Disclaimer: Kishimoto's dropping a new series come 2018!

A/N: I have a legit reason as to why this chapter is SUPER late LOL. So, last chapter, I said this chapter would be out a week after and that week when this was supposed to go up, before I could even proof it and complete it, my ass got sick. :( I'm mean a fever, couldn't get out of bed, feeling like I was coughing up a damn LUNG. I was so pissed because I felt bad that I couldn't give you guys the chapter because I had the flu and I've just recovered. And since I felt bad I added more to the chapter just for you guys! All I can say is this chapter is huge. It was supposed to go up hours ago, but I took my time proofing it so it's going up in the middle of the night. This is like a BIG ASS gift to everyone, so I hope you all enjoy this revelating MEGA chapter. Please excuse any mistakes. I am only one person, so proofing so much was excruciating, but hopefully there aren't too many mistakes.

P.S - I was so surprised by the amount of reviews I received last chapter and just want you all to know that your comments served to bring a smile to my flushed face when I was sick. Thank you so much for all of your love!

"I'm sorry if it's all too much
Every day you're here, I'm healin'
And I was runnin' outta luck
I never thought I'd find this feelin'
'Cause I've been hearin' symphonies
Before all I heard was silence
A rhapsody for you and me
And every melody is timeless." ( - Symphony. Clean Bandit. /Uzumaki Menma. )

Warnings: Unbeta'd (please excuse any mistakes.) OC Children, (except for Shiho and Sara since they're actual Naruto characters.) Slight angst. Slice of life. ...Blasphemy? (Sasuke needs to be doused in some holy water LOL.) ;)


Chapter 48 - The Walls as Thy Witness. (part two.)


"I don't know if you remember this place all that much since you weren't here for long," Naruto said, shutting off the car and taking the keys out of the ignition.

"No," Menma stared at the house. "..I do."

Naruto studied the look in Menma's eyes. He knew what he, himself felt when he saw the house. There was this heart-swelling, 'welcome home' kind of sensation that built up inside of him. But for Menma, it was probably different. Naruto didn't know how Menma felt seeing this house. The place had served as a home for them at a point in their lives and it was almost surreal to be back.

Even stepping out of the car took Naruto back to the times when he had to be picked up from school because of some trouble he had gotten into, either an outburst of belligerent anger or a physical altercation with a school mate, and all the lectures he had received from Shizune in the car.

Naruto and Menma crossed the street and walked up to the western-style house, the older Uzumaki taking in any changes to the outside of the house. There had been small changes here and there, but that was about all. He smiled wider. Something that he had always liked about this place was that the house didn't look like the 'stereotypical' orphanage. It looked like a cozy family home on the outside and on the inside. When he was younger, it had helped him not feel so abandoned and out of place in the world because he didn't have any blood family, before he knew of Menma.

Naruto breathed in the air, ringing the doorbell and he noticed Menma looking around kind of… nervously. "Hey," He said, putting a hand on the teenager's shoulder and that got Menma to look at him. "You okay?"

Menma wiped his sweaty palm against his jeans, looking the front door up and down. "Uh, yeah. ..Just been a long time since I've been here so I'm not sure what I should say," He admitted, licking over his lower lip. He felt tense. "I don't know if I should say, 'hi' 'long time no see,'-And if I'm being completely honest, what if she doesn't remember me?" He turned to Naruto with raised eyebrows.

"Menma, relax. Trust me, there's no way in the world Shizune-neechan could ever forget about you. She's been excited to see you, actually." He told him with a small laugh, finding Menma's anxiousness to be kind of adorable. He hadn't seen the kid like this in a long time, probably since the younger Uzumaki was in elementary school, and it was so odd compared to Menma's usually brass and rebellious exterior.

Menma breathed out and nodded, calming himself. He didn't get why in the hell he was so nervous right now. He thought maybe he would have done enough to calm his nerves completely, but his eyes widened when he heard the door being unlocked.

The door came open and Shizune wore a big smile on her face, her excitement glowing in her cheeks when she saw Naruto. "You're finally here! You will not believe how antsy I was getting waiting, Naruto," She was about to leap out and greet the grinning blonde with a warm hug until she took in the black-haired teenager beside him, a state of surprise overcoming her. Looking the teenager up and down, her eyes began watering up. "...You brought Menma with you..?" Shizune said, left a bit breathless and Menma stared back at her, appearing somewhat bashful.

"I thought I would surprise you, Nee-chan," Naruto said, his grin wide.

Menma pouted, shooting his older cousin a narrowed look. He thought she knew that he was coming!

Shizune stepped out of the house, unable to take her eyes off of Menma. The last time she had seen him he was only five years old and had been such a small, quiet and fragile thing. However, now, he was a young man, with a slender-build and confident stance. He didn't look as much like Naruto as he did when he was little and had grown into more of his own look. Sure by one glance when he was younger it was evident that Menma wasn't just of Asian descent, but now exotic, Middle-eastern and Central European features were more prominent. He was certainly a grace to the eyes. He looked so much different than she remembered, but those eyes of his were still the same, so striking, luminous and pure. "Oh my Gosh, ..," She stood in front of him, her smile growing soft and warm. "Look at you. You've grown so well."

"You think?" Menma blushed a bit, the nerves he felt before seeing her fading. There was this comfortable sense of familiarity that he felt now. He remembered the woman, and so vividly. "I remember you. I thought you would look, you know, older though," He remarked just as bluntly as he normally would and that earned him a light hit to the arm. "What? I wasn't trying to be rude, Naru-nii!" Menma retorted, pursing his mouth.

Shizune blurted out laughing, her cheeks reddening. "No, no, that's quite alright! T-That's good to hear, isn't it?" She stammered, still giggling and Naruto looked at her apologetically, giving a hopeless shake of his head. "You've got such a handsome voice on you, you know?" She mentioned to the teenager and Menma lifted his eyebrows at her, clueless, as she expected. Last he was here he had been pretty much 'mute' because of the trauma he endured, so it made her heart swell to hear the sound of his voice. Shizune wiped at her teary eyes and then wrapped her arms around him, bringing him into her embrace. "I'm glad. .." She uttered quietly.

Menma was confused about what she had meant by that as he lifted his arms and returned the embrace. It was strange. He remembered this scent and her warmth. ..Even her voice.

Naruto smiled, watching how tight Shizune hugged Menma. She had grown an attachment to him at a point and nurtured him like a mother would, so to see him again, he knew how much it meant to her.

Shizune pulled back and then touched the side of his face. "It's nice to see you again, Menma."

Menma blushed slightly, about to give a nod before he froze and his eyes grew wide at Shizune, Naruto and the woman eying him oddly because of the abrupt change of his facial expression. "...No. I am short," He uttered in sudden realization, his mouth wide open. "She's a head taller than I am."

Naruto broke out in a fit of laughter, taking in both Menma and Shizune's height. "She is!"

Shizune covered her mouth, feeling the urge to laugh as well. She was already getting a feel of Menma's personality. It was compelling, charming and ... raw. He had to have a lot of friends. She could tell how enjoyable it must be to be around him twenty-four seven.

"Woooow," Menma reached his hand up and flattened it out above Shizune's head and then scowled. "Look. God really did me dirty. That ain't even fair, bruh." He frowned a little and Naruto laughed harder, holding his stomach.

"Oh, don't worry," Shizune chuckled, patting him on the head. "You're how old? Fifteen, right?"

"Yes." Menma's pout returned. "I'll be sixteen in August."

Shizune showed him a reassuring smile. "Trust me. You'll get that growth-spurt sooner than you think."

"I better!" He half-whined, feeling ashamed. "God didn't have to do me like this though. I thought I was getting so tall." He shook his head, Naruto grabbing onto his shoulder while laughing his ass off.

"Alright. Come on, you two," Shizune giggled, gesturing for them to enter the house and they walked in ahead of her, Naruto making jokes about the teenager's height and Menma looking like he wanted to strangle his older cousin. She shut the front door, locking it as the two Uzumaki stopped and removed their shoes at the genkan.

Taking the snapback he wore off of his head, Naruto quit making fun of Menma when he saw the younger Uzumaki was getting annoyed and promised him he would get taller before he knew it.

Menma left it at that and went silent, eying the shoe-cubby shelves housing many other pairs of shoes. He couldn't help but wonder if the children here were somewhat happy, considering the circumstances. This was the only home they knew.

When they finished removing their shoes, Shizune ushered them through the wide, hardwood-floored entryway, making conversation as they walked.

"All the older kids are at school right now, so I've been enjoying the peace and quiet," Shizune said, a small laugh leaving her as she eyed the teenager walking ahead of her and Naruto. "Especially since the little ones have been put down for their naps. They were all so cranky this afternoon."

"Yeah? I can imagine they're all a handful. Lord knows I was," Naruto chuckled, his eyes roaming the walls and floor. It felt like just yesterday he was running through this house, causing a ruckus on a daily basis, Shizune, or her uncle, Dan, shouting after him for some prank he had pulled. Nothing had changed. The color of the walls were the same, the scent of the house was the same and the cozy atmosphere that embraced him was.. the same. The wave of memories that came back to him almost made him teary-eyed. This house had seen him at his ugliest, at his weakest, at his strongest and at his lowest. He looked away from the walls, turning his eyes ahead of him and all of the memories were like transparent silhouettes and fading voices.

"Out of the way, Uzumaki! Smallest eats last!"

"But that's not fair! You're being assholes!"

"Ooh, you heard that, Akio? We should totally tell Nee-chan."

"Think he'll get soap in that big mouth of his again?"

"Like I care about the damn soap. Tell her! You can tell her how you guys keep stealing my shares too, you meanies!"

Every memory was so lucid, like the memories one would catch on film.

"Nee-chan, Shiho and Sāra are trying to bathe with us boys again!"

"Hey, what did I tell you girls?"

"But Naruto bathed with us last night, Onee-chan!"

"What? Lies! It's all lies! I swear it, Shizune-nee-chan!"

Naruto's lips pressed into a smile as he dragged his fingers along the walls.

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, dear Naruto! Happy birthday to youuuu!"

"Yeah! Happy birthday, you's blond bimbo!"

"-Saburo?! Where did you learn that word?"

"I learned it's from Tomo-kun! I's swears it!"

"Huh?! Me?! Well I heard it from Azami-chan, Onee-chan!"

"You know what? You three.. w-what am I to do with you, eh? Apologize to Naru', that was very bad what you said."

"Sorries, Naru-Naru. ...I didn't know it's was bad's to say."

"Can I blow out my candles now?"

Naruto was broken out of those memories when the loud and sharp crack of something brought him back to the present.

"–Ow! Son of a bitch! Fuuuuck!" Menma hollered, having tripped over a toy and then stepped on something else pointy right after that once he had entered into the living room. Menma then froze up, becoming self-aware of where he was and WHO he was around and a gasp left him as he turned around to see Naruto and Shizune's widened stares on him. His hand flying to his mouth, a dark fluster blossomed onto his cheeks. "I am so sorry."

Shizune was surprised by the outburst of coarse language, but also found it kind of humorous. She was sure he had hurt himself and that it was very painful. "Well don't you have a colorful vocabulary," She commented, amusement dancing in her eyes.

Naruto snickered beside her. "I think that is about the first time I've heard him apologize or even look embarrassed about that filthy mouth of his."

