bold letters=authors comments

Naruto was out cold. He and Sosuke had come back inside to talk but instead they were pulled into a card game with Kisame, Hidan, and Sasori. Everyone left around one in the morning and the only thing Naruto wanted to do when it was over was sleep. Itachi was also sleep except he was on the couch. That left Sasuke who for some reason decided not to go to bed. He watched Sosuke as the man walked around cleaning up. He didn't say anything, just watched him. It took an hour but Sosuke finally got everything cleaned up. He placed the last dish in the sink and turned to face Sasuke who was now leaning against the door frame watching him closely.

"Is something wrong?" Sosuke asked. The younger boy smirked.

"I don't trust you"

"That's nice"

"You're hiding something" Sasuke continued "I'm not as naïve about things as Naruto is or even my brother in some situations"

"Is that what you really believe?"

"Let me tell you what I 'really believe', you're lying and hiding behind this supposed amnesia. I don't think you were a good person and I also believe you're dangerous as hell"

"You don't even know me so how can you say that?"

"I trust my instincts" They stared each other down for a couple of minutes then Sosuke moved to walk past him. He stopped when they were side to side.

"You're a smart child Uchiha Sasuke" Sosuke said "Everything you said could be true but good luck in proving it" Sasuke's eyes widened slightly at the comment.. He turned quickly to question him but he was gone. "Shit" He mumbled.

That following Thursday morning in class, it was Naruto who was happy and Sasuke who was pissed. Naruto had left Sosuke at the house with Itachi since the eldest Uchiha had taken the day off, he kept complaining about a really bad hangover. However Naruto found that his best friend was upset about something but wouldn't tell him, he just kept glaring at Sosuke. Being at school hadn't made it better, if anything Sasuke seemed angrier than ever. So Naruto decided to ignore him and chat with Karin who was talking about a guy she really liked and was thinking about getting serious with. They were brought out of their chat when a pale young man stopped in front of his desk.

"Hey Neji" Naruto grinned. Neji was Hinata's brother. He was fiercely protective of her and had put a few guys in the hospital for even approaching her wrong. He had the reputation as being brilliant and as someone who loved to fight. Naruto thought it was hilarious to see him angry so would at times purposely antagonize him by hugging Hinata. At the moment Neji seemed slightly upset. His long hair was pulled back but strands fell around his face and his shirt was untucked and unbuttoned. His tie was also missing. All this was uncharacteristic of him and showed that he had been in a hurry; Naruto thought it was a nice look for him.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Neji asked quietly. Naruto immediately frowned.

"Hinata told you?"

"She told all of us" He said referring to Kiba, Gaara, Shikamaru, and Choji. Naruto nodded. You don't have to explain your reasoning now but I do want an explanation. Everyone's worried about you now. Especially with him living with you" He gestured to Sasuke who smirked " I expect to see you later preferably without Uchiha" He said and walked away.

"You know how to pick 'em Naruto" Suigetsu grinned.

"Forget that, what did he mean?" Karin asked, concern filling her voice. At that moment Mr. Orochimaru walked in and everyone started to go back to their seats. Naruto was grateful for the interruption but he didn't think he could get out of talking to Neji. He groaned and let his head hit the desk. Around lunch he waited at Neji's locker and told his friends he'd be there soon. Sasuke wanted to stay just to piss the other boy off but Suigetsu managed to convince him to leave. Naruto leaned against the locker and closed his eyes. He was off in day dream world when he heard

"Naruto are you ok?" He nearly jumped out of his skin. Neji was standing in front of him.

"Shit don't do that! I'm fine" He tried to calm his heart down. His friend raised an eyebrow

"Usually you're not this jumpy but I'll leave that alone for now"
"So what did you want me to talk about?" He asked nervously crossing his arms.

"I guess I just wanted to make sure you're really ok. Hinata said it's been a month since the accident. Everyday that I saw you since then you seemed fine. Why did you keep it to yourself?"

