Chapter 17 - Addressing The Issue.

Pairing: Naruto x Uchiha Mikoto.

THIS WILL NOT BE A HAREM

A/N: Just a quick information here, I plan on releasing chapters every other week on Saturdays. Time depends on whether or not the chapter is already done for that day, or if it's still being edited, but around evening/afternoon time depending on where you are.

Also just want to quickly mention that this chapter is more focused on the relationship development between the various characters. Not that the prior chapters have been that much different, but they had been more focused on specific characters. This is more world-building and relationship-building between side-lined characters.

Naruto's Family Estate.

As morning came in the form of bright rays of sunlight entering through the gap between the curtains, the raven-haired woman laying on the couch groaned softly as her eyelids fluttered open to reveal those deep onyx eyes. Her gaze blurred, as she blinked a few times to have the world appear around her, but in the end, settled for closing her eyes again. Her reasoning for doing so, was because she was feeling way too comfortable to get up now.

She had a vague idea that she had fallen asleep on the couch, especially since she had no memory of actually going to bed, but why was the couch this comfortable? She had napped before on the couch in her old home, but that always left her with a bit of a stiff neck and not too well-rested.

And then there was another thing, the couch was surprisingly warm like it had its own source of heat. And it was moving. Like it was breathing. Her own body seemed to rise a bit, and then fall down again in a rhythm. Couches weren't supposed to be breathing. So she slowly opened her eyes, narrowing them slightly to shield them from the annoying sunlight that had woken her up from her slumber.

What she saw next surprised her greatly, because as her vision cleared her vision was met by the sleeping face of a very familiar blond. It caused her cheeks to burn up, specifically because of how close his face was. It did make her question, what was he doing here? Had he fallen asleep on the couch too?

It was only when her memories started to come back to her, that she realized that she had probably trapped him there when she captured him in that hug the night before. It did make her giggle lightly. He probably hadn't had the heart to wake her up again. He was such a silly blond baka but in a good way.

With a light smile, she raised her hand and gently tapped his forehead with her pointer finger. Hearing him groan, she shook her head, removed the arm that she had swung over him during the night, and started to shake him lightly. What she hadn't thought of, was their position. While she had been laying up against the backrest of the couch, Naruto wasn't. So when she started shaking him, her eyes widened with alertness as the blond rolled backward and eventually landed on the floor with a loud thud.

She placed a hand on top of her mouth, leaning over the edge of the couch to look down at the blond that was groaning slightly while rubbing the back of his head, "What the hell… Huh, Mikoto-basan?" He asked confused, staring up at her, which for some reason caused her to fall into a giggling mess.

"S-Sorry! I tried waking you up…" She managed to speak out between giggles, wiping a tear away from the corner of her eye as she stared down at the blond teen that was looking up at her like she had gone crazy.

"And you decided that the best way to do so, was by pushing me off the couch?" He asked with a deadpan expression.

The raven-haired woman stared down at him and shrugged, "Well, poking you in the face didn't seem to work, so why not? It did the job," she smirked.

Naruto pouted as she laid there sprawled out on the floor, the smug grinning face of the Uchiha woman staring down at him from above. Getting a bright idea, or so he thought, he extended a hand upward, "Here, can you at least help me up?"

Tilting her head so her jet-black locks of hair hung down from the side of her face, Mikoto just extended her hand down from the edge of the couch, but her eyes widened in surprise as suddenly the blond's hand moved past it, grasped onto her wrist, and dragged her forward. "W-Wait a minute!"

It was, however, far too late to protest. Naruto had already made up his mind and pulled on her arm so that she rolled down from the couch and down on top of him. What he hadn't thought about, was what he'd do next. Because now he was stuck beneath the woman's body, staring directly up into her face, looking just as flustered as she was. Her hair hanging down from her face, making a curtain of black hair strands around them.

He was about to respond or possibly apologize, but then again not really. She had caused it herself, but the sound of light footsteps stopped him. Tilting his head backward, his scalp still resting on the floor, he saw Karin staring down at him like he had grown a second head.

"Aniki? Mikoto-san? What're you doing on the floor?" She asked curiously, her gaze shifting between Mikoto and Naruto, wondering what had happened.

