Mochi grinned, and prepared to do her usual bit on the Uchiha brat. She had read the psyche reports, and was more than happy to break the rather morbid emo brat without actually harming his ability to become a shinobi.

Best of all, the council couldn't complain about her methods!

(She had already given the Hokage a list of all ROOT bases that she remembered, which was a lot considering she was the one to break the mental block Danzo put on those kids. Chances were high that Sarutobi would find the same bases and the retraining would begin.)

She knocked out Sasuke with a well aimed senbon, and vanished into the night, to the alarm of the ANBU who were watching him.

"Let me go!" snarled Sasuke.

"Not a chance brat. I think it's high time someone got through to you. So you're going to sit there and take it," said Mochi in a no nonsense voice. Her face was covered by her mask, which she had sealed on her at all times.

"What makes you think you can take me?" he snapped.

What happened next broke through all his defenses...to the shock of Anko and Inoichi who were there to monitor.

"Home is behind, the world ahead

And there are many paths to tread

Through shadow, to the edge of night

Until the stars are all alight

Mist and shadow, cloud and shade

All shade fade, all shall fade."*

Sasuke sat there in shock, unable to make a single comeback.

That was the same lullaby his mother used to sing to him whenever he had a nightmare, or was feeling down about the fact his father paid more attention to Itachi without even showing any interest in his own accomplishments.

It went without saying Sasuke felt more pain over the loss of his mother than his father. In fact, had Itachi left their mother alone he wouldn't have hated him nearly as much.

"I think...that you have been alone for a very long time Sasuke. And the Elders sure as hell aren't helping the situation," said Mochi quietly.

"Where...where did you hear that song?" he said in a choked voice. It was painfully obvious that he was trying not to cry.

"Your mother taught it to me on the days I ended up babysitting that moron of a brother you have. It was the only thing I had to get him to listen to me."

For once, Sasuke didn't go ballistic over the mention of his older brother, which shocked Inoichi more than he wanted to admit.

"How...how do you know me?"

Mochi removed her mask.

"I come from an alternate reality, and I saved you from becoming a lone avenger. There, you never came across the dead Uchiha and were never exposed to a fully developed Mangekyo Sharingan. In fact, it was your brother's idea to kidnap you and keep you from seeing what he had to do."

That was all it took for Sasuke to break down and cry, for the first time in nearly six years. He had been in too much shock after the event, and there was always someone watching him.

Even with the deaths of the Uchiha, no one ever acknowledge his own efforts. It was always 'Uchiha' this, 'Uchiha' that. It was enough to make him hate the villagers.

When Sasuke finally fell asleep, after crying out all the tears he had been holding in, Anko walked into the room.

"I have to say, I am impressed. Never knew you could break someone with a lullaby."

"How shocked was he?" grinned Mochi. Sasuke was asleep on her lap.

"Oh trust me, you'll be getting copies of his look. They've been trying to get that kid to let his emotions out in a healthy way since the massacre."

"In my reality, he never had a chance to become an avenger. He knew Itachi did it to protect Konoha, and that someone else murdered the other Uchiha who had nothing to do with the plot."

"So who are you going to break next?"

"Hmm...I'm thinking the village pariah. Naruto shouldn't have to deal with the same shit we did. It's not his fault some moron leaked that info."

Anko coughed.

"It was the Sandaime who leaked it out."

Mochi gave her a look and said "Bullshit. Even I could have seen the reaction after how they treated us because of Orochimaru. Who, by the way, shall be castrated if he dares show his face to me again."

"I'll help," growled Anko.


Naruto stared. It was the nice lady from before!

"I didn't know you moved next door."

"Meh. The old man was kind enough to let me have this place free for the first month, provided I help stabilize their younger shinobi force."

Naruto cocked a head.

"What does stabilize mean?"

Mochi stared. He did not just ask that.

"Do you own a dictionary?"

"The last one I had got trashed by the villagers a week ago."

"How often do they trash your things?"

"Once a month."

Mochi bit back a growl. This was exactly why she kidnapped Naru in her reality!

"Tell you what, you can come to my apartment and use my dictionary. What do you want for dinner gaki?"

"Ramen!"

"Dango!" declared Mochi mischievously.

