Okay, so here's the dealio: if I were to make a series of Naruto crossovers after this one, would you guys read it? And if I did, what would you want to read the most?

Thanks for all the reviews guys! ;D -hugging you all-

I promise this chapter will be a long one!

Oh, and I may be a little slower on the updates because I started school up again TT.TT Noooo! I'll do the best I can, though!

(it just occurred to me that I left out Winky… oops…)

CHAPTER TEN

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Two people were in the living room. One lay on the pull-out couch, the other was slumped forwards in a chair with their torso on the bed, snoring softly. Both were male. Both were holding the other's hand. Ginny Weasley blushed. Yuubi-san was younger than she thought he would be and much cuter too—now that she had a decent look at him. Silently she closed the door and tiptoed to the kitchen.

"They're still asleep." She told her mother.

"Well, of course they are, dear. They've had a rough night, we all have." Molly hugged her daughter and smiled at her sons. "What happened last night at the QWC, Arthur?" the plump woman waved her wand and a cup of coffee appeared in front of the bedraggled ministry employee.

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(A/N: I've decided to create a small story within this story dedicated to what's happening back in Konoha… it's gonna have KakaIru as the main pairing, but it will help to lengthen the chapters and hopefully give an idea of who Sasuke and Naruto are as adults.)

And thus begins the: Konoha Chronicles

Maito Gai stood apart from the other group of elite jounin. It was a brisk evening in Konoha and the streets were thronged with paper lanterns that shone in different colors and groups of people who stood whispering to one another. Vendors shifted restlessly in their shops. Word had spread faster than wildfire. Hatake Kakashi had rejoined ANBU.

His team had been sent out on a week long mission to the village of Suna. Two weeks later, they had not returned. What could have kept him? Gai asked himself repeatedly. Yes, his eternal rival had been a little slack in his training, but that shouldn't have mattered with a peace-keeping mission such as this! Gai would have pulled his perfect black hair out in frustration if he had not put so much gel in it—it was rock-solid by now. A tap on his shoulder brought the jounin back to reality.

"Sakura-chan, what brings you here?" Gai flashed his expertly flossed teeth at her.

"Do you know where Lee is? I need to talk to him…" Sakura explained. She regretted asking the green-clad jounin when he began on a long, ridiculous rant on the springtime of youth and the wonderful youthful love that only two young people could share. "Gai-sensei!" Sakura finally cried, "Can you just tell me where he is!"

"He's at the Uchiha compound." Gai watched the blur of pink speed away. He turned in the opposite direction and began to walk.

The pink-haired kunoichi had changed over the years. Sakura was now standing at an average height of 5'8''. She wore the black jacket of a rookie-medic—the sleeves were rolled up past her elbows and it fanned out behind her as she ran, exposing the silver and black fishnet tank top. Her hair had grown past her shoulders and was pulled into a messy bun at the nape of her neck. The Uchiha compound's wall was within seeing distance and Sakura slowed to a walk, trying to smooth her breathing—being a medic didn't require much physical strength, not in the beginning at least, but more on that later.

A distant figure in forest green stood a ways away and Sakura grinned. "Lee!" She called. The figure turned and once he realized who had spoken, jumped up ecstatically and rushed to greet her. Rock Lee didn't slow down when he reached the kunoichi; he kept at full speed until he—quite literally—crashed into her, lifted her up and swing her into a crushing bear-hug. "Sakura-chan!" he cried happily.

"ello…" was all Sakura could force out of her squished diaphragm. Rock Lee had not changed his style since he was a genin—although he did have different outfits for other occasions; the green spandex was still his favorite. How he had managed to win the beauteous Sakura-chan's heart is beyond my knowledge—I will, however disclose that it took a fare amount of woo-ing, poems, chocolates and a romantic date in a tuxedo on Lee's part.

"Lee?" the medic-nin gasped.

"Yes, oh flower of my desire?"

"I can't breathe…" The taijustu master put her down immediately, looking concerned.

"I am so sorry Sakura-chan!" His eyes widened adorably and Sakura could almost see the unshed tears. She sighed and hugged him around the neck—Lee could get so emotional at times.

"It's okay Lee, I'm glad to see you, too." She said. Lee's energy sky-rocketed and yet again, Sakura found herself lifted off the ground to Lee's height as he spun her around, laughing his head off—Rock Lee was in the neighborhood of 6'3'', so the pink-haired chunin's feet dangled helplessly, inches above the ground.

