Hello, my dear readers. This is Unknown entity328 and I'm back with a new chapter of New Life in Naruto?! So sorry for the delay in updating. It's been pretty crazy irl and work made it near impossible to find time to write. But that isn't going to stop me from supplying you all with new chapters read during these troubling times. I can go on, but I believe I've left you waiting long enough so I'm going to shut up now let you enjoy the chapter I have provided for you. Hope you enjoy.

Chapter Fourteen: Meaning in a Name

It took every ounce of willpower I had just not to jump around in excitement at the fact I'm actually standing outside of the Hidden Leaf Village! I was so excited, I couldn't help but look around in awe at the many buildings I could see from outside the gates before my eyes landed on the stone faces of the previous hokage on the cliff behind the village. Hashirama Senju, Tobirama Senju, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and Minato Namikaze. Each one I respected in my previous life for what they did for the village when they were alive. Okay, I admit that I'm fanboying right now, but can you blame me? I'm standing in front of arguably the strongest village of the Five Great Shinobi Nations for crying out loud!

"Those are the faces of our hokage." Shisui explained when he saw that the stone faces caught my attention as he too looked up to them. "The first hokage envisioned it to be a symbol that the Hokage would always watch over the village."

'I already knew that.' I thought, giving Shisui a side glance before looking back to the hokage mountain. 'Not that he'd believe me if I told him how I knew.'

"It would be hard to believe for any human, Kojiro." Isobu pointed out from my mindscape as Shisui placed a hand on my back and gently pushed me towards the gate conversing with the guards posted there. "Remember that the closest thing they know of reincarnation is the Reanimation Jutsu."

'That's true.' I nodded in agreement, having my eyes half closed to act like I was tired and nodding off. They seem to have bought my act when Shisui suddenly picked me up and rested my head on his shoulder before walking us into the village. 'I just hope I can keep my past life a secret for as long as I can.'

"Why do you want to keep it a secret, Kojiro?" Isobu asked, confused as to why I would want to keep my past life which in turns keeps my future knowledge a secret too. "Would it not be best to take advantage of what you know to save many lives?"

'Ideally, that would be the best course of action.' I thought back, carefully monitoring my breathing to keep up the act that I fell asleep so as to not rouse suspicion from Shisui. 'But I can't just recklessly give out information about what will happen. Every change made increases the chance of the knowledge I have being useless when we really need it.'

"Let me see if I understand what you are saying." I repositioned my head on Shisui's shoulder before cracking an eye opening to see where we were and saw the people we passed were giving us curious looks. "You do not want to tell anyone about your past life so as to maintain your future knowledge to use when absolutely necessary?"

'Exactly.' I thought, feeling a little nervous with all the stares directed my way from the people that walk by. 'I know it's selfish of me, but I have to be very careful with what I say and do or else the wrong person will try to use me for their own personal gain.'

My mental conversation with Isobu was interrupted when Shisui stopped walking and gently shook me. I let out a low groan, slowly opened my eyes, and raised my head from his shoulder before using the back of my hand to rub the sleep out of my eyes. "We're here."

"Where?" I asked, letting a fake yawn as Shisui let me down. He just gestured his head for me to look behind me so I did just that to see that we were in front of a large tower that had the character for fire on top.

"To see the Hokage." Shisui explained, placing a hand on my shoulder. "I have to report my mission and your situation to him before we can decide if you can stay here or not."

'I just hope they don't have a Yamanaka to look at my memories.' I thought as I nodded in understanding to Shisui before we entered the building and started to climb the stairs. 'Oh who am I kidding? Of course they would want to look at my memories to make sure I'm not a threat, even if I am just a kid.'

"Do not worry, Kojiro." Isobu said reassuringly as I felt his chakra course through my body that helped calm me down a little. "If they do look through your memories, I will hide the ones you do not want them to see."

'You can do that?' I asked in surprise while trying not to outwardly show it on my face as we reached the desired floor before walking down the halls passing an occasional leaf ninja that greeted Shisui. 'I didn't know you tailed beasts can do something like that.'

"I do reside in your mindscape, Kojiro." Isobu reminded me while I hid myself behind Shisui when one leaf ninja tried to reach a hand towards me. "Because of that, I can not only look at them, but I can also hide the ones you do not want others to see."