Menma opened his mouth, to somehow cover up the fact that he cursed in front of the woman, but there was nothing he could say that would excuse what just left his mouth.

"No, I'm sorry," Shizune laughed a bit, seeing that the teenager was having a difficult time gathering his voice and went over, picking up the toy construction truck Menma had tripped over. "I was in the middle of cleaning up before you two arrived." She mentioned, reaching for the Super Saiyan Goku action figure Menma stepped on, which had to have hurt more than tripping over the truck. She accidentally stepped on the action figure countless times herself.

His lips twisted in a regrettable pout, Menma lifted his sock-clad foot and took hold of it.

Naruto eyed Menma humorously, watching him rub at the bottom of his foot. "Nah, that's alright, Nee-chan. I want to feel as at home as possible. Menma just needs to learn to control his mouth, that's all."

Menma glowered at Naruto, half-heartedly.

Shizune smiled affably with the toy truck and action figure in her hands. "Yes, but I think for safety purposes I should finish cleaning up the living room. Ah! Why don't you go meet the residential caregivers? They can introduce you to all the little nappers."

"Ohhh, babies! They're all probably so cute," Naruto beamed, turning to leave the room. He knew the way all too well, so he headed up to the second floor of the house to see all the sleeping infants and toddlers.

Shizune glanced over from where she had been putting some foam blocks into a bin that should have been in the playroom and that was when she saw Menma pick up a Barbie doll off of the floor across the room. The teenager must have felt her eyes on him because he turned his head and his blue gaze met hers.

"I'll help you clean up. Uh, if that's okay?"

Shizune gave an appreciative nod of her head. "Yes, of course that's fine. Thank you, Menma."


His arms across his chest, Neji reclined back against the wall, intently watching the Uchiha standing at the kitchen counter, drizzling sauce onto a plate of skewered dango. This was something he hadn't expected, but more or less, expected, Itachi clad in a fresh pair of sweat pants and simple black t-shirt, his skin and facial expression looking absolutely vibrant. He certainly didn't look like someone suffering from a 'bad' break-up like all the gossip in the bullshit media of course liked to presume. This was Itachi. He would never look the part. He had known the Uchiha long enough to see right through the cloak he was wearing right now. He was in no way fooled.

"You look refreshed." Neji stated, turning his gaze down onto his own shirt and picking a piece of imaginary lint off of the shoulder part of the open-collared shirt.

"Hn." Itachi murmured, picking up a stick of the glazed dango off of his plate.

"Maybe a bit too refreshed." Neji commented.

Itachi paused, lowering the dango he was about to sink his teeth into from his lips. Neji's tone was idle, but evident, and he found that to be somewhat annoying. He turned his head and looked at the Hyuga, remaining indifferent. "Shouldn't I?"

Neji raised his eyes back onto his best friend, Itachi's narrowed and solid stare penetrating his. "Of course, that is to be expected, overtime. However, isn't it a little too soon for you to look so-"

"Joyously refreshed." Itachi showed him an acute smile.

"Alarmingly refreshed."

"Hn," Itachi retracted the smile on his face and let out an impassive sigh. "You're concerned about me?"

"You're in pain, Itachi. If otherwise, you wouldn't be so closed-off right now."

"Pain?" Itachi snorted comically, looking away from Neji. He then waved the dango in his grasp back and forth, casually eying the delicious-looking dessert. "Do you see this dango, Neji? It'll be gone soon. But I won't regret that, because I could simply buy more." He spoke with disdain before he took a ball of the dessert into his mouth and then fixed his gaze back onto the Hyuga.

Neji didn't even spare the dango a glance, his concentration solely on Itachi's face. "But until you buy more, you'll still dwell on the dango you once had. Contemplating on the different ways you could've savored it."

The motion of Itachi's jaw was smooth as he chewed, the corners of his mouth dipped into a frown. "Stop. You're making it taste awful, Neji."

Neji gave a shake of his head and chuckled. "And yet the way you're eating it says otherwise."

Despite the twitch of his eyebrow, Itachi continued to eat the dango. He knew what Neji was trying to convey to him, but his dear friend couldn't be more wrong. The hell with Deidara. He had even forgotten about that piece of shit for a while, until now. He inwardly growled, his chewing becoming aggressive, not that he realized that himself.

Neji was silent, watching the Uchiha. In Neji's eyes, Itachi was a shit-pretender, but to others, he had them all fooled. He and Itachi were best friends for a reason. Itachi wasn't fine, but he was too prideful right now to showcase that. Neji leaned up off of the wall and walked over to the raven chewing in a way that was more honest than the words Itachi spoke.

Itachi wore an emotionless mask in front of Neji and was about to take another ball of dango into his mouth, but it was at that very moment that Neji silently took the stick out of his hand and set it back down on the plate on the counter. A fine, dark eyebrow of Itachi's twitched, again.

"I know that he meant a lot to you, Itachi," Neji spoke candidly.

"Exactly, meant," Itachi replied, his tone strategically empty of all emotion. "He means nothing to me now, Neji."

Neji stepped aside, his back leaning against the counter. "If only it were that easy."

Itachi said nothing, feeling his jaw tighten up. He wanted to forget Deidara even existed. He didn't deserve for him to feel anything for him anymore.

"Did he know?" Neji inquired and Itachi's eyebrow slightly drew up. "That you're to be engaged next year?"

"No," Itachi answered, his voice still dry and empty of anything remotely close to whatever he felt deep down, and averted his eyes from the light, but reprimanding look the Hyuga was giving him. "It wasn't a conversation I would have had to have with him if-"

Neji cut him off, knowing where Itachi was taking this. "Itachi, it isn't something you can negotiate with your father, or with Uchiha Indra. It's happening." He and Itachi had talked about his arranged engagement, soon to be marriage, countless times and Itachi still believed he could get out of it. Neji at one point had hoped the same for him, but there was an order to these things. Itachi didn't have say-so. "I thought maybe you had spoken to him about it and that it made things tense between you and him."

Neji took note of how tense the Uchiha became, his own distaste for Deidara growing deeper than it already was. He had spoken to Konan already and what she shared with him triggered that protective instinct when it came to Itachi. Deidara wasn't someone who had deserved to be in Itachi's life in the first place. The asshole did nothing but make everyone around him miserable and he had taken note of that early on. Neji crossed his arms, starting to feel somewhat guilty. Maybe it could've been different if he...

"He was one of your closest friends, despite my dislike for him," He said and Itachi finally showed him an unguarded expression. "Am I glad that it ended the way it did? Honestly, ..no. I'm not." He told him in all honesty, the Uchiha's brow furrowing in slight astoundment at that. "I can't help but feel guilty, Itachi. If I had been there for you a little more, when you needed me the most, maybe the outcome would've been different than this one. Maybe.. you wouldn't have strayed so close to him and avoided getting hurt by someone like that." Neji admitted, although he had been reluctant to. "I didn't want to be right. You know that. The last thing I want is for you to be hurt."

Itachi stayed quiet for a moment. Neji was partly taking the blame for something that he shouldn't be taking the blame for and that didn't sit well with him, of course. It was his own fault for not having better judgement of who he allowed into his life. Regretful, he felt his jaw relax a bit. "Neji, that isn't something you should feel guilty for, nor something you could've controlled. I'm not.. hurt."

"You cared about him."

"I let my guard down."

"And that was not a mistake, Itachi." Neji reprimanded, frowning. "Closing yourself off isn't the answer either. Going through life like that will only do more harm than good, and to no one but yourself."

Itachi was silent, the hardened look in his eyes faltering. His mother told him time and time again that 'closing himself off' was a horrible way to medicate himself and of course, she was right. But how else was he supposed to protect himself? His jaw relaxed completely finally, but the bitter tension that rooted itself deep inside of him pulled his shoulders down into a slump. He was tired of having to protect himself.

Saying nothing, he looked Neji in the face despondently and then stepped closer to the Hyuga, lowering his forehead down onto the man's shoulder. "Why can't you just take my word for it when I say I'm fine, Neji?" He muttered with his eyes closed, although his voice was void of actual query.

"Because if you were fine you wouldn't have called and asked me to come over today." Neji scoffed in response, taking a glance at the side of Itachi's face and a few dark locks fell free from the Uchiha's loosely-bunned hair, draping passed a pale ear.

"Hn. ...I'm exhausted." Itachi breathed.

"I could tell by the sound of your voice over the phone earlier. That is why I booked something that I know will relieve you of all that stress and exhaustion."

Itachi opened his eyes, hearing that and picked his head up off of Neji's shoulder.

Neji wore a confident smile, uncrossing arms. "I reserved two overnight stays at Naniwa Kenko Spa for just the two of us since we're off of work for the next couple of days and you mentioned Menma would be with Iruka-san for the weekend."

Itachi wasn't even aware of the wide smirk that spilt onto his face. "Hn, Naniwa Kenko? Manicures, pedicures, skin-treatments, massages, hair-treatments and open-air baths. Neji, do you see these hands?" He showed the Hyuga his hands, grimacing at the horrid look of his nails. They were exactly one millimeter 'overgrown.' How could he let that happen? "I'm in need of Paradise. My hair, .. everything is need of Paradise, Neji. Urgently."

Neji laughed at the self-disgusted look on the Uchiha's face. Itachi's show of excitement made him feel accomplished and it had been a while since he heard the man express any kind of excitement. "Me as well. Tenten told me I needed a trim this morning." He muttered, a light flush revealing itself on his cheeks as he carded his fingers through his hair and felt at the spilt ends of the long locks.

"Hn," Itachi raised his scrutinizing gaze of of his nails and a genuine chuckle left him. "You do need a trim. I've been meaning to mention that to you."

Neji shot him a half-hearted glare and then took notice of the darkened and bruised knuckles of Itachi's right hand. Concern arose on his face instantly as he pointed at the hand. "What happened here?"

Itachi was confused for a quick second before he realized what Neji was asking about. He lowered his other hand and took another painful look at the back of his right hand, for the hundredth time that week. "My fist graced the face of one unworthy of my touch, regrettably. Now my hand is so hideous. I think it's disappointed in me, Neji." He simply sighed out.

"Shit, Itachi. Is the man even still living and breathing on this earth?"


"C'mon, you have to come look, Menma," His hand on the banister, Naruto flashed a grin at the teenager from where he stood on the staircase and Menma was at the bottom of the stairs, looking a bit unsure. Naruto could understand why, especially since the babies were up now and a couple were crying up a storm, along with the echoing shrieks of toddlers and the sound of running water in the upstairs bathrooms. Menma probably found it kind of intimidating because the teenager would rather stay out of the way, but the younger children were being cleaned up right now, so they were contained at the moment. He gave him a reassuring look, beckoning for him to come up. "I promise you, it's fine."

Menma gave in and started up the stairs. Shizune had left a few minutes ago to go pick up the other children from school and he knew if he really wanted to take a look around he would have to take his chance now. The place wasn't a stranger to him, but he didn't quite remember the entire house like Naruto did. He skipped a couple of stairs, walking up beside his older cousin. "How are you so used to this shit? My ears are about to start ringing."

"I don't know," Naruto shrugged, laughing and they walked up off of the staircase. "Everything's still the same as I remember it, you know," He turned the corner of the banister in the hallway and then stopped, pointing to the wall across from the banister where there was a framed collage of photos. "Look at the pictures. I swear I can't believe I was that small at some point," He told him with a grin and Menma curiously went over to the collage.

