u/Ungrateful-Wolf

During the first battle against Fishbone D, Rukia prepares to transfer half of her power to Ichigo. Though everything happens pretty much the same, thanks to the Hogyoku inside her body, something unpredictable goes on: instead of having her reiryoku awaken his Shinigami powers, it goes to the Hollow part inside his soul instead, feeding it and having it prematurely undergo Shinigamification.

As soon as the Hollow attacks, Ichigo ends up outdoing it out of a desire to take it down a notch by being the bigger monster (figuratively) and a newfound hunger for energy (literally), wielding a sword and going straight for the kill... much to Rukia's horror noticing he ALSO has a hole in the chest. As he recovers, he assumes it's what she meant by giving him her powers, and panics when he sees her faint.

After a very guilty and curious Urahara gives her a gigai, she's told that if she doesn't want the rest of Soul Society to come screaming to kill this human that for some reason underwent Hollowification, they have to work on feeding him with any Hollow coming their way. And for that matter, Rukia isn't sure how to explain Ichigo's new form to him without making him freak out about becoming a monster (he'd eventually get over it so long he can still do good, but it also requires him not to use up too much energy in combat).

He also can't send souls to Soul Society, so Ichigo has to help certain spirits rest the old-fashioned way by comforting them and helping them handle their unfinished business, lest he wants his town to become infested with Hollows left and right every day (and attract unwanted attention from the Gotei 13 before the fact).

For a couple of days, he's initially believed to just be an anomaly, until they're given the address of the Visored to help him manage his current state. In the meantime, somewhere in Soul Society, Aizen wonders how and why the hell Urahara evolved Isshin's kid into an Arrancar already, with Gin joking the other scientist is trying to steal his thunder and make him look like a copycat.

It does make incriminating Rukia easier though, using accusations of all the possible risks she's running by believing she can tame a Hollow with Shinigami powers (and not so subtly hinting at some of the very things he does or plans to do with the Espada). Because Ichigo ends up being the first Arrancar created with the Hogyoku, he gains a slight nickname from humors in Hueco Mundo as the "wayward Espada", believed to either be an Arrancar abomination or one of Aizen's escaped experiments rebelling against him as he is on par with some of the Números.

Basically, Ichigo and friends are much less discrete about their nightly endeavors and battles against beings from all over the worlds, with the Shinigamis being a bit behind when it comes to hiding things...

But Karakura doesn't care. Everyone just thinks Ichigo's friend group is secretly in a gang or some other teenage shenanigans.

Kurosaki shows up with a bunch of people in dark kimonos and fights weird guys with white kimonos and boney masks? Man, these battle of the bands performance arts are crazy nowadays. The swords changing forms? Obviously props and practical effects, who would even have the time to forge real swords? And the weird ominous auras are so last decade.

Those weird guys that call each other Captains, Lieutenant and other military titles while showing up in school uniforms? Gee, Kurosaki's really stupid if he thinks he can pull a Hollywood and convince everyone those fully grown adults are teenage high schoolers. Not to mention all the alternative rock makeup some of them have, no wonder he tends to excuse himself so often! That Kuchiki girl that transferred must be his band manager.

When rumors reach Isshin, he sweats up a storm, but then goes along with it, saying Ichigo always had a knack for playing the guitar, coming up with increasingly ridiculous excuses as to where his kid and his friends perform.

Cataloguing here because I mostly am impatient for wikis and because most players tend to load old saves instead of playing new ones, but in case anyone's curious, here's a couple dialogues on NG++ that I realize get overlooked a helluva lot, mostly because it requires exploring, waiting it out or replaying skippable sections (I left out some cutscenes since those aren't generally skippable unless the player makes it).

Hinako walking through the alley at the beginning:

>Woman: "But wasn't that girl dating the boy from the Iwai family?"
Woman: "I guess money was more important in the end."
Woman: "Shh! Someone's going to hear you..."

Radio broadcasts here and there:

>Hinako: "I want silence."
Hinako: "I want silence. I want no one else around here in town so just the two of us can talk."

