I do not own Naruto or Steven Universe.

"Believe in Steven!" normal speech

"Believe in Steven!" thought/mind speak

"Believe in Steven!" demon speech

Chapter 5: Frightful Birthday! Garnet to the Rescue!

*Beach City; Crystal Temple*

Naruto slowly opened his eyes as he woke up as he had an odd dream about a woman loving him like a mother after finding him in an abandoned alley. "Where am I?" Naruto asked as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes to find himself somewhere else instead of the living area he was sleeping at before. The blonde looked around until he saw a desk near the bed he was on with a small note. Naruto picked the noted up as it read:

Naruto,

I moved you to my room as I thought you should be sleeping in a bed instead of a couch for the rest of the night. I have already set out a fresh pair of clothes for you on the other counter near the bed. The others and I had to investigate a foul odor coming from Amethyst's room so I'll be back soon. You are welcome to use the training equipment in the room to improve with your skills. I have drawn a map that should lead you to Amethyst's room for you should you decide to join us. If not, just stay in my room until I come back.

Garnet

Naruto saw the map and saw that there was just a simple path past the Burning Room before taking the stairs to Pearl's room where Naruto would just have to take the waterfall that ran into Amethyst's room. The blonde changed into the clothes that Garnet had set aside for him before venturing off towards Amethyst's room. It took traveling through a few other rooms, one was an actual forest with its own sky, before he reached a large room with spheres containing many different gems and other items. "A cage within a cage?" Naruto said to himself as he saw the carrier that had the two Geo Beetles, "Now that's just a bit excessive."

A loud wet pop was heard as Naruto looked around until he saw a small pool of lava right in the middle of the room. The blonde carefully approached the small pool to take a closer look until a bubble popped in front of him. "YEOW!" Naruto cried as he quickly turned away to shield his eyes before a tiny blob landed on the back of his shorts, setting them on fire, "YEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWW!" Naruto began to roll around on the floor in hopes of putting the fire out but the flames were growing. "Hot! Hot! Hot!" Naruto cried as he got to his feet and ran while trying to put the flames out with his hands, "My ass is on fire! My ass! Is! On! Fire!" Kurama sighed as he said to himself with a dark chuckle, "Kit's got himself a pair of hot pants. BWAHAHAHAHA!" Naruto continued to run around in circles before running down a random hall with his shorts were still ablaze as he shouted, "THAT'S NOT FUNNY!"

In Amethyst's room, Steven had just left to prepare the many parties that the Gems had missed as Amethyst slowly crawled towards the lake in her room before dunking her head into the water to wash away the bile in her mouth. "Serves you right for eating a five-year- old tuna burrito," said Pearl as she shook her head in disappointment until a ball of fire slammed into the water. Amethyst quickly jumped away as she and the other Gems were ready for a fight when they saw Naruto swim up to the surface.

"Hey everyone," said Naruto as he swam to the shore, "finished already?" Garnet nodded as she said, "The odor was coming from a five-year-old burrito." Garnet saw the blonde before her cringe and had an idea of what consuming outdated food. "And Steven is also planning a huge birthday party to make up for the many birthdays that Garnet, Amethyst, and I have 'missed'," Pearl then added as she saw a confused look on Naruto's face, "We never celebrated birthdays as it was never a part of our way." Naruto's eyebrows rose in surprise as he said, "Really? You guys don't have birthdays?" Garnet nodded as she heard Naruto quietly say, "Better than having to live in fear on that 'special' day." Garnet was confused about Naruto's attitude about the idea of birthdays as she honestly thought the blonde would have jumped at the chance to throw a party for them. Garnet was about to say something when Pearl said, "Steven wants us to meet him on the beach so he can throw us a birthday party."

"Oh, uh…" Naruto said as he was thinking quickly, "I might not make it because…um…I have a few errands to run so I gotta run…like now." Pearl watched in confusion as Naruto climbed onto the shore and headed towards the door before a light blue hue formed on her cheeks and her eyes widened at what she saw. "I never imagined this place being so huge," said Naruto as he couldn't hear Amethyst holding her laughter, "It's so huge that it has its own wind current." Unable to contain her laughter, Amethyst fell to the floor laughing as the blonde then asked, "What's so funny?" Pearl's blush had deepened as she said, "Uh…Naruto, your shorts are…um…" Before Pearl could finish forming her sentence, Amethyst looked up and said, "You have a nice ass, Naruto! AWOOOOO!" Naruto blushed a bit before turning around to see that the fire had burned the back of his shorts and boxers to reveal his slightly charred rear. Naruto quickly turned around to hide the exposure and his face couldn't get any more red than it was before while he walked backwards away from the three GIRLS that saw his rear.

