Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and I am making no profit from this story, it is only for entertainment.

Chapter Summary: In which Sasuke tries to cope, Kakashi makes a promise and the Uzumaki clan gains a new member


Chapter 19: Can I Live Without You?

Sasuke frowned at the page in front of him; in which country was the majority of the Second Shinobi War fought in? He was sure that Iruka-sensei had mentioned it at some point but he couldn't remember when. They had been fighting Iwa and Suna, he knew that at least, but where were the main battles? He knew it had something to do with a guy called Hanzō who fought the Sannin a bunch of times.

"History or geography?"

Sasuke looked up at Rio opposite him. The blond had joined him a while ago at the kitchen table but hadn't said anything. It had been a few weeks since the funeral and while he felt more comfortable around Naruto and Kazuya, it was still a bit awkward around the youngest Uzumaki. They didn't acknowledge each other at the academy and here, Naruto or Kazuya usually led the conversations.

Naruto had helped him retrieved some of his stuff from the compound so he at least had some clothes and furniture now. The apartment still felt too big, too empty, so whenever they offered to let Sasuke come over here, he leapt at the chance. He was still getting the hang of cooking his own meals and Kazuya had taken to just adding his laundry to their pile.

The Uzumaki household was very different to his childhood home.

Kaa-san had always kept the clan house clean, organised, and running smoothly; it had also always been quiet. With his father around, they were expected to act like a proper Clan Head's family. There had been no pranks, no running around, no chaos. They had each had their roles and they were expected to excel within them. Sasuke had expectations to meet, even though he felt like he never really met any of them.

The Uzumaki's were chaos; all on different schedules and all taking up roles as and when needed. There was always noise in the flat from one source or another and there was always a project going on. It was busy, with no expectations other than to be yourself. He had felt lost at first, with no clear, defined rules to follow but he was slowly managing to get used to it.

"History," he answered gruffly. "The homework from Tuesday."

"The Second War stuff? I'll trade you that for this geography homework. How am I supposed to know what country Tanigakure is in?"

Sasuke finished that yesterday. There was a part of him that was tempted to take Rio up on that offer but pride held his tongue. He should be able to do his own homework; he's the last of his clan. He has to uphold their reputation now that they're gone.

"Hey, what country is Tanigakure in?"

Sasuke frowned at the blond.

"Come on, Sasuke!" Rio plopped his chin on the table as his violet eyes stared pathetically at Sasuke. "You're the top of our class; you gotta know the answer."

Sasuke stared back at Rio, unimpressed.

"Doesn't your brother know the entire Elemental Nations geography off the top of his head?" He sat back in his chair. "That's half his job."

"And what, am I supposed to just absorb that knowledge through living with him?" Rio slumped back in his own chair dramatically. "He does paperwork, it's boring. It's not something I ask him about."

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"The Land of Rivers," he grudgingly answered.

Rio grinned brightly and scribbled the answer down. He looked like Naruto when he smiled like that; it was a little bit different though. Naruto's had an undertone of warmth but wasn't quite as bright, as if it was dimmed by something behind his eyes that people couldn't see.

"What about you? What's the question?"

Sasuke kept quiet. Rio may not have been at the bottom of the class but he was still lower than him in the class rankings.

"I'm top of the class in history, you know."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"I swear!" He held up his hands. "I even beat Sakura-chan last time! My grades get pulled down by maths and geography and stuff."

He considered Rio for a long moment, glancing down the blank space before sighing.

"The main country the Second Shinobi War was fought in."

"Oh, Ame," Rio replied immediately. "Yeah, although we fought Iwa and Suna a lot of the fighting were in the minor countries. Ame got slammed with a lot of the fighting, especially since they had Hanzō who was a heavy-weight like the Sannin; although they actually lost that fight. We actually had some skirmishes in the Land of Rivers with Suna but no one really mentions that since so much went on in Ame. They got pretty mad that we fought on their lands so we had to settle after the war with some trade agreements, but that worked out for both sides."

Sasuke stared at Rio in shock.

"How the fuck do you know that? The Land of Rivers wasn't mentioned at all in class."

"I spent a lot of time around the Hokage growing up," Rio shrugged casually, putting his arms behind his head. "He used to babysit me. He would tell me stories about the wars and the effects of them on Konoha while he did his paperwork."

"Why would he watch you?"

"Nii-san couldn't watch me while he was at the academy, so Hokage-jiji used to watch me in his office before we met the Inuzuka. I used to go see him all the time until I started the academy."

