Neko: Dudes! I actually have Z-chan here with me to help YAAAAY!

Oro: Because you're a procrastinati- mph!

Neko: *slaped hand over oro's mouth* Hush! Don't pay any attention to him, he's an old meany face.

Oro: *pulls hand away* What are you, five?

Neko: No, that's Hell Children.

Oro: Oh… right… You need to get back on that.

Neko: Yeah yeah yeah, now shut up, I'm starting the chapter…

Neko woke up to light once more in her eyes. Grumbling, she sat up.

"Stupid friggin' sunlight…. Mornings should be illegal…" The cat looked around, almost panicking at not being in her room. Then she remembered where she was. Sighing, she plopped back into bed, hopes crushed that it had been some electricity induced dream. Neko rolled out of bed, deciding to make breakfast, seeing as the other two were still asleep. Even though she usually wasn't hungry in the morning, she decided to just look at what they had in the kitchen.

Entering the small kitchen, Neko immediately noticed small things, being the overly observant person she is. There was a loaf of bread slightly hidden by a toaster, so they could at least have toast, and coffee grounds next to a coffee pot. She peered into the fridge and noticed the lack of… well, food. The only things in it were some bottled water, coffee creamer, butter and in the freezer some frozen meats. The pantry wasn't the best either, only holding a box of top ramen and jars of other things she didn't feel like checking. It was probably spices and jams anyways from the looks of it.

"Looks like it's toast and coffee this morning…. Not that I can complain…" Neko grumbled. She plopped two slices of the bread in the toaster and set to work on making coffee for herself.

'Oh god, I'm turning into my mother. I'm gonna end up drinking coffee like it's crack or something…' The thought brought on sadness, but it was pushed back. She slid herself onto the counter top and swung her legs waiting for the toast and coffee. That was when she heard little feet plodding down the stairs. She leaned over and grinned when she saw Naruto immerge form the hall. He looked a bit fearful and confused.

"Good morning, Naruto-kun." Neko called as she got off the counter. Naruto jumped a bit, startled and quickly looked at the tall girl. Neko kneeled down and smiled at the boy. The blond tilted his head in confusion. She giggled and gently pat Naruto's head.

"It's ok. You're at Tsubaki and I's new home here in Konoha. You fell asleep in Tsu-chan's arms and wouldn't let go, so we brought you here after meeting the Hokage." She explained. He nodded in understanding. "Now, you hungry at all? We don't have much until we go shopping, but we still have-"

At this moment, the toast decided it was done and popped, scaring Neko into squeaking.

"…t-toast." She breathed. "Never able to not jump at that." Naruto giggled at this. Great, she was being laughed at by a 4 year old. She smiled anyways, glad that Naruto was smiling at all.

"So, food?" Neko asked again. Naruto hesitated, then nodded. She took his tiny hand and lead him over to the counter, which she then sat the blond on.

"Ok, cups are…" She opened a smaller cabinet and lo and behold, coffee mugs. "Here." She grabbed one for herself and set it by the now nearly filled coffee pot, then went over to the fridge and pulled out the butter. She hummed and slid to the pantry with the jars. Taking a closer look and seeing that, yes, they are jars of jam and spices. One jar in particular caught her eye, the one with a brownish red applesauce like appearance. She quickly opened it to taste it. A slight dip of her finger and…

All thoughts but one stopped.

'Apple butter…'

The girl could have cried. She loved the stuff to death, to the point that her and her little sister would declare 'Life is sponsored by apple butter.'

"What's that Neko?" The brown eyed girl jumped. When did Tsubaki get there?

"Holy hell where did you come from! I nearly dropped this apple butter! That would have caused me to epically gasp!" Neko exclaimed. Naruto giggled silently from the counter.

"Apple butter? They left apple butter here? Sweet!" Tsubaki cheered.

