Nine Lives/ NaruSasuNaru / Rated T - slight language, sexual themes / No More Masquerade

It's all so crazy. One day I name a black cat Sasuke, and the next it turns into a little boy that looks like Sasuke's kid, or something. It's not possible: people don't come back from the dead.

NaruSasu!CatNaru. Rated T - language and sexual themes.

This chapter was a great deal more fun to write than the last one, and I think you guys will enjoy it much more. -NMM

Chapter I – The Cat of the Festival

"I can't believe this happened, finding that cat," I grumbled. The spell that damn cat had over me was constantly disappearing whenever I left the house. It was rather irritating, my sudden change of feelings for the goof ball. "That cat is screwing with my life," I said, flicking a rock down the library steps with my toe.

"Was it so great before?" Sai asked, resting his elbows on the stack of books in his lap. "You seemed . . . lost, to me."

"At least every day was routine and all that, though. I don't need my life as a shinobi and my life at home to be crazy."

"I think this has to do with Sasuke, again," Sai noted, very little expression on his face, as usual. "You don't want him to be replaced. You want to hold onto your loss and hope that it will bring him back to you."

I frowned, looking down the steep steps. Even if he spews nothing but research from books, Sai knows when which information is suiting the situation. He's no Kakashi, but his habit of crossing all boundaries of conversation can really hit where it hurts.

"Maria Robinson once said," he continued, looking out over the village, "Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending."

My frustration grew at hearing how close he was to the mark. "And I suppose you're going to tell me that this cat is my chance to make a new ending, huh?" I exhaled sharply, irritably trying to stop my tears from falling. "Well I don't want a new ending. I want the ending that I was supposed to have."

He touched my arm, a form of condolence he found in a book. I didn't know if I wanted to stay there and let him talk sense into me, or if I wanted to go and talk myself back into my misery.

"This is the ending that you were supposed to have."

NMM

As I brush my teeth, I look down at the sink. Sasuke lays curled up happily under the faucet, his chin on the tube of toothpaste. I scoot him away as I spit and rinse the sink out. Of course, once I'm done, he lays back down in the sink, rolling around in the water droplets.

I've been thinking of renaming him—Sasuke doesn't suit him half as much as I originally thought. Kakashi visited, and when I told him Sasuke's name, he seemed pleased with my step forward to "healing," as Sai calls it. I wonder if changing his name is another way of trying to avoid thinking of Sasuke—the first Sasuke.

Sasuke looks at me sleepily as I stare blankly at him, toothbrush in hand. Whichever reason it is, I think, patting his head, I guess I'll just keep his name the way it is, for now. I do sort of like it, and he's already used to it, by now.

"Your name is still Sasuke, so don't get confused or anything. You're still named after that guy; like a sort of memorial, I guess," I tell him, putting up my toothbrush. He reaches out with a paw and stretches before following me out of the bathroom.

Today, I have a short mission in the village. I explain to Sasuke about how I haven't been getting very difficult missions recently, but I don't elaborate on how it has to do with my lack of motivation. Sasuke looks at me sadly, and begins one of his fits of mewing. I kneel down, and he hops onto my bent knee, rubbing his face against mine, mewing all the while. When I step out the door, he's still crying, and I can hear him all the way down the hall.

I wonder if he knows where I'm going, though I doubt it, as I haven't been on a mission since I took him in a week ago. Outside on the street, I look up and see him in the window, his tiny mouth opening and closing in agony, his tail swishing. When he sees me looking, he presses his paws against the window. "Cats," I sigh, and continue down the street.

The mission is as simple as I thought it would be—finding a misplaced document of some importance. As far as I'm told, someone might be after it, but I doubt this is really the case, and don't worry about it too much.

The owner can't remember where he lost the document, so I spend the whole day searching methodically. I finally find it in the middle of a field on the outskirts of the forest around midnight. I return it, accept my small pay, and pick up some ramen, a quart of milk, and some marshmallows before going home.