Sasuke let out a quiet 'huh' and wrote the answer neatly in the blank space. Rio had always sat at the back of the class with the slackers; Nara just slept, Akimichi just ate and Inuzuka was just dumb. All three were at the bottom of the class rankings and appeared to have no intentions to trying to raise their grades. Sasuke had thought that the youngest Uzumaki was the same, even if his grades made it to roughly the middle of the class.

There was more to Rio than he thought; just like the rest of his weird family. The contrast between Sasuke's life before and his life now almost made things easier to handle; even as he felt the grief lurking in the back of his mind, ready to crush him at any moment.


Naruto slid into his seat beside Hana, grinning as he closed his eyes and inhaled the delicious scents coming off the dishes in front of him. He loved team dinners; they always made all their favourites and it was a whole night off from worrying about their lives. He opened his eyes and shrugged off his jacket, hanging it on the back of his chair as he secured his hair into a ponytail. Eating with hair in his way was annoying.

"So where are the kids tonight?" Genma smiled as he took out the senbon from his mouth and popped it onto the table. "You've got the two now, right?"

"It's only been a couple months since Sasuke came to stay next door," Naruto frowned. "Rio went to the Inuzuka but Sasuke isn't close enough to anyone for that."

"He said he wanted to go through some of his clan's stuff tonight so I made him some tomato soup and told him where to find us if he needs us," Kazuya added.

"He'll want to be on his own for that anyway," Naruto dropped his gaze to the table.

That kind of thing was private.

"How is he doing?" Hana spoke up.

"How would you be doing if you lost your clan?"

Hana didn't answer but her face went pale.

"Come on guys, Sasuke is tough," Naruto continued. "He might not be okay now but he will be with time and a bit of help. Now let's eat; he'd hate it if he knew we were talking about him."

"Yeah, let's talk about the other kids," Kazuya grinned as he dumped some rice onto his plate. "Hana, how are the puppies?"

She hesitated but appeared to shake something off.

"They're fine." She took some barbecue pork. "Finally weaned off their mother and a pup has picked Kiba. Turned out to be the runt too; he named him Akamaru. He won't be able to take him to the academy until their second year though."

Naruto smiled as he took some barbecue for himself. Kiba had been desperate for a dog of his own for ages; he would look forward to when the kid brought the puppy around to their flat in the near future.

"How are they doing in the academy?" Genma pointed a chopstick in their direction. "It's been nine months; more than enough time for them to cause as much trouble as you guys did."

Kazuya rolled his eyes.

"We hardly caused trouble, Genma-sensei. Most would see graduating early as an achievement, not as a trouble-making scheme as everyone seems to think. Besides, since we ended the war with Kumo they can't move up a year even if they tried. The graduation age was set to a minimum of eleven, remember?"

"Rio and Sasuke are doing well," Naruto added fondly. "Sasuke is top of his class and Rio is keeping up. He even got full marks on the last history test they had!"

"I wish I could say the same for Kiba," Hana groaned. "Kaa-san has to fight him to get any progress reports and they aren't good."

"We knew before he started that studying wouldn't be a strong point," Kazuya pointed out. "His grades will shoot up next year once they get stuck into the more practical parts of the curriculum."

Hana stuffed another piece of meat into her mouth, muffling her next groan.

"Do they still segregate the girls for kunoichi classes?"

"As far as I know," Genma-sensei nodded, twirling some noodles around his chopstick. "I think it's still in second and third year electives."

"I think it's still completely unfair," the brunet huffed. "I would have killed to learn how to sew in the academy; there's so much I would have loved to learn that they didn't teach the boys."

"You think you had it rough?" Hana snapped back. "I had to learn flower-arranging while you guys got to learn trap-making from a former hunter-nin. How is that fair?"

"Plus where is the first aid?" Kazuya threw up his hands; Naruto snapped out to grab the egg that had been flung from the other boy's chopsticks. "The basic medical training? Nowhere in the curriculum is it to be found."

Naruto exchanged a weary look with Genma-sensei as the other two worked themselves up. It was an old argument that wasn't even an argument considering that they agreed on the subject. Kazuya had been listing the failings of the academy since the day he was enrolled there and the moment Hana had found out she had to take kunoichi lessons, she had joined in.

Naruto also agreed with them but he kept quiet; it was dumb that boys and girls had to have different lessons for a part of the academy. Hana had been teaching them the stuff she had learnt since they had graduated and the pair of them had used it so much. Kazuya, in particular, had managed to incorporate most of it into his medical and poison training. They said that the girls had to learn these skills for infiltration missions but Naruto could see no reason boys could not be sent on these same missions. They were ninja; they should be able to disguise as either gender and be undetected. That was the point of their training.

