A/N: I don't normally write my notes before I write a chapter, but I just want to let you all know that the feedback from my last chapter was very encouraging, so thank you all! I'm not sure uh, why I got so much feedback – but I'm immensely grateful. Especially about the characterisation thing. It's helpful to know, so thank you very much. I appreciate it! I'll try my best to kick the main story off, but it's gonna be mostly cutesy here. With people getting to know each other and stuff. I like some cute stuff anyway... makes a change from the traumatic character deaths.

Thanks for the reviews... time to get to the chapter!

"Brat, what-"

"Ero-sennin!"

Itachi enjoyed mornings.

There was something very refreshing about morning air, and his favourite was definitely in winter. He adored stepping out into the cool morning air, and Itachi knew that nothing else could truly eradicate his sleepy state but the crisp winter mornings. Sasuke had never shared that opinion, something that he knew well – especially when his only opportunities to train Sasuke had been before attending a mission assignment. His little brother's early morning awakenings always ended up being traumatic; Sasuke was always a crank, and Itachi always ended up late.

But he supposed he could spare any amount of time for some training with Sasuke. The smile on his little brother's face was heart warming.

Today, he'd not been assigned anything, but had only one destination in mind. He'd decided to retrace the steps of the time travelers; he'd sensed them approach the Training Grounds, and had to hope that he'd correctly identified that path, and that it had stopped there. Any further was well and truly out of his range, but Itachi had to confirm that their bodies had indeed disappeared. Their corpses remaining here... although Itachi was sure it would shift any remaining blame off of him, it would definitely screw everything up. And he might end up with the blame anyway.

Walking through the streets only emphasised Itachi's love for Konoha. He adored the town. It's every street was so beautiful, so quaint and wondrous to him. He loved the village and he loved those within it, and Itachi had slept better than he'd ever last night. It was a calm sleep, a deep, replenishing sleep that was a welcome difference to the fearful, anxious insomnia he'd had the night before. Although he'd have sold his future and clan for the safety of Konoha and the prevention of war, he felt a satisfying happiness fall upon him that he'd had to sacrifice neither.

Though, his father.

Itachi had often, and continuously felt the unending praise and love from his father. And he appreciated it; but Itachi often saw Sasuke's struggles, his frustration when his father would turn away at his commendable efforts in favour of Itachi's natural genius. It angered Itachi, to see his little brother shunned for his lesser amount of talent. To Itachi, Sasuke was a genius; what did it really mean, for Itachi to be born better than Sasuke? It showed nothing of Itachi's strength, or determination.

Itachi was by no means glad that their father was dead; it was hard. Harder to witness than anything before, and he wondered how he could have killed their father, and their mother. All of their relatives, dead by his hand – the guilt would have left Itachi dead inside anyway. Yet, he knew he would've done it anyway; for the sake of avoiding the ruthless, brutal war he witnessed as a child. War made his stomach turn. Itachi knew well that it would have been his duty to kill the Uchihas. Just because they meant something to him, did not mean that they were not trying to instigate war. War that would kill many, many, many more people – all with loved ones, like Itachi.

It was for the greater good, Itachi had thought. That whole sleepless night, he had said that to himself many times in a futile effort to feel better.

So, he supposed he could cope with it. But he knew more than anything that his father had been kind. Glasses tinted by the prideful bitterness of mutiny and war, yet kind. In death, Itachi forgave him.

As he reached the Training Grounds, Itachi saw a strange sight. He approached the training posts, and found not bodies, but two items.

The first was a chokuto. It was sheathed, and he faintly remembered seeing it equipped on the older Sasuke. Itachi supposed it must have slipped off of his clothing somehow and became a separate entity, remaining in this time. The second item he had not seen at first glance, but was now clear; a small necklace, of the likes he had not seen before. A shimmering turquoise stone, on a black cord. It captured many colours, and as Itachi cautiously picked it up, the light it caught and refracted was of many beautiful hues. Although, the Uchiha could not help but think that he had seen it somewhere, but the exact time escaped him – and though he felt irritation for the memory having slipped out of his grasp, he decided to let it slide. Itachi picked up the two items and went on his way home.

Coming back to this new home was something that made the Uchiha slightly sad. There was something nice about coming home to his mother as she cooked or sang to herself quietly. She was a sweet woman, and Itachi had always had immense respect for her. Rumour had it that she had been a formidable shinobi as well, but he preferred her as the harmless, worrisome mother. The idea of her regularly putting herself in harm's way brought Itachi a strange discomfort.