The pictures of his older cousin that was meshed in the collage of other children as well was like a timeline of Naruto's childhood here. Menma's eyes wandered it in awe. There was a photo of Naruto when he looked no older than four months old, his tiny body swaddled in an orange fox kigurumi as he slept in a crib. In the next one he spotted, Naruto looked about two years old, strapped into a high-chair at the end of a crowded table full of other children. Menma smiled a bit. He hadn't been here long, so he wouldn't know what it was like to grow up in an orphanage, but everyone looked like such a family, even considering the circumstances.

He looked for another one of Naruto and laid eyes on a photo of a small, grinning Naruto throwing up two fingers and dressed in a cute uniform and bucket hat outside of what appeared to a be a nursery school. Menma would guess that it was probably his first day at the time the picture was taken. Next there was a picture of Naruto about to blow out the candles on his birthday cake when he turned four, one where he was posing on the beach with a red-haired girl he recognized very well at first glance, another where he was wearing a huge grin with his hands tucked behind his back as he reclined back against the trunk of a large tree middle of an orchard and another of him in a bedroom, wearing a black bandana around his head and a dark pair of sunglasses with a smirk on his face as he posed between two other boys. He couldn't have been any older than six.

Menma stepped back, trying to scout out another. If it was one thing he noticed at that moment it was that his older cousin was a really attractive even as a kid. Naruto had such 'pretty' features. He was a natural beauty. He was surprised Naruto hadn't done some kind of modeling. He stared at the one of Naruto at maybe eight or nine years old, dressed up as Woody from Toy Story and wielding a toy gun in the dark of night, the glimmer of the streetlights reflecting off of blue eyes and blonde hair peeking out from the cowboy hat tipped on his head. His hair literally looked like gold.

Menma turned his head, glancing back at Naruto. "It's no wonder the women Sasuke was with found you to be a threat," He remarked, laughing. "You could turn any straight man out for an entire life time for sure and make any woman fall head over heels for you with just a smile."

"Whaaat?" Naruto made a face, evidently oblivious to his own appearance. "I'm not that good-looking."

"Yeah, sure you aren't." Menma jeered with a roll of his eyes, facing him completely. "You know, sometimes, I admire how humble you are. Other times I wish you would stop pretending that you don't know how hot you are and admit that you have, at times, used your looks to somewhat intimidate Sasuke's girlfriends, Naru-nii. Because I know you have. Because If I looked like you, I would too."

"I have never!" Naruto choked out, leaning back on his hands that were propped on the banister behind him. Okay, there may have been one time when he... Ohhh. Was that what he was doing at that time? A guilty look claimed his face and Menma strode passed him, as if he had just proven something great, and headed down the hallway. "N-No! I swear I haven't, Menma. I'm not that kind of person." He tried to convince, following after him and trying to make up some excuse as to why he made that 'guilty' face a moment ago.

However, Menma wasn't buying any of what he was saying and Naruto thought he could try again to persuade him with something more believable. Well, until they approached an all too familiar door with a silver plaque on it.

Shizune's office.

Naruto noticed Menma gazing up at the plaque in silence. Menma's memory of this room had come crashing down, he could see it. Naruto stepped over from behind the teenager and reached for the door knob, but just when he was about to grab it, he froze. The memories came crashing down on him too. This room was where he had experienced a lot of disappointment and ridicule, from visitors. He could still remember the disheartened look on the Shizune's face when she had to break it to him, over and over again, that a family that had gotten his hopes 'declined' him, and then there were the voices he would never forget. The voices that picked apart his very appearance far too often because he wasn't a 'Japanese-looking' child, a child that no one would 'ask questions' about.

Naruto felt his jaw clench up and swallowed tightly, his fingers trembling a bit. He didn't think that, that would still have an anchor on him. He forced the thoughts away and gripped the knob, opening the door.

Menma was broken out of his thoughts by the opening of the door. "This feels so weird. .."

"What?" Naruto asked, suppressing the crimpling feelings of shame he felt as he entered the room.

Menma strolled into the room after him, eying his cousin strangely. He thought that memory would be the first thing to come to Naruto's mind. "That this is where we first met."

Naruto stopped, his eyebrows shooting up and then turned to face the younger Uzumaki. That was right. The bad stuff he recalled had taken over so fast, he hadn't thought of the one great thing that happened in this room.

Menma blushed a little at the look of surprise on Naruto's face and then quickly averted his gaze, a bit let down. "You.. forgot."

Naruto's eyes widened when he realized that that's what Menma thought because of the expression he must have showed. "What?! No! Of course I didn't forget, Menma!" He assured, rushing over to him and taking him by the face, forcing Menma to look at him. "I could never forget that, Menma. I.. I was just thinking about other things, that's all. I don't have a lot of good memories in this room, so all the bad stuff came back to me first." He told him honestly.

Menma parted his lips, making a sound of understanding.

Naruto patted the teenager's cheeks before he let go of his face, flashing him a smile. "I guess I should try to remember the good times first, huh?"

"No, I get it. You were here for a long time, it must have been difficult for you as a kid."

Naruto was sheepish, reaching back and rubbing at the back of his neck. "..Yeah, it was." He murmured, feeling a little depressed thinking about. "But there's no way I could ever forget the moment you came into my life, Menma. That day changed my life believe it or not. It was one of the happiest moments of my life. ..."

"Sorry! I was in the bathroom when you called me, Nee-chan!" Naruto explained as he came running into the Shizune's office, drying his hands off with a paper towel and the women stopped the conversation she was having with Iruka who was seated on the brown settee bench at the opposite side of the room, to the left of Shizune's desk. "Oh! Hey, Papa-Iruka! Cool you're here! I was just gonna ask Nee-chan to call you! I wanted to go out for Ichiraku today!" He beamed with a grin, going over to toss the paper towel into the small trash bin in the room. Then, when he completely turned to face the man, he realized the child with their face buried in Iruka's arm and clinging to it, like someone on the verge of drowning would cling to a life-saver in the rippling waves of the ocean.

"Ah, is that so?" Iruka responded, his expression warm, but apologetic. "Is it okay to take a rain-check, Naruto?" He requested, showing the ten year old a promising pinky finger.

Naruto gave a slow nod of his head, his stare still on the child clinging to Iruka."Uh.., yeah. I guess that's okay."

Standing up from her seat, Shizune walked out from her desk and around to Naruto, aware of the curiosity in his eyes. "Hey, so I called you in here," She began gingerly, leaning down to his level and taking his hands in hers in order to get him to look at her, which he did, with big, confused eyes. "Because I wanted to talk to you about something. And I need you to really listen to me, alright, Naru'?"

Naruto nodded firmly.

"Good." Shizune smiled, her thumbs caressing the backs of his hands. "So, I know you've already caught a glimpse, but you see the child Iruka has with him today?" Naruto glanced over at the dark-haired child, again, before giving another nod of his head. "Well, he's family to you."

His blue eyes growing big, Naruto's brow furrowed a bit. "My.. family? You mean like everyone else here?"

Shizune shook her head, her eyes soft. "No, I mean.. blood family, Naruto. He's your younger cousin."

Naruto blinked and tilted his head, bewildered.

"You see, because he shares the same surname as you, we did some digging around, and you remember when I put that little swab inside your cheek? It was to confirm it. It turns out that you two are related. ..He's your cousin."

"Cousin?" He uttered in question as he looked over at the child and saw Iruka rubbing the child's back and whispering words of comfort to him. He couldn't see the child's face because he was still hiding it. "Wait.. cousin? How's that? For him to be my cousin that would mean my birth mother..."

Shizune nodded in confirmation, releasing his hands. "Yes, you're birth mother isn't an only child it appears. She has a younger sister, so, to you, that person would be your aunt."

Now that he understood that much, it cleared up his confusion, but in swap of that confusion, his heart seemed like it was pounding a mile a minute and a rush of happiness flooded through him. He had family. ..Blood kin. Right here. It almost felt surreal.

He swallowed, turning to Iruka and the child. He watched Iruka put a hand on the child's head and whisper something to him before standing to his feet, the clinging child following suit. It was then that the child finally showed his face to him and Naruto's eyes widened drastically. The child was tiny, fragile-looking even, his skin was kind of pale, and having noticed that he was covered in bruises and scars as well, there was a hospital band around his thin wrist and there were bandages on different parts of his body and a couple on his face as well. However, there was no doubt in his mind that the child was blood to him.

The whisker-like birth marks on the child's face were darker, but just like his. He didn't expect them to be something that ran in his family. They also shared similar facial features, but the child's eyes were another kind of blue, a captivating kind of blue. They stood out more than his own, contrasting stunningly against his 'dark' eyelashes. That was something else he noticed. The child's hair almost looked a lustrous black, black like the black diamonds he had seen Sasuke's mother wearing once.

Naruto took a calming breath in, walking over to Iruka and his cousin and looked into the silent child's somber gaze, strands of the child's overgrown hair falling over blue eyes. He could tell the child had been through a lot. He looked so... beaten. His legs were trembling too.

A gentle hand suddenly touching his shoulder, Naruto turned to Shizune who was now beside him.

"Naruto, can I rely on you to take Menma to play for a bit?" She asked kindly, looking down at him. "Iruka-san and I have to finish up some paper work."

A small smile on his face, Naruto felt like his heart could burst. He felt like he could cry too. "...Menma." He repeated to himself, red warming his cheeks. That was the name of his little cousin, ... Menma. He grinned, his nod confident and earnest. "Yeah. I can do that, Nee-chan."

Shizune laughed a bit, although weakly. She then looked at him with an expression that was soft, but hardened with sternness. "But I need you to watch over him, okay? Make sure the others kids don't get rough with him and you lay off the pranks. Menma, ..he's hurt. He has an injury and has to be very careful, so that means you and everyone else have to be careful too. I'll have a talk with them in a little while as well. Do you think you can look after him until then?"

Naruto nodded strongly, a natural protectiveness acute on his face. "You can count on me!"

Smiling, Shizune ruffled his hair, throwing him a trustful wink.

Iruka smiled at him as well, looking proud. "We'll leave it to you then, Naruto." He said before taking his hand off of Menma's head and softly taking a hold of the small child's wrist, trying to inch him closer to Naruto. "Menma, baby, go on and play for a bit."

However, Menma immediately clutched onto his shirt, the ruckus of the other kids in the house frightening him even more. "Mh!" Menma refused, shaking his head.

Naruto's eyes widened.

"Menma..," Iruka spoke delicately, touching the hand Menma had locked onto his shirt. "I promise it'll be okay. I'll be right here."

Menma's wide, fearful eyes welled with tears that eventually came spilling down his face, his quivering mouth tightened and his cheeks flushed as he looked up at the man, wordlessly pleading with him, begging him.

Naruto frowned at the sight. Someone had done something horrible to Menma and he could sense it. Menma wasn't speaking, almost as if he couldn't speak, and the way he was crying sounded so... agonizing. Naruto felt his heart wrench while watching Iruka trying to calm Menma down. His fist clenched at his side in determination, Naruto went forward and put his hand over the tiny fist gripping Iruka's shirt.