I started to feel myself relax a little at that piece of information, but I was still a little tense when I peeked out from behind Shisui only to stifle a laugh fighting to come out when I saw that the leaf ninja Shisui was talking to was making the most ridiculous face I've ever seen. In the end, I gave in and let out a loud laugh that echoed through the hall as tears built up in my eyes from how hard I was laughing.

"See, I told you I can get him to laugh." The leaf ninja said to Shisui with a victorious grin on his face.

"That you did." Shisui replied to the man before looking down and chuckled when he saw that I was still laughing. "This is actually the first time I heard Kojiro laugh."

"So his name's Kojiro?" The man inquired as he knelt down so he could be at eye level with me when I was able to stop laughing. Now that I had a closer look at him, he looked pretty young, maybe in his late teens to early twenties? He had long brown haired that was tied into a ponytail and hazel colored eyes that seem to shine with youthful enthusiasm. He held out his hand again and this time I shyly took it and we shook which brought a grin on the man's face. "Nice to meet you, Kojiro. My name's Zensuke Yamai and let me be the first to welcome you to the leaf village."

"Hello." I greeted softly with a small smile as we both let go and I fully stepped out from behind Shisui to bow politely to the now named Zensuke. "Thank you for the warm welcome."

"Nice." Zensuke nodded in approval before getting to his feet to address Shisui. "Polite and has manners, not many kids like that out there."

"Indeed." Shisui nodded in agreement, looking out a window when the sound of shouting could be heard outside. "Especially here if you get what I mean."

"Naruto." My ears twitched at the name as Zensuke sighed in exasperation with a hand on his forehead. I could practically see Zensuke's patience about to snap at any moment with how his eyebrow was twitching. "I swear, if that boy put itching powder in everyone's clothes again, I'm going to give him the tonguelashing of his life."

"You'll have to catch him first." Shisui said as I caught sight a streak of blonde speed past us followed by streaks of green. "So far, no one but Iruka can successfully find that boy, which is sad when you think about it."

"I know." Zensuke groaned, crossing his arms with a pout on his face which I had to keep down a snicker at how childish the grown man looked. "Over a dozen chunin can't catch one kid but an academy instructor can? Am I the only one who sees something wrong with this picture?"

"Goes to show they need to train harder." Shisui replied as he took my hand in his and I understood what Shisui's words meant. If they can't catch one kid, what are the chances of them fending off an enemy attack? "You better go help the others find Naruto, I need to report to lord hokage."

"Yeah, I guess I should help." Zensuke nodded in agreement before smiling down at me and waved. "Till we meet again, Kojiro." Then with a hand sign, Zensuke was gone in a puff of smoke.

"It's never a dull moment in this village." I heard Shisui mutter under his breath with a slight chuckle before holding a hand out to me. I took the hand and we continued down the hall to where I knew the hokage was waiting for us. "I think you'll like it here, Kojiro."

'Especially since Naruto's wreaking havoc right now.' I thought in amusement at the thought of befriending the blonde jinchuriki and doing pranks together. My thought process came to a screeching halt at 'jinchuriki' and remembered a certain orange nine-tailed fox. 'Isobu, do you think I should help Naruto and Kurama be friends?'

"Hmm, it would be beneficial to us if they were on good terms early." Isobu replied with a thoughtful tone in his voice. "However, my brother can be pretty stubborn and can hold a grudge."

'Isn't there anything we can do?' I persisted, balling my hand that wasn't Shisui's into a tight fist. 'Can't you use your Tailed Beast Telepathy to ask him to at least consider it?'

I know I'm asking for the impossible, but I want this to work no matter what I had to do. If Naruto and Kurama were on good terms early, then the chances of defeating Madara and Kaguya in the future would increase slightly. With them having a stronger connection by the time Obito makes his move, we can hopefully have enough strength to prevent Madara and Kaguya's resurrections. It was a big risk despite what I said earlier about not using my knowledge recklessly, but it was a risk I'm willing to take if it means Naruto and the others were strong enough for the Fourth Great Ninja War.

"I can try, but I make no promises." Isobu said after a moment of silence to think over what he should do. "But like I said, Kurama can be pretty stubborn, so he probably won't believe me if I told him how you know everything about us tailed beasts."

