't like orange."

"It doesn't look bad on you. It's just that the other outfit looks better," Sasuke said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Whatever," Naruto grumbled. Tsunade raised her eyebrow.

"He spoke, didn't he?" Tsunade asked. Naruto nodded. "I caught the words "looks better" at the end," Tsunade said thoughtfully. Naruto stilled.

"You did?" Naruto asked. "You could hear him?" Tsunade shook her head.

"I could see the movement of your lips. During the shinobi war, we needed to learn how to read lips, even just the slightest of lip movement. The particular way your lips twitched and contracted showed me," Tsunade murmured.

"Well why didn't you notice all this before when I tried to tell you?!" Naruto demanded. Tsunade looked thoughtful instead of angry at Naruto's outburst.

"This isn't good, not good at all," Tsunade murmured, sound frustrated.

"What's not good?" Sasuke asked.

"Your situation is not good," Tsunade answered.

There was an awkward silence with Tsunade's words ringing in the room, proof that she too could tell that Sasuke was really inhabiting Naruto's body.

"This is, kind of weird," Naruto finally muttered. "It's one thing for you to believe me, it's another for you to be able to talk back to him when only I can hear him," Naruto said.

"Is it just when you sleep that he takes control?" Tsunade asked.

"Yes."

"Sasuke, have there been any other times when you have taken control and Naruto has been unaware?" Tsunade demanded.

"No," Sasuke mouthed clearly.

"You better not be lying, for your sake," Tsunade muttered. "Today-"

A knock at the door interrupted Tsunade.

"Come in!" Tsunade bellowed.

Shizune entered, looking rather confused and extremely flustered. She spotted Naruto and seemed to almost wince upon seeing him.

"Hokage-sama, there's a group of girls here...looking for Naruto. Some have more of those applicant forms. Others now have these." Shizune handed over a brightly colored flyer that had a picture of Naruto on the front. His name was in bold, capital letters over the top of his picture.

"That-that's me from this morning!" Naruto said, looking aghast.

There was an intent and serious expression on his face, and Naruto recognized that he had looked so blank faced because his great-grandfather had started talking to him about...shudder... sex.

"Your great-grandmother must have taken it when you weren't looking," Sasuke said.

"I didn't even see her enter the room!"

"The angle looks like it came from above. They probably had a surveillance camera set up. Your great-grandfather was the daimyo after all. There are probably all sorts of hidden safety/surveillance devices in the house. That means that one) you need to hone your skills better to detect such things, and two) ask your great-grandmother not to use video stills of you without your permission," Tsunade said, though there was almost a hint of laughter in her voice while she read through the flyer.

Naruto snatched it from her and looked over the information. It had his age, his date of birth, his height, his weight, and even his blood type listed on the flyer. Below it was a short biography about him, enhanced and written by his great-grandmother. He read it out loud for Sasuke's benefit.

"Uzumaki Naruto, my beloved great-grandson (seen in the above picture) has recently been reunited with our delighted family. Assumed to be a person of normal birth with no family, my dear Naruto grew up an orphan, first taken care of by monks until his sixth birthday. He grew up, mostly on his own, and became a ninja after attending the Konoha Ninja Academy. From there, he went on a number of missions that helped to better relations between Konoha and other Nations. The bridge in the Land of Waves was so grateful to him that they even named a bridge after him!"

"She made that up," Naruto grumbled.

"No, they really did. I saw it," Sasuke said back.

"Are you serious? How'd she find that out?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto, who are you talking to?" Shizune wondered.

"I'll explain later Shizune," Tsunade said as she leaned over Naruto and read over his shoulder as he read out loud.

"During the Chuunin Exams that resulted in the sad demise of the beloved Sandaime Hokage, Naruto helped tie relations between Suna and Konoha by defeating and then befriending the current Kazekage, Gaara of the Sand. Relations between the Leaf and the Sand have never been better!"