He had brought it up to Hijiri at the Desk but the other chunin had pointed out that a wig and make-up would only hold up for a few hours and a henge wasn't suitable for the long-term. There currently was no viable disguise method for long-term infiltration as the opposite gender.

"Come on, guys," Genma-sensei finally spoke up as Kazuya and Hana continued to vent. "You've been complaining about this for years. Leave it for tonight; it'll still be a problem tomorrow."

As Kazuya and Hana reluctantly left the topic alone, moving onto the much safer discussion of Hana's veterinarian training, Naruto's thoughts remained stuck. There must be a way to create a long-term henge that couldn't be dispelled; it can't be that hard. Surely there would be a seal or something that would help; he had one that changed his hair but that couldn't be removed once applied. There had to be an in-between.

He had a couple of rare days off coming up. It wouldn't hurt to just have a look at his scrolls; just to see if it was possible.


Kazuya trekked to Training Ground Five in search of his friend. Naruto had been absent since the team dinner three weeks ago and he had no idea what the redhead was up to. He saw the other boy for meals and that was pretty much it; he knew it was fūinjutsu related though. He had seen the same pattern for four years now. Rio also knew what was up but poor Sasuke had been blindsided.

He just didn't know what Naruto was cooking up; could be anything from another type of storage seal to something that could wipe out a village. You never knew with him. He finally spotted a head of long red hair in the middle of the training ground and he called out.

"Hey, Aka-chan. Where the fuck have you been? Poor Sasuke has forgotten what you look like."

He missed a step as a female voice answered back.

"Sasuke hasn't forgotten shit; I went food shopping with him two days ago."

Kazuya stopped a few metres away as the redhead turned around. He was faced by a girl a few years younger than him; long straight red hair hung around a tanned face with high cheekbones and bright blue eyes. A long scar marred the left side of her face and Kazuya narrowed his eyes.

"Naruto?"

The girl rolled her eyes as she turned, picking up the familiar orange jacket from where it had been placed on the ground. She shrugged it on over the black t-shirt.

"Duh. Who else would it be?"

"Last I checked the Naruto I know was missing half a chromosome."

She shot him a confused look before a familiar expression crossed her face. Kazuya knew that look; his friend just had a bad idea.

"Hey, can you punch me in the face?"

"Why...?"

"I need to prove that this henge will stay in place and my seal works."

"That literally explains nothing."

Naruto sighs as if Kazuya should be able to read her mind and it was all his fault that she hadn't explained anything. Should he still be referring to her as a she, if it was his male friend under the henge?

"The stuff you guys were saying at the team dinner got me thinking; I want to create a way for both genders to be able to go on any infiltration mission in a way that wouldn't dispel. So if figured the best way to do that was to build on the henge and use fūinjutsu to make sure that it stuck."

Kazuya nodded along.

"The best part is that with the henge I'm not actually copying anyone's appearance; it's just me as a girl. So for anyone using this technique, they won't be busted for copying since it will be their own form."

"So what're you going to call it? Oiroke no Jutsu or something dumb like that?" Kazuya joked.

Naruto shot him a strange look.

"No? I was thinking more along the lines of Seitenkan?"

Kazuya nodded before he moved on something that had been pressing on his mind.

"So is it solid?"

"Punch me and find out?"

"That can't be the only way to find out."

Naruto was about to reply when a voice shouted out from behind them.

"Hey, guys. I heard you two were around here; what are you up to?"

Genma-sensei came up to them, waving cheerfully. He stopped next to Kazuya and he smirked as he waited for their sensei to detect the difference. It could be hard to notice since Naruto had long hair even in his regular male form and the orange jacket covered up his frame.

"Testing out a new seal."

"Of course you are," Genma grinned back. "When are you not?"

Kazuya waited patiently as Genma looked at Naruto, his grin dropping as he stared for a long moment.

"Is there something different about you?"

"I'm a girl."

"You weren't always a girl."

"Nope."

"Okay."

Kazuya sighed.

"Naruto figured out a way around the gender segregation for missions. It means that both males and females can go on all missions." Something clicked. "Which means that the girls don't have to be separated out in the academy anymore; everyone can get taught everything equally."

"Seriously?" Genma-sensei looked impressed.

"It was a simple solution in the end," Naruto shrugged, pulling up his non-brace sleeve to show a seal stuck onto his forearm. "This seal keeps the henge from dispelling no matter what; the henge stops when the seal comes off. The only drawback is that you can only switch to your opposite gender, it doesn't work if you're copying another's appearance."

Their sensei beamed at him.

"This is amazing, Naruto! This will have major implications for both future education and missions. You might have just changed infiltration missions as we know it."

