AN: Thank you to everyone who left kudos and comments and have followed this story. I know you hear it every fic, but seriously, without your support, this shit just would not exist, so thank you so much! Un-beta'd, as always. Enjoy!

The chunin exams were coming up. That was a fact. They were just over a month away, starting at the beginning of July and ending mid August, and it was the end of May now. May 26th to be exact. Two weeks since the disastrous attempt at summoning his kekkei genkai. Two weeks since he'd discovered where his mom's grave lay, and two weeks of nonstop reading in the vain hope of finding something about his clan that could help him understand his gift and heratege better.

And so far, nothing.

It was starting to get very annoying.

"Ugh, this is useless," he moaned, dropping his head onto the table. Across from him, Sakura made a face of disdain at his antics.

"Naruto," she sighed. "We haven't even gone through all the books yet."

"Yeah, but we almost have," he noted, glaring at the swindling pile. They'd gone through two thirds of the books in the past two weeks, slowed down thanks to their sensei's rigorous training. But still, it was enough to lose hope of ever finding anything of value.

It was one of their rare days off that they were sat around doing all this reading. Kakashi-sensei only allowed them one rest day for every six, so as to recuperate and take care of any other business they might need, like shopping and laundry. Or in their case, studying. And right now they were all cooped up in Sasuke's apartment, huddled around his kitchen table with all the remaining books spread around them. Leftover dishes from lunch were also scattered around the table, chopsticks resting haphazardly in bowls of unfinished yakisoba*. Overall, it was quiet a messy scene, and one they were quickly growing familiar with.

"Well you can't give up hope yet," Sakura said assuredly, focusing back on her book. "You never have before."

That was true, Naruto admitted grudgingly. But then again, that usually only applies to jutsu someone could actually tell him about. Like the rasengan or shadow clones. Not something that might as well be extinct. Except for that girl Karin, as Sasuke had informed them earlier. But she hadn't discovered it yet either, so it didn't really count.

"Hey Sasuke," Naruto asked, a sudden thought having come to him.

"Hn?" The Uchiha asked, still absorbed in his own readings. Naruto took that as confirmation for him to go on.

"How do you access your sharingan? Is there like a trick to it?" His reason for asking being that maybe kekkei genkai are alike in their usage, and that knowing how Sasuke used his would Naruto know how his own worked.

"It's not a 'trick'," the boy sighed. "It's more like… like flexing your finger. Something you can just do."

"Yeah but," Naruto tried. "I don't know how to flex my finger in this scenario, y'know." Then, "How'd you do it the first time?"

Sasuke shrugged, setting his book down. "Same as yours. It just happened. Then after that, I just knew how it worked, so it was easy. But I was raised around, taught how it worked before I even developed it. It's different for you. You've never really experienced it before."

Sighing, Naruto folded his arms on the table and dejectedly rested his chin on them. "I s'pose you're right," he mumbled. Next to him, Sakura was looking at him with pitying green eyes, a slight frown painting her lips.

"Are you sure there's no one you can ask? Not even the Kyūbi?"

Naruto perked up at that, confusion flitting across his face.

"You mean Kurama?" He asked.

"Yeah," Sakura nodded. "You said he lived in your mother practically her whole life. Surely he at least knew about her kekkei genkai, if not experienced it."

Naruto blinked, taken aback. How could he be so stupid? Of course Kurama would know about them! He'd seen them used on the fox before, and remembered how his mom had told him about how she'd kept him at bay while his mother sealed him away again with the same chains.

"I take it by your dopey expression that that would be a 'yes'," Sasuke drawled across him from him.

Naruto pouted in response, but didn't argue.

"Just talk to him," Sakura suggested. "It can't hurt to ask."

Well, technically it could, but he wasn't going to correct her on that.

"Okay, fine," he mumbled, already drawing himself up into a meditative position. "Hopefully he's in a good mood."


The sewer of his mind was just as wet and stinky as it always was when he appeared. He was standing ankle deep in the stuff, feet squelching uncomfortably in his sandals. Even though he knew it wasn't real, it still felt the real thing. And the real thing was disgusting.