Naruto caught on quick, because soon the two were bantering back and forth over which was better, ramen or dango.

Once Mochi had his belly full, she went about seeing how bad the damage was to his education.

What she saw made her blood boil. If people weren't spitting at him they were actively making his life hell. She found police reports of no less than twenty break ins, and some even had the comment that the brat deserved it.

She couldn't wait to break it to these bastards that Naruto had a defender, who didn't hesitate to break them in mind and body.


Naruto awoke to find himself in the other apartment on his floor. The only reason he knew what it looked like was that he had been in here before, after his own was broken and trashed.

The nice lady who fed him the day before was cooking a simple but hot breakfast.

"Morning gaki. Breakfast is almost ready."

"You're not going to chase me out?" said Naruto in shock.

Mochi's eyes narrowed.

"I happen to like kids, and I think anyone who takes out their anger on one without reason should be sodomized by trees," she said flatly.

Naruto couldn't help it, he snickered.

"Next time someone tries to beat you for no other reason than existing, come find me. I'm usually around the T and I department. If I'm not there, ask for Anko."

There was a knock at the door, and Naruto opened it to find...Sasuke?

"Teme!"

"Dobe."

"BOTH OF YOU SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP!" barked Mochi.

Without a word, both of them sat at opposite ends of each other.

"I invited him Naruto. And if it helps, I'm trying to dislodge the kunai that the Elders shoved up his ass."

Naruto started laughing, but sobered up when Sasuke didn't deny it. The fact was that she had already gotten into his good graces by knowing his mother's lullaby and treating him the same as any other shinobi-in-training on the street.

Sasuke genuinely craved attention, but all he ever got was because of his clan, never his own achievements. And the only thing the girls ever saw about him was his looks, his money or his clan bloodline.

"So, what do you think?"

Sasuke made a non response, but it was clear Naruto thoroughly enjoyed it.

"Why are you being so nice to us?" asked Sasuke.

"Well for starters, I'm not from this reality."

That threw them both for a loop.

"In my reality, the two of you were closer than brothers, and Itachi was placed on a secret mission to infiltrate some S-class criminals while I tried to find the identity of the second Uchiha murderer."

"Wait, second?"

"What I am about to tell you is a secret. The Mangekyo Sharingan can't be used to it's full extent for an entire week. There should be records about it, considering Madara Uchiha was the first to find it."

Sasuke looked abashed, since he had looked up the upgraded version of the Sharingan after Itachi had mentioned it.

"I read that using it causes the person who has it to go blind."

"Great, yet another thing I can hang over Itachi's head," grinned Mochi.

Sasuke grinned to. The thought of Mochi going after his brother brought an evil grin to his face, one that would make that insane woman who looked like Mochi proud.

"So what's on the agenda today boys? I don't care if you crash at the apartment to steal food, so long as you understand one thing."

"And what's that Mochi-nee-san?"

"This...is a neutral zone. Which means no jutsus, insults or fighting while you're in the house. Outside is fine, since the only thing I would have to replace is the door."

The two rivals looked at each other and said "We can accept that."

"If you two finish your homework, I might just start you on seals. Their more useful than you would think," said Mochi.

Naruto cheered and Sasuke looked interested. Seals were barely covered in the Academy, and even then they were a footnote. The shinobi who taught the class made it so boring that it was little wonder that there were few seal masters.


"So let me get this straight. If want to get the council off your back I have to either go on a mission or take a semi permanent job teaching brats?" said Mochi.

The Hokage had been forced to tell the others about Mochi and the fact she was from an alternate reality. Danzo wanted to mine her for details...while the others wanted to boot her out as a security risk.

Fortunately for her, she had gone straight to the T and I department and proved to be a valuable asset to the village by starting Sasuke on some real therapy. He was already losing his avenger aspect.

"Fine. I'll teach the brats seals then. Shouldn't be too hard getting them interested."

"We already have a seals class."

"And how many seal users do you have that can draw one without messing it up or killing themselves?" she asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"...Point taken."

"When do I start?"

"I'll write you a note. You start by lunch time."

"This...is going to be fun. Can I break the fangirls? Please?" she begged.

"...No maiming. If you can get them to take their training seriously, then you are allowed to break them."

Mochi grinned evilly.

