Yay! An update from me! XD Feel happy. Or not, Depending on whom you are. Yeah...I'll shut up now. Eh heh heh...On with the notes. And stuff.

Notes: No notes! Yay! I may have missed something. Enlighten me if I did, ne? XD;;

Dedicated too: Kin Uchiha, SasuNaru123, Gisela, Kamikakushi, RuByMoOn17, Iceheart19, ghostninja85, Kyoko, Ravyn-09, Lauren, Hitomi, and Izumi.

Especially dedicated too: My amazing Beta Beth, Ali, Ochiba, Unfortunately Freckled, Kyuubi-chan, and Tomomi!

Warnings: Shounen-ai, yaoi, angst, and all the good stuff. Don't read if you don't like, and if I get any flames complaining about the BoyxBoy love, I'll be royally pissed XD SasuNaruSasu, ItaNaru (later on) and some other pairings if anybody asks!

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO! So you no sue the Kitty. Naruto is owned by Kishimoto-sama, and nobody else. All I own is the plot (unless people thought of the exact same thing Oo) and Shin XD

Bunraku: A large scale Japanese puppet theatre. The puppets are operated by many people, and about 2/3 life size. The puppeteers are on stage and not hidden during the show. Bunraku

You won't cry for my absence, I know -

You forgot me long ago.

Am I that unimportant...?

Am I so insignificant...?

Isn't something missing?

Isn't someone missing me?

And if I bleed, I'll bleed,

Knowing you don't care.

And if I sleep just to dream of you

I'll wake without you there,

Isn't something missing?

Isn't something...

-Missing, Evanescence
Dai 4 - Ka: Of Memories and Changes
"I hope you aren't saying that about my person, 'Kaiyo'." The cold voice interrupted her mid-word, though instead of blushing, she turned to him and nodded.

"Yup."

The man had his mask off to the side, frozen eyes looking down at her.

"Oh, lighten up, Sasuke."

Somehow, Shin was able to tear his eyes away from the gorgeous face (Albeit, the emotionless eyes), and ask Kaiyo a question.

"Why ain't he wearing a mask like you guys? And why do all the cute ones have to be an ass?!" Completely irrelevant questions.

This caused the black-haired women to smother her giggles with her hand, eyes darting up to the taken aback Uchiha in front of them. Then she let it go, Sasuke's discontented expression and Shin's despaired one were too much for her to take. Her laughter filled the awkward space between the three, causing Shin to grin widely and Sasuke to frown. Kaiyo wiped her eyes, finally pulling off her mask and smiling at the two.

"I don't know why he isn't wearing a mask, Nakitama-san. But since he isn't, I thought I might as well take mine off." She looked similar to Shin, with tan skin, though she had brown eyes that radiated warmth and that looked as if she were always laughing.

"You're pretty, Kaiyo." This was said thoughtfully, and thoughtlessly, as if Shin didn't care.

"Thank-you, Nakitama-san." Amused brown eyes looked down at him, before she answered his second question, "And I don't know why all the cute ones are asses. Just like I don't know why all the hot ones are taken or gay."

"I'm not taken, or gay!" He looked at her, grinning before sporting a pout, hands behind his head and smile pulling at his lips.

She patted his head, laughing. "I have a boyfriend anyways, Naki-san. Besides-"

"Can we leave now? I'm sure you're a very busy person, Kaiyo and I am too. And so is Tsunade-hime." Abruptly, she was cut off by an annoyed Uchiha, who'd placed the mask back on his face. She laughed, placing her own mask on her face and taking her place by the door, the other guard appearing on the other side of the door.

With the movement, Sasuke jerked his head in the direction of the door, some sort of motion for Shin to follow him. So he did, throwing his over- used bag over his shoulder and following the Anbu, seemingly bored.

"Soooo...You're Sasuke?" He always felt as if it were his duty to fill in when it was silent, though it was so noisy he could barely think. Children were playing, vendors were selling their wares, some were fighting, and some were talking. You could hear the clink of dishes from restaurants, and his stomach growled audibly. The green-eyed boy smiled secretly, pleased with himself.

"Obviously." He was jolted out of his pattern of thought by the rather rude reply, and he scoffed at the tone.