>Kimie: "Dear, I want you to apologize to Hinako.
Kimie: "If you don't get Hinako to forgive you, I won't let you see her off!"

>Hinako: "We're being forced to abandon ourselves."
Hinako: "We're being rushed into a mutually destructive conflict."
Hinako: "Who is it that's playing with us like puppets?"

Hinako's parents boss fight quotes:

>Hinako: "I know who my parents are! You can't ruin my view of them!"
Hinako: "Get out of here! You aren't my parents!"

Scroll of Discipline quotes:

>"O-Our Clan...?"
"Gratitude isn't something you demand..."
"I acknowledge my foolishness. But don't say such things to my parents and friends."
"Blood of the mortal realm...? Not once... did I ask to be chosen..."
"Am I just soil in which you can sow your oats? Don't... be ridiculous..."
"...Stop..."

Inspecting Suzutani Mayumi's missing poster while chasing the Shiromuku:

>Hinako: "It's no use. You can't get into my head."

Chasing the Shiromuku:

>"It went down the mountain..."
"It's heading for town. Why would it do that?"
"You've destroyed my world. Are you not satisfied?"
"The corruption's spreading, I have to hurry!"
"No one, I don't want anyone making choices for me!"
"I want you all gone! I'm taking back this town right now!"
"Who's behind this? I'm going to make them suffer!"
"Where are you? Where are you hiding? Where's the puppet master pulling the strings?"
"I won't dance for the likes of you anymore!"
"It's my life! It's my choice!"
"No matter what you try to do, your tricks won't work on me!"
"My life, my choices, my happiness, they're all mine! MINE!"
"Now I get it, that's where it all started!"

Running through the final section of the Dark Shrine:

>"I won't let things go your way.
"I figured it out. I know what it is that I'm after."

Final boss quotes:

Fox Hinako vs Kyuubi:

>"At first, I wasn't interested at all. But as I got to know him better, I realized I had to think just as long and hard as he did. I might never meet someone who feels this way about me. And if that's really the case, then I want to feel the same as him."
"Kotoyuki struggled so much! He agonized over whether he should give up his whole life for his first love."
"If you really want to marry me, then know this. No one, and I mean no one, laughs at Kotoyuki!"

Shimizu Hinako vs Tsukumogami:

>"I too wrestled with fear and doubt. I was afraid that though he might be kind now, he could eventually turn violent."
"What does my life have to gain from giving into his feelings? What will I lose? What will change? What will happen?"
"They say a woman finds happiness when she is loved by a man. Well, those "magic words" don't help me feel better at all!"
"My struggles are more serious! My doubt consumes me! We're unsure of whether or not we have the courage to spread our wings and overcome it all!"
"This is our struggle! Ours, and only ours! You do not get to toy with us!"

If you know any more, feel free to add in! I liked Ending 4 a lot and it still amazes me to find details that I've missed, it's nice to get the whole story.

In order to ensure his children would be united when the time comes, Hagoromo had bestowed upon them a gift: were Asura and Indra to call upon their Bijuu brothers for help, they could harness some of their chakras into familiars of sorts, similar but distinct enough from ninken.

When Madara unleashed the Kyuubi onto Konoha and Hashirama dispatched it, both ended up manifesting small kitsunes that looked to them for ownership and warmth. As Madara fled the scene, he left his kitsune behind, leaving it to be taken with Hashirama's, eventually gifted to the Uchiha Clan upon Mito's passing.

Things changed, however, on the night of Naruto's birth. With both Asura and Indra's chakras in baby Naruto and Sasuke's bodies, Hashirama's kit sensed its old kin within him and helped fight off Tobi, much to Minato and Tobi's confusion.

When Naruto grew up, he'd sometimes get a visit from that fox again, warming up to him near his stomach and trying to soothe him down whenever he was upset. During the Uchiha massacre, Madara's own fox hid away before latching onto Sasuke, breaking Itachi's Tsukuyomi and carrying Sasuke to the Hokage for safety. Hashirama's fox plain refused to return to the compound, insisting on helping Naruto instead.

