Chapter 4: Setsumei to Itazura

The three awoke in the same park, dazed and confused, but all around fine nonetheless. They all sat up from the ground and looked at one another before realizing that they were all back in the park that Naruto and Sakura met up at earlier. Both the blond and the pink haired girl looked to the raven haired Uchiha and gasped a bit.

"What?" Sasuke started, slightly disturbed by their reactions to him.

"Your eye." Sakura started as she and Naruto scooted closer to him. "It's the same as before."

Sasuke noticed right then and there that he couldn't see out his right eye and that the blood no longer flowed, meaning that Shizen's healing really worked wonders. He really needed to thank her for this. Whatever he could do for her would hopefully be payment enough for him.

Naruto began to snicker a bit under his breath, getting the attention of the other two. "What's so funny Naruto?" Sakura asked him.

"Guess this makes Sasuke a straight up cyclops then." He began to burst out laughing when he saw Sasuke's face contort at the little jab to him and Sakura began to chuckle a bit as well.

Sasuke was upset at first, but then realized that well, Naruto was right. He began to chuckle a bit under his breath as well before all three burst out into laughter together. They didn't know why, but they just knew that moments like this would be shared for a long time now.

They're laughter was cut short when they felt that someone was coming their way. They turned to see the Hokage and a squad of Anbu following him approach the trio. Of course, when Naruto saw him, he waved with that big toothed grin of his on full display. Hiruzen wanted to smile at seeing his surrogate grandson's usual nature, but this was not the time. The Uchiha Massacre was still fresh in his mind, and what Itachi had done wasn't what was supposed to happen. He looked to Sasuke, the only surviving Uchiha, and saw his eye. He silently gasped towards himself at the damage done to the boy, but then noticed a lack of blood or a fresh wound, only a scar.

'Why would Itachi do this to his little brother?' Hiruzen thought to himself. He then saw the girl and raised a brow. 'Wait, this is the girl that was reported at the hospital by Hitomi Hyuuga. What's she doing here?'

"Hey Ji-ji!" Naruto yelled out as he continued to wave.

Hiruzen broke out of his stupor and waved for his Anbu to secure the perimeter and look for Itachi. They nodded and left quickly, leaving him with the three children. On one hand, he was happy to see them together and relatively unharmed, but on the other, he was afraid of what the council would say about this. He pushed those thoughts into the back of his head and instead went to make sure that they were alright, with just one though going through his mind.

'Tonight did not go according to plan at all.'

[The next day]

Just as Hiruzen thought, last night really didn't go according to plan. The council was in a frenzy after word of the Uchiha Massacre. The Shinobi side called for the Uchiha's head for what he had done to his own family. The men and women who were ninja were one thing, but the children and innocent were another. Only Hiruzen knew the true purpose for Itachi killing the men, but he had no clue why he would go so far. The civilian side also wanted a retaliation as well against Itachi Uchiha, but their main focus was on the last of the clan. Sasuke was definitely one of the main topics of last nights meeting, especially when word got out of the Uchiha being in contact with the 'demon' of the village. The civilians wanted to house Sasuke within their own homes, most likely to get a portion of the Uchiha wealth, while the shinobi side opted to have Sasuke housed in an orphanage of sorts. Of course Danzo stirred his ugly, bandaged head into this and suggested that he take in the Uchiha. Hiruzen shot that and the civilian side down a s quickly as possible while considering what the shinobi suggested. Nothing was solid yet, but the old man had a few ideas with what to do with the lone Uchiha.

While the meeting was going on, the three children were conversing among themselves at the hospital. All three were in a room together despite just Sasuke and Sakura being treated. Naruto was fine for the most part, but did have to sneak in when no one would give him his friends room number. Sucks that Hitomi isn't working today.

The three were talking about random things that they all had in common while avoiding the subject of the night before. From what the doctors could tell, Sasuke's eye was a lost cause with no real way of healing it fully. The Uchiha didn't seem to mind, though many others did. Most likely for his bloodline. Sakura made sure to avoid that doctor from before and wound up getting the same room and doctor as Sasuke thanks to the Hokage. She just needed fluids and some food for the most part as most of her injuries had healed up.

They found that they had a lot more in common than just their new, demonic furry friends inside of them. Sasuke and Naruto found that they both actually like pulling pranks on others. Sakura and Sasuke actually like to cook. All three liked flowers and the different types of them as well. They even found a strange like/tolerance for tomatoes when Sasuke kept talking about them. The Anbu within the room found the conversation completely boring, but stayed and listened in regardless.

After a little while, the Hokage came in and was greeted by his surrogate grandson. Both Sasuke and Sakura also greeted the old man, though not in an over energetic way as Naruto had. He smiled as he saw the three got along perfectly. This just all reinforced his decision even more now.

Getting their attention with a subtle cough, the three looked to him and waited. "While I am glad that you three have gotten along wonderfully, the council wanted to have Sasuke placed into either an orphanage or within one of the civilian houses." The three immediately went wide eyed in alarm at hearing this. "But, in the end the decision goes to me since this was shinobi affair. Legally, everything is within my hands, not theirs."