"Obviously you have no social skills. What's YOUR problem?" He crossed his arms, pouting visibly. All the Uchiha replied was with a 'Hn'. This guy acted as if he weren't worth his time! He was about to start yelling at the boy, when he got tackled. He blinked at the young face shoved in front of his, wide eyes excited.

"Naruto-niichan! I knew you'd come back!" Was what popped out of this youth's mouth, and he blinked again, still dazed from being shoved to the ground. He shook his head as well as he could, before he looked up at the child above him in confusion.

"I ain't no Naruto-niichan, kid. Name's Shin though." He smiled brightly at the disbelieving face above him. "Who the hell is this Naruto, though? Must be one sexy guy."

"It's not Naruto, Konohamaru-san. Now get off our 'visitor.'" Sasuke's cold voice interrupted the two's almost argument, making both look up at him simultaneously, before they went back to ignoring him, their bickering rising in volumes. In seconds, the leaf genin had his hands up from his place on Shin's stomach, preparing to perform a Jutsu,

"Come on Naruto-niichan! This is your famous Jutsu! You taught me this!" He started doing the necessary hand seals, and Shin's hand flew up and performed in succession, eyes wide and wondering what the hell was going on.

There were two puffs of smoke and in Shin's and Konohamaru's place were a nude beautiful young woman, and... a guy? It had Shin's black hair and green eyes but...it was like a sexier version of him! Longer hair, exotic slant to the eyes... and he had no clothes on. In an instant, both Jutsu's were dropped and the boys were crouching with their backs to each other, holding their noses which had trickles of blood falling from them.

They had created quite a scene, with their Jutu's-that-didn't-look-like- Jutsu's, and the fact that the two sexy people had disappeared. They stood up, trying to grin at the crowd that had gathered, though they failed miserably, due to the fact that one was a new-comer, and the other was the former Hokage's grand son.

"Err... Sorry Shin. Guess you're not Naruto-niichan. He'd never had screwed up his famous Jutsu!" And with those words, the young genin disappeared into the crowd, leaving a perturbed Anbu leader and a sheepish stranger in the middle of the crowd. The black-haired teen scowled heavily from under his mask, taking it off and sending the crowd the infamous Uchiha death- glare. Needless to say, everyone was soon sent on their business, leaving the taller of the two glaring down at the other teen on the ground.

"For someone who's lost their memory, you performed a Jutsu pretty well." Sasuke looked down at the boy, letting him know that he was on to him, and that he wouldn't get away with whatever he was trying to accomplish.

"As if!" Shin crossed his arms again, glaring up at the boy in front of him. "If you had to walk from an old ladies house in the middle of nowhere to here, wouldn't you have picked up some tricks for saving yourself? All I know is this nifty trick this old woman taught me, Bunshin no Jutsu, and that one that Konohamaru just taught me. His hands were slow!" He threw his hands up in exasperation, and Sasuke, grudgingly, agreed that he had caught most of the seals used to perform Naruto's famous Jutsu.

"For such a young kid, you're paranoid, Sasuke." The other boy scowled at him, effectively jerking him out of his thoughts. Again, he jerked his head in the direction of the office, walking beside a fuming Shin.

Several minutes later, Sasuke and a bored-looking Shin were sitting in the waiting room to see the Hokage, the green-eyed boy still sulking about how suspicious people were, and whining about how he'd lost his faith in humanity. He would have continued too, if it weren't for the rude interruption. He looked up so he could glare at the person, only to blink at the young women in front of him.

"Are you the Hokage? You're pretty young for a Hokage, aren't ya?" The women chuckled, motioning for the two to follow her. "No. I'm just Tsunade- hime's assistant in the office. Follow me, Sasuke-kun, Nakitama-san." She giggled and looked coyly at Sasuke, not caring that he was ignoring her, only looking straight ahead.

In a few moments, they were standing outside the Hokage's office, and the women knocked politely, before opening the door and ushering them in. There was the sound of a door clicking shut behind them.

"Tsunade-Hime." Sasuke bowed his head slightly in acknowledgment of the women at the desk, and the other black-haired boy tilted his head, confusion clearly etched on his face.

"Sasuke, really, you must stop calling me that! You've known me long enough to just call me Tsunade. And who's that with you?" Was her curt reply, before she smiled warmly at the both of them, motioning for them to sit down. "Now I understand that..." She checked the paper in front of her, eyes scanning the sheet for the information she needed. "Shin Nakitama, right?" He nodded at her gaze, and she smiled again.

