Okay, in the reviews that I have gotten (Which I HIGHLY appreciate) some people asked for more Kakashi and Amaya fluff…well maybe not in this chapter, but definitely in Chapter 10! She's gotta train sometime you know!

This chapter focuses on the growing relationship between Amaya and Naruto as well as the first meeting of the Uchiha brothers, Sasuke and Itachi. Don't worry though; Gai will make an appearance sooner than you think!

Remember that Amaya is only SIXTEEN and if you are waiting for her to adopt Naruto into her home…well keep waiting because it isn't happening until MUCH later! Eighteen is the age of adulthood, so it's going to have to wait until later chapters!

Okay, enough with my rants! On with the Fic!

Disclaimer- Do you people even read these? And if you do…do you even care?

Quote- "Who ever walked behind anyone to freedom? If we can't go hand in hand, I don't want to go."

Chapter Nine

The Sun and the Twin Moons

"You can cook?"

The sudden change from the silence that she was used to startled her into dropping the mixing spoon into the batter she had been stirring. Amaya had woken up around seven o'clock after plopping down onto the floor from the lack of space given to her. For a moment, her body tensed at the unfamiliar surroundings before realizing that she was alright, and that she was safe. For once Amaya had been able to sleep deep enough do that even the slightest noise was dead to her. She didn't have to sleep with one eye open due to her paranoia. In Konoha, she was safe. In her father's house, she would be protected. But only from outside sources, the girl couldn't save herself from her own stupid actions.

"Well, we're going to find out in a couple of minutes, kiddo," she answered while delicately picking out the now covered spoon from its voyage in the white slop.

And indeed they would. All she had to go on was an old, decrepit box that read "Instant Pancake Mix." It looked safe enough as there were no holes that gave away that any…creatures might have ventured in the cabinets to find a meal. So Amaya decided to try it. The directions on the back of the box weren't that hard to follow, but the part she actually had to think on was how many to make and how to work the damn stove. The junk that she was now stirring once more looked nothing like the pancakes with their golden, brown fluffiness that was pasted on the Mix.

She'd have to fix that. But first Amaya had to figure out how to work that Kami-be-damned kitchen appliance!

She turned to the sleepy eyed Naruto, pointing her spoon at him, "I'm giving you a mission Ninja Naruto!" He immediately ceased his yawning and straightened up to attention. "Breakfast needs to be made and we're the only ones who can do it! This batter needs to be at perfection! Can you do it, Naruto?" She asked with a desperate tone mixed within her voice. She let her munchkin think about this for a moment before a loud gurgle erupted from the bowels of his stomach. It seemed that he was as hungry as she was.

"I can do it, Ama-chan! You can count on me!"

With a determined look on his face, the orphan snatched up the stirrer from Amaya's hand and pounced on the porcelain bowl with a savage ferocity that sent the mix slopping over the rim. With that part taken care of, she could now concentrate on the numerous knobs and dials that sent her mind into overload. How the hell could anyone make heads or tails about this weird contraption! Apparently, she couldn't.

At random, the girl turned something that had a symbol of a flame on the right side. Well, she wanted heat…so a picture of a fire was a good thing, right? Almost instantly, a small flick of something came up from one of the round plates that were placed on top of the stove. Frowning when nothing came up, she looked over at Naruto to see how he was doing. At the moment, he had left his "mission" to dig around the cupboards in search of something. A nervous chuckle escaped her when she noticed that the four year old knew more about cooking than she did.

Well, it wasn't her fault! Hoshi couldn't tell the difference between a frying pan and a skillet! Neither could she…wasn't it the same thing? Who cared, she decided. The reason that they made restaurants was for people like her who were not born with culinary skills!

Amaya only came back from her rant when it was too late. The key ingredient that Naruto had been looking for was now being poured into the bowl at an alarming rate. It was flour. And it certainly wasn't a small amount. Before she could stop him, an enormous white cloud billowed upwards and enveloped the kitchen, sticking everywhere it could. A couple of minutes passed before she could see through the albino haze, but when she opened her eyes, Amaya wished she could close them again.

It was a disaster. And it seemed that they were not going to have pancakes that morning.

