Where Loyalties Lie

By Chibi Tsuki

Summary: After leaving Konoha for ten years and working undercover with a new identity as a wanderer, Naruto is recalled back to Konoha by Tsunade, bringing his son for another new beginning as a Konoha shinobi. However, his identity is to be kept a secret and his real mission is unspoken of.

Disclaimer: Naruto isn't mine, the characters are simply loaned, or borrowed for the better word since I don't pay rental fees.

A/N: Thanks for your reviews! I appreciate your support. Hopefully I'll stick to the goal of completing this fic as I tend to drop off...

I've used several Japanese terms here and there, mostly common ones. They will be marked with an asterix '' and explained at the end notes.


Chapter Two

Meeting the Hokage

As the sun peered over the horizons, faint shadows were cast behind the two figures sitting in the meadow cross-legged. Their postures were upright, shoulders relaxed, eyes slightly open and hands connected on their laps in the shape of a lotus flower. Inhaling, exhaling, inhaling, exhaling; they breathed in a regular pattern. Any bystander would've admitted that they found the duo emitting a feeling of serenity and peace, however there were none at this time of the day. Shadows grew darker as the sun climbed higher up into the sky and Ryuuya was the first to display some movement. In slow motion, he moved his body and commenced an exercise to relieve his body of its stiffness. When he had finally completed the routine, he glanced at his companion who was still in the state of meditating. As always, he was deep in meditation with a concentrated mind, thinking of nothing and focused on his breath. Such a level of meditation needed determination, relaxation and most importantly discipline.

Ryuuya absorbed the scenery around him; the sweet scent of morning dew, trees that swayed gently in the wind and the birds twittering as they rose to greet each other to a new day. It reminded him of home – or what used to be his home. There were happy and sad times back at that small village but no matter how he yearned to return to it, nothing would be the same. The past can only be a memory, the future is an enigma, but the present is the moment which then becomes the past and unfolds the mysteries of the future. For a moment longer he indulged himself by dwelling on those memories before starting to work on exercising his body at the far end of the meadow.

It was close to another half hour before Tatsuya indicated that he had finished meditating by working through the same exercises Ryuuya had completed. The sun was perched high in the sky and the morning warmth was chasing the morning chill away. Their appointment with the Hokage was to be in a few hours. It was an appointment for the duo to make an impression that they were genuinely interested in becoming citizens of Konoha and that their intentions were for the good of the village. Unbeknownst to all except the Hokage, that impression had already been made the day Tatsuya had decided to become a ninja almost twenty years ago. "Ryuuya," he called, standing tall and waiting as the dark headed boy bounded up next to him. Endearingly, he hooked a long arm around the boy's neck and tousled his silky hair.

"To- Tatsuya!" he complained, child-like. Although the little physical resistance suggested he didn't mind it too much. When they had settled down from the display of affection he said in a voice just short of a whine, "I'm hungry. I want croissant for breakfast and waffles with maple syrup! Loads of it!"

With a chuckle, the elder replied, "They don't have croissants and waffles here." Seeing the raised eyebrows and small pout he added, "But they do have those onigiri that your mum made-"

"Yum, yum yum!" Ryuuya cried and tugged Tatsuya along behind him by the sleeve towards the direction of the market district.


People were bustling here and there, opening stores and stalls, delivering and receiving stock orders and readying the food for the day. Most of the shops open were eateries so that villagers and ninjas alike could eat breakfast before attending to their own matters in the day. Selecting one of the stalls with steaming foods, Tatsuya and Ryuuya purchased ten steaming rice balls, wrapped in crunchy seaweed and settled themselves down on one of the small benches. Although they ate in silence, the pair was savouring every mouthful of the warm sticky rice that glued to their fingers as they ate. Tatsuya ate with a little more care than usual as the chewing action sent a small jolt of pain to his swollen cheeks. As they were finishing their breakfast a man plonked himself down beside them, sending a tremor across the table. Long spiky, brown hair hung below the collar of his dark green jounin vest and swirls on each of his two round cheeks were visible. Ryuuya couldn't help but start counting the number of onigiri on his plate which totalled to twenty and in addition to that, he had a large bowl of noodles.

Noticing the curious stare the man chuckled and grinned at the boy. "This keeps me going for three hours at most," he said in a low rumble. "I keep snacks on me as well."

