Anomaly

Chapter 3

A/N: People are still interested. I already feel that I messed up a little... I still desire to write it, still salvageable.

Wow. This story is under 7 communities, I wonder if it could beat the number of followers of another story of mine.

First version of this chapter was just trash, it made me stop writing for a while.

Also, I had some personal issues come up, I could have brought this chapter two weeks ago.


"Mito Uzumaki..." Naruto looked towards the intrusion in their walk. Two people appeared behind them. One was a long haired blond man wearing a metal forehead protector with a leaf symbol. The other man, wore the grey uzumaki clan armor, along with similar band, the only exception was it carried a swirl. Both seemed tired with their rugged appearance, some sweat beading down their faces. "We have urgent news..." The Uzushiogakure shinobi explained.

"Yes, what is it?" Mito shot a particular look at Naruto, which he easily understood.

He relaxed, not paying attention to conversation. It nothing to do with him anyway, a fact that Mito obviously recognized. He also wasn't looking forward to what might happened if he listened in.

So he walked a short distance away and examined his surroundings of the village around him. Some children ran across a street, going into a nearby candy store. The sun was hanging low in the sky, a fact that surprised him. Time seemed to have passed quickly today.

It had been a week since he had been here. Well, conscious at least. He had gotten to know Mito and Emi a little more, since he was staying at her place. Nearly every part of the day was spent with Mito.

He had merely been shown around the village, escorted by her and Emi at times. The time they awakened was far too early in his opinion. Apparently, sleeping past ten in the morning was too 'Tardy'. Still, he enjoyed the sights around Uzushiogakure.

He had met some of Mito's friends, shinobi and civilians alike. He tried to remember their names, as they were plentiful. They liked to comment on his exotic appearance quite a bit. Some curious glances were always sent his way, as he was a stranger.

Other than the Uzumaki clan members, others sent him wary and calculating stares. He also found out that he was actually under being kept around Mito because of her skills as a Shinobi.

Reminded of that fact, they were supposed to find out if he was able to retain any of his skills as a ninja. A coming plan that he was excited for.

Mito kept conversing with the duo. He thought briefly on what it was about, but he kept his distance as they spoke in hushed tones. Several times before, he had listened in on Mito's other conversations with her friends. Before he was berated that it was incredibly rude to do so, especially when it was private. He didn't want to get another earful of that again.

He sighed as he watched the people move about their business. The fresh look of the buildings around him. It was a little odd, like it something he wanted to see for a while. He had told Mito of it. Once again she said that it might involve his possible Uzumaki heritage, it seemed to fit enough.

He had enjoyed the time he spent with Emi and Mito. He trusted them. Friends. He felt a large weight fall off his shoulders. He wasn't even aware of it until he had acknowledged that. He was glad for that, no matter how odd it was. They were friends. It made him smile.

"Naruto" The voice of Mito brought him out of his reverie.

Still facing away, "Hmm?" He watched a child run across the street to join his red headed mother.

"I deeply apologize" Her voice sounded with what sounded like regret.

"What for?" As he turned around to see what she was talking about. Her palm was just inches away from his forehead. He couldn't comprehend what just happened, but when he was tapped by her. He was met with blackness.

What felt like a moment later, he felt himself stir. His head certainly felt odd, nearly bordering on an headache but not quite. Like he had slept for a abysmal amount but still felt groggy after waking. Or something. He opened his eyes to see familiar patterns on the ceiling. He blinked once more to try and figure out what had occurred.

"What the hell just happened?" As he sat up. By then he noticed a figure sitting on the other couch beside him. He quickly figured out that he was on the couch in the living room of Mito's apartment, and she was the person on the loveseat.

She took no time in explaining what had happened to him. Sort of.

"That man was a Yamanka, so he checked your memories and to see if it was possible to recover them"

"Not that... What did you do to me?" He accused. Naruto couldn't help but feel betrayed, just when he thought she was friend. Still, at least he wasn't bounded or in prison. That was a good sign at the least.

"I apologize once more" Her voice proper and genuine. At least he hoped so, because that would really suck. "It was necessary" Mito voiced. He met her gaze, staring into her eyes for a moment.

He sighed exasperatedly. "So what happened to me?"

"Like I said before, that blond man was from Konoha, and was asked to sort through your memories by my grandfather"

"You could've just asked and I would've let them so that didn't have to happen to me" He grumbled.

"I know" She clarified. "Except the Uzushio shinobi didn't want to take chances, so I performed a jutsu on you as a compromise"

He gave a nod in understanding, "I guess... I can forgive you..." Her eyes softened a little.

"My grandfather was concerned about possible spies, mainly from a few rumors he had heard" She explained. "I was certain you were not a spy, and I obtained a completely solid confirmation of that..."

"Well... I guess that's okay" Understanding the reasoning to protect the village." That would be shitty if I turned to be a spy" He stretched. Seeing her frown from his language. "Where are those guys now?"

"Off to rest"

"Alright, Since that guy can see memories or whatever, did you find anything about me?"Naruto voiced curiously.

"Interestingly enough, there was no mental blockages to your mind, safeguards, or anything indicating that you should collect information or sabotage our village"

Nodding at her response. The only thing he wanted to do was to eat ramen and hang with Emi and Mito, along with exploring Uzushiogakure. Those official buildings bored him a little, but it was nice to see, and from Mito's expression, she knew that as well.

"Also, apparently it was just mostly devoid of memories..." She trailed off. Her voice sounded almost disappointed, but there was also some curiosity as well.

He gave her a blank look."...uhh...So...?" He needed a explanation, he knew next to nothing about the subject.

"You hardly have any memories at all, other than the things you know now, you shouldn't be recalling anything else from the memories present, if the Yamanka was correct"

"Well I guess... " Naruto replied. He hadn't remembered anything else for quite a bit. "I still have these pulls though, like it's on the tip of my tongue but it won't come" He explained

"The man was only concerned on fulfilling his orders, to locate any indications that you were a infiltrator. Which he hadn't, although he did say it was unusually devoid" She explained.

