REWRITE, DAMMIT!!

Everybody glomp Akemi! Quick!

Because I wasn't satisfied with my job on the second chapter, I'm rewriting it! --people throw Harry and David pears, most land in a basket and the others hit her in the head-- ... T.T

Feck, just read it... Please?

I don't own anything except my ideas and myself. --the Akatsuki give her strange looks again-- I'm not so sure about the second one, though... --grabs a pear and throws it at Hidan. It misses, of course--

FictionJunction YUUKA owns all rights to the song 'Silly-Go-Round', which is a terrific song that you should look up on You Tube.

Also, the word 'sweetasticalistic' is owned by Invasion of the Band Geeks, and is the compilation of three words; Sweet, fantastic, and ballistic. She has all rights to the word, and I'm bringing this to attention so that she doesn't think I'm stealing it, because she specifically told me not to.

Thanks to; AkemixHanako, and Invasion of the Band Geeks for reviewing the original of this chapter!

Rewritten; Dec. 30th, '07

Reposted; Feb. 6th, '08

Chapter two; Trusting a Cat

Itachi stared, eyes wide, at Aoi. The idea of any of this being true was just... Just... Absurd! How could she say something like that?!

Unless... "You really are..." She nodded, staring at the kunai as he released it, letting it fall to the ground some sixteen feet below.

He just continued to stare as she stood there, looking at her feet as she squeezed her arm. "Hokage-sama will want to know..." She said as she averted her gaze to one of the few spots of blood that now inhabited the tree.

Itachi straightened after a moment, making his way out of the tree to retrieve the fallen kunai.

After he had put it in its rightful place, he looked back up to her and she nodded, jumping down next to him. She stumbled as she landed, not used to being in her 'new' body, and he caught her arm out of reflex.

He lead her silently to the Hokage tower, ignoring the few people still in the streets as they walked.

"It hasn't changed that much..." He looked back at her for a moment, figuring she meant the village hadn't changed much from how it was now. Although he somehow doubted that. He closed his eyes for a moment as they came to the doors leading into the Hokage tower, sighing.

'Why did she seem so sad that she was sure of herself...?' He shook his head as he realized he had been moving without knowing it, and they were now standing outside the Hokage's office, the brunet behind him gazing at him worriedly as the two ANBU guards straightened at the sight of him.

He waved his hand lazily, signaling for them to step aside as he pushed open the doors and walked into the large circular room. Aoi attempted to walk in after him, only to be stopped by the ANBU. She blinked as she was embarrassed to remember he probably had to tell the Sandaime what he had found out before she was allowed to enter.

She took a seat in one of the provided chairs, feeling the wary eyes of the ANBU on her as she looked around at the small, bleak room as she heaved a sigh. 'This... may take a little explaining...'

X

Itachi stood, for once, rather awkwardly in front of the Sandaime, mulling over all the words she had said that he thought had any worth at this point while she was telling him the 'truth'.

And looked very uncomfortable as she did so.

The Sandaime blinked as the young Uchiha silently debated weather the girl could be trusted or not, and the old man cleared his throat to regain the distracted one's attention. "Somehow..." He began as he crinkled his eyes slightly, holding back a small, worried smile. "I don't think she's lying..."

Itachi moved to say something, but Sarutobi held a hand up, instantly silencing the younger male. "We have records of another 'Tsukiyo Aoi', and, if this girl is telling the truth of the time-line, than the one born here..." He let the smile out as he put the pieces together. "is of the correct age for this girl's story to be true, even if that isn't enough proof to keep her out of confinement for at least a week."

The young Uchiha blinked slowly as Sarutobi closed his eyes tiredly, rubbing his forehead as he pulled his pipe from a desk drawer.

"So..." Itachi began as he stared blankly at the Hokage. "What you're saying is you believe her, without any proof other than that...?" He asked slowly as the old man gave a tired smile once more, waving a hand as a signal to bring the girl in, and see what proof she reallydid have.