Naruto tore the seal off his arm and was surrounded by a puff of smoke, reverting back to his male form.

"Kazuya and Hana will have to find a new topic to argue about," he grinned back at him.

Kazuya stared at his friend in awe; Naruto never failed to amaze him.

"However," Genma grabbed his and Naruto's shoulders. "Can you see how this seal might be abused?"

Kazuya shared a look with Naruto. Abused? Did he mean it could get stolen by another village?

"You two really don't see a potential issue with this?"

"No?"

"It could get stolen?"

Genma-sensei sighed and started to guide them out of the training ground.

"I guess it's time for your sex and gender education. A bit early for you, Naruto, but necessary if you're going to be changing into a girl every so often."

"Wait, I thought we already had that?" Kazuya shot out, dragging his feet.

"When you graduate the academy, you get a talk about sexual violence before you leave the village on missions, yes," Genma-sensei nodded. "This one is a bit different; normally, your family or clan would teach this to you once you hit puberty but since you don't have either, it's up to me as your sensei."

"But I don't care about girls!" Kazuya shot out desperately. "Plus, I already know all the anatomy and stuff!"

"Then I'll teach you about boys; plus there's more to relationships than just the anatomy, Kazuya. You know that."

Kazuya looked frantically over at Naruto to see if he'd come up with a way out of this inevitably embarrassing conversation. The redhead shrugged back at him; absolutely useless.

"We'll have to give this talk to Rio and Sasuke someday," said Naruto. "We'll have to hear it at some point."

Kazuya let out a groan as Genma-sensei began his 'talk', still dragging them out of the training ground.


"Thank you for your service over the past ten years. I relieve you of your duty as an ANBU captain; you are to return to the standard forces as an elite jounin."

Kakashi stared at the ground in front of the Hokage's feet. He should have been expecting this; while he may have done good work with the ROOT operation years ago, his recent failure with Itachi could not be overlooked.

If only he had been able to steer Itachi towards a better path when he had been his subordinate. If only he had been a better influence on the kid.

"Kakashi-kun."

He lifted his gaze to see the Hokage holding out his hand. He dutifully reached out and took his hand, remaining in his knelt position in front of his leader. The Hokage smiled kindly down at him.

"You have given so much to this village. This is not a punishment; this is gratitude. You are free from the restrictions of ANBU. In fact, I believe there is a birthday boy who would love to see you today."

Kakashi blinked. It was Rio's birthday today. He had missed Naruto's five days ago and he would have missed Rio's too. How long had it been since he had been in the village for their birthdays? It can't have been long after Naruto graduated the academy. Had he really been avoiding them for so long? It felt like the time had passed in the blink of an eye. It had been easy to just take mission after mission without thinking.

A part of Kakashi also had to admit that the longer he went without seeing them, and the more that guilt built up, the more he wanted to avoid them. He just didn't want to deal with the guilt and shame; he knew how disappointed Minato-sensei would be in him. It was easier to avoid them, even if it made that horrible pit in his gut deepen and darken with each passing day.

He let go of the Hokage's hand and stood to his full height. He bowed low.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama."

"You may go."

Kakashi took a step back and shunshined away. He reappeared in his empty apartment, letting out a heavy sigh. He pulled off his tanto from his back and placed it against the wall beside his weapons chest. He shucked off his ANBU armour and chucked it harshly in the direction of his wardrobe.

His whole career was gone. He had to start over again in the regular forces; no more assassinations, no more travelling for months on end, no more high-risk missions. No more using ANBU as an excuse to avoid everything else in his life. At least Gai will be happy.

He stepped forward and pulled his sleeveless shirt over his head, taking a moment to breathe without his mask covering his face. He grabbed another shirt from his closet and pulled it on, the mask attached and the sleeves hiding his tattoo. He shrugged on his green jounin vest next, which had remained untouched since he had joined ANBU ten years ago.

There was no point putting this off anymore. He hopped out of his window and headed across the rooftops. He finally came to the apartment building and he stopped in front of it, looking up. He had always known where the boys lived; the minute they had moved out of the orphanage Kakashi had made sure he knew where they had gone. He had still somehow managed to avoid actually going to the apartment. He had no idea how Minato-sensei's sons lived.

He had been at least putting in the effort to be there while they had still been in the orphanage. The first four years of Rio's life, while Kakashi had been away for most of it, he knew he at least managed to help Naruto somewhat. He taught the kid to read, helped feed them, babysat Rio. It just seemed like the moment Naruto moved out and became a genin, he didn't need Kakashi anymore. He didn't need anyone more, especially since Kazuya moved in with him.