Menma flinched at Naruto's touch, mid-sobbing and his eyes shot onto the blonde in horror.

Naruto removed his hand when he saw how alarmed Menma looked, but that didn't deter him from what he was determined to do. He tentatively reached his hand out to the child, his open-palm reassuring and inviting. "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you," He said to him.

Menma stared at him and went quiet, although sniffling.

"But there's nothing to be afraid of here. Do you like snacks?"

Menma sniffled and then gave a small nod of his head.

Iruka and Shizune looked between the two Uzumaki surprisingly.

"Well we've got lots of snacks!" Naruto grinned wider, a certain sparkle twinkling in his eyes. His heart felt all warm and fuzzy since it didn't seem like Menma was actually terrified of him, but the thought of separating from Iruka. Naruto wanted to put him at ease and let him know that he was right here for him to cling to. He tapped his foot, his eyes rolling upward in thought. "We've got chocolate, cake, ice cream, candy, chips and even pudding!" He told him, half-drooling at all the treats he listed. Now he was hungry. He put his eyes back on the child, but Menma still looked apprehensive.

And then a growling sound escaped the child's stomach.

Iruka laughed a little, patting Menma on the head.

Naruto felt achieved after hearing that. "It'll be the best you ever tasted, honestly. I'm gonna eat with you, and I'll protect you from anyone that tries to bother you. Even put a fist in their face!" He promised, showing the child a balled fist and Menma seemed to calm down, his sniffling and tears coming to a halt. "You're my family and we're all each other's got, so I'm going to protect you with everything in me! You can count on me, even if you want to hide." He opened his hand wider, urging Menma to trust him.

Menma didn't say anything, but reluctantly let go of Iruka's shirt. He turned to Naruto all the way and then slowly put up his pinky, his cheeks flushing a rosy color, the vulnerability and desperation in his eyes heavy.

Naruto smiled, putting up the pinky of his other hand. "Pinky swear, Menma."

Menma wiped at his eyes before he inched closer to the older Uzumaki and Naruto beckoned for him to take his open hand.

Menma was hesitant, but still put his small hand into Naruto's bigger one and gripped it tight, like his life depended on it.

Naruto blushed slightly, feeling that instant, internal connection between them. They had just met and it changed him. It was his reason to grow stronger. It was his reason to live now.

His gaze soft, Naruto felt his eyes watering up, his smile tight. "Meeting you was like finding that other half of myself."

Menma blushed and laughed. "Don't cry, you dummy." He chided playfully, reaching up and slapping Naruto on a whiskered cheek.

Naruto flinched at the slight sting. "Ow! I wasn't crying, Menma."

Menma said nothing, going over to the settee bench in the room and took a seat on it, letting out a breath of air. "I guess, for me, it was like a new beginning in a way. It feels like a damn dream sometimes and I still get scared that all of this will be in the end. I get scared that the life I'm living right now will be a dream and when I wake up I'll be back in a nightmare. Is that strange?" His laugh was mournful and Naruto shook his head, coming over to him. "So much had changed for me at once," He lowered his head and Naruto didn't say anything, sitting down next to him. Menma fixed his gaze on his feet, his fingers curling against the cushion of the bench. "I still remember being in the hospital for what seemed like forever. I think I had been out of it for a while and when I finally woke up, Dad's face was the first face I saw. He was right beside my hospital bed, holding my hand, when he didn't even know me. Before then, I had wished I could die, but on that day, I felt really happy to be alive." He confessed, raising his head and looking at Naruto with a smile on his face.

Naruto immediately brought him into a tender hug, the bitter-sweet feeling that swelled in his heart overwhelming. "..I'm happy you're alive too." He uttered, hot tears slipping from his eyes.


Naruto strolled through the narrow hallway that led to the first floor bathrooms, Menma behind him and murmuring about the whining babies upstairs hurting his ears because of how loud they were being. Menma wasn't used to being around a lot of kids at his age, but for Naruto, it sounded like home.

"I wonder if it looks the same," Naruto smiled, flicking on the light when he came to the switch at the end of the hallway and just as he remembered, there were two doors that sectioned off the bathrooms. One door split off into the toilet, sink and tooth-brushing area and then the other door led into the bathing area. Naruto could easily remember how much bickering and madness went on as a child in the mornings that involved these bathrooms.

He stepped off the ledge that brought the hallway to an end and opened one of the doors, the mess of toothbrushes littered around the sink and NOT in there holders not coming as a surprise to him. That was one thing Shizune always scolded him for as a kid.

The foot-stool for the sink was knocked over, someone's stuffed animal was abandoned on the floor, a pair of bunny slippers had been left in front of the toilet, the towels on the hooks weren't hung as neatly as they should be and the fuzzy bathroom floor mat was flipped up half-way. This morning had clearly been a busy one. He laughed, going into the bathroom and looked at the frog frame enclosing the sink mirror.

"They are so going to have to clean all this mess when they get home. Nee-chan made us clean up whatever mess we left behind before school when we came home and she did not play-" Naruto broke out laughing when he spotted the Shin-Chan Action Bastard action figure in the sink and picked it up.

Menma was quiet as he stood in front of the other door, reluctant. He could see himself as child, stumbling from time to time through the hallway, his hand clutching at the dull soreness in his abdomen and coming up to this door. He swallowed, twisting the knob and slowly opened the door.

"Menma, look at this! It's an Action Bastard,.." Naruto had turned his head, his laughter falling silent when he saw the look on Menma's face as the teenager stared into the bathing area from where he stood out in the hall. A lot of bad memories came with the good ones, and he would never understand how difficult and painful it was for Menma to endure. And that left Naruto feeling angry. He wished he could have been there from the start, to protect Menma from harm. There was a point in time where Menma had nobody. There was a time when he was fighting for his life, day in and day out, alone.

Naruto's voice falling deaf on his ears, Menma stepped into the bathing area, his blue eyes wandering the tiled floor, the bath tub, the sitting stools in front of the faucets and the children's bath toys left lying about. There was even a spongey-looking Pikachu abandoned in the empty tub. He took another step forward, his breath trembling. This room... had witnessed him when he was the weakest and he felt almost embarrassed to be in it.

She hummed, her sleeves rolled up and hair in a ponytail. "Alright, now lower your head, Menma-chan," The red-haired, fourteen year old girl told the small child seated on the wooden stool in the bathing area. She eyed his pale back and frowned a bit, even though she could see the bruises that littered his skin were beginning to fade. She lifted the bucket of warm water and poured it over Menma's head, the water rinsing his hair and skin.

Menma flinched, holding back a whimper and clutched the waterproof bandage on his abdomen. The water wasn't hot, but it had been a shock against his natural body temperature and his skin was still sensitive.

"There we go," She set the bucket down and then put her hand out to the other girl next to her in the washroom and the blonde-haired girl wearing glasses handed her a soapy washcloth. "Thanks, Shiho."

"I can't believe this is the first time since he's been here that we can help. Nee-chan really doesn't trust us to take care of him, huh, Sara?" Shiho whined as she pouted and kneeled down beside Menma. She leaned her head down to take a look at his face, so she could make sure he was fine since he was trembling so much, and showed him a smile. "Don't worry, Menma-chan. We've got this, just hang in there for a little while. Trust us, okay?" She said, giving him a thumb's up.

His teeth chattering and hair dripping in his face, Menma gave her a small nod.

"Nee-chan will certainly be proud of us. She has to be." The red-haired girl said, kneeling down behind him and gently pressing the washcloth to his back. "We've got this all under control."

Her movements were careful as she scrubbed down his back with the soft, micro-fiber washcloth and Shiho tended to his hair with a detangling brush, the five year old child between them flustered and quiet under their care.

"Gosh, Menma," Shiho giggled, sliding Menma's hair back out his face, but before she ran the brush through it again, she threaded her fingers through the soaked and lustrous, dark locks. "You've got such soft, pretty hair. I don't think I've seen actual hair that wasn't dyed look black. If it grew long you'd look like a doll."

Menma said nothing, but couldn't help the discomfort he felt.

"Right!" Sara shot a grin over at Shiho, squeezing suds down Menma's shoulder. "He's like something unreal to the human eye. Like a... what's the thing we learned about in school again?" She eyed his hair in thought, holding the washcloth still on his shoulder. "-Oh! That's it! Like a Naiad! A Naiad that's escaped from The Black Sea!" She exclaimed, moving the washcloth over to his neck and Shiho's mouth made an o-ed shape in awe.

"Yeah, he does. That's so cool," Shiho looked him in the face, smiling big and then she noticed Menma touching the bandage on his abdomen. Her face softened and smile faded as she eyed it. "Hey, Menma.. do you mind if I ask what happened there? How did you get hurt?"

Sara was confused for a moment before she saw where Shiho was staring.

Quiet, Menma began to tremble more and shied away from Shiho.

"-W-Wha?! Really, you two?!"

The two girls, and Menma, startled, turned their heads to see that Naruto had entered into the bathroom, and was now storming over to them, in only a towel. "You two know what Nee-chan said! You're not allowed to bathe Menma, and you're definitely not allowed to be in here with any of the BOYS." Naruto shouted, holding onto the towel around his waist and Shiho and Sara both stood to their feet.

"Well it's not like we're naked, Naru'! And Menma's even wearing a towel too," Sara sent him a scowl, her hands on her hips, Menma's washcloth in her grip. "You really have the nerve, you know? As many times as you've joined ALL of the GIRLS during OUR bath time."

Shiho nodded, pushing her glasses further up onto the bridge of her nose. "Yes, and besides, we're just helping out."

Naruto blushed slightly and huffed out, "But there's a reason you're not allowed to do this, dummies. Menma's injured!" He barked, his glare stern and the two girls glared right back at him, like the stubborn annoyances they were. "Give it and get out. I'll help him." He told them, putting his hand out to Sara.

Sara screwed her face up. "B-But- That's not fair!"

"Yes! You said it yourself, Naruto. Only Nee-chan can do it because Menma's injured. I think it's out of the question that we leave you to wash him."

"Guys, c'mon-"

The pained sob the blared throughout the bathroom brought the argument between the older kids to a stop.

His expression alarmed, Naruto rushed over in front of Menma and kneeled down, touching his shoulder. "M-Menma, are you okay? What's wrong?"

Menma raised his head, his blue eyes squeezed shut as more tears poured down his reddened cheeks.

Sara and Shiho stood looking more worried than anything. Menma's cry was so loud and they just knew it would alert Shizune any minute.

Naruto tried to quiet the boy, but Menma was inconsolable at this point. He was probably feeling a lot of stress as well, given the situation. Naruto then spotted the hold Menma had on his bandage and understood. "Menma, hey, it's okay. Does it hurt?"

Menma nodded his head, crying harder as his small hand clutched his abdomen tighter.

"O-Okay, okay. It's okay. Let's get you dried off and then we'll tell Nee-chan you need your pain medication, alright?"

Menma turned his head when he felt a hand touch his shoulder and looked at Naruto.

"You okay?" Naruto asked, a bit concerned.

Menma said nothing at first, having come to realize that he wasn't numb to his past. That sometimes he still felt like that fragile child he once was and he was startled by that. He had taught himself how to avoid thinking about his past by enjoying the pleasures of life. Sex was his main distraction. He kind of wished he had it right now because he couldn't deal with how overwhelming this all felt.