The house is dark, of course, and very quiet. I assume Sasuke is sleeping, which he does almost constantly. I put up the ramen and milk and head for my bedroom, opening the bag of marshmallows as I go.

"Sasuke," I say shaking the bag, "I brought you a new snack." I step into the bedroom and see he has snuggled under the pillows and blanket on my bed. His long, thin tail twitches mildly, but I know he's still asleep.

I sit facing him and stuff a marshmallow in my mouth. "Hey, Sasuke, I brought home some marshmallows for you. You'll like them, they're real sweet." I pick off a cat-sized bite of marshmallow for him and pull the pillow from over him.

For a moment, it appears that he's lying atop a baby doll, but I don't recall having any around the house, and I lift him up, baby doll and all. I hesitate, and finally drop the bit of marshmallow and turn on the light beside the bed.

Trying not to get too alarmed, I set down what looks to be a small child, lying amidst the pillows. The tiny face has remained serene, and the kid keeps sleeping.

I grimace and take a good look, wondering what sort of mess I'm really in. The kid looks to be around three or four. He has black hair that spikes back from his bangs to give it the look of a bird's tail. He's wearing a pair of zori sandals with a navy blue kimono covered in a pattern of light blue and white butterflies of all sizes, over which is a black obi. He grips a white ribbon in his hand, at the end of which is the remains of a yellow balloon.

At first, I assume he snuck in for a place to sleep, but after reaching behind him for Sasuke, whose tail is still twitching, I find that it's the kid who has the tail. My heart rate quickens, and I look at his sleeping face, my eyes finally leading me to see the cat ears on his head, which I had originally mistaken for two more spikes of hair.

As he sleeps, I go into a fit of panic: My cat has turned into a little boy (I assume it's a boy, though, of course, with kids you can always swing either way), and he's sleeping as if nothing has happened, and he's been this way, home alone, all day. Pacing about the room, I decide that I should show Kakashi, and have him decide what I should do. I pick up my old picture of Team 7, in which I've hidden all important locations and pieces of information— written on scraps of paper— that an intruder may try and find. Being that I've never actually been to Kakashi's house, his address is amongst the papers.

To calm myself down, I look over the photograph and, as always, linger on Sasuke's face. I'm about to pull apart the picture frame to retrieve Kakashi's address, when I flip the picture back over hurriedly and look at Sasuke once more.

"I must be crazy," I say, looking up at the sleeping boy on my bed. I eye his spiked hair and blue kimono. Once again, I look at Sasuke in the photograph. My heart races and jams in my throat. "No way," I whisper.

Absent-mindedly setting the picture on the table, I step back over to the bed and gingerly take the small boy in my hands. He blinks once before falling back to sleep, his chin pressing against his chest. I swallow, noticing the paleness of his skin and the blue sheen in his hair. Carefully, I turn him around to see his back.

I can't help but to smile when I see that his tail has lifted up the back of his kimono to reveal his bottom. Kid's a kid, even when he's a cat, I think, pulling his kimono down. Finally, I look him over carefully from the back, and, just as I thought, there it is: printed at the top of the back of the kimono and the back of the obi, as big as my fist, is a red and white fan.

"An Uchiha," I mutter, laying him down on his back once more. Slower than before, I take up the picture and, after glancing between the sleeping child and the Sasuke in the picture, I pull out Kakashi's home address.

With several marshmallows stuffed in my pocket and the little boy on my back, still out cold, I leave for Kakashi's as fast as I can move, my heart still pounding in my throat.

It's all so crazy. One day I name a black cat with black eyes Sasuke, and the next it turns into a little boy that looks like Sasuke's kid, or something. It's not possible. Cats don't turn into people, and people don't have cat ears and tails—not unless they're, I dunno, a shinobi, or demon or something. It's a simple concept, really. More importantly, I think to myself as I skip quickly through the trees, people don't come back from the dead. Not like this, anyway.