"I believe Naruto has a different view on birthdays," Garnet said as Pearl tried to calm herself from the sight she had just seen while Amethyst was still howling in laughter as she followed Naruto, "I heard him say that us not having birthdays were better than having to live in fear on a 'special' day." Both Gems had a good idea of how rough Naruto's life was after hearing about it from the very blonde, but they didn't recall him saying anything about special days. "Can I also ask you about something, Pearl?" Garnet asked as said Gem had a surprised look on her face. "Um…sure," said Pearl after regaining some of her composure as this was rare for Garnet to ask for advice, "What is it?"

"I need your advice on how to raise Naruto as a mother would," Garnet said bluntly. Pearl had a look of confusion as Garnet then told her about the feelings she had toward the blonde and then the dream she had. "You saw…some boy kill an infant after the infant's mother told you to care for him," Pearl asked in horror as the gruesome idea, "and that infant was Naruto? As in, our Naruto?" Garnet nodded as she suppressed a shiver before she asked, "What should I do?"

Pearl thought deeply before she said, "Well, we helped Greg raise Steven since Rose gave up her physical form so he could be born…but raising Naruto will be different since he was an orphan." The two heard Steven call out to them or they're going to miss all the fun from the party he had set up for them. "How about we talk about it later," Pearl suggested as she was kind of curious about what a birthday was. Garnet nodded, hiding her conflicted feelings about what to do with Naruto and how to be a mother to him as Amethyst had stopped her wild laughter with a few chuckles still escaping her mouth. I hope we can come up with something, Garnet thought as she and Pearl headed out of the temple with the dream still on her mind, I hope I never meet that boy from my dreams…

*Konohagakure*

Sasuke was fixing himself some dinner when he sneezed. "Naruto…" the Uchiha thought darkly as he scowled. He had been stripped of his rank as a shinobi, had his chakra sealed after losing that Curse Mark Orochimaru had given him, and the villagers were not treating him as they should have but worst of all…worst of all he had been beaten by that dead-last who was now stronger than him and now more respected. All that stuff about Naruto being the Yondaime's son as well as the son of the most feared kunoichi in Konoha was a load of crap…but he knew that the dead-last had the Kyuubi sealed inside of him was true as many of the shinobi who had lived through the Kyuubi Attack and had witnessed the sealing had told him. That was power…power that was rightfully his and his alone.

Sasuke also knew that the Konoha 9 and the senseis were hiding something from him and Sakura. When he had asked, they refused to tell him through blatant lies about not knowing anything. He remembered learning about their little funeral for the dobe, but that only angered him as HE wanted to be the one to end the dobe's life. He knew that the funeral was a lie as he went to visit the grave after learning of its location, but saw that there was no grave! The Uchiha knew that the dobe was good at somehow pulling off the impossible and knew that Naruto had somehow faked his death to taunt him as well as flaunt his one victory over him. "I swear that I WILL find you, Naruto Uzumaki," Sasuke furiously growled as the ceramic cup broke in his grip, "and I WILL KILL YOU!"

Little did Sasuke or the ANBU watching him knew, a lone figure wearing a black cloak with red clouds was watching. "Foolish little brother," said Itachi with melancholy on his hidden face, "you are using your hatred for the wrong reasons." Itachi had to hold a cough in as he felt the disease slowly killing him and knew that his time was coming soon. His time was limited and his vision was starting to give way due to his use of the Mangekyo Sharingan, but he couldn't die…not yet. "Where ever you are, Naruto," Itachi said as he quietly left the village undetected, "I believe that you are the only hope for Sasuke to redeem our family's honor…I pray that you would be ready when the time comes."

*Beach City; Funland*

Naruto felt his scar suddenly act up as he was walking on the boardwalk, in a set of new shorts before leaving the temple, with a bag in hand as he headed towards the temple. Inside the bag was a gift for each of the Gems and Steven; even though it wasn't Steven's birthday and the Gems didn't really celebrate birthdays, the blonde felt obligated to at least get them something to show his gratitude towards them. He smiled as he stole a glance at the gifts he got for them and hoped that they were good enough after saving up the money he earned doing a some chores for the citizens. It wasn't much, Naruto thought as he didn't notice the fog rolling in, but hopefully it'll be enough.