Once they became shinobis, they'd leave the foxes at home, but always think to come back for treats. It only got a bit more difficult during the Chunin exams and the Konoha Crush.

While fighting Gaara, as soon as Naruto was able to calm Gaara down, a baby tanuki appeared out of thin air. Naruto gave it to Gaara, instructing him to take care of it as he would take care of himself, try to help Gaara recover from the whole incident.

Upon helping Utakata, he ended up finding a baby slug next to him the next morning, leaving it to Utakata and Hotaru for raising.

These familiars reflect a Bijuu's bond to either of the Otsutsuki brothers' incarnations, so while Naruto is told that the foxes belong to Sasuke's family, his fox represents a potential kinship Naruto could form with Kurama if they tried hard enough. Likewise, Shukaku and Saiken's mini-clones can be rowdy to Naruto but can also learn to behave, should the Jinchurikis nurture their Bijuus and learn to work together with the Kyuubi's Jinchuriki.

For his part, Sasuke doesn't mind the fox's presence all that much, but it makes him unable to take Naruto seriously. Because of his whiskers, Naruto reminds him of his pet fox whenever he wants a treat, and Sasuke has to resist the urge to shut Naruto up from yapping by shoving a treat in his mouth (to Naruto's own surprise, the fox food ain't that bad, seems to settle rather well in his stomach for some reason).

Platform: PC browser game

Genre: Point and click escape game

Estimated year of release: Mid 2000s but definitely before the mid 2010s

Graphics/art style: Anime-esque kind of art style? Although that only applied to the protagonist.

Notable characters: Redheaded protagonist, can't remember their outfit, just that they had short red hair.

Notable gameplay mechanics: Every part of the game involved facing a specific wall in the classroom. The player character would comment on any item that was clicked on.

Other details: I'm not certain, but I THINK the door was locked with a digicode or something like that. That and the game seemed to be a sequel to something else, but as I can't remember the name, I couldn't tell what it is.

From what I remember, it started out with a cutscene of the protagonist, a redhead, crawling through a vent while being watched by a camera.

Then they arrived in a classroom, and the game would be in a 2D first person view. There would be cardboard cutout of students in the classroom that could be added to the player's inventory. There was also a wall with a riddle involving Zodiac signs. Though I never solved it, clicking the Sagittarius would have the player character state "hey, that's my sign!"

On the night of the Uchiha Massacre, Naruto had sneaked into their district in order to pull off a prank aimed towards that "big kid who acts like he's all cool and stuff at the playground". Not Sasuke who's still just as young as Naruto, but Itachi who'd sometimes show off his techniques in public at his little brother's plea and make all sorts of kids jealous of Sasuke for having such a cool big bro.

When he saw the bloody corpses, he initially worried something had happened to them instead, and since he's clearly not the epitome of wisdom, he had the bright idea to follow the trail of bodies inside the compound.

After paralyzing Sasuke, Itachi was confused to see Naruto show up. He almost put him under Tsukuyomi as well... but then "Madara" showed up and showed interest in the Jinchuriki being oh so conveniently near them. Naruto wanted to attack, claiming himself as future Hokage (unwittingly striking a VERY SENSITIVE cord in Tobi's chest), was restrained on the spot.

As a desperate attempt to keep Naruto alive, Itachi suggested taking the fox kid instead of killing him, not yet aware of the moon plan. Seeing potential for a lot of poetic justice, Madara agreed to "the plan", not letting Itachi know he'd extract the fox (and even after letting word of the extraction process, he'd argue that Uzumakis like Naruto are extremely resistant, his mother having survived the removal of the Kyuubi, when Itachi feigns his concern more towards Naruto's survival than stopping the Biju from being used as a weapon).