Now that's a problem that needs to be nipped at the bud as soon as possible. If I can't get Kurama to cooperate or at least listen to what I have to say, then any chance of getting Naruto stronger will be out the proverbial window! Sure, there's the option of teaching him numerous jutsu and working on his taijutsu, but even that has limits. Naruto won't stand a chance against Madara without Kurama's help, so I need to think of something fast to get them to at least be on speaking terms.

"We're here." Shisui's voice brought me back to reality to see that we stopped in front of a single door and I tried to fight the urge to fidget. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as Shisui brought his free hand up and started to knock on the door.

"Come in."

'The moment of truth.' I couldn't help the thought as I took a deep breath to calm my nerves as Shisui opened the door and we stepped inside. 'We'll continue our conversation later, Isobu. Right now, I need to focus on this.'

"Alright, good luck, Kojiro." I heard Isobu reply before he closed our connection and I turned my attention to the elderly man sitting behind a desk with a smoking pipe in his hand.

His skin was really light, had a grey goatee and his face was covered in wrinkles and liver spots that showed his age. The red and white hokage hat sat comfortably on his head along with a white haori with a red, full-length kimono that was tied using a white sash. It was difficult, but I was able to hold back the tears that wanted to come out when I remembered how this old man, Hiruzen Sarutobi, died for the sake of the village.

Hiruzen looked up from the scroll he was looking through to see who came in and smiled when he saw me and Shisui. "Ah, welcome back, Shisui. How was your mission?"

"I'm afraid there's not much to report, lord hokage." Shisui said with regret in his voice as he pulled out a scroll from his flak jacket and approached Hiruzen before holding the scroll out to him. "There was nothing but ashes when I arrived, this has all the details written inside."

"I see." Hiruzen sighed, taking the scroll from Shisui and placed it on his desk to read later. "All that matters is that you returned unharmed." He then turned his attention to me which made me nervous being under that piercing gaze before Hiaruzen relaxed and smiled my way. "And you returned with company it seems."

"M-my name's Kojiro, lord hokage." I inwardly cringed that I stuttered and practically ruined a good first impression before bowing to Hiruzen.

"I found him in the ruins of the abandoned village belonging to the Kurosawa clan." Shisui explained, turning Hiruzen's attention from me back to him as I straightened myself and fought the urge to tap into Isobu's chakra for comfort. "I don't know the full story, but it would appear that he is an orphan."

"An orphan?" Hiruzen placed his pipe on a stand on his desk before he interlaced his fingers and rested his chin on them when he heard I was an orphan. "What makes you say that, Shisui?"

Instead of answering Hiruzen, Shisui knelt down to be at eye level with me. "Kojiro, may I see the scroll I gave you?"

At first I was confused by his words, but then I remembered that he did give me a scroll and placed my right hand on my pant pocket that had the scroll in question. The scroll that had my parents' headbands and the scrolls I found in the ruined Kurosawa village sealed inside. I knew why he wanted to see the scroll, but I still hesitated in taking it out and giving it to Shisui. My trust in him went up a little when he took care of me when I had a fever, but not enough to outweigh the fear and doubt deep inside me. Instead, I placed both hands protectively over the pant pocket and took a few steps back.

"Please, Kojiro?" Shisui asked patiently, holding up his hands as a sign he wouldn't do anything. "I promise to give it back when we're done."

I just shook my head and took another step back, never taking my eyes off Shisui. I hate how, despite my mental age, I'm still acting like a scared child that was back into a corner. But I couldn't help it, ever since I left the Land of Water, my life was constantly in danger from nearly getting killed to many other things I'd rather not remember. Suffice to say, I'm a bit paranoid of everything around me at the moment, and will probably be a while before I can trust freely again.

"Let me, Shisui." I looked to Hiruzen as he got up from his chair and walked around his desk to approach me. He leaned forward to look down at me and had a smile you would see on a loving grandparent. "You said your name was Kojiro, right?" I was confused by the sudden question but nodded anyway and was surprised when he picked me up before carrying me to his desk. After he sat down with me on his lap, Hiruzen reached into a drawer and pulled out a sheet of paper, a brush, and a bottle of ink before setting them on the desk. I looked up curiously at Hiruzen who just gave me another smile that could ease anyone's worries. "Can you show me how you write your name?"

