Intersected Hearts, Part 1

Seventeen years...

It has been frigging more than a decade since I last arrived here...

But I don't think anyone is going to believe my tales. They never did before. I was a lot more bothered at first but eventually I just decided to roll with the punches. I am a ninja afterall, always adaptable. To be honest I have been Nathan Bartowski for a longer time, then I had been Naruto Uzumaki. But I can't change my origins. My roots...and how they make me different from everyone else? I arrived in United States of America immediately after my battle against my bitter rival slash best friend slash bloodthirsty enemy again Sasuke Uchiha. The battle took place at the valley of end. I still remember how Sasuke gave into the evil cursed seal and took a monstrous form to battle against my kyuubi chakra enhancements, Well didn't end up so well for me. For the love of my life I don't know what happened to me after I was hit by a flaring Chidori. I can't remember a single damn word.

Also the Fox seems to be gone, I have tried wandering into the seal many times but I just can't seem to find him anymore. And with him gone, I also no longer possess the whiskers and somehow my hair are now turned completely brown . Next thing I knew I woke up in some place called Los Angeles, de aged to 9 from 13 and how doctors told me that now I looked like this kid, Nathan Irving Bartowski. I resisted at first. As everyone back at Konoha could tell you very clearly, Naruto Uzumaki isn't the one to go down without a lots of kicking and screaming involved. Unfortunately my chakra reserves had been terribly depleted at the time, I nearly felt I lost the ability to manipulate chakra altogether. Even Bushy Brows can manipulate chakra, He can't do jutsus though but only push up and weight training can't give you that much power. Yeah, His hard-work was phenomenal and admirable, He really inspired me at times but without chakra, I doubt he would have been able to do the things he was able to.

Thankfully, My Chakra returned after a couple of years and even though I was mad at first, It turned out to be better that I didn't have my chakra reserves during the first few years in this strange new world. No one around here had heard anything about Konoha or Elemental Nations altogether. For the longest time, people had thought that those names were just the result of trauma I went through because I was caught by human traffickers. At first I did think I was in some sort of enemy territory but after paying close attention to this world, I noticed some absurd things. some massive irregularities that I didn't think was possible in Shinobi worlds. This place was huge and I couldn't find any map on this god forsaken planet which could point me towards my way back home. But before that, I needed to adapt to this strange new world.

Besides a mental asylum wasn't the place I wanted to spend rest of my days. If I even wanted to find my way back home, I needed resources, I needed to arm myself with the knowledge of this world. Surrendering to my fate, I agreed to stay with "my" family under the guise of an amnesiac kid. I kinda wondered at times though, what happened to the Nathan guy who looked like me? Was he dead? Buried deep under the sea? Chopped to death?

I really feel sorry for the guy. He had a lovely sister. Kinda reminding me of if Tsunami and Iruka-sensei married and had a daughter. She is really nic and doted on me like there is no tomorrow. If I ever get back to my Universe I am probably going to miss her a lot.

There was a way back home. There must be. I knew it and I won't give up until I discover it. So guys this is it, I have brought you up to date in regards of my life.

...xxxxxxx...xxxxxxcx...

Naruto wasn't sure why or how but he always felt something odd about the man who bought him home. Now he knew Stephen wasn't some enemy ninja or lacky of pedo snake bastard. But he was surely "different" than the other " normal" he knew. One day when Naruto wandered into Stephen's room to play with the computer. He clearly remembered how it was dark room with all the binds pulled down and curtains drawn. Once he pressed the enter, Thousand images flashed into his mind in every second till he eventually passed out. The next thing he remembered was waking up to the sight of his crying sister kneeling besides him and cuddling him, Alongside his extremely worried dad looming over him in concern. When he smiled in relief and assured them he was okay, he could see the relief flashing in his Dad's eyes.