He felt himself frown. 'Well that's really vague...' Naruto complained. "So I might never know who I truly am huh?" For some reason, he was a little glad, he put that thought away for now."This is stupidly confusing"

"There's no need to jump to conclusions, he was able to find something...peculiar..." He furrowed his brow in some annoyance, waiting for her to continue."He was able to see a certain individual, That woman you saw earlier is a Hyuga"

Of course, he had no idea what that meant. The word Hyuga left him completely blank. "What's that?" he dumbly replied.

"Those eyes you saw were the Byakugan, A Kekkei Genkai that belonged to a clan, one of the first to join the Konohagakure, hence, the Hyuga"

"So that girl..."He trailed off. "So does that mean I actually might be from Konoha?"

"Yes...It's a strong possibility" Mito answered."There's supposed to be another trip made to Konoha soon"

"A trip huh?" Naruto asked.

Mito nodded. "I traveled there twice before with my sister, since we have close ties with them. I will be joining the next assigned journey there, the Hyuga live there, will you be accompanying as well?"

"Yeah of course, I want to know to know who I am" He reasoned.

"I see, The next travel should be in another month or so...But before that, It also seems that I have something of importance to complete" He raised his brow for her to continue. "A classified mission in Konoha" Her tone indicated that it was private.

He looked at her for a moment before he was able to answer. "I guess that means I won't be able to come then?"

"Indeed...I am supposed to watch over you, and from the letter from my grandfather had written to me, this mission supersedes that" She explained.

"Right, You're supposed to do that..." Naruto asked, referring to himself.

She nodded in approval. "To ensure that you're not any threat to Uzushiogakure, among other details"

"Well, I don't even know who I am...I would be pretty disappointed in myself I did want to cause harm to your home" He sighed. Mito could only smile."So what's going to happen to me? Since you're going to...where ever"

"Either put under house arrest, or get thrown in prison"

"What the hell? You would think that I would be more free after you said I was not a spy" Naruto complained. She quickly explained that was her grandfather's orders and only after meeting him would he be allowed freedom. It didn't really help calm him, but he had no choice. "Well, If I had to choose, that first one sounds good..." He grumbled

"Except you don't own a home..."

"Fuck"

"Can you please stop with the profanities?" Mito voiced.

"Yeah, yeah..."

"I won't have you thrown in prison, that would harm your image a little" He felt himself perk up at her next words. "I volunteered my apartment for that, far more subtle and less-"

"Really!? That's awesome!"Cutting her off. He saw her annoyance at being interrupted.

"...I'm certain that house arrest isn't a cause for celebration."

"Heh, I guess you're right..." Rubbing the nape of his neck in embarrassment. "Much better than prison though"

"True" A short silence overcame them.

"So uhh... How long will you be gone?" he asked curiously.

"It's important, but I should be back in a week or two, depending on what needs to be done" Mito explained to him."My time away shouldn't be too extensive"

"I think your definition of long is different than mine" He frowned. Being cooped up in a small apartment was going to be taxing. "It's going to be so boring! Your apartment doesn't have anything fun"

Her brow furrowed in irritation. "Are you implying ...?"

He felt a bead of sweat roll down his face. Feeling the scrutinizing gaze of the woman in front of him. Once again, he could tell that he wasn't exactly winning points with her. It had been like that for the past few days as well. Being too hasty in talking, not thinking about the ramifications. He couldn't help it. Her being extremely proper and little uptight about those kinds of things that he didn't care or give a second thought of. Like his eating habits and tendency to disrupt her from his excitability.

She shook her head, a little exasperated.

He decided to explain himself. "Well no... I meant that what I'm I supposed to do...for so long" Mito didn't seem convinced of his excuse. "I mean I would like to check out the village a little more"

"I'm afraid that's an impossibility" He groaned loudly."The ninja assigned are to make sure you never leave the apartment"

"Well that sucks..." He slumped forward once more.

"I'm sure you'll find something to do, albeit I can't say I pity you for that earlier insult"

He feigned a smile. "Y-Yeah"

"Let me just explain what will be occurring now" As she rubbed her temples. Her next words were filled with a serious tone. "You will stay in my apartment under the watch of several Shinobi, you cannot leave under any circumstances, understood?" He nodded tersely, and she continued. " You won't be able to sneak out through the windows, there's a seal that will alerted as soon as you take a step outside"

He resisted frowning or give any sort of indication that would show his immense disappointment away. He nodded anyway.

"Good...Since you're complaining about boredom, I'll have Emi come over occasionally to drop off groceries and possibly keep you company, if she so desires"

"But...isn't that a little weird?"

"I suppose so, seeing as you're under house arrest, but I've already dealt with it. Under the reasoning that you wouldn't harm someone under the scrutiny of a squad of shinobi, it would be suicide. At any case, the shinobi are just there to make sure you don't wander about or leave the village" She explained.

"Well..."

"Emi trusts you, as do I, so please don't do anything that would betray my hospitality, such as attempting to escape, it will only make the clan leader less trusting of you" Mito finished.

Naruto wasn't entirely sure why he arguing about this, he wouldn't quite as bored if her sister was around. "Thanks! I won't let you down!" That seemed to be the end of that discussion. A thought entered him soon after, so he voiced his curiosity. "So are you really a great shinobi?"

"That's what they tell me, I was entrusted to watch over you" She explained. "I'm capable, If you as much as entered my room without permission, I would have been able to disable you within the second" She replied casually.

"Oh..." He could only say.

"I made some safety measures if you ever fought back, I attached a seal to disable you" She replied honestly. He looked down at his hands, as far as he was concerned, he never saw anything on him. "But I did genuinely believe that you were a good person"

He was flattered by the comment. "Really? What's the seal do?" He asked curiously.

"It paralyzes you, and would render you absolutely harmless and susceptible to attack" She explained. "It's located on the back of your neck"

"Cool" Naruto could only reply as he felt for some sign where she said it was. All he felt was smooth skin."Can we try it?" Adding excitedly.