"It's about damn time," Kurama grumbled from behind the bars. The gate loomed in front of Naruto, just like it always had. Golden bars stretching up into the darkness, the lock still firmly in place. The fox's ears were flattened back in an either bored or tired gesture, eyes red slits in the dark. He didn't appear entirely happy with his predicament. Not surprising though, seeing as he had just been allowed out and about before being slingshot back in time into his old cage. It also meant Naruto couldn't use Kyubi mode either, so it really sucked for both of them.

Probably more for Kurama though.

"Sorry Kurama," he said sincerely. "Things have been crazy."

"I know," the fox growled out. Then, looking down at him knowingly, said, "It's not everyday you unlock a kekkei genkei."

Naruto gaped, jaw dropping open. "You knew!" He shouted, pointing an accusing finger at the tailed beast.

Kurama merely scoffed in response. "Of course I knew, brat. I live inside you. I see everything you do." Then, in a lower voice, "Although I could have gone without the reminder."

The reminder of being bound by the same chains, no doubt.

"Well, actually, that's why I'm here," Naruto chirped, brightening up instantly. "I was wondering if you knew anything about it. Y'know, to help me get a hang of it. Cuz there aren't any other Uzumaki around and you were in my mom so you must have experience with it right?" Kurama's ears flattened even further during his excited rambling, showing just how much the fox was dreading such a task.

"Why don't you ask that annoying sensei of yours?" He sighed defeatedly. "And leave me out of it."

"You already know why," Naruto accused, calling him out on his bullshit. If Kurama did indeed see everything he did, then he knew damn well why that wouldn't work.

The fox sighed regardless. "At least I tried…"

Rolling his eyes, Naruto strut up to the bars of the cage and slipped through them, clamber onto the foxes arm so as to be more level with his eyes. "C'mon Kurama," he tried, looking up at him earnestly. "You know how boring all this reading is. If you tell me about those chains, it'll be over." Because threatening a creature of mischief and trickery with even more dull reading was exactly how one should coerce information from it.

Luckily for him, it seemed to do the trick, and Kurama's eye slid over to meet his and the demon let out a great huff of resignation. Beaming in success, Naruto jumped back and stood at attention, ready to listen.

"First of all," Kurama started, voice drawn as if reluctant. Which he most definitely was. "Kekkei genkai aren't like normal jutsu. There's no hand sign or method for it. It's a feeling."

Frowning in confusion, Naruto cocked his head to the side. "Like, how do you mean?"

The fox sighed in exasperation, drawing a tired hand down his muzzle. "I mean it's not something you consciously focus on or do. Like that Uchiha brat said, it's like lifting a finger. You just do."

"Yeah but I don't even know how to do that!" He shot back in frustration.

"Alright then, how'd you do it the first time?" Kurama asked rhetorically.

Growling angrily at the fox's unhelpfulness, he cried, "I don't know, I just did-"

Naruto stopped in his tracks. Wait…

"Wait," he said.

The sight of Kurama grinning smugly down at him wasn't entirely a welcome one. "Like I said, brat," the fox smirked. "You just do."

Just do. Don't think. That was the secret?

"Now," the fox continued, shifting himself into a different position. "Leave me alone so I can sleep. God knows I need it after you're incessant yammering."

"What? Hey, I thought we were friend!" Naruto shot back, backtracking out of the cage. An annoyed swish of one of Kurama's tails was the only response he got before he was shot back into the real world.


When he blinked open his eyes, it was to the sight of Sakura's curious green ones, and Sasuke's empty black ones.

"Well?" Sakura immediately asked, leaning forward over the table. "Did he help at all?"

"Kinda," he admitted. "I mean, we'll see tomorrow, I guess." Tomorrow when they were back to training with their insane sensei.

Shortly after, the two non Uchiha packed up their stuff and prepared to leave, waving their teammate off at the door. Once they reached the road, Naruto started off in the opposite direction of Sakura.

"Naruto, where are you going?" She asked with a frown, noticing him walking away from her. "Your house is that way," she said, pointing down the road she had already started to head down herself.

"I know," Naruto replied. "I just have to do something first."