"I…I'm not sure" He gave a sad smile

"Don't lie to me" Neji responded very seriously back

"You'll think its stupid but a part of me thought that if I told everyone that would make it more real, that I really lost my Mom and my Dad is in a coma" His answer was met with silence "See I told you its stupid"

"No its not, I cant understand what you must be going through or even completely your reasoning but you're a strong person Naruto. I wish that you would've at least told me. I can't believe you dealt with this by yourself"

"I'm sorry Neji I didn't mean to make you guys worry or upset"

"Upset?"

"Yeah Sasuke punched me when he found out"

"Did he now?" Neji narrowed his eyes "Maybe I should return the favor"

"NO! I remember the last time you two fought, you completely destroyed that classroom besides he had every right to do it. My parents were his family too"

"Naruto you have to be the most caring person I've ever met" Neji smiled "Don't forget Hinata and I are always here for you and I will tell everyone else what you said so you don't have to be questioned anymore"

"Thanks Neji" Without thinking he threw his arms around the older boy. He tensed up at first but gradually relaxed and returned the hug. When they separated Neji smiled at him once more and playfully ruffled Naruto's messy hair before walking away. He didn't have time to reflect on what just happened because a girl his age popped up from off to the side

"That was soooooo cute Naruto" He rolled his eyes as Sakura walked over to him. Her school uniform had been fixed to match her personality. Her skirt was shorter than it should be and her shirt was unbuttoned to reveal a little cleavage. A black Hello Kitty head band was over her hair.

"You headed to lunch?" He asked changing the subject

"Yep. Lets go together" Naruto had known Sakura for awhile. She was popular in school and attracted guys to her. She also had the reputation as being snooty and a bitch. She denied the snooty part but didn't mind the bitch part. She had also managed to get Sasuke which was of course every girls dream. Unfortunately he had been dating Hinata at the time. The two had issues until Hinata saved Sakura's life. Now they had a mutual respect of the other. As for Sakura and Sasuke they didn't last long since they each became bored with the other, they did become better friends since Sakura was pretty much the female version of his best friend. After lunch classes seemed to go by fast. Naruto wanted to go see his father when the day was over. In the lunchroom he and Sakura sat at the table where Karin, Sasuke and Suigetsu already were. As they all sat eating and talking a girl walked up. She was dressed in another school's uniform and had short dark hair. She was plain looking. She walked up clearing her throat. A group of her friends with the same uniform were behind her. Everyone at the table stopped talking and looked at her.

"Sasuke I've come to confront you!"

"That's nice…who are you again?" He asked.

"You ass! You know who I am! Ai, the girl you've been dating for two weeks"

"Really? I thought your name was Noriko for some reason. You don't look like an Ai"

"I heard rumors you were cheating on me, are you?"

"Probably" Sasuke answered uncaring. Naruto on one hand felt bad for the girls Sasuke hurt but on the other hand they usually knew what they were getting into but thought they could change him.

"You bastard! It's with him isn't it?!" She pointed at Naruto who was not surprised. Karin rolled her eyes while Suigetsu burst into laughter. "I've heard how close you two are"

"And?" Sasuke was getting annoyed

"Why does everyone think that we're secretly in love or something?" Naruto asked "Is everyone really that uncomfortable that we're such good friends?"

"They've known each other since the cradle" Sakura tried explaining to Ai who didn't want to hear it

"That doesn't mean anything, you two are in love I know it!"

"Ok then let me get this out of the way" Naruto's face turned serious. He grabbed Sasuke's hand and looked into his eyes "Sasuke I love you so much!"

"I love you too Naruto!" They hugged and started laughing with the rest of their friends joining in. Ai's face turned red, she didn't like being mocked. Her cheeks puffed out in anger

"After school my friend is going to kick your ass!"

"You know when I get out, tell them I'll be waiting" When classes let out for the day Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto waited under a tree near the front of the school. A group of girls led by Ai and another dark haired girl made their way to them. Sasuke mumbled "This should be fun" Before standing. Ai stomped up to him

"Today you're going to be sorry you fucked with me!"

