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And a Special Thank youto GreenEggsN'Ham, Blood Shifter2, Warrior of Sangre, and Guest for reviewing!

Enjoy!

Chapter 4 – A New Reality

Kyuubi sighed tiredly before looking approvingly at the neat desk in front of him. Papers were stacked in a neat pile, ready to be faxed in the morning and a few folders sat on top of his file cabinet. When he was sure that all everything was where it should be, he shut down his computer and packed his briefcase.

"Still working I see."

Looking up at the man at his door, Kyuubi gave a playful scowl. "I just finished…no thanks to you."

Itachi said nothing, choosing to give him a slight shrug instead. Heaving another sigh, Kyuubi stood, collecting the last of his things and heading towards the door. Itachi followed him out, closing the door behind them.

The two men walked side by side, in comfortable silence until Kyuubi spoke.

"How is the family doing? I haven't seen them lately."

"They're fine. Sasuke has joined the basketball team and was elected Student President and father has been meddling with the company's business deals again. I'm sure you noticed the extra papers on your desk dealing with that new corporation in New Zealand…"

"That was him?" Kyuubi asked in disbelief. "I thought you were the one adding to the increasing stack of papers on my desk…"

Itachi shook his head in amusement. "No, it was him."

Kyuubi laughed uneasily, scratching the back of his head. "You would think for a man that has retired early, he would be out enjoying his life and not continuing to meddling in the company anymore."

Itachi looked at Kyuubi, raising an eyebrow "You have met my father, right?"

Kyuubi scowled and hit the other man on the arm. "Don't give that look!"

Itachi chuckled and kept walking. Kyuubi followed behind him, scowl melting off his face.

He and Itachi have been friends for the past 7 years, ever since they meet as freshmen at collage. Of course, the black haired man was irritating at first, but soon enough he found himself almost attached at the hip with the man. Which quickly became annoying when he discovered that Itachi was the reason he could never find a girlfriend—the man always intimidated people for some reason.

Soon enough, he found himself a constant visitor in the Uchiha household. When Mikoto and Fugaku, Itachi's parents, discovered that his own parents had passed, he had somewhat been adopted into the family. Birthdays, Christmas, parties, he found himself always present when it came to that family. After he graduated college, Fugaku had approached him about working for him. Seeing as he really had no plan for what he wanted to do in his life, he accepted the offer. That's how he found himself vice-president and co-owner of one of the most successful company's in the world—The Uchiha Corporation—besides Itachi. He had worked for his father for years, even before he started collage and took over once his father stepped down a couple years ago.

Sometimes he would like to sit back and watch the Uchiha family, which always reminded him of his own. Fugaku was more strict and cold, but he loved his family. Mikoto reminded him of his mother, especially with all the mothering she did when he was around. Sasuke was just like his older brother—both had that "all knowing" attitude all the time that drove him crazy but always had this admiration in his eyes when he looked at Itachi. It reminded him of his own little brother that he has selfishly left at that Orphanage.

Kyuubi never talked about his own family. Everybody knew about his deceased parents that both died in a house fire—which was true—but nobody knew that he had a brother.

As much as his heart screamed at him to go back and take Naruto from that place, his brain told him it was probably for the best.

A nudge to his side and that raised eyebrow on his friend's face told him that he had drifted off in his memories again.

"Sorry." He said sheepishly.

"A lot on your mind?" Itachi asked, pushing the button for the elevator. A soft "ding" sounded and the doors opened.

"Yeah, It's today, you know…" Kyuubi said after they stepped into the elevator, watching Itachi press the button for the first floor.

Itachi hummed as he recalled the date but didn't say anything else. When the doors opened again, both men stepped out and headed for the front entrance.

"Goodbye Mr. Uchiha, Mr. Namikaze." The lady at the front desk said to them as they passed.

Kyuubi smiled and waved. "Goodbye to you to Mrs. Une!"

Pulling out his keys from his back pocket, Kyuubi unlocked his car. Tossing his briefcase in the passengers' seat, he started his car.

"When do you think you're going to come over again? Mother has been asking for days" Itachi asked from the sidewalk.

Kyuubi tapped his chin in thought. "How about tonight? It'll help take my mind off things."

Itachi nodded "I will let her know." Without another word, Itachi walked off.

Closing his car door, Kyuubi began to make his way home. It didn't take long since he only lived 15 minutes away in a nice apartment complex on the outskirts if Konoha. Turning off his car, he grabbed his stuff and began his journey to apartment 216. Opening the door, he flicked on the lights.

The apartment itself was a nice size, equipped with a living room, kitchen, two full bathrooms and three bedrooms. He didn't really need all this space, especially since he never had anyone over, but he was renting the place for a decent price so, he didn't really mind.

