Naruko stayed in bed for the next few days. She seemed very unhappy about what she'd done while Madara was manipulating her. She refused to see anyone but Naruto.

Naruto sat by her beside now, quiet.

Naruko finally said something. "Naruto?"

"Hmm?"

"Could you...introduce me to your friends?"

"Sure I could. I'm sure they'd love you!"

"I don't know..."

"Hey, Naruko, listen. Nobody around here holds a grudge. It's not like you actually killed or hurt anyone."

"It's not that. It's just...won't they hate me for being a Jinchuriki like you?"

"There are some who might. But I've learned that you can't do much of anything about that. No matter who or what you are, somebody will always hate you. All you need to do is not worry about it." Naruto took her hand and pulled her up. "Come on, let's head out. I have quite a few friends, you know."

Naruko looked distastefully at her clothes, which consisted of a white shirt, mid-thigh-length fishnet leggings, and a short, pale blue apron skirt. "I'm not exactly dressed for this."

"Nobody will care. C'mon, let's get going."

Kakashi, Sai, and Sakura had just returned to the Leaf Village from delivering the message that Menma had been defeated.

"Mmmnh...all that travelling has given me quite an appetite," Sakura said, stretching.

"Perhaps we could head to Ichiraku and get some ramen? Perhaps we'll find Naruto there."

"Oh, good idea, Sai! What do you think, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Hm? Oh, whatever you two want is fine." Kakashi went back to his book.

"I swear, you're no help sometimes." Sakura sighed. "Guess we're going to Ichiraku."

The three of them made their way to Ichiraku. Sakura entered first. "Hey, Teuchi, Ayumi. Seen any sign of Naruto?"

"Oh, Sakura!" Naruto said from one end of the bar.

Sakura turned to him and smiled. "Oh, Naruto, there you are!" She moved to take the seat next to him.

"Ah! Could you move down one? The seat's reserved."

"Oh?" Sakura smirked and moved down a seat. Sai and Kakashi followed suit. "Reserved for who? A date?"

"In a manner of speaking, but not really. You see-"

At that moment, Naruko came into the store, holding a small shopping bag. "I'm back, everyone! Teuchi, I got that menma you wanted!" Naruko didn't even notice the perplexed looks on the faces of Kakashi and Sakura (the latter to a much greater extent than the former) until after she sat down.

"I wish I'd been here all my life! This place is great, brother!"

"Brother? Naruto, who's this?"

"Eek!" Naruko practically jumped out of her skin. "O-O-Oh, I-I-I d-didn't see you!"

"Naruko, calm down. These are a few of my friends." He pointed them out individually. "This is Sakura, this is Sai, and that's Kakashi-sensei."

Naruko recovered from her surprise and bowed to them individually. "It's my pleasure."

"Ah, so it's you. It's nice to meet you, Naruko."

"I agree. Though I wish I knew who you were."

"Exactly. I'm still waiting for you to tell me who the hell she is, Naruto, and why she looks just like you."

"This is Naruko. She's my twin sister. According to my parents, the doctors said she was stillborn, but Madara took her and sealed the Yang half of Kurama inside her. She was Menma."

"You were Menma?" Sakura sized Naruko up. "Well, you weren't doing it of your own free will. Also, you're Naruto's sister, so you're okay by me." Sakura held out her hand.

Naruko looked very confused. "Naruto, what do I do?"

"Shake her hand, Naruko."

"Shake...hands?"

"Sorry. She's barely socialized for sixteen years. Here." Naruto took Naruko's hand and guided it into Sakura's. "Now you grip and shake."

Naruko hesitantly gripped Sakura's hand. Sakura smiled and shook her hand. "It's nice to meet you, Naruko."

Naruko beamed. "Heh...thank you." She stood up and shook hands with Sai and Kakashi as well. "Thank you all!"

"Why are you thanking us?" Sai questioned.

"She had...questions...about whether people would accept her."

"I did. Now, though? Not so much. I can tell I was overstressing about it."

"Well, glad we could help."

"Indeed."

Kakashi was too absorbed in his book to provide an answer.

"Hey, mask man." Naruko said, slightly irritated. "Care to acknowledge when a girl is expressing her feelings?"

"Hm? Ah, well-"

"What are you reading, anyway?" Naruko took the book and looked at the cover. "Make-Out Adventures? Oh, one of these books?" She made a sound of disgust and handed the book back. "Soooooo boring. I tried to read Make-Out Tactics once, but it was so damn boring I didn't even make it ten pages in."

"Huh. Really now? I remember your brother saying the same thing."

"Well, we are twins." She winked.

Over the next couple hours, Naruto introduced Naruko to all of his friends, including Gaara, who had come on a diplomatic visit. Now the siblings sat on a bench, munching on a few rice cakes they had procured just a few minutes before.

"Your friends are all great, Naruto. I'm happy that I had the chance to meet them." Naruko seemed to drift off for a second while staring at the Hokage faces on the cliff. "Dad's on there, right?"

"He sure is. Y'know, way back in the when, before I graduated the academy, I got up there and painted on all the faces. Even Dad's."

"Really? Did you get in trouble?"

"Of course. But it meant I got attention. Back then, nobody liked me, so any attention was good attention."

"Hmm...how would you feel about repeating the past?" Naruko grinned.

Naruto grinned back. "I'm always up for a good prank, sis."

Raito was pacing around the office as Rai was doing some paperwork. "I don't know, brother. I just think having the two of them together is a bad idea."

"You're being paranoid. What's the worst thing they could do?" He held up a hand to stop her before she started. "Don't answer that. Hey, could you open the window? Let some fresh air in."

"Yeah, sure..." Raito went to the window and opened it. "Ahh, it sure is a-" She stopped mid-sentence. "Oh. Oh. Oh, for the love of..." She walked away from the window, hand over her eyes. "I told you it was a bad idea."

"Well, now I have to see this." Rai got up and went to the window. Naruko and Naruto were each hanging from a rope ladder, painting on the face last in line: his own. The other five had already been hit, and were covered with garish swirls and star patterns.

The more Rai looked at it, the less he could contain himself. He began laughing, gradually at first but quickly escalating.

Raito was appalled. "How could you laugh at this? You-"

"Oh, lighten up, sis!" Rai said, still laughing. "Ah...this is good."

"How is this 'good'? What am I missing?"

"People are still shell-shocked from the war with the Biju, and adding another one on top of that was the straw that broke a lot of camel's backs. People can finally recover now that there's no significant threats we're aware of out there. This..." He gestured at the cliff. "...This is good for morale. A landmark always so stoic and serious made lighthearted and humorous. It'll make people laugh."

Raito accepted her brother's reasoning. "I hope you're going to punish them, brother."

"Oh, of course. They'll be cleaning it."