"I was sorry a few minutes after I did it" Seeing the dirty meaning of his words Ai slapped him.

"Hey!" Sakura came up "That was uncalled for"

"He got it easy compared to when he got shot" Naruto leaned against the tree and pulled out some candy. It was always fun to watch when a girl became tired of Sasuke's ways.

"This is Kuchiki Rukia and she told me she'd defend my honor" Ai pointed to the dark haired one who was watching. All the girls cheered. Rukia walked up and looked Sasuke up and down. "Kick his ass!" The group shouted. By now many of the students of Hatake Academy had gathered.

"Ai told me what you did, no woman should be treated like that" Rukia placed her hands on her hips "Get on your knees and apologize! Its only right" More cheers.

"You can't be serious" Sakura stated in surprise. Sasuke simply yawned and put his hands in his pockets.

"Naruto you're such a great friend, thanks for defending me" His voice dripped with sarcasm

"No problem, I help where I can" The blond answered back with a huge grin. Before Sasuke could be forced on his knees, a man walked up wearing a suit.

"Now, now, now children. Lets all calm down" Hatake Kakashi said. He was known as being extremely laid back. His family had owned the school since its founding many years ago. "Ok ladies as much as Mr. Uchiha probably deserves whatever is about to happen to him I can't just ignore it. So you'll have to leave" The group groaned in disappointment "But whatever happens outside of school grounds is none of my concern" he winked at them.

"I guess we'll see you in a few outside those gates" Rukia said as she and the rest of the girls hurried out to wait for him.

"Thanks Mr. Hatake" Sasuke rolled his eyes. The principal smiled and headed back inside.

"Wow Sasuke, how are we gonna get out of here?" Sakura asked "Those chicks are crazy"

"Luckily there's more then one way to get out of here" Naruto said "Lets hurry up so I can get to the hospital. Several minutes later they had snuck out a back way.

Sakura and Sasuke wanted to go with him so the trio headed to the hospital. They hadn't made it a block when they saw a boy with strawberry blond hair getting pushed around by three other guys that wore school uniforms but seemed to be way too old for it. Without thinking Naruto immediately started to run over but not before he heard Sasuke mumbled "Here we go again". Naruto had a reputation for rushing to someone's aid without thinking.

"Hey why don't you assholes leave him alone?!" Naruto said. They stopped what they were doing and laughed at him. "I guess you want me to beat the shit out of you, that's fine too" He grinned.

"And if he's going to fight then I will too not that it'd be a long one" Sasuke smirked

"Well I don't wanna be left out so I guess I'll have to help out too" Sakura cracked her knuckles. Both of his friends were known to be pretty good fighters. Sasuke was more into martial arts while Sakura excelled at kickboxing, more specifically she was the current champion of Japan.

"We're not scared of you!" One of the thugs yelled. Before Naruto could punch him his cell started to ring. He pulled it out his pocket looked at it and put it back.

"Who was that?" Sasuke asked.

"Hinata, I'll call her back later" He shrugged "Now where were we?"

"Wait she wouldn't happen to be H-Hyuga H-Hinata w-would she? You're her friend?" Another guy stammered out

"Yeah, so?"
"Shit we're so sorry! Please don't tell her about this" The three immediately dusted off the boy they had been messing with and tried to straighten his clothes. They then bowed profusely offering up more apologies then ran away like someone was after them leaving the remaining teens dumbfounded.

"They weren't scared of us but of HInata who's not even here?" Sakura asked in disbelief.

"Huh guess so, that's never happened before" He turned to the boy who had a cut on his lip but looked fine "Looks like we got here in time, I'm Naruto. The guy with the smug attitude is Sasuke and the girl is Sakura"

"Ichigo" The boy said. He wiped the blood away form his lip "Thanks but I could've taken care of 'em"

"Why were they messing with you?" Sakura asked.

"I think I kicked one of their friends ass the other day…no that was someone else…maybe I did that last weekend" He scratched his head then shrugged "Anyway it was nice meeting all of you but I gotta go. See ya around" Naruto waved to him.