He needed sex right now, but that was clearly IMPOSSIBLE at the moment, so then he started thinking about who he could call up to have sex with tonight. However, right then, he felt like that would be weak of him.

For the last what would be almost month he had been having sex with one person, which was something he thought was damn near impossible for himself to ever achieve, and he was somewhat proud of himself. He and Marisela had been hooking on the regular and she was different from the girls he was used to, and he kind of liked that. He didn't mind having that one sexual partner for a short while. It was just- There were triggers that gave him an impulse to find sex elsewhere and right now he could feel that impulse sneaking up on him.

He had to think fast, something that was just as pleasurable as sex? His eyes then widened as he stared at his older cousin who wore a look of worry on his face. "I wonder how the acoustics would be in here," He said in relief, his gaze brightening and Naruto cocked a confused brow at him. "Don't you think the violin would sound amazing in here?" He began to smile, a melody creating itself in his mind and that impulse was gone. Immediately.

Naruto nodded slightly, finding Menma's sudden speak of the violin weird. "Y-Yeah, I guess. You really like playing it, huh?"

Menma hadn't even realized how big his eyes got. "Oh my God, yes. I wish I could play it right now even."

A half-grin appearing on his lips, Naruto thought the passionate look that had taken over Menma's face was the cutest. His eyebrows rose when he heard the rambunctious footsteps and jaunty voices of children traveling throughout the house. "I think Nee-chan's back. C'mon, we should go greet them," Naruto grinned, turning around to leave the bathroom.

Menma inwardly grimaced, hesitant, before he decided to follow Naruto's lead. He didn't know how to handle a lot of kids, and he didn't have that control over his language, so he could only pray that nothing filthy left his mouth in their presence.

When they arrived back to the living room, they were walking into the bustle of children tossing their backpacks down on the floor, their voices set to full-blast, and even the toddlers came venturing into the room after the caregivers had brought them downstairs.

"Nee-chan, I'm going to grab a snack!" A boy who looked to be about ten years old yelled out, bolting for the door that led into the kitchen.

"Either fruit or cheese and crackers, and at least one carrot, Hiro'!"

"Aw, c'mon! Can't I negotiate for a small piece of cake, Nee-chan?"

"Hiromichi."

"Fine!"

Standing at the other living room entrance, Menma didn't how he would manage, but Naruto was pretty much prancing his way amongst them and it didn't take long for the children to take notice of the blonde-haired, blue-eyed man.

Shizune was bending down and taking off one of the smaller kid's backpack when she realized the girl staring off at Naruto in awe. She laughed a bit, setting the backpack down on the floor and then settled her hands on her shoulders. "Avery, I think it's okay for you to breathe."

Avery's long, dark hair whipped each time she turned her head, her gleaming eyes following the blonde's every move. "Onee-chan, I think I know him." She voiced, although she was confused about if that was true herself.

"Ah, you think you do?" Shizune laughed, standing up straight. The rest of the kids in the room had gotten quiet and Avery went and joined where most of the kids were now huddled up on the floor and eying Naruto and Menma in curiosity. "Do you guys remember when I mentioned this morning that you would be meeting your big brother today?" She told them with a smile, waltzing over to Naruto who was picking the two year old up off of the floor. "Well, this is your big brother, Naruto." She gestured to the blonde.

One of the oldest, Fumihiro, shrugged off his backpack as he took a seat on the couch and eyed the blue-eyed man, his expression skeptical.

One of the oldest girls on the floor, in the huddle of children, scooped up the one year crawling around, pondering to herself about the name, Naruto, before it suddenly came to her. "Wait! You mean that Naruto? The boy you always tell us stories about?!" She blurted out, her eyes wide and the other heads around her perked up at that.

Shizune nodded, giggling.

"Oh yeah, we know who you are! T-The one in the pictures too!" A boy jumped to his feet, his cheeks reddened and eyes sparkling in awe.

"Waoooh! Really?" A younger boy tipped his head back, his glimmering eyes gazing up at the Uzumaki.

Having situated the babbling toddler on his side, Naruto grinned at them all, sheepish, and the rest of the kids that hadn't spoken waved at him. He could see the few were kind of bashful. "Isn't that something? I didn't think I would be such a popular big brother before I could even see everyone. It's nice to meet you guys!" He bowed his head to them slightly and then turned his grin onto the toddler he held, the adorable, drooling smile he was attacked with melting his heart. "And you're all just as cute as I expected," He cooed, lightly pinching at the boy's chubby cheek and,

"Meow!" Was what erupted from the two year old, causing some of the children in the room to start giggling and Naruto's eyebrows flew up at the toddler.

He then looked at Shizune and laughed. "Did little dude just 'meow' at me?"

A girl in the huddle of children leaned over, looking passed Naruto and at the dark-haired, blue-eyed teenager that at hadn't quite entered the living room, curious.

Shizune was laughing as well. "It's been Ethan's thing for at least the last three weeks and I can't quite figure out why. He's does know how to say 'hi', but I guess he's just abandoned that greeting for now," She explained, carding her fingers through Ethan's bed-hair one good time, and the toddler mimicked what she did to him, but to Naruto instead, his small hand reaching up and stroking at golden locks.

"Oh, Ethan! I have the cutest little brother in the world, don't I," Naruto ruffled the toddler's hair and Shizune felt her cheeks warm at the sight.

Avery was quick to slap her hands to her mouth once remembered something herself. He was also that Naruto! She took her hands away from her mouth, a three year old boy's arms encircling her neck. "Hey, you were on TV!" She exclaimed, pointing a finger at him and blue eyes greeted hers. "You were! I saw my teacher at school watching you on the TV! She's in love with you by the way," She drawled dramatically, flush arising on her cheeks. "And that other guy."

Naruto's gaze widened, a half-smirk appearing on his face. "That other guy?" He repeated in question and the girl casually nodded, clearly having no idea who Uchiha Sasuke was, which made him snicker. "Okay, you and I are officially best buds!" He said, laughing and a big smile broke out on her face. He then looked at Shizune, highly amused. "'That other guy', I have never heard anyone ever refer to Sasuke as 'that other guy.'"

Shizune inwardly grimaced, remembering Sasuke's personality well enough to know that the Uchiha would probably be insulted by Avery's comment if he was present, but Naruto was just loving it. She then turned away from Naruto and look over at Menma, who was still standing at the living room entrance. She picked up on his hesitation instantly, so she showed him an understanding smile and beckoned him over.

Menma rubbed at the back of his neck, strolling his way into the living room and over to Shizune.

Shizune placed a hand on his shoulder, interrupting the conversation Naruto was having with the children and introduced them the teenager beside her. "And this here, kids, is your other big brother, Menma. He surprised us with a visit today as well."

"'Sup," Menma greeted with a wave of his hand, all eyes on him and the children all greeted return with either a wave or a 'hi'. He scratched at his head, finding all of them to be adorable, but still, he wasn't used to being around so many children at once. "I'm not used to kids, so just don't be an annoying, little snot and we're cool. Deal?" He said and Shizune stifled a laugh.

Naruto let out a hopeless sigh, giving the kids a 'don't-be-threatened' kind of look and one of the boys actually winked at him before shouting out,

"Well now I'll have to be an annoying, little snot or else I wouldn't be much of a little brother!" The kid aimed a cheeky smirk at Menma. "Would I?"

Menma's lips thin-lined, his blue gaze narrowing at the boy. "I can see that you and I are already gonna have to square up." He raised a balled fist and gritted his teeth, jokingly.

The boy showed him a fist right back, boldly accepting his challenge and Naruto's mouth dropped open in surprise. These kids were ballsy.

Menma, although humored by the kid, kept his eyes narrowed as he looked the boy up and down. "Yeah, you're my younger brother alright. We just might get along."

Shizune was glad that kids had taken a liking to Naruto and Menma, and so naturally. She eyed all of the smiles on their faces and her heart began to flutter. That was, until Shizune spotted a specific set of eyes on Menma and read that gleam in them all too well, the child's mouth practically hanging wide open. Shizune's facial expression hardened. "Hey! Sage!" She snapped her fingers, breaking the twelve year old girl out of her love-struck stare. "I said, he is your big brother. Quit staring at this boy like he is a piece of meat or you and I are will be seeing each other later, understand me?" She scolded, her tone razor sharp.

Sage paled and lowered the baseball cap on her head, her cheeks red. "Yes, Ma'am."

Naruto and Menma glanced at Shizune and then at the girl she scolded, stunned. Shizune was evidently a very warm-hearted and caring woman, but Menma hadn't expected a woman so warm and caring to sound so frightening and hard-nosed. She reminded him of his dad.

Putting Ethan down on the floor, Naruto was nervous his damn self and he wasn't even a child anymore. Shizune was the kindest woman, but she was stern, and disciplined when it called for that. He could tell that there was a reason she was being hard on the child right now, without her even needing to explain.

Shizune took notice of Naruto and Menma's faces and then whispered between the two Uzumaki. "Sorry about that. Little missy there has got something going on with her as of late. She's boy-crazy and handling it has been tough, so I have to get that in check before it goes haywire." She mentioned gently with a sigh.

Naruto 'oh-ed', nodding in complete agreement and Menma put his eyes back on the kid, his brow furrowed. The little girl looked no older than ten or eleven and had been giving him the 'I-want-to-freak-you' eyes. Hell no. He had made up his mind. For some reason his 'big brother' instincts kicked in and he decided it was his job to have a little talk with her later. The girl did not need to be thinking about boys, or anyone for that matter at her age. Nope, not his little sister. Maybe this was how Naruto felt about him and he kind of understood it now. However, he was still sticking to the fact that he was not a child and old enough to handle himself.

"He is really pretty though," One girl thought she whispered to Sage and the other girl next to her, but Menma had heard her loud and clear and his face grew hot, a red fluster breaking out on his face.

Naruto snickered while watching Ethan wander around the room.

"H-Hey!" Menma screeched, his voice cracking a bit and the three girls jumped at his voice, guilty looks plastered on their faces. "How dare you refer to me as 'pretty', eh?! I'm a guy, and I sure as hell ain't pretty!" He realized 'hell' left his mouth and clamped his mouth shut in order to stop himself, his reddened face growing darker.

"Ooo, somebody cursing!" Hiromichi, who had just returned from the kitchen, shouted with cracker crumbs around his mouth, pointing at Menma from where he stood in the living room.

Shizune threw the teenager a light, chiding look of and Menma puffed out his cheeks, crossing his arms. "...Sorry." He apologized, disappointed in himself.

Naruto shook his head, his mouth pursed.

Shizune saw the nervousness appear on the girls' faces and then stepped forward, deciding now was the perfect time. "You know what? How about I introduce everyone, hm?" She smiled tightly, hoping that girls would grow more accustom to Menma's personally since it was just how he was and he wasn't actually angry with them. The more they got to know him she felt they would realize that. She started from the front, left row of the huddle of children. "This is Akari. She's twelve," She gestured at a long-haired, Japanese girl holding the one year old in her arms and then pointed at the baby in Akari's arms. "And this little one here is Riichi. He just turned one last week."

Menma didn't know why, but inside, he felt this irresistible urge to 'aw' and coo at the baby. Riichi was wearing a blue onesie and had a blue pacifier in his mouth, the color of his clothes contrasting well with his big, striking, grass green eyes and dark, loopy mop of curly hair and ginger complexation. The baby was biracial, obviously, but clearly of half Asian descent.