"Now, the first set of toast is done, so… You want anything on your toast Naruto-kun?" The lighter brunette asked. Naruto stopped giggling and blinked. They were really offering him food? The two girls blinked and looked to each other.

"Here, how bout this since you don't want to talk." Neko began, "Hold up one finger for butter, two for jam, and three for nothing. Ok?" Naruto hesitated, then held up two fingers.

"Alright, Jam it is. Can you pour some coffee for me Tsu?" The cat grabbed the toast from behind Naruto and spread the apple butter onto the pair of slices, then popping another slice in for Tsubaki. She held one out for Naruto to take while taking a bite of her own. The blond hesitantly took it and ate it slowly.

"Do you put anything in your coffee? Please don't tell me you drink it black…" Tsubaki grimaced. Neko shook her head, heading over to the fridge and pulling out the creamer and sugar from the cabinet. Pouring a bit of the creamer in and two scoops of sugar, she was ready for coffee. There was a comfortable silence resting over them before Tsubaki poked her elder friend.

"So… How are we going to tell him that we're…?" The blue eyed one whispered, hoping it was low enough that the small blond couldn't hear them. The brown eyed one gave a small 'Hn' as if saying 'Give me a second and I'll come up with something.' Taking one last sip of her coffee, Neko placed the cup in the sink.

"Lets not tell him yet, he doesn't trust us enough." She mused. "But I know how." Tsubaki gave the older girl a confused and curious look. The cat smile in a Cheshire like way.

"Ne, Naruto-kun?" The blond looked up. "Since we're still new to Konoha, will you show us around? We want to go shopping for stuff." Naruto looked at them and then nodded a bit. Neko looked back at Tsubaki, who had a look of realization on her face.

"Alright then! Let's get our shoes and head out!" Tsubaki cheered. Although the two hated shopping for clothes, they still needed them, as well as food. Naruto lead them to the main market near the center of town.

"Ok… now one of us needs to find stuff while the other stays with Naruto… Tsu can you read enough to find anything?" Neko turned to her friend.

"I just remember a bit of what you showed me." The brunette said blandly. The cat sighed.

"Alright, then I'll do the shopping and you can stay with Naruto (though I would actually like to spend time with Naruto…) You two can find a clothes shop or something, just… meet me at that Kimono store." Neko pointed to a shop across the street. They nodded and headed off in their directions.

"So Naruto, where to?" Tsubaki asked the blond once Neko was out of sight. Naruto looked up and then had a sparkle in his brilliant blue eyes. He began pulling Tsubaki along with a big grin on his face.

Naruto POV

These girls are really strange. They're kind, but I don't know how long that will last. Tsubaki-san apparently cant read, which is both shocking and a little funny. She asked me where to go, so I guess I can try and get as much out of this as I can.

I pulled Tsubaki-san to the park that I came to a lot. It was empty at the moment, which I was glad for.

"A park? You want to play huh?" Tsubaki giggled when she said that. She smiled down at me, I wonder why though? I nodded and ran over to the swings. I sat down on one and Tsubaki-san walked over and behind me.

"Do you need a push?" I nodded a bit, scared now. Will she push me off? She grabbed the ropes above my hands and started to push and pull them to get the swing. I was surprised by it, why haven't these girls done anything to me! They've fed me, and now they're playing with me… It's almost… nice. I couldn't help but smile and laugh a bit. I jumped off the swing as it went up, giving me a boost into the air. I landed and laughed as I ran toward a jungle gym. I heard Tsubaki-san laugh and call out to me, then her footsteps follow.

"What the hell is that?" I stopped at the voices that weren't Tsubaki-san.

"There's a girl playing with that demon brat." I hid a bit behind a seesaw and saw a group of villagers looking around the park.

"What's wrong with her?"

"The girl is either ignorant of what he is, or dropped on her head." I felt angry because of this, for some reason. How dare they say that about her! But before I could think about it, my mouth worked against me.