Kakashi didn't want to let the kid down. If he didn't try, he couldn't fail. It was easy to back off and get absorbed into ANBU missions, but he couldn't do that anymore. He would see them around the village and Naruto worked at the Desk. He would just have to face them and accept their rejection. He had essentially abandoned them; he wouldn't blame them for feeling that way.

He climbed the steps until he reached the door with the sign '9A'. He shoved his hands in his pockets as he shuffled his feet in front of the door, building up the nerve to knock. The door suddenly opened up and he stared at the unimpressed boy in front of him.

Naruto had really grown since he'd last seen him. He now came up to Kakashi's shoulder and his deep, red hair had grown to his shoulder blades. It was half-up today, with the red contrasting against his black t-shirt and his familiar brace. The scar on his face, while still prominent, was finally starting to fade in colour closer to his skin tone. His clear blue eyes bored into Kakashi's own and he could almost see the thoughts swirling behind those eyes. He really was all grown up; it almost didn't matter that he was only twelve. The way he held himself was beyond any of the genin his age around the village.

"Kakashi," Naruto drawled. "What a surprise."

Kakashi sweat-dropped.

"Maa, Naruto-kun," he eye-smiled. "I just came to wish Rio a happy birthday."

"He's not here."

Before Kakashi had a moment to process those words, Naruto had let go of the door and turned around.

"Come on in," he called behind him. "Might as well see the place at least once."

Kakashi clenched his fists inside his pockets for a moment before he step through the threshold, toeing off his sandals in the doorway. He looked around the apartment and swallowed the hard lump that had formed in his throat.

It was small, at least for three growing boys. The kitchen was shoved into the corner to his left with a cluttered table just barely leaving enough room to move around the space. A couple of old couches were almost in the middle of the room, even as much as the boys as tried to shove them to the right side to surround a battered metal coffee table. Overflowing bookcases stuffed full of mismatching books and scrolls had been placed in each of the right corners and underlining the wide window of the back wall was a variety of plants of every shape and size. A couple of mismatched but colourful rugs were thrown on the floor and as Kakashi scanned the grey walls, pictures and diagrams and training programs were tacked up at random.

It was small, with barely any space to move around freely, but as Kakashi spotted the childish pictures hung on the fridge, he knew it didn't matter to them. They had built a home here. It was cluttered and mismatched and full of the same love that Kakashi could remember filled Minato-sensei's and Kushina-nee's home. He had been right to avoid coming here; it already hurt.

Naruto was at the kitchen table, clearing up papers and muttering beneath his breath.

"Rio, Rio, Sasuke, Kiba, Rio, Sasuke, Kiba, Chouji? Why do we have Chouji's homework? Is this Kaz's list for the flower shop? He lost this two days ago. Idiot. Rio again, it's like he forgets we need to eat on this table."

He looked up at Kakashi.

"Well? Sit."

He moved over to dump the pile of papers on the already messy coffee table. Kakashi sat slowly onto one of the chairs and watched Naruto make his way to his own chair opposite to him. An awkward silence descended on them and Kakashi avoided the boy's gaze.

"So you came for Rio's birthday?"

Kakashi forced himself to eye-smile.

"Yup. He's nine today, right?"

"Yeah." Naruto crossed his arms. "I'm surprised you know that, since you've missed the last three."

Kakashi tried not to flinch.

"Maa, you know how it gets, Naruto. ANBU missions take me away from the village for a long time-"

"I'm not some bright-eyed little kid anymore, Kakashi." Naruto was unimpressed. "You haven't been there for us because of your missions, I get that, but you seem to forget that I can sense you when you're in the village. You've been avoiding us more and more lately and spending way more time at the Memorial Stone."

That was a factor that Kakashi had not considered. Naruto would have been able to tell when Kakashi was avoiding him; the dark pit of guilt in his gut only deepened. Naruto let out a heavy sigh and slumped in his chair.

"I'm not trying to make you miserable, Kakashi. I'm sure you do enough of that to yourself. I just want to be sure."

"Sure of what?"

"Sure of you!" Naruto threw his hands up. "Why are you here today? What changed?"

"I-" Kakashi knew he owed the kid at least this. "I was discharged from ANBU today. I'm a regular jounin from today onwards."

Naruto narrowed his eyes in thought and Kakashi's breath caught in his throat; it was so similar to how Minato-sensei used to look when he was thinking something over.

"And?"

"And it means I'll be in the village more. It means I can be here."

"You could have been here before."

Kakashi didn't know how to reply to that. It was true; he could have made an effort to be here outside of his missions. Naruto let out another sigh and drew a hand down his face.