At Kakashi's, the lights are out, which is no surprise, considering the hour. However, as I approach the small cottage, I can hear a creak from within, and I know he must have heard me. All for the better though; I know he can tell it's me from where I am, and I'd rather not have to knock, and wait around at his door awkwardly in the middle of the night.

He's out on his porch before I make it up the steps. "Naruto, good evening," he says, wide awake.

I stare through the dark until I can see him, and I find he's in a bathrobe, a red scarf tied around his face. I roll my eyes.

"Can I come in?" I ask, making it up the steps.

He smiles. "I'm guessing this late night visit isn't about any sort of devious plans, eh?" As he laughs to himself, I cock an eyebrow, confused. Before I get a chance to ask, however, he steps inside, turns on the light and says, "Of course you may come in. You can tell me about your little friend you brought along."

Inside, Kakashi is uncharacteristically hospitable by making us tea, though something tells me that his real intention is to keep himself awake. Despite my theory, I try and pretend for a moment that he can actually be a good host, and I say thank you and all that nonsense. I feel uncharacteristically gracious, I suppose, and Kakashi sees this, asking, "Has that cat been teaching you some manners, Naruto?"

I glare at him for a moment before drinking my tea.

"So," Kakashi begins, motioning at the little boy sleeping beside me on Kakashi's couch, "I'm a bit curious about this little kitten you've brought along."

"Yeah, that's why I came," I mumble, setting down my tea cup. "I got home, and instead of my cat, there was this . . . kid."

"He reminds me of someone I knew once," Kakashi says, fiddling with the bottom of his scarf. He doesn't want to say he looks like Sasuke, just in case I get upset.

I pull the little boy onto my lap, ignoring Kakashi's careful words, and say, "That's what I thought, too. Now, look at this." I turn the little boy around to show Kakashi the symbol on his back.

"Ah," he says, suddenly much more interested, "I thought he was an Uchiha. His skin and hair are definitely from the Uchiha clan."

"He looks just like Sasuke," I say frankly, indicating the hair. "He even has a similar nose and mouth."

Kakashi relaxes now that the ice is broken. "Have you asked him his name?" Kakashi asks, crossing his arms and getting comfortable in his chair.

I look at the little boy, who's just as soundly asleep as he was when I got home. "No," I say, touching the broken balloon. "He hasn't woken up since I found him. I haven't even heard him speak, or seen his eyes open all the way."

"Did you look for your cat?"

I shake my head. "I just thought that they must be one in the same—the ears, the tail," I point at the kid's head.

Kakashi stands from his chair and steps over to the couch, kneeling in front of the little boy. He leans over his head and inhales deeply, muttering, "Scent is similar." Then, with a gentle shake of the boy's shoulder, he says, "Hey, time to wake up."

"Kakashi-sensei! You don't wake little kids! What the hell?" I hiss, but too late. The little boy opens his eyes and looks up at Kakashi.

"Nii-san?" he mutters, rubbing an eye with one hand and reaching to Kakashi's face with the other.

Kakashi plays along. "Hm?"

"Itachi nii-san?" the boy says, squinting at the bright light.

"Your brother isn't here right now," Kakashi says, turning the lamp shade away from the little boy. "He and your parents are out, and they asked us to watch you."

"Oh," says the little boy softly. "Where did they go?"

"I'm not sure," Kakashi says. "Are you hungry?"

The little boy sits up and looks about the room sleepily. "May I have some milk?"

Kakashi stands. "Coming right up." He smiles warmly before heading to where I assume the kitchen is.

Suddenly, I feel as if I should say something, being that he was asleep in my house. My mind races: I can't interrogate him right off the bat; that may scare him. Should I just treat him like any other kid? But he's not just any kid—he's some kid, probably Sasuke, come through some strange hole in time and space altogether, morphing supernaturally with my cat. The kid finally looks at me, and I quickly think something up.