"Shin Nakitama, age 15, arrived at Konoha, leaf village, on this date. He has no memory of the events leading up to his visit, besides the fact that an old woman took care of him, and when needed, gave him directions to our village. A doll, a thin blanket, a bottle of water, a jacket, a brush, a video and a pocketknife were found in his possession. Is this right, Shin?" She looked at him, trying to keep him comfortable with her smiles and kind eyes, and he nodded silently, interested in this particular person.

"May I see these certain items, please?" This was a request she didn't really want to make, but they would have to run tests, just to see if the Anbu at the door had missed anything. She took everything that Shin gave her, and was careful to set the video aside to view. At the item after the video, she stopped; blue eyes wide at what she had pulled from his bag. Sasuke's eyes too, were wide and riveted to the item.

The doll would have been a normal doll, with its fake hair and button eyes, if it weren't for the appearance of the doll. This particular doll had sun- kissed locks made out of artificial hair, and bright blue buttons in place of eyes. The doll had pale tan material in the place of skin, the outfit a simple orange cloth fashioned in the shape of pants and a long-sleeved shirt. Black fabric for shoes, and a white shoelace tied around the right 'thigh'. A symbol of a swirl decorated the back of the shirt, and a fuzzy material topping the neckline.

Tsunade drew in a shuddering breath, eyes clenched shut. She could not see Sasuke, who was busy keeping his emotions in check. Both were forced to remember a particular boy, one that had left without a simple trace except the scars in their hearts. They remembered the traces they tried to get rid of, the ones that still were dug deep in their hearts. Then, both of them reigned their emotions in, only feeling empty, but not letting it show.

Carefully, Tsunade checked the item for any traces of chakra, any traces that the item was not what it seemed. Paranoia had, in fact, paid off before. She got it from all those years of being a gambler, as well as it came with being part of the Legendary Three, she thought to herself dully. Tsunade was disappointed that nothing was wrong with the doll, besides it's appearance. She wanted desperately for it to lead to something that could, in turn, lead to Naruto.

No such luck.

"Where'd...Where did you get this doll?" Was the first thing that spilled from Tsunade's mouth, and she knew Sasuke was wondering the same question. How could an outsider, someone who was a traveler, have a mere doll that looked all too alike to their favorite hyperactive ninja?

"The woman said it was there when I woke up..." Shin looked confused, utterly at a loss of words at the anguish that had passed across the woman's face. The question trailed off into an unspoken question, and Tsunade berated herself for forgetting something that important. How could he remember where he got the doll from, if he couldn't even remember who his parents were?

"Ah... Right... Sorry." She rubbed her face wearily, minding her make-up, before she pointed to a corner of the room, where a T.V. sat [1], and a couple of chairs were occupying the space in front of it. "Let's watch the video, ok?" They both nodded, moving to make themselves comfortable in front of the television; Shin sitting in the chair closest, Sasuke leaning on the wall farthest. She fiddled with it, sitting down when a picture appeared on the previously black screen.

A mirror image of the boy in the room was on the screen, smiling and fooling around against a white wall background. Sasuke noted that the date on the bottom of the screen was a few months previous, then returned to watching the video. The boy had a surprised look on his face when he was discovered that the camera was on, and he scrambled to smooth down his hair (which, evidently, didn't work) and straighten himself up. Once he was ready, he stood up straight and smiled into the camera. He started, in a voice softer then his real-life twin's.

"Hello. My name is Shin Nakitama, age 15. I'm a guy obviously, right?" Green eyes glared at the person behind the camera, who had probably been laughing. "But, continuing. Before I start more, I'd like to thank this loving family," There were a few hushed laughs at this, and he glared once again, making a shushing motion with his hands, "For letting me use their video camera. It was very kind of them!" He smiled widely into the camera.

"I've been traveling ever since I can remember, simply because I have no recollection of my parents." So he had no parents to remember. Another orphan. "There is no actual clan I know of that holds the name of Nakitama, so I wouldn't bother looking. I just randomly picked a name one day...I have never been able to write, save my name, and my possessions are few and far between. I belong to no particular village." He just seemed to talk about whatever came to mind, to which he would tell his audience he never knew. "The reason I'm taping this thing is that it's like my will, telling anybody and everybody who cares," He laughed at this, throwing his hands behind his head, "That finders' keepers'. Whoever finds my stuff can keep it."