The home he'd been given wasn't bad by any means, but it lacked... something. It was somewhat large, the only sign that the Hokage approved of Itachi's actions so far. He'd had no chance to meet with the Sandaime as of yet, and Itachi could only pray it went well, lest their whole plan fall to pieces before his eyes.

Nonetheless, Itachi had plans for the decoration, and he'd been pleased to see he'd been given a very decently sized spare bedroom. Little had the Hokage known that Itachi had designated that room for Naruto. Yet, though he felt excited to take care of the child, he was anxious. Though the Naruto of the future was a pleasant, rambuctious boy, children were not indicative of a person's future self.

Closing the door, Itachi hung his coat above the door and set the kettle on the stove. As he made his way up the stairs and into his bedroom, he wondered where to put the two posessions.

He'd had an honest respect for the two, and Itachi knew that it must have been tremendously hard to do what they did. He knew he could not tuck these two possessions away and pretend they did not exist for the sake of secrecy. For the sake of their brave owners, they deserved respect. Because no-one would know of their sacrifices. No-one would know of the goodbyes Naruto could not give, no-one would know of the revenge Sasuke gave up on. They were heroes.

Shisui had once told Itachi that the true heroes, the most admirable heroes, were the ones that lay in the dark, laying down their hopes and dreams for their village. They were true shinobi, and Itachi knew that those two, Sasuke and Naruto, were that indeed. The existence of this new, improved world, relied totally on their bravery, their willingness to change the future. Every single person in this world had something to thank them for, and yet they died in selfless seclusion.

Itachi ran his finger against the edge of the blade; it was fantastically sharp, yet clearly worn; Sasuke had been a shinobi in ranks of his own.

The Uchiha walked to his double bed, and leaning over carefully, plunged the sword in the centre of the wall above the bed. He took the necklace, carefully wrapping it and letting it dangle from the hilt of the chokuto. He stood back, admiring his handiwork, before nodding.

Together. As they should be.

"Uchiha Itachi."

Itachi did not flinch. "Is this is a summons to the Hokage?"

"Yes, sir." It appeared that Hawk had not forgotten Itachi's position as ANBU captain. The strange familiarity of the phrase made him smile; he'd not been expecting to hear such a thing ever again.

"I'll be there in a moment."

The sky was blinding.

The air around him was thick with dust and debris, the crackling, scraping noise of rubble collapsing around him the only noise. Ah, no, he could hear his breathing, a noise filled with anxiety and fear- and he squinted in the light, to see someone he had been so desperate to see-

Though Naruto could remember nothing of the like, he was so sure that this person was more important to him than anything, that finally reaching here- had he been running? Ah, he couldn't remember-

Naruto tried to turn his head, to see the the presences beside him – is that Sakura-chan? - but his gaze was stook to this blinding view, the light that strained his eyes but he yearned to see that figure, that he'd been chasing for- had he? He couldn't quite-

"Sasuke."

The name passed by his lips without his permission, and though Naruto sought even just to knot his eyebrows, they were not his own, his hands and eyes and eyebrows all locked into position – his thoughts the only conscious part at all -

Naruto got a brief look around, and saw that they were in a crater like hole, with the figure standing on the edge, looking down upon them. It was a boy, no – a young adult, with a hand on his hip and no expression at all. If he looked hard enough, there was a slight look of disdain, but he could decipher no more. The sun made him look almost like an angel, but the boy had black hair, black eyes and a pallid complexion. Looking at him made Naruto feel cold, but he was unable to shiver anyway.

"Naruto, huh?"

Abruptly, Naruto remembered that name, the recall coming to him all at once but- oh, his head hurt – wasn't he that orphan, like him too, his family had died – wait, what, that wasn't it at all – they were friends once weren't they? No, I hate that guy! Do I? I haven't even spoken to him before-

Then he found a cold, hand on his shoulder, and for a split second he recognised the gesture as a hug, but then there was a glint of cold metal and he found himself saying words, words that he didn't understand or care about, because there was a sword that this boy was swinging down from the side, cold and quick and why wouldn't he move, he was just standing there like it was fine, like he hadn't seen the blade at all- and the glint of metal made his eyes ache as the light beamed by them, the full glory of the midday sun burning through his retina-

"Naruto."