"Uh, hi," I say, touching the back of my neck nervously. "What's your name?" So smooth, I think bitterly

"My name's Sasuke," the boy says happily, very much awake now. "Where's my brother?"

"He—he's not here," I yelp, knowing well that Itachi is long dead by now.

"How old am I?" Sasuke asks, grinning wildly.

I'm not too used to being around kids, but I'm pretty sure that you ask them these sorts of questions. "You? Uh, three?"

"Well, I'm four, but . . . but . . . " he seems frustrated, "but how old am I now?"

My throat sticks for a moment. Now? Seventeen. Sasuke would be seventeen by now. But where is he getting this idea? Does he know what's happened? Did he send himself through time on purpose? I scratch my neck nervously

"Now? Well . . . " I look at his bright eyes and see the wisdom there. "Uh, now . . . you would be seventeen."

"My birthday is July," Sasuke says excitedly.

"Yeah, I know," I say softly. "That's not for a while, though."

"Is it still April?" Sasuke asks, gripping his hands together.

"Yeah," I say, turning to face him, my heel tapping sporadically on the hardwood floor. "Do you know what has happened to you?"

"My brother told me," Sasuke begins, sighing importantly, "that our greens in our DMK are different than . . . um . . . " his face falls. "He said that we go . . . er . . . Well, when he said it the second time, he said we have moments of time of being in the future," he nods and pauses for emphasis, "and that . . . it lasts a long time . . . and . . . "

Kakashi, who I find has been listening from his chair for who knows how long, holds up a hand and cuts in. "Sasuke, did your brother tell you if this has to do with the Sharingan?"

"It does!" Sasuke says, nodding rapidly. "He said that the Shoringin can mantipulate time and space!" He throws his arms in the air here, laughing gaily. "We're gnat-run born ninjas!"

Kakashi nods sensibly. I just feel like a jerk and an idiot. I try and grasp what it is that Kakashi clearly already knows.

Deciding it's just because he has the Sharingan that Kakashi understands, I instinctively reach over and remove Sasuke's zori sandals. He doesn't seem to mind as he holds out his feet for me.

"Did he tell you whether he went through the same thing?" Kakashi asks, standing and holding the glass of milk out for Sasuke.

With two incredibly small hands, Sasuke reaches up and takes the glass, which is so big compared to him that I'm afraid it will be too heavy. However, his little fingers grip the glass solidly, and he brings it to his lips, taking a long gulp, which results in a splash of milk down the front of his kimono. I reach over quickly, hoping to stop the cascade before the glass drains entirely down Sasuke's front, and he hands me the glass obligingly, sighing in satisfaction. While Kakashi goes to the kitchen, saying something about a towel, Sasuke pats the front of his kimono, causing tiny, dark handprints to surface where the milk soaks into the silk.

"My brother said that I died," Sasuke says, looking up from his kimono, milk dripping from his chin and nose. "He says that I'll be with someone special.

I wipe his face with my jacket sleeve. He doesn't even look at my arm as I do so, and I wonder if this happens often. I imagine Itachi cooling Sasuke's tea, and only filling the cup half way before serving it to him on the porch. By the look of things, he probably adds sugar to it to get Sasuke to drink it, being that Sasuke seems to love sweets so much.

"Someone special?" I say, smiling. "I think you are."

"What's your name?" Sasuke asks, grabbing my knee.

I stare at his fingers, each one no longer than the body of a dragonfly. "Uzumaki Naruto."

"That's funny," Sasuke laughs tapping my knee-cap. "Spiral, just like a naruto from the soups. Spiral whirlpool!" He giggles wildly, and I can't help but smile. He's the only person who has ever openly laughed at the concept. "Your mama was funny!" he shrieks, covering his cheeks with his hands. "She named you sillyly!"