"You want to...try it?" Mito's expression was of mild disbelief. "I'm fairly positive that it is not pleasant to experience"

"I'm sure it will be fine, go ahead and do it" He waited for her to complete it, but she was hesitating. "Come on" Trying to reassure her.

"You're curious about this aren't you" He nodded. "If you're so determined..." He bobbed his head once more, which made her sigh. "I know you won't enjoy this, if you do, I'm afraid you're a masochist" She raised her hand, forming some seal.

"Do it" He blinked a few times. She seemed to be hesitating. "Come on" Mito frowned, almost instantly, he felt his panic right away. He muscles locked, unable to move. Falling to his side, thankfully landing on the couch. It was too foreign, terrifying, knowing nothing responded to your demands. It was torture, he never wanted to experience such a thing again.

He was able to move a movement later. He sat up, moving his limbs, just to be sure they reacted. Naruto cleared his throat, trying to shake the earlier feeling. He shuddered. "I'm not sure I'm entirely comfortable knowing you have that much power over me" He tried to be joking, but his current tone of worry betrayed that.

She laughed. "I warned you, but it's fairly late now, and I have a mission to tend to early in the morning" He squirmed when she stood up without mentioning to take off the seal. He was able to calm himself though, since he had nothing to worry about. He would never give her a reason to activate it again. At least that's what he told himself.

Then again, she was helping him with his problem. He was thankful for that.

"It's nice having a good friend helping me" He said out loud. He saw her retreating form freeze, before turning around and giving a warm smile. He felt funny.

"I suppose it's quite easy being friends with you, even Emi thinks so"

"What makes you trust me so easily?" He asked.

Mito turned to face him, "The same could be said of, you also wear your emotions on your sleeve and... I also don't see how it's possible for someone with an aura like yours to be immoral" She walked away, but not before adding something. " I also deactivated the seal permanently" As she left to her room.

"Huh..." He felt the skin on his neck once more before giving a sigh. He took in her words, trying to dissect them. 'Emotions on my sleeve? My Aura?' He remembered something she had said about that.

Standing up, he went down the hall and into 'his' room. He had to admit, he was really glad that the seal was off. Although when she left in the morning, it would be signaling incredibly boring weeks at least potentially. He was going to be alone in the apartment for while, he wasn't excited about that at all. Not to mention under house arrest, it would be torture. Although Emi would be visiting...hopefully.


Naruto's eyes lazily fluttered open before closing once more. The incessant knocking sounded at the door once more, like it had every other day of the week. Piling a pillow over his head, he attempted to drown out the noise. It only met with failure when the knocking intensified. The knocking seemed to go in a specific pattern, one that he came to recognize. He continued to lie there, letting Mito answer the door. Before he recalled that he was actually alone inside the apartment.

"Naruto!" A voice called out. Muffled from the distance and objects.

He remembered now. It's been a few days since Mito had left him alone to be under house arrest. It was everything he had feared. He desired sleep, but being awakened by stubborn early risers ruined that.

Groaning, he grumpily stood up from the bed, and shuffled himself through the hallway and to the entrance. 'annoying...' Yawning from the interruption to his sleep.

Opening the door. "What is it Sa..." He was puzzled. The thought fled away before it could solidify. A red head woman stood in front of him holding onto a bag. "Right, Emi" Shaking his head to wipe the sleep away. Said person tore her eyes away, A scowl and some redness adorning her cheeks that rivaled her hair.

"What the hell put on some clothes!" She cursed. He looked down below, to see that he was only dressed in some orange boxers.

"Oh right... well you're the one who woke me up so early" he tiredly retorted.

"It's almost noon" She continued to look to the side. He turned around, heading back into the hall.

"Still way too early for me" Rubbing out the sleep from his eyes as he entered his impromptu room, he quickly found his clothing and dressed himself. "Why do you knock when you have keys?" He yelled at her. Emi seemed to ignore his question.

"Why the hell are you acting like this your place? It's not like you've been living here for months " She yelled from where he assumed was the living room.

"Well Mito did say to make myself at home when she left"

"That doesn't mean it really is"

"It's not like she's here or anything" He replied. He walked out of the room completely dressed in his...well, the clothes he had appeared in. He had other clothes of course, bought a week ago. Although he preferred the orange pants and his jacket.

He smelled something completely tantalizing as he wondered into the living room. Ramen. Awoken by the sudden delicious smell, Emi was snacking down on ramen on a couch, with another bowl placed on the coffee table.

"Here, I brought you some"

"You're a goddess!" He quickly sat down on the seat opposite of her. Smiling widely.

"You're really overdramatic at times, just don't tell Mito we ate on her couch"

"Got it Emi! Itadakimasu!" They ate silently for a while, until Emi spoke again.

"So anything new? Memories I mean"

"Hmm..." He thought about the little things he remembered, along with biggest one he recalled. "I remember names. These nine names, weird ones." She nodded her head, waiting for him to continue. "Like Shukaku, Gyuki or Kurama"

"Yeah, those are a little weird"

"Sure, But It felt like I should remember them"

"Do you know what they look like?" He shook his head. "They gotta be friends right?"

"Nah, just their names, but I think so..." There was also some other unimportant dreams. Like rocks or a some flash of orange. "Hmm...Kurama huh" He didn't know why that name stood out to him more.

He kept having some feelings though, the longer he stayed, a foreboding feeling slowly swelled within him. It didn't help that he was confined to the apartment.

Naruto had noticed it before, but it was fairly insignificant and easy to forget. Now he couldn't shake the uneasiness whenever he was alone, which was fairly a majority part of the day. Emi certainly helped with keeping the feeling away.

'Mito should come back...' He felt he needed to do something, but 'what' was entirely lost on him, and it was stupid.


Mito listened intently to the conversation, which seemed to near its end. Between the council of the notable shinobi clans of Konohagakure. With all the present clan leaders in the room, so far it seemed that Konoha would have the greatest population in the future. Most notable were the Hyuuga, Uchiha and Senju. Along with more others, all varied in number and strength.

