AN Hello everyone! I'm sorry for the long break, I had to take some time off social media to gather my bearings, and sadly that also included a break from writing. But now that things are mostly in order, and I'm kinda forcing myself out of this awful writer's block I've been having, I believe it is time to revive TWYG. I hope you enjoy this chapter, even if it's half ass at best and took me one month to write hahahahaha. Please don't forget to review! Your comments on the story are what I always go back to for inspiration! I hope you all have a nice week, enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 33: Pet Sitting

It took less time than expected for me to sort myself out. Within three weeks of my interrogation I'd managed to put my memories in order and somewhat stabilize my psyche. Key word being somewhat. Before I knew it, I was being called into the Hokage's office. I had to take the underground passages, of course, and keep my mask and cloak on at all times. I didn't feel as uneasy going in as the last time I'd been there, granted I was neither going to confess to treason nor was I going to be interrogated –that I knew of-, still I felt more at ease than I probably should have.

I was just glad to be given something to do; to be given an excuse to leave Kakashi's apartment, to go somewhere other than training ground 44- it seemed so small now that I'd run it's length and width over and over again during those three weeks. I couldn't bring myself to feel intimidated by Lady Tsunade's summoning, the Hat had already put me through the worst interrogation technique in their arsenal, and ANBU had made sure I wasn't a stranger to physical-stress based interrogation. There was only one thing that kept me obedient, and Senju Tsunade knew exactly what it was. I knew for a fact that Inoichi forcing Sasuke's whereabouts out of my head had been no accident; having control over the remaining members of such an ancient and powerful clan as the Uchiha was not an advantage Konohagakure would be willing to give up. I knew this, and yet, I did not care.

Being a tool of the state was a shinobi's job description, we were no strangers to that particular piece of truth, even more so those of us who came from ninja clans. There came a time in our lives where we realized what our life was and just accepted it, there was no use in doing otherwise. We were mercenaries, we knew that, and we were damn good at it, even if we were at the mercy of the current Hokage's decisions. I was willing to accept this as long as my family was safe, Tsunade knew that, Inoichi had made sure she did. Still there was the fact that unlike her predecessors, and for all her rough edges, Tsunade would not resort to threatening my family's safety unless she deemed it necessary.

The door to the Hokage's office was opened for me, the masked operative escorting me to Tsunade came in after me and closed the door once we were both safely inside. It was dusk, the rose hew of the sky gave the room a look than in any other situation would have felt romantic. Colors distorted and breeze blew through the open window, and once again, I was calm.

I trusted that woman.

"Did you get enough rest, Uchiha-san?" she asked, never looking up from the report she was reading.

"More than enough, Lady Tsunade."

She looked up annoyed, like I'd said something she considered offensive. Sanju Tsunade put the scroll down and intertwined her fingers; she took a deep breath in.

"I owe you a sincere apology in the name of Konohagakure no Sato. I can guarantee all information on the whereabouts of both Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Sasuke will remain as confidential as we can make it."

I said nothing and just nodded in acknowledgement. She sighed and closed her eyes, if it was resignation or relief in her mind, I could never tell.

"I'm aware you adopted certain rascal as a part of your extended family. Since we are in need someone who can give him what he's been denied his entire life, we would like you to take on a more active role coming into his teenage years…"

I smiled a little.

"You want him to have a reason to remain loyal. You want us to have something in the village we would be willing to fight for."

Tsunade clicked her tongue and looked away. Then she smiled and let out a breathy laugh.

"well, I can't let a jinchuriki and one of the only people who can influence him fall into another village's grasp, now can I?"

I smiled, true and unguardedly.

"Of course we can't, Lady Tsunade."

She sighed again, like her job was weighing on her shoulders more than it usually did.

"He's moving in with you, you will continue to be a part of ANBU, train on emergency fuinjutsu in case of emergencies, but you will remain on the bench until the psychology ward deems you stable enough."

"Yes, Lady Hokage. Are there any restrictions to my interactions with Naruto?"

She shook her head.

"Now scram, I have paperwork to do and subjects to exploit."

…..

It had always impressed me how time changed things so drastically, even if not much of it had gone by. Naruto's hair was bright as the sun still, longer, more like his father's, and the spark of curiosity, immense, never ending curiosity was still deeply set in his eyes. The rest of him though had changed, and would continue to do so. He was growing to be the man he would become.

"you were gone." His eyes were smiling, but the rest of his face was a perfect mask of annoyance.

"I was."

"Then you came back, but it wasn't really you," he probed further, " and now, you are back, why?"