"Hey I think he goes to the same high school as those girls judging by his uniform" Sakura said as they started walking again. "I got in a fight once with a girl named Tatsuki who goes there too"

"Did you win?" Naruto asked

"No, it came to a tie. She was pretty good" They made it to the hospital just as Shizune was starting her shift. Sasuke told Naruto they'd be up later which meant the two were trying to give Naruto some time to himself with his father. He was surprised to see Sosuke sitting in a chair near the bed. When he saw Naruto, he smiled.

"What are you doing here?" He asked taking a seat on the other side.

"I went out for a walk and decided to come here"

"You weren't afraid to ride the subway again?"

"I walked"

"The entire way?! Do you know how far this is from my house" Sosuke nodded. Naruto rolled his eyes and turned his attention to his father. He took one of his hands in his. He lost track of how long he sat there like that but eventually he could see the sun setting through the window. He yawned and stood up. Sosuke was watching him.

"I'm gonna get Sasuke and Sakura, they wanted to see him too. Damn! I didn't realize how long I'd been sitting here" He walked out.

"Naruto…" Minato whispered from the bed.

"He just left" Sosuke answered, his voice void of any emotion. Minato's head turned to the side where Sosuke was sitting, he opened his mouth but no words came out

"I know you're trying to wake up but it's hard. Your body is weak. I know also that you can hear me. My memories of doing research on comatose people came back to me the other day. Hearing others talk to them is supposed to be helpful…" He paused "Not all of my memories have returned. I remember being in a place called the Soul Society. I created beings called Espada and fought with my former companions who thought they knew me. As to why I did all of that or what I hoped to accomplish I don't remember" He smirked "The most important part I can't remember, that's ironic in a way"

"Aizen" Minato whispered

"I don't recall ever telling you my name…but I have a clue as to who you are" Sosuke could hear the kids coming "You need to be awaken soon. I don't want to be the one to tell Naruto who his family really is" Naruto and his friends came in a few seconds later to a room without Sosuke who was there not too long ago.

Later that night found Naruto and Sasuke lying on the floor in Naruto's room. Sasuke seemed to be sleeping while Naruto was staring at the ceiling. Itachi was downstairs playing a game with Sosuke, Kisame and Deidara who had come by to visit. Sasuke had tried on more than one occasion to tell his friend how he felt about Aizen but events would happen to interrupt him. He really just wanted to go to sleep now but decided to try once more

"Naruto" Sasuke mumbled

"Yeah?"

"Something isn't right with that other guy"

"Now you sound like Granny"

"I'm being serious"

"I know but unless I see him do something weird with my own eyes I won't believe it. The guy didn't even know what a microwave was for crying out loud"

"That's beside the point. Since you won't watch him I guess I'll have to"

"Thank you Mama Sasuke"

"Shut the fuck up" Naruto laughed and they lapsed into silence for a few minutes.

"Sasuke?"

"What?"

"Do you ever think it would be cool to be a ninja?"

"Good night Naruto" Sasuke grabbed a blanket from off to the side and covered his head

"But admit it! I'd be the coolest one ever"

"I'd be better than you" The dark haired boy muttered from under the blankets

"Like hell you would! You'd probably be all smug and shit and no one would want to work with you. I could see your brother as a ninja. He's always so sneaky. I was in the shower earlier and forgot my towel. When I got out he was standing there holding it for me. You know how scary that was? I didn't even hear him come in" They continued talking into the night well Naruto talking and Sasuke cussing at him every few seconds to get him to be quiet so he could sleep. In the guest room Sosuke stood looking out a window. Vixen slept on his shoulder. Many pieces were starting to fit together and he knew it'd only be a matter of time before he regained all of his memories. He hoped it be soon since he kept having the feeling Naruto was in danger and he was missing a very important piece of the puzzle.

as the story goes on there will be more interactions with the other bleach people but for now i just thought it would be fun for them to interact with ichigo and rukia. i also hope im not writing anyone too out of character. see you in the next chapter and dont be afraid to review. i dont bite :)