Each clan had one leader, who sat down, with an advisor standing behind. Even the respective daimyo's of both Land of Fire and Land of Whirlpools participated in the discussion. Mito herself stood behind the chair of her grandfather. The talk had been going on for hours now.

Her eyes flitted towards the two founding clans of the village. Madara Uchiha, was an imposing figure, sitting down and carefully scrutinizing the talks. Wearing a high collared black coat and with his chin resting on his thumbs. His oynx eyes calculating, but he also seemed to be a bit bored. He hardly participated at all but always listened in. He seemed to be a man who was always prepared, never letting down his guard. He was the only clan leader with no advisor. It was quite the contrast to the other man sitting beside him, chakra 'personality' as well.

Madara's chakra seemed cold and distant, evil, almost. It made her uncomfortable to be around. Hashirama's chakra was able to counteract that though, it was like she remembered it.

Hashirama Senju was quite relaxed, almost uncaringly. It was wrong though. He listened intently to each and every word that came out from anyone in the room. His eyes much warmer than the Uchiha. Mito's and Hashirama's eyes crossed momentarily, before he concentrated on the discussion. He was dressed in beige robes. His brother, Tobirama stood over him. Much less relaxed than him.

From what she found out throughout the discussion, Hashirama was a charismatic person. Each person listened intently whenever he spoke, even Madara paid closer attention, his eyes less bored than before. If there ever was a single leader, it would be Hashirama. It would be more efficient, seeing the number of clans and people within the village.

But according to the talks, they were already working on it. It wasn't the most pressing matter though and had to be completed another time. It was mostly because the Uzumaki clan was called here, as they wanted to discuss their concerns. The major topic of discussion involved the tailed beasts.

Apparently, Kumo had captured a tailed beast for them to use. The two tails, if information was correct. Apparently it had raged in captivity for a while, before being caught by jutsu. 'Must be a seal...' It was quite a feat to restrain such a powerful beast. It wasn't the first time, but others were temporary, breaking free soon after. It didn't seem to be the case for Kumo.

It was quite the troublesome predicament if they had done such a thing. So far no other village had done such a thing. There would be a race to capture the tailed beasts, each village would be researching for seals and jutsu capable of restraining them. Kumo was already ahead and had the advantage if they can use tailed beasts power. Which had never been used effectively.

It was also the reason she was called to this meeting. The Uzumaki clan had been called forth to assist in the matter. Research a seal powerful enough to restrain the strongest tailed beast, which was the nine tailed fox. It was quite the order. She made some hasty calculations, to create such a complex seal would perhaps take a year or so to accomplish. Even then, there was no guarantee that it would work to contain such vast chakra.

It was quite clever. Bring both villages ties closer together while making the village more powerful. While Konoha did have some proficiency in fuinjutsu, it wasn't quite as advanced as Uzushiogakure. They would guarantee that the seal would be made as quickly as possible. Taking advantage of their close ties.

Of course, they were offered a tailed beast themselves. Luckily her grandfather had refused, it would paint their own village if there was a power struggle between tailed beasts. They weren't as large as Konoha or the other major villages. Their power was a little pale in comparison, their country small. It was something that Shin easily understood. Perhaps somewhere down the line would be more applicable, when they gained strength.

'A potential war...' It seemed so soon. A war to collect the tailed beasts and use them for war. It would be unlike any other thing. Not just feuding clans, or a skirmish over land. A full scale war with numerous numbers.

She took some solace in the fact that it would be years away, as they would also have to find the tailed beasts.

She had felt the malicious chakra of the nine tails before. It seemed to be made of pure evil. She had been able to sense it from such a long distance. But just like all other tailed beasts, it had went into hiding. Suppressing it's chakra. Locating one would possibly take years, they were excellent at concealing themselves.

"So, seeing as everything is done! It's been agreed that the Uzumaki will conduct their research in Konoha" Hashirama stated. "I'll deal with our guests, I'll gladly house them for the time being unless they obtain more permanent residence" Almost too loudly, albeit in a jovial way. He brought life to the otherwise stale conference. 'Naruto is kind of like him...' Everyone agreed with the Senju leader, the Daimyo's included. Madara gave a simple nod in recognition as they left the assigned seating.

She recalled during the early parts of the meeting that he spoken up, stating that he had the potential to control the tailed beast, with his dojutsu.

He also stated that since he could, Hashirama did as well. Mito could easily tell that Madara respected the Senju leader immensely. Although, the same could not be said towards the other clan leaders.

Hashirama was still adamant on providing an alternative to their problem. As he explained that despite their power, he wasn't sure since they had never truly tested their mettle against the tailed beast. Madara's point sounded boisterous and arrogant, while Hashirama seemed more modest. Although, she was certain that both were capable of fighting a tailed beast.

The only concern that was required was to seal them within something, whether inside a person or an item. An item seemed ideal.

She returned to the present, seeing everyone exit the large room. The only ones in the room were Shin and herself, along with the two Senju brothers. Both Hashirama and Tobirama walked over to where they stood.

"That was quite the discussion, my age is getting to me" Shin commented. Lightly stretching as he stood from the chair.

"I'm sure you still have the quite the years ahead of you" Hashirama replied. "Mito, it's quite good to see you once more" He smiled. One that she returned, along with a polite bow.

"It's good to see you as well"

"I'm sure we can get moving as we discuss more important matters, you can be more personal later" Tobirama intervened. His arms crossed, a slight sheepish look on his brother. "I'm certain Mito is quite exhausted as I am, seeing as we had to stand"

She nodded in agreement, but didn't outwardly show her exhaustion. It quite interesting to see the dynamics in their relationship. Seeing another side of Hashirama, serious and concerned about his new home was a nice treat. Even in a more complicated and stern environment was he somewhat the same person. Tobirama seemed to get him back on track most often.