When Sasuke finally got freed from the genjutsu, he was informed of Itachi's crimes... including passing rumors that "that blonde demon brat" was there when it happened, ranging from unbelievable (such as Naruto helping Itachi in the massacre) to worrisome (Itachi snapped and after his own Clan, he'll be going after the rest of Konoha so that he can be free to harm, starting with the annoying kid who keeps failing academy tests and pulls pranks in the village).

Sasuke doesn't actually know Naruto all that well here, having only heard of him in passing and them being in different grades, but from the sound of it, he couldn't harm a fly... so he obviously must've been an innocent victim at the wrong place, at the wrong time. The Hokage won't give details AT ALL (matter of fact, he looks constipated at the very idea of Itachi doing anything to harm Naruto), so perhaps there's more to it, but he needs to focus on his revenge first.

Whenever Sasuke visits his clan's graves, he also thinks of bringing flowers to Naruto's empty grave. Sometimes, he's pretty sure he can see an ANBU agent at the other kid's tombstone, but by the time he gets there, the figure is gone (Kakashi is full of regrets). A part of him is curious as to what that dead-last stranger was doing there, but also wishes they could've met and become friends (though Sasuke himself doesn't realize it). A kid his age should be training, eating snacks while learning techniques to become a great ninja someday, something his accursed brother deprived them both of.

He learned that Naruto was apparently an orphan and that he had nobody waiting for him home, on top of being seemingly despised by a good chunk of the populace, hence why it took a long time for anyone to mark him as missing. So the least he feels he could do for not being able to stop Itachi that night is to remember the loudmouth, even if they hadn't really interacted. On later occasions though, he sometimes spots the young Hyuuga heiress also paying her tributes to the missing boy's grave, often wearing a red scarf whenever she does so.

Unbeknownst to him, Naruto is being trained by several S-Rank criminals, having his philosophies shaped by clashing opinions and mixed messages. As such, he's a "junior" member of the group, not having even reached Genin level yet as far as any of them is concerned.

On one hand, there's Itachi who tells Naruto why he spilled so much blood and that Konoha needs its protectors, even if it's not obvious who's in the right at first glance. Some of the damage, including the fox's existence and the Fourth's involvement in it being hidden from Naruto for years (in spite of him being meant to be a hero to Konoha), can't be fixed.

On the other, there's Madara and Pain, who spin tales of the ninja world's many faults, pointing out that Naruto has the power to change things within him (they mean the Kyuubi, unaware about the Toads' prophecy but wanting to convince the kid to be sacrificial) but was mistreated for it, with Madara being unnervingly familiar with Naruto's childhood dream of being acknowledged by becoming Hokage, while Pain tells Naruto of small things regarding the Uzumaki Clan and how war tore his family in Ame apart (both his biological parents and his brother figure Yahiko).

This leaves Sasuke incredibly in the dark about the many circumstances that lead him to becoming a powerful ninja, making him fight for a cause he doesn't fully understand while his peers are in trouble behind his back (they can somewhat easily recover from losing a doujutsu like the Sharingan in the foreseeable future. A Bijuu, not so much).

In parallel, Naruto is instead given all the pieces of the puzzle... but he's not sure he likes whichever picture the Akatsuki is trying to draw. The idea of a perfect world seems tempting, but he also grew up feelings his dreams were hollow as a result, with his image of Jiji and his dad (yeah, that one was a painful shocker) being ruined for a good while.

By the time Naruto even gets good enough to go on a mission, most of the kids his age have already forgotten about him. Except Itachi's little brother, who looks like he's seen a ghost when they finally meet (albeit not looking as haunted as Itachi's former captain for some reason, who wears a mask and has a Sharingan eye). And it takes quite some time for them to even meet, as Naruto is never sent anywhere near Konoha, and Itachi has very little excuse to return there since its Jinchuriki is already theirs.

Either this is Goldbug or something very wrong is going on

Oldie animation error, but kinda hilarious considering the whole Wasp and Longarm plotline...

Sound, Akatsuki, whoever else... They're enemies of the Leaf and most commonly enemies of the great Hidden Villages... except they're not responsible for ALL bad things happening.

