Um, well, I would like to point out that after Sasuke killed itachi, and then found out the truth, this story does not follow the actual Naruto timeline.

THE REASON IS YOU

Sasuke entered his hideout, the black mop atop his head dripping water. Though his expression was unreadable as ever, his companions could immediately tell that something was wrong. Terribly wrong. He looked kind of dazed, as though he was trying to make sense of something, and that two add two just kept giving him five, no matter how he looked at it.

"Sasuke, is everything all right?" Karin questioned with concern.

"Hn," came his oh-so-lengthy and in depth reply.

"Sasuke, what happened," Suigetsu persisted.

Sasuke lowered himself to the floor, leaning his back against the wall and closing his eyes. He sighed softly and then said one word.

"Naruto."

*****

Naruto sneezed.

"Oh, here's a tissue," Urahara said politely, handing Naruto a tissue. Naruto took it from him, and they both resumed their game of catch, with Naruto screaming, "Urahara, when I get my hands on you you'll be sooo sorry, you old man!"

*****

Ichigo rolled over on the couch, tried to pull his blanket over him some more, and in the process, ended up hitting the floor with a loud thud. Sakura woke with a start, a kunai already in her hand as she surveyed the room alertly looking for the source of the noise. She relaxed when she noticed the idiot thrashing about the floor. Wiping the sleep out of her eyes, she tapped him on the head.

"Oi, baka, get up!" she yelled, kicking him. She stopped when she remembered he was injured, but it had already done the trick.

"Dammit Rukia! That hurt."

Sakura was taken aback at the outburst, who was Rukia? "What did you call me, Naruto?"

Ichigo registered the name, as he blinked, looking up at the pink haired girl making a fist at him. Yep, that brought the events of the previous day flooding back to him. He was still in the twisted supernatural hell that was his life, that got weirder by the day. All thoughts of ninjas and ramen clicked in place just in time for him to dodge the blow headed his way.

"I said that hurt, Sakura," he said, looking up at her nervously.

Sakura was certain that he had said Rukia, but that didn't make any sense, they didn't know a Rukia. But then, why was Naruto acting so strange, he was definitely looking nervous. Then she thought she had the answer. Could it be... did Naruto have a secret girlfriend? Ha, she laughed the idea away, even in her mind it sounded ludicrous.

"Well, I guess I just... heard wrong."

"Yeah, I guess so," Ichigo replied, getting to his feet and trying to act casual, "So, what did you hear?"

"I... it's nothing, never mind. So, you going to do any training today, I suppose Tsunade-sama will be giving us a mission soon. Probably won't be anything we're hoping for though, she's already sent Kakashi-sensei to do proper recon in the Hidden Rain."

"Uh, yeah," Ichigo replied, not knowing how to otherwise, he had to learn more about this place, but how was he going to do that without arousing suspicion?

"Um, so are you going to sit and watch me train?" he asked, hoping that she might leave him alone for a while, for him to get a proper grip on the situation and organize his thoughts.

"Duh, do I have a choice?"

There was a knock on the door. Sakura answered. Kiba looked into the room and his grin broadened.

"So, it's true, you're on moron duty," he addressed Sakura.

"Sadly, yes," she replied with a sigh, "So, whaddya want?"

"Tsunade-sama wants to see you, she has a mission for you two."

"Uh, okay..." Sakura said, as Kiba left. She closed the door. "Well, than was soon," she said to Ichigo.

At Tsunade's office, she gave them the details of their mission; they were supposed to escort some business tycoon to the capital. Sakura was ready to ensure that Naruto didn't start proclaiming how unsatisfactory this D rank mission was for the entire village to hear, however, to her surprise, he had no comments to make, wow, he really was sick, huh.

When they were about to leave, Tsunade asked Sakura to remain behind for a minute.

"I know that you can more than handle this mission, the guy doesn't even have anyone targeting him, this is all just a precaution. The main objective is to give Naruto a chance to cool off. When you reach the village, you can spend the day as you like, you can even give him a little free reign."