"Of course! I was the one sitting down, it does get a little tiring, but the safety of the village comes is important too" Hashirama said. "Let's get going and we'll talk "


"So you're telling me that he might be from Konoha?" Shin asked. "That's pretty interesting" As he scratched his goatee.

Mito had finally got a chance to talk about the blond in her home. So she described what everything she knew about him, explaining what had had occurred when the Yamanaka was probing around in his mind. She had mostly given him her opinion of Naruto, of what she had found out about the blond.

"Yes, he had known a young Hyuuga woman, unsealed by the looks of it" She frowned. The way the Hyuga separated themselves was quite... uncivilized. Contrary to how they presented themselves. Sealed and unsealed members. Branch house and Main house.

The only good thing was that it would dramatically lessen the time to see if Naruto knew one of them. Unsealed members didn't have the numbers compared to the branch house.

Shin spoke once more. "I have to wonder how he had gotten so far, I still have to meet him before I agree with this"

She nodded in understanding. "He could possibly be of some use with our research and he can be at home if Konoha really is"

"Really? How can he possibly be of some help?"

"You've seen his kunai, the seal inscribed on them" He perked up. "He's a shinobi, and we don't even know much about him"

He nodded, no doubt thinking about Naruto's Kunai. "Are you willing to pay for him for place here?" She shook her head.

"He has a surprisingly amount of ryo in that wallet of his" She spoke. "I was also going to speak about him to Hashirama, of his possible origins"

"Well, We'll see" He relented. "We'll be leaving in two days time to escort our daimyo back to the country"

"Of course, now that you'll excuse me, I've already accepted an invite to dine with Hashirama" Mito replied. "I'll also have to explain an extra guest"


'Wow I really suck at this' Naruto could only think. He watched her make a move, taking out a good piece. He grabbed his bowl, slurped his noodles that he had gotten from Emi. His boredom made him inspect the Shougi board. It was obviously made out of wood, the tiles with different colored hues. The type of wood was completely lost on him, nor did he care actually. That was how far his investigative skills got him.

The only sound was from the occasional slurping from himself, and the pieces that tapped on the board. Snapping annoyingly. He made another move, a different piece was promptly destroyed soon after with his lack of foresight. He noticed that he had lost interest in the game long ago, after playing several games before.

"Mito's a whole lot better at this than I am" Emi commented. Eating some sort of sandwich. She didn't eat quite as formal as Mito, but she wasn't him either. The same could be said of her personality.

He sighed. He really didn't want to lose, despite his disinterest in the game at the moment. So far he had been desperate for more entertainment, and he had relented to playing shougi. It was too slow paced for him, a little boring. But far better than just sitting around or reading. Well he wanted to read, but he only itched for something specific.

It was weird. He was still recollecting some memories, relatively minor, if he had anything to say himself. Where was he recollecting his shattered memories? He heard Mito say that he might not remember anything else at all. Sometimes it the memories came entirely out of nowhere. At other moments it felt natural, and sometimes it crept to him.

He looked up at Emi, who bore a somewhat concentrated look on her face. He found out that she had recently turned eighteen. Mito's own birthday was in April. So far it was June.

"How old do you think I am?" He said. Prompted by the topic.

"Why? Do you know?" Asking curiously.

"Nah" Taking another bite of the ramen.

"Well..." Taking up a contemplative look. "You look like you're around my age" She replied. "Probably a little intsy bit older, a little bit younger than Mito though"

"That's really specific y'know"

"I got my reasons"

"Lame answer"

"Hmph" She crossed her arms. "I've got none okay?" He simply looked at her."We're just talking about age" She complained. "It's the way I do things, stop trying to instigate an argument"

He frowned, sighing a moment later. "Sorry, it's really boring in here" She gave a face of mock hurt.

"Are you saying I'm dull company?" Although she did have a hopeful look in her eyes.

"No, you're a great friend! I probably wouldn't have been able to survive for this long if not for you" Her eyes twinkled in approval.

"I wonder what Mito would think" She tapped her chin thoughtfully.

"Well it's too late for that, I already said it was boring"

"Wow really?" She gave a nod of approval. "Some fellows like to suck up to her, I can tell you're a terrible liar too"

"I can lie, I just really don't see a reason too" He gave a shrug as he slurped the last of the noodles. He wondered if that had anything to do with what Mito said before.

"So you don't want to seem disingenuous ?" She asked.

"Sure, I mean why would I lie to someone? I really don't see a reason for it" At least for things that he felt about other people, his views and such.

"Hmm, okay, what do you think of my hair?" She asked.

He looked at the subject at hand. Her hair was as red as Mito's, but it was far longer and he guessed it reached her waist. It seemed to be incredibly silky if he were to touch it. "It's beautiful" He replied. A thought of which he preferred, long hair or short hair? They both seemed to appeal to him.

"I can believe you" She said. Her palms resting on her face as she looked at the game. "Hmm.." Emi seemed to go into a contemplative trance, but still playing thier game of shougi they participated in.

Their talk seemed to be over and he began to get a little impatient, mostly at the lack of conversation. 'If only I get out of here' He remembered what Mito had said. How the apartment was surrounded by some sort of seal that would detect him.

He tried it once, just to be curious. By 'Accidently' falling out the front door when he answered Emi. He was immediately surrounded by some ninja, his guards. They were actually fairly cheery about it, understanding that it was an accident. They seemed casual and made it look like they weren't guarding him at all.

Emi was also there to help him out. It seemed she knew what he had done too, and was asked not to do again, ever. He wouldn't be able to get out without alerting anyone.

'If only I could like, sneak right past it but how?... If only I could like teleport or something...' He smiled at the thought. 'I can't though...' An aura of hopelessness fell upon him.

It was odd, something popped into his head. He blinked a few times, trying to comprehend what had happened. It was...sudden and thrilling. He had no idea what had just occurred, but it was amazing. He smiled widely, standing up excitedly and somewhat startling Emi as he did. He could hardly control himself.

"What's going on?"She asked.

"I'll be right back" He replied hastily, quickly reaching his room.