"Hey! Leave Tsubaki-chan alone!" I almost could have died right there when they looked at me. My hands instantly covered my mouth in pure horror.

"And what are you going to do about it demon?" One of them said. They crowded around in front of me in a half circle, with my back to the seesaw. I was really scared now. One of them had a cane and had it raised above his head. Shoot, that's gonna hurt really bad! I closed my eyes and covered my head the best I could and waited for the pain.

It never came.

"What the-?" I opened my eyes to see Tsubaki-chan holding back the cane, looking very angry and really, really bloodthirsty.

"Now," her voice was low and menacing. "Does anyone wish to explain why they are trying to harm the one I'm taking care of?" I could hear the villagers gulp in fear and see the panic on their faces.

"No!" The man with the cane stammered out, before he and the others bolted.

"COME BACK HERE!" Tsubaki-chan screamed after them, waving the cane like a sword. I stared at her as she continued to seethe.

"If I ever see them again I'm gonna…" The cane snapped in two from the stress she put it under. I almost felt sorry for it. Tsubaki-chan looked at the cane and sweat dropped.

"I'm… just gonna leave that there…" She murmured, as she placed it on the ground. She then kneeled down in front of me.

"You alright?" I blinked at her. I couldn't help the need to cry, cry because of the fear, the pain, everything. I clung to her and cried. She held me and rocked me gently.

"It's ok, I'll protect you." She said. I stopped for a second. Would she really? Then what she had said to the villagers came back to me.

"Does anyone wish to explain why they are trying to harm the one I'm taking care of?"

Taking care of me. That's what they were doing. They were taking care of me. And… they are honest about it… like Iruka-sensei…

"Naruto?"

Normal POV

Tsubaki was now getting worried. Naruto had been crying and then he just stopped. It scared her a bit.

"Naruto, are you ok?" She asked again. Naruto looked up at her, eyes wide like he had an epiphany, despite the tears still leaking down.

"I-I'm… ok… Ts-tsubaki… nee-chan." Naruto smiled. A true smile. Tsubaki stared at him. He spoke! He actually spoke to her! She beamed at him in pure happiness and hugged him tightly.

"I'm so happy! I could squeal!" Tsubaki cheered. "Come on, we need to get back to Neko." The brunette picked him up and walked back to the market area. Neko was pacing impatiently with a brown bag of food in her arms. She looked up and nearly dropped the food running over to them.

"Where were you guys, I was so worried?" Neko exclaimed. "Are you two ok?"

"We're ok… Onee-chan." Naruto smiled a bit, making Neko stare wide eyed at him.

"Just a bunch of stupid villagers thinking they could beat up our little fox. But I think they're scared for their lives now." Tsubaki beamed like she accomplished something, but the evil glint in her eyes said so otherwise. Neko shook her head, but giggled.

"Alright now we need… clothes…" Neko and Tsubaki shuddered. They hated clothes shopping. Suddenly a growling came out of nowhere. They looked around, before they looked at Naruto. He blushed a bit when his stomach growled again. The two girls laughed.

"Great, we can now put off clothes until after we eat! It is about that time anyways." Neko said. "Do you know any places Naru-kun?"

Naruto perked up at the thought of food. Tsubaki placed him back on the ground and he began pulling the girls in a direction. The pair giggled at his excitement. Naruto soon lead them to the one place that they could think he would be excited for.

The Ichiraku Ramen Bar.

The two were now just as excited as Naruto.

"Ramen! The stuff we live off! It proves god wants man to be happy!" Neko cheered. The three laughed as they sat at the bar.

"Hello Naruto-kun! Welcome back." Said the serving girl, who the two could never remember her name. Naruto beamed.

"I see you've brought new friends with you too!" Said the man.

"Konnichiwa. We're new here to Konoha. Please treat us well." Neko smiled.

"Now, what to order…" Tsubaki said looking at the menu. Which she couldn't read. She leaned closer to Neko.