The blond grunted and let his head fall forward again, so he looked up at the ceiling. "Domestic abuse." Was his only response, which only seemed to confuse Karin even further.

The woman on top of him shook her head and bonked him on top of his, before moving off of him and standing up. Dusting her clothes off, she giggled, "Naruto-kun is just living up to the color of his hair."

"Now that's just mean…" Naruto sighed and stood up, stretching his body to get rid of the tiredness.

He didn't seem to get a response as the female Uchiha walked around the corner, and he could hear her footsteps going up the stairs. Sighing he reached over and ruffled Karin's hair, making the young girl giggle, "So what's for breakfast? Is your mother awake?"

Karin smiled and nodded, reaching up to grasp Naruto's bigger hand with both of hers as she dragged him with her into the kitchen, "Mhm! She is preparing breakfast, and she is making steamed rice, miso soup, and grilled fish! Oh! And she is also making tea! Does that mean you'll finally eat breakfast with us?"

Naruto raised a brow and looked down confused, "Finally?"

Karin pouted and forced him to sit in the seat next to hers, "Yeah finally! You haven't had breakfast with us yet. Only lunch."

Naruto just blinked as Akari walked up beside the place he was seated, "Ohayo, Naruto-kun. So nice of you to join us for breakfast this morning." She greeted with a mocking tone, placing down a bowl filled with rice, and a second one that she poured some miso soup into.

The blond blushed slightly and scratched the back of his head with a sigh, "Yeah, yeah, I know. I'll try to show up for breakfast from now on, it's just been a few chaotic days."

Akari just shook her head and patted him on the shoulder, "That's good to hear, remember that you've missed out on doing the dishes. So, they will be yours to do after breakfast."

Naruto blinked and stared, 'It's my house… when did I approve of those rules?' He mentally questioned, shaking his head before taking a pair of chopsticks to begin eating his breakfast.

Before he could take the first bite of his breakfast, he could hear footsteps on the stairs again. And down came Mikoto with Sasuke in tow, both of them having changed out of the funeral clothing by now, leaving only him to still remain in the dark set of clothes.

Raising a hand he waved with a small smile, "Ohayo, Sasuke-kun." He greeted the young raven.

Sasuke had been wiping the sleep from his eyes, not that he had gotten much, and stared as if he was in a genjutsu. Naruto-nii had shown up for breakfast? That had to be something new. "Ohayo, Naruto-nii. What's for breakfast?" He yawned and pulled out a chair on the other side of Naruto, and took a seat beside the blond brother figure.

Before the blond could answer, he had been served his portion of breakfast, and soon they were all seated together around the table and eating when Akari lifted her head from her food and asked, "Anything specific happening today?"

Mikoto wiped her mouth with a napkin as she lowered her chopsticks, and looked down at Sasuke before turning her gaze onto the redhead, "Taking the recent events into consideration, Hokage-sama has informed me that Sasuke-kun has been allowed to have a momentarily leave from the academy, but in order for him to still keep up with the class and not have to retake this year, I have to pick up some homework for him today."

Naruto could visibly see Sasuke's face drop but wasn't completely sure whether or not it was because of a reminder of the things that had happened, or the mention of homework.

"I see, Karin and I have to go to work in around an hour. Or rather, I'm going to work and Karin has been rather great at keeping me company during my shifts." Akari responded, sending a warm smile down toward her daughter that just grinned with rice covering the corners of her mouth as she ate her food with glee.

The raven-haired woman smiled at the interaction between the mother and her daughter before she looked over to the blond Uzumaki that was eating his food quietly, "What about you Naruto-kun? Knowing you, you're probably busy the entire day and night." She snorted, a mocking grin on her face.

Naruto deadpanned and lifted his eyes with an amused look, "Actually, I've first got to go around noon. Give or take. Oji-san told me that I didn't have to show up too early today, so I thought that perhaps I'd relax for once."

Sasuke seemed to perk up a little at that, lifting his head up to look at the blond, "Can you maybe help me with my homework then? I also have to do shuriken training at some point…"

Mikoto frowned a bit and sighed, "Sorry Sasuke, but I was told to pick your homework up around noon as well."