"I do hope we haven't interrupted anything…" the deep voice of Neji interrupted their moment of reunion. Lee set Sakura on the ground and went to greet his former teammate. Hinata waved at Sakura and they hugged.

"Hinata, how are you?" Sakura looked the Hyuuga up and down, liking what she saw. Hinata was wearing a skintight, light blue tank top and khaki capris—Ino had forced her into clothes shopping and finally convinced the shy girl of her prettiness.

"I've been fine, how about you, Sakura?" Hinata blushed and smiled.

"Confused, actually…" Sakura's brow furrowed and she looked at Lee, "I've been meaning to ask you, why were you in front of Sasuke's house?"

"Sasuke's gone missing." The sultry purr of Ino whispered in her ear. Sakura jumped.

"Ino!" She squealed and latched onto the girl, "When did you get here!"

"Just now." The jounin smiled and pushed Sakura off of her. She turned to the rest of the group, "Hey, so we goin' in?"

"Indeed!" Lee grinned and held out a hand—which Sakura took—and threw her over the high barrier surrounding the Uchiha Compound.

"Such a gentleman!" Everyone nodded in agreement.

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Minutes later, the ninja had successfully infiltrated the main house of the Uchiha clan and were standing in the middle of a luxurious main living room. Ino whistled. Hinata blinked. Lee gaped openly. Sakura sank onto the couch. Neji didn't care—he was inspecting the ends of his fingernails for imperfections.

"Amazing!" Lee was the first one to speak, his boisterous voice echoed into the rafters high above, "This is the first time I have set foot in my rival's home!"

"Sasuke did like his privacy." Ino fingered a small figurine of a kunai set into a stump.

"But where is Sasuke?" Hinata gave voice to the one question on everyone's mind.

While the others had been caught in their meaningless conversation, Neji had slipped silently into the kitchen. His colorless eyes roamed from the tea-kettle on the stove to the chair lying on the polished marble floor. The Hyuuga bent to study the kitchen table. A small ring was left on the wood. Sasuke had forgotten to use a coaster and it showed days later. Neji glanced into the trashcan and fished out the wrapper of a unique-looking tea—repressing a shudder of disgust. He threw it back into the waste reciprocal. Walking once around the kitchen, he could see nothing amiss. He checked the windows, no sign of anyone breaking in. Neji frowned and turned, his eyes fell to the table again. He blinked. Two foot-prints were barely visible against the polished mahogany.

Foot prints? Neji quirked an eyebrow, suspicious. Sasuke wouldn't be standing on his own table… He quickly suppressed a snort of laughter at the thought of the stoic Uchiha standing on his kitchen table, eating breakfast—or whatever it was that he did in the privacy of his home.

"Oi, guys, you better get in here!" Neji called. Everyone came sprinting—after all, it isn't everyday that the Hyuuga NEJI requests that you share oxygen in the same room with him.

Only Hinata stayed where she was. The shy Hyuuga female's eyes were widened and veins were popping out around them—the common side-effect of using the byugan. Almost immediately her eyes returned to normal. Hinata padded silently to the front hall and opened the door.

"Hello, Iruka-sensei, what brings you here?" She asked sweetly, smiling at the brown-haired chunin whose fist was raised to knock on the door.

"Hinata-chan?" Iruka looked like he hadn't slept in days. Even though Hinata had graduated from the academy many years before-hand, Iruka always addressed his former students with the suffix "chan" or "kun", with exceptions, of course.

"What are you doing at Sasuke's house?"

"I could ask you the same thing, come on in, Sasuke-kun's missing." Hinata closed the door behind the sensei.

The first thing Iruka saw upon entering the kitchen was Lee, Sakura, Ino and Neji standing over Sasuke's table. Neji was in the midst of explaining that Sasuke had not been home for more than four days and that when he had left, he had not been alone. They all looked up as Hinata and Iruka entered.

"Iruka-sensei?" Sakura asked, "What are you doing here?"

Iruka didn't here the question; instead he bent over the foot marks on the table. "Strange…" He murmured, "This looks like the design I set in Naruto's shoes just the other day…"

Neji leaned closer, and sure enough, a small design of a toad was visible in the prints. "What would Naruto be doing on Sasuke's table, I wonder?" he exhaled.

"You look dead on your feet, Iruka-sensei." Hinata gently tugged the chunin's arm and indicated to the living room, "Why don't we all sit down?" The sensei nodded gratefully and allowed himself to be guided onto the couch.

"Naruto's gone, too." Iruka said suddenly, after a few moments silence.

"Come to think of it, you're right." Ino's brow furrowed.