As far as the eye could see, it was covered in flour. Not even could she discern where the kitchen ended and the living room began! Something began to move beneath the white powder and nearly made her jump out of her skin before she caught herself. It was just Naruto. His sky-blue orbs opened wide as he took in the damage he had done. Amaya had to hold in a laugh at his flour smothered body but then became alarmed when those sapphire eyes welled up with tears.

"Oh no, Naruto. No, no. This isn't your fault, it was an accident," she cooed as she bent down and took the boy into her arms, rubbing his back softly.

"I'm sorry," he whispered into her shoulder. "I didn't mean to. I just wanted to help."

Shaking her head, Amaya pushed the four year old away from her body to look him in the eye. "That's why they're called accidents, kiddo. Now c'mon," she said and stood up wiping excess flour off her face and trying not to look around her. "We need to give you a bath and then we can go out for breakfast, okay?" After we make a stop at the bank…

Naruto nodded furiously and snatched Amaya's hand to drag her off to the upstairs bathroom. She laughed and swooped the boy up into her arms. His delighted giggles echoed off the walls as the both of them left white footprints behind on the dark blue carpet.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Well, there wasn't much to choose from. For a few minutes now, Amaya had been looking for replacement clothing for herself and Naruto. Going shopping for food and clothes was on her To-Do list, but she hadn't counted on having nothing to wear to go out in. Her wardrobe consisted of ripped shirts and torn pants that weren't effective in covering areas that would be deemed inappropriate in public. And last night she hadn't really planned ahead, so now she was being forced to dig through the wardrobes of her sensai.

Earlier, she had stumbled upon the master bedroom of the first floor after she had dumped Naruto in the bathtub, letting him bathe himself. It was very uncomfortable for her to see the boy naked. She barely knew the kid, and had no wish to learn the male anatomy from a four year old child. The birds and the bees talk from her father was the most awkward thing she had to go through. While he was explaining however, Amaya could have sworn that the man had turned at least five different shades of red.

Now here she was, trying to find something small enough to fit her. Of course she knew about Hoshi's wife, but it was awful enough going through a dead person's personal items let alone someone that she had never met before. Already Amaya had found a child's room, she could tell from the small crayon drawn portraits and numerous dolls, that she assumed to be little Kiana, her sensai's nine year old daughter. It was breathtaking. The feeling of love that she picked up from this room could not be described with mortal words. There couldn't have been a happier little girl on this earth. And from the layer of dust that covered the bedding and walls, no one had dared disturb this innocent haven.

It was heartbreaking to go through the room, looking for clothes to fit the munchkin down the hall.

When she left, Amaya clutched an old, plain orange shirt and a pair of black shorts. This was her home now, but not even could she drag up the thought of rearranging. In this house…there were memories that spoke a lifetime of love, pain, and happiness. They were frozen forever in time, never being able to leave. But they could still be felt. Only time could tell what would happen and it wasn't her place. She had no right.

Shaking her head to be rid of the disturbing thoughts, Amaya just simply grabbed an outfit that was stored near the back and slipped it on. It consisted of plain tan pants and a black shirt that was long enough to slip past the tips of her fingertips. The same could be said for the leggings. They surely went past her toes and trailed along the carpet. Sighing irritably, the teenager rolled up the ends as well as the waist line as she couldn't find anything else to secure them to her body. The sleeves were scrunched up as well and Amaya knew that she looked ridiculous. It didn't matter, however. This was only temporary.

Determined to not let this bother her, the ninja-in-training just picked up Naruto's temporary clothes and made her way to the bathroom. Softly, she knocked on the door.

"Hey, kiddo. You done in there yet?"

"You've gotta come in here and see this!" His voice was a bit muffled through the door, but Amaya got the gist of it.

Hesitantly, the girl placed her hand on the doorknob and prepared to close her eyes. Before she could even open the door all the way, Amaya knew that she had made a big mistake on letting the kid bathe on his own.

"Watch this Ama-chan!"

"No! No Naruto! Don't!"

"CANNONBALL!"

Her warning came too late and the naked boy had already jumped off the countertop of the vanity and barreled into the VERY full tub of water. What occurred could only be classified as a natural disaster. A humongous tidal wave erupted from the bath and came straight for her. In less than a second, her new clothes were sticking to her body from lukewarm water, and was creating a bigger puddle beneath her to add to the small lake that was once a bathroom.

