#Action Pack Issue 3

June 26, 2:49 pm-New York General Hospital

Naruto watched his brother talk to the doctor about his mother's condition and how long she'd been comatose. The grim look the doctor had told even Naruto that the chances of her waking up were slim, but didn't say anything as he looked around the room.

He looked down at the reflection of his form on the shiny clean floor. He'd changed his appearance to make himself look more like his mother, which meant lighter skin and red hair, his whisker marks also being hidden behind the disguise. He wasn't stupid, like so many people thought; he'd just never been given enough of a chance to show what he was capable of doing. That and Kira always told him it was better to hold back least you lose your ace up the sleeve.

He'd be able to maintain his current form until they got to their new home. He looked up and was only marginally jealous of the fact the only thing Kira had to change was his eyes from orange to gray, and his tan skin to a pale tone. He saw his brother move away from the doctor and walk over to him, gesturing for them to leave.

"What'd the doc say?" Naruto questioned in Japanese as they got into a taxi. He could speak English just fine because of the language classes they held at the Academy, but he just felt more comfortable using their native tongue.

Kira though didn't seem to agree. "Naruto-kun, here, we have to speak English, only at home can we go back to speaking Japanese." He said and didn't look at all happy about this, but really, when did he look happy about anything?

Naruto nodded reluctantly. "Yes, Kira-nii." He said in English. "What's our new home like?"

Kira pondered this for a moment before answering. "It's…quaint." He said finally. "It's certainly better than our apartment, that's for sure, but nothing like dad's estate."

Naruto once again felt the sliver of jealously cloud his mind. He'd only ever been in that house when he was a baby and his memory hadn't been developed enough to let him even remember it. "Well…it sounds nice." He said hesitantly.

Kira nodded absently as he stared out the windows. Anyone else would have mistaken the look for wonder, but Naruto knew better. His brother was trying to ingrain the images into his mind so he could have an easier time finding the hospital. Then again, Kira had always been a hard worker, it was the entire reason he'd been allowed to enter and pass the Chunin exams in the first place.

Everyone could hate and fear Kira for being a half-demon, but they couldn't deny that he was a good ninja. He wasn't 'prodigy' level good, but he was still very strong. And with everything that life's thrown at the brunet, Naruto expected nothing less from the older boy.

His thought trailed back to Konoha for a moment and he wondered how people were taking their departure, if they noticed it anyway.

Hokage Tower, 3:00 pm

Sarutobi sat in his chair as he looked down at the two forms, and then at the destination of their choice. He got up and walked over the picture of the Yondaime and pulled it back to reveal a vault. He unlocked it and placed the forms inside before closing it and used a small fire Jutsu to lit the destination on fire and let it burn to ashes. 'At least now no one will be able to find them and try to drag them into our messes.' He thought as he knew that something like this wouldn't stay a secret.

Especially since Kira was the only demon, half or not, associated with a Hidden Village. Well, the boy had never liked that of course, but he had done it to ensure no one would be able to attack his brother. It was a rule that unfortunately many didn't follow.

He heard the latches on his window open and someone step inside. He didn't need to turn around to know who it was. "Hello, Jiraiya."

The white-haired man nodded, even though the old Hokage couldn't see it. "Sensei." He returned. "I've been hearing some interesting Intel from my spies that a certain half-demon has left Konoha. Any chance that this is just a misunderstanding and Kira is still in his apartment?"

The Sandaime sighed as he felt his age catch up with him and he sat back down in his chair. "No, it's not a misunderstanding. They both handed in their resignations and left." He replied. "I knew this couldn't be contained as the Chunin exams started, but what have you gathered from the other Elemental Nations?"

"Mizu couldn't care less as their still in the midst of a civil war, Iwa is just tickled pink that this village lost its trump card but don't seem ready to do anything. There's nothing from the new village, Sound, but both Suna and Cloud have shown at least some interest in where he went." Jiraiya explained and paused for a moment. "Where did they go?"

"Someplace that they won't be persecuted for simply existing." Sarutobi retorted tersely.