Though he asked him everyday if his head hurt, the former ninja never really felt any adverse effects from that. Naruto didn't mention it to anyone, But what happened in that room, all those images he saw, they changed him. They changed his views about the world. It gave a near eidetic memory, almost photographic in nature, after that incident Naruto never forgot a single thing in his entire life Let it be an image, a sound, visual, someone's touch and ever various smells. Gained a new found aptitude for Computers, Electronics and in simple words calculations. Though he was far from being a Shikamaru. He could see that he had ended up becoming a lot more resourceful than he used to be. Because just a month afterwards he topped in his classes, despite the fact that he needed to keep up with remedial lessons in the weekend school (Because of his stay in Mental asylum). Naruto loved the praise and he also loved the people around him, At least those who were loyal to him. In addition to all that, He was nearly murdered by his best friend and miraculously landed in an alternate world drastically different than his own, He was bound to grow up and start acting a bit more mature than he used to.

Naruto also knew he needed education and resources in order to navigate his way through this world and search for a path which may lead him towards his home world. And he did find the right means to get that. By joining the government itself halfway during his third year at Stanford and transferring to a special internship at NSF on behalf of US CERT and Department of Homeland Service. Though his room mate Bryce seemed a bit dejected and even somewhat jealous at first especially when the recruiter told him while he was a decent and knowledgeable engineer, they were looking for someone truly exceptional, he was back to usual carefree casanova persona after scoring exceptionally higher on a test based on subliminal image recognition and memory retention, a subject taught by Professor Fleming. Naruto himself chose system forensics over that particular thing because he didn't think Fleming could teach him anything in that field his father Stephen didn't already have before he left on this "quest" to look for his missing wife. Ellie wasn't too thrilled about that and it did indeed sort of damage the relationship between father and daughter. However, Naruto understood Stephen's reasoning better than anyone else in this dimension ever could. If he was back at Konoha he would have done the same thing if Iruka or Ayame disappeared just like that.

Naruto found it quite baffling as he was making a huge fuss about the whole NSF thing just a couple of days and now he seemed completely okay. Anyways, the former ninja was fine with their friendship now back to normal and the whole uneasiness between them completely gone so he didn't decide to pursue the matter any further. The breakup with his college girlfriend Jill didn't faze him much either, their relationship had run its course and both of them wanted different things from their lives. They parted on rather amicable terms and still remained on christmas card terms.

He really thought after spending nearly four years slaving away for the DHS as a specialist in cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence, winning multiple awards for his contribution in producing several highly sophisticated and effective Intrusion Detection Systems, everything was going to be alright. He would get the sort of high life and resources to get tools which might help him regards of uncovering some of the mysteries surrounding his mysterious mother, just so he could get Stephen to stop wandering around from one country to another like some sort of crazy hermit looking for his missing wife and other was for personal reasons, he wanted to find out what happened to the child whose life he was living right now. While he was still searching for a way to get back to Konoha, he wondered whether he would be able to leave everything behind even if he actually found a way back. However Naruto didn't really think much in regards to that.

Unfortunately, once he figured out that , even with all these resources and knowledge, he was unable to find answers to any of these questions which had been troubling him ever since he arrived in this strange place, he didn't see a point to continue further in that highly demanding and stressful job, deciding to focus on his other "activities "

...xxxxxxxx...xxxxxxxxxx...

Naruto stretched out his arms with a yawn. Currently, he was returning from San Francisco. He went there to work with a team of FBI techies, on behalf of his friend Special Agent Kevin Williams who were attempting to recover information from an almost damaged memory card the SWAT team managed to get their hands while facing off against some sort of terrorists- arms dealers for hire based in Rio called Gentle Hand . It required a lot of work on his side but he managed to extract a significant amount of information. Needless to say, everyone were quite impressed as they never expected this thing to work in the first place. After making him sign NDA and giving him a decent paycheck for an excellent job, Local FBI chief Telling him that he would love to work with him in the future and asking him if he was interested in getting a permanent position in the agency with some added benefits.

He obviously declined though. While he was very good at Computer Forensics that wasn't something he wanted to do full time. The salary and other perks seemed to be great but the work itself seemed rather tedious and too much demanding for his taste.

