I'm not even going to bother making any excuses as to why this has taken so long. Seriously, it is just the posting I'm behind on; I have loads of chapters written and ready to put up. By the way, if I do give up on this, which I have no intention to, I will tell you, not just leave the story hanging, because I find that really annoying.

Enjoy, Industri

Chapter 5

I stepped into my office and looked at the two men in there. One was sitting at my desk – his old desk – and the other was leant against the edge of said desk, looking at me as I walked through the door.

"So, brat, what's got you so desperate for this little meeting?" he asked. I glared at him.

"Don't call me brat. I'm Hokage, so show some respect," I said. Jiraiya-sensei looked at me and laughed.

"Don't forget Hokage-sama, I've seen you at your worst. Remember when you found out Kushina was in labour…?"

I had a brief flashback of running out of Hokage tower and to the hospital, but running into a pole on the way there. The villagers weren't too impressed by that one, seeing their leader being outsmarted by a piece of wood. Saying that, though, neither had Kushina-chan. I shook myself out of my memories as Sandaime started to speak.

"Let's get down to business. Minato, why did you call us here?" I started my story, telling them what had happened to Naruto, and Sasuke, for what I hoped to be the last time. When I was done, Sandaime was looking ahead of himself, a thoughtful expression on his face. I turned to my sensei, whose mouth had dropped open so far I was pretty sure I could see the back of his throat.

"I…He…What…?" he stuttered. "I already dealt with the kid once, why do I have to do it again?" I had to laugh.

"Well, it's not like he's a proper baby, just physically," I explained. "It's weird though, he seems so much different from how he used to be."

"Well, that is understandable, Minato," Sandaime said, speaking for the first time since I'd started telling them the story. "He has lived for sixteen years since he was last this age, he's experienced different things, I wouldn't have expected him to be exactly the same." I nodded. He was making sense, but after that day – the one where it had all changed – it was like I had a different Naruto. This one seemed so much more self dependant and some of the reactions he'd had with other people, it was odd. "Now, I suggest you go to your son and enjoy the remainder of your week off with him. Everything is being taken care of here." I smiled and waved goodbye to the two men and made a hand sign. A second later, I found myself standing outside the Uchiha main house.

Naruto

I looked at Sasuke just as my father was leaving the house and he looked back at me, his eyes scanning over my outfit. I swear I saw the corners of his lips twitch as if he were about to smile. For a moment or two, we were just sat there in silence. I examined his pale skin and super-dark hair and eyes, my mind flickered back to the dream from last night.

"You know Sasuke, I had this dream last night," I said and launched into a full description of the dream. Sasuke sat there and listened, though he didn't give any of his thoughts away. Even as a baby, he was the perfect ninja. When I was finished, he scoffed.

"Dobe, you can't listen to a dream," he said. "It was probably influenced by our conversation yesterday."

"Don't call me dobe, teme," I said. "And it felt so real, it's the only explanation we have." Sasuke looked at me and his expression softened just a bit.

"I know, I had the same dream," he whispered. I glared at him for letting me believe I was just being stupid. "We need to make sure we don't give anything away. We are, no doubt, different in this world and those are the people we need to be." I nodded. It was true. Sasuke would definitely be different as it was the death of his family that made him that way. I still remember him from school. The two of us were actually good friends; sometimes I wonder whether he actually remembers that time.

There were a few more minutes of silence before either of us spoke again. "Wanna have some fun?" Sasuke asked, a mischievous glint that I'd never seen before appearing in his eye. I nodded, and the two of us crawled through to the kitchen where Itachi was sat at the table, clearly writing a report. Sasuke crawled over to him.

"Itachi, we're hungry. Can we have some tomato?" he asked. Itachi sighed and went over to the fridge, opening it up. Sasuke sent me a look that I'd seen many a time when on missions: cause a distraction. I started to cry.

Itachi quickly turned around and lifted me off the floor, balancing me on his hip and bouncing me up and down in attempt to calm me down. To be honest, his attempts didn't work too well and actually only served to make me a little nauseous. After a couple of minutes, I quietened down, pretending to be OK again.

Itachi put me back on the floor and finished preparing Sasuke's tomato. I crawled back into the living room, where I found Sasuke clutching a bottle of sake in his hands. Oh yes, this was going to be fun. This was going to be very fun. I reached into my bag and pulled out my training cup, which was currently empty.