"Damn it Sensei, why did you let them leave? It's dangerous for them out there." Jiraiya replied.

"Not as dangerous as it was for them here." Sarutobi retorted. "Kira-san was the only one who did the right thing all those years ago by sticking with Naruto."

Jiraiya flinched back at that. "I couldn't take care of them; they would have been in even more danger if they had been with me, Tsunade doesn't like the village and left as soon as she could after she saw that Kira and Naruto were still alive. And Kakashi was too young to be taking care of any kids."

"So was Kira-san. And he raised Naruto by himself." Sandaime replied.

Jiraiya sighed heavily. He remembered seeing the hope in the four year olds eyes die that day and hate began to cloud them as he turned them away. He's always thought that they wouldn't be mistreated, clinging to some false hope of his own that his student's wish would be fulfilled.

In this case, it showed him just how much his negligence had cost him.

The door opened and a Chunin came into the room, bowing to the Hokage. "Hokage-sama, the Council is having an emergency assembly and you are being requested to be there."

The old man let out a sigh himself as he stood from his seat and paused as he stopped beside his student. "Because of our failure, we can only hope that they have a better life now that they are free of this place." He said before continuing on.

Jiraiya thought that over as he stared down at the pile of ashes at the bottom of the picture of the Yondaime, but looked away from the photo out of guilt as he thought about how the man must be rolling in his grave or cursing him right about now.

Casino, 4:30 pm

Tsunade stared down at her winnings, a frown coming over her face. 'I never win unless something bad happens.' She thought and was about to leave when a masked person who was clearly not an ANBU approached her. She tensed as she readied herself for a fight just in case.

The masked person only handed her an envelope. "From Jiraiya-sama." The person said in a gravelly tone and she warily accepted it, the person's business done and they left.

Tsunade looked down at the envelope and was about to throw it away before humoring Jiraiya and looked at it. What she read shocked her. Minato and Kushina's boys had left Konoha and their current whereabouts was unknown. She unwilling thought back to those large orange eyes Kira had that looked up at her pleadingly as he begged her not to abandon them too all those years ago.

But she and Shizune had left the next day, and she had forced herself not to give Naruto or Kira a second thought.

They'd be okay, she'd tried to assure herself at the time, but there had been a hollow feeling behind the words as she knew that it wasn't going to happen and they wouldn't be okay. She knew how fickle the villagers could be, they had turned on Kushina just the same when they found out that she had been the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki at the time.

As much as she detested the idea, she knew she had to go back to Konoha and get to the bottom of this.

Forest Hills, 4:00 pm

"Wow, this place is much better than our old apartment." Naruto said as he watched Kira put the pictures of Minato, Kushina, and Kira's birth mother onto the fireplace mantle. He looked at the picture of the woman with long brown hair and orange eyes and couldn't help but notice that Kira looked more like her, but since neither of them knew what Kyuubi looked like in his human form, they really couldn't be sure on that part.

But Kira obviously didn't like to think about it, so Naruto wouldn't mention it.

He knew that the woman had died when Kira was three and Naruto's own parents had taken the then young child in because the woman had been like his parent's friend and they had still treated her like family when she'd had Kira. He only knew this history because Kira told him it and he knew that Kira didn't like to talk about the past all that much, he'd just get depressed afterwards; so he didn't take lightly of what he was told.

They were about to drop their disguise forms when they heard a knock at the door and glanced at each other.

"I'll get it." Naruto said going over to the door and opened it.

#3 "Meet The Parkers"

"Hi there, I'm Peter Parker, you must be the new neighbour." A brown-haired teenager wearing a white long sleeved shirt and blue over shirt and brown cargo jeans said cheerfully.

"I'm one of the new neighbours." Naruto retorted wittily and noticed the container. "What's with the container, you like the welcome wagon or something?" he joked.

The older boy just smiled sheepishly. "Would this seem less lame if I said I was?"

"Not really." Naruto replied smirking.