"She makes it sound like that was all my doing," Naruto said, blushing.

"You helped a great deal," Sasuke murmured. Naruto continued.

"Our beloved Naruto even went on a mission with the Legendary Jiraiya to help seek out the beautiful and equally legendary Godaime Hokage to Konoha. With her medical prowess and unmatchable strength, she has helped Fire Country to grow these past few years. After this mission, Naruto later went on a three-year training-regime with his new teacher, Jiraiya-sama where he learned many new powerful and exciting techniques. Upon his return (after once again aiding the Sand by saving the life of their beloved Kazekage), new information led to the wonderful discovery of Naruto's true heritage.

"My beloved daughter, Kyohaku, had a love affair that she hid from the rest of the world at a young age. Terrified, she gave her little son up for adoption. He was adopted into the Namikaze family, becoming none other than the beloved protector of Konoha, Namikaze Minato, Yondaime Hokage. Later investigation showed that he and his wife, one Uzumaki Kushina, married in secret, and even had a little child who they hid in order to protect from Yondaime's enemies."

"Do we even know that for sure?" Naruto asked, feeling odd as he read about himself.

"Yes, our beloved Naruto is that child! His great Ninja skills along with his past Ninja heritage enhance his qualities as great protector and leader for Fire Country. While he aims to become the next Hokage of Konoha, his birthright dictates that he will become the next Daimyo of our land. However, our dear, sweet Naruto has recently suffered another tragedy. His best friend Uchiha Sasuke recently died during a heroic mission. Naruto has been quietly suffering the weight of his friend's loss, and we are supporting him as best we can through his grieving.

"Even so, I feel that as future Daimyo descended of the Sen Clan, possible Hokage Candidate, the beloved Fourth Hokage's Son, as well as just an overall awe inspiring man all on his own, needs more love and attention than we can give him alone. As his great-grandmother, I want to see my beloved great-grandson happy."

That ended his bio, but another section began. It started, "With this being said, we are looking for caring and intelligent, young women who would like to meet and go out on a date with our sweet, dear Naruto."

Naruto stopped reading as the rest of the information was a way to contact her as a means to get a date with him. He resisted the urge to crumple the paper and handed it back to Tsunade. If it had been from anyone other than his great-grandmother, Naruto would be furious. As it was, how could you be mad at an eighty-year-old woman who thought she was helping and had made him sound so, well, cool? Okay, so Naruto was still mad, but not as much as he would have been had it been anyone else.

"That's..." Sasuke said, unable to find the right words for what he wanted to say about the flyer. While the woman was not his great-grandmother, she was still Naruto's great-grandmother so he held his tongue.

"She's a sassy lady, isn't she?" Tsunade asked, grinning widely.

"Aren't we supposed to be discussing my problem here?" Naruto asked, not wanting to deal with this right now. He wanted Sasuke back, and the idea of people that he didn't know wanting to go out on a date with him, while almost flattering, was also unnerving.

"She's very resourceful. Some of these events, while not secret per se, were not widely publicized. She has sources," Tsunade said, grinning widely.

"Why are you finding glee from my misery?" Naruto groaned, frustrated. Tsunade's gleeful smile faded.

"Naruto, you love attention. Why aren't you happier about this?" Tsunade asked, genuinely confused.

"I can't deal with this right now! All I want is to get Sasuke a body so I can have my own body back so that I can go back to having a real best friend."

"Naruto..." Tsunade said, frowning deeply now. Naruto registered the look of sympathy that passed over Shizune's face.

"I just...it's just..." Naruto clenched and unclenched his fist. "This stupid flyer makes me sound like some sort of..." Naruto trailed off, not sure what to say.

"It makes you sound like the great person you are," Sasuke murmured. "Even if you are an idiot."

"Bastard, I could almost forgive you your earlier assholeness for that," Naruto said, and he couldn't help but smile.

