An idea I had after watching xxxHOLiC, what if the shop was connected to other universes? I'm pretty sure Naruto would be able to summon the shop as he quested for Sasuke. Deviates from canon somewhere after the Sasuke Retrieval Arc, and somewhere before the Rescue Gaara Arc, though not when he was traveling with Jiraya.
Uzumaki Naruto wandered the streets of Konoha, not quite ready to head home after a combination of a successful mission and a filling meal at his favorite Ramen stand. Under any other circumstances, he would've been quite content with the way the day had gone. But the headband still sat in his pocket, and the thought still rang in his mind.
Sasuke.
How would the day have gone if the raven had been there? Would the sembalance of normality convince him to stay if he happened to be there, and considering running away to the clutches of Orochimaru?
Suddenly he noticed a small building, done in an older style, that he could've sworn was just an empty lot the last time he had been here, two stories with a tall wooden fence decorated with two crescent moon carvings. He looked around quickly at the cherry trees and its light pink blossoms, after which one of his teammates was named.
Before he realized it, he began walking into it in the twilight, the small path seeming pink, and the doors opened in front of him.
"A customer for the Mistress!"
"Yes! A customer for the Mistress!"
Two girls danced out, chanting in unison, and grabbing his wrists to pull him inside. He tried to pull away, but the girls kept dragging, grip impossible to break, and his body controlled itself, removing his shoes of their own will.
He found himself in a small, elegantly decorated, traditional greeting room. A tall, slender woman with a wise look on her face was sprawled on a couch, dressed in an elaborate kimono, and long, ink black hair draping over everything, an intricately decorated pipe creating ribbons of smoke. The girls spoke in unison about how a customer was there.
"I'm sorry Ma'am, I didn't mean to disturb you, my legs just started moving on their own, I'll leave."
"There is no such thing as coincidence. There is a reason you are here. You wouldn't have been able to find your way here if you didn't have a reason to be in this shop."
What? "I'm sorry, I really don't have any business here. I didn't mean to disturb you." Naruto was careful to tread lightly, many of the villagers still despised his presence.
"The fact that you managed to make your way here is enough to prove you have business here." she brought the pipe to her mouth, slowly inhaling.
"I really don't have any reason to be here. I was just walking along when I spotted this building, and then I started to wonder 'Where in the world am I?' And then my legs started to move on their own-"
"This is inevitable. There is a reason you are here. You came to inquire about something."
"No. I didn't. I didn't mean to come here, I have nothing to ask of you, and I don't believe in fate." He stared at the woman who suggested that his coming here was some kind of predetermined fate. Her wise eyes studied him with a vague hint of amusement.
"There is no such thing as coincidence." The blonde frowned, "And there is no such thing as fate. There is only the inevitable, based on every decision you've ever made, and the decisions of others. When to people meet, no matter how brief the encounter, they effect each other." He stood, staring, entranced by the words of this elegant lady, who appeared to be living in luxury, "Once the decisions fell into place, this meeting was fated to happen, and it was fated to happen like this."
She inhaled and let out a long trail of smoke. "May I see what's in the pouch on you side?"
He thought quickly back to what was in it. Their mission today didn't require weapons, a mere D rank, it had only food wrappers and the three kunai that Sasuke had given him on the only birthday of his that they had shared together. His best set of kunai. They were high-quality goods that Sasuke passed off as pity gifts saying that Naruto probably couldn't afford them. Sakura had gotten him gift coupons for Ichiraku, and supplied a huge bento filled to the brim with food, but Naruto had suspected that was more to show off her own cooking skills.
He quickly pulled out one of the kunai, and handed it to the mysterious lady, hilt first of course. She studied it for a short time, and seeming to make a decision, slowly pulled herself off of the couch and sat down on the floor, gesturing for him to do the same as well.
"Now, you came here to inquire about something."
"No. I didn't. My legs just moved on their own."
"Yes, you do. You see, the merchandise here in this shop is wishes. For you to have even come into this shop means you have a wish. Something only this shop can grant."
Her slender hand slowly came up to his jawline, "I can make him return."
He froze. She had known about that? How? Was it from the kunai? How had this mysterious woman of luxury have known about his promise to make Uchiha Sasuke return to the village? Was it even worth wondering about?
"That is, if I take my payment."
His eyes narrowed. "What do you want?"
"Why, something equal to the wish of course." She said simply, hand slowly falling from his jawline to make its way back onto her lap. "His headband and your necklace should be enough to cover my fee, if you must know. These things are valuable to this shop, and meddling in the past is extremely difficult."
He slowly nodded his consent, reaching for the clasp of the necklace almost unconsciously. He supposed it could be valuable, but didn't see why Sasuke's scratched-up old headband with his drool all over it from sleeping with it would be of value to someone who lived like this and granted wishes for a living.
"Why...these?"
"The objects I'm requiring for my payment are powerful. Having the essence of Uchiha chakra, and also the chakra of the Kyuubi's container, and by association the energy of the Kyuubi itself, make it very powerful. The necklace has this, combined with its own power, and association with the First Hokage and one of the Legendary Sannin." She let this information process through the blonde's brain, and pulled something out of her obi, laying the decorated disc on the surface of a large bowl of water that the girls had pulled out while he was distracted by the woman.
LOLOLOLOL Cliffhanger. I do have some kind of plans for more of this (like I ever update.) But I enjoy it, even if I had to rewrite it four times due to the stupid FF.N not letting me save properly. The payment if sort of like the specialness of the ohage that the Zakishi-Warashi gave to Watanuki. Its worth comes from the attachment and essence of the people who have owned it. I'd imagine the powerful chakra of the First Hokage, the only person with wood-style jutsu, and the chakra of a Sannin or a demon vessel wouldn't be anything to slouch at either. And the Uchiha chakra, their world sees to really love the Uchiha clan.