Alongside working as a freelance programmer/independent contractor for Federal Agencies and DARPA, he also continued with his job as the supervisor of Nerd herd, a low paying but at the same time undemanding , comfortable and helped him kill time. On the IT field front, he found himself struggling a bit in the beginning but he eventually found his footing , things were going steady for him and he now had more than enough capital to launch his own small company. However he still tried avoided unnecessary expenses and risky advancements, Mainly because of the frugal life he led as an orphan in Konoha and Bartowski household went through some rough patch after losing the lawsuit against Roark Industries, That's why he still lived in a studio apartment located in Echo Park. His next door neighbours were Ellie and her boyfriend Devon, residents working in city hospital. Naruto didn't have any issues with that. He just wished they didn't try to coddle him too much. He was twenty six year old for crying out loud, not some baby.

Driving through busy streets, Naruto stopped by a seemingly decent Italian restaurant. Of course Ramen was still his favorite, however in time he also came to appreciate several other cuisines. The food was surprisingly good. After paying a generous tip to the waitress, he took a good look at his wrist watch. It was almost around nine pm. He was already running four hours late than he expected to.

Naruto stretched his arms with a yawn. He had been visiting this place here since last couple of years due to his previous projects. He somewhat knew the city and now that the traffic had gotten thinner, He could drive a lot more faster.

His clients told him about a nice motel which was approximately forty minutes drive from here. He started walking towards the parking lot. Just when he was about to reach his car, his cell phone rang.

"Hey Morgan." Naruto said as he looked at the caller ID

"Dude, How is San Francisco?"

"It's a great place overall but nowhere close enough to be home. I am finally relieved that the assignment is over."

"So, any good news?"

"The group leader was very happy with the performance. He gave me a seven percent incentive as I fixed their technical issues."

"Happy to hear that you are making a name for yourself. So you are coming back to Nerd Herd as usual?"

"I guess, it wouldn't hurt to put the...tie back."

Welcome back to Nerd Herd, It was a torture to collaborate with Jeff and Lester. At least with you around , I am in safe hands. That being said, Did you think about the contract from RI? They are offering you a huge ...incentive and even shares

"I don't know. I guess the money is good but at the same time, I don't think I can stand working for the guy who screwed up with my dad's life. "

"Tough luck buddy. I understand where are you coming from, So are you up for Call of Duty and God of War marathon this weekend?"

"Sure buddy, I am game. Pizza and grape soda is on me. As much as we can eat and drink."

"No Ramen this time?"

"Ah, My friend, I never go anywhere without the food of gods."

"Geez, Nate I really don't get your fondness for Japanese cuisine sometimes and that's coming from me of all people. Anyways, have a safe trip back."

"Sure will."

Before Naruto could put the phone back in his pocket, A loud bang echoed throughout his ears. As if a bullet just whizzed by, inches away from his head. The young plumber quickly shifted in the action and dashed towards the direction where the sound came from. Moments after he ran into a street, he was greeted by the sight of a not so helpless young blonde (considering how she held a revolver and a rifle in her hands) surrounded by a number of armed goons (Though it was hard to decide who were good guys and who were bad guys at the moment)

The Genin of Team 7 cracked his knuckles, Well well, After a long year of boredom and monotony, He finally found something exciting to do. This was definitely going to provide him with some form of entertainment.

...xxxxxx...xxxxxxxx...

" See, boss? I told you it was her," one of them told the leader.

"My man, great job, now the bitch will die by our hands, like she killed our boss a few hours ago. It's payback time." A Mexican guy spoke with crooked smile, pointing his automatic rifle on her forehead. While three others held her back by grabbing onto her wrists and waist. She struggled against their gasp but her previous injuries and exhaustion prevented her from exerting her full strength. She wished she could use the knives hidden inside her heels but at that moment, her body was almost restrained and too much guns were pointed towards her right now. She was a highly trained assassin but in the end she was a human. A certain limitations also applied to her.

Before the trigger could be pulled though, A broken frying pan came out of nowhere and smashed the boss of hooligans on his face. From the sound it made, It looked like he was going to require a serious nose job. It was followed by a chilly sauce bottle which slammed into two other thug's faces, sending them spiralling down on the floor, crying in pain.

Grabbing the opportunity, She quickly kicked two of her pursuers , effectively knocking them out with minimal force. She shared a look with the young man who stepped out from behind a dumpster, carrying a rack filled with several broken beer bottles and even a soccer ball.