I wasn't sure what I was feeling about my situation at the moment. I could feel the usual doubt and distrust, but I could also feel that there wasn't a need for any of those feelings and that I could trust the old man whose lap I'm currently sitting on. I hesitated for a moment, but I finally took the brush and dipped it in the ink before writing the characters that made my name.

虎仁朗

When I finished writing my name, Hiruzen took the paper and carefully read each character before smiling down to me and started to pat my head. "This is a fine name you were given. Do you know why?" I just shook my head as I didn't know why my parents chose those characters when they decided on my name. Hiruzen pointed to the first character which I think means tiger. "The first character here means tiger. In other words, your parents gave you this character in hopes that you would be blessed with good fortune as well as be a brave and strong person."

'That's what it means?' I thought in wonder as Hiruzen's words of only the first character echoed in my head. Even though I've written my name many times, I never understood the meaning of the characters my parents chose. 'If that's what just the first character means, what about the others?'

As if he read my mind, Hiruzen moved his finger to the second character. "The next character means benevolence. Meaning they wanted you to be a kind individual." I just continued to sit on Hiruzen's lap with a lump in my throat and tried to fight back tears. "And I believe this character is what your parents wanted you to be the most of all." Finally, Hiruzen pointed to the last character and his voice softened a little and gently placed his free hand on my head in comfort. "Cheerfulness, to always be happy. No matter what hardships you may face, no matter how much pain you must endure, always remember to smile and be happy."

"A very fine name." I jumped at Shisui's sudden comment and looked up to him looking down to see that he was standing next to us to look at the characters on the paper. "You can tell just by looking that your parents cared about you greatly."

"Indeed." Hiruzen nodded in agreement as he set me down and placed a hand on my head with a gentle smile on his face. "Even though they may not be with you physically, your parents will always be with you." He removed his hand from my head and moved it to point at my chest where my heart is. "Right here, deep inside your heart."

That was the final push that cracked the wall I constructed as tears escaped my eyes and trailed down my face before falling to the floor. A sob escaped my lips as I remembered what each character in my name meant and what kind of person my parents wanted me to be. I could practically feel how much love and thought my parents had put into deciding what my name should be. Whenever I thought about my parents, I could only remember the painful memory that they were gone and never coming back. But now, after hearing the meaning of my name that they gave me, I think I can finally look over the fact that they're gone and think back and treasure all the happy memories I have of them.

'Thank you.' I wiped the tears away from my eyes but they continued to flow as I remembered all the times I spent with my parents. 'Thank you for giving birth to me, thank you for raising me, thank you for loving me. And most importantly…' I was finally able to stop the tears from flowing and smiled in gratitude. 'Thank you for giving me my name, I'll always treasure it. I love you, mom, dad.' I didn't hesitate this time, I took the scroll out from my pocket and held it out to Hiruzen with both hands which surprised the two grown men.

"Are you saying I can look inside?" Hiruzen asked, pointing to the scroll in my hands and I just nodded. There wasn't a doubt in my mind now that I can trust the old man in front of me and that he wouldn't betray it. Hiruzen gently took the scroll from my hands and smiled down at me. "Thank you, I promise to return it shortly."

Hiruzen set the scroll on his desk and unfurled it before forming a hand sign that made the scroll release a puff of smoke that revealed my parents' headbands and the Kurosawa clan scrolls when the smoke dispersed. The old hokage picked up the headbands first, carefully inspecting each of them and frowned when he noticed the dry blood that stained the cloth of both headbands red. His gaze went to the scrolls for a moment and I thought he was going to open those to inspect as well. I was surprised when he didn't and just resealed them along with the headbands back into the scroll.

'He's not going to look at the scrolls?' I thought with wide eyes that he overlooked the scrolls that might hold the Kurosawa clan's history and secrets. Although, I'll admit that even I don't know what the history or secret is because most of what was written was just the last words of the previous clan head. 'Why didn't he look inside?'

Hiruzen was oblivious to my confusion as he rolled the scroll closed and held it out to me with a smile. "Here you go, just as I promised."