"Hey, Naruto," said a screechy voiced teen wearing clothes similar to Steven's. The hell? Naruto thought as he stole a glance towards the teen but he couldn't see anything due to how dark it was outside and the fog that rolled in unannounced, Who was that and why is he wearing Steven's clothes? "I don't know, Kit," said Kurama from inside Naruto's mind, "but he shares a similar energy like Steven's. We should keep an eye on him." Naruto followed the new teen into the arcade when he saw a small boy using a screwdriver to pop open one of the games and grabbed an armful of tickets. "Hey there what're you doing!" Naruto said loudly as the little boy looked at him before bolting deeper into the arcade. Narutoquickly summoned a Shadow Clone as Kurama possessed it and said, "Kurama, I need you to follow that guy wearing Steven's clothes. I need to stop that kid and get those tickets back!" The possessed clone nodded and said "I'll report back if I learn anything important from him."

Naruto ran through the arcade and looked down isle after isle in hopes of finding the little boy. I can see why Garnet-sensei would say that arcade games were dangerous, Naruto thought as he squinted a bit through the bright lights, these lights are burning my eyes. The blonde continued to run until he bumped into someone. "Watch where you're going!" said a teen wearing orange pants and a blue hoodie. "Sorry," said Naruto as he got to his feet and helped the teen to his feet, "I was going after a small boy that had just stolen a bunch of tickets."

The teen let out a regretful sigh as he said, "That would be Onion…I swear that kid's father needs to try and find time for his son. Name's Sour Cream." Naruto shook Sour's hand and said, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki. So the boy's father doesn't spend much time with him?" Sour placed his hands the his hoodie's pockets and said, "Onion's father is a sailor that is constantly out to sea and rarely stays no more than a few seconds before sailing off again." Naruto let out a sigh as he said, "Wow…I can't imagine what it's like as I never had any parents. I was an orphan where I'm from. He's lucky to have a father…" Sour placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder and said, "Sorry man; didn't mean to bring up any bad memories."

"It's cool," said Naruto until something hit him sharply on the back of his head. "ONION! NO!" said Sour as behind Naruto was the small boy who was attacking Naruto with a plastic bat. The teen wrestled the bat away from the little boy as Naruto held his head as even though the bat was plastic, getting clubbed in the head still hurts! "I'm very sorry, Naruto, and so is Onion," said Sour as he held on to the shirt tied around Onion's neck, "Right?" Onion scowled as he looked away from Naruto.

"Hey Onion," said Naruto with a threatening aura from his voice as it grabbed the little boy's attention. The boy then looked at the older blonde before him with slight fear as Naruto then crouched down just eye level with the boy. "I don't think your father would like hearing about his little son becoming a delinquent…" said Naruto with a stern face that could rival a Hyuga's, "…but consider yourself lucky that you have a father to wait for." Naruto stood back up and face Sour before he said, "I better get going, looks like it's getting pretty dark out." Sour nodded as it was indeed dark with fog rolling in and said, "It was nice meeting you and I'm sorry again about Onion."

Naruto was about to exit the arcade when a voice said, "Naruto." The blonde turned to see Onion standing before him. Naruto then saw the little boy walk up to him and hugged his legs as he then asked, "Brother?" The older blonde gently smiled as he gently rustled the little tuft of blonde hair on Onion's head and said, "Sure. I have to go now, but I need to go take care of something important first, but I'm sure you could use a good brother." Onion let go of Naruto's leg before the older blonde as Sour walked up and said, "He overheard that Naruto was an orphan, didn't you?" The little boy nodded as the two watched Naruto's shadow vanish into the fog. "Hey Onion," Sour asked the little boy, "How come you never talk to anyone else?" The teen never received an answer as Onion was somehow already gone.

Naruto was about to find the teen from earlier when Kurama reappeared in his mind and frantically said, "Kit we have a big problem! You know that kid wearing Steven's clothes?!" Yeah, what about it? Naruto asked as if stating the obvious. "That kid IS Steven!" the fox said, shocking Naruto, "I don't know what the hell happened to him, but he's rapidly aging! I thought nothing about it when he suddenly became a grown man, but while I was following him to the Big Doughnut, he was a middle-aged man and boy was really crotchety before Sadie chased him out. He was running towards the temple when I dispelled the clone!" Alright thanks, Naruto thought as hedecided to rush towards the temple in hopes that Steven would be alright, don't let me be too late!