Sakura frowned, but didn't press further, to which he was grateful. Instead, she nodded and waved him off with a smile.

"See you tomorrow then," she smiled, heading down the road.

"See ya!" He waved back, waiting until she was out of sight before heading off to his own destination. He just hoped he'd have enough money for it.


Naruto couldn't say he'd ever been inside Yamanaka's flower shop before. At least not for any business reason. So he had no idea what to expect when he walked into the small shop with Gama-chan tucked away in his pocket, ready to be used.

He was greeted immediately by a familiar voice.

"Naruto, what are you doing here?" Ino sneered, looking up from her magazine. Well, it wasn't exactly a sneer, but it wasn't entirely polite either.

"Good afternoon to you, too," he muttered, shoulders slumping in resignation. Ino, noticing how bitchy she'd been, blinked and straightened up, assuming a more professional manner.

"Sorry," she said. "It's just, you've never been in here before, and I can't help think you're gonna use my flowers for some prank," she explained. Then, narrowing her eyes, added. "You not pulling a prank, are you?"

Naruto blinked, taken aback. "What, no," he frowned. He hadn't pulled a prank in years. Well, years for him. Months to everyone else. But still, Ino hadn't seen him since team assignment day, so she didn't know how much he'd changed. "No," he continued. "I'm here for some, uh…" he pulled out the note in his pocket he'd jotted down at the library. "Carnations," he read off.

Immediately Ino's brow furrowed in confusion. "Carnations? Those are used for gravestones," she noted.

Naruto just nodded. "I know."

He'd wanted to bring flowers to his mom's grave for awhile now, but hadn't known what kind to get. Finally he had found a book on it at the library when he'd gone to return some of the ones he'd checked out and had jotted it down for this exact reason.

Immediately Ino's face softened in sympathy, and the suspicion she'd been holding onto drained away. "Oh," she said, voice softer than before. "Alright, well, which color would you like?" She made her way around to counter to get the flowers he'd asked for.

"Um,what do you suggest?" He asked, completely at a loss. Ino just smiled softly and showed him his choices.

"Each flower has its meaning," she told him, bending down to point out the carnations. "Pink stands for remembrance, so if you wanted to express how much you missed them, or were thinking about them, you'd chose that. If you wanted to express love and passion, you would choose red." She gestured to the flower. "And white is for love and innocence."

Naruto nodded along with what she said, eyes focused on the flowers.

"I think I'll go with pink, y'know."

Ino nodded, going to clip a small bouquet. "May I ask the occasion? It's alright if you don't want to say."

Naruto just shrugged in reply, unsure what so say. "It's kinda complicated," he admitted awkwardly. "I guess, one of my hero's deserves to be remembered, y'know?" Because there were a lot of forgotten heroes in Konoha's history. It wouldn't be a far stretch of the imagination for Naruto to want to celebrate one of them. Maybe.

Ino nodded in understanding. "I'll just go and ring you up then," she said, heading back to the counter to wrap the bouquet up. "I hope whoever you're going to see appreciated these."

Naruto smiled. "She will."


The graveyard was empty when Naruto entered, grounds bathed in the orange glow of the setting sun. It cast a serene atmosphere across it, washing away the sadness of death that would usually go with a scene like this. Perfect for what he was planning.

"Hey mom," he said, plopping down in front of the grave. Since he'd discovered where she was buried, he'd meant to come back and visit, but had been too busy to do so. He'd never paid his proper respects to his parents since finding out who they were, so now he decided he would.

He'd stopped by Ichiraku's on his way over, grabbing two to-go cups of his favorite ramen. One for him, one for her. He knew it was kind of a waste of perfectly good ramen, but it was the thought that counted. Setting one of the to-go cups on top of the headstone, he placed the chopsticks on the lid and followed it quickly by setting the flowers down next to it.

"I didn't know if you liked ramen," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "But I thought you might, cuz I do. And I know we're a lot alike, so…" He trailed off, unsure how to continue.