Eyes boggling Ryuuya exclaimed, "Really? Don't you feel sick after?"

Another chuckle was followed by a pat on his stomach. "It all comes down here." Suddenly he lowered his head to Ryuuya's eye level and squinted hard. Ryuuya could only feel the intensity of the eyes locked on him; searching. The man's large hard landed on Ryuuya's head and patted him affectionately. "I see you have a strong and steady stare kid. Good eyes. Reminds me of a friend I had." His laughter softly died as he became caught in a memory on the loose.

"What happened to him?"

"Don't really know myself. One day he was just gone. No word, no note. Nothing." He tilted his head to face the cloudless blue sky as if believing that no matter what, the sky was one thing they still shared. "Didn't really know him very well, but he was a great fellow."

Aroused by curiosity Ryuuya asked, "What was he like?"

"He never gave up, gave a hundred percent in everything. We thought he was a bit of a loudmouth at first, jumped straight into the action without analysing the situation whatsoever. But he never let us down." Opposite the jounin, the man with the streaked hair started coughing and turned away from the table.

"You alright, Tatsuya?" The boy's companion nodded and gestured in a wave for Ryuuya to leave him be. "What was that boy's name?"

The stranger who had just bit into an onigiri gestured for him to wait. Finally, he said, "Uzumaki Naruto-"

"Who should be classified as a missing-nin." The trio looked up at the speaker. It was Tora, the two newcomers' escort to the Hokage's office. She let out a barely audible sigh, "Just hope he isn't involved in any of those organisations."

"Morning, Tora-san," Ryuuya greeted, his words accompanied by a beaming smile. "Are we to meet the Hokage?" The Anbu captain nodded and gestured to them that they were to leave. Looking back at the plump man Ryuuya bid him farewell and raced after the two adults who had left without him.


Their trip to their destination was in silence. Tora didn't strike up a conversation and Tatsuya didn't feel the need to. Having travelled a hard and arduous journey, Tatsuya was tired and weary. The offer of a permanent home without having to take precautions daily was a relief. Besides, there was nothing particular to talk about other than pleasantries. Under the shining wooden arch they went and into a grand building. As grand as it was, it was still very comforting and was enveloping him into a warm, welcome embrace. Clearing numerous flights of stairs, they finally reached the top floor which presented them with the most excellent views of the village.

"Please wait here while I inform the Hokage," Tora said in little more than a murmur. She knocked at the polished pine doors to the Hokage's room and entered. It was barely even a moment when she reappeared and gestured for them to enter, which they did with little hesitation. Sitting amongst a few piles of paper work was a woman with long blond hair. She was engrossed in what was supposedly a letter, written in fine quill ink, her head tilted downwards. "Tsunade-sama, this is Kanazaki Tatsuya and Ryuuya. As I mentioned yesterday, they seek citizenship in Konoha."

Glancing up from her work the look of intense concentration turned into one of questioning and then amusement. "Ah, yes you did mention that," her voice was lacking the suggested moment of having forgotten the matter, but rather she was confident and her eyes staring straight into that of the smaller boy's. "You may be excused. I shall interview them myself."

"But Tsunade-sama, I believe it is better…" Upon seeing the Hokage's authoritarian expression, Tora nodded and disappeared with a cloud of smoke. Had been other Anbu members in the room, they too would have left without a question.

Stepping up from her seat she walked over to the pair, her full breasts bouncing slightly at her movement. Ignoring the man to the right she suddenly pulled the boy's cheeks with both hands, stretching them as far as she could with a piercing gaze and a lop-sided grin. "You can't fool me brat, I know it's you so release the henge," she said in a venom-dripping tone. On the other hand, Ryuuya was wailing from the pain and grabbing at the Hokage's wrists instinctively, pulling at them for release. Watching the commotion stood Tatsuya, uncertain whether he himself felt relief or sympathy for the boy. "You may be able to fool others, but with those eyes you'll never fool me." Tatsuya lifted his hands to feel his cheeks. They were already swollen enough as they were if that woman was to touch them now he would've instantly died from the pain.

Amidst the struggle, Ryuuya managed to shout, "I'm not in a henge Hokage-sama!" At that instant she let go, somewhat dumbfounded.

"If you're not him, then who are you?" Her hands were on her hips, chin tilted up and eyes casting down at him.

Gently rubbing his reddened and sore cheeks, he uttered, "I'm Ryuuya. Who did you mistake me for?"