"Hey… Neko… What does this say?" She whispered desperately. Neko face/palmed and read her menu.

"*Shio ramen, Shio Chasyumen, Shoyu Ramen, Shoyu Chasyumen, Miso Ramen, Miso Chasyumen, Black Sesame Miso Ramen, Plum Miso Ramen, Ichiraku Champon Ramen." Neko listed them off quietly while pointing to each. Tsubaki nodded. Naruto had already ordered his usual, and the two had been left to order.

"I'll take Shoyu Ramen, please." Neko smiled.

"I'll have Shio Ramen." Tsubaki finally picked. They soon got their food and were eating.

"God I love ramen." Neko sighed after she finished. "Oh! Hey, Tsu-chan…" Neko whispered into her friends ear.

"Um, excuse me." Tsubaki tried to grab the server's attention. "Are you guys hiring?"

"Well, not really, but we could use the help on our more busy days." She said. "Are you two looking for jobs?"

"Yes, but since I don't have any experience in food service, Tsubaki's the one you want." Neko explained.

"Well then, I think that's alright. We'll see what you can do, then see if you have the job." The man said. "Come by tomorrow and we'll see then." Tsubaki nodded enthusiastically.

"Yes, sir!" she mock saluted, making everyone laugh.

"Oh, god I just remembered what we need to do after this…" Neko resisted the urge to head/desk on the ramen table.

"Oh… right… clothes shopping." The pair sighed.

"WE DON'T WANNA!" They cried in unison. Naruto laughed.

"We're going to have to. Unless we want to run around in these all the time." Neko muttered.

"That doesn't make it any less boring." Tsubaki complained. The three stood and walked off with their food bag and Naruto leading to a clothes shop. They were able to find some things they liked and quickly bought them and hurried out. As their luck would have it, this was a moment that would probably scar them.

An apple from the food bag Neko was now carrying with only one arm fell out, landing where Tsubaki was going to step. In doing so, Tsubaki stumbled forward, the apple rolling her foot out from under her. She needed to try and twist around to land on her back, seeing as Naruto was in her arms again. The following scene drew eyes, before everyone watching ignored them.

"Ow… That hurt… You ok Naruto?" Tsubaki groaned. Neko was picking up the apple, making sure it was ok and placed it back in the bag. Naruto nodded, dazed from the fall, but unhurt.

"And now that that is said, will you please get off?" Said a voice below Tsubaki. She looked over to see she had landed on someone. This caused her to immediately bolt up, Naruto still in her arms.

"I'm sorry! Are you ok? It was an accident!" Tsubaki cried, bowing repeatedly.

"It's alright, as you said, it was an accident. I'm fine." Said the person. Tsubaki looked up at the person to reply, only to have the words die in her throat. In front of her was Itachi Uchiha. She visibly paled. Although he looked obviously much younger, he could still kill them without a second thought. Neko gave a nervous laugh behind Tsubaki.

"We're sorry. It seems these apples are working against us or something." Neko said. Itachi gave a small chuckle.

"It's true! It tried to kill us!" Tsubaki declared while glaring at said apple sticking out of the bag. Itachi laughed again.

"Ne, Nii-chan, what's so funny?" Came a younger voice. The four looked to see Sasuke coming up to the group. "Who are they Nii-chan?"

"It's nothing Sasuke, these are just some ladies who took a bit of a tumble." Itachi said a bit bluntly. Tsubaki gave the younger boy a light glare. The little onyx eyed boy nodded.

"Okaa-san said we're almost done, so don't take too long." Sasuke ran off in the direction he came from. Neko smiled a bit sadly as the little duck head was lost in the crowd. The poor boy will know suffering beyond his young age. Itachi then notices who exactly is in Tsubaki's arms.

'Why do they have Naruto with them?' He thought.

"Um, can we get your name?" Tsubaki asked. Itachi glanced at her.

"Uchiha Itachi. What are yours?" He replied.