The young Uchiha frowned heavily at that and started just picking at his food with his chopsticks, "Oh, okay then…"

Naruto frowned too at the sight, but then got an idea. So he gently elbowed Sasuke in the side and leaned down, placing a hand beside his mouth as he whispered, "You know, I've gotten an office at the Hokage tower. So if you bring along your homework, I bet we can get a look at it as I do today's tasks."

Sasuke's eyes instantly lit up at that, his head turning with lightning speed, "You mean it?"

The blond chuckled and placed a hand on top of Sasuke's head, ruffling the boy's hair slightly, "Sure do, I mean, how hard can academy homework be? Bet I could I give you all the answers with my eyes closed."

As he finished his sentence, he heard a cough from Mikoto as she gave him a skeptical look. So with a gulp, he chuckled slightly, "I mean… Help you, with the answers."

"Does that mean you can help me with shuriken training before we leave? I can perfectly throw them when I only hold one or two in my hand, but when there are more than that it doesn't really work out." Sasuke pouted, hoping that the blond would say yes.

"I don't see why not, I'm sure you just have to fix your stance and grip a bit to adjust to the weight difference. Is there any difference between when you throw one shuriken at a time, and when you throw two?" Naruto asked curiously, taking the last bite of his breakfast before pushing his dishes away.

Sasuke looked a bit thoughtful at that and nodded slowly, "Well, yeah a bit. It does feel like even if I mostly hit dead center when I throw two, there are times where one of the two miss the bullseye as well."

Naruto smiled slightly, "It indeed sounds like you just have to get used to the weight difference. While it won't be as big of a problem in the future because you grow stronger and bigger every day, it may be a good idea to get used to a second stance until then so you can always get your desired results."

"So it will be an easy thing to master?"

"Well, assuming that it is indeed just a matter of what I told you, then we're probably done before you even throw the first shuriken." Naruto acknowledged, chuckling slightly as Sasuke pumped his fist with a quiet 'yes' escaping his mouth.

It made the blond smile a bit, it was nice to see Sasuke being a bit happier. He had seemed a bit gloomy when he had first arrived in the kitchen. It had probably been a mix of being tired and feeling sad, but at least he was smiling now, which was the important thing.

The rest of breakfast went by quietly. A bit too quiet for everyone's taste but the mood was still somewhat gloomy. There wasn't really much to be said during the time, so the atmosphere was easily noticeable as they ate their food in silence. Despite the attempts at hiding it, it was quite obvious that three out of five at the table weren't in the best of moods.

When people had started to get ready for their day, Naruto stood, staring out of the window, as he washed the dishes and placed them on a towel beside the sink so the excess water wouldn't get anywhere. His eyes were locked on Sasuke who was keeping himself busy with his shuriken practice. It was easy to see that he and Itachi were brothers, even to someone that didn't know they were beforehand. They both coped with difficult matters the same way by occupying their minds and thoughts with training as the distraction.

"Why don't I dry the dishes off. It sounded like he really wanted your help with some pointers." Blinking a few times as he refocused his mind, Naruto turned his head to face Mikoto that had, at some point, made her way to stand beside him, gazing out at her son from the kitchen window.

Naruto gave a short snort followed by a chuckle as he dried a plate off and put it up in the cabinet, "Heh, if Akari figures out that I ditched the dishes again, then I'm likely to get an earful later." He joked lightly, noticing a small smile on the older woman's features as she snatched the towel from his hands.

With a short shake of her head, she grasped onto a plate and started to take over, "Just say that you were following orders, isn't that the usual protocol?" She smirked up to him, watching the blond teen roll his eyes as he dried his hands.

Giving a mock salute, Naruto bowed his head with the most serious face he could muster. Which wasn't much, considered he was about to lose it. "Hai, Taichou. I shall comply with thy bidding, even if it shall cost me my life. Hail the empress!"

Mikoto snorted and put down the dishes she had dried off, and swirled the dishtowel around a few times before playfully whipping the blond's face with it. "Stop being such a goofball. You're so annoying!" She laughed with a slightly larger smile on her face, letting the teen in front of her know that it was all for fun and that she didn't actually mean the words.

Naruto's eyes widened as he rubbed his forehead, where the towel had slapped his skin. Narrowing his eyes, he reached behind him and grabbed a spare towel, and mumbled, "It's treason then." And whipped it in her direction, making her squeal with surprise along with a daring grin on her face.