He could feel the seal emanating, beckoning to him. It was an odd feeling. He took out the scroll which contained the kunai, along with the two that was not inside. He decided to not summon more, he thought that two would do just fine. Deciding to test it out, he moved the kunai to the other side of the room, both of them into corners.

He could feel it, the seals on the kunai. He prepared to do whatever it was, before he stopped himself. Something told him that it might be stupid to try and do both of them. Incredibly so. He took a deep breath and concentrated on a specific one, for someone reason he closed his eyes. Trying to visualize the kunai, it helped in his concentration. He did... whatever it was.

Suddenly feeling disorientated, like the entire world was flipped, he felt pain flash across his arm and bashed his head on something. From what he figured out his was lain of the floor. "What the hell.." He opened his eyes, seeing the ceiling above. "Wasn't I?"He slightly positioned himself. "Holy shit..." Seeing as he wasn't where he thought he was.

"Naruto, what are you doing?" Hearing Emi speak. Turning to his right he saw the woman standing at the door. "Why are you on the floor?" Her voice with concern.

"Something really, really cool" He only focused on her earlier question, he could hardly contain his excitement.

"I don't think flaying around on the floor is cool"

"Not that!" He stood eagerly. He made his way toward her to demonstrate. "Look at this!" He felt a disorientation once more, Emi appeared to be further away and upside down. He saw the clear shock on her face. He was able to catch himself before he landed on his head.

"Wow..." Was what all she could say.

"Isn't that cool?!" He said eagerly. He grabbed the three pronged kunai and stood up once more.

"Shinobi are so..." She seemed a little taken back. "How did you that?"

"I don't how to explain it really..." He scratched his head. Something about space and time though, complicated stuff, but it just came naturally to him. "But this is what makes me do it" Mentioning to the item in his hand. "It's the seal" being more specific as he traced the markings.

"Huh..."

'With this, I can...' He smiled anticipating. "Hey Emi?"

"What?" He could give a mischievous smile.


"I still can't believe I've been helping you escape your confinement, What if we get caught? It almost happened several times now"

"Calm down, It's been four days, they haven't caught on at all" Naruto took in a deep breath of the air around him. He finally felt free, the claustrophobic atmosphere was entirely behind him. "Thanks by the way" He wore a hat to help hide his blond hair so that he wouldn't be immediately noticed by his appearance from afar. Although it was completely useless when used up close.

"We would be in so much trouble if we got caught"

"Hey, don't worry, you got that kunai on you, and there's one at Mito's place" He tried to reassure her. Emi had been a little anxious when they had started doing this. Although he could tell that she still somewhat enjoyed it. He would teleport back at the apartment when they saw someone they recognized.

"I guess..."

"But it's fun right?" He suggested. "Don't you get a thrill from it? Almost like ninja's and stuff, going on missions"

She laughed then. "I suppose, I would have thought you actually were a spy if the only thing we didn't do was eat ramen"

"Well it's not my fault you always want to be sure no one checks on us all the time" He complained.

"It's a precaution"

He shrugged. Focusing on the building around him. They mostly just looked at unimportant buildings, wanting to get a nice look at the buildings around him. Sometimes going into random stores and seeing what they had.

"It's a bit sad" he heard Emi comment.

"Why's that?" He asked. Still inspecting every building that they passed by. Various stores were in plain sight, selling numerous items. People mulled about, merely going on with their day. Nothing could compare the fresh and free air instead of that apartment. Yes, the shackles had come off and he could explore.

"What if you never recover yourself? I mean going around and never knowing who you truly are" Her voice cautious. Concerned.

He thought a little about it, but it didn't worry him too much. He did have to be honest with himself though, he just felt this was better. For some reason. Was that bad?

"I'm sure I'll remember one day" He replied to her, lightly brushing her off. The last time he had recalled something was when he used the kunai.

"You seem pretty sure of yourself" He nodded. "But what if you never do?"

"Well, then I'll just become a new person right?" Giving his response. "Besides, this place isn't so bad"

"I don't really know how you can say that, what of your friends?"

"Well, Mito said that I might live in Konoha, they might still be there" He felt an odd pull, but it slipped away when he tried to recall it.

"You're not worried about the times you had with them?" She asked. "You won't remember them at all... All those memories will be lost,"

"Well, I'll just become friends with them again, and I'll just make new memories with them right?" Emi sighed then as they continued to take in the sights of Uzushiogakure. "If they're still my friends I'm sure they won't mind"

"I'm not sure whether your optimism is infuriating or uplifting"

"I'd like to think it's uplifting" He replied. Feeling his stomach growl, he might as well eat something. "I'm starving, let's eat again"

"I don't have money on me right now" She replied.

"Then I'll pay"

"How much money do you even have?" Emi asked curiously. "You've been paying for your own food for a while now"

"I dunno, but Mito seemed surprised by it though" He took out gama-chan, it was still filled to the brim. "Check it out" As he handed the wallet to her, which she took. After a few moments, her eyes widened.

"Wow..." She was left pretty much speechless. He was handed back the wallet, and he took a peek inside. He didn't exactly think it was too much, sure it was full to the brim, mostly. he just didn't think it was far too much. "How can you carry that much? " She said lowly.

"Eh, I don't see what the fuss is about"

"It's a lot, that's for certain, you can live in a apartment for a while" He didn't know too much, he just had to take her word for it though. "As long as it's not ramen again"

"But I'm the one who's paying"

"I'm the one who set you free" She retorted.

"Okay fine" He replied. They walked in silence for a while once more, before he remembered the coat he had in his room. "Hey... Does Mount Myoboku mean anything to you?" He asked.

"Not really, we should check the library if you want, does it have to do with anything with your memories?"

"Yeah, it was written on the back of my cloak that was in my bag " He gave a thought. "Eh...Sure whatever" It wasn't like he had much to do at any point. "But only after we eat something though"


He took a look at the book settled on the table before him. He scratched his head as he looked at Emi beside him. After they had eaten, they went straight to a library. The only thing he had to say about the building was that it looked incredibly mundane, it had a faint scent of musk. No doubt from the aged parchment, the old lady Liberian had smelled no different.