*Crystal Temple*

Naruto had just arrived as the Gems were arguing amongst themselves, but his focus was suddenly on an elderly man wearing a red cape laying against Lion. "Steven…" Naruto said stared in fear as the elderly man was wearing the shirt that Steven had bought earlier and fell to his knees, "…no…" He couldn't believe what he was seeing…little Steven…his little brother…was there before him now as an ancient looking elderly man right at death's doorstep…all because Naruto couldn't stay for a stupid party! He couldn't hear Kurama's voice calling out to him, he couldn't hear the Gems talking to Steven…he couldn't even see the amber gems losing their luster or feel his body withering. I'm…Naruto thought as his bright blonde hair was starting to lose its shine and color, I'm alone again…

The Gems happily circled Steven as their lovable boy was back to normal save for a minor detail. "I thought I almost lost you!" Amethyst cried in joy as she buried her face in Steven's shoulder with tears staining the large shirt. Pearl wiped the tears out of her eye and she was about to ask where Naruto was before she saw a figure in the distance with Lion sniffing it. "Steven…" said the figure with a weak and raspy voice as the wrinkles became more prominent with its lifeless blue eyes staring at the sand…wait a minute…blue eyes?

"NARUTO!" Pearl screeched when she saw the square gem in the figure's arm…right where Naruto's was. Everyone looked in horror as they saw the withered form of Naruto on his knees and charged towards him. "Steven's…gone…" Naruto said as his skin was now greying and the amber gems on his arms possessing only a tiny little light in each of them, "…alone…once more…" Steven rushed in front and looked in the blonde's lifeless eyes and said, "Naruto, look! I'm alright see! I'm all better! Naruto…" Amethyst grabbed Naruto by his shoulders and said, "Naruto, you're not alone anymore remember?! Steven's still here with us and we're here with you! Don't do this to us too!"

"Naruto," said Pearl as she moved Naruto's withered face so that he could see her, "I…I…*sob*…I love you!" Tears were running down in gobs as Pearl continued, "Ever since I first saw you, I couldn't help but think about how handsome you looked with those whisker marks giving you that roguish charm! At first I thought it was just a silly crush, but when we had that accidental kiss…I felt my heart racing a mile a minute and my mind had blanked out. *sob* It was then I learned that I was truly in love with you as all I could think about was you!" Pearl desperately kissed Naruto's withered lips and pulled back only to see Naruto still turning grey as a few strands of hair fell out and turned to sand. "Please!" Pearl cried as she kissed Naruto again, making it deeper than before, before pulling back again, "Come back to us! Come back to me!"

Garnet stared in horror as fear had completely frozen her body at the sight of Naruto's condition. This can't be happening! Not now! Garnet thought in panic as a few more strands fell of Naruto's head and turned to sand, He's just a child…my little boy! Garnet's heart completely sank when Naruto weakly said, "Kaa…san…where…where are…you…" I won't let it end like this! Garnet thought as she knew what must be done.

"Naruto!" said Garnet as she quickly wrapped Naruto into a tight hug, causing a few grains of sand to fall off his body, "Please don't go my baby boy! Kaa-san's here for you!" The others backed away a bit at what they had heard from Garnet. "Please…*sob*…please don't go!" Garnet continued as she mustered all the love she could into the hug, "Mama's here for you baby. *sob* Please to go my little baby boy…please…*sob*…please don't go!" Gobs of tears were rushing down Garnet's face as the Gem tore off her sunglasses to reveal her three eyes, tears flowing out each one of them. "Naruto, please stay with us!" Garnet continued to cry as she cradled Naruto's face into her shoulder with more sand falling off his body, "Please stay and be the boy we all love…stay and be Mama's little baby boy…her little maelstrom!"

The amber gems on Naruto's arms were about to flicker lifelessly when the withered limbs slowly began to move. Garnet's cries could still be heard as the withered arms were now wrapping themselves around her back, wrinkles slowly vanishing as Naruto's skin tone was returning. This caught all but Garnet's attention as Steven said, "Look!" The other two Gems saw the color returning to Naruto's skin and hair as the boy's body was beginning to return to its normal state. The nearly lifeless glow of the amber gems then erupted back to life and full luster in a brilliant golden glow as Naruto's body was now fully restored.

Garnet felt the sudden pressure on her back and looked to see Naruto's fully restored face looking back at her with love in the blonde shining blue eyes. "I'm back," said Naruto with a loving smile, "Mom." Garnet's heart soar to new heights as she and Naruto tightly hugged each other as both the amber gems and garnet gems were now glowing brightly in a beautiful fiery light, spreading a wave of loving warmth all around Beach City. Welcome back Naruto, Pearl thought as tear of joy were now rolling down her face.