Sakura, having done some blood tests for her teammates' health check, suspects there's an intruder. Turns out, some of the local Chunins were replaced by Orochimaru's soldiers.

"You were trying to poison us!"

"We... wha?"

"I don't know how you did it, but you thought you could get rid of us by injecting lethal substances."

"We did not!"

"Then how do you explain the asbestos, lead and arsenic levels I've found in Naruto's tests?!"

The Kyuubi gives the kid a hell of a resistance, considering the health violation that is his apartment.

Another time, Deidara and Tobi show up, distracting a mission between Sand and Konoha, when Gaara and Lee are knocked out on the ground, convulsing. Immediately, the nukenins are accused of using a strong genjutsu, which they deny...

Naruto then notices that Gaara left a bottle behind.

"Gaara, when I told you to socialize with your peers outside of work, I didn't mean to ask Baa-chan for alcohol recommendations! Her stuff always hits you when you least expect it!"

Just, some of the more threatening situations being mistaken for the antagonists' doing, when it's just the ninja world being a hot mess.

So I'm writing a fic about a character who embodies Light and the Sun, eventually falling into darkness and getting his ideals corrupted. I thought that in such a scenario, his "shining" ideals being twisted into something more destructive and a show of a fall from grace could be likened to a different sky visual.

Eclipse's already taken by the original material as a totally different concept. So is the concept of black holes and dark stars. Then I came across the concept of "black sun" in alchemy, symbolizing a form of rot, kind of befitting for a "golden child" type of character who's getting tainted into destroying what they previously stood for.

Problem is, when I looked it up, turns out "Black Sun" has VERY negative connotations, since a black sun was a symbol in Nazi Germany at one point and I'm having several second thoughts about using such a term to refer to the Sun character having fallen into darkness.

Am I reading too much into this or should I refrain from playing Icarus and getting too close to the sun by trying that kind of name as a title for the character?

In the midst of Sasuke's training with Orochimaru, he occasionally gets ambushed by a mysterious figure that's about his size, wearing an ANBU mask like Kakashi's, with dirty blonde hair, a dark red suit and occasionally glimpsing a Mangekyo Sharingan. He refuses to tell Orochimaru about it, knowing the snake might get distracted, but is nonetheless confused by it, since while his opponent uses Uchiha styles of katas, it's definitely not Itachi.

The hair would almost remind him of Naruto, but that'd be ridiculous, especially since it's not even the right color and he'd know, he's been visually assaulted by Naruto's vibrant outfits and haircut for years.

Occasionally, Naruto would also encounter such a figure while training under Jiraiya, initially suspecting it to be Sasuke before figuring out the guy doesn't fight like Sasuke at all, with no Chidori to be seen, though they do share similarities in stances and movement allowing him to keep up with Naruto. Plus, Sasuke's not the kind to be all masked vigilante about things.

Somewhere in the midst, Tobi approaches such a figure and manages to snatch the mask away. He's surprised... and amused, though visions of being in a cage temporarily catch him off guard while the younger shinobi takes his mask back. He tries to tempt the boy into joining Akatsuki, just to be told off, leaving Tobi to shrug and disappear, fine so long the intruder doesn't interfere too much.

Only at some point in time, when Naruto is chasing after Sasuke's trail, does he manage to catch up to the weird spy, exploiting the tricks he learned from the Toads to break his mask off.

...he's confused to be faced with his own face, albeit with violet-blue eyes, dark hair roots (no, Danzo, gtfo) and a very conflicted glare looking back at him, almost resembling shame but feeling more like anger.

The lookalike tells him "If you think that's enough to protect Sasuke, you're never gonna cut it." before shunshinning away, to Naruto's shock realizing the chakra is different from his, but also unnervingly familiar, similar to his own.

SO, THAT WAS THE GIST FOR THE CHARACTERS INTERACTING, ONTO THE GUY (not Gai) HIMSELF

This Naruto is from another universe, landing in one we're more familiar with through unknown means.