"Arigato, Tsunade-sama." Sakura bowed and left the room.

*****

Ichigo followed Sakura down the dirt road, thinking about his 'mission'. So this was what ninjas did? Wow, his expectations were way too high. It was really boring, but quiet, he enjoyed that. It was almost like having a relatively normal life, well, as normal as it got for him, no one tried to kill him for the day yet, that was probably a record. The journey ended with no incident and they delivered their charge safely.

"Mission completed!" Sakura proclaimed, putting on a beaming smile for Naruto's sake.

"Yeah," Ichigo agreed, staring a t the bustling streets of the town, with all its stores and restaurants and more. It was almost like a normal town, except there were no cars zooming around. People went about their daily business as usual, without a whisper of a justsu, or a headband in sight. He felt kind of at ease here, he could tell that this was not a ninja village and for a moment, his worries diminished, he was in somewhat familiar territory.

"Hey, Naruto, I'm going to let you off of parole for a while if you promise not to do anything stupid, and to meet back with me here in three hours time, I wanna go to the hotsprings," she said, smiling, and ran off.

*****

Ichigo wandered around, aimlessly darting from store to store. Then he spotted a library, finally, this was a chance to find out some information without arousing suspicion. He darted off toward the building, this was the first time he was so eager to visit a library.

After two hours, Ichigo's table could no longer be found under the mess of books strewn haphazardly about. Okay, so the library wasn't all that useful with answering his questions, not that he expected it to be, given that almost all his questions revolved around the preposterous central theme that was 'interdimensional travel'. However, he did gain some knowledge on interesting background information. He learned that the different kages were the respective heads of the five great ninja nations, that each nation had a hidden village that was its main defence in times of feud and strife. Also, he learnt of some of the history of the land, like the previous wars, and important figures. Knowing something put him at some ease. He decided that he'd look through a few more books, maybe look up some stuff for his physics homework, as that particular teacher was one who didn't buy excuses like 'I couldn't do my homework cuz I was stuck in another dimension with ninjas and I just got back, plus I'm exhausted from killing the swarm of hollows that attacked me the minute I set foot back into this dimension, so well, I'll get around to doing that when I have time, which will probably be never', after that, he'd take one more look around the shops.

*****

Sakura walked toward the rendezvous point, feeling refreshed from her visit to the hot springs; she hoped Naruto didn't get himself into any trouble. When she got there, she couldn't believe what she was seeing. What the hell, her eyes had to be deceiving her! Naruto was standing there waiting for her alright, and it didn't seem like he'd caused any problems, but she would have welcomed a scenario like that, as opposed to this one, at least she had years of practice dealing with it, but this...

Naruto was standing there, smiling at her and waving, and she just stood dumbstruck. It took her quite a few minutes to actually process the black skinny jeans, and almost-tight navy blue T-shirt that were clinging to her blond comrade.

"N..N..Naruto? What are you wearing?!" she managed to stutter out, as she approached him.

Ichigo scanned himself in a nearby window, "What? What's wrong with it, doesn't it look good?" he asked, his tone indicating that it was urgent she answer his question, as it was a life and death matter, whether he looked good or not. Yeah, he looked good, he looked really good, but the issue was, why did he care, and why the hell was he wearing that. After so many years of strict orange and black, he decided to branch out now? What exactly did they do to him in the Hidden less, how on earth was he supposed to fight in that? There is a reason we wear the clothing that we do Naruto!

Ichigo was glancing back and forth, from his reflection to her, waiting for her response. "Yeah, it looks great," she finally managed to choke out, "But why did you decide to change it?"

"I think this is more my style," he replied casually, stuffing his hands in his pockets and taking the lead, "Lets go Sakura."

She followed him, still a little confused.

*****

Confused. This was the first time they had seen their leader so confused.

"What did you say Sasuke?" Suigetsu prodded.

