A young man who looks to be 18 years old enters a small home and is met by a woman about 40ish who is not too happy to see him.

"Hello mam."

"Now mister Uzumaki, while you may not be our child, we will still not allow violent video games in this house." The woman holds up a copy of Call of Duty Black Ops.

"Why does that even matter, I just finished highschool."

"Barely."

"Besides, how did you even know I had that?"

"My lovely daughter showed me."

"Well maybe your lovely daughter should stay the hell away from my stuff." Naruto grabs the game from his foster mother and heads off.

"Why you."

"Let him play his game Debra. The kid works in fast food for crying out loud." Naruto opens the door and starts up his Xbox 360 to see an invite from a SharinGunner that he accepts and it takes him to the Multiplayer lobby of Black Ops.

"I was just about to send you an invite Sasuke."

"Well well well, I thought you had to work today?"

"Not if I quit that hell hole. Is Shikamaru and Neji online?"

"Neji went to take a piss, Shikamaru went to grab something from his fridge."

"I'm back. Oh hey Naruto, didn't you have to work today?" Shikamaru can be heard in the party chat and the pop of a soda being opened can be heard. "Is Neji back yet. Is someone eating?"

"Sorry, I grabbed myself some beef jerky to snake on."

"Well, now that the gang's all here, what are we playing?"

"Hardcore TDM, if it comes up in the selection, vote for Nuketown."

"What are you guys running?" Naruto asks the group as he checks his classes.

"Galil and Makarov, frags, nova gas, and tac insert. What about you?" Sasuke says as he looks down to his phone.

"Depends on the map, if it's nuketown then 74u and ASP. If not, then the 47 with 1911. Both with semtex stuns and tac insert." Shikamaru says in between sips of his drink.

"Stakeout, 1911, frags, nova, and C4." Neji says between mouthfuls of jerky.

"I've got Commando, Makarov, frags, stuns, and tac insert." The four que up and enter a lobby, about to vote for a map. "Nuketown is not on the list."

"Vote for whatever you want."

"You know what, let's go random." Shikamaru puts his vote in and the others look over the options.

"I like firing range."

"Then vote for it." Sasuke tells Neji as he votes for random as well.

"You know what, I'm with Neji, let's go firing range." Naruto and Neji vote for firing range and wait for the time to end as a majority vote goes to Hanoi.

"I hate this map." Neji says as Naruto hears a knock on his door.

"Back out, this map has shitty flow."

"That's just because you never see shit Shikamaru."

"That's a bad thing Sasuke."

"Naruto, we got two to back out, what say you.?" Naruto doesn't answer as he opens his door to see a girl only a few years younger than he is.

"What do you want?"

"Mother says that Father Anderson is here, and he would like to see you."

"I'll be there in a second." She turns away as Naruto picks up his headset. "Oh, and stay out of my shit." She rolls her eyes at that and he puts the headphones on. "Looks like I'll have to go for a bit, sorry boys."

"You're good." Naruto logs off and he turns to see what is happening. "Catholic assholes." The others chuckles at this as Naruto heads to the living room.

"Ah, glad to see you are doing well young man." A man in a suit stands up and holds his hand out towards him.

"Father Anderson." They shake hands and Naruto sits down on a wooden chair.

"Now, I feel congratulations are in order for your graduation from high school. "

"Thanks. That isn't the only reason you are here is it?" Father Anderson leans forward, scratching his chin.

"Well, you know that now that you are 18 and out of school, by the end of the year you must find a new home."

"Fair enough, the sooner I get out of here the better."

"Well now we did everything to help you. Why, I even."

"Now Debera, we have reports that you held a double standard when it came to him and your own child, and we were told that you would not do such things."

"Not to play devil's advocate, but isn't there a double standard for the Catholic Church?"

"Sadly."

"So that would explain a lot." Naruto stands up and pulls his car keys out. "Nice to see you again, Father Anderson. Tell Sister Tarisa I said hello." He steps out and drives off. He arrives at a house and knocks on the door and Neji answers.

"Sorry buddy, Hinata is at work right now."

"Who said I was her to get her, want to hangout for a bit, get something to eat?"

"Sure, if the others are joining us."

"That's the idea, let's go." The two make their way to get the others and head to a local diner.

"Welcome boys." They enter a booth and a waitress comes up and hands them some menus.

"Thank you miss." Shikamaru says, smiling back to her and the others look at him and mock him. "What, I was being nice."

"I'll be back when you guys are ready to order." They men nod to her as she turns away and they all turn to the menus.