"Stop being so overdramatic, you're supposed to be in ANBU." She laughed and leaned back against the counter while forcefully pulling the towel out of his hands, and throwing it in the opposite direction.

Chuckling lightly, Naruto waved his hands around before walking past Mikoto, "Fine, fine, if you so insist. I'll go check on Sasuke-kun." He smiled and nodded his head gratefully at having been relieved of dishwashing duty.

"Naruto."

Blinking slightly, Naruto stopped in his tracks and started to turn around, but paused completely in his movement when he felt a pair of warm soft lips on his cheek, that disappeared a few moments after. His entire face turning light pink, as he lifted his palm to place it on his cheek while looking at the raven-haired woman that was smiling sweetly at him.

Closing her eyes, she nodded her head down, "Thank you for everything you did for me last night, and staying with me even until morning. I… I had the best sleep in a very long time. In years in fact, even if it was on a couch." She laughed softly, opening her eyes again to look at him.

The blush on Naruto's face intensified a bit as he scratched the back of his head before it eventually faded and he just gave a warm smile. "Anytime, unless you want to make a habit of pushing me onto the floor in the morning. Jokes aside, you don't even have to ask." And with that, the blond wandered off and out of the door.

Mikoto followed his movement outside from the kitchen window as she finished the dishes, wondering slightly to herself if that would be okay. She hadn't slept like that in years. For once after a long time, she had actually felt relaxed and safe in her sleep. It had been like laying in the shadow of a tree at the beach on a warm summer day in Hi no Kuni. Saying it had been amazing, may not even be that farfetched.

It did however make her frown a bit. Because when thinking back, to when she had last had a similar experience was when she was much younger. She didn't mean that her sleep had been terrible during her marriage, but it had been content. She had slept, but something really hurt when thinking about it.

Marriage was supposed to be more than just being content, right? Not that she would change anything. She loved the kids it had brought her more than anything, but sometimes, she just dreamt that she had gotten the exact same two lovely boys, but with someone… that put in the effort to make her feel loved.

Sasuke groaned loudly out of frustration as he once again threw his three shurikens, the first two hitting dead center, but the third missing the target altogether, and proceeding to fly beyond the training ground and into the bushes beyond.'Every damn time!' He fussed and stormed over, grasping onto the first shuriken, and tried to angrily yank it out of the wood, only to find himself unable to.

Glaring at the stuck weapon, Sasuke felt like pulling the hair out of his head until he saw a bigger hand enter his field of vision, which pulled the shuriken free seemingly without effort. "You know, frustration won't do any good. It'll only make it worse." The young Uchiha heard, pouting a bit as he looked up at his blond brother figure.

"Sorry, Naruto-nii…" He whispered and let his arms drop to his sides.

Naruto tilted his head a bit and handed Sasuke the shuriken and an extra to compensate for the one he had thrown away earlier, before ruffling the boy's hair, "Why are you apologizing? It's okay to be sad and frustrated. Honestly, I'd be more concerned if you weren't." The blond spoke softly as he crouched down beside the boy to get in eye height.

Sasuke just sighed and turned around, "Never mind." Was his simple response, which in turn caused the blond counterpart to raise a brow at him.

"It's okay to be frustrated, it'll work out. It just needs practice. Though, I have a feeling like that isn't the only thing that bothers you." Naruto asked as he sat down crossed legged, and watched Sasuke throw the shuriken again with gritted teeth.

Taking a deep breath Sasuke stormed over and yanked the shuriken free of the targets and waltzed back in place, "I told you it doesn't matter. I'm fine, no point in talking about it."

"Yeah, and the sky is purple. I understand that you don't want people to worry, but bottling it up is bad for you. Trust me, I almost had a battle to the death with my sensei over it."

Scowling to himself, Sasuke glared at the older teen from the corner of his eyes "I told you I don't wanna talk about it! So could you just drop it already? If you aren't gonna help me train, then why are you even here?"

"Is caring about you not enough reason to be here?"

Carelessly tossing the shuriken out of his hand, so one almost hit Naruto, Sasuke threw his arms into the air, "Why do you care so much? You're not even an Uchiha! My family was killed, not yours."