"I bet you're wondering why I'm taping such a thing at this age, right?" And they were. How had he known that he would lose his memory? "Reason number 1: I'll probably be dead before my next birthday. Or a vegetable." He shrugged non-coherently, as if this didn't bother him. "And there's no real second reason. Reason one's good enough!" He laughed at his own joke, grinning sheepishly. "But yeah...That's all I really needed to say. This is a will anyways, and I have no relatives. Remember, finder's keeper's guys. Have a good day, or night, depending on when and where you are. Ja Ne!"

Then the film ran blank, and static filled the screen. The room was silent besides the dull ringing that came with the silent television screen, save for the crackling from the leftovers from the video. Tsunade got up, pressing the stop button on the video player and taking the video itself, slipping it in a bag.

She'd made sense of most the video, though a few of the English phrases had eluded her. Who would have known that the boy before them would tape his will in English? The entire video was in that particular language! As the hokage, she had to learn it, because it was obligatory in case any English- speaking visitors would visit their small town, however doubtful. She'd never thought it would come in handy! And this boy interested her...The doll, the non-existing memories, the English... everything.

She turned to the boys, tape in hand. Sasuke looked rather uncomfortable, not being able to have translated any of the video, save the name. It didn't sit well with him that he hadn't been able to understand something that was needed. He felt slightly useless. He looked apprehensive and broody, and Tsunade knew better then to talk to him.

Shin, on the other hand, looked like he'd understood perfectly. It looked as if he hadn't even known that he'd spoken another language in the video, perfectly even! Had he even known he could speak English? He'd spoken nothing but Japanese since he'd come here!

"Shin, did you know you could speak English?" She really didn't like speaking this particular language, because it was so complicated. But she did anyways, looking expectantly at Shin. If he really spoke English, he should have been able to translate what she said without a second thought.

"I guess so...I've been speaking nothing but Japanese since I got here, so this is new to me too!" He laughed, grinning as though ashamed. He played with his necklace, looking thoughtful. "Though, I guess learning a language is like riding a bike. You never really forget it!" She struggled with that particular sentence, and Shin looked apologetic.

Satisfied with what she'd found out, she turned to Sasuke, and laughed at what she saw. The black-haired man looked flustered, not being able to understand anything either of them had said. He settled for scowling at the pair, who in turn grinned at him.

"Sorry about that Sasuke. I forgot that you don't know Engl-" Abruptly, she was cut off by a knock on the door, and her assistant poked her head in, smiling apologetically. "Tsunade-sama? Sorry for interrupting, but Yamanka- chan is here, as you requested." "Thank-you, Aiko. Send her in."

"Sasuke-kun!" There was a blonde blur that attached itself to Sasuke's midsection, squealing his name in several different decibels. Sasuke seemed annoyed, but other then that, was fine. He was used to it by now.

"Ino-chan." Tsunade's amused voice cut through her insistent chatter, effectively silencing her. She blushed and bowed her head to Tsunade. "Forgive me, Tsunade-hime. I got carried away. What was it that you needed me for?" Tusnade smiled at the apologetic looking Ino. "Sit and I'll tell you."

The women sat down, leaving only Sasuke who always stood leaning against the wall, standing. Ino looked curiously at the new boy, but knew Tsunade would get around to introducing him to her, and vice versa.

"I called you here, Ino, because your clan has a very useful technique that has helped us in more then one situation. That's the only reason I called you, and not your mother or father," She smiled apologetically at the young blonde in front of her, waving her hand, "Not that you don't suffice, but this includes the safety of our village. But anyways, with this war happening, I couldn't get anyone more experienced in your particular field." Ino knew she shouldn't be offended, and she wasn't. She felt proud that the hokage would even consider asking her for her help.

"To get around to introductions, Ino, this is Shin Nakitama." Shin stuck his hand out to her, a grin on his face, "And Shin, this is Ino Yamanka."

"Nice to meet ya, Yamanka-chan." The green-eyed teen smiled at her, looking down and shaking her hand. She followed suit, smiling at how cute the new boy was. No where near Sasuke-kun, but cute.

