"Obito, don't be so rude!" Rin said.
"Well, I want to know what the heck these guys are talking about!" He exclaimed.
"You know how hard their stories are, it's probably something really complicated!" Rin said.
"Hey Gaara!" Christina said as she waved to another one of her best friends. They had gotten closer after Naruko had gotten them all to be friends.
"Hey Christina. Neji." Gaara said.
"Hello Gaara." Neji said.
"So, Kakashi's a kid and the Yellow Flash of Konoha is alive. Well, this is gonna be complicated. Do they know everything?" Gaara asked. Naruko nodded her head. "Well, that makes things more simple, but me and my siblings don't know if we should tell our father, he would probably just use us."
"Gaara, you and your siblings might be able to come to the leaf village, the Hokage already knows our story, and if we tell him your in the same situation, he'll probably be fine with it!" Naruko said.
"Naruko, have you forgotten that we are in the middle of a war right now? If three Suna nin appear out of nowhere and are staying in the village, the civilians will become angry. Unlike in your time, we don't have a treaty with Suna. We can't bring them back to the village." Minato said.
"Well I'm not just going to leave them! And Suna won't accept them, not when they just appear out of the blue! They're not like Konoha! Besides, if they even try, their dad might see the similarities him and his wife have them, not to mention how weird it will be if Gaara runs into Granny Chiyo!" Naruko said.
"Granny Chiyo? That old bat? I think my dad killed her son." Kakashi said.
"Yeah, he did. I only know because when she saw you in the future, she thought you were him and tried to kill you." Naruko said.
"What! Why, do I look like him?" Kakashi asked.
"Well, I don't see it, his hair hung down while your defies gravity for the rest of your life. Plus, Sakumo never wore a mask, and he didn't cover one eye with his hitaite... which you aren't gonna do now since you didn't, well, yeah, okay. So you might look a bit more like him now, but still, I don't see the similarities." Naruko said.
"Wait, Naruko, so they tried to set you and Gaara up?" Rin asked as she pointed to Kankuro and Temari. Gaara and Naruko nodded their heads. "Why?"
"Well, we figured that since they were such great friends that they'd be an even better couple. Plus, they understand each other like no one else, since they both contain beasts. And they were both destined to become Kage. They have way to much in common for it not to make it seem like it would work." Temari said.
"Well, it didn't matter, because instead of me and Temari's emo, she ended up with the Uchiha's emo." Kankuro said. Naruko laughed at that.
"I'm not an emo." Gaara said. "Sure, Sasuke is, I could definitely admit that, but I'm not one. I was just certifiably insane for the time that I had Shikaku in my head. After all, who wouldn't be when they have a demon that tells them to get blood for them and won't let you fall asleep."
"Wow... that thing, really did that to you?" Rin asked.
"Well, it did, until I was 16 and Naruko got Jiraiya to fix my seal. After that I was fine." Gaara said.
"Was my cousin really that emo-ish?" Obito asked.
"Yep, well, until I beat it out of him. Then he was caring and wasn't being stupid all the time." Naruko said. Then Naruko snapped her fingers. "Why don't we just pretend that the sand siblings are Konoha nin!" She said.
"How will we do that? People will sense the henge and we don't have any extra leaf nin headbands." Kakashi said.
"Well... I have three extra." Naruko said.
"What? Why would you have three leaf nin headbands that you carry around with you?" Kakashi asked.
"Well... I always carried around my most precious people's headbands so that I could remember them. I have yours Kakashi, as well as Dad's and my Mom's." She said producing three headbands.
When she took them out, Obito saw the fabric of another. "Hey, do you carry around four?" He asked, pointing at the cloth.
Naruko shook her head. "This one isn't a leaf headband. I also carry around one Suna headband." She said and she looked over at Gaara. "As well as my other old sensei's headband." She said, taking out Gaara's old headband as well as Jiraiya's which had the kanji for oil on it. "I would have liked to keep Tsunade Baa-chan's and Ji-ji's but they told me that the Hokage headbands were kept in the museum. The only exception was Dad's because he had two. He lost one in his genin days, but then found it later. He wore both. Since technically, only one was the Hokage's headband, I got the other one." She said.
"What about Christina's?" Rin asked.
"Naw, that one Neji carries around with him." She said.
Christina turned to Neji with a smile forming on her face. "You do?" She asked. He looked back at her and smiled. "But of course, that way I always had a piece of you with me, no matter how small." He said. Christina gave him a quick peck on the lips.
"Well, you guys can wear these for now. You'll need to get new ones once we get to the Leaf Village though. That is, if you don't mid joining us." Naruko said.
"I'd love to join the Leaf Village Naruko. Hell, maybe I'll get to teach little you later." Gaara said.