Itachi heaved a long sigh before turning and walking out the large double doors, allowing the Hokage a small time to think and mull over how this young 'teenager' had gotten here if she was telling the truth.

Sarutobi POV (1)

I placed a hand to my chin thoughtfully, wondering what kind of advances Jutsu may have made in a fourteen year time period. This is something to look into, and I may have to ask this girl about it to see if we can get any of the more useful ones here sooner... Hm... I scratched my chin at that, just as the doors to my office opened, revealing Itachi and the Aoi girl.

I gave a smile to them, and she smiled back kindly as she lifted a hand in greeting. "Hello, Hokage-sama..." I noticed Itachi eye the girl warily, as if he was expecting her to do something when she lifted her hand. I just gave a small chuckle as she gave him a look of confusion.

After the girls explanation, which took around half an hour, I sent Itachi home, so as not to worry his mother... And to see if there was anything she didn't want to say while in the presence of an Uchiha. "Tsukiyo-san, was there anything... else?" I saw her tense, indicating I was right. She began fidgeting with her hands, her eyes avoiding my own.

"Well..." She began in a small voice, and I frowned as I remembered the Hyuuga girl, having all that stubborn determination without the confidence to use it to its full extent.

She continued to fidget, breaking off into her thoughts as I gave a slight nod for her to continue. "Yes?" She looked down, closing her eyes.

"My brother... the Rokudaime, he... his fiancé..." She broke off again, looking miserable as she gave a long sigh. I rose my eyebrows slightly, wondering why she would be so distraught over her brother's fiancé. I noticed her gaining a look of sorrow and closing her eyes. "He... was killed, just a few months before their wedding..."

He? Was she talking about her brother, or his fiancé? I pondered this for a moment, as she continued to wring her hands together. "So..." She looked up to me slightly. "One of them sent you back to stop it from happening. They sent you back fourteen years, to prevent something that could've been avoided, yet they did it without considering what could change in the time you're from?"

She winced. I guessed that I was either right on the mark, or I was no where near the truth of the matter.

Normal POV

Sarutobi folded his hands casually under his chin, thinking on the matter as Aoi debated about what to say. "Tsukiyo-san..." He prodded, attempting to get the teenager to speak up.

She closed her eyes again, looking to the side and opening them after another minute or two. "My brother is the one who sent me back... And yes, we did go over the possible consequences of these actions..." Her lips twitched upward into an awkward smile, and she turned to face the old Hokage. "Saru-oji-san."

Sarutobi, or 'Saru-oji-san', blinked at the recognized nickname. He smiled back at the young girl and stood, walking over to her as he pulled her into a grandfatherly hug. "You really are that little silver-eyed girl, aren't you?" She nodded, giving a large grin to him as he laughed heartily.

X

The two had talked about certain details of her mission, later having Sarutobi asking questions about what was to happen in the future, and who the Godaime Hokage was, seeing as he had already guessed who the Rokudaime was to be.

However, she had said that, even though he was the current Kage of the village, she had been specifically instructed to not say what exactly was to come until the 'incident', as most liked to call it.

And, as was required by the council, she was now sitting in a watching cell for exactly one week, to be... well... watched.

She also felt like being silly and humorously rude to whomever had the misfortune of getting the job.

Those who felt her intention felt sorry for the newbie. Very sorry. For they could tell that this strange little girl could be the true test of the newbies ability to not crack under the pressure usually accompanying ANBU missions.

As soon as she was in the medium sized cell, she plopped onto the dirt floor, paying no heed to the bent and broken bed that had springs and pieces of fluff coming out of it in quite a few places. She noticed the two ANBU who had escorted her were now standing guard, and she gained a grin as she remembered protocols of this small place.

"So..." She began, seeing no recognition to the fact she had spoken in the two's body language. "Newbies guarding me? This should be... interesting." One of the two closed their eyes behind their mask, as the other kept themselves from flinching at the memory of when they were stationed in the underground maze.