"Utaune Neko, and this is my cousin Okami Tsubaki. We're new around here." Neko explained. "I'd bow, but this food may try to escape."

"Um, I'm really sorry about earlier, I'm accident prone. I hope your ok." Tsubaki said. Itachi smiled up at her.

'So that's why…' "It's fine really. If you ever need any help with anything please ask alright?" Itachi nodded. "I must be going, see you again." They waved as Itachi headed in the same as Sasuke had. Once he disappeared the pair gave heavy sighs.

"Oh my god, I thought I was going to have a heart attack…" Neko breathed.

"You? I thought I was going to die!" Tsubaki cried.

'We forgot he was a pacifist at this age.' Neko thought. They sighed. "Let's get these home."

They walked back in the direction of home. Only one thing had stopped them in their journey. Neko had spotted a Japanese café with a 'Now Hiring' sign.

"Hey, I could get a job there…" Neko mused.

"Shall we go look?" The three of them went in and looked around a bit. Neko sat their bags down by the door where Tsubaki and Naruto were and walked towards a waitress.

"Excuse me."

"Yes, what is it that you need miss?" The waitress smiled politely.

"I saw the now hiring sign and wondered what it was." Neko said pointing to the sign at the window.

"Ah. We are in need of a new entertainer. Our last one moved to another village." She replied.

"I see, I would like this job, but I need more detail in what an entertainer here does." Neko said.

"You would sing for the customers up on the stage, sometimes converse with them or serve them if we are under staffed." Neko nodded.

"I would like this job." Neko stated firmly. The waitress smiled.

"We are going to have to see if you are any good at entertaining. Come by tomorrow and we will see." Neko bowed and went back to the awaiting two.

"So… what's up?" Tsubaki asked.

"If I can show these people my skill in music and such I can get a job as their new entertainer." Neko beamed.

"You were in choir, so you've got this in the bag don't you?" Tsubaki smirked.

"Neko Onee-chan sings?" Naruto asked. They almost had forgotten Naruto could speak, he's been so quiet.

"Yes Naruto, I sang for the children back in our old village when their parents were working in the fields." Neko explained, remembering to keep up their little lie.

"Oh, what did Tsubaki nee-chan do?" Naruto asked as he looked at her.

"I was one of the field workers since I was strong. Neko didn't help with the field work because she doesn't have the build to." Tsubaki explained.

"Hey Neko I think we should tell Naruto since he trusts us better now." Tsubaki whispered. Neko nodded, seeing as they were almost home.

"Ne, Naruto-kun, do you want to know what the Hokage said to us while you were asleep?"

"Ojii-chan?" Naruto blinked, Neko nodded.

"He asked us to take care of you and we said yes. Although we said yes because we wanted to take care of you because you're all alone. We actually want to ado-" Neko puts her hand over Tsubaki's mouth.

"Tsu your talking to much." Neko said taking her hand off of Tsubaki's mouth.

"But… What about my apartment?" Naruto asked.

"We'll just need to go get your stuff and move it here." Neko beamed. Naruto nodded hesitantly.

"Shall we go now?" Tsubaki asked. During the entire conversation, they had arrived home and Neko had set the shopping bags on the table.

"Sure, Naruto would you lead the way?" Neko asked. Naruto nodded his head a bit.

"Ok were off" Tsubaki said as she and Neko each took one of Naruto's hands.

When they get there, they hear footsteps franticly running in their direction. They looked around a bit, only to have something run straight into Neko, knocking her over.

"Ow…" Neko groaned.

"I'm sorry, I'm just… a bit panicked right now." Said the culprit. Neko glanced up to find no one other than Mizuno Iruka before her. Younger, but still Iruka.

"Why has something bad happened?" Tsubaki asked

"Not really but a young boy with blond hair and blue eyes is missing and I really need to find him have you seen him?" Iruka said.

"You mean him?" Neko pointed to Naruto. Iruka looked to Naruto.