"Ji-Ji," Naruto started with a tone of determination that reminded Hiruzen of how Naruto speaks of his dream. "If it's all up to you, then the three of should live together. That way we can watch each others backs and when we go into the academy, we can go together."

Hiruzen was actually surprised by this. He looked to the others and saw the same determination as he had in Naruto and it was actually pretty intimidating for a bunch of kids. While they weren't old enough yet to join the academy, the fact that they were already talking about it as if it was a guarantee that they would be ninja's together was nerve wracking to the old man.

Hiruzen smiled as he was about to come to a decision when he remembered something important. He turned to the pink haired girl that arrived in the village not that long ago. "I'm sorry, but I never got your name miss."

"I'm Sakura." She answered with a smile.

"From what I've gathered, you just showed up in the village with a series of injuries to you." He started as he saw the look of discomfort in her eyes as well as the concern on the boys face's. "I take it that is a touchy subject you'd rather not talk about?" She nodded to him, but kept her eyes on his the whole time. "Well, since that is the case, I'll add you to the citizenship of the village once I leave. You are now a member of this village in my book. Try and keep Naruto here out of trouble."

"WHOOHOO!" Naruto jumped for joy at this news, completely ignoring the last part the old man said.

Sasuke was also happy that the three would be living together. At this point in time, it was best to stay with the first friends he's had in his entire life.

Sakura was almost in tears at hearing this. Not only would she be living in the village as an actual villager, she would be with her friends as well. This was going to be great.

The three foxes in the children were happy to feel the joy coming off their hosts. Kurama felt Naruto's hyper activeness and it brightened up the sewer a bit, getting rid of the drab decor he was used to. Daku finally didn't have to sleep on a wet ground, as the water began to sink away into the ground. Shizen smiled when the burnt forest began to have some semblance of life return to it.

This was definitely the start of a legendary team in the old mans eyes.

[Five years later]

"I don't think this is a good idea Naruto." Sakura spoke up as she was trying, and failing, to be the responsible one the responsible one in this situation.

"Oh c'mon Sakura, this will be fun." Naruto explained to her.

"And it's not like we're hurting anybody." Sasuke added in as he placed his arm onto Naruto's shoulder.

Sakura sighed as she brushed her hair out of her face and smirked. "This is gonna be a bad idea."

"That's the spirit Sakura!" Naruto yelled out in excitement as his sister agreed with what they were about to do.

In five years, the three had changed drastically, both physically and mentally. Thanks to the training they received from their own kitsune demons, their skills had gotten sharper than before.

Naruto had gone from an obnoxiously loud and brash kid to a less brash and hyper active ten year old. His spiky blond hair was still a constant in his physical appearance, as are his bright blue eyes. The only things that changed for him physically was the fact that he had gotten very muscular in his time of training with Kurama. He now wore a black shirt with a yellow leaf swirl on the back that Sakura had stitched for him, a pair of orange cargo pants with black trimming along the ankles that traveled to his hips, regular sandals, and a pair of goggles on top of his head.

Sasuke hadn't changed into some emo brat like some thought he would've. Instead, he became a generous individual that put his friends, who he now called his brother and sister, and others over himself. His hair was still short, but he kept it fairly spiky, a jab from Naruto. He now wore a plain blue shirt with the Uchiha logo stitched on the back much like Naruto's shirt, black pants and also regular sandals. Sasuke also wore a black eye patch over his right eye that also had the leaf swirl on it too in the same color as the one on Naruto's shirt.

Sakura had changed drastically in those five years. She went from being a little shy and unsure of herself to one of the strongest kunoichi in their class. Kind, took no crap from anyone, and strong-willed, you can bet that many of the guys in the class wanted a piece of her. Right now, she kept her hair fairly long, reaching her mid back, wore a deep red shirt with a whited out sakura tree stitched on the back, plain sandals, and she had on white shorts that went to her knees.

Right now though, it was only a few hours before their class was about to start and the three were out about to pull yet another prank. Most people saw these three as mainly pranksters, with some blaming the 'demon' of infecting the last loyal Uchiha and a clanless girl into doing such devious acts. In all honesty though, both Sasuke and Sakura do have fun doing these pranks with Naruto regardless.

Today was the day that they would definitely try something bold though. Painting the aces of the hokage mountain. All Sasuke's idea actually.

It took them an hour or so without anyone noticing them, surprisingly. Maybe it was because it was so early in the morning and most people were either asleep or just waking up, but they managed to paint many random things on each Kage's head. Naruto, knowing already who his father was, decided to play a cruel joke on the ones that did know the truth. He wrote in big orange letters, 'Does this guy look familiar?' on the forth's head.

By the time everyone saw the mountain, the three were already in class, patiently awaiting the start of another day.

Gonna end this here. Short and sweet in my opinion. Them being int the academy won't be for long.

Next time: Shiken to Shobatsu

"I really can't believe that it was this easy." Naruto spoke to the others as they walked through the forest.

"Well," Sakura started to him. "Hitomi did say that this was important."

Naruto sighed as he knew she was right. Sasuke nudged him with his elbow. "Come on bro, this won't be so bad. Just imagine it as an early mission for us once we become ninjas."

Naruto smirked at this and instantly knew that this might be a pretty good idea after all.

You guys are awesome, and as always.

PEACE!