The one who had closed their eyes glanced in the direction of the stairs, hearing the distinct sound of fast footsteps approaching them as they turned to face whoever it was. They held a sigh as the newbie ran down, mask half on as they continued to tie it around their unruly black hair.

After successfully getting the mask in the right position, the new one bowed to their superior, arms stiff at their sides. "Gomen, I have no excuse as to why I am late..." The older of the two just stared blankly at them, nodding to the other as the two walked past the younger.

The new one, who had a mask slightly resembling a dog, kept their bow as the two walked walked past, one of them stopping and looking at him. "As long as you're not making up stupid excuses, like Kakashi-san." They walked off after the other as the new one stared confusedly at the ground for a moment, slowly looking up and to the right, seeing Aoi staring at him with a raised brow.

He straightened, walking over to the bars of the cell and taking up his position, wondering why he had a bad feeling all of a sudden. He turned after a moment as he sensed a mischievous aura, seeing Aoi grinning at him. "Newbie, eh?" He turned his head, glad for the mask that hid an expression of slight terror as the teen behind him laughed evilly.

X

After just a few hours, the ANBU newbie had actually gotten bored enough to throw one of the rules out the window; Never, under any circumstances, shall you 'chat' with the inmate you are guarding.Under any circumstances.

He was also now out of any approved positions, and was sitting with his back to the bars as he stared at the ceiling blankly, willing himself to stop letting his mind wander to what they would talk about. After a moment, he really wanted to go and bang his head against the wall, as the accursed subject he was attempting to avoid came from the other instead of himself.

"Can I call you 'Joe'?" He managed to not fall over, but just barely, as the strange factor the girl had brought up he had not foreseen.

His eye twitched slightly. "Hell no." He blandly answered after several moments, finally wondering why he, of all people, was the one who had been assigned to this cell. For the love of Kami-sama, he was beginning to wonder if his brain would rot from the girl's idiocy!

"Too bad. I'm calling you Joe anyway." She grinned, and he sent her a very angry look, even though he knew she would never be able to see it.

'Then why the fuck ask me?!' He wanted to scream because of that, but settled for trying to ignore her once more.

And failing miserably, as she had just about dug out every ounce of patience he had by pulling out a deck of cards and laying them like a clock on the floor in front of her. This peaked his curiosity to exactly why she was carrying around playing cards, especially if nothing was special about them. He could tell that much just by seeing her lay them out on the filth that was ground.

"What in Hell's name are you doing...?" She looked up, flipping the top card in the center to reveal a nine, which was, instead of hearts, spades, diamonds or clubs, small blue flowers which he had never seen before.

She looked back down, seeing what he was staring at to be the card she had just turned and placed next to one of the piles. "Playing clock solitaire." He opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off, guessing his unasked question. "They aren't very special, but they're custom made. Different flowers for the diamonds and hearts, and different leafs for the clubs and spades..."

He saw what she meant by different leafs as she turned the top card in what he supposed was the 'nine' pile, revealing a single palmate leaf, which he guessed was an ace. "Sweetasticalistic cards." He earned a very odd and slightly scared look with that, and he noticed her sliding back a few inches. He grinned behind the mask, laughing in his head. "Oh come on, it wasn't that bad, was it?"

She smiled at him, laughing a little as she found yet another leaf, this one going next to the 'three' pile with small pinnate leafs being slightly visible to him. "Kinda." He rolled his eyes as she continued with her game, showing him the last of the four suits in this deck to be a sakura flower.

After the small conversation over the suits of the cards, 'Joe' took notice to the decoration for the back; one large tree with palmate leafs and sakura flowers, and around the bottom, small plants of pinnate leafs spreading around the trunk, entangled with the strange blue flowers.

He stared at the cards for a little while longer, rolling his eyes as the two stopped any conversation.

X

It was official... This girl was crazy. Little mister 'Joe' had barely been able to put up with her, as the week passed by more slowly than it should have.