"I know what I want." Naruto sets his menu down and takes a look outside.

"Good for you." The four continue to look around as the waitress comes back.

"Are you all ready to order?"

"I'll take a double patty melt, medium cheese fries and a large Orange Fanta." Naruto hands his menu over.

"I'll have the chicken bacon club, small fries, and an iced tea." Sasuke does the same. "Oh, and can I get a slice of lemon for the tea?"

"Ofcourse."

"Thank you."

"Triple bacon patty melt, large chili cheese tots, and a large Dr.Pepper, no ice please."

"You want the soda to be a diet?"

"I haven't eaten since breakfast." Naruto shakes his head at Shikamaru's answer.

"Anyways, I'll have the butter pounder, medium cheese tots, and ice water."

"Alright, I'll have your drinks out as soon as possible." They all thank her and she turns to hand in the orders. After they finish eating they leave and Naruto drops them all off. On his way home he sees what looks to be a car crash on the side of the road and notices that one of the cars is on it's roof on the side of the highway, with the median all torn to shit. He quickly pulls over and runs over to a man in a suit.

"What happened?"

"Hell if I know, they just swerved into my lane, thankfully I was able to."

"Did you try to help them out of the car?"

"No, but I did call the."

"So they are still inside?" Naruto runs down to the car and grabs a rock. He sees a woman in the driver's seat and two kids in the back, one of them looks to be bleeding from the head. "Get back, I'm going to bust open the window." He smashes the rear driver side and sets his jacket on the broken glass, so the kids don't cut themselves and get them out one at a time. He looks to see if he can get the woman out but it is crushed to the point where he would be unable to safely get her out. He grabs the kids and heads back to the road as the paramedics and police arrive

"Sir are you okay?"

"I'm fine, a woman is still in the car, you'll probably need the Jaws of Life to get her out." He hands the kids off to paramedics as a fire truck arrives and out comes a man with the tool to get her out.

"Is mommy going to be okay, mister?" The little girl asks Naruto as he turns away.

"I'm sure she'll be a-okay kid."

"Thank you mister."

"Not a problem." He walks back to his car and closes the door. He puts his head back on the headrest and sighs, and looks over to see a stretcher being hauled away. He safely makes his way home and he lays down on his bed, and shortly falls asleep. He wakes up about seven AM and puts on a tee shirt and along with his usual orange and black shorts, and walks out to the usual commotion of his foster family. "Morning." His foster father nods at him as a knock is heard at the door. "I got it." He makes his way down to the door and opens to see a man in some form of military uniform. "Good morning sir." Naruto puts his hand out and the two shake hands.

"You do still remember me, correct?"

"Of course Sargeant Franklin." Naruto waves for him to enter as his foster mother stands at the top of the steps.

"May I ask what brought you here?" She says in an unusually nice fashion.

"Well mame, the young man here is what brought me here. He has shown an interest in joining the corps."

That's good, maybe you can teach him to respect his elders." The mother says with a bit of spite in her voice as she looks at him.

"Yeah and maybe he'll finally know his place." The girl yells with a snicker before he turns his attention back to the Marine recruiting officer.

"My mind hasn't changed, I'm joining the corps." Naruto looks him in the eyes before the recruiting officer stands up, adjusting his uniform as he turns to leave, he turns back to the man who will soon become a recruit.

"I'm glad to see your mind is set. I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Thank you sir." The man sees himself out and the foster mother gives him a glare. "What's your problem?"

"Why didn't you tell us, we are your parents."

"Foster parents, no disrespect to you John, but you and your daughter always loved reminding me that both my parents are dead." With this Naruto turns and leaves the house. He drives around for a bit, finding himself at a church. He gets out and walks towards a small group of children who are being watched by a nun, about her mid to late 30s. "Hello Sister Teresa."

"Ah, it's so good to see you. Congratulations on graduating highschool by the way."

"Thank you sister. Is Father Anderson here?"

"He is off to get some supplies for the church, did you need to speak to him?"

"Yes, it's something that I would consider of utmost importance."

"Mister Usumaki, I didn't expect you to be here today. Sister Teresa, children. Come with me, my son." Naruto and Anderson walk into the church and sit down on a bench. "It seems like something is bothering you, what is it my child?"

"I'm joining the Marines."

"I'm glad to see that you have made up your mind, but that is not what I meant."

"I know, I thought I would get the good news out of the way. I'm leaving the Catholic church." Father Anderson looks at the young man with a little bit of disappointment, but smiles.

"I won't stop you from doing so, but might I ask why?"