Before she could question his credibility, The young man kicked the soccer ball with incredible force, which effectively hit a bald muscular spanish guy in between his legs. Making him bend over in extreme pain and drop his gun.

"You bastard! Kill him guys." The leader who was down for a very good moment, jumped back on his feet and started barking orders.

"I knew this wasn't a good idea, Dattebayo!" Naruto cursed under his breath. He didn't want to be seen anything which could be considered "abnormal" by people of this dimension. With a backflip he landed behind a dumpster, taking cover as the bullets started flying.

The blonde woman, who was wearing a white shirt and black pants rolled towards him. Slamming fresh magazines inside both of her pistols. As she moved towards him, the young man pulled her closer with his right hand and used his free hand to use a nearby trash can lid to block a knife viciously thrown towards her. Surprising her with his dexterity and reflexes.

"I don't know what or who you are Miss, but those guys don't exactly seem like model citizens to me." Naruto let out a grown as he threw the trash can lid towards a mobster, forcing him to drop his weapon on the ground.

" Thanks for your help , But as you can see we can't hold the front forever and more of them are coming. Do you have a car?". She asked him in a sincere tone, her voice filled with amusement, relief and gratitude.

"My car is nearby." Naruto nodded, throwing a broken basketball bat out of the trashcan which smacked on to one of the shooter's toes causing him to roll over the ground in pain. Sarah felt a bit surprised at the force and accuracy behind those attacks but right now she had bigger fish to fry.

"Alright then, start the car. I will provide you some cover fire." She got up from her position and started raining bullets on the opposition with extreme efficiency. Two of them dropped dead in the tracks while the third one was badly injured and scrambled for cover.

Naruto gave her a nod. He didn't know whether she was a cop or not but those guys were definitely mobsters. So he was fighting against bad guys and for the moment, the woman didn't seem like a criminal. Otherwise she would have treated him much differently. His shinobi instincts told him he was fighting for the right side.

Grabbing his wrist She got up and started running in the opposite direction, all while firing shots to keep her pursuers down. Naruto quickened his pace and immediately reached his car. In a lightning fast speed he started the ignition and opened the back door, allowing the strange woman to jump in. As quick as possible, his feet pressed the accelerator and the 2006 orange black dodge challenger hustled forward like a bullet.

...xxxxxx...xxxxx...

Naruto kept driving silently for a while. Of course he was bothered about the mute assassin travelling alongside him. He was by no means afraid though. He knew how due to his different roots and chakra enhanced physique not even the olympic level athletes could hold a candle to him. He was faster, stronger and by all means far more durable than anything this dimension had to offer. Besides he was a ninja, That was how he was nurtured throughout his childhood and that's what defined him till the end. He still carried kunais in his cupboard and scrolls inside his closet. He was never going to forget about his past. Besides, his past and the s abilities he possessed definitely set him apart from the people of this dimension. So no matter how absurd things got, He doubted at this point anything could amuse him or freak him out.

Unless Ghosts were involved of course, Naruto was scared shitless of them.

Naruto was also talkative by nature. He had always been from the very beginning. So he found the silence in the confined space of car really unbearable. The Uzumaki could engage in a lively discussion over any topic, Whether it was food, movies, comics, Clearly he felt a bit annoyed at being directed by this strong silent woman into heading out of the city. Though Naruto could tell she didn't seem like the bad type, Even though she had been shooting guys back and forth. Those guys had started it after all. And the way she had been frantically looking for any signs of pursuit, It seemed like she was already pre occupied. Naruto decided give her some time to settle down. He picked up his speed, recalling that it won't be good sign if those scumbags managed to catch up to him

Who the hell was this woman? Why was she down in streets like that, carrying guns and knives? Was she a cop? A rival gang leader? An assassin? What was she planning to do with him...

"My name is Sarah Walker." She spoke in a soft tone, Her voice carrying a bit of an apologetic glint " I am a federal agent."