I chuckled and ruffled his hair as I stepped through the open front door and into his one room apartment. He had been working on seals a lot since I'd been gone, his walls and floor were covered in designs and loose practice sheets, and seal parchments and ink.

"Can you piece it together? I feel like you should be able to given all the puzzles you've been making…"

He frowned, frustrated that I wouldn't give him a straight answer, and stared into space for a while until he got a narrative that somewhat made sense to him. He took a deep breath through the nose; I knew he couldn't make all ends meet.

"Well, you were gone after the incident with the Uchiha compound, about two or three years. Then, you came back, but it wasn't really you. And then you were gone again, but when you came back this time it is just you."

He said it all out loud, as if to help himself visualize, piece it all together.

"It feels like you should have been undercover, but at the same time it doesn't sound right…"

I smiled, pleased that he had put Shisui's scroll collection to good use while I'd been gone. His intuition had grown with him as the years went by, it was a given, but I was extremely proud of him. He had lost his best friend to circumstance, his parents to evil, and had almost lost his right to learn to prejudice. Naruto had dealt with life all on his own for all twelve years of his short life, and that ended right then.

"Well, that does make sense, since my original genin team was infiltration oriented… I guess that'll have to do for now." I turned to him and broadened my smile. "anyway, get your stuff, you are moving in with me, kid. Hokage's orders."

He was so taken aback by the news that he didn't even argue, or bombard me with questions. I could understand why though, I had knocked on his door at midnight and told him he'd be moving in with me. He must have been annoyed, confused, cranky, and exhausted from a day's training with Tsunade, he had probably broken a few bones that day as well. Within half an hour, he had gathered all of his belongings and was at the door, locking and sealing the apartment shut. He said it was just in case someone tried to steal his instant ramen stash.

I'd spent the entire day making my apartment presentable for my new roommate, deep cleaning everything, making sure to double and triple check that my chakra sensing seals had Naruto's signature in them as well. I'd bought food, tea and coffee to fill the empty cabinets, and made sure the spare room was ready for the arrival of its new owner.

We walked in silence out of the red lights district and into the shinobi residential area, we were both too tired and spent to even exchange words. Stairs were climbed, and late arriving neighbors were greeted. I unlocked the apartment and urged him in. we left our sandals at the door and I gave him a quick little tour of the place.

"What is your job, Nee-san? You sure do earn quite a bit…"

I chuckled.

"That, kid, is confidential. But from now on this is your place as well, so make yourself at home, and please don't be a pain at night, I'm not nitpicky otherwise." I pointed back to the kitchen. "You can eat or cook yourself anything, just add to the groceries' list whenever you need anything."

He nodded, uncomfortable to be in such an unfamiliar place. It was not often that Naruto had nothing to say, but with how tired he looked and how little of me he'd seen lately, I couldn't really blame him. This was something new for the both of us, I would be learning how to live with someone again and he would be learning to live with somebody else for the very first time. He was used to loneliness, to coming home to an empty apartment, not to a two-room apartment with a full cabinet and plants on the window sills. This was not only a place he would be living in, but hopefully a place that he would be able to call home one day.

"Go to sleep, kid. We both have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. It'll take you a while to settle in, so don't sweat it, it'll come with time."

He nodded and smiled.

"Thank you, Akane-nee."

I ruffled his hair once again and went into my room hoping this would all turn out well in the end.

I always thought that living with somebody else would be something I'd be able to pull off without problem. I assumed anything could be talked out and solved with one's roommate. Unfortunately, living with a teenager who had some form of undiagnosed attention deficit disorder and a furry demon inside who fueled his hormonal temper tantrums, had not been something I'd accounted for. Not to mention he had a fuinjutsu specialization and medical training to go through, making the amount of small fires, explosions and dead fish that littered and frequented the apartment all the more prominent.

The coffee table had more dents and burn marks than any regular piece of furniture should have, the walls were covered in secrecy and protection seals, and some of our potted plants now had self watering timed seals the kid was trying out. The apartment looked like a mixture of an art studio, and an urban jungle.

As an ANBU operative, all trace of one's existence or even continued presence was reprimanded, looked down upon, I remembered Shisui's room and stopped my mind short. No, I couldn't bare die and leave nothing behind to prove I existed; I couldn't bring myself to become the perfect shinobi, not in this aspect at least. Sasuke would have nothing left of me, he'd lost enough already with how little Itachi had left him keep, even if it was just a couple of potted plants.

Same rules applied to Naruto now, he'd lost enough, and had never known the warmth of a loving, caring household, and I would not take that away from him now that he had it. Even if he burnt half of my furniture in the meantime…