I could do nothing but take the scroll and put it back in my pocket before I couldn't hold back my curiosity anymore. "Why didn't you look inside the scrolls?"

"I didn't think it was my right to look at another clan's secrets." Hiruzen explained, picking up his pipe from its stand before placing it in his mouth. "There is a reason why they are called secrets after all." I could only nod my head in agreement despite my confusion at his words and his reason for not looking inside the scrolls. Hiruzen then light tugged on his goatee with a contemplative look on his face. "Now then, I suppose we should discuss where you should stay here in the village."

"If I may, lord hokage." Shisui said, placing a hand on my shoulder making me look up to him in confusion. "Kojiro can stay with me until we can find a more permanent home for him."

"You want to take him in?" Hiruzen asked while my eyes widened in surprise that Shisui offered to let me stay at his place. Hiruzen leaned back in his seat and took a drag from his pipe and exhaled a puff of smoke. "Care to explain your reasons, Shisui?"

"Of course." Shisui nodded, removing his hand from my shoulder and stood straight as an arrow. "From what I've observed of Kojiro's behavior, I have reason to believe he just went through something traumatic and he has trouble trusting strangers."

'Shisui's not wrong, exactly.' I thought as I thought back to what happened to me the last few days.

I did go through a couple traumatic experiences but the reason I'm having trust issues isn't because of them, at least, I don't think so. Between seeing my parents' corpses, nearly getting killed, and having a panic attack, maybe I did develop trust issues somewhere along those experiences. Then there was the fact I couldn't look Shisui in the eyes during our travel to the village for some reason. Could it be I developed a fear of the Sharingan? But how, I've seen it many times in my previous life in the anime and manga, so why am I scared of it now?

"Another reason is that Kojiro has shown signs of using chakra." Shisui's voice brought me out of my thoughts as he revealed the fact that I can use chakra. "Most of the orphanages in the village are run by civilians, they wouldn't know what to do if his chakra goes out of control."

"I see, you make an excellent point." Hiruzen placed his pipe on its stand again before getting to his feet and turned to look out the window behind his desk with his hands behind him. "It would be a problem if young Kojiro lost control, and you are by far one of my most trusted ninja, Shisui." He then turned to face Shisui with a serious expression on his face. "However, you know I cannot allow someone from a clan to take in a person from another clan."

"Because they would try to learn the secrets of the clan in question." Shisui finished Hiruzen's sentence with a nod of his head. "I can understand and respect that, lord hokage." Shisui took a step forward and gestured a hand to me. "But Kojiro doesn't know anyone else from the village who can take care of him."

"Another valid point." Hiruzen sighed, looking down in thought lightly tugging at his goatee again. "What to do?" His gaze landed on me before he knelt down to look me in the eye with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, Kojiro, we were talking without considering what you felt about the situation." I just shook my head as a sign I didn't mind when I saw that something dawned in Hiruzen's eyes. "Kojiro, what do you want to do?"

"What do I want to do?" I repeated in confusion at Hiruzen's words.

"Yes." Hiruzen nodded, standing up and took a few steps back to stand next to Shisui. "Do you want to stay in a place full of kids your age and nice people, or do you want to stay with Shisui?"

"You want me to pick?" I asked, eyes wide in surprise and I couldn't believe what I was hearing. When Hiruzen nodded, I didn't know how I was supposed to respond to his question as not many adults leave the decision to a kid. 'What do I do? There's so much to consider with my answer.'

Much to consider indeed for each answer has its pros and cons. By staying at the orphanage, the pro is that no one will give me a second glance, con is that I can't train so much as that would gather unwanted attention. And if I stay with Shisui, the pro here will be that I can train and Shisui won't be suspicious, the con is that I have to be careful of my words and actions 24/7 which limits what I can do. Oh, how I wish life would cut me some slack for once at a time like this! I mean come on, I get ironically killed by an ambulance, my parents died and I can't remember who killed them, I nearly got kidnapped and killed AGAIN, was on the verge of starving to death of Isobu didn't catch those fish for me, and had a fricking panic attack! If this god's way of punishing me for something I did in my past life then I'm sorry!

"Might I suggest staying with Shisui, Kojiro?"