There was a pause.

"Naruto!" Iruka embraced the small blond. "I was so worried, thank god you're alright. If something bad happened to you…" His word died off as he held Naruto.

"It's ok Iruka-sensei. I've been with Neko Onee-chan and Tsubaki Nee-chan." Naruto smiled.

"Neko Onee-chan…?" Iruka looked to the pair of girls. "You two?"

"Yes, us. We're sorry if we scared you. He's been with us since yesterday when we found him outside the village gates." Neko explained. Iruka looked confused when Neko finished, then gave a saddened look.

"Thank you. It means a lot to me." Iruka gave a small smile that the two returned.

"Um, sir how do you know Naruto?" Tsubaki asked.

"Oh, well for a long time now I've been watching over Naruto, since he doesn't have any family." he said.

"Well we will take good care of him then." Tsubaki said.

"What do you mean?" Iruka asked

"Well the Hokage asked us to watch over Naruto and have him live with us." she explained.

"We promise that if you do not find the way we take care of him fit, that you may take him and harm us, but know this if you take him and he is harmed we will not forgive you." Neko said with determination in her and Tsubaki's eyes. Iruka could feel the mother-like protectiveness radiating from the two girls. He then nodded in approval and smiled.

"I don't think I'll have to worry as much now. Thank you." Iruka stated. "Now, since he's living with you two, I guess you're here to move out his stuff right?" The pair nodded. "Alright, I'll help you out."

"Thank you Iruka-san!" Neko smiled. Iruka stopped though.

"I never said my name though… How did you know it?"

'FUCK!' Neko screamed at herself in her head.

"Naruto said your name earlier….. Iruka is your name right?" Tsubaki quickly covered up. Iruka nodded in understanding, while the girls sighed quietly as their slip up was hidden.

"Yes, I'm Mizuno Iruka, and you two are?" Iruka inquired.

"Utaune Neko."

"Okami Tsubaki. Now, let's go pack up and get Naruto moved officially in with us!" Tsubaki cheered. They laughed and headed to the tiny apartment.

Inside the apartment, it was a bit messy. Ninja books and scrolls were lying everywhere, as well as empty ramen cups and such. Tsubaki and Neko glanced at each other, almost disbelieving the amount of informal books and scrolls Naruto had acquired. The four of them began to pack everything Naruto had into boxes. There were only a few, most of which held the books and scrolls. There were few enough that they could carry everything in one trip. Everything was fine, until they had to go down the stairs.

Tsubaki, with her magnet to accidents, missed one of the steps. And, being behind both Neko and Iruka (Naruto was behind her) didn't stand a chance at preventing the oncoming collision. A spectacular fall ensued as three of them tumbled down, boxes and all. Naruto, having been standing and watching the entire scene, blinked in confusion.

"Are you guys ok?" He called to them.

"Yeah were ok Naruto." Iruka called back.

"Ow, Tsubaki you just had to fall didn't you." Neko said

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, really." Tsubaki said back as she got up and started to get the boxes.

"Don't fight lets just finish moving in Naruto for now." Iruka said as he and Neko got there boxes and Naruto came down.

"'Accident prone.' Yeah, one of these days, it'll kill us all." Neko snapped quietly.

"I know, you don't have to rub it in." Tsubaki whined. Iruka chuckled.

"You two get along quite well." He pointed out.

"Cousins." The girls stated in unison. Iruka nodded and chuckled again.

"Why are you two in Konoha? I don't think I've ever seen you here before." Iruka asked.

"It was… a forced move." Tsubaki started. "Can you tell him? I don't know if I can…" Neko nodded and sighed. Iruka and Naruto listened.

"We're from a small farming village. I would think it just barely made it onto the map it's that small. Everyone was really close and knew everyone. It was easy to feel safe there, no need to lock doors. My mother was the local healer for the village, while my father was a carpenter and craftsman of sorts. Tsu here's related to me on my dad's side, her uncle was my dad's brother. Her family worked out in the fields. We've been together for as long as I can remember, she was like a second sister to me." Neko elaborated.