"Firstly, the double standard of the church and some of the more powerful people in it, and lastly, some of the traditions are tedious in my opinion. Now in no way am I bashing your lifestyle."

"No hard feelings, I do agree with the first point. And you are allowed to do what you wish. But let me be the first to tell you this, you leaving the church does not change a thing I told you before you got out of school, if you ever need help spiritually, the Sisters and be I would be happy to help you." The two men stand up and Naruto holds out his hand.

"Thank you Father." They shake hands and Anderson pats his shoulder.

"There's no need to refer to me as Father, just call me your friend." Naruto nods and walks away to see the sister standing in the door. He nods to her as he leaves. He arrives at a house and gets out of the car. He walks up to the door and rings the doorbell and sighs. The door opens as Neji stands in the door.

"Have you come for me again my dear?" He asks, leaning on the door, as Shikamaru can be heard laughing at it.

"You fucking wish, is Hinata here?"

"In the shower." Naruto walked up the steps to the second floor and into the kitchen.

"Don't drink any of those dews, I bought them." Shikamaru can be heard yelling from downstairs.

"I'm just getting a glass of water buddy. By the way, did you guys get a visit from the recruiter today?"

"He was here just after Shikamaru showed up. Why?"

"He showed up just before I left to speak with Father Anderson, it's also the reason I'm here."

"Well, look at us." Shikamaru walks up the steps to join the other two. "Just three wannabe Marines." He grabs a can of Mountain Dew, opens it, and lifts it up. "Here's to us not getting shot in the dick by what's left of the Taliban." The three toast to their future and Naruto sees Hinata behind Shikamaru in a somewhat baggy shirt and spandex shorts.

"Hey Hinata, can I?"

"No need, I heard everything." She says and turns away and storms off.

"Hey, let's talk about this." Naruto sets the glass down and walks after her.

"I didn't get to tell him that the Camaro isn't free." Shikamaru jokes as Naruto gets Hinata's door slammed in his face.

"Fucking hell." He knocks on the door and she opens it, looking upset with him. "Look I'm sorry I couldn't tell you directly."

"That's not why I'm upset."

"Okay then tell me."

"The two closest people to me are both going to fight a war they don't have to."

"I know you're a pacifist, but this is something I've been thinking about for a few years. You know that." He walks up to her sitting on her bed, but she turns away from his embrace.

"I need some time to myself."

"Yeah, I'll just hang out here with the others for a bit in case you want to talk about it."

"That's fine." Naruto turns around and closes the door behind him and walks back into the kitchen and grabs his glass, heading back into the living room area where Shikamaru and Neji are playing on the 360.

"That was a quick one." Shikamaru says in a joking tone and Neji gives him a glare. "I meant the talk, what did you think I ment?"

"Nothing. What's wrong?"

"She needs some time to herself."

"She's just concerned about you and I, I'm family and you're her lover boy." Neji says, giving him a pat on the shoulder.

"By the way, Sasuke called me when you were in there."

"What does he want?"

"He said he would tell us when he got here." As if on cue, a knock is heard at the door.

"Probably him, Naruto answer the door, will ya?" Neji says, waving his head towards the door.

"Hey guys, I guess y'all know why I'm here?"

"Just like Naruto here, have you told Sakura yet?"

"Did that before I left."

"Did she cock block you like Hinata did to Naruto?" This joke gets a small chuckle from the black haired man standing up, and a glare from the other two. "What? That's what happened."

"Well anyways, I ship out to the island next week." Sasuke says as he sits down.

"Same here, what about you two?"

"Oh nice, maybe we can get Full Metal Jacketed together." Shikamaru says, getting yet another glare from the others.

"I sure as hell hope not." Neji says before turning back to the tv.

"Oh fuck. Neji revive me, I have the ray run."

"I'm gonna check on Hinata."

"Alright, I'm going to hang out here for a couple of hours." Naruto stands up and heads back to his girlfriend's room.

"You good?"

"Come in." He opens the door and steps inside.

"Are you better now?"

"About as good as I'm gonna be. Knowing that you and Neji will both be leaving soon. And if and when you guys come back, you won't be the same."

"I can see your concerns. And I don't know what to say to ease it." He looks at her, glad she has stopped crying, but that was probably due to her eyes running dry.

"Stay with me for the night. At least we can spend one last night together."

"Of course." He smiles before laying down next to her. She turns away from him and he spoons up to her. Running his hand on her leg and abdomen, as if to familiarize himself with her shape, knowing that he may need her with him down the line.