"Oh!" Naruto blinked. Well, That sorta made sense and he half expected her to tell him something like that. Though he wasn't much thrilled at the prospect of travelling with someone like that. Especially due to his father, who more often than not tended to break into restricted government websites , mostly because he needed to see what the "rat bastards" were up to. Naruto had an idea that Stephen was a contributor to some grand design and that might be the reason behind him being so much paranoid about everything. He had a feeling in the back of his mind that it had something to do with those images he saw many years back. He has been curious about that for a while and it would be a shame if he didn't get to solve it before finding his way back to Konoha. Though considering how panicky his father always seemed all the times, he never managed to get any real answers from him.

In order to keep his "Dad " out of trouble, Naruto himself began breaking and entering inside highly secured government websites back in his highschool days. Which had landed him in the most wanted list of FBI. Luckily, They had no idea how he looked, whether he was a teenager or an old man, what sort of equipment he used ...They didn't know jackshit about him. All they knew about was the codename he used which was ironically " Fire Shadow" .

He he, In some way he did become the Hokage. Though those words had a drastically different meaning here than they had back home.

They have been looking out for a while just to haul his arse into prison for no less than seven years and at the same time Nathan Bartowski, A White hat hacker was invited many times to work alongside the cybersecurity cell of FBI and train their ethical hackers in the way that they can put up a better defense against the black hat hackers. Just very recently, He had addressed a new batch of cyber security experts about how the information on social media could be turned into a deadly weapon in the hands of an expert hacker. It was quite the irony and Naruto could barely stop himself from laughing sometimes.

They have been looking out for a while just to haul his arse into prison for no less than eight years and at the same time Nathan Bartowski, A White hat hacker was invited many times to work alongside the cybersecurity cell of FBI and train their ethical hackers in the way that they can put up a better defense against the black hat hackers. Just very recently, He had addressed a new batch of cyber security experts about how the information on social media could be turned into a deadly weapon in the hands of an expert hacker. It was quite the irony and Naruto could barely stop himself from laughing sometimes. However, his past experiences with shinobi world had left him a bit cautious. The world really wasn't black and white like he used to initially think. And arrogance can lead to one's downfall. It happened to Sasuke, Neji , Kiba and even that sneaky traitor Kabuto. It can surely happen to him. That's why Nathan maintained a bit of distance from Federal Agencies unlike his fellow White Hats who landed permanent positions in the bureau.

For what he intended to do, being in spotlight wasn't a good thing.

"Glad to hear that." Naruto smiled at her , Sarah relaxed a bit , That turned out to be a lot better than she thought. Opening the drawer of his car he took out the guest badge he was offered at Quantico . He visited the place a lot of times either as a guest lecturer or to hold seminars on particular electronics/computer/hacking related subjects.

"So you are Nathan Bartowski. A White Hat hacker and you also conduct seminars on ethical hacking at Quantico and various other Law enforcement institutions." She spoke with a bit of interest. Feeling somewhat curious about her saviour.

"Yeah, But I am not just a Hacker. I am an independent contractor and I deal with anything from websites, games, coding, hardware issues and even cyber security. " Naruto remarked casually as he took a sharp turn from a traffic signal.

"Okay, Nathan. Let me be very clear. For the sake of national security I can't tell you everything. Rest assured they were the bad guys, a threat, part of rebel organization that I was sent to neutralise." She responded in a sincere tone, deciding that there wasn't any harm in playing nice with a good samaritan.

Naruto flinched at hearing the world neutralise as his mind went back to one of the missions when Team 7 was sent to deal with a bandit gang which had been terrorising the merchant guilds and passerbys alike. That "Neutralisation" made his stomach drop and made him vomit for hours. He wished that he could forget things like that but that fateful day in Stephen's computer lab prevented that from ever happening. Naturally, He was feeling a bit awkward. He was no longer a kid who couldn't stand the sight of blood but clearly he wasn't comfortable around murders either. He didn't hold it against Sarah though, just like he didn't hold it against Kakashi sensei that day. He shook those negative thoughts clouding his mind. He didn't need to think about that right now.