"This is Manami," Shizune pointed to the girl next to Akari and Manami smiled a little, tucking a side of her hair behind her ear, revealing a pierced ear. "She's ten and is a little quiet right now, but just wait until she warms up to you."

Naruto took note that Manami looked elegant and kind of mature for her age, her long, chestnut hair falling straight and graceful, fair skin smooth-looking. She seemed like such a sweetheart. He remembered one of the caregivers speaking of her the girly-girl of the house earlier and she had mentioned that the girl was of German and Thai descent. She did look exotic, as did most of the kids. He would have thought she was a pageant contestant or something.

Shizune move onto who was beside Manami and her voice was warm, despite her having to scold the girl earlier. "This here is Sage and she's twelve as well. She's actually somewhat of a tomboy." She remarked with a chuckle and Sage raised her head since the baseball cap she wore was shielding her face, her dark and wavy hair water-falling down the front of her shoulders and thick-lashed eyes met Menma's. She was beautiful child of English, Jamaican and Greek descent. "She's my little champion this one. She's on the basketball team at her school and has brought her team home a win each game so far."

"Hi. .." Sage said, the blush on her cheeks prominent with her fawn complexation.

"I bet you're amazing at basketball, huh?" Naruto grinned at her and she took her gaze off of Menma and looked at the blonde, nodding. "I'll have to come watch you sometime. You mind?" He asked and she shook her head.

"No, I think that would be cool." Sage replied, her voice cheerful.

"I want to see you play too," Menma commented, honestly impressed and the girl blushed hard, giving a nod. She was small for her age, but she was actually twelve. He guessed those pre-teen hormones were just raging. Still, he would have a talk with her. She was far too innocent to be worried about boys, especially ones like him. With how he was with girls, he would never want her to run into a him. The girl probably didn't even have a damn clue what to do with a boy.

"And this Jordyn, she's six," Shizune gestured to a bronzed-skinned child, her curly, blonde-tinted hair up in a ponytail on the top of her head and Shizune smiled at the child getting up to stand behind Jordyn. "And this is Leslie, she's three."

Leslie smiled, her pale cheeks rosy. "Nice to meet ya!"

Shizune then went on to introduce the six year old Avery, a small Japanese girl with long, dark, slightly-wavy hair and just a ball of excitement, and then the three year old, Koji, who was clinging to her back. Next she introduced the six year old, Itsuo, who was simply in awe of Naruto and Menma, then ten year old Hiromichi, who decided to join them and still hadn't wiped the crumbs off of his mouth.

She introduced Phoenix next, the eight year old that had been bold enough to challenge Menma and who saw Naruto as his legend, considering he was now the prankster of the house.

Menma thought that Phoenix's edgy fashion sense was much like his own, and he had to admit the kid was cute. Phoenix's silky-looking, dark hair was buzzed and shaped-up on the sides while a turf of lustrous curls swept over to one side of his head and long-lashed, hazel eyes were doe-y, the kid's ochre colored skin much like a mellow-brown.

Shizune introduced Fumihiro, who was twelve, and brooding on the couch, last.

For Naruto, it was something natural that he immediately began bonding with the kids and he took a seat on the carpeted floor, chatting with them. Shizune eventually left them, so that she could help the caregivers with feeding the infants and changing diapers. Naruto didn't mind. Getting to know everyone was hectic because all of the kids tended to talk all at once, but his brain was equipped for it. Three year old Koji even ended up plopping down in his lap and Ethan wrapped his arms around his neck, clinging to his back.

Menma had stepped over Leslie and was careful to watch out for Riichi, who was crawling around in the noisy living room without a care, and plopped down on the couch next to Fumihiro.

He looked over the boy, the lengthened side of the kid's hair falling tumbling over to one side of his head. "What's up with you? Don't talk much?" He questioned curiously.

The quite handsome twelve year old turned his head, bringing light to the freckles riding along his cheekbones.

"I was planning to play video games, but I can't because that would be rude since you're here." Fumihiro simply responded, frowning.

Menma hadn't expected the kid to be so direct about it, but he was in no way offended. He understood honestly. A half-smirk on his face, Menma breathed in and leaned back. "You're into video games then?"

Fumihiro nodded, Menma's indifferent tone melting his icy exterior. "Yeah, I am. ..You ever play Call of Duty?"

Watching the frown leave the kid's face, Menma laughed a bit. "Is water wet?"

His face lighting up, Fumihiro leaned up and turned to the Uzumaki completely. "What rank are you?"

"Yeah! What rank? I want to know too!" Hiromichi came up to Menma, leaning his hands on the Uzumaki's legs.

It wasn't long before Naruto lifted his gaze and saw Fumihiro, who actually talking, was apparently in deep conversation with Menma and had a smile on his face as he and Hiromichi talked to the younger Uzumaki. It was probably the first time he had heard Fumihiro speak since they had been here. He smiled and turned his attention back on Phoenix, who pretty much had stars and fire blazing in his eyes as he passionately rambled on about becoming the world's number one prankster.

"Hey, Naruto-nii! You remember when you put cottage cheese in the girls' lotion bottles?" Phoenix brought up, the expression on his face beaming and Akari scowled at him.

"Oh yeah," Naruto laughed sheepishly, both Koji and Ethan now chilling in his lap. He forgot about that. He had done so many outrageous pranks as a kid. Damn. "Nee-chan told you about that, huh?"

Phoenix snickered, nodding. "Yeah! I thought it was so awesome!"

"Phoenix, you better not try it!" Manami clipped, glaring.

Avery twirled her finger in the boy's face. "Smooth skin doesn't just happen, you know?"

Naruto couldn't help but laugh at Avery because that sounded like something Daisuke would say.

"Don't be mean to gurls!" Koji yelled at the boy, pouting.

Akari then leaned in close to Phoenix's face, her expression deadly. "I swear, big head, if I find anything gross in my lotion I'll cut off your curls."

Phoenix swallowed, reaching his hand up and touching his hair. "You wouldn't...,"

"Oh, I so would."

"Yeah, Phoenix, I wouldn't recommend that prank," Naruto told him, putting up a stern finger. "That was pretty mean of me back then, even though at the time when I did it it was hilarious. But in the end I got my butt kicked by my victims. They broke out pretty bad," He blushed slightly, scratching his finger at his cheek. He felt kind of bad about it now. "Try to stick to the harmless pranks, okay? Promise?"

Phoenix sucked his teeth, sitting back on his hunches. "..Yes. I promise."

"Na-Na', can I touch?" Leslie asked loudly, pointing to Naruto's head of hair, her big eyes glimmering in awe.

Naruto grinned at the girl. "Sure, Leslie! Go ahead," He lowered his head for her and the three year old came closer, burying her fingers into his hair. He chuckled, hearing her 'woahhh' at the feel.

"Hey, I wanna get a feel too!" Itsuo then decided to get up and went over to the Uzumaki as well, touching the golden locks. "It's so soft." He muttered, smiling big.

"I want to touch too," Jordyn murmured, joining them.

"You guys are so weird," Sage grumbled out, watching the children charmed by Naruto's hair. "It's just hair, and that is rude."

Akari and Manami nodded in agreement, red arising on their cheeks because of how embarrassing the younger kids were being.

"Naruto-nii, is fine with it, so it's cool," Phoenix waved the girls off, feeling like he knew Naruto better than any of them.

"Yeah, it's cool. I don't mind," Naruto said, making silly faces at Ethan as he looked at the toddler from upside-down and the two year old giggled at him. Koji, however, had maneuvered himself in Naruto's lap and was now touching on his hair as well. "Yup, get your feels worth guys because I feel my neck about to start cramping." He mentioned and that got a laugh out of the older kids.

Eventually, he was free to raise his head and Ethan climbed out of his lap. He sighed, tilting his head in order to kink out his neck and then looked at the kids. "So, you guys want to know about the surprise I've got for you?"

"A surprise?!" All of the kids perked up at once, sitting forward. "What? What?"

Naruto noticed that Fumihiro and Hiromichi hadn't quite heard him since they were so distracted by their conversation with Menma. "Fumi'! Hiromichi!" The two boys turned away from Menma and looked at him. "I've got a surprise for you guys! Listen up!" He shot them a smile and the two boys were quiet, their stares curious. "I'm sure we can all agree that the playground outback is pretty old, so I've decided I'm going to have a new one built for you guys." He announced in his most casual voice and the screams of excitement and cheering that erupted throughout the living room caused him too flinch a bit and Menma slapped his hands over his own ears. Naruto laughed. The toddlers didn't even know why they were screaming. They were just screaming because everyone else was.

"-What?! No way!" Phoenix grinned, his fists balled.

"Yeah, a new playground?" Sage got too her feet, her smile wide.

Leslie, Koji and Ethan were just running around in circles.

Jordyn, Avery and Itsuo slapped hands, smirking wide.

Hiromichi and Akari were jumping up and down, unable to contain themselves, and Fumihiro wore a small smile on his face.

"Is it going to be big?" Akari asked hopefully.

Naruto then got up onto his feet, wearing a wide grin. "Why don't we head out back and decide on how big it's going to be?" He suggested, appearing idle as he spun on his heels to head out of the living room and the children quickly stampeded after him.

Menma's eyes widened when he spotted Riichi crawling through the chaos of children running out of the living room and flew up off of couch, swooping the baby up off of the floor before he got hurt. He hadn't even realized what he had done until silence enveloped the room.

Menma stared at the baby in his hands, big, green eyes peering back at him in what could be mistaken for confusion. He breathed out in relief and situated the one year old on his side, concerned. "You okay, bubby? You almost got trampled, you're so small," He murmured tenderly, carding his fingers through Riichi's curly hair before his eyes widened at himself and he looked at the baby awkwardly. What just happened to him? Did he just call him 'bubby'? The term of endearment simply rolled off his tongue without a single thought.

It was at that moment that Riichi squealed joyously, his pacifier dropping out of his mouth and chubby cheeks rosy as he reached his tiny arms up for Menma.

Menma, unsure, raised Riichi off of his side and brought him close to his chest instead since that seemed to be what the child wanted. He didn't get what this feeling swelling in his heart was. He had never experienced anything like it. It made him feel truly at ease, it made him feel... capable. He took in Riichi's scent and the child snuggled into him, babbling.


Naruto sat down the old swing set and so many memories came flooding back to him. The nostalgia he felt almost made him want to cry. It seemed like only yesterday...

Since it was a bit later, the hot weather had cooled and the breeze felt good dusting over his skin.

The voices of the children bringing him out of those memories, Naruto grabbed onto the rusty chains of the swing seat and turned his head, smiling at Phoenix, who sat down on the other one. "You know, I remember when this seat was broken it used to pinch my butt every time I sat on it," He said with a laugh and Phoenix giggled.

"Mines too!" He exclaimed, swinging a little.

Eying the taped swing the Uzumaki was sitting on, Akari strolled up to the swing on the other side of Naruto and sat down on it. "As you can see, it got broken again. That's why we had to put duct tape on it," She pouted, kicking off from the ground and beginning to swing. "And Onee-chan just had it replaced too!"