In another world where Minato died during the war, his last wishes to Kushina were that she'd find the courage to move on and the love to support herself on her own, even if he's not around anymore. As such, he never got to be Fourth Hokage and left the young woman a widow.

Though it was hard and took time, she found the strength to move on by the time the war was over, with Mikoto encouraging her to meet other people once past the grieving stages. Eventually, she caught the eye of an Uchiha officer. He couldn't replace Minato, but he didn't need to. One thing led to another and they were able to conceive. Having kept Jiraiya's first book as a memento of her dead lover, they still call the boy Naruto.

Tragedy strikes, misfortune happens in different ways. Naruto grows up at the Uchiha compound, albeit with knowledge of who his parents were since it's harder to hide a local clan's traits than a demon's existence. To honor his mother's memory, he gets to keep her maiden name so that he bears traits from both parents. Being a jinchuriki still, he ends up spared from the massacre alongside Sasuke, though it came with accusations of being a jinx from other villagers.

Academy to Genin years, Naruto starts to dye his hair blonde after glimpsing pictures of the Yellow Flash of the Leaf, picking Minato as an inspiration considering he was a respected war hero and a close friend of his and Sasuke's parents.

He'd also occasionally overhear infuriating rumors about how his mom might've tried to gain in reputation by going after a prodigy Jonin in the past (unaware those stem from Kushina's situation as a Jinchuriki and a survivor from Uzushio), so he'd act out and do pranks still, to Sasuke and Hiruzen's frustration, seeing Naruto is shaping up to be a juvenile delinquent. Adding on to that would be unbelievable rumors that he was an illegitimate child, with no living Uchiha around to properly refute it since he "doesn't act like one".

Kakashi, not having the same emotional baggage talking to Naruto as he would with a more direct reminder of his sensei, eventually opened up to both Uchihas about how he got his Sharingan eye, how he lost Obito, and how he hopes neither one of them ever has to experience anything like that to gain their Sharingans.

Fast forward to Chunin exams, Orochimaru picked Sasuke as the more predictable Uchiha of the two, Naruto's recklessness being a bit too much to handle (and too Jiraiya-like to his taste). Unfortunately, this Naruto was less lucky: in his attempt to get Sasuke back... he ended up killing him instead, not measuring the amount of wrath he poured into his chakra when drawing on the fox's, leading him to end Sasuke's life and unlock Mangekyo as a result of his actions.

Full of regrets at taking the life of his best friend, being unable to properly shoulder Sasuke's pain at the time and blaming himself for how things turned out, he ran off, his new eyes allowing him to get opponents and obstacles out of the way. Seeing he's become a "friend killer" like Kakashi, he steals a copy of the ANBU mask he wore (since it's the same mask Minato used to wear) and decides he can't hang around Konoha anymore if he only brings trouble to his loved ones.

This Naruto loathes Itachi with a passion, knowing he left Sasuke alone when Sasuke made it obvious he both looked up to him and envied his big brother. When Itachi left, Sasuke was broken and Naruto had to pick up the pieces... and now he instead finished Itachi's job. Even if he were to learn of what Konoha did regarding the massacre, he's moreso angry at what Sasuke went through during the massacre, having grown to be his brother figure when Itachi left (though Sasuke and everyone can evidently tell you Naruto was a whole different dynamic). If he had to kill everyone, he didn't have to torture Sasuke over it for years and come back to haunt him (ofc, Itachi has his reasons, but young Naruto neither knows nor cares).

His mangekyo ability allows him to trap opponents in genjutsus with varying levels of reality, depending on how much chakra he channels. He can keep opponents stuck in cages similar to the Kyuubi, and if he tries extra hard, he can pull off something similar to his mother's chakra chains, either as part of the illusion or as a real manifestation.

He loathes himself for getting carried away and hurting the people he cared for, and as a result is bitter at mainline Naruto and Sasuke. Bitter at Naruto because he recognizes his recklessness and blind pursuit could one day kill Sasuke if he's not careful as well as not being strong enough to make Sasuke stay in the village, and bitter at Sasuke because a part of him is mad that Sasuke's desires of revenge and power led to such a situation in the first place when he knows power can alienate you from your precious people if you're not careful.