He could have sworn it was Tuesday twice... And it was Thursday when the job began...

Aoi was now poking him in the back as he stared angrily at the wall on the other side, his eye twitching. He had had enough. He quickly turned around, glaring through the mask once more. "What?!"

She just blinked, ignoring his snapping at her and slowly bringing her hand down. "Your Taichou is here..." She pointed to a slightly irritated figure, also wearing a mask, standing a few feet to the right of where Joe sat.

He immediately sprung to his feet, arms stiff at his sides once more as beads of sweat formed. "Gomen, Taichou-san!" He bowed apologetically as he felt the glare he was receiving from his superior, trying his best to not show his nervousness, as he would need to do exactly the same on any missions he was sent on.

They nodded for Joe to leave, and he quickly did so, as to not receive more of his Taichou's wrath than he would for ignoring him in the first place. The higher ranking nin then turned towards the prisoner, staring through their mask to the brunette.

Aoi blinked, grinning in her mind. 'Yatta! It's been a week already!' She smiled at the newcomer, who was obviously there to retrieve her for the Hokage.

"You will come with me, Tsukiyo-san." They stated in a voice that pointed towards them being a younger male, and pulled the seal off of the previously double locked cell door.

She nodded, standing from her position and stretching slightly before walking out, twirling on her heel as she followed him out of the underground maze slowly.

She spun a few more times before they reached the stairs, earning odd stares from a few of the guards that were stationed at different cells, each placed around five or more feet apart. "You are overly energetic..." The ANBU said as they took a small glance back in her general direction, raising a brow as they ascended the long flight of steps.

"Meh." They sweat dropped as they entered into a nice sized room, and the brunet guessed that it was meant as a resting room for the few who were down there with the numerous prisoners. She closed her eyes for a moment, remembering one of her favorite songs for some reason as they passed through, walking into the sunlight after a few moments as a small tear ran down her cheek.

X

Once again, the young brunette stood in front of the Sandaime Hokage in her 'new' body, a frown placed firmly upon her face as Sarutobi talked with the ANBU who had escorted her to the tower.

She looked around the office for something to take her mind off of the song, unable to hear what the two were talking about. Finding nothing, she sighed, closing her eyes once more and singing the lyrics to the song silently...

Or so she thought.

"Yume kara samete mo... Kono te wo nobasu yo..." The two on the other side of the room stopped and looked at her, raising their brows slightly as they noticed her begin dancing slightly to the silent music.

They sweat dropped as she mouthed the rest of the lyrics, continuing to dance as they turned back to the task at hand. "So, we're just awaiting Inu-san now..." The masked-nin nodded slightly, attempting not to twitch in annoyance as the doors burst open to reveal a young, black haired boy around the age of thirteen, panting heavily and holding a small stack of papers.

The boy stood straight, trying to look professional- and failing- as he continued to pant, walking over to the Hokage and handing him the papers. "H-Hokage-sama! I'm very sorry I'm late, but I didn't have much time to compose my repor- ... Why is she here...?" He backed away from the confused brunette as he spotted her, getting an unnoticed glare from the slightly taller masked one.

Sarutobi shook his head, a small smile visible as he took the papers handed to him, looking them up and down for a few moments. He sighed and looked back up at the three gathered in the room, waving his hand to signal for the youngest to come forward. "So, it seems you did nothing but play cards?" He asked, smiling amusedly.

Sweat drops filled the room after the question, and Aoi twitched slightly, looking over to the new addition and grinning. "Hi, Joe!" This comment made Sarutobi laugh openly, the still masked ANBU nearly forgotten as he shook his head and walked over to the door.

"Hakushi-san, where exactly are you going...?" They looked back at the Hokage, barely touching the handle as they straightened.

Hakushi took his hand off of the knob, looking right at the Hokage from behind his mask. "I have to ensure none of the prisoners are causing havoc, Hokage-sama. Please excuse me." With that, he took a bow and left the room, footsteps echoing through the hall.