The agent in question looked torn as Naruto took a moment to regain his composure. It seemed like there were two sides to her. One belonged to a normal human being, susceptible to emotions and another belonged to a consummated intelligence operative, hardened by years of dedicated service to her agency. Both of her sides seemed to be locked in a never ending eternal conflict which exposed the deep rooted insecurities inside her. Bothered by the uncomfortable silence settling down between them, She reached out for Naruto's shoulder causing him to blink.

"I am sorry you had to see that." She continued in a soft tone, truly seeming apologetic, "I shouldn't have gotten you involved but...the way you helped me in fending off those guys, I just didn't have time to look for other options. " She pointedly looked in the rear view mirror, then towards his thoughtful face , afterwards she went back to staring at her shoes. " I am sorry that now you are stuck driving me for hundred of miles and I ruined your day."

Naruto burst into a fit of laughter, causing Sarah to look up in surprise, " Feh! Ruin my day? Hardly, It's gonna take a lot more than some mobsters and hollywood style adrenaline filled car chases to ruin the day of Nathan Bartowski. I am human definition of awesome after all. If anything I was glad to be of some help." He concluded with a tip of his imaginary hat.

"Thanks for saving me , Nate. I really mean it" She gave a grateful nod with bright smile which put the dazzling rays of sun to shame.

"Anything for a damsel in distress." Naruto responded jokingly, poking fun at her.

Sarah shared a brief look at Naruto before breaking out in laughter. Sarah Walker was anything but a damsel in distress. A small smile appeared on escaped Naruto's lips. That was no doubt one of the most enticing sounds he had heard for a while

Right now she didn't appear to be as cold hearted or as deadly he would have been led to believe an hour ago. The dimension misplaced ninja wondered if she had just slipped into another personality or mindset altogether. Though it wasn't like he had been seeing this first time. He had seen many shades of Kakashi when he was under the copycat ninja's tutelage and of course, Who can forget about the pervy sage...Those guys may seem like idiots but once they got serious, all hell broke loose.

May be the nice lady with guns were just like them.

Naruto was still curious though, all those questions were burning inside of him, However he temporarily constructed a mental barrier to relegate them for a while. This wasn't the time and place to ask those questions. But he had been somewhat successful in get her to open up. Besides she didn't seem like Zabuza stoic. The questions were swirling and threatened to rush in forefront of his mind till they were answered with no sign of fading anytime sooner. But she didn't seem like someone who was going to pour her heart to him. So he decided to address one of his main concern

"So Where do you want to go?"

"I hadn't had much sleep in the last five days. " She said truthfully, stretching her arms in a cat like fashion with a yawn, "I am going to need some rest."

"Umm...okay?" Naruto dumbfounded.

" Drive for a couple of hours, just in case. Then drop me off at some place where I can find some other mode of transportation." She squeezed his shoulders for a moment, as if trying to reassure him. When Naruto made it to the next turn, Sarah had already comfortably sunk in the seat and started snoring. Naruto let out a sigh as he picked over the gun which had now rolled over to the met. Draping his light blue jacket over her, he continued to drive for the next three hours, eventually stopping near a motel, where he made sure to book a room for two online.

After parking the car as much near his room as possible, he tried to wake up Sara by lightly shaking her shoulders and even calling out her name, she didn't react to any of it.

"Come on." Naruto frowned, shaking her even more harder, "Wake up."

She stirred a little and a slight inaudible whimper escaped her lips, "Why?...Why did you do this Bryce?"

Naruto who happened to have quite the hearing compared to other "normal" people of this dimension, almost froze at hearing that. Starting to feel uncomfortable out of no where. Then he shook his head. There was no way in hell she was talking about that Bryce. There were probably thousands of Bryces in the States, not just his room mate from Stanford. However hearing his name made him took a trip down memory lane. While Bryce had been a great friend, he never really understood the concept of loyalty and commitment in his romantic escapades. Thus, Naruto often found himself too many pieces of the women he left in his wake.

I hope he is still dating that Anderson chick he mentioned during the reunion at Stanford few months back.