"I'd also like to join the Leaf Village. Maybe I can keep an eye on Shikamaru and make sure he doesn't complain about how troublesome women are all the time." Temari said.
"Sure, why not join?" Kankuro said.
She gave them each a headband and the group headed back to Konoha. After a few days of travel, they entered the village and headed to see the Hokage. He was suspicious of them at first and searched their memories for any recent showings of hurt for Konoha. Then, when that turned out negative and Naruko had pestered him enough, he approved the stay of the Sand siblings and gave them each their own headbands. Naruko took back her headbands and put them in her pouch.
"Alright, now to Ichiraku!" She exclaimed and she started pumping her fists in the air.
"Wow Naruko, nice to know you care about ramen more than your own child." Christina said. Naruko stopped pumping her fists and her eyes widened. "HAKU-KUN!" She yelled.
"Okay, first we pick up Haku, then Ichiraku!" She exclaimed.
"Wait, hold up a second. Kid?" Temari asked.
"Yes, Naruko adopted an orphan from Kiri." Neji said.
"I can't picture you as a mother Naruko." Kankuro said.
"Well I am one! And Haku-kun loves me so much! Plus, my mom says I'm a good mother!" She said.
"Alright, alright calm down. We'll go get Haku, but last time we ate out together, it was at Ichiraku, don't you think we should eat something else?" Minato said.
"Whaaaaatt!? But ramen is the best thing in the world!" Naruko complained.
"No 'buts' we're not eating ramen again didn't I suffer through that enough as a child? Why should I have to do it again!" Christina said.
"Suffer? No one can suffer from eating too much ramen!" Naruko said.
"Naruko, I don't even really like ramen. Don't you remember when you had me try my first ramen?" Gaara said.
"Yes! How could anyone possibly do that to ramen!" Naruko said.
"What? Sasuke was attacking me because I was with you on what he assumed was a date, so I slammed the bowl of ramen in his face." Gaara said.
"Yeah I know! That was such a waste of good ramen! Your sand would have stopped him!" She said.
"Would it have? Because it didn't at the Chuunin Exams." Gaara said.
Naruko stopped. "The Chuunin Exams! I almost forgot, those are tomorrow!" She said.
"Ne, Ji-ji, can we just hand in our forms here?" Christina asked.
"I suppose, I'll bring them to Yuri later." He said. "Would you three like to join the Exams?" He asked the Sand Siblings while the others got out their forms.
"Sure, we can break the record again, but earlier in time." Gaara said as he took a paper and started filling it out.
"Record?" Sarutobi questioned.
"Yes, we beat the record of completing the test and getting to the tower. We got a time of one hour and thirty minutes." Temari said, filling out her own form.
"One hour and thirty minutes! As genin? That's ridiculous!" He said.
"Yep, that's what that crazy chick Anko thought to." Kankuro said.
"Ugh! I remember that day. Why the heck did Anko decide to hit my cheek with a kunai and lick the blood off it! That gave me the creeps! And Orochimaru giving her the kunai back by his tongue! I can't believe that bastard was that close to me!" She said.
"That's probably the only good thing Sasuke did in between his times in the village. Kill that bastard, he gave everyone the creeps!" Christina said.
The Sand Siblings handed in their forms and they headed out of the man's office. They were walking towards the Uchiha district. Once they got there, they were let in, with some rather suspicious looks directed at the Sand Siblings.
Naruko knocked on the door of the main Uchiha house. Mikoto opened up the door after a minute and smiled.
"Naruko-chan! How nice to see you! Even though Haku and Itachi have loved the week together, I can tell Haku's missing you." She said. Then she saw the three new added thirteen year-olds to the group. "You guys just keep adding more and more people to your team eh?" She said.
"No, they're their own team. But Neji, Christina, and I are close to them." Naruko said.
"Kaa-san?" She heard Haku's little voice come from inside the house.
"Yep Haku-kun, it's me! Gather up your things, we are going to go out to eat and then home!" She called out. Haku then came rushing down the hall, he looked so cute! She had bought him an everyday outfit of a brown shirt that complimented his hazel colored eyes. He wore black shorts and Christina had even made him a pair of one of her speed enhancing sandals. They were designed for speed, which of course, was Christina's favorite area. He had his hair cut in the way he did in the future when she met him.
"Kaa-san!" He yelled as he jumped into her arms.
She hugged him as she straightened up. "I missed you Haku-kun." She said.
"I missed you too Kaa-san! Where are we going to eat?" He said as she put him down so he could get his stuff.
"Well, we never resolved that, did we?" She said as she turned to the others.
"Why don't we go get dango? We haven't gone to a dango shop as a team yet." Obito said.
The others all agreed. They were walking out of the Uchiha district but had stopped for Obito to drop off his stuff at his house.