Cycles of life pass by in the Pure World, and while he still desires to see his sons eventually make up and stop fighting in life, Hagoromo can sense that Asura and Indra's reincarnations are getting increasingly dangerous, to the point of becoming self-defeating.

When he feels their latest chakra incarnations brush extremely close to death, he decides it's perhaps time for them to reconvene as a family, planning to put their cycle on an indefinite pause.

...except, due to Asura's current incarnation having a very peculiar seal that is both tethered to the Impure World (thank you, Uzumaki Clan) and the Shinigami (soul-hungry spectre bastard), the Sage of Six Paths cannot recall his children properly from beyond the veil of life and death.

In OTHER WORDS, when Sasuke and Naruto's Chidori and Rasengan collide, they technically see God for a second... but because of the seal on Naruto's stomach, a soul and body is required to remain in the world of the living in order to keep the Nine-Tails contained.

Naruto wakes up in the Pure World and meets the old man, who's much confused as to why Asura hasn't returned properly and why Indra's missing. He tries again, and this time, Sasuke shows up while Naruto disappears.

At the Valley of the End, Sasuke wakes up confused since he doesn't see Naruto's body anywhere, but he does feel strangely overwhelmed as if he had a sudden influx of chakra, and yet the Cursed Mark is inactive. Minutes later, Naruto takes his place and panics seeing the teme is nowhere to be seen.

Thanks to their predecessors' repeated close calls with death and the fact Naruto's folks dealt with a Tailed Beast using the literal god of death itself to contain him, Naruto and Sasuke end up existing as a living paradox, sharing the same body instead of ascending to the afterlife. Whenever one of them is active somehow, the other is in the Pure World.

Needless to say, Sasuke was a bit too eager to be reunited with his parents and outraged to learn the real reason behind Itachi's behavior. Soon followed by Naruto meeting Sasuke's folks and clan and learning that the Akatsuki was involved in unleashing the Kyuubi with a Sharingan, hence why the Genins will have to prepare to confront them.

Back in the real world, once both boys have switched enough times to get the memo, the rest of the world kinda has to deal with the consequences. Naruto has to explain that he couldn't bring Sasuke back to Konoha... because Sasuke's right there (pointing at himself). And since he now has to look over both the teme and the fox, he'll have to worry more about Orochimaru targeting him directly now.

For their remaining days in Konoha, Sasuke loves to use Naruto as a fangirl-blocker, checking out whenever a fan comes by or whenever he doesn't want to talk. Sakura finds some very conflicting feelings about the fact she sometimes ends up accidentally cuddling up to Naruto or sucker-punching Sasuke as a result. Hinata however is really upset that by technicality, Naruto is now wanted by a lot of girls in the village and not even for himself, meaning she's got competition for a different reason.

Additionally, Kakashi, Yamato and Sai often have to answer "yes" when people from other villages ask if the "henge enthusiast" they have with them is Naruto or Sasuke, considering it might as well be both.

On that note, Kurama absolutely LOATHES this new deal. Naruto's mindscape may be a sewer... but now that Sasuke's joined, whenever he's in charge of the seal, it instead turns into a prison version of the Uchiha Compound with Sharingan eyes staring and judging everywhere, and that scenery is more taunting and infuriating than the cage and water.

With a literal force of nature and Naruto's chakra reserves, as well as the fact he doesn't need to commit revenge anymore but will have to remain safe for his loved ones' sake, Sasuke doesn't pick up on Orochimaru's invitation and promises of power anymore, learning how to reject his Cursed Mark after a couple weeks with Anko and eventually being able to discard the Curse of Hatred. Though Anko does note the irony that Sasuke only kept his body because he's sharing it with Naruto of all people instead of handing it over to Orochimaru.

