Chapter- 2

What the hell.

Over and over that phrase rocked through Naruto's head. There was no other way to react to what the fuck was happening besides complete and total shock.

Sure, in his time Naruto had been put into some pretty loopy genjutsu. Shinobi he had to fight on missions seemed to like throwing up some pretty bloody stuff. The 'gorier the better' seemed to be their mission statement. But after a while Naruto had gotten used to the horror, and it became a game of 'oh, it's this again'. Then Naruto had become friends with Kurama, and no illusion could hold him.

Being born and carried around by a bunch of giant redheaded weirdos took the cake on the utterly bizarre genjutsu scale though. It sounded like the kind of scenario that Ino would have thought up if the blond Yamanaka was strung out on crack. After the whole being squeezed through a vagina enterprise, Naruto could have even appreciated the absurd hilarity of it.

But he couldn't feel Kurama. No matter how Naruto scrapped and screamed through the corners of his mind, he couldn't find the damn giant furball. There was just an aching emptiness in the holes of his awareness, torn even deeper by the total absence of chakra. There was something slithering through him, just on the corner of what Naruto could feel. A sensation that was raw and dark and violent. But there was no bijuu touching his senses nor any of the chakra he'd carried with him from the day he was conceived.

Naruto was alone. Three days caged up in a strange little body in a strange big world filled by strange people. And if the Uzumaki was entirely honest with himself, he was a little terrified too. Naruto had no idea how or why the fuck he'd been swept away from everything he knew and loved, but there were limits to what genjutsu could do.

And Naruto was starting to think that this might be real.

*

Sasuke was familiar with hunger. He'd spent years wandering the shinobi world, wanting to take everything in with eyes unclouded by the need for revenge. Drifting from place to place didn't pay, and while he had gotten by on charity and performing odd jobs for food and shelter, there had been times when he'd gone without anything to eat.

The utter gnawing emptiness of four days without food in his strange little body was something different. Never before had Sasuke been so utterly consumed by the pang of his empty stomach that his whole focus was narrowed down to the single goal of filling it. It wasn't that the Uchiha hadn't gone such a length of time without nourishment before, since he was a trained shinobi; but it was like his new flesh burnt calories at a rate an order of magnitude greater than his old body.

Hence why he was crouched in the hedges, hungry black eyes taking in the sight of succulent red apples swaying in the breeze. The orchard was finally emptied after hours of watching, the farmer who tended it along with his other crops tottering off to bed. Sparing one last sweep for other people, Sasuke launched himself forward.

He couldn't detect any form of security, but based on the city he had seen on the horizon that belch black smoke, the new world was a queer mixture of agrarian and industrial. Sasuke had no guarantee that there weren't invisible alarm systems or hidden cameras watching his every move. Truthfully, he had no idea what anyone in this new world was capable of. He hadn't spoken to any of its denizens yet.

The only thing Sasuke knew was that it was genuine. There was no genjutsu in existence that could overpower his Rinnegan, so if he was in a strange new place with a body that looked to be five years old and nothing resembling chakra anywhere, there was a high probability that it was real. He still desperately wanted to know how the fuck he'd apparently been randomly reborn into a different world by eating a goddamn rice ball, but there were no helpful signposts to offer answers. All the Uchiha could do was continue to survive and hope that things became clearer in time.

Scurrying up the nearest apple tree, Sasuke plucked one and immediately sunk his teeth into it. Sweetness burst over his tongue, and the taste combined with the satisfaction of finally having something in his gullet was almost enough to make Sasuke forget how he'd been reduced to thievery just to live.

*

"Come on, I'm sure mommy's little fishcake is hungry. It's time to fill that tiny tummy." Popping her nipple into Naruto's mouth, Grayfia briefly reflected that if anyone had walked in to see her cooing and making funny faces at her infant she'd die from the embarrassment. The silver haired woman had a bit of a reputation to uphold, and baby talk didn't exactly fit her public image.

Not to mention that Sirzechs would never let her live it down. Her husband would probably consider it a green light for more fooling around.

After a long beat, her son began to slowly suckle, and Grayfia let out a sigh of relief. Her son always seemed reluctant to begin feeding. It concerned Grayfia, since the silver eyed mother knew just how important it was for babies to get all the nutrients they needed. And although Naruto did always eventually drink his fill of breast milk, the hesitance before he'd start to feed made her worry about his future development. Her baby wouldn't grow up healthy and strong if he started to go off his food in infancy.

Cradling the back of Naruto's head, Grayfia ran a gentle thumb over the red fuzz crowning his head. It was too early to tell what he'd look like when he was grown, but in colouring her boy took entirely after his father. Naruto and Sirzechs shared their crimson hair and pale skin, though when the cloudy blue of infancy faded away Naruto might end up with her silver eyes.

