Where Loyalties Lie

By Chibi Tsuki

Summary: After leaving Konoha for ten years and working undercover with a new identity as a wanderer, Naruto is recalled back to Konoha by Tsunade, bringing his son for another new beginning as a Konoha shinobi. However, his identity is to be kept a secret and his real mission is unspoken of.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

A/N: Compared to the previous chapters, I've been slow to update this one because I've been getting busier. University is starting soon and so chances of me updating consistently will be quite dim, but I'll try my best.

Thanks for the reviews – they do give that extra boost to my determination to write another chapter.

For my unknown reader, I am planning to keep the romance to a minimal. There may be hints but I'm not going to let it get in the way of my plot.

Erica, I personally don't write stories that focus on homosexual pairings. I have nothing against it, but the interest isn't quite there.

Scrabble and Dice, I felt like giving him a 'cool' exterior like the manga, but there may be more to him than what you see on the surface.

Chapter Four

Sniffed Out

Arriving without the help of a certain dark-headed man, Naruto still had a few minutes to spare. A single figure lay under the oak tree was reaching high up to touch the clouds with its wispy branches. The strangely masked man strolled over and stopped a few metres away. "Clouds do look better when they're at a greater distance," he uttered in a decisive tone and heard an annoyed grunt directed back at him. "Sorry, did I disturb you?"

The man who was resting under the tree twisted his body around, glanced at Naruto before mumbling something that sounded like, "How troublesome." He patted away the grassy addition to his tactical vest and dark pants, missing the soft chuckle at his murmur. "According to the Hokage, you're Kanazaki Tatsuya, a chuunin from the Cloud Country in your mid-twenties and you have a brother called Ryuuya." Naruto didn't bother correcting the mistake. "My name is Nara Shikamaru, I'm a jounin and the squad captain."

Just as Naruto was about to say the pleasantries he heard the faint footsteps behind him, even though the two individuals and single canine were unmistakably trained in the stealth arts, and turned to face them. The recognisable red, fang-like markings on the cheeks of one, the soft, mid-length, cherry blossom coloured hair on the second and lastly the white furry coat trotting alongside – Inuzuka Kiba, Haruno Sakura and Akamaru. Resisting the urge to greet them with the same old enthusiasm Naruto watched as they approached. The large canine sniffed the air and stopped a few paces away, eyeing intently at him. He had expected as much – someone or something would realise sooner or later.

"What is it Akamaru?" Kiba, the dog's partner asked. The question captured the attention of the entire group, however none noticed the shift of emotion in Naruto's eyes. Akamaru barked and moved closer to the group. Kiba contemplated for a while before muttering, "Alright."

"Is there anything wrong Kiba?" the smiling pink-haired woman asked and the man beside him shook his head. Naruto imprinted her face into his mind and compared it to before, when she was still a clinging Sasuke fan girl, and later to the time when she has Tsunade's apprentice. Many things sure had changed since then. She was his first crush back when they were still genin, although her assistance was unpredictable at critical times. Years later when he saw her again, Sakura started to blossom into young woman, proving to be reliable comrade and trustworthy friend. Now she undoubtedly had become more mature and, with a little pride Naruto thought, 'more beautiful'. However, his years of maturation had dimmed that romantic affection towards her.

"…introduce to you the squad," the spiky-haired squad leader said, "Haruno Sakura, Konoha's top medic-nin, Inuzuka Kiba, a tracker jounin and his companion, Akamaru." Feeling the scrutiny of Kiba's eyes on him, Naruto returned the stare and gave him a smirk before turning away. "This is Kanazaki Tatsuya, the newcomer to Konoha who is of chuunin rank. He will be temporarily replacing Sai for the next few months."

In the mood of a little unnoticeable cheek Naruto casually said, "Is there an explanation as to why I've been placed in a jounin rank team? Surely a man with an unknown background like mine would not be placed in a team where I can easily sabotage high ranked missions. Not to mention my rank as a chuunin."