"I haven't seen my orange-clad companion lately, either." Lee piped up, "We were supposed to meet to train yesterday, but he didn't show up."

"You don't think anything happened to him, do you?" Hinata bit her lip nervously.

"Oh, wonderful." Iruka put his head in his hands with a defeated sigh, "First Kakashi, now Naruto! I was so sure he would be here. I checked everywhere he could be: the bar, the forest, the training grounds, the memorial stone, even the ANBU barracks! Hero-kun won't tell me where he is and I don't think even he knows!"

The mentioning of Hero surprised the group—and with good reason! For all you non-Konoha residents, Hero is the go-to-guy of Konohagakure. You got a missing person, he'll find them. Your house was broken into? Hero-kun can get yer stuff back—for a fee, that is. Not much is known about him, other than he is the most powerful influence in the underworld crime rings and the head of the most powerful guilds (the clothing and medical guilds). So why would he and an ANBU captain be on first-name terms—not to mention on the same terms as with said ANBU's former chunin-sensei?

You see; in his earlier years, Naruto had—like all ANBU rookies—been sent on small missions too dangerous for genin teams and too tedious for jounin, finding the leader of the underworld fell under this category. It had been a difficult time for Hero, and Naruto had helped him out in a moment of weakness. They had been allies ever since—and let me tell you, that alliance saved Naruto's neck many a time. Iruka wasn't supposed to have met, let alone known, about Hero; the name had just popped out of Naruto's mouth while he was telling his sensei about his latest mission—and the rest you can figure out by yourself.

"H-Hero-kun?" Hinata's eyes flashed, "Are you saying Naruto-kun is associating himself with Hero-kun!" She collected herself before anything else on her mind slipped from between her parted lips.

"Wait a minute… Why would Naruto hang out in a bar? Or the ANBU barracks?" Sakura's sharp mind buzzed with thoughts, "Why would you want to come here before checking at Naruto's apartment, where he actually lives?"

Iruka looked at her with a frown, "Naruto doesn't like his apartment; says it's too confining—I would have to agree with the number of scrolls and journals he keeps in there." A slightly vacant look positioned itself on Iruka's face and Hinata glared meaningfully at him. Unfortunately, the brown-haired sensei didn't notice and continued to speak, "Bars fit his personality better, and the ANBU in the barracks are his kind of people. If he wasn't there or training, I assumed he would come here to be around Sasuke, seeing as he's so infatuated with him…"

"Wh-what?" Sakura's eyes resembled giant, teal saucers on her face. Lee's eyebrows had shot up to blend into his hair and Neji's eyes looked positively normal—that's how surprised he was—Ino nearly fell off the couch.

"Iruka!" Hinata squeaked, a look of horror crossing her face.

"Oh shit!" The chunin realized his error too late.

"Wha-what?" Ino spluttered, "What's all this about Naruto having an infatuation with Sasuke?"

"It's none of your business." Hinata hissed. The group of ninja cowered from the bloodlust radiating off the normally shy Hyuuga girl. Said girl turned on the meek sensei, "Iruka, you said you wouldn't tell! You promised him!"

"I know, Hinata, I know!" Iruka gripped his hair in frustration. "Dammit, I shouldn't have come. This whole business with Kakashi is finishing off whatever little sanity I had left."

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(A/N: back to the actual crossover, ne? Tell me if you guys liked that, if not, then I can discontinue it or something… )

Sunlight was pouring into the room. Naruto shifted uncomfortably, trying to move to a spot without sunlight shining in his eyes. When he found none, the ANBU reluctantly sat up and looked blearily around the room. Something wasn't right. Where were the trees?

The room came into focus, and with it came the outline of Sasuke.

… …

… …

What the hell is he wearing? Naruto looked skeptically at the pajama pants and too-large shirt. Carefully, so as to not disturb Sasuke—not that it mattered, seeing as the Uchiha had enough sleep-potion in his system to take out a rhino for two days (but Naruto didn't know about that, did he?)—the ANBU slipped off of the pull-out bed, frowning as his legs protested the movement. He ignored them and flexed his arms, slightly pleased that nothing seemed to be wrong with his bodily functions. True: he was more exhausted than he had been in years, but since Kyuu was gone, it was only natural—after all, the demon made up most of his chakra reserves. The loneliness from before hadn't quite left him, but it had diminished to a feeling that something was missing, but he could ignore that. The hunched figure of Sasuke mumbled something and shifted.