"The reason I need your particular technique is to just scan Shin's mind. He claims to have no memory what-so-ever." At Shin's surprised glance, she quickly added, "Not that I don't believe him, but we do have to pay attention to every detail with the previously mentioned war, right?" They all nodded, the 'stranger' albeit reluctantly. Tsunade smiled gratefully at the three.

"Ino-chan, Sasuke will be making sure nothing happens. We will take you away from him if anything indicates this isn't going right, alright?" Ino nodded, then she continued, "And Shin, all Ino will be doing is taking a slight trip into your mind. You'll both be unconscious, since it's a different version of Mind Body switch Jutsu. You should be awake within several minutes, if everything is successful. Alright?" Again, they both nodded, and faced each other, Shin slightly apprehensive, Ino calm. She'd performed this said Jutsu thousands of times, why wouldn't she perform it now?

Slowly, Ino reached forward and touched Shin's forehead, closing her eyes as both slumped forward.

"Hopefully, this will go well, ne Sasuke?" He nodded, and they watched.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX In Shin's Mind XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

'Why is it so dark?' was the first though that entered Ino's mind, though it resounded clearly through the...'room' they were in. It was completely dark...Save for a sort of fog, curling around her ankles. Some of it looked like curtains, and some of it was like a carpet. She couldn't tell where anything was...It was just so dark. Normally, people's minds that she entered contained a library of all the Jutsu's they knew, and then the general structure of the room reflected how the person was 'built'. How many windows or doors, if there were any, showed how secure the person was, and how willing they were to let people in. The color of the room, of course, reflected the personality. Many other factors were included, like what kind of things were on the walls, and how many things were strewn across the floor, or whether it was neat or not.

She'd never expected complete black.

It was in all actuality the darkest black she'd ever seen. No source of light except the pure white mist swirling around. The only time she could see her hand was when she ran it through the mist...which was unnaturally cold. Just now, she'd realized how hot the room was, and she ran a hand across her forehead, brows furrowing in confusion.

Suddenly, she saw a flare of light to her far left, and she whipped around, squinted eyes searching for whatever the source was. She saw something...And now, she knew, that the room wasn't the blackest black. Whatever that was, that was the blackest black.

All Ino could make out was the outline. No features, no colors, just the outline. Vaguely, she thought that it was the silhouette of a...boy, or of a short man. But the thing beside it must have been some sort of monster. Huge, walking on four legs and it had something dragging behind it. Now, the blonde was aware of the sound of a soft laugh, and the noise of something being dragged across the ground.

When the boy -it had to be the boy- spoke, she started, blue eyes watching the movements as boy and monster walked circles around her. "Ino Yamanka. Welcome. And don't call him a monster. It's rude. You don't see me calling you ugly, do you? You are a guest, after all." She felt her anger boiling beneath the surface. The boy was mocking her. How dare he! What had she ever done to him?! She'd just met him!

"Nakitama-san! Don't be so...so..." "Uncouth?" "Yes!" She didn't even bother to control the anger in her voice, though she was trying furiously to calm down. She shouldn't have let him get to her...

Another flash of light, and she was staring with wide eyes, something clicking in her mind. She'd seen something she'd only seen in books, something she'd been told that her Grandpa and Grandma had fought furiously against. Something that could destroy mountains with merely a swish of it's tails. Could it have really been that sort of monster? She shuddered, suddenly praying that she'd get out of here alive.

"Ino, Ino, Ino... Thinking of him while you don't even recognize me? You really are still mean!" The voice sounded right over her right shoulder and she whipped around fearfully, now wary of both the large form circling her, and the boy steadily walking towards her. Carefully, she set herself in a defensive stance, mindful that if she fought here, she would not only kill Shin, but herself in the process.

"Don't try it." And abruptly, he was in front of her, a grin on his face. All she saw were blue and red eyes, before everything fell to black.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX Back at Tsunade's office. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Blue and green eyes blinked at each other, hazed over from the recent trip to unconscious-ness. Shin rubbed his eyes blearily, thinking how much that was like sleeping, but different.

"Ino? Shin? Everything alright?" The Hokage looked at them in concern, a hand on each of their shoulders. Ino had muttered something in her 'sleep', as well as Shin. Nothing had necessarily gone wrong though. She just was just slightly worried.

"Ino, come with me." The blonde girl nodded and stood up with Tsunade. Both the women walked out of the room, leaving Sasuke and Shin to sit in silence. She closed the door behind them, looking expectantly at Ino. "So?"