(Sasuke jokes that maybe Orochimaru would be a more pleasant person to live with, considering how messy his house gets when Naruto's in charge)

The boys also do not synergize at all at the enforced tag teaming at first. Not only does Naruto fill his shelves with cup ramen, Sasuke's chakra control is now a mess because of the amount he has in storage. And while they now share affinities and techniques, they don't have mastery over them.

Katon techniques suddenly being mixed with wind almost blowing up in Sasuke's face, Naruto being taken aback when Sasuke forgets to turn the Sharingan off before switching places and he has to adjust to seeing the world in a way he doesn't understand, being unable to disable it since he never had a doujutsu before. Though they do manage to get around the whole life trade thing by developing their own brand of clones once they're 16 in order to have a proper conversation instead of back and forth writing to each other.

(Tobi stares at the hybridized shinobi, and calmly notes that Pain's apparently not the only member of his clan assimilating others anymore)

After getting kicked out of a restaurant for so-called "past trouble" and not apologizing, Naruto decides to take it up with Hiruzen over the fact even though the Kyuubi is meant to be a secret, a lot of village businesses are being unfair and he can't rely on ANBU to prove it, nor make a strong enough case.

So, as a semi-bet, semi-challenge of spite (and all chaotic prank energy), he decides to issue a C-Rank mission within Konoha: any team will be given Naruto's monthly stipend for food and clothes and ninja gear... if they are able to shop into businesses by henge-ing as Naruto, as a test of their stealth and impersonation skills.

If they are able to get all the "necessary" groceries without going over budget, Naruto will be giving a large percentage of his mission pays for the next few months towards the other teams.

And to add a bit of spice to it, except for himself, Team 7 is even allowed to partake in said mission.

Two weeks later, Team Asuma, Kurenai, Gai and Kakashi (minus Naruto and their actual senseis) show up with large signs to the Hokage office, complaining about extortion and exploitation of Naruto's inability to handle money with many of the shops refusing them or increasing prices to unreasonable levels. The few places that served them had horrible customer service and even the patrons were uncharacteristically unpleasant (including people the young Genins are familiar with), none of them were able to complete the lists, in spite of the items normally being well within means to buy.

From there, since Naruto just had a shit-eating grin and said he wasn't allowed to explain why getting stuff was difficult, they end up theorizing that since Naruto's an orphan and was a troublemaker at the academy, nobody bothered to teach him how to handle money or the market price for certain products shinobis are expected to use every day, leading most people who remember his pranks to raise prices on him in spite of the fact he's changed since then and is making an effort to be a Genin.

And since he's poor as dirt, he obviously couldn't hire a courier to do his groceries for him, and nobody at the Hokage's office would listen to him assuming he was crying wolf about it. He's being singled out in ways that actively make living difficult, and it's suddenly no surprise to anyone why he's so sloppy and obsessed with ramen when Teuchi's ramen shop is one of the few places to actually treat him well, or why he dresses with flashy cheap clothes and accessories.

It's not like "dead-last Naruto" would know any better... but considering he's apparently not allowed to speak about it, he might've already tried to report it and gotten in trouble for it instead.

So it just so happens a bunch of clan heirs have marched up to boycott several businesses and start spreading word on how service has clearly declined in Konoha, and they demand a reform based on their rights as citizens of Konoha, be it shinobis or civilians. They may not all like Naruto, but his treatment somewhat appealed to their sense of solidarity after a couple of days in his shoes. And Hiruzen is lucky enough none of them are aware of the Uzumaki Clan, as Naruto being the sole survivor of his clan (and potential connection to the Senju Clan) would be the best other kind of pressure they could pull on the council for the treatment of their local "loser".

Just picturing the absolute headache that'd come from it while Naruto does an "I told you so" dance in the middle of Hiruzen's office. He didn't blab about the Fox, but the village spoke for itself when they treated everyone else how they treat him.

(as a side note: Hinata has become uncharacteristically bolder after disguising herself as Naruto and learning to speak up several times, losing control of her volume at home without realizing it. Hiashi can't tell if it's a good or bad thing, and opts for bad when he learns of his daughter's odd roleplaying mission)