"'Second?'" Iruka questioned.

"I… had another sister. One the same age as Tsu. Actually you two would work in the fields together." Neko mused. Why was it so easy to make this up? Neko sometimes both loved and hated how she used her high intelligence, communication skills, and imaginativeness to be able to lie so easily. Lying had almost become second nature to her. And with it, acting.

"Did you work in the fields?"

"Does it look it?" Neko giggled. "No, I stayed back and watched the children of those working in the field, at least the ones to young to be in them. I would play with them, often they would ask me to sing or play one of the instruments I knew how to play. The especially like my flute. It was… really nice." Neko smiled, that actually sounded pleasant.

"Why did you move? It sounds like you loved it there." When Iruka said that, he saw a sadness wash over the pair.

"We… our village was… attacked." Neko was able to muster out. "We don't know why. There were bandits and rogue-nin everywhere. We don't know what happened, we were just suddenly told to hide and don't come out. We didn't have any defense in the form of ninja's, we only had ourselves. They killed anyone who couldn't escape or opposed them. It… I don't know if anyone besides ourselves got out. It was like they were looking for something, but couldn't find it. They were burning the houses to draw people out, and…" Neko had to stop, she was getting to caught up in envisioning the lie that it was hard to continue without feeling real emotions. Her voice was getting higher, speaking faster, gripping the box harder. She took a deep breath and forced herself to continue calmly.

"Tsu and I were only ably to get out because of the small bit of forest behind her house. We ran into it from a back door and just kept running until we collapsed in a clearing. It was something of a miracle that we weren't found. From then we decided it would be impossible to go back to our village, so we walked to a nearby road and we wound up walking all the way here. And now we are here, picking up the pieces and starting over." Neko finished. Iruka stared at the girls, looking between the two. Tsubaki had a believable air of depression around her, while Neko had a look of detachment in her sorrowful brown eyes. Neko was extremely relieved that he believed her, god she felt bad for lying though, especially a lie like that.

"I… I'm sorry." Iruka said after getting over his shock. Neko shook her head and smiled.

"It's ok. It feels… good to be able to tell someone what happened." She smiled, though unaware of the tears prickling in her eyes. No one had realized when they finally had reached their home. They unpacked Naruto's stuff, as well as the left over shopping stuff, in a melancholy silence. When they were finished, it was twilight. Iruka was poised at the door to head home, saying goodbye to Naruto (though the poor boy looked ready to fall asleep standing) when the girls came up to him.

"Thanks for the help Iruka-san." Tsubaki smiled a bit.

"It was my pleasure. I'm glad Naruto has someone to take care of him." He nodded.

"Come see us, or at least Naruto here." Neko joked a bit. It got a little laugh out of everyone.

"Of course. And if you two need anything, or simply someone to talk to, come to me. I… I know the feeling of lose." Iruka stated. The two nodded.

"Well, see ya."

"See ya, Iruka-san." The three waved as the male walked off.

"Come on Naruto, you need to get to bed. Today's been really long." Tsubaki said as she scooped up the tired child. Naruto curled into the embrace, already nodding off. The pair quietly went to their rooms. Today had been eventful, tomorrow will as well. The three quickly feel into a peaceful sleep.

* This came off an ACTUAL Ichiraku Ramen bar menu out in New York apparently. I wanna go there now.

Neko: Over 5000 words… Holy shit… It was not meant to be this long, we just decided to put all this in…

Oro: 14 pages? I didn't know you had the patience to write THAT much…

Neko: Shut up, we got good ideas… OH! And I made a picture! It's spoils it for who else we are going to adopt, but hey, it's a nice pic. I'll have it here and on my profile. Check it - http :/ / kittycat-nya . deviantart . com/art/Art-for-a-fanfic-254499571