Tsunade placed a comforting hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"Brat, why don't you go and talk to your family about this. Come back here before you go to bed tonight. I want to see what's going on with you while you sleep. I can observe you at my apartment since I'm sure that the hospital won't be safe for you right now."

Two questions came to Naruto's mind after Tsunade made that comment. He asked the first that had come to his mind.

"You have an apartment?" Naruto asked. Tsunade's eye twitched.

"Where did you think I slept brat?" Tsunade growled.

"I dunno," Naruto said, scratching the back of his head. "I sorta thought you slept here or something."

"Do you see a bed?" Tsunade asked. Naruto actually looked around the office.

"Well, no, but I dunno. I guess it was kind of like that idea when I was younger with the teachers at the Academy. I sorta thought they lived there, like their cabinet opened up into a bedroom or something."

"Dobe," Sasuke clipped. Naruto wanted to but resisted the urge to stick out his tongue, and wished harder that Sasuke had his own body so people could see that he was reacting to Sasuke's taunting.

"Why won't I be safe at the hospital?" Naruto asked the second question on his mind.

"The women will hound you there," Tsunade said knowingly.

"Oh." Naruto scratched his head sheepishly.

"I could have told you that," Sasuke said knowingly.

"I ought to go and talk to my family about everything. See if I can get this cleared up," Naruto said. Tsunade nodded.

"Go out the window," Tsunade advised. Naruto did, waving a goodbye.

"Hokage-sama, what do I tell the girls who are here?" Shizune asked. Tsunade looked thoughtful.

"Poor Naruto really seemed upset," Tsunade said, a bit angrily. She cracked her knuckles and headed to the door. "I'll talk to them, and see how badly they really want to have a date with Naruto."

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

"You're a fucking bastard!" Naruto finally yelled to Sasuke when he was on his way to his family's home. Naruto barely registered Sasuke mumbling something about Naruto mentioning forgiving him for his earlier ‘assholeness.’ "Why didn't you say anything? You were quiet, making it look like I was a dumbass! You made it look like I was crazy! What if she had locked me up or something for it?" Naruto demanded, his frustration letting loose as everything came crashing around him. "You were so still I thought something had happened to you," Naruto said. He was so angry, that tears were threatening to form in his eyes. It had scared the hell out of him. Part of him had feared that Sasuke might have vanished.

"What's the point?" Sasuke snapped bitterly. "It's not like we could be together any other way!"

Naruto stopped in his tracks.

"What?" Naruto asked incredulously.

"Do you really think anyone will like the idea of the two of us in a relationship? Honestly? If you become Hokage-"

"When," Naruto corrected. Sasuke decided it wasn't worth the effort to argue the point.

"-then they will probably feel better if you had a wife and family. Same thing with your own family! Even if you could somehow over look the fact that your great-grandparents clearly expect you to marry someone and reproduce as any daimyo would, a normal family doesn't always look too kindly on male-male relationships."

"Kyohaku didn't care. She understood. She figured out that I liked you," Naruto said remembering how his grandmother had just that very morning that she had always been able to hear the love in Naruto's voice whenever he had spoken about Sasuke.

Sasuke seemed thoughtful for a moment.

"It just seems like the most logical choice. I've weighed the pros and cons, and in all likelihood, it will be beneficial for you to marry a woman in the long run. Perhaps you should go through with what your great-grandmother has planned and select someone to start courting."

"Are you serious?" Naruto all but screeched out.

"Yes. If you marry someone, there is nothing that anyone can do to stop up being together if I am in your body. No one else truly has to know."

"Don't you think waking up with me looking like you with blond hair and three random fox tails might sort of give away that something is wrong?" Naruto deadpanned.

"Naturally you wouldn't be waking up next to anyone," Sasuke all but growled out. "That is what this screening process would be for. Many political marriages do not have love in them. You find someone who is compatible and then you procreate only to create a larger family."

Naruto shivered.