"Na-ru-to!" Okay, and this was the first time he lost his cool over something that didn't seem to be that big of a threat.

"Why the hell are you so agitated?"

Sasuke just glared at Suigetsu and Karin punched him in the face. "I was nearly finished, and leave it to the pest of all pests to interrupt me!" he yelled.

"Sasuke, I think what Suigetsu's trying to ask is what exactly happened, what did the idiot do?" Karin added, in an attempt to get Sasuke to elaborate.

"I had the scroll out, I was doing the jutsu, then I heard 'SASUKE!!', I didn't even have to wonder who that could be, now did I, how he tracked me down, I have no idea!! Long story short, I didn't finish what I was doing, and I need a rest before I start again."

"Sasuke, it would help if we knew exactly what you were trying to do."

"You don't need to know yet," he responded gruffly, and added to himself softly, "I don't even think I do."

Sasuke lay down on the floor and tried to marshal his thoughts, to make sense of all the things that were really bothering him, the things he didn't tell the others.

Itachi touched him on the forehead and then slid toward the floor, he was gone...Madara was telling him the supposed 'truth' of Itachi's life...Madara wanted him to join forces, like he would, he worked for no one, and first he wanted to verify the truth of what Madara said, but how?...his plan was crazy, there was no possible way, no there had to be a way. He thought maybe Orochimaru, in his quest to cheat death had dappled in the matter a little, but his search in that direction turned up Zilch...Rumours in underworld circles claimed that the area was studied, and a functioning technique created, it was done by the Akatsuki leader, Pain, and kept in the Hidden rain...Pain was defeated, the country, the jutsu, were vulnerable, he should make his move, this would be his only chance if it did indeed exist. He had let this 'obssession' occupy his mind for too long, would he finally be able to put an end to it? Why was it that all his obsessions revolved around his older brother?...Acquiring the jutsu was relatively easy, with the help of the others, and they had done it very discreetly as well, he covered his tracks so well, that his own comrades didn't even know what was going on, what they were stealing...this disappearance of the jutsu was discovered by officials in the village much later, and they had no hope of reclaiming it from Sasuke...it did exist, now the question was, would it work, did he really want it to?

It was time, finally, he would know for sure... He made the necessary preparations, and began the ritual, the jutsu was quite long, oh how he prayed it would work, he needed to know... he started, there was a noticeable drop in his chakra level, but it was producing some sort of result, he could see the air before him distorting, feel the laws of the physical world being torn asunder... almost there, then... "SASUKE!", a flash of orange, he was pulled from his thoughts, his concentration broken... Naruto was coming up behind him, some rain ninja close on his tail... Dammit Naruto!... concentrate, concentrate, don't break the jutsu.

Sasuke was about to turn and leave before he compromised his goal by being discovered, but that was when he saw it happen, Naruto disappeared before his very eyes. At this point, he lost all control over the jutsu, he even momentarily forgot about it... Where did Naruto go, what happened, then less than a moment later, the blond reappeared on the battlefield, his enemies surrounding him now...he was unconscious... Unconscious amidst a throng of enemies... Sasuke realized he had already been seen, his perfect plan already jeopardized by one blond, loudmouthed ninja... a ninja who was about to die... Die, not the hero's death he deserved for all his persistence in life, but to be trampled without even a chance of resisting... 'hah, serves him right, he should stop getting so involved in other peoples business, this'll be a load off my shoulder' Sasuke thought... his body acted unconsciously, he was already discovered so it didn't make a difference... he entered the mass of ninja and grabbed his former comrade's body and quickly made themselves scarce... they had successfully escaped from the pursuing ninja... he lay Naruto on the floor and tried to catch up with his thoughts... Why did he do that?... Why?...

He looked at Naruto, still unable to comprehend his actions, then he sensed it... Someone was coming... Leaf ninja, to find Naruto, no doubt... he didn't want to be discovered by any more pesky Konoha-nin, so he retreated to his base... his jutsu was never completed.