'Isobu?' I blinked in surprise at hearing my three tailed friend's voice before I processed his words. 'Why Shisui, Isobu?'

"To protect his Sharingan from Danzo." Isobu replied and a chill went down my spine when I remembered that power hungry mummy. "From what you have told me about Shisui's Mangekyo Sharingan, we cannot let that man take them."

Isobu's got a point, if he doesn't have Shisui's Mangekyo Sharingan, Danzo can't manipulate as many people as he had. But then Itachi won't have the other eye to use when Kabuto revives him or to make Sasuke an ally if he betrays the village. Sometimes, having knowledge of future events is more of a burden than a benefit, because I have to constantly think carefully about my actions if I want the best possible scenario. That being said, I can understand where Isobu is going with picking Shisui and if the worst case scenario happens, Shisui will be alive to help handle it with his Kotoamatsukami if needed.

'Here's hoping for the best.' I took a deep breath to calm my nerves before approaching Hiruzen and Shisui before taking the Uchiha's large hand in my small child's hands and shyly looked up to Hiruzen. "I-I want to stay with Shisui."

"Are you certain?" Hiruzen asked, probably to make sure my mind was made up and I nodded my head. Hiruzen nodded as well and went to his desk, reaching into a drawer and pulled out a few sheets of paper. "Then I shall make the arrangements to make Shisui your guardian until you are of age." He looked to Shisui to see if he was alright with this arrangement and Shisui nodded in consent before approaching to sign the papers. When Shisui finished signing the papers, Hiruzen looked them over to make sure that everything was in order before stamping his approval. "With this, Kojiro is now your care, Shisui."

"He'll be in good hands, lord hokage." Shisui said, respectfully bowing to Hiruzen before kneeling down to me. "Well, Kojiro, I look forward to getting to know you."

"S-same here." I gave Shisui a small smile before turning to Hiruzen and bowed respectfully to him like Shisui did. "T-thank you for letting me stay in the village, lord hokage."

"Think nothing of it, child." Hiruzen gave me another grandfatherly smile as he placed the papers Shisui signed in a drawer for safe keeping. "I hope you enjoy your stay here in the leaf village."

Shisui and I gave the old hokage another bow before we took our leave from his office and the tower altogether. Shisui took my hand and guided me through the village pointing out which building was which and what they were for. After a while, we finally arrived at the Uchiha compound which was hard to miss with the red and white fan on the gate. We walked through the path of the compound with Shisui nodding back to the people we passed who greeted him. Eventually, we arrived at a traditional two story house with a stone walkway to the door.

"This is my house." Shisui explained as we walked down the stone path before Shisui slid the door open and we walked in taking our sandals off at the entrance. He began to give me a tour of the house like where the living room, kitchen, bathrooms, and bedrooms were. Shisui stopped at one door on the second floor and looked down at me. "This'll be your room, sorry if it's a bit dusty."

He slid the door open and to say the room was a bit dusty was an understatement. There was at least three inches of dust covering the floor and window for crying out loud! To put it simply, the room, scratch that, the entire house looks like it hasn't been cleaned in ages! No matter where I looked, there was dust everywhere, and I could have sworn I saw what looked like a rat scurrying around somewhere. I could practically feel my body tremble at the condition the house was in.

"Kojiro?" Shisui looked down at me when he saw me tremble. "Are you okay?"

"Aaaaagh, I can't take it anymore!" I shouted, startling Shisui as I ran to down the stairs before running back up wearing a pair of rubber gloves holding a bucket of water and a wash rag. Moving at a speed I never thought I was capable of, I quickly got to work on scrubbing the floors, walls, and window of the room until it was practically sparkling before doing the same with the hall and then the entire house. I wiped the sweat off my forehead when I finished scrubbing the last window on the first floor. "Phew, I feel so much better."

Shisui was behind me, staring at my handy work in awe that I cleaned an entire house in I think under an hour all by myself. Okay, I'll admit it, I'm a bit of a neat freak and seeing how dusty this house was just set me off that I couldn't help myself. It was an old habit I had in my previous life that I eventually grew out of, but it seems it's back with a vengeance when I got reincarnated.

"Amazing, Kojiro." Shisui muttered in astonishment as he continued to look around. "I don't think I've ever seen my house this clean before."