Ino stretched, smiling at the Hokage's worried demeanor. "So, nothing. The only thing unusual," Tsunade drew in a sharp breath, and Ino laughed, "was that it was unnaturally empty. There were basically two Jutsu scrolls, and about 2 months content of memories. He holds the essential information, like the languages he's learned, how to speak, how to eat, mobile skills. All the stuff a normal person knows." Ino laughed again as Tsunade let out the breathe she'd been holding in. "Nothing out of the ordinary for someone with no memories."

"Thank-you Ino. You can leave now. Thanks for everything!" The blonde women smiled at her. "I'll see you later, Ino."

"Bye Tsunade-hime!" She waved at the young woman's' retreating back, before opening the door, relieved there was no bad news. She felt some sort of...attachment to Shin already.

"Soooooo... Am I an enemy ninja or not?" She laughed at this, because the boy was crouching in front of Sasuke, and the black-haired Anbu leader was giving him an alienated look.

"No, not at all." She couldn't stop smiling, being relieved not having to condemn such a young child. He reminded her, already, of Naruto. As strange as that sounded. "Sasuke, may I speak with you a moment?"

He nodded and followed her out of the room, keeping the door open a crack, since he didn't entirely trust the boy in the room, alone. "Hn?" He looked at her imploringly, head tilted slightly to the side.

"Would Shin be able to stay at your house?" She put a hand up at his beginning protests, knowing that it had been coming. "Just until we find a place for him! You have the biggest house, for it to have only one person occupying it is a waste of space. Please, Sasuke-kun?" She looked pleadingly at him, and he sighed.

Sasuke sighed in defeat. "Fine." He answered gruffly.

"Thank-you so much Sasuke!" She heaved a sigh, touching his shoulder lightly. "I don't know what I would do without you."

"Be short an Anbu leader?" Was the dry reply that came, and Tsunade gave a short laugh, pushing the door open further. The young Shinobi rarely spoke, and even more rarely, cracked a joke. "That would be true, Sasuke-kun."

"So... what's happening?" Shin grinned at the two, still in his previous crouching position. "Do I get to do some important thing that nobody else does?" He laughed, standing up straight and stretching.

"As if. What you get to do is...Stay at Sasuke's house!" She tried to make it seem important, but obviously, if the boys face was anything to go by, that was very unimportant.

"...As in, I-have-a-stick-up-my-ass Sasuke? As in the one standing not two feet away from you?" He groaned loudly, decidedly flopping in one of the chairs to emphasize his distress. 'It'd be more fun trying to teach a wall to talk.' He decided to himself, still grumbling.

"Shin-san, it's only temporary. Until we find you a house and job of your own." In all reality, she was enjoying this boy's agony, finding it was refreshing for someone to mourn over such a petty thing, whereas in the time of war, nobody complained about anything.

"Now get out. I have work to do. You guys wasted enough of my time!" Promptly, she shoved the two boys out of the room, delighting in one's cries of protests and the other's amused smirk. "Go eat or something. Stop bugging the Hokage."

As soon as they'd left, with pledges of revenge from the green-eyed boy, she sat back at her desk, resting her head in her hands. It had been a long day, and it was going to get longer...She looked at the doll flopping uselessly in her hand, and sighed heavily, dropping it and massaging her temples.

Yeah, it was going to be a long day.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You heard the Hokage! Let's eat! And you get to pay, since I'm your house guest!" Shin grinned widely at the Anbu leader walking beside him, ignorant of the stares and whispers they were drawing. 'Who's that with Sasuke-kun?' 'Sasuke-kun can't be gay!' 'He isn't! It's a new comer. I heard he's from an enemy village.'

"I never agreed to pay for you. I have to get back to work soon." He was used to the stares and whispers, ever since he'd gotten the position of Anbu leader a few months ago. They were scared of him, afraid he'd follow in Itachi's footsteps. He always had to laugh, inwardly, at that. He was better then Itachi now. He'd prove it the next time they fought.

"But...I have no money." The pitiful whimper of his companion drew him out of his reverie, and he cocked a brow at the pouting boy. "And weren't you working when you were taking me to Tsunade's?"

"So? You having no money is none of my concern." He completely ignored the question about his work. His schedule was erratic, never ceasing sometimes. He hadn't slept for exactly 61 hours, 34 minutes. Not that he was counting.