Sasuke went through the most recent events that had thrown his mind into the turmoil that it was in now. It wasn't so much not finishing his jutsu that bothered him, it was Naruto's knowledge of where he was, and his response to Naruto's plight. He couldn't sort out what was going on in his head. These things just added to his ever growing list of worries. He needed a rest, then he'd be able to think straight. He shot a weary look at his comrades. Ah, they were so blissfully ignorant of the enormity of the situation. It must be nice to not be so confused.

"Well, the Hidden rain knows we're involved somehow, and Konoha will become involved sooner or later, we'll have to prepare for this and see how best to use it to our advantage." He then retired to bed.

The others shared concerned glances. Geez, Sasuke had to know when to take a break.

*****

"Umm, Naruto, can I ask you something?" Sakura queried, as they were about to re-enter the village.

"Uhuh," Ichigo said absent mindedly, throwing a pebble into the air and catching it repeatedly. He was quite enjoying the quiet life, though he missed his friends.

"Well, um, how do you intend to fight in those clothes?" she said.

"Oh, I'll manage," he replied.

He was oblivious to the number of eyes following him as he walked into the village. Everyone was staring at him, their eyes wide with shock. Sakura pretended she didn't notice a thing.

"N..N..Naruto-k..k..kun," Hinata came up behind him. Her blush deepened when he turned around and she saw that it really was him.

"Um, hey!" Ichigo replied, not knowing what else to say.

"Hey, Naruto, what's with the new style, you finally developed some semblance of a fashion sense?" Kiba grinned broadly.

Ichigo just stood there, taking in the faces and wondering what he should say.

"U..u..um, N..N..Naruto-kun? How are you?" Hinata asked, her facing becoming more scarlet by the second.

"Yeah, I'm fine, but are you okay, you don't look so well, do you have a fever?"

Sakura smile mentally, well, at least Naruto was acting normal again, unbelievably oblivious to Hinata's feelings, there could only be one person that dense in the world.

"I'm f..fine Naruto-kun," Hinata replied, retreating behind Kiba, "Well, see you." With a wave, they were gone.

[AN: poor Shino, he wasn't mentioned at all, why is he hardly ever considered? *Shino sulks*]

Ichigo and Sakura continued walking. They were heading towards Ichiraku's, because Sakura thought that was where Naruto would want to eat dinner. When they were some distance from the ramen shop, Ichigo saw someone waving at them.

"Iruka-sensei!" Sakura beamed, making her way toward him.

"Hey, you two wanna go for ramen, my treat!"

"No thanks," Ichigo replied.

Iruka's jaw dropped. "Naruto, I just said I'm treating you to ramen. Didn't you hear right? Ramen. My treat!"

"Yeah, but I'm fine."

"What?! How? Why?" Iruka thought the sky would start raining fire soon, if this kept up.

"Cuz, I ate ramen last night."

"And???"

"So I'm not in the mood for it tonight?"

Both Sakura and Iruka were dumbstruck.

"Iruka-sensei, I think Naruto still has a little recuperating to do, I'll bring him to have ramen with you when he's sane again, well, as sane as Naruto gets anyways."

"Well, see you around, feel better Naruto."

Judging from the scenario, it seemed Naruto would never turn down ramen, Ichigo made a mental note of this. He had to start acting more Naruto-like. They arrived home and Sakura asked, "so, what are we gonna eat for dinner Naruto?"

Ichigo was already in the kitchen, and the clinking of pots and pans could be heard. Sakura was afraid to look and see what chaos he was creating. She heard sizzling. Oh dear god, don't set the place on fire! After some time, she heard him taking out plates.

"Sakura, mustard and ketchup?"

"Eh?" She turned around and looked. Chicken and chips. It looked edible, but everyone knew, looks can be deceiving. "Well..."he insisted.

"Um, yeah, sure."