It was obvious that Shikamaru had been questioning the decision. A brilliant strategist such as he would be suspicious. Even the other two would notice the wrongness of this placing. "The Hokage has her reasons." The statement was more of a dismissal of the subject that no one except Naruto could answer. "Just before we end this meeting, Tatsuya, what are your strengths and weaknesses?"

He had pondered over this question before in the morning. An answer close to the truth without revealing it was necessary. "My primary skills are kenjutsu," 'not exactly' he thought, "and taijutsu. My weakest skill is genjutsu," purposely leaving his ability of ninjutsu out.

"We will be receiving our next mission shortly and so there'll be another meeting here tomorrow at noon," Shikamaru said in his professional business related voice. During his adolescent years leading teams into missions, there often were seniors who didn't take him seriously or felt jealousy towards him and so he had trained himself to speak in an authoritative way. He reverted back to his nonchalant way of speaking and left the group, saying that he had to meet the Hokage. Left behind were Naruto, Kiba, Sakura and Akamaru.

"Hey Tatsuya," Kiba said with an enthusiastic grin, "since you're new here I'll show you around town. Sakura, you're probably busy right? Then we'll be off." He casually nudged Naruto in the direction of the town without looking back at the dumbfounded woman.

"What does this mean Kiba? You're going off without even inviting me?" she demanded, straightening her posture and tilting her chin slightly to show her displeasure.

Kiba turned around and waved his hands up in a defeated gesture, seemingly wanting to get away from her faster. "I'm sorry. I just thought that you know, since you're going out with Uchiha that you'd be spending the day with him." Instantly Sakura's face flushed and she turned away shyly with a goofy grin.

"Gees Kiba," she said in a school girl-like fashion. "Well you two have fun. I'll see you tomorrow." With that said, she turned around and dashed off, losing her commanding characteristics.

The spiky-haired brown headed man shrugged his shoulders and uttered, "It's been more than a year since she started going out with Uchiha and she's still like that." His eyes darted to his left and inquired, "Of course, you're not disappointed are you?"

With a small chuckle, Naruto asked, "Disappointed? About what?"

"Admit it, you liked Sakura back then Nar-" the chuunin muffled the rest of his words with a hand over Kiba's mouth.

"Tatsuya, my dear friend. Tatsuya."

Resigned, Kiba said after Naruto removed his hand, "Alright Tatsuya. I don't know why you're being all secret but boy am I glad you're back! Where have you been all these years?" Beside him Akamaru barked happily, his long white tail waving excitedly back and fro.

"How about we find someplace quieter to discuss?" Naruto whispered with a sigh. With Kiba blurting out all these questions, Naruto would be as good as begging people to find out his identity.

By the time they had bought take-out, walked to Kiba's house and finished lunch, it was close to two o' clock. This meant that there was only one hour to entertain Kiba with a few vague answers before picking Ryuuya up from the academy. Lounged on the sofa, Naruto casually answered Kiba's questions, being as brief and indirect as he could. Although he mostly branched off onto other pointless stories such as the one time he was drunk and accidentally puked on a ravishing young woman when he was still green. His friend didn't seem to mind the anecdotes and eventually the details of why he left and where he had gone weren't important anymore.

As it was time to leave, Naruto accepted Kiba's invitation to the local bar before heading off. Stepping onto the street he couldn't help but grin widely. He was once again with his friends, well at least one friend, whom he didn't have to hide himself from. There were still some unavoidable secrets given his situation but all in due time.

Haruno Sakura waited outside the Ninja Academy for her younger sister who had just finished school. Younger than Sakura by fourteen years, Haruno Akemi who idolised her well accomplished sister, aspired to become a ninja. Although there was a significant age gap between the two, they were close siblings and often confided each other with their secrets. Naturally for a child Akemi's age, she would go home by herself but for the sisters it was their time together.

"Nee-san!" a bubbly pink-headed girl shouted as she ran over to Sakura. Her face was plastered with a giant grin. "Today, there was a new boy at school!"