With a final swallow, Naruto released her pink nipple and gave a quiet burp.

Grayfia huffed a low chuckle, moving down to tickle the infant's cheek with a soft fingertip. "There, that wasn't so bad was it? I bet you feel better at least." Tiny lips opened up and closed around her finger, toothless gums gnawing away. Naruto might be only three months old, but her boy had an attitude. It was almost like babying him irritated the child, and his go-to response for tickling was to squeal and try to bite. The force of the little jaw wasn't nearly enough to hurt, but it did amuse her.

A knock sounded on the door of the nursery, giving Grayfia a few moments to tug up the front of her shift before her father-in-law cracked the door open. "I'm coming in." Zeoticus Gremory warned, slowly pushing the slab of wood inward and stepping through. A hand covered the man's eyes for a few heartbeats before he shrugged and slowly lowered it.

The middle aged man grinned, red ponytail bobbing as he strode across the room to hover above the seated mother. "How the little tyke doing today?" The Head of the Gremory family questioned, light blue eyes unerringly fixated on the form of his grandson. Pregnancies were rare enough in their family, making every child all the more precious. "Is he eating well?"

"Yes, he's eating his fill today." Grayfia sighed, nudging at an unoccupied rocking chair with her slipper clad foot. "You don't need to loom over me, Father. Take a seat. We're not going to bite."

"Are you sure?" A teasing lilt filled Zeoticus' voice, the crow's feet around his eyes crinkling with mirth as he sunk into the nearest seat. "Because I have personal experience with Naruto's gnawing habit, and I can see that he takes after his mother in the chomping department."

"Do you want to die?"

Clenching his hand over his heart, Zeoticus gave an exaggerated pout. "Why are you so cold, my dearest daughter-in-law? This old man's heart can't take such cruelty. Quick! I need someone to record my last will and testament before I am slain by my broken heart. Woe is me!"

"Idiot."

"Ah, my eyes are going dark! I'm lost in a tunnel, and I can't stay away from the light! Oh, won't someone save me?"

Grayfia rolled her silver eyes, the movement accompanied by a sudden giggle from her son. "Please don't corrupt my son with your foolishness. His father is already a bad enough influence. I don't need your special brand of idiocy compounding it."

"Bah, the boy has a good sense of humor already. I can feel these things." Zeoticus smirked, running a sagely hand over his crimson stubble before becoming serious once more. "I'm sure you've heard enough of it from Sirzechs already, but don't wear yourself out. We have more than enough wealth to hire a few wet nurses. We don't want you to burn out."

Curling her arms, Grayfia territorially brought Naruto closer to her generous chest. "It is no chore to care for my son." She muttered defensively, smoothing back the infant's cap of red hair. "I wish you would all stop harping on about it."

Zeoticus brought his hands up in a pacifying gesture. "We're only trying to look out for both of you." he explained cautiously. "There's no shame in reaching out if you feel overwhelmed. I know Venelana needed help with both Sirzechs and Rias."

"And if I needed help, I would ask for it."

"Fair enough."

Quiet filled the air, both adults falling silent and watching Naruto instead of continuing their contentious conversation. The baby wriggled in his mother's arms, cloudy blue orbs shifting from one face to another as his pudgy fists sought out Grayfia's silver braids. "Whuuu." Naruto drooled, pink tongue licking at his lips.

"Would you mind if I held him?" Zeoticus smiled reassuringly, hands coming up to accept his grandson when Grayfia gave a short nod. The Duke Gremory had not held many children in his life, with Naruto being the third after his now-grown son and his five year old daughter, but he knew what to do. Careful to support the infant's head, Zeoticus cradled Naruto in the crook of his left arm. "There's a good lad."

Naruto frowned, tugging ineffectually at the white sleeves of his grandfather's blazer before subsiding with a grumble. "I still think that Millicas would have been a great name." the redhaired men smiled, poking at the baby's stomach with a gentle finger. "Not that there's anything wrong with Naruto, but it's certainly not traditional, if you catch my meaning."

"That was kind of the point." Grayfia pointed out dryly. "Sirzechs and I - we felt that after everything that had happened between his Gremory house and my Lucifuge family, not to mention the whole mess with the Lucifer clan, that we wanted something new. Our son won't inherit the mistakes and grudges of his ancestors. We're cutting away the past for him."

A pensive look filled Zeoticus' cerulean gaze. "Are you sure that you can do that?" he pointed out doubtfully. "Even if we try to escape it, we are all shaped by the shadows of those that have come before. His name might be a gift of hope, but I'm unfortunately pessimistic."

"Perhaps you're right." Grayfia agreed with just a touch of despair. "But what else can we do besides search for a better future? If we don't even try to move forward, we will definitely be defined by the past. We would rather have made the effort and failed than never have bothered at all."