"Well, how about you? You have a silly name," I say, grinning. I'm talking about Uchiha—fan, and how it relates to the clan's ability to breathe fire, as Kakashi had told me once. It seems sort of funny.

"Nuh-uh!" Sasuke says, suddenly serious. "I'm named after Sarutobi Sasuke! My dad says it's cause of the Hokage, but mama says it's cause of the great ninja from the legends. Itachi told me that he was real fast and strong like an acrobat. And he was local!"

"You mean loyal?" I laugh.

"Yeah! Loyal!" Sasuke says excitedly. "I'm gonna be like that! I'm gonna be fast and strong and local!" His eyes widen as a thought strikes him. "Hey, hey, you know, right? Am I strong and fast and local? Am I a ninja?"

I smile sadly. "Yeah, you were pretty strong—actually, it's just like the legends; a gang of just anyone couldn't take you down, even if there were a lot of them. It took some of the strongest ninja in the village to capture you." His face glows with delight, and I go on. "You were fast, too. That's one of the first things people noticed when they battled you. 'So fast! I can't even see him!' they said. You were one place, and then you were somewhere else." I swish my hand through the air to demonstrate.

"Was I local?" Sasuke whispers, gasping in anticipation.

"Do you know what loyal means?" I ask, staring into his tiny face as Kakashi steps back into the room.

"Need to do the laundry—I could only find one clean towel," Kakashi says, bending down in front of Sasuke. "Let's get this wet kimono off of you. Wouldn't want people to get the wrong idea, being that it's milk and all." He laughs in a disturbing manner, and I shoot him a sharp glare, at which he silences.

"Yeah, I know it," Sasuke says gravely, holding up his arms as Kakashi removes his obi. This alarms Kakashi slightly, until he realizes that he has walked in on a previous conversation, and he slips off Sasuke's kimono, a little red in the face.

Despite his reassurance, I'm not sure Sasuke really does know what loyal means. So far, he seems like a pretty cocky kid, though I'm not sure he realizes it. "To be loyal," I say, placing my hands on my knees, "is when you find something important to you, and you stick with it, no matter what happens, even through death and torture. Being loyal is when you will go to the ends of the earth for something or someone. If you say that you're loyal to your word, that means that you mean what you say, one hundred percent, and even if it causes you problems, you'll stick with it. If you're loyal to someone . . . " The inevitable pang of hurt slides through me, and Sasuke looks on, his eyes wide, wondering how loyal he became.

It pains me to know that this tiny, vivacious kid will one day—does, one day—become a silent, lonely, vengeful soul, who was broken in so many ways by people he loved and trusted more than anyone else. I can hardly believe that a child so pure and happy could one day be wounded so terribly that there is no longer room in his heart for love, as full of hatred as it will one day be. This child, eyes shining, pink lips— glazed in milk— hanging open in awe, so precious and full of love, will one day destroy me, ruin me past all help, and break a seal strong enough to withstand sorrows so harsh that they shaped who I became. This child will die before my eyes.

"If you're loyal to someone, you will do what you know is best for them, and always listen to them and tell them the truth," Kakashi finishes for me. "Your mother is probably loyal to you, as is your brother, right?"

"Yeah, yeah," Sasuke mumbles softly, nodding as he tries to help Kakashi wipe the milk from his thin torso by putting his hands on top of Kakashi's. In response to this, Kakashi follows where Sasuke "leads" his hand, wiping in a zigzag pattern across his tiny belly. Sasuke giggles, clenching Kakashi's fingers. "That tickles!" he shrieks, putting his hands on his stomach.

I watch distantly, my mind buzzing with memories. Sasuke's small, laughing face contrasts darkly with the Sasuke I knew so well.

"Naruto nii-san," Sasuke coos, pulling my jacket sleeve as Kakashi wipes under his round chin. "So, am I loyal?"