Naruto sat up so fast that the crack of his neck could be likened to the snap of a whip. He wailed for a moment, both hands clutching the back of his neck. As he cried out in pain, he couldn't help but notice that his voice was very different to his dream's- ah, what? He couldn't really remember his dream anyway... Naruto didn't dwell on the subject, instead looking up at the comfortable shinobi that was perched on his windowsill. He had a book open, but the blond couldn't tell whether he was reading it or not behind his ANBU mask.

"Hokage-sama has summoned you."

Naruto looked up, pouting. "The old man? But, but- I wanted to sleep." Nonetheless, he swung his legs out of bed and shuffled over to the cooker, grumbling all the while. He understood the importance of when he got a ninja to come pick him up.

The shinobi shrugged. "He requested you make haste. So don't be late, Naruto." With that, the man disappeared in a whirl of leaves, and Naruto twitched. Everyone always knew his name.

"When is late?!" he huffed, leaving a pan of water to boil for some morning ramen.

Honestly, Naruto was a bit unsure about this affair. Usually, he was the one to drop in on the Sandaime. When he got bored, he'd swing in, regardless of what "important representatives" or "daimyo" were visiting at the time. Though the visitors sometimes appeared a bit irked, the old man would just smile tiredly and gesture to one of the chairs to the side for Naruto to sit in whilst he waited.

Naruto had no doubt this was about one of his scandalous pranks, again, or it was something that was a little less fun. Like when people reported him doing things he genuinely hadn't done – getting people to believe him wasn't the easiest task. Though, the Sandaime knew straight away. Naruto took great pride in his pranks, so why wouldn't he take credit for them? No one else was ever as easily convinced.

The blond racked his head, trying to think of something he'd done in the past few days that could have pissed him off. Nothing really came to mind – Naruto hadn't done much the past few days. He'd just... functioned. He'd felt a bit sad, these past couple days. Though Naruto did try and make the most of what he had, because, after all, he had a freedom some kids would die for – he would have given it up without a second thought for some family.

His eyes snapped open, tiredness completely gone.

The angel!

But the moment Naruto remembered, his heart sank. Though, he had thought it was an angel, that pale man who came to him in the night, with the soothing voice and very dark eyes – he'd wished for a family, and woke up with nothing. It was obviously not true. There was the very good question as to why the man was there in the first place, but Naruto decided he was just a weirdo. If he saw him again, Naruto would be angry. For a moment, his hopes had been high.

Now that he thought about it, the angel reminded him of that clan. That kid that he always saw, but he hadn't quite caught the name of- their family were all like that; pale, and dark haired and dark eyed. Naruto pouted. It was probably just a dream anyway.

He dressed quickly and turned the cooker off before leaving. His appetite was gone.

The Hokage looked pensive, wrinkled skin knotted in thought. He took a moment before spoke to Itachi.

"Uchiha Itachi. You have directly disobeyed the order of the Council, and you are under suspicion of the murder of Uchiha Fugaku, and Shimura Danzo. Some even say you killed Uchiha Shisui, a man I knew to be your close friend."

The Uchiha kneeled before the Hokage.

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi raised an eyebrow. "What say you to these accusations?"

Though the Sandaime was forcing a stern, cold tone into his voice, the conviction in it was lacking. He'd always enjoyed the company of Itachi; commanding him was a pleasure, his mission reports were concise enough to cut down his paperwork whilst never (to his knowledge) leaving out essential detail, and he was a genuinely kind boy. He'd accepted the cold-hearted mission from Danzo without complaint, and Sarutobi admired Itachi's pacifistic nature. It was rare in the naïve youth of Konohagakure.

Itachi bowed his head. "I cannot say much to you as subordinate to superior, but I request that we speak as equals, Hokage-sama."

The Hokage nodded.

The young boy stood up, looking the Sandaime straight in the eye. "Hokage-sama-"

"Sarutobi," he said, with a gentle look. "If we are equals, call me Sarutobi."

"Sarutobi-san." Itachi's eyes had a pained look, and the Hokage was struck with the feeling that every word that Itachi was going to say would be more meaningful than he'd ever understand. "I value my duty to Konoha as a Konoha shinobi above all else, Hoka- Sarutobi-san. But certain circumstances forced me to realise that the consequences of this upon Sasuke, upon Konoha, will be unlike anything I had predicted. I realised that in order to stop both the coup d'etat and the Uchiha massacre, my only option was to assassinate the leader of both conspiracies.