It was the first time he'd ever visited his mom's grave on his own before. Thanks to Kakashi-sensei's crazy schedule, he hadn't had the time or energy to devote to stopping by. That wasn't saying he hadn't meant to for the past two weeks, he completely had. But most days he came home too tired to even make dinner, let alone trek all the way out to Konoha's graveyard. But finally today he had found time. And amazingly he had money to spare still leftover from the Wave mission. He'd spent most of it on groceries and rent already, but he'd made sure to put some aside for this occasion. He was glad he had.

"Anyway," he started again, fidgeting with his own chopsticks. "I haven't spoken to you in a while, which I think makes me a bad son… I don't really know. But I have a lot to tell you!" He started digging into his ramen while he spoke, waving his chopsticks around animatedly as he recalled his adventure to Wave and everything he's learned so far. Talking about anything and everything that came to his mind, just because he felt he should share it with her.

"So anyways," he continued excitedly. "I haven't told you this yet, but I got your kekkei genkai! How cool is that, y'know? I know you and some other Uzumaki had it, but I never figured I'd get it. Although I still don't know how to use it. Kurama gave me some good tips, but I haven't tried them yet. Maybe tomorrow," he mused thoughtfully. "I'd tell Dad, too, but he's kinda buried with the other Hokage, and it'd be weird if someone saw me talkin' to him about all this stuff, y'know? Cuz no one knows he's my dad or anything. I mean, I can still talk to you, cuz we're both Uzumaki, so it's not weird. But Dad's… he's the Fourth, y'know. And I'm just…" He sighed. "I'm just Naruto."

"That's not true."

The sudden voice shocked Naruto as he hadn't heard anyone approach, and he whirled around to confront his stalker. He was ready to deny anything they'd just heard, say he was just joking, or pulling a prank. Anything to deny that what he'd said technically broke an S-class secret.

But when he saw who it was, he realized he didn't have to.

"Sasuke?"

And indeed, it was the Uchiha himself who was standing there, hands shoved in his pockets, scowl permanently cemented on his face in a show of perpetual disdain. How did he know he was here? How long had he been standing there? Had he followed him all the way from his house?

"You're not," he said flatly. Naruto frowned, blinking.

"Not what?"

Sighing despairingly, Sasuke asked, "You're really gonna make me say it?" When Naruto only continued to give him a puzzled look, Sasuke rolled his eyes and squatted down to his height, hands now folded across his knees. "You're not just Naruto," he ground out, eyes looking anywhere but at his teammate. "You're a good ninja. See, there. I admitted it. And…" He ground his teeth in frustration, eyes closed in a moment of acceptance before he spoke again. "And you're a good friend."

Naruto could only blink in shock as the admision sunk in. Sasuke… recognized him? Not as a person, but as a friend. As a good shinobi. That was all he'd ever wanted from him. He didn't even know how to respond, instead just staring at him with his mouth hanging open.

"Close your mouth, you moron," Sasuke finally snapped, uncomfortable with the amount of emotions being exhibited. "You look like a damn fish."

"Sorry," he said, immediately snapping it shut. Sasuke merely rolled his eyes and shifted into a sitting position. He resumed his usual silence, focusing intently on the grass at his feet. It didn't look like he was about to say anything anytime soon.

"Thanks," Naruto finally breathed, just the barest smile crossing his face. "Mean's a lot."

"Hn."

They continued to sit in silence for a good few minutes longer before Naruto broke it. "Hey, uh, how'd you know I was here?"

Sasuke shrugged. "I saw you going the other way when you left my house," he admitted casually. "Wondered what was up."

"Were you standing behind me that whole time?" He asked, cringing at the thought. Thankfully, the boy scoffed in response.

"No, only for the last part," he replied. Then, "Is that ramen still hot?" He asked, eyeing Kushina's cup. Naruto shrugged.

"You can have it," he shrugged. "I was planning to finish it off for her," he admitted, gesturing to his mom's grave. "But yeah, go ahead."

Sasuke nodded, taking the cup and chopsticks in hand.

"It's cold," he stated.

"You can breathe fire, Sasuke," Naruto deadpanned. "I'm sure you can figure something out."

AN: Surprise appearance of Sasuke! Some bro time, too. Hoped you liked it, please leave a comment or favorite it if you did, I really appreciate them. Until next time!