The radiating warmth faded away as Naruto and Garnet ended the hug with the blonde looking at the Gem's tear-stained face. "You…You have three eyes?" Naruto asked as Garnet nervously reeled back a bit, "That's pretty cool!" Garnet was shocked to hear Naruto say that about her having three eyes and even complimenting them. "Really?" Garnet asked in shock, "You really think that?" Naruto smiled as he said, "Of course, Mom, they're awesome! They're the coolest!" Garnet softly smiled as it was great to have her son in her arms safe and sound.

"NARUTO!" roared a familiar voice as everyone turned to see a Kurama-possessed clone looking angrily at Naruto. "Hey, Kurama," Naruto nervously said as he carefully moved out of Garnet's grip to face the possessed clone, "Sorry about the scare there." Kurama bared his teeth to reveal his elongated upper canines as the clone then began to strangle Naruto. "IF YOU EVER DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT AGAIN I'LL STRANGLE YOU ALL THE WAY TO THE DEEPEST PARTS OF HELL AND BACK AND EVEN THROUGH PURGATORY AS I ALMOST DIED AS WELL!" Kurama roared as he continued to strangle Naruto until Garnet managed to pry the clone off. After calming down, Kurama gave Naruto a glare as he crossed his arms and grumbled, "Brat better not do that again or I'm killing him myself."

Naruto chuckled as everything was back to the way things were with the added bonus of now having someone he could now call a mother. "Say Naruto," asked Amethyst as she held up a tied bag, "since you're not dying now, what do you have in the bag." Naruto chuckled as he actually forgot about that as he said, "How about we deal with that tomorrow as I'm sure that everyone's pretty tired after everything that had happened and…I'd like to spend some time with my new mother." Everyone smiled as Amethyst gave Naruto the bag before Garnet picked him up to where the blonde could rest his head on her shoulder. "That sounds like an excellent idea, son," said Garnet as she carried Naruto while she and the others entered the temple after having such a long and emotional day.

Garnet and Naruto had just entered the Gem's personal room as the Gem placed the blonde on the bed. "This has been some day hasn't it?" Garnet asked as she held her third eye closed as she sat next to her son. "Yeah," Naruto said tiredly as he set the bag near the desk, "one of the most craziest in my book, Mom." Garnet felt pride filling her heart as Naruto let out a tired yawn. "Looks like someone's tired," said Garnet with a gentle smile. "I know that Crystal Gems don't need to sleep," said Naruto as he looked at Garnet's reddened eyes, "but you could use some rest as well."

The two then laid down on the bed with Garnet hugging Naruto as the two slowly drifted off to sleep. "Goodnight, Kaa-san," said Naruto as sleep soon overtook him while he rubbed his head against Garnet's arm. "Goodnight," said Garnet as she kiss the back of Naruto's sun kissed hair lovingly, "my little maelstrom." The two had fallen asleep in peaceful bliss as tomorrow would be their first day as mother and son.

*Mount Myoboku*

Gamabunta was resting in one of the giant hot springs in the Toads' homeland in hopes of relaxing his nerves. It has been weeks since Naruto disappeared from the Elemental Countries and they couldn't reverse summon the brat because Naruto was too far away for the jutsu to work. The only way for the reverse summon to work where Naruto is would be for a toad to be summoned at that location, but even that is problematic as the Mini Minato may actually be in a place where chakra doesn't exist at all and the boy has bad chakra control as the farthest Naruto has ever gotten without the Kyuubi's aide were Gamabunta's own sons.

"Yo Pops," said Gamakichi as he and Gamatatsu joined their father in the hot springs. "Gamakichi, Gamatatsu," said Gamabunta with slight surprise, "what brings the two of you here?" Gamakichi shrugged his shoulders as he said, "I don't know what it was, but Gamatatsu and I felt a wave of loving warmth that sort of compelled us to join ya in a nice relaxing soak in the springs. It was a pretty powerful wave as it was even felt in Konoha." Gamabunta briefly remembered feeling that warmth as it made him feel proud in his sons as they were going to be great toads one day. "We know we don't say it much, but…" said Gamakichi as he and his brother then hugged their father's giant arm, "we love ya Dad." Gamabunta felt the warmth from his sons' hugs as he then said, "I love you both, my sons."

After the hug ended, Gamabunta leaned back as his two sons swam around the hot spring playfully. I'm going to see if the Elders will allow me to send some scouts out to see where that warming energy came from, the giant toad thought as he felt the knots in his back vanish beneath the warm water, but for now, I'm just going to spend some quality time with my sons. The three toads then looked up into the sky and they all shared the same thought, Naruto…wherever you are, we hope you are alright and living a nice happy life.

How will Naruto's life be like now that he has someone to call a mother and how will Garnet handle being a mother? Don't forget to rate and review!

Ja ne!