"That's not true. My family was killed. It may be a long time ago now, but I know exactly what you're going through. I may not be an Uchiha, but just because I'm not doesn't mean that I can't care." Naruto smiled slightly and idly placed his foot against the shuriken that barely missed him.

"But why do you care? Why? It has nothing to do with you…"

It was a fair enough question. Though, the answer was fairly simple. At least to the blond. "Sasuke, how long have we known each other now?"

Lowering his head slightly, Sasuke started glaring holes in the ground beneath him, "For as long as I can remember… Why? What does that have to do with anything?"

Naruto stood up from his seated position, and walked over to gently pat the boy on the shoulder, "That's right. I was one of the first people that wasn't an Uchiha to meet you. I can still remember the day. And it didn't take you long to start calling me something, which gives me all the reason to care."

"What?"

"You started calling me brother, you did so just a moment ago as well. You call me Naruto-nii, you've done so for years. I can still remember your dad's expression when he first heard it, and just how confused you looked when he started questioning why."

The mention of that, did manage Sasuke to crack a small brief smile, "Yeah, and so what?"

Shaking his head, Naruto ruffled the boy's black hair, "If you acknowledge me like a brother, then what kind of brother would I be if I didn't even care in the slightest? And do you honestly think, that if I didn't feel the same way, that I'd let you call me brother? I see you as my little brother too, even if your hair is considerably darker, and far more duckish than mine." He quipped with a smirk

"I guess that makes sense…" he pouted

"That's why, I want you to let me know how you feel. I can't help you if you don't let me, and I think that I've shown I care. So why don't you let me know what's on your mind?"

The younger boy shrugged and fidgeted around slightly, "I don't know what to feel. I don't understand it at all…"

This was at least a start. "What is it you don't understand?"

"I don't understand that when everything seemed fine, then Itachi just… Itachi just kills our entire clan!" The frustration was more than evident in the boy's voice as he kept talking, which just saddened the blond.

Letting someone that already knew about the reason behind the massacre know that he was in on what happened was one thing, but revealing the true reason behind it to someone that was completely unaware? Yeah, he most likely wouldn't get whole skinned through that. Telling Mikoto was one thing, but he didn't know if he could tell Sasuke without getting put in jail for treason.

"I wish I knew I had answers, but I'm confused too." Naruto lied with a sigh, "I just know, that I won't stop looking before I find an answer. I didn't get to hear much, it was mostly just an ass beating on my part." He tried to joke, which failed miserably. He didn't technically lie here, since he was shown the truth compared to being told about it. It was probably still a lie nonetheless.

"If someone like you, who spent almost every day with him didn't know anything at all… then did I even know him at all?" Sasuke whispered out, which caused Naruto's eyes to widen. Yeah, he had asked that same question when he had entered the compound that night. So fueled by negative emotions and questions revolving around whether or not he actually knew the person he called brother as much as he thought he did.

Wrapping an arm around the young boy, Naruto gave him a brief squeeze, "As hard as it is to stop, then it's pointless to think about it right now. We don't know enough to come up with a conclusion, the best we can do is to move forward from this. It'll be hard as hell, but I'll be here for you through it all. I promise."

"How can I believe you?"

Tilting his head confused, Naruto raised a brow, "What?"

"How can I believe you?! Itachi said the absolute damn thing! That he would always be there because he was my older brother! Then where the hell is he now? He lied! So how can I know that this isn't a lie either?! How… How can I know that you won't just abandon us as he did..." By the time he was finished, tears were already steadily flowing down his face.

"I don't know." Naruto sighed and tried to bring Sasuke into a hug, but the raven-haired boy just stepped away to keep staring at him. Trying to find the truth in his words. "I don't know what to say or do to make you believe me, at the end of the day I can only really give you my word and hope that you'll believe it."

Sasuke just looked away and started to wipe the tears away from his face. As he stared at the blond from the corner of his eyes, he clenched his fists and whispered, "I don't know what to believe anymore…"

"Well, I feel the same. There isn't a lot of stuff that I have the answers for, but there is one thing I do know." Naruto paused, as Sasuke turned his head to fully face him again. His eyes red and puffy, a big frown on his face as he stared intensely at the blond's azure eyes. "If I abandoned the people that gave me a home again after I lost everything, then I'd be a bigger scum than I could live with being."