"Local," I say, then shake my head. "I mean loyal. Were you loyal? Well . . . "

No. You were the opposite—you were disloyal. Friends less close to me than you showed more loyalty to me in a month than you showed to me all the time I knew you. As a matter of fact, you were the least loyal person I knew. You were disloyal to me, to Sakura, to Kakashi-sensei, and to the entire village. In the end, you were even disloyal to your new companions and your brother, who would never have wanted you to hurt anyone in the village. You came to love him, and you betrayed him by destroying everything he worked for, even yourself. It's almost disgusting, how loyal you were in the presence of someone, and then how completely disloyal you could be once you turned your back on them.

"Yes," Kakashi says, filling in for my silence, once again. "Once you had a goal, you stuck with it until you accomplished your dreams. You were very loyal to your ambitions, and you worked endlessly to get what you wanted. It is a trait that I still admire."

"My brother said that lowlty is amireble," Sasuke says, finally looking away from my face, which has frozen with the guilt I suddenly feel in almost betraying Sasuke to a child—his younger-self, for that matter.

"It is, surely," says Kakashi, pulling a clean, though far too-big shirt over Sasuke's head. "Some of the people I've been closest to have been very loyal."

"Was your brother loyal?" Sasuke asks, wiggling inside the shirt. "And your mama and daddy?"

"My father was very loyal, yes," says Kakashi, folding the kimono and sitting on the couch on the other side of Sasuke. "He was loyal to his companions."

"Who else?" Sasuke asks, rolling up inside the humongous shirt. "Your daddy and me. Oh,oh, am I your friend?"

"You were my student," Kakashi says. "Alright, let's see . . . My best friend was very loyal to his companions, my teacher was very loyal to his family and village, two of my students have been very loyal to their companions, all of my students have been loyal to their ambitions . . . and many of my friends have been loyal to their villages, their companions, their ambitions, their families, and themselves."

"How do you do that?" Sasuke asks, poking his head out of the neck of the shirt. "Loy-cal to yourself?"

"By never lying to yourself, never letting others lie to you, and always watching out for yourself and letting yourself be happy," says Kakashi, patting Sasuke's head.

"Why do you keep your eye closed?" Sasuke asks, gently touching Kakashi's scarred eye.

"I have a Sharingan in this eye, and because it's not mine, it's always activated. I keep my eye closed until I use it in battle," says Kakashi. He runs a hand through his hair. I wonder if this is because he's not used to kids, or if he's tired. I opt for my second guess, seeing his red his open eye is becoming.

"A Shoringin! Is it mine? Is that where you got it? Is it hard to keep your eye closed all the time? I wanna see it!" Sasuke babbles, climbing into Kakashi's lap. I sink into the couch, feeling a little betrayed.

"It's not yours, no," Kakashi says. "So, Sasuke, do you have your Sharingan yet?"

"Nope," says Sasuke as he tries to pry open Kakashi's eye by pushing his upper lid up, and his lower lid down. Of course, this is all in vain, though he continues to try. "Why do you have your face covered?"

"Did your brother tell you how long you'd be here for?" I interrupt. Mostly, I don't want to see where that conversation would lead, but I also feel a little ignored. Strange how kids can do that.

Sasuke looks at me with his clear, innocent eyes. Though they're the same, dark eyes that I knew—deep, nearly black-grey with very little shine—they may as well belong to someone else. They're lit up; full of emotions I don't even see in the eyes of other people know. I see compassion glowing around the edges and eagerness burning at the core. I smile.

"He said it would be a long time, but he said—he said that it lasts until . . . until someone learns," Sasuke says, playing with his toes. I begin to speak, but then he remembers something else. "Ah! Nii-san said that I would be here, and then I would go back home, but he said that I would come back later, then later, then later, and again and again!"

"Until someone learns something?" Kakashi asks.