"It was hard," Itachi said quietly. "It was hard, but I knew that Danzo was not a good man anyway. Surely you must've known of the force he had been gathering, behind the guise of a 'disbanded' ROOT organisation. Taking in orphaned children and moulding them into soulless machines. It's an efficient workforce, but nothing more. It's cruel and inhumane.

"My father committed an even worse crime. Even with an Uchiha rule, such mutiny within Konoha would only lead to war. Bloodshed without thought or reason, not for the sake of anyone but himself." Itachi clenched his fists. "ROOT had the purpose of protecting the village at all costs, but my father could not even hide behind such a ruse."

The Hokage said nothing.

"That does not change the fact," Itachi said, words choking in his throat as he found himself beginning to cry. "that I loved my father."

His fists clenched, and Itachi's expression contorted with sorrow as he turned his gaze to the ground. For a moment, he could not shake his father's final words, speaking of his wife, as they ricocheted around the confines of his skull. Itachi opened his mouth to speak, but choked once before the words finally came. "Leaving my mother as a widower was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do, Hokage-sama."

The Sandaime didn't correct him, and it stood unsaid that the massacre would have been a thousand times worse. For Mikoto would recover, with the support of friends, family, and her two sons; but to leave a child, friendless and orphaned with no relatives to speak of, was the cruellest deed one could commit.

Yet Itachi's posture, despite the nerve-wracking torment and pain, stood strong, and he opened his eyes to meet the Hokage's gaze. His voice was strong and smooth. "However, Sarutobi-san, I had nothing to do with Shisui's death. That, I can swear."

"I have no doubt," Sarutobi said. He bridged his hands in front of his face, a habit he'd taken on when thinking. "I will issue no penalty, Itachi, but only because I am going to leave my faith in your judgment, and I know you to be a loyal man. This act was not out of cowardice, but goodwill. Do not abuse this chance, Itachi."

Itachi felt his posture relax slightly with the relief that he wasn't going to be imprisoned indefinitely; it would have no doubt created rifts in his plan. The Uchiha smiled. "I would not dare, Sarutobi-san." He took up a kneeling position before the Hokage once again. "I have a request of you, Hokage-sama."

"What?"

"I request guardianship of Uzumaki Naruto."

"Funny," the Hokage smiled, his light, weary chuckle echoing through the room. "I was just going to suggest the same."

"Oi! Old man! What're you getting me up for?!"

"Ah, Naruto, come sit here." The Hokage motioned to the guest seats on his right, and Naruto dawdled over and sat, feet swinging above the floor. He took a look at the Hokage and sat on his knees to elevate his height, swiping the Sandaime's hat off him and bridging his hands in front of his face with a perfectly imitated serious expression. For a moment, their expressions were identical, until the Hokage took his hat back with some mild irritation.

Itachi blinked, and laughed abruptly, the bright sound quick and fleeting but the humour remaining in his eyes. Naruto was wide eyed, but then he smiled too, a huge grin that made his cheek bulge and his eyes squint.

The Hokage coughed, eye twitching. "Ehem. I have a proposal for you, Naruto."

"What's a proposal? Is it, uh... like, a present?"

"You could say that." Sarutobi motioned to Itachi. "What do you think of the idea of a guardian?"

"Guardian?"

"Someone who lives with you and takes care of you. Like a parent."

Naruto folded his arms, cheeks become red with anger. "I don't need a nanny! I'm fine on my own!" Naruto definitely preferred being on his own than living with a nanny. They were always so cold to him, so mean for no reason at all! He'd given up after the fourth one, when she'd started leaving him in parts of Konoha he didn't know at all. The blond hated being lost, because when he tried to ask for directions, no one ever, ever helped him.

But the stranger he didn't recognise leaned forward, eyes gentle as he held out his hand to Naruto. "No, not like a nanny, or a parent. Like a big brother."

The blond's eyes lit up. He'd never had a big brother before! "Really?"

The Uchiha smiled, nodding, and Naruto took his outstretched hand and shook it, his tiny hand haphazardly shaking with the larger one.

"Since there are many rumours circulating in the Uchiha clan at the moment, staying in the compound isn't ideal. I've set out a property for you, Itachi. It's officially part of Konoha land, but the property is a renovated farm house. It'll keep you far away from any conflict."

"What?" Naruto's expression betrayed complete cluelessness.

Itachi poked the child in the forehead. "If you want to, you can live with me."

"With you?"

"Yeah. In a house, together. We can decorate your room however you want."

Naruto's eyes were wide with disbelief. "Like, family?"

"Like family."