When they had entered, they had taken a look at some books. Mainly about geography. Such as the book right now.

"Well take a look at it" Emi pestered.

"Sure..." He gave a plain reply. Looking for it was pretty boring as well. The book was about geography outside the five great elemental Nations. Since they went through the others without any signs of what they were searching for.

He flipped the cover, and went from page to page. "Boring..." as he continued to do so. Some minutes passed, quickly becoming repetitive. He wanted to see Mount Myoboku, but that didn't mean the action required made it exciting.

Far better than staying inside the apartment though.

"Wait, there it is" Emi said excitedly.

He focused on the page of the book. Emi's slender hand was pointing at a small picture; detailing a incredibly large mountain, spikes and jagged cliffs. Several smaller mountains were present, leading to the what he assumed was Mount Myoboku. Well, it looked large, it was hard to tell from the perspective.

"Doesn't seem there's a lot about it..." She commented.

Naruto found his interest spiking a little. As he read the information under the picture.

A large mountain that no one has reached since its discovery, it's pathways, jagged and unstable cliffs leading to the mountain make it difficult to reach, even to shinobi. No one has reached its peak, as it seemed to have a maze like roads leading to and up the mountain. The path to the mountain seemed to be devoid of life and resources. As numerous expeditions had to return from lack of food or water.

A mysterious mountain indeed, lives were lost, expeditions disappearing in their struggle to tame the mountain. It's location is passed the borders of the Land of Wind, almost a months' worth of travel.

He lost interest as it went by, detailing other stuff. Still, it was pretty far. He looked for the date, seeing as it was published two years ago. He frowned, he hoped it that it still untamed, he wanted to be the first to climb it.

"So did you remember anything at all?"

"Nah nothing." He yawned. "Let's get out of here" As he closed the book shut. Although he did have to wonder why his coat had it's name.


Mito felt it was quite tedious to escort the daimyo back to his city. Nonetheless, she had finally returned. She walked along with her grandfather, also eager to meet the person in her apartment. They walked through the large gates after being quickly checked in. So far the it was midday, and it had been two weeks since she last set foot in her new home village.

She pitied him, being stuck inside her apartment within that timeframe. Although the insult towards her lacking apartment was unneeded.

Speaking of which, she decided to use her sensory ability . She quickly found the approximation of her apartment, finding several shinobi around it...but... not him. She felt her anger boil. 'He's not the sort to follow demands is he?' She kept her composure, as to not alert the person she walked beside with. Her grandfather.

Still, seeing as the shinobi assigned were still fixated around her apartment. It was clear that he was not in prison. Despite her anger, it was quite impressive that he had somehow escaped, seeing as there was only three possible points to do so. Along with a seal surrounding the apartment, -not including the front door - alerting if he had trespassed.

Her mind ran with possibilities of how that had that occurred. Hopefully no lasting damage was made. Before she was able to come to a conclusion. 'His kunai...'How could she have forgotten? She was able to find him quickly, near the edge of the village.

She took a deep breath. Trying to calm her nervousness, it would be a terrible first impression for her grandfather to meet him like this. 'Emi...Are you also responsible?' Seeing as the principle of the jutsu was based on time space. Unless the object was thrown somewhere, but the idea that Emi helped him seemed to be a higher possibility.

Luckily, Shin bid farewell for now, seeing as he would at least allow him to get ready to meet the clan leader. She was quite thankful for that, it would give her enough time to get to where Naruto was. Emi was beside him, nearly drowned out from his presence.

She put a brisk pace through the town, seeing as Shin lived closer and Naruto was basically across the village. Deciding that she wouldn't take any chances, she easily took to the roof tops to cross the distance more quickly.

Here she was trying to help him, attempting to find his home and he himself might put a stop to that. Mito suppressed another sigh.

Her sensory ability was passive, always active, at least up to a one hundred meters. She could control that distance to go further, at least to 30 km. That required at least some concentration. When she actively controlled it, she could make precise locations of targets.

Using her sensory abilities once more, she pinpointed the exact location. She almost found herself blushing at the intensity of the warmth of his chakra. His clearly stood out from the rest of the population. The rest seemed miniscule in positivity compared to his. Some of her reigned annoyance and anger fluttering away.

It had been a while since she had sensed his chakra. Memory seemed a little pale to what she remembered. The time seemed to have an effect on that, seeming as she got quickly accustomed to his chakra when he was still unconscious. His certainly seemed be a brighter than others, as most were quite normal and seemed clouded. Madara and Hashirama's were quite clear, like Naruto's. Hashirama's own chakra made her feel content.

Was it possible her mood was being partly influenced by Naruto? Not that she wasn't depressed, she was actually quite content with her life. Her sister was safe and living her life normally, away from danger. Mito's own life was not filled with danger anymore, merely calm days and no worrying about what might occur next week.

Before, the average shinobi's life wasn't like that, nor would it last forever it seemed. She didn't dwell on that, and would merely enjoy the time of peace while it lasted. Whether it lasted years or not.

Sensing his 'happy' chakra. It made her feel slightly better, a little more hopeful. Bright was nice word, along with warmth to describe it. 'Hmm...' She still felt some anger at him, but it lessened some.

Getting back on track. 'Imbecile...' Yes, that seemed to be a correct word at the moment. He lacked tact, in most cases. Impolite, and his language was crude.

But he was honest, and carried unusual full heartedness in what he said. He was almost like a child in that manner, to be brutally honest. It was almost...refreshing, at least, compared to the shinobi world.

He was a ninja, no doubt. It was a little mysterious as to how he maintained how he was, if it truly was him. What would happen if he suddenly remembered who he was? Would that person who he was now fade away?

She could ask herself many questions concerning him. Like the shadow clone jutsu that was found within his memories. It was Tobirama's jutsu. It wasn't exactly widespread, but so far it was only known in the Senju clan. 'Who is he?' Perhaps he was apprenticed to Tobirama, but she needed concrete results, and bringing him to Konoha would solve that.