"Rio still adores you, you know? You're his godfather; every time you visit he spends the next month talking about you."

Kakashi looked back at him in surprise.

"But you can't keep doing this; you can't keep half-assing family." Naruto gazed at him, his eyes like steel. "Don't get me wrong, you helped us a lot in the first few years and you aren't the worst person in our lives by far but I won't let you hurt Rio. So either you're in or you're out. You either commit to being there for Rio or you break ties with him properly."

Kakashi thought over his words. Naruto didn't want to let him back in, not without knowing he was serious. Kakashi examined his own thoughts; while conflicted and guilty, the idea of cutting himself off completely from these boys was unimaginable.

"I'll be here. I promise."

"Look, Kakashi," Naruto sighed. "I know Tou-san wanted us to be like brothers or something but that's never going to happen."

Kakashi's stomach dropped.

"I don't even feel like I'm younger than you! I'm now raising two kids, sometimes more when Rio brings his friends around. I have to keep up two jobs and make sure that not only I am put together, but everyone else is too! Kazuya is there but he has his own life to live. He never signed up to be a parent."

"Neither did you," Kakashi said quietly.

"I signed up the moment my parents died," Naruto chuckled, but the sound was hollow. "I've always known and I accepted it a long time ago. I knew what I was signing up for when I told the Hokage to put Sasuke next door. These kids are my responsibility. End of story."

Naruto looked up from where his gaze had dropped to the table.

"So I need to know if you are serious; because if you stay and then leave again, it's going to hurt Rio and I can't allow that if I can help it."

"I will be here; maybe not every day, but I will be here."

"Good."

Naruto placed both hands on the table and stood.

"I know that we'll never be close like Tou-san wanted or like Rio, but maybe we can be friends?" he offered a small grin.

Kakashi nodded, also moving to stand. He couldn't exactly ask for more than that; it was more than enough that the kid- no, that Naruto was offering him this second chance in the first place. Going forward he just had to focus on being a good godfather to Rio. By the sounds of it, that would help Naruto more than anything. It wasn't too late for Rio like it appeared to be for Naruto. He had to respect Naruto as a fellow adult and shinobi.

"Now, come on," Naruto waved his hand. "The gang are all at Ichiraku. The ramen is going to get cold."


Sasuke fiddled with his obi nervously. His mother had always tied it for him but he had never paid attention; now he wished he had actually listened to her when she used to teach him about formal wear. She had insisted it was a part of his duty as the Head's son but he had hated wearing them. Now she was gone and he had to figure it out for himself.

"Hey, need some help there?"

Naruto smiled gently at him as he came over to the sofa from the kitchen.

"No," Sasuke replied grumpily. "You aren't even wearing a kimono."

"Aha," Naruto scratched the back of head sheepishly. "No, Kaz and I don't have one but Rio has always worn one for the Rinne Festival."

The redhead himself was for once wearing something other than that obnoxious orange jacket. His black trousers were still taped into his black shinobi sandals, but his brace was missing, his tattoos on full display. His black t-shirt was tucked in and an orange sash was tied around his waist, the tails hanging on one side to his knees. His hair was tied up in an intricate braid that had end in a low bun and Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the white flowers woven throughout the design. It was a very different look to the usually bright orange, chaotic boy that Sasuke had gotten to know.

"Come on, you know I can help."

"Fine."

Sasuke stood abruptly and held his arms out, biting his cheek. Naruto watched his face for a moment before moving to kneel, adjusting the obi. Sasuke had chosen a traditional navy Uchiha clan kimono with a white obi; the same style his father had worn the year before. He could clearly picture the Uchiha fan proudly displayed between his shoulder blades.

"You're very brave to be going to this festival."

"What?" Sasuke snapped.

"The first Rinne Festival after I lost my family, I didn't go. I didn't go to the second one either. I couldn't face going without them, even if it is a time we are supposed to be honouring the dead. It was only when Rio got older that I started going 'cause I didn't want to deprive him of the experience."

Sasuke mulled over his words for a moment, tasting blood in his mouth.

"Kaa-san was the one to always tie my obi for me."

Naruto tied the final knot and smiled up at him, his eyes glassy.

"She'd be so proud of you."

Their quiet moment was soon interrupted as Rio bounced out of his room.

"We're gonna be late!"

"We are not going to be late," Kazuya called back from the kitchen. "The sky lanterns won't be lit for hours and I got the flowers in advance."

"Come on, Kazu-nee!" Rio whined. "We're all ready, let's just go!"