That angel! My wish... it came true! A family!

As Naruto jumped across his desk and took Itachi onto the floor by his torso, Sarutobi groaned. Reorganising the wrecked piles of paperwork that Naruto had strewn would be work enough, but he knew the legislation that would come with Itachi's doings would give him an aneurysm. Sarutobi could only hope he died painlessly before the day was out.

"So what's your favourite food?"

"Ramen!"

"I... don't know how to make that."

"Really? You just put the hot water in for 3 minutes, and-"

Itachi twitched, shuffling the boxes of possessions about his arms to remain comfortable with the heavy weight. "I mean homemade ramen."

"Wha-? Who can make that?"

"My mother."

Naruto gasped, eyes becoming filled with adoration and respect. "She must be amazing."

"It's just ramen-"

"Yeah, yeah, but can you make it?"

"Well-"

"See! That's what I mean! The power to make ramen is a power to be respected!" Naruto folded his arms, eyes looking admiringly into the sky as though he were looking upon a beautiful, ethereal princess.

"I'm not too sure about that..."

"I bet you can't make it!"

"I can't."

"Well, I can't respect you then!"

"But it's just ramen!"

"If it's just ramen, then just make it!"

"Fine- fine! Ramen for tea!"

"Yes!"

Itachi backtracked the conversation, desperately trying to find out how he'd been roped into cooking something he'd never cooked in his life by some obnoxious blonde child. He gave up.

"Where can I buy ingredients?"

Naruto shrugged. "Ask the old guy in Ichiraku Ramen! He makes the best ramen in the world, so."

The Uchiha settled the boxes on the table. The house was quaint and pretty; the walls needed painting, and he would get to decorating Naruto's room as soon as he could, but he liked the house. It had a very traditional feeling, having been the traditional working house of a man who'd never done a day of shinobi work in his life. The sliding doors and tatami flooring reminded him of the compound, but in an older, prettier way. Itachi had already taken a liking to the place, and had began setting small decorative items on the mantlepiece and walls.

Even better was the land that came with it; the woman who had escorted him here had informed him that the land in front and behind the home was theirs. It was extensive, but fantastic. The land behind the home was large, the farthest parts of it filled with forestry and overgrowth, and the front was a garden with plants that desperately needed care. Itachi loved the character in the place; the Uchiha complex hadn't had much in the way of botany, and now he was outside of the choking confines of the clan, he was eager to exercise an interest in making his garden look acceptable. The back of the land was also perfect for training, so Itachi had no doubt that training Naruto would be even easier than before.

He had thought about why this land was so cheap, but the answer came easy to him as soon as he realised. A home that required repair and decoration, and a home that was so traditional, was not in the common shinobi interest. Agriculture wasn't a common trade in Konoha anymore, and any regular non-shinobi citizen took full advantage of the fact that the walls of the village provided great protection. Shinobi villages, and brand new threats, were appearing by the day – it was unlikely any untrained civilian would want to be outside of possible protection.

Itachi supposed he didn't need to worry about such a thing as much. He was grateful, too; if a matter arose that he had to tend to, escaping inconspicuously would be much, much easier.

Though he suspected the Hokage had just found an empty lot and been glad to throw it off onto someone, before it became a small hideout for a gang or something similar.

"Are you hungry now?"

"Yes! Ramen, please." Naruto grinned.

Itachi sighed.

Now, whilst Itachi thought he knew very, very little about making ramen, he realised he didn't know anything; their mother had made it for them on a couple occasions, but he'd not asked about the recipe. He also had the problem of giving it some sort of nutrional value that was not salt. The food was heinously salty, but nothing more. He'd asked the young girl at Ichiraku Ramen if Naruto liked any specifically vegetables, which had caused her to burst out laughing and explain that the boy did not like any. This made his job far harder.

She'd offered to show him the step by step procedure.

"So, to make the noodles, you gotta mix about this much flour and egg and water, and you gotta mix it like this-" Ayame slowly combined them, the flour largely outweighing the egg and water. Her hands had the experienced motions of an expert, and her portions did too; Itachi wished she would be more specific with the measurements.

"Knead it, put loads of flour everywhere, make sure it's not too sticky, and then you have to leave it for 30 minutes. Then you've gotta roll it out, and fold it and cut it up, use so so much flower! Cut it into little noodle strips, like this – and then boil it for 4 minutes, put it in hot water slowly – and after that, drain 'em, and add broth!"

"Does Naruto like any specific type?"