"Wasn't that the coolest thing that you've ever seened," Naruto cried from the now empty tub!

Amaya closed her eyes and mentally counted to ten before letting out a calming breath and assessing the damage done.

"You bet. I now have a desert in my kitchen and a swimming pool for a bathroom. Now, we're both going to get changed and I'll take you home."

Home? Home! He didn't want to go home! This time that he spent with his new best friend had been the most funnest thing that had ever happened to him! She couldn't take him home! He couldn't go back to that hell-hole!

Amaya instantly became wary as a wicked smirk bloomed across Naruto's face. Almost, she could have sworn that he even let out an evil chuckle. This wasn't going to be good.

"You'll have to catch me first, Ama-chan!"

And before she knew it, there the boy went…stark naked…right out the door…straight onto public streets…without any clothes. Oh Shit.

"NARUTO! YOU CAN'T GO STREAKING!" Her yells fell on deaf ears as the madly giggling child got farther and farther away. Damn, that kid could run fast.

Having no choice but to go after him, Amaya forgot her drenched clothes and gave chase to Naruto with his mildly damp shirt and shorts gripped in her right hand. Her face turned beat red as random people gave her scalded looks as Naruto flashed everyone with his bare behind. Amaya grit her teeth and swore that when she caught up to him and got him decent once again, she would find the closest tree and use the same lessons that had been passed on down to her. She would pin him to a tree and eat lunch right in front of him with his belly growling protests.

"NARUTO! PUT SOME CLOTHES ON FIRST AND THEN YOU CAN RUN AROUND LIKE A MANIAC!"

"You can't catch me, Ama-chan," he jeered before turning a sharp corner.

Amaya followed soon after, catching up fast. She would never hear the end of this if she allowed him to go down two blocks. Where was that Cyclops when she actually needed him! Her foot caught on the stone wall, propelling her to zoom around the corner where Naruto had disappeared and nearly ran down a boy with her haste. Thinking quickly, the teenager bent down to the ground and slammed her hands on the dirt, lifting her body up into the air, neatly sailing of the kid's head and landing on her feet once more.

"Sorry!" She yelled over her shoulder before putting on an extra burst of speed to pounce on her naked sunshine.

It resulted in a scuffle with him biting her on the arm when she tried to slip his shirt over his head. At the last second, Amaya noticed that she forgot underwear, but it was too late now because this boy was putting on shorts no matter how many times his baby teeth left indentions in her skin. With one last tug, Naruto was crossing his arms with a pout on his face, fully dressed. The girl looked down at him after she stood up and brushed dirt off her person and noticed that his bath wasn't even worth it. His golden hair had muddied down with all the dust in it, and the clothes had scuffs all over them. Well, she couldn't say much about herself. Amaya probably looked the same except that her pants were falling down as well as being filthy.

"Well, I've got to say, kiddo. My first day here has certainly been an interesting one. Even though that-

"I see that you finally caught him. I'm surprised that he even managed to go two blocks let alone escape."

Amaya turned around, ready to yell at whoever had interrupted her and even added an insult, but she blanched when all she saw was…a kid. He couldn't have been more than ten years old! His black hair was tied in a ponytail with a black top and pants. Out of the corner of her eye, she managed to see a brief flash of red on his back when the boy slightly moved to his right.

She snorted, "Ha, and I'm surprised that your mother let you out here without adult supervision. What are you, seven?"

He growled, giving her a menacing look. Please, I've seen worse on housewives, Amaya thought to herself. "You're on private property, and I'm going to demand that you leave."

Amaya looked down at Naruto and gave him a mock-glare. "When you go streaking, at least do it on public streets unless you hate the guy then all I have to say is…more power to you!"

She got an even worse glare from the kid that could surly freeze her nose right off. All she gave in return was a brilliant smile that seemed to piss him off even more. Amaya took a step forward and pointed a finger at him, but before she could even get one word out, she was sent off balance by a humongous force that rammed into her legs.

"Don't touch my brother, lady!"