"Just because you can be a cold bastard doesn't mean that I can. I couldn't do that to someone. I want to marry someone who loves me. I want you," Naruto said. Sasuke gave a soft, amused sound.

"Sometimes, with the way we bicker so often yet care about each other so deeply makes me feel like we are an old married couple."

Naruto didn't know what to say to Sasuke's reply. He hated Sasuke's train of thought, and shuddered at the thought that Sasuke was okay with the idea of him having some other person in his love life just to "procreate" as Sasuke put. Naruto didn't want that. He wanted Sasuke.

On the other hand, Naruto couldn't help but enjoy that Sasuke wanted to be with him so badly that he would want to stay in his body to be with him.

"You're just a coward," Naruto said playfully, his anger ebbing away.

"Excuse me?" Sasuke growled.

"Awww, little Suke-chan is scared."

"What the hell did you just call me?"

"It's okay Suke-chan. Naruto will find a way to make it allllllll better. Don't you worry!"

"Listen, you little shit, it's my job to be the practical one here! There's no way to get my own body back, but I promise you, if I did, I would pound into your ass so hard that you would be spurting out apologies and begging me for forgiveness for what you just called me," Sasuke growled. Naruto shivered.

"Hmm, another good reason to get you a body of your own."

"You're relentless," Sasuke hissed. Naruto let out a loud laugh.

"I have to be to deal with you."

"You have to be what to deal with me?" Kyohaku asked confused. Naruto stopped in his tracks, having completely lost scope of his surroundings. He hadn't even realized when he had begun walking again and had gotten to his family's home. He heartily hoped that his grandmother hadn’t heard any more than “I have to be to deal with you.”

"Uh, sorry. Just thinking out loud to myself. I wasn't talking to, or, uh, about you," Naruto said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. He took another glance around and realized that he actually wasn't even yet to his family’s place. It was at least another ten-minute walk. Kyohaku seemed to realize that he was confused to see her there.

"I came to head you off. Did you see what your great-grandmother put out about you?" Kyohaku asked. Naruto groaned. "I'll take that as a yes," Kyohaku said, putting her hand up to gingerly touch her forehead as though to ward off a headache. "I don't know what she was thinking. Perhaps turning eighty has made her a bit senile," Kyohaku said, sighing.

"Head me off?" Naruto asked, having a feeling he knew what that meant. Sasuke's expression indicated that he understood what it meant too.

"There are quite a few women waiting at our house for you to appear," Kyohaku said, and her tone took on a more possessive note. "They're mostly leeches. This is why I hate things like this. You have women who are here for all the wrong reasons. They do not know you. They want to know you, but a lot of times it is for all the wrong reasons. Thankfully your great-grandmother, while not understanding how much distress she's probably put you through with what she's done, still does understand that there are girls that needed to be whittled out of the selection process. She's excitedly doing that right now, and let me say, I do not envy what your great-grandmother will put them through."

Naruto felt sorry for those unsuspecting girls. Sasuke didn't.

"Actually a few of them do seem nice. I was up there, and one of your fellow shinobi, Hyuuga Hinata, had said that she had seen you coming using her blood-limit line. She told me in case I wanted to warn you since you probably weren’t expecting everyone. It was very kind of her."

"Yeah, she's very sweet!" Naruto said happily. Sasuke frowned deeply. While Naruto might be clueless, Sasuke still remembered very well that Hinata liked Naruto. Naruto also didn't seem to have made the connection that she was probably there with the rest of the women trying to get a date from him too.

"So, I decided that the two of us could head off together away from all this mess. Even if you are not necessarily interested in becoming daimyo, if you want to become Hokage, you should at least learn the basics of what it means to be a daimyo for good Hokage-Daimyo relations," Kyohaku said fondly.

"Oh," Naruto said, trying not to sound as crest-fallen as he felt. Politics was not part of the Hokage position he looked forward to. Kyohaku laughed a little.