He dressed their food and brought her plate over to her. She stared at it. Was it really safe? She watched him shovel fries into his mouth. He seemed to be fine, but then again, it was Naruto. Her tummy grumbled. Oh what the hell. Tentatively, she raised a fry to her mouth and bit. Not bad. She took some more, then a piece of chicken. It was good. She started stuffing her mouth with each mouthful.

"Oi, Naruto, I didn't know you could cook."

He smiled at her, and they continued to scarf down their food as quickly as possible. Sakura volunteered to wash the dishes afterwards. Ichigo was sitting on the couch, poking his finger with a point of a shuriken, seemingly lost in thought, either that, or he was really idle.

"Ouch!" A crimson droplet formed on his fingertip where the weapon pierced his skin. Sakura turned around.

"Baka, clean it up quick before blood gets on the couch, I can't believe you're so stupid!" Ichigo went to the bathroom to wash out his cut and bandaged it. Sakura came over to him on the couch when she was finished with the dishes, and motioned for him to show her the finger. He obeyed. She looked at him and 'tsk'ed. "Seriously Naruto, why are you so careless?" she effortlessly healed the cut.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Uhuh."

"You know, I thought you'd make a big fuss today when Tsunade-sama gave us that totally bogus D ranked mission, but you surprised me. You seem to be doing that a lot lately, you sure you're fine?" she chuckled.

Suddenly, Ichigo had a stroke of brilliance, well he thought so anyways.

"Say, Sakura-chan, lets say I got amnesia, what would you do?"

"Why are you asking something like that Naruto?"

"Dunno, just curious I suppose. C'mon answer me. Hypothetically, what would you do?"

She smiled mischievously. "Well, I'd beat the memories back into you, idiot."

"And when that didn't work?"

"Naruto, where are you going with this?"

"I'm just curious, Sakura. Tell me." Ichigo beamed brightly, anticipating the response, like an impatient little child.

"Well, obviously, I'd try to get you to remember, talk about things, and carry you to places that would jog your memory. I'd start with Ichraku's of course!"

"So, what would you tell me?"

"Everything, from the time we joined Squad 7, come straight back," she replied.

Okay, apparently Ichigo's plan wasn't working, he just had no way of making Sakura divulge details without arousing suspicion, but he could try to get at least some sliver of understanding on the topic of Naruto's life, so that he could play his part better. He tried again.

"So...what's your favourite mission we ever went on?"

"Um, I dunno, but it would have to be one from the early days," she replied, "Why suddenly so nostalgic, Naruto?" she questioned.

Ichigo didn't respond.

"It's okay," Sakura continued, "Sometimes I like to sit and reminisce too... about the good old days, when everything was so carefree... when Sasuke was around and we were squad seven, carrying out missions under Kakashi-sensei... together."

Ichigo noticed how her expression, and tone changed when she said this. The mood felt so sombre now. He realized that this was not the first time he had heard the name Sasuke since his arrival here. If he remembered correctly, whatever Naruto was doing when the switch occurred had something to do with this person.

Sakura looked at Naruto's thoughtful face and hoped she hadn't upset him. In an attempt to cheer him up, she said, "But some things well never change, eh, Naruto. You'll always be a baka, ne?"

"Hey!" Ichigo snapped out of his thoughts, and taking mock offence, threw a cushion at Sakura, she dodged and stuck out her tongue at him.

"Missed me!"

He tried, and failed again.

"Oh, and another thing, you'll always be the number one hyperactive ninja, no doubt about that!" she laughed, as Ichigo was firing cushiony projectiles at her until the couch was bare. Each one missed the target and they were both doubled over with laughter. Sakura caught her breath and tossed them back, hitting her mark each time.

"Night Naruto," she called, as she turned off the light and covered up.

"Night, Sakura-chan," he called in reply.

Ichigo rolled over on the couch, knowing sleep would not come. Ironically, whilst none of his questions had been answered, he now found himself with so much to ponder. One thing he was now certain of, he had found himself good company. He considered himself good judge of character, and he thought these ninja were nice people. They definitely weren't evil in the slightest. They were kind, and hospitable and welcoming. He felt really comfortable here.

