Kouta had never liked trains. He had never liked transport in general to be honest; there was just something about not having his own two feet on the solid ground beneath him that unnerved him. Needless to say, he hadn't gotten much shut-eye on his long day of train riding. He stifled another yawn as the train began to rumble along the tracks. He'd just made his last transfer in Tokyo, and now it was a mere 50 kilometers to Kamakura. He'd meet up with his cousin, she'd show him to his new place, and he could finally get some sleep.

He cracked an eye open as a stranger opened the door to his empty compartment. It was some blond kid - probably younger than he was - but he looked Japanese. That was interesting; blond was extremely rare among Asians in general. He had some strange scars on his face too – or maybe they were birthmarks? Kouta decided not to comment. He probably got bothered about them enough, given how prominent they were on his face.

"Mind if I sit here?" the boy asked politely. Kouta gave a quick "hmm" of assent. The blond sat down, closed his eyes, and was snoring in seconds. "Wish I could do that," Kouta thought jealously. He spent the next twenty-five minutes watching the scenery go by through half-lidded eyes.

The train eventually began its slow screech to a stop. "Kamakura at last," Kouta thought in relief as he stood up and stretched. He reached over to gently shake his compartment-mate awake, but the boy's hand snapped out and caught his wrist before it could make contact. Kouta yelped and tried to jump backwards, but the grip on his wrist was too strong and he only ended up falling on his ass. Next thing he knew, the kid was helping him stand back up, apologizing profusely.

"I'm so sorry! I'm a very light sleeper, and I tend to react strongly when someone tries to wake me up. I've whacked more than my fair share of alarm clocks too." He stared awkwardly at Kouta for a moment. Kouta blinked.

" Again, I'm really sorry, I should have warned you before I went to sleep."

The boy took a step back and began rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. Kouta looked bewildered for a moment, but soon regained his bearings.

"It's alright, no harm done."

Crickets chirped for a moment as they looked awkwardly at each other. Kouta abruptly stuck out his hand, blurting, "I'm Kouta, by the way." The boy grinned and gave it a firm shake.

"Lee Shengshun." he returned. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Kouta said as they began to make their way toward the door. "So what brings you to Kamakura?"

"Oh, I'm here for school," Lee explained. "Some family owns this old building; used to be a restaurant in fact. They were offering to let me stay for super cheap; so I took it. I'll have a roommate, but with a place that big it shouldn't be a problem."

Kouta's eyes widened. "You're moving into Kaede House? So am I! I'm your roommate."

It could have been a trick of the light, but for a split second Lee's eyes were cold as steel, scanning him up and down. Then it was gone, and Lee was all smiles.

"Really? What a coincidence. Maybe we could find the place together?" Lee suggested. Kouta took a second to collect himself.

"Actually, I'm meeting my cousin here at the station," he explained. "It's her family that owns the place, and she was going to show me how to get there. You're more than welcome to come with us."

Lee offered him a friendly smile. "Sure! I'd love to tag along."

They stepped out of the train and onto the platform. Kouta took a brief look around as their fellow train-goers dispersed.

"Huh. I don't see her here. I guess we just have to wait; I don't even have a map, and It's been almost nine years since I was here last."


Naruto mentally sighed. Why were all civilians so bad about punctuality? Ah well. At least his roommate seemed to be the best possible sort he could've been saddled with. He was mild-mannered, he didn't seem to be nosy, and he didn't strike Naruto as the sort who'd spread gossip.

"Oh, good," he thought as a young woman approached. "We can finally get on with this." He wanted to scope the place and set up his perimeter seals as soon as possible.

"Kouta?" The young woman inquired.

"Yuka? Is that you?" answered a wide-eyed Kouta. Rather than reply, Yuka enveloped him in a big hug. After a few moments had passed she stood back to see his face.

"Kouta it really is you! It's so good to see you!"

Naruto repressed a sigh as they began to yammer. These were good people; they didn't understand his urgency, and they didn't deserve his ire. Still, the longer he stayed in a public place the greater the risk, so in the interest of moving things along...

"Hi. I'm Lee," he interrupted. "Kouta and I met on the train – I'm his new roommate."

Yuka gave him a once-over. "Really? Wow, what a coincidence! I can show you both to the house."


"This place is perfect," Naruto thought as they entered the building. It was out of the way, it had few windows, and the ones it did have only opened to the yard, which was surrounded by a wall. He'd have no trouble laying low here. As Yuka gave them the tour, he mentally picked out which room he'd sleep in – second floor southeast corner. If enemies showed up he could be out the window, over the wall, and into the night in a flash.

Naruto chuckled to himself as Kouta griped about having to clean the place. They were such innocent kids; being among civilians was always amusingly surreal to him.

"Well I guess I'll leave you two to unpacking then," Yuka finished. She opened the door and stepped out, but paused for a moment and added, "Unless... well... you want any help?" she offered meekly.

"That's all right, I've just got the one suitcase," Kouta declined.

"Yeah, I've got even less than Kouta," Naruto replied while patting his backpack. "Thanks for the offer though," he finished with a smile.

"Oh... well okay. I guess I'll see you tomorrow then," she replied a little dejectedly as she slid the door shut behind her.


Twelve Narutos stood around the wall, the brushes they held making smooth, silent strokes across the white surface. As time passed, the wall came to look more like a work of art than a construct of plaster; the squiggly lines appearing chaotically beautiful. Soon, all but one of the Narutos vanished, small wisps of smoke the only thing to show they ever existed.

Naruto took to the roof in a single leap, and promptly made a half-ram sign. The whole area glowed blue for a moment as the writing on the wall lit up, and then went dark. The lines slowly faded out of the visible spectrum. Naruto "hmm"ed in satisfaction. He was now officially living in the ass-end of nowhere. All that was left was to secure a secondary safehouse – it'd be easy enough to dig a hole under a rock somewhere. As he let out a yawn he decided that task could wait until tomorrow.


A/N: Sorry for the slow-paced intro. Expect more plot development from here on out.

To anyone who noticed; yes. Naruto's cover name is a shout-out to Darker than Black, another most excellent anime. To anyone who this concerns, rest assured this isn't a triple cross-over. Darker than Black will have nothing more to do with this story.