Leaving his briefcase on the sofa, he undid his tie and took off his black suit changing into something more comfortable for tonight. Putting on a t-shirt and jeans, he made his way into the bathroom and looked himself over in the mirror, frowning when he saw how tangled his hair was. Through the years, Kyuubi had kept his ponytail and while he got his hair color form his mother, he was sure the unruly hair itself came from his father.

When he was sure his hair was neat, as neat as he could get it, Kyuubi headed back to the living room and picked up his keys, stopping to look at the picture next to it.

Kyuubi has tons of pictures lying around his house, but this particular one was the only picture he had of his whole family. The other just being of his deceased parents. He stared at it for a while, his eyes focused on the small blonde child smiling happily at the camera. Kyuubi himself stood right next the child while his parents stood behind them, all wearing identical smile.

Today was the anniversary of his parents death and the day he had made Naruto an orphaned child.

Tearing his eyes away from the photo, he sat the picture back down, grabbing his coat and leaving the apartment.

*FNK*FNK*

Far outside the city of Konoha, a 17 year old Naruto resided in a cold and dingy area he called his room. The room resided in the basement of the large house he currently lived in. It didn't possess any windows, the only source of light coming from the light bulb hanging from the ceiling at the center of the room and the only exit was a metal door that was bolted shut form the outside.

Naruto sat quietly in the corner of his "room", staring unseeingly at the grey floor, the only thing clothing him was a torn t-shirt that was five sizes too big for him and a pair of faded blue jeans. A black device that looked like a collar was strapped around his neck.

A few clicks sounded from the door as it was unlocked but he never took his eyes from the floor. With a heavy 'whoosh', the door open, scrapping along the floor as it did.

"Get up." The command was harsh and cold as it left the man's mouth.

Naruto wasted no time in following, taking his eyes off the floor to stare into cold black ones. The man tossed a small bag at him, which Naruto caught with no trouble. "Pack your things. We leave in an hour."

The man never waited for a response, he left, closing and locking the door behind him.

Naruto looked down at the bag and then around him. The only thing in this room that he owned was a small bed—that was too worn to be of any use, some clothing, a torn journal, and the fox doll his dad had given him when he was little. No real reason to even have the bag, but he never asked questions. Not anymore. Naruto stuffed the few possessions he had left in the bag and hugged it tightly as he sat back down in his corner.

They were moving. Again. He wasn't quite sure if he liked the ideal, though he never did, but he chose not to dwell on it. He would wait in his corner until it was time to leave. Just like he always did.

*FNK*FNK*

"Thank you for the dinner. It was delicious, like always." Kyuubi said sincerely.

Mikoto smiled softly, "You're welcome. You know you are always welcomed for extra if you want, you're still far too skinny for my liking."

Kyuubi laughed. "No thanks Mama Miko, I'm rather full." To prove his point, he patted his stomach.

"Not this time! Take some home with you! It's not like my boys need anymore. Except maybe my little Sasuke, such the athlete! He need his proteins, don't you baby?" She turned towards Sasuke, who had the luck of sitting next to his mother when she decided to pinch his cheeks lovingly.

"Mom!" Sasuke pulled away, his face red with embarrassment and the ever present scowl on his face.

"Mikoto, stop babying your son at the table." Fugaku said, taking another bite out of his fried fish.

Kyuubi laughed, ignoring the glare that the youngest Uchiha was throwing his way.

"Well, I might as well get going. I have a lot of things to work on tomorrow morning." Kyuubi stood, picking up his plate and placing it inside the sink in the kitchen. Itachi and Sasuke followed his lead.

"My Itachi isn't working you to hard, is he?" Mikoto asked, walking him to the door.

"No, he's not…of course I can't say the same for someone else in the room."

Mikoto turned around and sent a glare at her husband, who stood behind them, avoiding his wife's look.

Itachi leaned near his ear. "I see I won't be getting any sleep tonight."

Kyuubi just grinned. "Sasuke, I hear you joined the basketball team this year." A nod was his only answer. "I'll try to make it to your first game." He said, ruffling the younger's hair.

"Hey!" Sasuke pulled back, patting his hair back to its original shape. "It's the first week of August….Friday." he mumbled.

"You'll do great." He said before grabbing his coat. "I'll see you guys later!"

"Bye Sweetie!" Mikoto yelled, elbowing her grumbling husband and waving. Itachi and Sasuke uttered a "Goodbye" before watching the red haired man get in his car and drive away.

When Kyuubi finally got home, he pulled off his shoes and made his way to his room, collapsing on his bed. Not even bothering to change into his night clothes, he pulled the covers around him and drifted off to sleep. Ignoring the uneasy feeling that had been bothering him all night.

Author Note: Thank you for reading and REVIEW!

~XxKageTenshixX