Naruto playfully rolled his eyes at Sasuke as he stood and turned to his brother. He straightened out his green forest-inspired kimono and lightly whacked Rio on the head.

"We'll go when I say we'll go."

"Ugh, Nii-san!"

Sasuke watched the scene and swallowed. His first Rinne Festival without his family; could he do this?

"Kazuya, do you have the candles?"

"Yeah, they're by the door."

"Rio, go get the flowers from the fridge."

"Sasuke?"

Sasuke looked into soft blue eyes.

"You ready?"

Sasuke nodded quickly, not trusting himself to speak. He followed the group out the apartment and they were soon walking through the softly lit streets of Konoha. Sasuke used to love the Rinne Festival; right before New Years it was a time to exchange gifts and remember those who had passed on. Even in the middle of winter, his kimono had always been enough to keep him warm and with all the lanterns that lined the streets, it had made the village seem like a different world.

Now though, too many people had passed on. There were too many people to remember. Every person he saw walking by laughing was a reminder that everyone else had moved on; had forgotten what had happened to his family. An entire clan was removed from Konoha overnight and not even five months later, no one cared anymore.

He didn't pay attention to where Naruto was leading them. He stared at the ground so he didn't have to see the villagers' faces or the twinkling lights. This was a bad idea. He shouldn't have come. He should have just stayed in his flat; he wasn't ready for this. He just focused on putting one step in front of the other as he tried to keep the emotions from overwhelming him.

"Sasuke."

He kept his blurry gaze firmly on the ground in front of him.

"Sasuke, we're here."

Confusion pierced through his grief for a moment as he stared up at Naruto. He finally looked around him to see they were stood in front of the Uchiha Clan gates. Words caught in his throat as he gaped at the sea of candles that were lit beneath the entranceway, the lights reflecting off the repaired clan flags. Candles of every colour flickered in front of his eyes and the sheer number of them made it impossible to get anywhere near the gates themselves. It looked like everyone in the village had left a candle here.

The village hadn't forgotten; they hadn't moved on. They had gone out of their way to light a candle on the Rinne Festival in memory of his clan. Movement at his side drew his gaze back to his companions. He watched in silence as Kazuya drew several candles out of a bag and started handing them out.

"We have several stops to make tonight but we decided that we should start here," Naruto spoke up. "You needed to see this."

Sasuke took the blue candle from Kazuya when he felt someone nudge his arm. Rio was holding out a bouquet of white lilies.

"It's a tradition for us to leave white lilies for our families," the other boy shrugged. "We brought one for you since you probably had enough to think about tonight."

Sasuke slowly took the bouquet. He took a step forward and hesitated at the edge of the sea of candles; he bent over slightly to light his candle from the one of the others before changing course and walking a bit away and coming to a free section of wall. He knelt and placed the candle in front of the wall, the flowers just beside it. He got on his knees, tucking the kimono beneath him, and closed his eyes.

Faces of his clan flashed through his mind, ending on his parents. Even months later, the grief weighed heavily on him and the anger and confusion continued to build. Why had Itachi done this? Why did he feel like killing the clan was the only way to get power? Why had Sasuke been the only one to survive?

He clapped his hands twice and inhaled a deep breath, exhaling slowly as he sent his prayers skyward. He would find Itachi one day and make him explain himself. Right now he had to focus on getting stronger, on making sure that the Uchiha clan lived on, that he could one day repay Naruto for his support.

He finally opened his eyes and gazed up at the high walls of the compound. He hadn't been near his family home since he had moved his stuff to his new apartment. He couldn't quite shake the ghosts that lingered in the empty streets. He finally stood and made his way back to the others, not at peace but a little less lost than before.

"You ready to go?"

Sasuke nodded as he looked down at the three new additions to the collection of candles. He may never be able to sort through the mess of emotions born from that night but it did feel a tiny bit easier knowing he wasn't completely alone. A large part of him fought against this feeling, insisting that as the last Uchiha he should be able to do this alone, but as he looked back at them the voice faded to the background.

His mother had trusted them; had helped them. They had given her a piece of her back to him. They had helped him with stuff that he wouldn't have even know where to begin but had always given him a choice.

They weren't his family, but they had somehow become important to him. And that, Sasuke thought as he followed them away from his clan compound, right now was enough.


Naruto frowned as he pulled out three boxes of tomatoes from the fridge.

"Sasuke, any particular reason you're now stockpiling tomatoes in our fridge now?"

The culprit in question was sitting at the kitchen table with Rio; working on what Naruto could guess was maths homework. There wasn't much else at the academy that involved that many numbers.

"Just in case."

"I see..."