Sage, Manami, Hiromichi and Fumihiro stood off near the wooden bars of the swing set and Avery and rest of the younger children were running around and under the slide that was actually leaning and dented, probably indulging in a game of tag. The playground set was small, consisting of only three swings and a slide that connected to it. But the yard was actually massive. Naruto wanted to try and fill the entire space with fun stuff for the kids.

"No, he really started bleeding once 'cause the swing seat pinched him that hard!" Hiromichi told Naruto, who was hunched over and cracking up.

Phoenix puffed out his cheeks. "Shut up, Hiro'!"

The kids suddenly turned their heads, startled by how loud patio door had slid open and Naruto stared at Menma oddly, the teenager stepping out of the house and looking like somebody just pissed him off beyond belief as he held Riichi on his side, his pouty mouth frowned up and blue gaze steely. Looking like somebody's momma.

"You all need to be careful!" Menma shouted at them, motioning his finger at every single person in the yard, as if he was disgraced with all of them, and even the smaller kids that had been playing stopped and turned to him, looking clueless. "On your way out you almost trampled Riichi! Pay attention!" He barked in perfect English, giving Naruto a dirty look before stepping back in the house and shutting the door back.

The smaller children were confused for a second before they returned to their game, as if nothing happened.

Naruto blinked, taken aback. "Did he just cuss at me in English?"

The older children said nothing, looking just as appalled as him.

"Are we, like, going to have a teeter-totter, Naruto-nii?" Manami decided to ask the blonde, her voice pleading.

Fumihiro's eyebrows arose, but he stayed silent. He hoped so.

Naruto gave a promising nod, brushing off that last bit of Menma's scolding. He didn't know what he had said, so he dismissed it. "Yeah. Whatever you guys want, that's what I'll give you. It's kind of like a reward to myself too, ya know. I remember how much I had been wishing there was more back here when I was a kid."

"How huge is it going to be exactly?" Fumihiro spoke, blushing slightly.

Naruto smiled at him. "Oh, finally get to hear from you, huh? Almost thought I wouldn't get to hear from you at all today," He playfully teased, watching the twelve year old turn redder, the rest of the older kids giggling. It was the first time that the kid had talked to him and he was relieved because he would be pretty down if the kid hadn't liked him. But, no. It seemed he was just kind of shy. He then shrugged his shoulders, tipping his head back and looked up at the summer sky. "I don't know how huge it'll be, but I definitely want it huge."

"Can we have a jungle-gym and new swings?"

"And a sandbox!"

Naruto tipped his head forward, the beaming expressions aimed at him making him feel all fluttery inside. This was something the kids really wanted and to be able to give it to them made him feel like the big brother he hoped he would be to these kids. He knew how it felt to have no one to depend on, so he wanted to be that someone for them. More than anything.

"What about a mega-big-huge slide!"

"A merry-go-round too!" Sage chimed in.

"Can it look like the playground in the neighborhood?"

Lifting a brow at Hiromichi, his blue gaze was pondering. "Like the neighborhood playground?"

Hiromichi nodded. "Yes, because... going to the playground around here is always terrible for us."

Naruto's brow furrowed. "What? Someone giving you guys problems?"

Manami was quiet and Akari slowed down her swings, deciding to speak for everyone else. "The other neighborhood kids try to push us around a lot of the time. They tell us since we don't have parents we shouldn't be allowed there," She said, her voice empty of any actual feelings. "They beat up on Phoenix and Hiro' a lot too."

Phoenix and Hiromichi lowered their heads when blue eyes looked at them.

"Some girls called me ugly too," Sage added, frowning her face up. "They said I was ugly because of my hair. ...Because it's so curly and 'poofy'."

Naruto felt his jaw clench up, hearing that. It angered him more than anything else to know that these kids had to go through even an inkling of what he had to when he was a kid. No child deserved to go through that. Sage's hair was really beautiful. He would've said something that gave off the fury that he felt boiling up inside of him, but he stopped himself and his grip squeezed the chain of the swing. "Does Nee-chan know about it?" He asked them, sounding calm.

"Yes, she knows," Fumihiro answered, leaning back against a wooden bar. "She doesn't let us take the little ones to the playground because we always end up in fights with those kids, and she tells us that if we're getting picked on that we shouldn't go either-"

"But we're not wimps, you see! They don't scare us!" Sage declared, thrusting out a balled fist. "They always end up getting their butts kicked anyway! We've always got each other's' backs, no matter what!"

Naruto smiled a little, glad to hear that. It made him even more excited about being able to give them something they could enjoy at home, away from assholes. He snapped his fingers when he thought of an amazing idea. "Hey, how about this guys? Why don't you draw up some ideas of what you would like back here? That way I won't forget and can give everyone at least one of something they personally want."

"Ooo, yeah! I can do that!" Phoenix gleamed, grinning wide, and the other kids agreed as well, just as thrilled about the idea.


Evening was approaching when Shizune, Naruto and the caregivers employed in the residence found themselves in the kitchen, cooking up dinner for everyone.

Shizune was enjoying the atmosphere, especially hearing the commotion coming from the living room.

Naruto laughed, washing off sweet potatoes at the sink. He could never get annoyed with the sound of this house.

In the living room, the four 1 – 6 months olds babies were settled in their Rock 'n Play Sleepers, Riichi was in his walker, going crazy with the toys on it as Menma and the older kids were in front of the TV, indulging in a heated game of Mario Kart and the toddlers and younger kids were playing in the playroom that connected from that room.

Menma would make sure to glance back every once in a while to check on the babies and still managed to continue to absolutely murder the kids with each round that came. They were almost up to the maximum that could be played in multiplayer mode and Menma didn't think it would this much fun playing with this many people.

A series of beaten whines rang out when Menma came out in first place, for what seemed like the hundredth time, as Yoshi, and that was when Hiromichi cried out, "Aw, dang it!" and then glared over at the Uzumaki. "This isn't fair at all, Menma-nii! You're older that's why you're winning!"

The girls were pouting and Phoenix was the verge of tears, but they all said nothing. They just had to accept it at this point. Menma couldn't be defeated.

Menma looked passed Manami and Sage and frowned at Hiromichi. "Oh, it's totally fair, 'Michi! You think because you're ten I'm supposed to take it easy on you? I think not. Suck it up, you. Sore. Loser." Returning his blue eyes back to the TV, he checked his overall score and was pleased. "Hmph! Thought you was being slick tossing that shell from behind, but," He started doing the 'Milly Rock' with the controller in his hand, wearing a cocky smirk.

Sitting on the other side of the Uzumaki, Fumihiro laughed and simply set his controller down on the floor. "Just admit defeat, Hiromichi. We'll never win against him."

Hiromichi inwardly growled, watching the Uzumaki still in the middle of doing his victory dance, and then rose to his feet. "That's it!" He fumed, throwing his controller down and storming over to Menma.

"I'm about to sneeze ya'll 'cause there's so much salt in the air! Sorry, not sorry," Menma was about to 'dab' when he felt himself get captured in a poor excuse of a choke-hold, and so it was easy for him to maneuver out of the hold.

Hiromichi then ended jumping onto his back and locked his arms around him from behind and locked legs around his waist, entrapping Menma.

"-Hiromichi! Y-You little asshole!" He shrieked, dropping his controller in order to wrestle out of Hiromichi's grasp.

"Oh hell yeah!" Phoenix pumped his fist into the air, getting to his feet.

"Get him, Hiro'!" The girls jumped up and surrounded the wrestling match going down, cheering Hiromichi on. "Use your elbow!"

All Fumihiro did was slide out of the way. Considering Shizune was sure to be alerted of what was going on at any moment now and whoever got caught would be in trouble, none of this was any of his damn business.

"Tag me in, Hiromichi! Tag me in!"

"O-Oh hell no, that's foul! Ya'll tag-teaming me!"


Getting in the house kind of late that night, Naruto went on and on to Sasuke and Daisuke about all of the kids and how fun and hectic it had been visiting his old home, especially since Menma kept slaughtering all of the kids in endless rounds of Mario Kart and that led to a wrestling match that Menma eventually just had to 'tap-out' of. If it was one thing those kids had in common with him and Menma, it was that temperament. He adored that about them. Getting to know them and being around Shizune and everyone had been so much fun it had distracted him and Menma from the time, which had seemed to fly by, and before they knew it, the day was over. Having to leave was a bit disappointing for Naruto, and even Menma looked down. But Naruto was most definitely going to drop by as much as possible, even after the playground was reconstructed. He had fallen in love with all of those little munchkins.

And, of course, Daisuke was thrilled because next time he would be able to tag along with him. Naruto couldn't wait for that either. Daisuke also shared his day, looking a bit disappointed that he hadn't been able to join them, but Naruto promised him that they would go out together this weekend, so he wasn't pouting for long.

A little later that night, Daisuke ended falling asleep quite early on the sofa while watching an anime called: Trigun that was being played on the TV in the living room and Naruto had just got done showering. He guessed the excitement of Daisuke's day left the boy drained. Daisuke never conked out before ten.

Sasuke carried the child upstairs to put him in his bed and when he returned back down stairs in the living room, he and Naruto decided to watch a movie. Sasuke let Naruto pick this time since he picked out the movie last time and Naruto happened to pick one that they both enjoyed, ever since childhood. The Mummy Returns was a classic that they had to have watched at least over a million times by now.

Before starting the movie, Sasuke went into the kitchen to pop some popcorn and get them some drinks and Naruto flew upstairs to go grab a cozy blanket because the AC was on, making it kind of chilly in the house, and then planted himself back on the sofa, with the blanket in tow.

It didn't take long for Sasuke to have the popcorn prepared in a huge bowl and come strolling back into the living room with their drinks in his hands as well. He saw that Naruto had already popped the DVD into the PS4, so he was ready to kick back. "You wanted a melon soda, right, Naruto?" He said, rounding to the front of the sofa and setting the bowl of popcorn, his canned tea and Naruto's can of soda down on the coffee table.

"Yes, and thanks," Naruto responded with a smile, the PS4 controller in his hand and eying the Uchiha. "Hey, you know what I was thinking about?"

"Hn," Sasuke took a seat on the sofa beside Naruto, his lover's feet pulled up and bundled up in the black and brown blanket that the Uzumaki had wrapped around himself. "What?"

Naruto flashed him a wide grin. "About how you're going to be twenty-two next week! Your birthday is gonna be so lit, ya know!" He raised his arm up out of the blanket, pumping a fist into the air. "But that makes me feel young as hell too." He sucked his teeth, his grin sinking into a small frown as he dropped his arm.

"Oh yeah," Sasuke showed him a teasing smirk. "You are young. Such a kid compared to me. I almost feel like I'm robbing the cradle with you."

Laughing, Naruto rolled his eyes. "Oh, shut up. At least I finally get to be at your night bash this year. It'll be my first time in the club 'cause you remember how my Dad didn't let me go last year," He lifted a closed fist and moved it in a circular motion, doing a sitting 'happy dance' and Sasuke breathed out a slight laugh, clearly recalling his disappointment last year. His blue eyes narrowed, Naruto stopped doing his little 'happy dance' and slapped the Uchiha in the arm. "That's not funny, you ass. That was so unfair! My Dad talking about, 'you're nineteen, no you are not taking your ass in the God damn club. We're going to the day bash and that's it.' That shit was not fair at all. I'm grown as hell, I didn't live with him no more and he told me I'm not allowed. That shit was embarrassing too!"