The Yamanaka said his past was non-existent, nothing entirely revealing. It was like someone took stole those memories away, seemingly no way to retrieve them. Did someone take them? Or did he just lose them?

Finding that she was near them, she jumped down below to the ground.

He facing the other away, walking side by side with her sister. He wore a hat, no doubt a lame attempt at concealing himself. Blending in with the scenery.

She couldn't create a scene, not if he successfully gotten away from his guards. She performed the shunshin jutsu, and flickered in front of him.

Both individuals stopped at her sudden entrance. A moment later, Emi face contorted in horror, but Naruto expression was blank. He blinked a few times.

"Oh..." He said. Eyes widening in what she presumed was in his shock. He chuckled nervously. "Well I don't think saying how badass you look in that gear is going to help huh?"

Mito ignored the comment and took a deep calming breath, speaking low enough so that it would seem that they were casually speaking in the middle of the street. Body language said otherwise. "I assume you escaped out with the Kunai, and with the help of Emi?" She asked.

"Uh, yeah" Emi lightly hit him for ratting her out. Obviously unneeded.

Mito sighed exasperatedly. "Did anyone see you?" She asked harshly. He squirmed from her gaze, but he shook his head. "Where's the Kunai?" Emi quickly dug into her pocket and she was handed the three pronged tool and inspected it for a moment.

Naruto approached. "Look I'll show you!" A firm hand was placed on her shoulder. She felt an odd wave of disorientation. The back ground changing quickly, The bright exterior changing into a dark, closed space. The startling feeling of the ground disappearing under her feet, only for her feet to grasp solid footing once more. She nearly stumbled but was able to right herself.

She blinked. Trying to comprehend the odd sensation. Her vision adjusted to the change in lighting. "Isn't that awesome?" Naruto said excitedly.

"Never do that again without warning me" She inspected her surroundings, recognizing it as a the room where Naruto stayed in.

"I thought telling you was enough..."

She ignored that statement, and glared at him. Still angry at how he had risked getting caught in his escape. He looked visibly nervous once more.

"You betrayed my trust Naruto"

"I'm not sorry but I'm not sorry, being stuck here was the worst..." Was his reply, he continued to rant a little more.

"You're not one to follow rules are you?" He shrugged. Mito shook her head in disbelief, but she didn't think she had much time. "My grandfather is coming over soon to personally see you, so teleport me outside so here so I can return normally without arousing suspicion"

He merely looked at the kunai in his hand. "Opps..." He chuckled a moment later. "We just left Emi too"

It was completely unnecessary, courtesy of the blond in her apartment, but she was able to convince the guarding shinobi that it was really her. Her excuse was that she was experimenting on a new seal, teleportation, ironically. She had also given some personal information that she knew about the guards as a precaution. Fortunately, they had believed in her lie. Seeing as their assignment was finished, they cleared away from her apartment, seeing as it was completed. It was simple luck that there wasn't any sensory shinobi in the small squad.

After that, she then got changed out of her shinobi gear and into more comfortable clothing. Mito still felt annoyance at Naruto, but it wasn't exactly the time for an argument. She was a little weary of the day's travel, and desired to relax for a little. A visit to the hot springs seemed tremendously enticing at the moment. Before that though, Shin wanted to meet with Naruto.

She was seated on the loveseat in her living room. She could feel Shin's chakra approaching, minutes away. Naruto sat across from her, looking a little sheepish from his earlier actions.

"I'll make it up to you" He promised. Mito didn't feel like instigating an argument at the moment. His expression spoke of his commitment to his words. So she took his word for that.

"Let me just explain what will be occurring now, you can refuse or you can accept" Naruto nodded in understanding. She then explained of how she would be possibly living in Konoha due to a long term mission. Although she would be able to rotate responsibilities for that, so that she could get some time off the mission, just like all the other individuals that would be researching along with her.

"I've explained to the Senju clan leader of your predicament, he was glad to have someone potentially lost return to their village" She finished. "It's your choice whether or not you desire to accept his invitation"

"Yeah, sure I'll come" He replied casually.

"... Okay, We leave in another week, we'll be traveling by foot along with other shinobi. Within that time frame, I'll help foresee your skills as a shinobi"

"So we'll be training?" He asked excitedly. A nod from her made him celebrate a little. "It's great that you're back" Naruto smiled brilliantly.

She couldn't help but return the gesture as his heartfelt relief, his genuine delight. He did bare his emotions, clear as day for everyone to see.


A/N: Eh. Here it is. Plenty of procrastinating and some setbacks in writing this chapter. I want to have the length of the chapters consistent.

This chapter also puts my overall words into the 200k category.

I'm just going off what Karin felt during that one time she was around Naruto.

Chapter was mainly to advance the story/plot, whatever.

There won't be any war going on in this story. I remembered that Tsunade was like a little kid when Hashirama was still alive. So there's that. But that doesn't really matter in the story.

This is just romance btw. I understand now that I hate writing fight scenes. So there's none of that. The 'planned' fight scenes aren't really fight scenes.

I had a incredibly hard time coming up with material for this chapter. Unfortunately, I couldn't keep them in Uzushiogakure for long. I tried to come up with things and such to keep them longer, but seeing it was quite a while since I updated (and my frustrations) I went ahead to deliver them to Konoha.

I'm also pretty relaxed whenever I write this, nothing too serious. So I guess it's a feel good kind of story. No angst or overly depressing tones. So it's pretty much my mood whenever I write this story.

I wasn't going to keep them apart long. That's for another further part. Even then it won't last longer than a chapter. Since it's romance.

Obviously, it's just NaruMito. I'd rather not get too much into unnecessary love triangles, so that will be resolved soon.

Also, Going by Kakashi's words to Chiyo. Naruto makes good friends with anyone quickly. So I'm taking advantage of that little tidbit.

Lastly, It seems Hashirama actually comes into possession of most if not all of the tailed beasts himself. Dang...