The raven-haired boy's lips started trembling before he flew forward and all but slammed his arms around the blond's neck, placing his face in his shoulder as the tears fell like a waterfall from his face.

Naruto lifted his arms up and wrapped them around the younger boy, and returned the hug while sadly looking at the ground behind him. 'I wish I could tell you everything so that it wouldn't hurt. Hopefully, I can do that one day. So that you won't hate him for what he did. I'll remove Danzo from the equation, and do everything I can to bring Itachi home and clear his name. I promise.'

On the inside of the house, Mikoto stood with a smile on her face as she watched the exchange between the two boys through the window. She decided that it had to be luck, that someone like Naruto was around for Sasuke in these times. Honestly, the thought of what could've happened to him if he hadn't been there, scared her.

"He's something else, isn't he?" She heard from her left and turned around to see Akari walking up beside her to watch the blond boy comfort the young Uchiha.

The raven-haired woman nodded and started to prepare some tea while looking up at the clock, there was still a bit of time before she'd have to go pick up Sasuke's homework. "He certainly is. He has always been rather unique. Tea?"

Akari looked out at the blond out in the garden, "What do you mean?" She asked out of curiosity, before nodding her head in the other woman's direction with a smile "Yes, thank you." She replied to the kind offer and picked up two cups.

Mikoto poured them both a cup and sat down at the kitchen table, from where they could still watch over what they were doing from inside of the house. "Naruto has always had this thing about him I suppose. It's hard to explain, but I guess you could say he's like sunshine. He's a selfless boy that always wants to help others. No matter the cost… That's just how he is, but I'm sure y'know that."

The redhead nodded and sat across from Mikoto at the table, sipping slowly at the warm tea, "It's hard to disagree about something like that, I mean, who else would just wander to a foreign nation and challenge the authorities for two people he didn't even know beforehand?" She giggled slightly as they watched Naruto and Sasuke separate out in the private training ground.

"That's a very good question. I doubt anyone else would, especially if it's without some kind of reward or payment. Seems like he's done it a couple of times by now. Always the same with him, I wonder how long he can keep it up." There was a hint of sadness in the woman's voice, as she rested her chin on her palm.

The Uzumaki blinked before turning her gaze onto the woman in front of her head, and away from the duo outside. "I'm afraid I don't follow?"

Mikoto sighed softly and rubbed her cheek, "He saved the future of the Uzumaki and the Uchiha. He also saved Kakashi from himself, or well, is in the process of doing so. Kakashi-kun was the student of his father, and they have been like siblings since the day Naruto was born."

"Why would Hatake-san need saving?" Akari questioned a bit concerned. True, she may just have just met the scarecrow a couple of days prior, but he had been nice and welcoming. Even a bit more than the rest of the village had been, and they alone had been incredibly friendly toward them.

The Uchiha bit her bottom lip and leaned back in her seat, "It's a bit of a private matter, but Kakashi-kun has lost a lot of people. And Naruto has been a very good friend to him throughout it all."

Akari nodded with a small smile, looking back outside to watch Naruto help Sasuke out with his stance, "I just hope he doesn't forget to take care of himself while he's too busy looking after everyone else." She noted softly and took a sip of her tea.

So that was chapter 17, time sure flies. Anyhow, some of you have requested me move a bit faster at this rate, and I can only say that it will once the foundation of the stay has been made.

Some may ask why it isn't done 80k words into the story yet, but my beta did a good job reminding me that a story like Mushoku Tensei who takes it's time building it up, wouldn't be at the same level if it moved faster. Anyone who has read the light novel and the manga, can apparently all tell that the light novel which is more slow paced, is a hundred times better, but we're getting there. Don't worry.

The time era around the massacre is mostly the place where such a long arc like this one is going to take place, but remember that these 80k words haven't been sorely focused on the massacre either. We've been around the Kusa arc too, and introduced several key characters that'll be important throughout the story.

Anyhow, with those words said, as usual we have a couple of questions to get some interaction going:

Do you think Naruto will/should tell Sasuke about the truth eventually? So that he knows why Itachi did what he did, so there won't be an 'avenger' like in canon?