"I still remember how I tried to talk him into letting you attend, but Iruka-san was not having it. I couldn't tell him what to do with his own child, so I backed off. You were not worth me getting my ass handed to me by your papa." Sasuke laughed smoothly, patting Naruto on the top of his head and he felt that his hair was still damp.

Naruto scowled and wore a pout because Sasuke was mocking him like he was a child right now by touching him on his head the way he was, so he leaned away from the pale hand. "But I'm a full-grown adult now. Twenty years old, can't nobody tell me what to do, not even my Papa." He snickered through his teeth, putting his hand up to Sasuke and the Uchiha nodded in agreement with that, slapping his hand. "I'm ready to get fucked up, and, and you're no longer going to be a twenty-one year old hoe. You're gonna be a twenty-two year old hoe and we gonna turn up together this time!" He quipped, reaching over and stroking his thumb and index finger along Sasuke's chin.

"Hn," Sasuke snorted comically. "That's fine. I'll be a hoe for life, but guess who's going to be with this hoe for life?" He smirked, crossing a leg over his other and pointed over at Naruto.

"Well, you know," His brow furrowed, Naruto dropped his fingers from Sasuke's chin and shrugged his shoulders. "I don't discriminate. And hell, you weren't a hoe when I met you."

Sasuke had thought he could keep a straight-face, but he hadn't expected for that to leave off of Naruto's tongue, so the huffed laugh that left him was rich and unguarded as he uncrossed his legs.

"What? Is that not true?" Naruto smirked, proud of the slight grin he watched grace Sasuke's face. Getting a genuine laugh or humored expression from the Uchiha was something very intimate to him because it was something only he could achieve, aside from Sasuke's family, so he felt an intense case of butterflies anytime he made Sasuke laugh like this. Sasuke's laugh had such an innocence to it. Shoving his feet out of the blanket and putting them on the floor, Naruto turned to Sasuke completely. "So," He began, and still chuckling, Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him. "I feel like it's about time that I tell you something... important."

The smile on his face dwindling, Sasuke eyed Naruto curiously.

Naruto blushed, looking into the Uchiha's dark stare. "I'm ready to, you know, ...have sex with you."

Darks eyes flying wide, Naruto's spoken revelation shot straight to Sasuke's dick, which happened to 'leap' with joy. However, it was too soon. Naruto had made it very clear that he wanted to wait a year, so this was… odd. "Are you messing with me right now?" Sasuke speculated, his skeptical gaze narrowing. "Because, Naruto, I swear if this is your idea of a-"

"No, I'm not messing with you!" Naruto screwed his face up, pinning the raven with a slight glare. "Why in the hell would I ever joke around with something like this?"

And that was pretty much all Naruto needed to say to have Sasuke damn near springing up off of the sofa and undoing the drawstring of his sweat pants.

"You don't have to tell me twice." Sasuke murmured ravenously, pushing his sweats down his hips and looking into shocked, blue eyes with a stare that could solely be described as predatory. "Fuck the movie. We're going to the bedroom, dobe."

"-What?! No!" Naruto shouted as Sasuke stepped out of his sweat pants in a haste that would make Naruto believe the world was coming to an end in just a few hours and this was the last chance they would have to ever 'get busy.' "W-Wait, wait! What are you doing?!" He couldn't help the laugh that escaped him, even as he yelled at his boyfriend. "Sasuke, hold up! We're not-" He hadn't even been able to finish what it was he needed to say because before he realized what happened, Sasuke had swooped him up off of the sofa and was now effortlessly tossing him over his shoulder. Naruto felt his face grow hotter, finding it somewhat sexy that his weight was like nothing to Sasuke, but the man had the wrong idea. Or at least for tonight it was the wrong idea. "Sasuke,..." He whined out, trying to wriggle, but it was no use since Sasuke's arm entrapped his waist, having him locked in place.

"You know, dobe, this is kind of last minute and it's been a while since I last checked my lube stash, but I should at least have a tube left," Sasuke informed him with a smirk on his face, striding over to the staircase, Naruto secured in his clutch.

"Oh my God," Naruto buried his face in his hands, dangling over Sasuke's shoulder. "Sasuke, please put me down."

Sasuke's smirk widened. "Hn. I assure you, all is fine, Naruto. I am certain I have exactly one tube left," He slid his gaze over onto Naruto's sexy ass, that was encased in a pair of those black, velvety pajama shorts that he liked so much and then spanked him one good time before he roughly groped a perky mound. "Naruto, I don't think you realize how much trouble you're in. I'm about to make love to you so good, baby, I'm going to have that sexy mouth of yours speaking in tongues-"

"Sasuke!" Naruto screeched for the final time, although his voice was weak with laughter. "Put me down, stupid!" He demanded as he reached down and pinched Sasuke on the ass.

Sasuke froze where he was on the third stair, the acute pain of Naruto's pinch causing him to tense and his expression furrowed into a wince. "Fuck. Naruto, it hurts! What the hell are you doing that for?"

"Because I'm trying to get you to stop and put me down, asshole!" Naruto tightened the pressure of his pinch.

"Ow, shit. Fine, fine," Sasuke almost immediately let Naruto down onto the step and the Uzumaki stood in front of him, making a face at the large and evident print of the erection packing in his box-briefs before walking around him and off of the staircase. Reaching back to rub where Naruto had pinched him on the ass in order to soothe it, Sasuke turned around as well. "What the hell was that for, dobe?" He gritted out, watching Naruto head back over to the sofa. "I thought we were doing the damn thing."

Naruto rolled his eyes and plopped down on the sofa. "Oh, shut it and get over here, lover boy. You didn't even let me finish saying what I had to say." He stated and Sasuke shot him a far from intimidating glare, but came back over and joined him on the sofa, looking like a very disappointed child. "First, I am not about to have sex for the first time with Daisuke right down the hall. I can barely contain myself with what we do now."

Sasuke said nothing, deciding to just listen to what the Uzumaki had to say.

"Second, Sasuke, when I said I'm ready to have sex with you I didn't mean tonight, and I am definitely not losing my virginity in the same room that you fucked other bitches in. That's for damn sure."

Sasuke was now conflicted. So Naruto didn't want to have his first time in that room, but any other time was fine? This was why he deemed Naruto crazy as hell. He loved him all the same, but this was Naruto-logic. Logic that only Naruto could comprehend. His eyebrow cocked, he sat there, perplexed. "Naruto, my mattress is brand new. You're the one who insisted that I buy a new one in the first place."

"My God, it's not about the mattress, Sasuke!" Naruto threw his hands up, his face frowned up and dark eyes simply squinted at him. "Look, just try to understand, okay? I don't want it to just... happen." He told him, his expression softening. "Having sex for the first time is something I want to be able cherish and never forget, ya know."

Sasuke nodded slowly, beginning to catch his drift. Oddly enough. "So, you just don't want your first experience to be in that room? Where I've had sex with other people?"

Naruto nodded, his cheeks flushing slightly. "And it can't be tonight," The Uchiha gave a nod in understanding. "It can't be tomorrow," This time Sasuke's nod was slight. "Or the day after tomorrow," Sasuke blinked at him. "Or the day after that, or next week or the week after. I don't want to expect it." He added decidedly, finding nothing absolutely wrong with what he was asking for.

Sasuke looked Naruto in the face, jaw-dropped.

"What? It's not like, 'oh I want my first time to be magical with candlelight and rose petals' or anything mushy like that, but I at least want it to be memorable and spontaneous."

Sasuke sighed, Sasuke-junior frustrated and aching, but he found what Naruto was asking for to be somewhat reasonable. He would do whatever Naruto desired of him if it meant making his dobe happy. He understood and he could make it happen. He stood up and went and picked up his sweat pants off of the floor, feeling Naruto's eyes on him. He faced him and began putting his pants back on. "Alright. I understand, Naruto." He complied, a small smile appearing on his face.

Naruto pouted a bit and reclined back. "What? Is that really too much to ask for? ...I'm pretty sure the time you lost your virginity is something memorable, even now. Right?"

The raise of Sasuke's eyebrows said otherwise. "Naruto, it's not too much to ask," He voiced in all honesty, tying the drawstring of his sweats, but he avoided speaking on that other thing.

Naruto took notice that Sasuke hadn't answered about 'the loss of his virginity being memorable' and smirked a little, now intrigued. "Actually I don't think you've ever told me that story, Sasuke. How old were you when you lost your virginity?"

"Hn. It holds no importance, Naruto."

"But I want to know."

"Why?"

"Sasuke."

"I was thirteen," Sasuke finally answered, giving a casual shrug of his shoulders and returning to his spot on the sofa next to Naruto and when he looked the blonde in the face, blue eyes were wide with disbelief. "What?"

"Thirteen? Sasuke, are you serious? Thirteen?!" He reiterated, setting it in his mind that Sasuke had some fucking numbers mixed up because there was no way that that was true. However, by the point-blank expression the Uchiha was showing him, he had no choice but to come to terms with that being the honest truth. Naruto was stumped, looking him directly in the eyes. "Sasuke, how did you lose your virginity at thirteen? Like, thirteen? That's a baby! I wasn't even fully developed at thirteen, so..." Naruto scratched at his head, baffled.

Sasuke rubbed at the back of his neck, not sure how to answer that. Not even his own mother knew he lost his virginity at that age. To him, it didn't seem that bad and that was just what happened, but Naruto's reaction reminded him that it was that bad. "Well, you remember when I had that growth spurt that summer? If I'm not mistaken I looked fourteen at most," He mentioned, a bit uncertain. He would have to look back at some old pictures because at thirteen he wasn't sure how tall he had been.

"Damn," Naruto shook his head, still dumbfounded. He remembered what he was doing at thirteen, and had thought that that was the same shit Sasuke was doing. Of course he knew Sasuke had been a fast one, but he didn't think that fast. He couldn't imagine having been a kid and getting freaky with another person. "How old was the girl?" He asked out of skeptical curiosity, his brow crinkled.

Sasuke thought to himself for a moment before he answered, indifferently. "She was about sixteen. Hn, I don't even recall what she looked like or her name, honestly. Did she tell me her name?" He glanced off to the side, stroking at his chin.

Naruto pressed on his temples, shutting his eyes. Lord, he didn't think it could get any worse. "Do you at least remember where it went down?"

Sasuke grimaced in shame, a slight flush riding along his cheekbones. "...In church."

"Bye. Good night." Naruto put up his hands in surrender, getting up off of the sofa and headed for the staircase. He didn't even think it was possible for him to stomach soda and popcorn after hearing that trifling mess.


To be continued...

Author's note: I would like to thank everyone who sent me their 'get wells' and were patient with me recovering! I'm feeling a lot better, just got a small cough left, but I'm better. :) I hope the wait was worth it! Xo

A/N (2): I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter because you don't even know LOL, writing so many characters in one scene was a challenge and if you're familiar with my works, I'm not a half-ass OC creator. I have to have a face, a name, background, personality, EVERYTHING. A character has to be completely developed in my mind before they are written out and there was a total thirteen kids minus the infants that had to be written, so I'm tired. I feel accomplished, but I'm tired LOL. I'm actually going to post their character imagery on my wordpress as well, for anyone who wants to see the cuties.