"Hey guys, I can take our stuff to the house and be right back here." Christina said.
"I just thought of something, where are we gonna stay guys?" Temari asked her brothers. They just shrugged.
"You guys can stay with us!" Christina said.
"Christina, don't you think Minato should be the one to offer that?" Neji said.
"No Baka! I wouldn't invite someone into another person's home! But my clan houses have been finished, so we will now be staying at training ground 13 or what is now known as The Maini District!" She said. "We can move in there later, but I can at least take our stuff there so we aren't lugging it around all day!"
"Where are we going to get furniture?" Naruko asked.
"Oh, I had them order the furniture I wanted and place it in the house so it was move-in ready when we got back." Christina said.
"Wow, you just think of everything, don't you." Naruko said.
"Of course I do! I'm smart like that!" Christina said with a grin. "Here, let me take your stuff." She said as she picked up the stuff of Gaara, Temari, Kankuro, Haku, Naruko, and Neji.
"Are you sure you can handle all of that on your own?" Rin asked.
"Don't underestimate me Rin-chan! I'll be fine. See ya in a minute! Ja Ne!" She said as she suddenly disappeared.
Obito came back out of his house and everyone was heading towards the dango shop they had picked. Christina met up with them about halfway there. They all had a wonderful lunch, where the rest of team 7 got to know the Sand Siblings a bit better. They all went off to their respective houses, Kakashi telling Naruko to meet him at a cafe in town for their date that night. The Sand Siblings, Neji, Haku, and Naruko were all following Christina to their new house.
When they got through some of there they were amazed. Naruko's jutsu had cleared it all the way to the street that it was next to. They had created a path of stones that was lined by trees that led up to the front yard. The house was very large, it looked like it was meant for a large family. Bushes lined the front of the house, and they were sporting different colored flowers. There was a pond in the front that was crystal clear blue and it had some kayaks, paddles, and life jackets next to it. If one had to guess, it would be about the size of a football field. There was also a big apple tree in the front, that had already started to grow some ripe apples. A bunch more houses were off to the side, not nearly as a grand as the main house, but still pretty impressive.
They walked up to the main house porch and took off their shoes. They walked inside and there was an living room that opened up into the kitchen. The living room had mahogany red walls and a hardwood floors. There was a fireplace in the center of the room, surrounding it were two white loveseats that were sideways compared to the fireplace that faced the entrance. In between them was a gray coffee table. They both had accent pillows of varying colors on them. One had a gray blanket draped over the one of the arms. There was a white couch that faced the fireplace and it too had accent pillows. Hung over the fireplace, Naruko recognized a picture that had been blown up to be bigger than the fireplace itself that they had taken when they were little.
Her and Christina had been twelve at the time and they were in the middle of a field. They had taken it themselves, so it was close up. Naruko had an eye smile and a huge smile on her face anyways, her hands had created a peace sign and her head was tilted to the side. Christina had been laughing when they took the picture, so her eyes were closed but smiling like Naruko's. She had her mouth open from the laugh and looked to be in pure joy. She had her arm slung over Naruko's shoulder and her other arm was on her chest (she likes to do that when she laughs). Both girls had let their hair down that day, a rarity for the two, and their hair was being blown in the photo by a light wind. It only made some strands float, but that made them look even prettier. They had taken it in sepia for dramatics at the time just to be funny, but it was a truly beautiful photo.
There was a table of to the side that was raised and it had a board game laid out on it. There was a whole pile more of them on the floor next to the table. On the another corner of the room, there was a bar, most likely for use when adults were over. It had stools that were white, just like the couches. All in all, it was a beautiful room, and the crackling fire just added to the amazement.
"So this is the living room, and in here is the kitchen." Christina said as she walked through the living room and into the open kitchen.
The kitchen had stark white walls and a black tiled floor. It had silver cabinetry that appeared to have no handles. Christina went up to one and pressed the cabinet, which caused it to slide back, showing the contents of the cabinet. There were stainless steel appliances and there was an island in the middle of the kitchen. It had a white base, but the top was a black and white checkerboard pattern. There was a traditional Japanese table in the kitchen and it had the cushions around it.
They followed Christina back into the living room where she showed them a bathroom that was off to the side. It had canary yellow walls with white tiling. It had a shower built into the wall and of course, a toilet and sink. It wasn't too special, though Naruko did like the waterfall shower head.
The rooms that they were shown after were more average, guest rooms being a gray or blue color. While rooms that were reserved for he kids one day were white, so that they could paint them whatever color their kid wanted. Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro just got some of the guest rooms. Haku and Naruko however, got their own rooms that Christina had designed.
Haku's room was royal blue, one of his favorite colors, and it had toys all over the place for hi. He had a normal sized twin bed that had a black comforter and white pillow cases. She had even given him a chest for his ninja gear for when he was older, and a desk, that he could use to study or do work at. He was content to stay in his room, but then he found out they were going to see his mom's room next, so he had to see that.