"And part of that is walking around Konoha without being detected for who you are in order to understand the needs of the people. We'll make a game out of it," Kyohaku said, winking.

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"As daimyo, and I am sure as Hokage and as a ninja, you need to be able to go places amongst very familiar people and not be recognized as who you are. Today, since there will no doubt be a lot of people talking about you with all of those flyers going around, maybe we should see how the people of Konoha react to this information about you. Listening to the comments of the people is something that we do in order to find out how the people feel about the current going-ons in the Fire Country. What better way to connect to the people than to hear their complaints, uncensored and from their hearts, from the mouths of the people themselves?" Kyohaku said.

"O-oh," Naruto said, not quite understanding, and not quite liking that idea. What if someone happened to be talking about him and mentioned that he housed the Kyuubi? He hadn't told his family that yet. Honestly, he didn't think that they would care too much, but he supposed that perhaps that he ought to tell them instead of having someone else do that. Then again, did they already know? They were all alive during the time that the Kyuubi had attacked after all.

"It sounds like a good idea to me," Sasuke said thoughtfully. "It shows that your family cares about what the people of Konoha think which indicates good leadership."

"Okay. Sounds good to me," Naruto said. "And I can take you to Ichiraku ramen! I love that place," Naruto said excited. Kyohaku beamed at Naruto.

"You've mentioned that place several times before," Kyohaku said excitedly. "We should make sure to disguise ourselves now. Usually I have some wigs that I wear, but I know you're a ninja, and that you can do something called henge. Sakumo used to do it when he snuck here to see me," Kyohaku said, her voice sad though her eyes were bright with a shimmer of happiness at a fond memory.

It took Naruto a moment to register who Sakumo was. Then he remembered that she meant Hatake Sakumo, Kakashi's father, and Naruto's grandfather.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah I can," Naruto said.

"We should go as a mother and son pair. What do you think?" Kyohaku said, and she stroked her fingers through Naruto's hair fondly as she gave him a quick peck on his forehead. Her eyes shined happily at him, and Naruto had to look away. While he cared for his grandmother, he still didn't know her all that well. To see how happily she had accepted him as her grandson made Naruto feel overwhelmed. She loved him unconditionally because she was his grandmother and something inside of Naruto's chest constricted in warmth and tenderness.

He couldn't resist giving her a big hug before releasing her.

"I like it," Naruto said, grinning widely at her, though his grin slipped when he felt the slight twinge of jealousy that Sasuke seemed to radiate. Naruto turned his head to the side, and said as quietly as he could.

"Sasuke?"

"I'm fine," Sasuke said a bit sharply, before his voice evened out. "I am glad that you found some of your family," Sasuke said, and he did sound like he meant it.

"Hey!" Naruto said excitedly, turning back around to face his grandmother. "Since we're pretending to be mother and son, I'll make us look a lot younger! And I can act like I'm five-"

"-that shouldn't be hard-" Sasuke interjected.

"-and I'll call you Mom and you can call me Suke-chan!" Naruto said, grinning wickedly before shouting out "henge!" and changing their appearances.

While Naruto knew that Sasuke couldn't see what he had done, Kyohaku now looked in her late twenties with long black hair and dark blue eyes. Naruto had made himself look similar to Sasuke had when he was young (though with what Naruto thought was a cooler looking hair that didn't spike up in the back) and blue eyes that matched his grandmother's henge.

"That sounds great! Suke-chan it is!" Kyohaku said, laughing happily as she reached down and picked up the smaller form of Naruto and swung him up onto her shoulders. Naruto laughed gleefully at the action as well as the scowl on Sasuke's face.


Next Chapter: To Stay or To Run?


Again, sorry that it took so long to get this chapter out. I’ve since finished “Mine,” “The Agreement,” and posted a oneshot called “Senses.” I have been writing two other stories that each have two chapters that I may post now that I have finally updated this story. Hope you liked the chapter! Please tell me what you thought. ~ Jelp