"Oh…" Sakura smiled slyly with a knowing look, only to receive a pout and an angry glare.

However, the younger girl's excitement couldn't be held in any longer and she continued her chatter. "His name is Kanazaki Ryuuya-" Sakura wondered why that name was so familiar, "and he is so cute!"

"Is he in your class?" she asked nonchalantly.

Akemi shook her head and replied enthusiastically, "He's just starting the academy this year."

"He's younger than you." She hadn't realised that her little sister were into younger men. The younger generation was changing so rapidly that it would soon be a kick to conformity.

"Only by three," Akemi started counting habitually with her fingers, "four, five. That's not the point. At first he looked so timid and shy but then-" She sighed and Sakura couldn't help but mentally freak out. First there was an age difference and then female empowerment? "I can't describe it, but I'll point him out to you when he comes out." They waited for a minute or so for the last class to come filing out. The smaller children were eager to go home and soon spread out, causing disarray to the neat grouping as they ran off to their parents.

In the middle of the crowd was a dark-headed individual whom Akemi identified with a fervent passion. Sakura sighed. Once she gave it a spare thought, she used to be like that and perhaps still was with Sasuke. The most distinctive feature the boy had was his striking sapphire-coloured eyes. That is until he turned their way and his entire face lit up with an enthusiastic smile. He ran towards and past them. Unable to stop herself, she turned around and watched as the boy laughed and greeted a much taller figure with the words "Toto." Scooped up into the air and onto a shoulder he continued his excited childlike giggle. Words flowed out of his mouth as he described his day.

The face or for the better description, the masked face next to the boy's caught her attention. She had seen that face merely hours ago as it belonged to her new team member, Tatsuya. The man caught her stare and gave her a carefree wave alongside the same exuberant smile the blue-eyed child had. Slowly he walked over to them after putting the boy back on the ground. "Hello Sakura," he said in his deep voice, "fancy seeing you here."

Akemi tugged at Sakura's sleeve whispering something behind her hand that meant 'you know this man who knows Ryuuya whom I think is cute'. Her soft mutter was unheard. Rather, Sakura felt an insane tugging within her that silently screamed at her. Even so, she couldn't tie the two wriggling ends of information together so she simply greeted him with a "Hi" in return.

"Who is this pretty young lady?" he asked in a good-natured yet somehow, according to the females, charming voice.

"She's my sister, Akemi." The younger pink haired girl's gaze was directed to the ground, sporting a crimson blush that matched her hair. Eventually she glanced up at the man's friendly features and greeted him softly. "Akemi's in her last year at the academy," Sakura explained to break the beginning of an awkward conversation.

"Nice to meet you Akemi. My name is Kanazaki Tatsuya and this is my son, Ryuuya. Please take care of him from now on."

Suddenly both sisters stared at him, eyes widening and jaws dropping. In unison they shouted, "You're father and son?" and earned a few incredulous stares. The pair in front of them nodded. It was Sakura who continued to ask, "How old are you? You definitely don't look… well that old!"

"I turned twenty-six a month ago," he replied in all honesty. Unlike the opposite gender, men didn't need to hide their age.

"Seriously? You're younger than nee-san!" Akemi blurted out, earning a reprimand from her sister and more curious stares that were searching for more juicy gossip.

"Only by a few months, excuse me," the older sister said with a huff. Conscious of the attention, Sakura muttered, "We have to go now."

"I guess we kept you here," Tatsuya uttered. "We'll be off too, so see you later." After exchanging farewells, the two sisters headed off to town. With her thoughts off track, Sakura's nagging feeling lay dormant at the very back of her mind.

Naruto and Ryuuya returned to their apartment building, hands full of grocery shopping. Most of the lights were on, illuminating the quickly darkening sky. The duo walked down the cobbled pathway pass the hardly visible flowers in their clumps of green and to the beckoning light behind the wooden doors. As they walked up the stairs and down the corridor towards their room, a figure waved to them, "Good evening youths of Konoha!" It really wasn't that hard to distinguish the person as their neighbour Rock Lee. "How about joining me for dinner tonight?" With little time for second thoughts they were ushered over to his room.