Peter shrugged and held the container out to the 'redhead'. "My Aunt May caught wind that we were getting new neighbours and wiped a batch of cookies."

Naruto glanced briefly at the fireplace where Kira was still standing and caught his eye, the brunet waving it off and he accepted the container. "Tell your aunt thanks, and I'll be sure to bring this back over." He said cheerily and remembered that he had yet to introduce himself. "And where are my manners, I'm…" he paused for a moment and he remembered that introducing yourself was different here as the surname went after your first name. "Naruto Uzumaki, and my brother Kira." He said using his free hand to gesture to the brunet.

"Hi there." Peter said to the other brunet, his smile faltering when all he got was wave off.

Naruto quickly did damage control. "Don't take it too personally, he does that with everyone; doesn't talk that much."

"I'll remember that." Peter mumbled as he put his hands in his pockets. "So, if you don't mind me asking, are you Asian?" he questioned.

Naruto stared at him and even Kira paused in his own work to see what his brother would do. "Um, yes, why would you think otherwise?"

Peter rubbed the back of his next sheepishly after he took one hand out of his pocket. "It's just that…you don't look it, I mean he does," he said with a small jerk of the head in Kira's direction, "but, you…"

"It's the hair, isn't it?" Naruto questioned dryly. Peter nodded, his expression growing more and more embarrassed. "Don't worry; you're probably not the only person who's going to ask that once they hear what my name is."

"But they'd probably have more tact and not end up with their foot in their mouth." Peter mumbled.

Naruto felt himself smile in spite of the faux pas. This guy really did seem embarrassed over his mistake, so he decided not to get angry over something that probably was going to happen a lot. He'd be damned though if he didn't think it wasn't going to get annoying though.

But that had to happen. "Don't worry, seriously." Naruto assured him.

"Well, I'd better let you get back to your unpacking." Peter said chuckling nervously.

"It was nice meeting you." Naruto said and Peter called back the same phrase as the brunet walked back to the house right beside theirs. "So, what do you think?" Naruto asked his brother.

Kira glanced out the window and his voice held a touch of sarcasm. "Our neighbours."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Kira-nii, be nice. That's all I ask."

Council Room, 3:10

It was only after the Sandaime sat down at the head of the raised dais that the commotion started, mostly from the Civilian side of the room, which was ironic since they had actually wanted to pull the plug on Kushina in the first place.

"Quiet down." He said in a gravelly tone and they reluctantly piped down. "Now, what is this meeting about?"

"That the Uzumaki brats have fled the village!" One merchant shouted. "Every major elemental nation knows that the Kyuubi's spawn has left, they could be building forces as we speak!"

Sarutobi sighed heavily and once again wished for a drink. "Kira and Naruto-san both resigned from the village rooster, taking all their possessions with them to an undisclosed location." Feeling rather vindictive about the situation they brought upon themselves, he poured salt in the wounds by added, "And it was this council's callous decision to stop the life support for their mother, one you all agreed to."

There were some uncomfortable shifts as they clearly did not want to be reminded of that.

Nether the less, the old Hokage continued. "This village has tried to cleanse its hands of them for some time, and now they have done the same to us, it is rather ironic don't you think?" he paused and when none of them spoke up, he carried on; he had never been able to stand up properly for the Uzumaki's before, but he was doing it now. Even if they'd never know that. "This village didn't lose two weapons; it lost the two children of our previous leader and his dear wife, the very same wife they left to make sure continued on living. The very same one that this council was about to murder simply because you all feared what she'd do should she ever wake."

Sarutobi paused once more, and the faces of the council became more and more distorted. They really didn't want to think about the fact that a woman who'd grown up to be one of the fiercest Kunoichi would have more than likely killed them for trying to kill her and her children.

"Is there anything someone would like to add?" he questioned and stared them all down. No one spoke. "If that's all then, I'll be going to see how the Chunin exams are panning out." He said before rising from his seat, his old bone creaking as he walked out of the room and saw his student waiting outside.

"What are you going to do now, sensei?" Jiraiya questioned.