"I dunno," Sasuke says, shrugging. "He said that he went back to the future three times already! And y'know, y'know what?" he whispers, looking at the both of us. "Do you know what? He was visiting me!" He giggles at his little secret. "He said he knew it was me because I re'gnized him, and he said that I was very strong and," here his giggles heighten, and he buries his face in his shirt, "I was very handsome! He said I was cool! Am I cool? Am I really, really cool?" He looks up at Kakashi, revealing his tiny, square teeth in a smile that suits him beyond anything I've ever seen.

"Very cool," Kakashi says, lifting Sasuke off his lap and setting him on his feet. "Well, it's about time you two get home. Some of us in the room can actually sleep at night."

"Well it wasn't night! It was day time! And I was at a festival, and Itachi nii-san got me a balloon, and ha-san got us fishes, and mine was orange and red! And he did this!" Forming his mouth into an o, Sasuke pops his lips together—his impersonation of a fish. "Poppu, poppu, poppu! Pichi, pichi, pichi!"* He wiggles his bottom and flaps his arms—fish tail, fish fins.

"Naruto, good luck," Kakashi says, patting my shoulder.

"Thanks," I drawl sarcastically.

For a moment, we're both silent as we watch Sasuke swim around one of Kakashi's potted plants. "I'll be over tomorrow," Kakashi says at last. "We'll discuss this. Now, I think we all need some sleep."

"But what do I do with him?" I hiss, waving rapidly at Sasuke. "I don't know anything about little kids! What does he eat? Does he need his diaper changed? Come on, I'm not a dad or anything!"

"He eats regular food, like older kids, and he's probably potty-trained. Good bye," Kakashi says, handing me Sasuke's kimono, obi, and zori sandals before opening the door. Sasuke bubbles out onto the porch. Kakashi's eye is now redder, and half-closed more than usual.

"Should I just put him in my bed?" I ask, holding the door open. "Or—or does he need a crib?"

"Put him to sleep. Good night." The door slips from my hand and slams shut. "Good luck."

"Good for nothing jounin," I snarl, turning to where Sasuke is hopping up and down the porch steps. "Sasuke," I call, and the name feels strange when addressed to the real, four-year-old thing. "We're going to my house to go to bed. Come on."

Sasuke rushes at my legs and clings to my knees. "Let's go to my house, my house!" he chirps gleefully. "Nii-san! Ha-san! Let's go, let's go!"

I cringe. Should I tell him about Itachi and his family? Will he remember when he returns to his own time? I decide it's a bad idea. "No, no, you came to the future to visit me; you can see your mom and brother when you go home, OK?"

In time, I wrestle the little monkey onto my back, and wonder why he wasn't named Sarutobi as well. He thinks it's a game, and climbs on my heads and around my arms. I thank god that I have the build for this.

I calm him down by giving him a marshmallow, and once we're heading back home, he's too preoccupied with it to play.

Once in my own room, I set Sasuke down on my bed, and his tail swishes in satisfaction as he claps his hands together. I kneel down and take his hands to get a closer look.

"Marshmallow!" Sasuke laughs, squeezing his little fists to feel his fingers stick to his palm. I look up to see the white goo smeared across his lips and cheeks.

"Oh," I sigh, setting Sasuke on the floor and leading him into the bathroom. "Damn."

"Oh damn!" Sasuke sings. "Oh damn! Oh damn, damn, damn!"

To Be Continued

*Let us all commemorate NMM is having spent an hour in searching for the onomatopoeia of the sound fish make in Japan. Unfortunately, I was too tired to actually learn any of the other animal sounds while looking, except for mo mo – cow, and pichi pichi – fish's tail. Not blub blub, but the damn tail. Still, I didn't actually find it. I may as well have just written blub blub from the beginning.

I guess I tried to make it more like a published work by italicizing the foreign words, though words like Hokage seemed not to qualify, to me, since it's not really . . . I mean, it's Naruto, not everyday Japan.

Playlist – James Taylor, Jack Johnson.

- No More Masquerade