Sukiyaki, Japanese style hot pot was set in the middle of the wooden dining room table. Bowls and chopsticks were arranged according to the seating positions and all that was waiting was for them to sit down and start. Naruto was in a pinch. They certainly couldn't refuse dinner, especially since everything had been arranged and it would be outright insulting. However, he couldn't eat with his mask still on. This situation needed some quick thinking and a decade of survival missions had assisted him in unaccountable ways. Everyday situations and one-man battles he could handle, but military strategies and shogi games were definitely not his forte. "This is great Lee! But I'd put our groceries back in our fridge first before the milk goes off," he explained and strode out.

As he placed the last of the items away and tidied up the plastic bags he opened a cupboard and grabbed a particular object. With a basic transformation technique he made his whisper marks disappear and added some dark coloured hair growth to his chin and along his jaw. After all those years he had lost the baby fat and with his dyed hair, green contacts and darker tan it was hardly likely Lee would recognise him. Naruto could hold onto the transformation for longer than necessary but sometimes when feeling relaxed and not focussing, it was possible for him to slip out of the transformation. To ensure that his plan was foolproof, Naruto simply needed that extra something.

By the time he had returned next door, Ryuuya and Lee were already seated down and chatting. They were talking about some awfully familiar topics. "What are you two talking about?" Naruto inquired as he placed his trusty bottle of sake on the table. "By the way, do you have anything I can use to heat this up?"

Lee left his seat and took charge of the task, urging his friend to sit down. "We were just talking about my old friend, Uzumaki Naruto," he answered enthusiastically, "since Ryuuya said that he'd heard of the name from his teacher."

"Wow. What sort of stories do you have to tell?" Even though Naruto thought it would've been better for them not to bring up his name he understood that his son simply wanted to know more about him.

"I was telling him about the time when we were fighting in the chuunin exams. Kiba sure did underestimate him-" He was interrupted by Ryuuya contagious laughter and soon the pair was bursting out in hysterics. Naruto remembered that scene well and truly as if it was simply the day before. The face mask hid his smirk as he replayed it in his head. Some things like farting in your opponent's face in a serious battle, especially when you're no longer a brat, are better not done twice. People don't look so kindly when you're older. "It's ready," Lee announced and brought the sake over to the table with two cups in his hand. When he noticed that no one had started eating yet he urged them to start.

Heartily, Ryuuya filled his bowl with thinly sliced meat, mushroom, an egg and the assortment of food found in the sukiyaki. In the time frame that Lee expressed that he was amused by Ryuuya's appetite and starting ranting about youth, Naruto readily poured the rice wine. It was a fairly concentrated bottle and knowing Lee's tolerance it shouldn't take too much to make him just a tad tipsy. "Here Lee," he offered one of the two cups to his neighbour and poured a cup of water for his son. When they were all ready he suggested, "Let's toast to our friendship." The three brought their cups together with a soft 'clink'. Naruto pulled down his mask and drank a mouthful of the warm sake. He lolled it in his mouth before swallowing it down.

"This is good sake," Lee commented before proceeding to start helping himself with some food.

"There's still more." Happily, Naruto filled up Lee's cup again. It wasn't the second time, but third time Naruto refilled his friend's cup that he could see the effects of the alcohol. Now if Naruto accidentally let the transformation slip, it wouldn't be that much of a problem.

I've included links for those who want to look into the terms more.

Japanese terms

Kenjutsu – Sword techniques

Taijutsu – Hand-to-hand combat.

Genjutsu – Illusion techniques.

Ninjutsu – Techniques that use chakra to perform a ninja skill.

For more info on the above four terms, http://en. – older sister

Shogi – Japanese chess. For more info http://en. – Japanese rice wine

Thanks again for reading and do review so that I know if you like it or it could do with some improvement!