Looking down upon the sleeping man, Naruto smiled. Sasuke looked kinder in his sleep, more fragile: a feature Naruto had never witnessed on the stoic Uchiha. Before exiting he draped one of his blankets around Sasuke's shoulders. It wasn't until he had reached the living room door that Naruto realized he was stark naked.

He turned back and scanned the surrounding area for clothing. The pull-out couch with the sleeping Uchiha was in the middle of the room. Various lamps and bookshelves were lined against the wall and it gave off a very homely feel. After minutes of fruitless searching, Naruto pulled out a particularly ratty-looking robe—but it was clean, and it was clothing—so he put it on. The robe was more comfortable than it looked and it felt like it belonged to someone much rounder than Naruto. Regardless, this is what the ninja wore as he tip-toed into the kitchen, trying not to make much noise on the hardwood floors of the living room. He backed out of the room and silently closed the door behind him. Turning, he came face to face with the Weasley family and Harry and Hermione—they were all staring at him as if he were some kind of zombie.

"Um… Hi?" He stammered.

"Yuubi-san, that you?" Harry squinted at him. Naruto cocked an eyebrow at him, of course it was! Who else would wear a mask around a house? Hold on a minute… A sense of dread gripped him. He touched his face. Of course, he had taken off his mask in the forest… then that means that…

"FUCK!" He reverted back to his first language of Japanese. He darted over to the long mirror in the corner of the room and looked in horror at his complexion. The whisker-like scars had disappeared, leaving his face smooth and unmarred. His usually bright blue eyes were the color of the sea after a storm. His normally gravity-defying hair was drooping slightly. Naruto's breath caught in his throat and the blood left his face. He looked like… like… that man. "Arashi…" He whispered the name.

Molly had come up behind him and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "It's okay deary, come sit down. You've had a rough time. It's normal to feel this way."

Oh, how he wished he could just sit down and believe the delightful things Molly was telling him. But the fact was that it would not be okay. It had never been okay. Naruto pushed down his emotions and straightened up to look down her—the ninja stood a good foot over Molly's head.

"Where are my clothes?" His voice was strained. Molly gulped and pointed to a pile of black on the counter. Naruto hadn't meant to look so menacing, but it came with being a top-notch ANBU captain—and it also didn't help that he was on the verge of a mental breakdown.

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Charlie was straight. No doubts about it. He liked boobies and that was that. Or at least, that's what he had thought, until Yuubi-san had walked out of the living room in nothing but a bath robe. The way Yuubi-san moved had Charlie seriously questioning his preferences.

It wasn't Charlie's fault. Many a good ANBU had been hospitalized for blood-loss because they had taken an innocent glance in Naruto's direction while changing in the locker-rooms. Naruto was just abnormally handsome. Most of the normal citizens of Konoha had been spared the boy's good looks because of his tendency to wear eye-gouging, orange clothing.

"I… I have to go…" The man's eyes were darting around the room. He was searching for something. For what: Charlie could not say, but it was apparent that it was not here. Yuubi-san picked up the bundle of clothing and strode towards the door.

"Wait, where are you going?" Charlie's father blocked the exit.

"I…" The ninja looked at the wizard with large pleading eyes, "I have to go home… I can't stay here… he knows… he'll hate me… please, Arthur…"

"Who knows what? When will you be back?" Clearly Charlie was not the only one affected by Naruto. Arthur's resolve was dissolving faster than an ice cube in lava.

"Please… I won't be gone for more than two days. I promise…" Arthur finally caved when he looked into the ANBU's eyes. He could only nod dumbly as the man opened the door and rushed out.

"Well…" Ginny cleared her throat, "He's kinda cute, for a bodyguard, dontcha think?" She was greeted by a chorus of reluctant 'yeah's.

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Sasuke… he knows…

I lied to him. He'll hate me. Sasuke is going to hate me…

What do I do? WHAT DO I DO!

Iruka… He'll know… he knows everything.

I can't go into the village like this, not looking like him.

Not like Arashi… Not like my father.

Naruto wasn't sure when he had dressed himself and gotten rid of the robe. He wasn't sure how long he had been running for and he had no idea where he was. Finally, too exhausted to move, Naruto had sat down on a tree stump to collect himself. He knew all too well that when he stepped into Iruka's apartment—no matter how much he told himself he wouldn't—he would break down and sob. It had happened all too many times in the past and the past has a nasty way of replaying itself in the future.