"I'm going to watch the exams, and then I'm going to announce my retirement." Sarutobi said.

Jiraiya looked at the old man sharply. "What, why would you do that?"

"I'm too old Jiraiya, and this ordeal has told me just how precious time is." The Sandaime replied. "Ever since that night twelve years ago, I've taken time for granted. And ever since that night I've deluded myself into thinking that the village would come to accept Kira and Naruto because they were Minato's sons, but it never came, and now they're gone." He sighed and his features seemed to age rapidly. "I'm not about lose what precious time I have left worrying about what could have been, but I'm going to spend it to the fullest by relaxing and spending time with my grandson."

Uzumaki Residence, 6:00 pm

"Naruto, stop eating all those cookies, you'll spoil your appetite." Kira said flatly from his spot in front of the stove and frying up some of the pork chops he'd had stored inside one of the storage scrolls until he could find a job here that would hire a teenager since this place was apparently pickier about who they hired than in Konoha.

Not that they ever hired him for anything there either.

"Aw, come on." Naruto pouted, but Kira had built up an immunity and his brother just stared stoically back at him. "Fine." He huffed, but took the still remaining cookies out and put them on a napkin. "You can take the container back after your finished cooking." He said cheerily.

Kira grimaced as he looked down at the pan. "Swell."

Naruto smirked for a moment as another thought came to him. "Where did you learn to cook anyway? From mom?" he asked before he could stop himself from adding that part.

"Kaa-chan couldn't make anything other than ramen." Kira replied swiftly as strained look started to seep onto his face whenever he talked about the past. "Otou-san was the one who showed me before…" he trailed off faintly and Naruto didn't press him for him to continue.

Naruto stared nervously down at his empty plate and kept quiet until dinner was served. "You could be a chef." He said abruptly.

Kira paused as he was about to take a bite out of his food and stared at Naruto. "A chef?" he questioned and since he wasn't a ninja anymore, he was going to have to find something else to do. "I do have hospital bills to pay until mom wakes up." He mused.

Naruto could see that his brother was at least considering the idea and he was all for encouraging him to make the best of his talents. "Yeah, you're a really good cook. Anyone takes a bite out of your teriyaki chicken and they'll hire you on the spot."

"But I only know how to make Japanese meals, and I doubt that I can make anything made here." Kira replied dubiously.

Naruto put a hand to his chin. "Well, if you can't get a job, maybe you can just use your luck to win some money until you're able to take some class that offers cooking or something."

"Or something." Kira repeated thoughtfully and nodded his head. "Alright, I'll think about it." He relented and began eating his dinner.

Naruto silently cheered as he managed to get his brother to be more sociably, even if it didn't seem like that to the brunet. He offered the napkin to Kira. "Cookie?" he asked smiling brightly.

Kira finished up his dinner and took one of the chocolate chip cookies and had to admit that it was good. "I'm taking the container back now." he said grabbing the box and left through the front door and walked across the lawn to the house next door and was confused for a moment about what to do before steering himself and knocking on the door.

A moment later the door opened to reveal an elderly woman with glasses and Kira held out the empty container. "Oh," she said as she took the container back, "did you eat them all up already?"

"No, we still have some left." Kira answered neutrally.

"Well did you enjoy them?" The woman questioned with a smile.

"My brother liked them very much, and…" Kira paused before adding in a more polite tone, "thank you for your generosity."

"It was no trouble at all." The woman replied waving it off.

"I…I must be getting back home now." Kira said as he was starting to feel awkward, the woman's warm countenance reminding him painfully of his own mother.

"I see, enjoy your stay." The woman replied before closing the door.

Kira began walking back to his new home, but stopped half way and glanced back, his earlier opinion of the neighbours coming back to mind, but this time with a softer edge in his mind. 'Our new neighbours.'

(# Action Pack Issue 4: As Kira searches for a job, Naruto gets caught up in a super villain battle between a certain web slinger and a thrill seeker, the end result further changing the course of canon history.)