He lay on the couch, wondering who Sasuke was, and what had happened to him. Had he been kidnapped, like Orihime was by Aizen? Ichigo still knew nothing, and he had no inkling how he was going to change that.

After some time, he felt like he was drifting off to sleep. His consciousness was fading, slowly, then he felt a sudden jerk and a tug, and everything went spinning. He opened his eyes to find himself in his inner world.

"So, Ichigo, how's the ninja life?" Zangetsu inquired.

"Um, it's okay, I guess... Why's it so quiet, I thought the big orange thing would be making a racket still?"

"Because, believe it or not, your infernal hollow actually managed to annoy it into submission."

"I have no problems whatsoever believing that," Ichigo said, as Shiro bobbed up and down behind him, pestering him for a fight, "No. Problem. At. All." He continued through gritted teeth.

"C'mon king, it's sooooooo B-O-R-I-N-G! Just one little fight," he pleaded.

"Knock it off Shiro."

"Actually, Shiro's constant irritations proved useful," Zangetsu said.

Ichigo raised his eyebrows.

"Because he had to deal with pest control problems, I managed to extort some information from the Kyuubi, however, I don't know how useful it will be."

"Shoot, it's gotta be better than what I've got."

"Well, let's see, more than likely, you're currently in the village of Konoha..."

"Got that."

"...Ruled by the hokage, currently, a woman..."

"uhuh."

"Your host, Naruto Uzumaki, an orphan, is an idiot, or so I've heard."

"Got that too" Ichigo laughed.

"Last thing he did before you switched was chase after one Sasuke Uchiha."

Ichigo's attention perked up.

"What about Sasuke?" he asked anxiously, "What else did you hear about him?"

"He's a sharingan user-"

"Whatever that means," Shiro interjected.

"- and apparently, now he's probably 'joined forces with that bastard Madara'"

"Okay, well at least now I've got a start to search from, I'll try again to dig something up when I get chance. Anyways, you know what happened to Sasuke?"

"Well, Naruto's chasing him for some reason."

"Yeah, based on what Sakura said, he used to be their teammate. Wonder if he was kidnapped?"

"Or he could have defected," Zangetsu added, looking at Ichigo, who nodded his head. He knew all too well that the possibility existed, he himself was currently fighting a battle with three former Gotei 13 Captains. Zangetsu continued, "And, from the way things are being told, that seems more likely."

"It's really sad if that's the case, cuz his friends still have faith in him."

"Speaking of which, how's life in Konoha?"

"It's fine, they're all friendly, just this guy seems to be a real ramen addict though," Ichigo answered.

"And the missions, is it easy to fight without me?" Zangetsu asked with a smile.

"I haven't had to fight yet, no serious missions," Ichigo yawned and took a seat on the side of a building.

"Well, you should start training and get accustomed to it if you're going to be here long, because, from what I've gathered from the Kyuubi, the fights are tough, and the missions are serious. It's kill or be killed, Ichigo."

"In short, the usual?" Ichigo grinned.

Zangetsu smiled back and replied, "It's not the same, true, you're accustomed to fighting, but it'll be different, trust me. The whole motive and nature itself is different, you'll see."

Ichigo stored Zangetsu's words, he was sure some time in the near future, when it was already too late, he'd bother to decipher them, in the mean while...

"Hey, Shiro, how bout that fight?"

Shiro stopped attempting to poke the Kyuubi with his zanpakuto and looked up eagerly.

When Ichigo saw what his hollow had been doing, he screamed, "SHIROSAKI!!!"

They both unsheathed their swords, grinning manically, after Ichigo got over his rage at Shiro, this was a warm up for the training that Ichigo would soon have to undergo to take his place in ninja society.

"Getsuga-"

"-Tenshou!"

And they began.