The two teens blinked confusedly, staring after him as Sarutobi sighed, pulling his hat down slightly. "Yes, well, I have to talk to the two of you anyway." They blinked again, looking to each other and back to the old Hokage. "Tsukiyo-san, I've heard from Itachi-san that you had a small screen that you were talking into on your person?"

Inu-Joe looked confused as Aoi blinked, reaching into her pocket and producing the screen she had used last week. She showed it to Sarutobi, a questioning expression written plainly on her face as she pushed the single button.

After a moment, the image of a spiky haired blond popped onto the screen, paper flying everywhere -in a very familiar room- as he attempting to catch it. "Ah! Come back here, you damned paperwork! I have to finish you so I can go to Ichiraku's!"

The males blinked, just staring at the crazy blond on the screen as he continued to go after the rogue paper. The blond slumped into a chair, one of the papers floating onto his head. Sarutobi snapped out of his confusion for a moment, eyes wide. "Minato?" The blond looked up again, staring at him blankly.

Thus allowing the two to see whisker marks on his face, and Inu-Joe flinched back, wincing as he realized what he had just done. The blond smiled as he noted the old man, blue eyes gleaming happily in the sunlight. "Oji-san! Ne ne, it's Naruto, not Minato..." Naruto then placed a hand to his chin, seemingly thinking of something. "Or were you thinking I was 'Tou-San?"

Naruto grinned at their dumbfounded expressions, hearing his sisters giggle from behind wherever the screen was being held.

Sarutobi leaned back in his chair, pulling his hat down further. "Kami-sama, he's actually done it..." Could be heard by the teens, Inu-Joe laughing nervously as he rubbed at the back of his head.

"Oi, oi. Aoi-nee-chan, what did you call for?" Naruto asked, already knowing she was behind the screen because she would never let anyone else have it.

She snorted jokingly, rolling her eyes with a smile as Sarutobi continued to mull over things in his mind and Inu-Joe backed into a corner for reasons unknown. "It's obvious they needed more proof to the fact that I'm not from 'here', Naru-chan." Naruto twitched at the nickname, glaring slightly as she poked her face into the frame with a grin of her own.

She laughed again, waving quickly. "We'll let you get back to the paperwork." He grumbled slightly, but smiled nonetheless, waving back as the screen went blank again. Aoi then turned back to Sarutobi, who was rubbing his eyes. "I thought you had guessed who it was..." Sarutobi smiled, taking his hand from his eyes and glancing over to Inu-Joe quickly.

"Yes, but it's much different to actually see it..." He gained a serious face, and the door to the room opened once more, revealing an irritated Itachi with what looked like a squirrel attached to his foot.

Itachi walked into the office, attempting to shake the squirrel off the entire way to the desk, as he twitched, raising a brow at the boy in the corner, nodding to Sarutobi. "Well, now that all three of you are here..." The Sandaime began, looking at them all and attempting to get Inu-Joe to come back to the desk. "I can tell you what the Council has suggested..."

X

Ten minutes later

"WHAT?!" Chorused through the originally calm evening, scaring a few birds out of their homes as some dogs ran farther from the Hokage Tower.

Inu-Joe twitched as he stared, befuddled. "You can't be serious! I'm anANBU for Kami-sama's sake!" This got him a rap on the head from Itachi, who was even more irritated now that he had heard of the Council's idea of 'watching' the newcomer.

Although, on the inside, he completely agreed. They wanted them to form a Genin team with her, even though they were of one of the higher ranks! What's gotten into their minds?! They were snapped out of their angry musings as Sarutobi cleared his throat loudly, gaining their attention back almost immediately.

"It is not of my choice what the Council decides, Inu-san. You three will have to function as a Genin team until they decide that they trust her..." He growled in his mind. 'Which will probably never happen... Unfortunately.' Inu-Joe groaned, placing his head in his hands as the two next to him sighed. "And besides that, Tsukiyo-san and Inu-san need new names..."