Just now realizing what I did, my eyes widened as a blush formed on my face before I turned to Shisui and bowed repeatingly. "I-I'm so sorry! I couldn't help myself and did it without asking for permission!"

"It's alright, Kojiro." Shisui said reassuringly which stopped my bowing as I looked up to him to see he was rubbing the back of his neck. "It's my fault for not keeping this place clean in the first place." I was about to say something in response when a rumbling sound was heard and I placed my hands over my stomach blushing in embarrassment. Shisui just chuckled when he realized where the sound was coming from. "Hungry?"

I said nothing and just nodded when denying it was not an option anymore. 'How embarrassing.'

"Well, it is almost time for dinner." Shisui commented, looking outside a window to see that the sky had an orangish hue to it, was it really that late? Shisui walked over to the kitchen and stopped just outside to look back to me. "Just hold on for a little bit and I'll make us something."

"Okay." I replied, taking a seat on the couch in the living room before closing my eyes and focused on entering my mindscape. When I arrived, I opened my eyes to see that Isobu was already in front of me. "Hi, Isobu. Ready to continue our conversation from earlier?"

"I was actually thinking of what to do while you were talking with the hokage." Isobu replied, using a tail to lift me up like he usually does for us to have eye-to-eye conversations. "I believe I know of a way to get Kurama to believe what we say is true."

"You do?" I asked and you can practically hear the hope in my voice when Isobu said he had a solution. When Isobu nodded his head, I could help but lightly bounce in excitement. "What do we have to do, Isobu?"

"I am a bit hesitant to say." Isobu replied nervously, which had me a bit worried for my three tailed friend, but I remained silent and gave him time to collect his thoughts. After a few moments of silence, Isobu brought me a little closer so he could look me straight in the eyes. "I would like to show everyone your memories, Kojiro."

"My memories?" I repeated, tilting my head in confusion before my eyes widened in realization and disbelief. "You mean my memories of my past life?"

"Yes." Isobu nodded his head again and lowered his eyes in what I think is shame. "I am sorry, Kojiro, I know you want to keep it a secret. But it is the only way I can think that has a chance of working."

I bit my lower lip when I heard what Isobu's idea was and I didn't know what to say at the moment. I can understand Isobu's reason for wanting to show my memories, but I couldn't help thinking that it was an invasion of privacy. Then there was the fact that the other tailed beasts might try to do something on their own regardless of the consequences. Sure, I want them to trust a few humans to make coexistence possible, but that's wishful thinking and I know it. But, Isobu does have a point that showing my memories might raise our chances.

With my decision made, I took a deep breath before looking Isobu in the eye with determination burning in mine. "Alright, let's do it."

Isobu lowered me back to the surface of the pitch black water before slowly submerging himself. "Then I will start with Kurama as he is the closest. thank you for trusting me with this, Kojiro."

"That's what friends do, Isobu." I smiled in reply, lightly kicking at the water's surface as I watched my giant turtle friend submerge into the pitch black water. "They trust each other and have the others back."

Isobu lower jaw went up slightly which I think means he was smiling before he was completely submerged. Knowing that Isobu knows what he was doing, I focused on leaving my mindscape. When I returned from my mindscape, a familiar and delicious smell entered my nose as I opened my eyes. I looked to the kitchen to see Shisui setting a couple of plates on the table.

"Perfect timing." Shisui commented when he saw that I was awake and gestured with a hand for me to come over. "I just finished, so come over and eat your fill."

"Okay." I got off the couch before walking over to the table and when I climbed up a chair my eyes widened in surprise at what Shisui made. "Curry."

"I didn't know what you might like, so I went with something simple." Shisui said, taking a seat himself and clapping his hands together in thanks for the food before picking up a spoon. He looked at me and frowned when he saw I was just staring at my plate. "Do you not like curry?"

"It's my favorite." I replied softly, clapping my hands together like Shisui did. "Thank you for the food." I picked up my spoon and scooped up a bit of rice and roux blowing on it a few times before taking a bite as tears unwillfully came out of my eyes the moment it touched my tongue. Everytime I chew, more tears flowed down my face when I remembered the taste of my mother's curry and how I was going to miss it. I swallowed before smiling widely at Shisui. "It's good."