The Hokage changed her position and starting tapping against her chin. "If you're not him…" she jerked her entire body around, eyes connecting with Tatsuya's, "then you must be him!" In a frenzy she lifted her hands, poised for the action of grabbing which Tatsuya nimbly ducked… and earned a smash with the fist on the head instead. "Brat!"


As a result of the commotion, Tatsuya was squatting on the ground, holding ice packs against Ryuuya's cheeks while the younger boy was blowing gently at the man's bruise in an attempt to soothe his pain. Looking on with amusement was the Hokage sitting back in her chair.

"So Na-aa… Tatsuya-" the Hokage started.

"It's ok, he knows," Tatsuya interrupted, and stood up to his full height.

"Is that so?" She fixed a stare on the boy. "What kind of relationship do you have? Did you decide to adopt him as a brother or is he an assistant? Although, he does look awfully young to be one."

The dark headed man laughed in good humour. "No, our relationship is simply that of a father and son." He gazed down at the boy and placed a firm hand on his shoulder.

Shocked, the woman leapt from her chair and slammed her hands onto the hard surface of the desk, causing a loud 'crack' to be heard. Papers on the top of the piles fluttered in the air while the rest slide off like an avalanche and into the middle as the desk snapped in half. The duo standing in front immediately took a step back. "Your son is this old and you never mentioned him in your letters?" She had daggers for eyes.

Now taking a few more steps back as precaution, Tatsuya laughed forcefully. "Well, you did tell me to be as brief as I could, Tsunade-baachan! You said it was for the best so as to keep my identity a secret. I remember you even reprimanded me after my first letter for revealing too much information!" For a moment she stood in recollection but that was already insignificant in her eyes. She was still absorbing all the information and a sign of that was her non-reactive state when he called her by his nickname for her. However, he would've been better off learning that a woman does not like to be reminded of her age.

"Well now that you're back. You can tell me all about it, right here and now!"

"No way, that would take ages!" he complained, arms folded and his eyes casting a determined glare. "Perhaps over a few dinners, that could work." Next to him, Ryuuya stared at him in wonder and curiosity. What grand adventures did his father have before his parents conceived him? Various thoughts flowed in his head, urging him to ask to listen to the story now.

"Deal!" Tsunade smiled softly and sunk back down onto her chair. "There are several matters which we must promptly deal with anyway." She seemed in thought for a while as if mentally checking a list. "For now you are to keep your identity as Kanazaki Tatsuya." Lowering her voice, she whispered, "Although I will miss calling you Naruto," and continued in regained volume, "You will be instated as a chuunin who has come from a fallen ninja village after having lived in the Cloud Country for a number of years. I doubt that the Anbu will find it perfectly agreeable for Konoha to have a ninja with your supposed origins in the Cloud Country but I'll manage that problem. The other issue at hand is possibility of your old friends recognising you; it'll only be a matter of time until they realise. Unless you have a plan to change the shades of those eyes and a better one to cover those whisker marks. Rather than the genjutsu…"

Tatsuya, the man the Hokage called Naruto, nodded. "I'm sure I could just wear contacts for my eyes but as for my cheeks… I'm not using genjutsu…" He glanced over to Ryuuya.

"Toto's not using genjutsu. He actually got stung by some ants when we were on the way to Konoha. I think it was yesterday when we were running here," Ryuuya explained. "You should see it when he gets stung by a bee!" In response, Naruto bopped the boy lightly on the head.

With a calculating look and a smirk on his face, Naruto said, "Just give me the number of the manufacturers who designed Kakashi-sensei's mask." Tsunade simply gave him a sceptical look. "Surely they wouldn't look too much into it if I told them I was a fan of the Copy Ninja." This time he received a raised eyebrow as a reply. "But I suppose if they do recognise me they'll just have to deal with you."


Japanese terms

Onigiri – rice balls

Tora – tiger

(Name)-san – an honorific used to address people politely

(Name)-sama – an honorific used to address people who are outrank you or highly respects

Henge – transformation

Tsunade-baachan – Granny Tsunade
Genjutsu - are techniques that use the chakra in the victim's nervous system to create illusions. (Stolen from Wikipedia)

Toto – Dad/Papa

If anyone has better translations for these words, please do tell me. Also, I will be calling him Naruto from now on.

Have a Happy New Year!