Think Naruto, think! He berated himself furiously. You are stuck in the middle of nowhere with no assets or any idea of time. First things first: check your surroundings. Okay, nothing threatening there. Second: check your chakra level. Hmmm… Enough to perform a transportation jutsu… I should probably play it safe and go directly to Iruka's apartment.

Third: put things in motion. Naruto stood and began the hand signals. He was careful to focus on where he wanted to end up, last time he had let his mind wander while performing this jutsu he had ended up with a spear to his throat and a number of ferocious knights on horses surrounding him and his ANBU trainer.

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Konoha Chronicles

"That's no the point!" Hinata howled, "Naruto-kun trusted you!"

"What do you know that we don't?" Sakura had gotten up and moved closer to the Hyuuga girl.

"I can't tell you, you're going to have to ask Naruto-kun—when and if we find him." Hinata stood and pulled Iruka up with her. "Come on, Iruka, we have some things to discuss." The poor sensei just nodded helplessly as he was dragged out of the Uchiha mansion.

"Sakura, my love," Lee said after a moment's silence, "seeing as you were on Naruto's team before any of us actually knew him, maybe Iruka-sensei will say something to you; you should go find out the details."

"Yeah." Ino and Neji agreed. Hinata was scary when she wanted to be, and it was better Sakura than one of them.

"Sure, why not?" Sakura cracked her knuckles in sync with inner Sakura, "It always seemed like Naruto had a few more secrets than he let on."

------- meanwhile, with Iruka and Hinata… After a rather severe lecture, Hinata finally lets our brown-haired chunin walk away unscathed and this is where we find him now…

The houses lining the streets were dark. This in itself wasn't uncommon, not only was it eight O'clock at night, but some major festivities were going to be set off tomorrow and everyone liked to pitch in towards the common goal. Iruka's building complex was nearing and he began to fumble around in his vest pockets, searching for the key to his apartment. Looking up in exasperation, the sensei noticed his window was open. Hadn't he shut that this morning?

Unless... Kakashi? He literally ran up the side of the building and threw himself through the window. No one was in the bedroom. The chunin's heart gave a painful throb and he listened closely. The sound of a tea kettle coming to a boil was audible just in the living room. Iruka peeked out the door and saw the hunched figure of Naruto in full ANBU attire sitting at the counter. Iruka knew he would be lying if he had said that he wasn't a little disappointed to see the boy, because it meant that Kakashi was still out there somewhere. Still, the older man crossed the room and encircled his arms around the blonde.

"Hey, where've you been?" He asked.

"Iruka?" Naruto's voice was muffled by his chunin vest.

"Yeah?"

"Sasuke knows I'm ANBU…" Naruto looked up at his father-figure with over bright eyes. Iruka almost gasped. The whisker marks that usually dominated the boy's facial features were gone. He put a hand on Naruto's cheek and felt only smooth skin. Now that he was on the subject, Naruto's chakra levels were dangerously low.

"What happened exactly?" He fought to stay calm. Iruka had always known Sasuke would never easily accept that Naruto was on a completely different level than him, but had attacking Naruto really helped? The blonde was too infatuated with the dark-haired Uchiha to actually do him any bodily harm, so he would've held back. That brought up more questions, though. Why did the scars disappear, and why did Naruto have almost no chakra left?

"I don't want to think about it right now." Naruto whispered.

"Tell me. What did Sasuke do?" Iruka forced the blonde to look at him, using his teacher voice. Naruto's eyes clouded in confusion and then cleared as he understood.

"Iruka, Sasuke didn't do this to me. The solstice forced the Kyuubi to go into hibernation." Naruto stood and stumbled forwards, "I think I'm gonna go to bed… I feel kinda sleepy all the sudden." He collapsed on the floor.

"Dammit!" Iruka had waited too long. Naruto needed medical attention, and not just any medic would do. Dealing with one person's chakra was hard enough, but Naruto had two to contend with—one of which had suddenly disappeared!

So it was thus that Tsunade was interrupted from her poker game with a few of the veteran jounin—Asuma and Kurenai… I suppose Gai was there too, but he's awful at playing poker—by a very frustrated Umino dragging an unconscious blonde man in ANBU attire. Tsunade didn't even have to ask.

"Dammit Naruto. What is it this time, Iruka?"

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R&R if you love me! Kidding, but it would be appreciated, I hope to make the chapters longer from here on out, did that seem long to you guys? It sure took me long enough to write! Sorry for the late update, but highschool is calling my name and I have no choice but to answer it. Do NOT worry! I will not abandon this fic! I promise!

As always, tell me if you're confused and I'll try to sort things out for you, mkay?