Opening the bottle, Sasuke emptied the contents into the cup and I secured the lid. As Itachi came into the room, I stuck the cup back into my bag, so as not to raise suspicion. He set a little plate with carefully sliced tomato on it in front of us and Sasuke started happily chewing on it. Itachi disappeared back into the kitchen to finish his work.

I picked out my cup and took a long sip of the sake, then handing it to Sasuke for him to have some. This was going to be an interesting day.

Yondaime

I raised my hand and knocked on the door. A few seconds later, it swung open, revealing a dishevelled-looking Itachi. I wondered to myself what seemed to have gotten the usually stone-cool Uchiha in this state.

"Good afternoon, Yondaime-sama. You're back early," he said. Surprisingly, I could hear the smallest hint of panic in his voice. Why did I get the feeling this had something to do with my son?

"Yes, Itachi, it seemed to take less time than I had planned," I answered, then sent him a concerned glance. "Is everything OK?" Itachi's panicked look intensified – though only a little.

"Of course, Yondaime-sama, why would you ask that?" he asked, trying to school his features into a more controlled expression. He was going to try and hide this from me. Oh, Itachi, you may be the best ninja of your generation, but you can't hide anything from me. Everything comes out to the Hokage in the end.

"I'll go get my son, then," I said. Itachi froze – so it did have something to do with Naruto. Eventually, he resigned himself to the fact that he had to let me in and stepped aside. I went into the house, going to the living room where I had left my son a couple of hours ago, and was met with an odd sight.

At first, nothing seemed really off. The boys were just sat there laughing and there was nothing strange about that. Then, I noticed the way they didn't stop laughing and were actually staring at nothing in particular at all. In fact, both were looking in different directions, but at blank pieces of wall. I also noticed the way Naruto seemed to be wobbling, even though he was sat perfectly still.

I turned to Itachi, who instantly went very pale.

"Itachi, what is wrong with my son?" I asked, keeping my voice neutral. Itachi, hearing the calm in my voice, blanched, knowing it was only the calm before the storm.

"Well, it would appear, Hokage-sama, that they were… drunk," Itachi replied. Yes, that much I had surmised.

"And how did they get drunk?" I asked, still keeping my calm tone.

"I don't know," Itachi answered after a few minutes silence. I ignored him and bent down in front of Naruto, directing his gaze so it was focused on me.

"Naruto, how did you and Sasuke get the alcohol?" I asked. Naruto answered, but through his giggles I could only catch a few words: Sasuke… Itachi… and… tomato?

"When I was getting Sasuke's tomato and Naruto started crying… Sasuke must have sneaked a bottle of sake from the fridge," Itachi said after a few seconds, apparently having figured it out.

"How the hell did they get hold of it?" I asked as I spun around. It may not have been Itachi's fault, but there was definitely something that needed to be changed here.

"We keep the sake on the bottom shelf of the fridge," Itachi told me.

"You don't keep alcohol on the bottom shelf when you have toddlers," I said, my voice high with shock at what was happening. "Especially when you have this one—" I pointed to the still giggling Naruto "—visiting. C'mon, you're a top ranking ninja, Itachi, how did you miss it?"

Itachi started spluttering out an excuse as I put the baby carrier back on and slipped Naruto into it. Finally, I slung Naruto's changing bag over my shoulders.

"I'll see you soon, Itachi," was all I said as I left. As soon as I was out of the Uchiha compound, I took to the rooftops, trying to keep the ride as steady as possible as I had no idea what the alcohol was doing to my son's stomach. Once I was back home, I took Naruto straight to the kitchen and sat him in his highchair. Then, I set about searching through the cupboards. Eventually, I came out with a vial containing a bright green liquid, which I mixed with some water in one of Naruto's bottles.

I was able to get him to drink it with ease. The solution was one ninja were supplied with for missions in the situation they may need to sober up quite quickly. Once I had got Naruto to drink the mixture, I lifted him out of his highchair and carried him through to the living room. As it was diluted, it would take a couple of minutes to take affect.

"Mmm, I love you Dad," he mumbled into my shoulder. "Glad I came here, never had this before." I was puzzled at the words coming from my son, but had to push them to the back of my mind as some clarity seemed to return to his eyes and the solution began to take affect.

Naruto

I let my dad's warmth surround me. I suddenly felt very glad I'd been given this second chance to live with him. To have everything I'd always wanted. To be protected.

My mind felt fuzzy and unclear, but I could feel the fog slowly dissipating. I was pulled away from my dad and set down on the sofa. As my vision cleared, I looked up to the Yondaime. There was a look of anger in his features.

Oh shit.