Glancing out of the corner of his eye, he smirked in amusement. The boy looked rueful, arms crossed and pouting. Boys did not pout.

"Fine. I'll take you to Ichiraku." He had his suspicions, of course. Ones he'd been trying to avoid. He didn't want to tug at his heartstrings, bringing up old memories that consisted of blonde haired dobe and his own lonely days. But, maybe, this could be. Even without any memory, could he be...that person?

A cheer and a few minutes later, they were standing outside of the Ramen shop, Shin sniffing at the smell wafting out, and Sasuke standing impassively by his side. The owner of the shop recognized Sasuke and waved him over, grinning widely at his favorite customer. The impassive teen had come here often, for two years. He'd never come to the place before, but something must have happened. He wasn't about to complain, though.

"Ah. Sasuke. The usual?" He glanced at the Sasuke's companion, looking around and leaning against the counter as if he were home. "Plus one?" He smiled at the boy's nod, and whisked away to the back, ordering what 'the usual' was, and telling the chef's what was wrong with them. What a manager usually did.

"Sooo...Sasuke...What would you say if I told you I loved you?" He grinned widely at the startled boy across from him, and then batted his lashes, looking for all he was worth like he had something stuck in his eye.

"I'd say you're an idiot." Was the short reply, and the hyperactive boy fell off his seat laughing, drawing quite a few stares before he got up, grinning at the 'audience' of the restaurant. "Nothing to see here, folks." He waved their stares away, returning his attention to Sasuke, who looked unruffled, even if he was the item of many stares.

"You get it enough from the chicks in this town, don't you? That Ino girl was all over you, and you've been getting a lot of stares since I've been with you! Not saying that some of the girls were staring at me..." And he rambled on about pointless things, and Sasuke wondered if the boy just liked to hear the sound of his own voice.

As soon as the two bowls of Miso Ramen were set in front of them though, Shin shut up, staring at the steaming substance in front of him. He sniffed, and then made a face.

"...Sasuke, I hate Ramen. It's gross."

"Too bad." Inwardly, Sasuke was glad his suspicions were wrong.

He was definitely not Naruto.
Dai 4 - Ka: Owarita
That was the end! Yay! That was freakin' long! That was....12 pages of story, with 5934 words. Wh00t! Go Kitty! I told you guys it'd be long XD! Just cause the last chapter was so short. Originally, I planned on ending it at the Ino part, but I was all, "Ah, what the hell." That's 3000 words more then I usually do! But yeah On with the notes!

[1] I don't know if they even have TV's in the Naruto world. Erk.

That's the only note I have, though I should have a lot more. Eek Plotholes, anyone?

Editor's Notes: Since Kitty went out on vacation she kinda left me in an odd situation. Kitty-chan didn't give the chapter a title! So I'm winging it. XD I'm sorry on both mine and Kitty's behalf, since there may be some odd regulations in this chapter. Gomen nasai.

Now for answers to SOME reviews:

Izumi: Why're you confused? Ask anything and I'll be glad to sort it out for you!

Kyuubi-chan: Thank-you so much for offering! I've gotten a really great reply to my request for a beta, and sadly, I wanted to pick everybody, but my Ali smacked me upside the head XD;;; Thanks for saying you would anyways!

Iceheart19: When somebody says, "My person." they mean themselves XD;;; Gomen if I sound rude, I just though I'd clear that up! Thank-you so much for your reviews, though! I appreciate every single one!

Unfortunately Freckled: That sounds cruel, but awesome XD Wow . One of the best you've read so far? You're gonna read A LOT more that are way better then this! But anyways, welcome to the Naruto fandom!

Gomen! I'm sorry I couldn't reply to all of your reviews. I no longer have the time, even if you do take the time to write me something so wonderful! Gomen nasai, everyone! I like ALL of your reviews!

And that's it. Phew. That was alotta writing. -whaps self- XD I was having a writers block, but Purrfectly679's fic I think I better leave right now, got me right out of the rut with that last chapter! I almost cried. Blargh. It's a great fic XD Go read it.

So, I'll end it with the traditional 'Please review' plea.

Please help the suffering, not paid authors. They need love too, only in the form of reviews. For just one click, and on sentence a chapter, you can help these little people write.

So please review.

(Now that sounded retarded.)