"Damn! What am I going to do about you, Miss sleeping beauty?" Naruto grumbled for a moment, realizing that she was too much exhausted to wake up right now. The former ninja closed his eyes, there was only one thing he could do now. Resigning himself to his fate, he stepped out of the car and moved to her side. He unfastened her seatbelt and picked her up by sliding his right arm behind her knees and left arm behind her back. Surprisingly she was quite light for someone around that size. Carefully grabbing his keys using his teeth, he gently lifted the sleeping CIA agent, making sure to not bang her head against the doorframe, Naruto quickly made his way towards his room.

As soon as he reached, he deposited Sarah on the relatively big bed and pulled the covers on the other side, "Now I have to do something about those big bad bruises. You are quite banged up Miss federal agent."

Closing his eyes, Naruto took a long breath. There was this one time Tsunade had tried to explain the basics of how medic jutsu worked but at that time, he neither had the temperament nor the control to attempt that. He still couldn't completely reverse engineer what Baa-chan could do but the years he spent regaining his chakra control, and something strange happening to him thanks to that weird computer Stephen was working on, He now had the ability to use healing chakra towards a certain degree.

Carefully pushing the hem of her shirt and trying not to gawk like the blasted pervy-sage. He made an ox sign to gather the healing chakra into his left hand and tiger sign to release it upon the nasty bruise on the right side below her ribcage, the moment it made contact, the wound started to shrink and lost a bit of color. However, Naruto stopped before it completely disappeared, since he didn't want the spy to get any weird ideas. Besides this would have already increased her own healing abilities so she shouldn't have much difficulty recovering from this. Satisfied with his work, the former ninja pulled the covers back on and made his way towards the couch.

By all rights, a normal person would have freaked out momentarily by now, but he wasn't a normal , not by a long shot. Taking out his cell, he stepped outside of the door and dialled a familiar number.

"Little brother, I thought you were never going to call!"

"Well, what can I say Ellie? You threatened to maul my face if I didn't call you twice a day."

"And I probably will if you don't get a date on this birthday."

"We will see about that!" Naruto chuckled, already imagining the person on the line frowning at him, "How are things in Burbank?"

"Same old, What about you? "

"The usual. I managed to fix the technical issues and the assignment is successfully completed. I can't talk it about on phone though but rest assured, there was a nice paycheck involved."

"That's great Nate! Congratulations." Ellie practically squealed.

"So, are you going to be a dear sister and cancel the plans of my birthday party?" Naruto asked hopefully.

"No." Ellie responded, stubborn as ever. "You will celebrate your birthday."

"Can we at least invite some of the people I actually know instead of just your doctor friends?" Naruto let out a sigh

"Who do you have in mind?"

"Some of the contractors I have worked with in the past, Kevin and Christy who help me with the seminar work and probably some guys from the buy more."

"Most of them are harmless. Just keep those creepy dudes...what's his name..."

"You mean Jeff? I think it would be best to just keep him and Lester off the list. But we can still invite Skip, Big Mike and Anna."

"Consider it done, Nate. When are you coming back?"

"Hopefully, tomorrow as planned. Don't worry, I will call you if there are any changes. Besides, you should go and get some rest. You sound tired."

"Not everyone is a vibrant ball of energy like you, Nate."

"I take it as a compliment sis. Make sure to give Awesome my regards" Naruto chuckled

"I will . Bye Nate and enjoy your stay."

Disconnecting the call, Naruto put the cell back into his pocket and entered inside his room. From what he saw and felt, the blonde was probably going to sleep through the entire night. She was that tired. He might have to buy her some breakfast tomorrow though and simple Ramen won't do as everyone back home didn't really enjoy eating that first in the morning. Well, she was sort of like shinobi of this world, dedicating her life to protect the civilians and the country alike. So in his mind, he probably did something really good.

And just like that, Naruto relaxed on the couch with a coffee in his hands and began working on his computer.

...xxxx...xxxxx...

Sorry for deleting my old story, It's not entirely gone as I saved it on my PC but I felt there were a few things I could do differently. Such as the big reveal about him being a super powered individual from another dimension to Ellie, things like that should be saved for later. Another thing would be in the beginning, Sarah was supposed to be the only real "spy" Naruto encounters in this dimension, but I realized that I changed things too much between the first and last chapter of this story.

Unlike what I went with the last time, I am going to keep the email part from canon