All three of them blinked in unison, Aoi cocking her head to the side questioningly. "Nani?" Sarutobi chuckled in response, shaking his head slightly as the new 'Genin' team seemed to already be bonding a little.

"There cannot be two Tsukiyo Aoi's at one time, and Inu is only a name to use while he is wearing the mask." He chuckled at her deflated look as Inu-Joe looked between the two, a hand on his head once more. "May I ask what your desired names are?"

"Uzumaki Ame." Was an instant answer, and the three males looked to the frowning brunette, who had her arms crossed as she looked at the floor. "And may I have guardianship of Uzumaki Naruto, so as to make sure the villagers don't harm him as they did?" Sarutobi smiled at that, nodding his head as he noted to ask if the blond had told her.

Inu-Joe had to think for a few minutes before he came up with his name, which he said he still wasn't all that pleased with. "Toshiro Shimaru...?" Ame had to suppress a grin at that, thinking of all the misconceptions that were sure to follow.

Sarutobi smiled at the new team, nodding his head as his eyes crinkled. "Ah, yes. The White Death, I do believe that was your mother's nickname for your father (2), am I correct?" Shimaru smiled wearily, nodding back. Sarutobi laughed once more, waving them out of the room. "Now then, you three may want to do some team bonding, just to make sure you don't accidentally kill each other."

Shimaru and Ame paled slightly at the thought of doing so, and turned to the other with nervous faces before smiling and grabbing Itachi's arms, dragging him out with them.

"Ame-san, there was something I needed to ask you alone before you three left, if you please." She stopped, slowly letting go of Itachi's arm as he twitched, walking out of the room in front of Shimaru.

After the other two had left, Ame stood alone in front of the old Hokage, fiddling with her fingers behind her back. "Hai, Hokage-sama?" She asked nervously, wondering what it was that was so important that she could be the only one to hear of it.

He sighed, lighting his pipe as a bird twittered outside. "Has Naruto-kun informed you that he isn't all that he seems...?" He asked slowly, getting a confused look in return as she blinked.

"Well, I was fairly aware of the Bijuu, if that's what you me-"

"No, that is not what I meant, Uzumaki-san." He cut off, putting a hand to his forehead once more. "I mean, has he informed you that he isn't actually... a 'he'?" Ame just shook her head, not understanding what he meant. "That your 'brother', Uzumaki Naruto, is not actually male?"

A look of realization formed on her face as she kept herself from face-faulting. "E... Eh?!"

HOLY SHIT! I'm so, so, so, soooo sorry it took me so long to write this stupid thing!

Feel free to throw objects at me... --bows head--

And sorry about the whole 'card conversation', I thought it fit... And they needed something to do, so...

How Naruto will be addressed;

When Naruto is in the henge to look and sound like a male, she will be referred to as 'he', unless speaking to the ones who know that she is not, in fact, male. The only time this does not apply is when the are in a public place where they could be overheard.

When she is not in the henge, she will always be referred to as she.

1) I cannot normally write Sarutobi very well, so that was kind of a challenge for me that I did because you never see 'Sarutobi POV' anywhere.

2) It is a bad nickname. She called him that because he tried to make a white cake from scratch, got the salt mixed up with the sugar and it tasted like death... So yeah.

Um, also, can anyone make me a fanart... maybe? Please? --Puss in Boots eyes-- Pretty please with fudge on top??

Also, there's a poll in my profile for this, so please check it out.

Thanks to all my reviewers;

man-chan

AkemixHanako, for both reviewing and being the great beta

quicksilv; Sorry it's so confusing! .

Invasion of the Band Geeks

"I am the Silence, creating your fear.

I am the Moon, bringing eerie shadows to life.

I am the Wind, circling the corner, coming for you.

I am the Akatsuki Neko. Bringer of Death."

See you all next time! --chair is stolen from her by Itachi-- Oh, fuck you, Uchiha!