What had barreled into her was a small boy…smaller than the twerp that she was talking to before. The shrimp had to be about the same age as Naruto as they were about the same height…and the same insistence to make her day interesting. After his head long tackle, the boy was now hitting her thigh with his small hands that could barely be felt. Although if he kept punching the same spot, a bruise would form so Amaya decided to make him stop.

Forgetting about her yelling match with "property" boy, the girl clenched the collar of the kid's black shirt, which matched his brother's, and lifted him up and away from her. His fists were still flying as his eyes refused to open and when he was only hitting air, the boy looked at her dirtied face with his onyx orbs meeting her sapphire ones.

"What's your name?"

All she got for an answer was a blink.

"He doesn't have to tell you anything," came the reply.

Amaya turned her head towards the older sibling and gave him a glare that obviously read, "Piss Off"! She got one in return as well.

"Whatever," she sighed and gently let the smaller boy down. Her hand rested lightly on his raven spikes as he straightened himself out. "But let me ask you a quick question. Will I get an answer if I let Naruto here moon you?"

It was silent except for Amaya's chuckles that burst from her mouth at the disgusted expression on the twerp's face.

"Hey, Ama-chan! Look!"

She turned around. "What is-Naruto, pull your pants up!"

"But you told me to," he protested.

"I said to-

Her sentence was cut off when a melodic voice came from not too far away.

"Sasuke-kun! Itachi-kun! It's time for breakfast!"

Quickly, Amaya zipped to Naruto and forcefully hiked up his shorts and pinned them to his shirt with a senbon needle that she found in her kunai holster. If that didn't keep them up then there were always shuriken, but she figured that might be a little uncomfortable.

"Oh, hello there. Who might you be?"

Amaya turned around and set her focus on the woman in front of her. She was beautiful. Her unbound midnight hair fell across her shoulders in waves and shone radiantly as the sun's rays hit upon it. Her simple blue dress and white apron gave her a homely appeal and from what the teenager could see, there was a red and white…fan on the sleeves of the navy material. Seeing no one else around her besides the kids that must be Sasuke and Itachi, Amaya deduced that the lady must have been addressing her.

"Oh, umm, I am Nashitaka, Amaya and this squirt right here is Uzumaki Naruto."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Amaya. My name is Uchiha Akiko (means bright light) and my two boys, Itachi and Sasuke."

The now identified boy crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Amaya with fury. She just smirked as she now knew his name and he couldn't do a damn thing about it because his mother was around.

"It's wonderful to meet the mother of these two…fine young men. I apologize for Naruto and for myself if we disturbed you."

Ha, score one for Amaya!

Akiko laughed, "Oh, no, no! There's been no trouble at all. We were just getting ready for our morning meal. You would be most welcome to join us, Amaya and Naruto."

The girl blushed red and laid a hand upon her munchkin's head when his stomach rumbled loud enough for it to echo. Hers did as well, but much quieter than his.

"I-I'm sorry, but we both look like a mess and I couldn't stand to intrude upon-

"I cannot accept no for an answer. Come, I invited you into our home and the little one seems about to collapse from hunger."

"If-if there's no trouble, then the both of us would be happy to accept."

Suddenly, Naruto bounced up and threw his fists up into the air and screamed his happiness.

"YEAH! I LOVE breakfast! C'mon Ama-chan, I bet Lady Akiko's cooking is a lot better than yours!"

"I'm not about to take that bet," Amaya muttered under her breath.

The Lady Uchiha let out a marvelous laugh and put an arm around the girl's shoulders, leading her towards a mansion of some sort. Her boys followed behind but soon the smallest one's excitement fed of Naruto's and joined in the hopping around. Itachi just rolled his eyes at their foolishness and continued to burn holes through Amaya's back. Warmth seeped into her body as the loving care radiated off of this woman. From both the arm on her shoulders and the kindness that Akiko gave, were absorbed into her heart. This was a moment to never be forgotten.

"That boy just seems to be full of energy. You're lucky to have a wonderful brother like that."

"Yeah…you're right. He is wonderful isn't he?"

"But is something wrong with his clothes? They seem to be held together by something."

"Umm, yup," she nervously chuckled. "It seems that I bought him a size too big and they can't help but falling down around his ankles."

Well, it wasn't a complete lie.