Naruto smiled to himself as he placed them on the counter. He continued taking things out the fridge, occasionally sniffing them to see if they were still in date. It was his turn to clean out the fridge and he had run out of excuses since the New Year's Festival ended last week.

"Lay off, Naruto," Kazuya called from his place on the sofa, sewing needle in hand. "If I recall, I found a stash of instant ramen not too long ago..."

Naruto whirled around, pointing a carrot at the brunet.

"Ramen is the food of the gods!"

"Ramen is a cholesterol and sodium nightmare!"

"You take that back, heathen!"

Their usual argument was interrupted by a knock at the door. Naruto held his position for a moment before he stomped over, throwing the carrot back towards the counter. He hauled the door open and blinked in surprise.

"Hana, Tsume-san."

He heard vague scrambling behind him but his attention was captured by the bundle of fur in Hana's arms.

"Well, are you going to invite us in or what?" Tsume grinned, her canines peeking out.

"Yeah, sorry, Tsume-san."

Naruto stepped back and allowed the women in. He followed behind them and shrugged at Kazuya's confused stare. Tsume-san stared down at Sasuke and Rio.

"Congrats brats for making it into your second year. I heard you were the top of your class Sasuke, and you helped drag Kiba through his history exam, Rio."

"Thank you, Inuzuka-sama," Sasuke replied quietly.

"Thanks, Tsume-obachan," Rio grinned back.

"How many times, drop the 'sama', Uchiha," Tsume rolled her eyes. "Anyway, we're here on official clan business."

Naruto stopped trying to silently extract information from Hana and stood to attention as Tsume turned to him. He felt Kazuya come to stand behind him. Hana stepped forward to stand beside her mother and the bundle of fur in her arms squirmed.

"You have been great friends to the Inuzuka clan for many years, Uzumaki. You have aided the heir to the clan with her studies and protected her after her graduation. Your youngest clan member was practically raised among us. It is for these reasons that we extend this physical representation of the alliance between our two clans."

Naruto's eyes widened. An alliance? That was a big deal. He knew that they were close to the Inuzuka, how could they not be, but an official alliance? This could change things; Rio would have so much more political protection in the future. When Naruto passed on, Rio would still have a clan to fall back on. The pressure wouldn't totally be on Kazuya to watch out for their little brother. He bowed low.

"Thank you, Inuzuka-sama, for this trust you have extended to us. We would be honoured to form an alliance with you and know that you will always be able to count on the Uzumaki clan."

Tsume looked amused.

"Been reading up on formal clan etiquette, huh? Likewise, brat, you have the Inuzuka clan behind you. Hana."

Naruto looked over to his teammate as she held out her arms. Naruto carefully took the bundle out of her arms and stared wide-eyed down at his arms.

"She was born into one of our litters as the runt. Her chakra pathways were warped at birth so she can never be an Inuzuka dog as she can't use chakra."

A puppy stared back at him. Her fur was a soft peach colour, with the roots a creamy white and warming out to peach as the fur grew out. Her ears stuck up into triangles on top of her head and warm brown eyes looked curiously up at him. Her cheeks and chest were cream and her tail was curled onto their back. She was so soft and her fur was so thick; Naruto wasn't sure he was ever going to let her go.

"We know that you can give her a good home and treat her with the love and respect she deserves," Hana piped up, smiling.

Naruto smiled sadly down at the puppy.

"We will," Kazuya nodded.

"What will you call her?" Tsume asked. "So I may tell her mother's partner."

"What about Momo?"

They all looked at Rio who had left the kitchen table to join them near the entrance. He was entranced by the sight of the puppy.

"You know," he said, explaining further at their stares. "Cause of her fur."

"That sounds perfect."

Naruto grinned as Kazuya ruffled Rio's hair. Rio gently patted Momo's head and the puppy sniffed at the blond's fingers. Naruto looked over to see Sasuke staring awkwardly and motioned with his head.

"Come meet the new family member."

Sasuke rose hesitantly and made his way over. Naruto looked over to Tsume and nodded his head. Tsume nodded in response; the silent exchange missed by the other occupants of the room.

Momo would have gone unnoticed back at the Inuzuka compound; an Inuzuka dog with no chakra couldn't be partnered up and couldn't use techniques. She would have been left behind and clumped together as part of a whole. The Inuzuka's looked after their dogs but here, Momo would get the individual love and attention she deserved.

He placed Momo into Rio's arms; she would fit right in here.


Oiroke no Jutsu = Sexy Technique
Seitenkan = Gender Switch

(I literally just googled gender swap in Japanese and that's what came up, so if anyone has a more accurate name for the technique please let me know)

Thanks for reading!