"Would you like the test we had them do after we ousted Danzo and put the Elders in their place?"

"What test?"

"A test to give them apprenticeships with other people. It had a high success rate and got them to benefit the village in other ways."

"Do you have a copy?"

"I helped to write it. Give me a day and I'll send you a copy."


"Alright kiddies! Time for you to learn a whole new skill set!" said Mochi grinning.

The class was full of those who were about to take the genin exam. Naruto and Sasuke among them.

Naruto decided to help Sasuke out by keeping the fangirls from sitting next to him. Sasuke was closest to the window.

"Today we are going to learn about basic seals. Who here can tell me about seals? Anyone?"

Sakura, ever the bookworm, raised her hand and repeated word for word the textbook explanation on seals. Mochi facepalmed in disbelief.

"Wrong, wrong, WRONG! Who the hell wrote that load of tripe about seals?!"

Sakura's mouth opened and closed in absolute shock. She had never gotten an answer wrong or been cussed out by a teacher before.

"Anyone else want to try?" asked Mochi with a tone saying she was in denial.

Seeing no one else, Naruto slowly raised his hand.

"Fox boy, you're up! Let's see if you know what seals can really do," said Mochi. From her tone, she clearly expected him to at least have some idea.

"Well...some seals can make you go really fast...and cause gravity to crush your enemies...and hide important documents..."

With each example Mochi's expression brightened.

"Correct! Seals can do more than make things go boom or carry large amounts of items. Who wants to see an example?" asked Mochi.

Naruto flinched as he felt Sakura's glare. She was so used to being the smart one that having Naruto beat her in a school related question made her unbelievably angry.

Mochi took them outside to a bare patch of ground. She started a rather simple (for her) seal, but left it unfinished. It was only missing one symbol.

"Right. So who among you can finish this seal? Whoever does it is exempt from being turned into a test subject!" said Mochi cheerfully.

One by one, they all tried to complete it. All but five failed.

Shikamaru, Naruto, Shino, Sasuke and surprisingly Hinata.

With the completed seal, Mochi used it to summon one of her wolves.

"Where's the fight?" growled Hoshi.

"No fight. Trying to keep these brats from being killed by teaching them seals."

The wolf huffed, and sat down.

"As you kids can see, seals can do a lot of things. The seal I drew earlier is a basic summon seal, which makes it easier to bring out larger summon creatures. Handy for when you have enough time to draw it, but the hand signs are usually faster."

Now she had their interest. The more she demonstrated, the easier it was to keep them interested. By the end of the day, most of the students hit the library for books on seals.


Mochi headed to the Teacher's Lounge, feeling very upbeat...and cheerfully grinned at the former seal teacher who was glaring at her. She had usurped his position.

"So how did it go?" asked Iruka worried. Naruto could be a handful.

"Easy. Once I showed them some easy seals, they were hooked. Last I saw them they were hitting the library for seal books!" she cackled.

"Naruto...going to the library for books?" said Iruka in disbelief.

"It helps when you show them something they would actually be interested in. Though I may have to drop Pinkie from my class, after that look she shot Fox Boy because he got the right answer and she didn't."

"The brat got one right?" was the general answer by the other teachers, baring Iruka.

"Pinkie gave me some lame ass textbook answer on seals, while the kid gave me examples of what they could do instead of the most benign forms," explained Mochi.

"Haruno is one of our best kunoichi," said one of the other teachers proudly.

"Textbook good or practical good?" asked Mochi.

"Textbook," he answered.

"She'll be dead by her first mission then. Textbook good is only in the Academy. If I had to guess, I would say the Hyuga girl is the best kunoichi in the Academy," said Mochi.

Hearing the incredulous laughter from the other teachers (baring Iruka)

"Alright then, how many of you had taken a mission outside the village in the last two years?"

Out of twelve shinobi teachers, only two raised their hands.

"And in those missions, how often has the textbook answer been right? Particularly against enemy nins?"

Those hands went down.

"Someone needs to get it through to that brat that being textbook smart isn't going to cut it outside the village," said Mochi.


*I will give a shout out to anyone who recognizes that song. Here's the only hint you'll get: It's from the last movie in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I will PM anyone who can give me the scene and the name of the singer!