"Glad you like it." Shisui smiled back to me before taking a bite of his own curry. "Better continue eating before it gets cold."

I nodded in agreement and went back to eating my curry, savoring every bite I took. After eating about five helpings, Shisui and I went up to my room where he set up a futon for me wishing me a good night before going to his own room to sleep. I removed my hair stick and hairband to let my hair fall and set them to the side of the futon before crawling under the blanket Shisui provided for me. As I closed my eyes to try and get some sleep for the next day, I soon found myself in a place that had nothing but water for a floor that rippled from where I stood. I looked around for a moment before my eyes stopped when I spotted Isobu and my eyes widened when I saw that next to him was a fox with nine long swiping tails. It has red-orange fur with black fur around its eyes that stretches to its ears, red irises with black slits for pupils and the upper-body structure of a human, complete with opposable thumbs on its clawed hands. I was so surprised at who I was seeing, I could only mutter one word.

"Kurama."

And now that the curtain has fallen for this act, I will reply to your reviews.

Blueowl: Sorry to keep you waiting again and I'm glad too, but Kojiro's a boy that people constantly mistakes for a girl. I hope so too and I look forward to hearing what you thought of this chapter.

Nerfhearder96: I'll keep that in mind and I'm glad you enjoy reading this fanfic and your welcome.

True Hyper Sonic: Your welcome! Maybe, you have to wait and see if Kojiro has a kekkei touta. Sorry to disappoint, but Kojiro will not have wood release as I too thought that would be a bit OP. There's a chance for that, and I thought the Crystal Style sounded more like a kekkei touta than a kekkei genkai.

Luckyshot8: Yup, and maybe a bit of hilarity when you think about what world Kojiro's in. If you mean Orochimaru, then he left the village way before Kojiro was reincarnated.

Oblivious IJ: Sorry it took so long, but I'm trying my best to get these chapters out as soon as possible. Yeah, he's like Mei with a bit extra. Speaking of Danzo, I was actually talking to my sister about him and this is how our conversation went.

Unknown: Hey, Panda (Sister).

Panda: Yeah?

Unknown: You know Danzo, right?

Panda: Who doesn't?

Unknown: How would you describe him?

Panda: A dickhole with a stick up his ass.

Unknown: Lol, totally.

Panda: And he's Konoha's Donald Trump.

Unknown: Lmfao!

Panda: He also looks like that one creepy guy who parks in the corner in a white windowless van offering kids free candy and wifi.

Anyway, Kojiro will not have a harem, sorry.

guest reader: I like to keep my reader on the edge of their seats so they will be really surprised when I drop the proverbial bombshell. It is an interesting thought that I'll take under consideration as I write any chapters involving Naruto.

Jrocker105: Sorry to disappoint, but Kojiro will not have the wood style as that will make him too OP.

SilverDragon1218: Glad to hear you were excited and I hope you enjoyed this chapter like my previous chapters. Thank you for your kind words and you're very welcome. I hope you have a good day too.

rssilva1017: Glad to hear you loved it and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Badpressure: I know what you mean and rest assured that Kojiro is not going to have wood style no matter what.

Guest: A Kojiro/Ino pairing? Hmm, I'll think about it.

Guest: To answer that, I only have this as a response. Persistent friend who wouldn't shut up until I finally said I'd use their idea.

XorDart: True, and I was tempted to do that. However, I decided against it when I remembered the butterfly effect. there will still be changes here and there, that I can assure you.

Animeblazer: Happy to hear you loved it and hope you liked this chapter.

fiqacomel: Hello, it makes me happy to hear you say that you like my story. Here's the update you were hoping for, hope you like it. Thank you, it warms my heart knowing that there are people like you who enjoy reading my stories.

Siera-Knightwalker: Sorry about that, but it was necessary for the plot. Yeah, it was funny. After so many hardships, the universe cuts him a little slack, but we all know that the universe is not that forgiving. Yeah, through you for a loop, didn't it?

DG2: Sorry it took so long. I was tempted to have him stay in the hidden mist, but then I thought of the bloodline purge and that Kojiro would have a greater impact if he was in the leaf.

With all that said, I bid you all adieu until the next act.