Naruko's room was right across from Haku's room. It was painted a bright orange color. Just because she didn't wear it into battle, didn't mean she still didn't love the color. Her bed had a red comforter on it, which she didn't get. Until she looked at the wall that was behind her. On the wall, Christina had painted the Uzumaki symbol, she loved it. And the other thing that made her incredibly happy was that Christina had been on a trip when Kurama had taken them to the past, so she had her camera with her. On her dresser, there was now a picture of her and Christina from the day Naruko had become a genin. Even the hokage and Kakashi were in the picture. Oh how would Kakashi be freaked out to see that! The next picture over was of her and Gaara on the day that he had first tried ramen, they were sitting on the gates to Suna, looking out over the desert. Another picture was of Christina, Neji, and her on the day that she was told she would become the Hokage at the end of the war. The next was of all of her friends, they were at a party they had thrown for her return to the village after her 3 year training trip. The next photo over was the newest photo of Team 7. She had been hitting Kakashi on the head when the photo was taken, so he had been on his way down to the ground in the photo while she had a look of anger on her face since he wouldn't smile. Obito had on identical goofy grin but his goggles had managed to slip halfway down his face.. Rin was just smiling in the middle of the picture while Christina and Neji were together in the corner of the picture, arms around each others waists. Minato was above them all and he just had a obviously just sighed, since that was the look he got on his face after he sighed. Yep, Team 7 always managed to take the best photos! Then, the final photo was of her and Sasuke. She had just had him give her one of her surprise piggy backs. She was sort of falling off him, but he managed to hold her on. He was smiling in the photo, he always had smiled when she did that. It was one of her favorite photos, and Christina knew that and luckily had had it on her camera.
Tears started to come out of her eyes. She turned around and hugged her best friend and cried into her shoulder.
"Thank you so much." She got out in between sobs. Christina just stood there and hugged the girl.
"Kaa-san, why are you crying?" Haku asked.
"Because Haku, your Auntie just gave me a very special present. Now, why don't you go have fun in your room?" She said.
"Okay! I'll see you guys later! Bye Kaa-san, Auntie, Uncle Neji!" Haku said as he exited the room.
"Neji, why don't I show you your room? That we can let Naruko have some time to herself." Christina said.
"Alright, we'll see you later Naruko-chan." Neji said as he and Christina left the room.
"See ya guys." She said.
Christina stopped Neji outside of the next door down. She turned to face him and had a blush on her face. She looked at the floor.
"Well, Neji, I just wanted to know, um.. well.. since you asked me to marry you in the future and I said yes, we're technically still engaged. So I was wondering if you wanted to share a room with me." Christina said.
Neji smiled. He took a hold of her chin and brought her face back up to look at him. " I'd love to share a room with you." he said. " Too bad we can't get married until we are physically sixteen, even though we are mentally 20."
"Yeah, well, do you want to see our room?" She asked.
"Okay." he said. He kissed her on the lips for a minute and then pulled back and took her hand in his. He opened the door and they walked inside.
Their room had white walls with a hardwood floor. There was a king sized bed with a sky blue comforter and white pillows on it. There was a bed side table on each side of the bed, which both had a lamp on it. There was space for other things on them as well, and one of them had an alarm clock on the top. There were two dressers off to the side of the door. There was a walk in closet as well as a single desk. There was also a bathroom off to the side. A large bookcase stood tall in the room and it was stocked up with books and scrolls.
"Do you like it? I figured we could pick out the color of the room together." Christina said.
"I do like it. But why don't we maybe make out a little since we have some time and a room to ourselves?" Neji said, closing the door.
"Mmhhmm, I would gladly oblige." She said as she wound her arms around his neck and kissed him.
After a couple of hours, Christina had just finished dinner, and Neji and Gaara were at the table explaining to Haku what chakra was. Temari was helping her start to put the dishes on the table and Kankuro was fiddling with his puppets at the living room coffee table. Naruko still hadn't come out of her room, and Christina was worried about her.
She walked over to Naruko's room and knocked on the door. She heard Naruko tell her to come in, so she did and sat on the girl's bed next to her.
"Hey Naruko-chan. You gonna eat dinner with us?" She asked.
"Wait, dinner?" Naruko asked.
"Yeah, it's like five thirty, why?" Christina said.
"I'm supposed to meet Kakashi somewhere! Sorry, I'll be back later! Take care of Haku-kun for me!" She yelled as she ran out of the house.
Christina was still sitting on Naruko's bed and she blinked. Well she hadn't expected that. It seemed like Naruko wasn't going to join them for dinner. She smiled and walked back into the kitchen for dinner.