Ayame nodded vigorously. "Yep, he loves miso! With extra pork."

"Are there any vegetables I can put in at all?"

The girl looked thoughtful for a moment. "Corn, onions, bamboo shoots... spinach. You can sort of put anything in, but no other meat. It's a pork soup. Fishcakes go down alright, I guess..."

Itachi just felt his heart sinking. See, she says that...

Naruto stopped for a moment to recognise the smell from the kitchen. His stomach grumbled. He grinned; miso was his favourite. Ayame-chan must have told him!

He continued unpacking his things. He noticed Itachi had... not too much really, but about the same as him in stuff. He'd collected boxes of stuff from his house too, but Naruto sort of expected him to have a lot. Naruto knew he didn't have much, because a lot of the time when he wanted to buy stuff, he'd be turned down for some reason or other. No one else got turned down, and it was really unfair, but nothing he did changed it, so sometimes Naruto gave up. A lot of the time.

But this guy, who had introduced himself as Itachi, had very little. But a lot of books. Naruto had tried to read books at a point, but he did not understand any of the kanji at all! Other kids knew a bit, but he knew next to none. It made everything incredibly difficult, so reading a proper grown-up book with lots and lots of kanji is something he'd never be able to do. Naruto huffed; this meant this Itachi guy was really clever! Although Naruto thought he was a grown-up, he realised that Itachi was only a teenager. More than twice his age, but not a grown-up! That meant he was even better as a big brother.

Now that was unbelievable. Naruto felt his heart pound happily when he remembered the angel. He couldn't remember much of the encounter, and the more he thought about it, the harder it was to remember the angel's face, but Naruto knew he hadn't believed in the angel, but the angel had made his wish come true! Maybe it was a reward for his good behaviour. He hadn't pulled any pranks for a week, so it could've been! Naruto decided that good behaviour was very, very good. He had a lot to thank for, because his big brother was so nice. Everyone was so mean to him, they wouldn't even look at him. No one would play with him, but Itachi-nii-san would! He was so kind, so clever! It was amazing.

"Naruto, how much do you want?"

Naruto grinned widely. "A lot!"

There was the noise of shuffling and the clanging of porcelain on a counter, before Itachi called him in. On the table was miso ramen, and Naruto leapt up onto the chair and split his chopsticks before Itachi could say anything at all.

"Itadakimasu!"

The food was disappearing before Itachi's eyes, and before he'd had the chance to ask if Naruto wanted any condiments, spices or extra salt, the food was gone. The Uchiha was genuinely unsure if that was a good sign, or any sign at all, seeing as this kid seemed to have a bottomless stomach.

The blond turned to him, eyebrows knotted. "The noodles were really nice! But the broth needed more miso, and more salt! Also, why did you put vegetables in!? I hate vegetables!"

Itachi took note that the vegetables were, however, gone. "Did they taste that bad?"

"Well, no, but-"

The Uchiha smiled. "Good. You need vegetables, Naruto. We start training tomorrow."

"Wha-!?"

With a delighted outcry, Itachi found himself tackled to the ground again. He felt himself laughing, as Naruto began babbling happily about how he was the best big brother ever. The Uchiha found himself glad he had chosen the path not traveled.

Dear Angel-san,

Uh, or Angel. Angel-kun? Angel-sama?

Were you a boy or a girl? I can't remember. You had a bit of a boy voice, though.

Thank you for your present! It was the best present ever. Itachi-nii-san isn't the best at making noodles, but they're still yummy! And no-one has ever made me noodles before! Well, except when I buy the noodles from Ichiraku. But it doesn't matter that they weren't that yummy. Someone made me my dinner!

And, guess what! Guess what guess what- Itachi-nii-san said he's going to train me! Isn't that so cool!? He's so clever, I bet he's a good ninja too! And then I will be the best ninja that ever lived, and I'll become Hokage! Everyone who is super mean to me will have to respect me then!

So! I... thank you! Thank you very much, Angel-sama. It was the best gift ever! I promise I will not pull mean pranks on people... for a while. Hehe.

Thank you very much!

The #1 Uzumaki Naruto

A/N: More was meant to happen in this chapter, but it would have gotten too long. Also, if you were curious, the path not traveled refers to naturally, the divergence in Itachi's actions; he did not kill the clan and has instead taken in Naruto. Hence, the path not traveled. Aw. How cute. Prepare for plot! Reviews always very well appreciated. Constructive criticism appreciated also!