Aw…you guys inspire me. Once again, answers to questions at the bottom of the page. Don't be surprised by the time jump. I, as a reader, never really enjoyed reading through all the 'training' bits of it in stories like this. I tended to skip it. Pertinent questions concerning particular topics, however, will be explained in due time…I suppose.
Four years later.
To be absolutely honest with themselves, the three remaining members of Team 7 couldn't be happier to see the brat go. Seriously. He had been a right pain in the ass for the past year and this mission, which had turned out to be of higher rank than posted, had barely been completed. No thanks to the spoiled lordling, of course. Luckily, this particularly dangerous mission had sealed the deal for the young boy, he had decided that the life of a ninja just wasn't for him and went back crying to his mommy and daddy.
Good rittens.
Why Hokage-sama had ever decided to comply with the lord and lady's wish and allow their son to 'fulfill his dream' to become a ninja was beyond them. The boy had been a bad egg from the start, shirking his duties, showing up late for missions (and training), and complaining when the going got rough. Therefore, it wasn't a surprise when the boy discovered that his calling wasn't to become a ninja, but instead to be an actor, so the boy resigned from his Genin position and went to pester his parents about signing onto a troupe.
Sasuke was so relieved to see the boy go, he had the sudden unexplainable (and uncharacteristic) feeling to leap into the air and shout something embarrassing like "Yatta!" or high-fiving his perverted Jounin sensei and his annoying pink-haired teammate. Luckily enough for him, he managed to reign in the urge and instead settled for a satisfied smirk, relaxing onto the railing of the bridge with his arms folded as he watched the boy leave after handing in his resignation. He wondered idly who would replace the annoying boy.
Sakura, for once, had her mind completely off the dark haired Uchiha. Normally her mind never left this subject but only things of special importance managed to shove the Uchiha to the back seat. This just happened to be one of those special moments; her team had just become a member short. Don't get her wrong, she was just as pleased to see the boy go as either of her companions (yes, she could tell Sasuke was pleased, she wasn't his number one stalker for nothing), but something egged at the back of her mind. Would they still be able to be a team with only two Genin members? It was impossible, such teams were teams of three. Did that mean she had to go back to the academy?
"Kakashi-sensei, does this mean we have to go back to the academy?"
Sasuke froze, he hadn't thought of that. He turned stoically to their teacher, in hopes that the answer would be negative.
Said Jounin had his only visible eye curved up, indicating the man was delighted to see the other go, just as the rest of his team was. The man had not been pleased when Hokage-sama had ordered him to accept the lordling to his team, especially when the Hokage had told him that he was to pass him automatically, without the usual teamwork test. Kakashi, ever one to be first in line to torture innocent would-be Genin, had been unhappy and more than a little pissed that he would be forced to take a Genin team, whether or not they were worthy enough. The Sandaime had then proceeded to inform him, with an all-knowing shine to his eyes that he need not worry; the boy wouldn't last too long. Too long, HAH. The boy had lasted a year, longer than Kakashi would have given him credit for…
"Kakashi-sensei?"
He was shaken from his reverie as he turned to his pink-haired charge.
"Hmmm?"
"Does this mean we have to go back to the academy?" she asked somewhat fearfully.
Kakashi also took notice that Sasuke seemed to be listening very intently. He smirked; it was nice to be holding all the cards for once. This was a perfect opportunity that he wasn't about to pass up. He paused dramatically before plunging on.
"Ah, yes. That would seem so, wouldn't it?"
The sight of Sasuke's widened eyes, the stiffened shoulders, and his limp arms, which had fallen to his sides, was entirely worth the ear-piercing wail of the resident female teammate. It wasn't every day, after all, that the Uchiha lost his cool and showed emotions like any normal human being. Kakashi prided himself in being able to get a rise out of the boy. He allowed himself to gloat for a moment more before reaching idly up, twisting a finger into his ear.
"Maa, maa, Sakura, no need to screech so. I was only joking." For the most part…
This statement proved to infuriate Sasuke, who, though he said nothing, showed his anger by folding his arms back up to his chest and sending his sensei a glare that could freeze the pits of hell. Kakashi only grinned cheerfully at the boy though the only way anyone could tell was the upward curve of the man's single visible eye.
Sakura stared, dumbfounded that her teacher had pulled such a cruel trick on them before she blinked. It wasn't all that much of a surprise, considering just who the man was, of course. After all, he was the one who had placed that plastic spider in her sleeping bag on the way to Mist…
"Luckily enough for you kiddies," and unluckily enough for me… "A new Genin has been selected for our team. Actually, he's been a Genin for a little over a year and a half and has waited for the proper time to be admitted into a team. From his report, he's completed his fair share of low-ranked missions and has done them solo under Hokage-sama's special permission. To gain any rank however, one must have experience with a team and enter the Chuunin exam with a team, so Hokage-sama has set him up with us."
Sasuke blinked, special permission from the Hokage? Who was this kid? His eyes narrowed, he wasn't sure if he would be able to handle himself if it was another brat. The last one had been quite enough for him, thank you. If the special permission was any indicator, however, the Genin was something special. Another spoiled brat, no doubt. He scowled, what luck. And how come he wasn't special enough to be without a team until he wanted to move up in the ranks? Christ, he was the last of the Uchiha. If that didn't call for exceptions, he didn't know what did.
He, of course, ignored the fact that he was sounding quite like a brat as well.
It could be said that Sasuke was pouting but Uchiha, particularly this one, do not pout. He was merely…lamenting the fact that he had been stuck working with losers for the past year when he could have been working alone. That was it.
Sakura rocked back on her heels, a contemplating look on her face.
"Does that mean we don't have practice today? He won't be arriving today, right?"
Kakashi smirked, or at least that's what she thought. She got the feeling he was smirking behind that face mask, call it women's intuition.
"Ah…well Hokage-sama, with his all-knowing wisdom foresaw this predicament," oh no, he was not holding a grudge, not him, "Thus, he should be arriving fairly soon with our new teammate since I sent Pakkun to inform him of the resignation."
Sakura blinked, when had he done that? Kakashi-sensei sure was weird.
"When should he be here?"
He didn't answer her, first turning to face the road leading towards the more populated areas of Konoha and stood a little straighter. Curious, she turned to look in the direction and gasped in surprise.
They were already here.
"Come here Naruto."
Lounging on the leather couch that he had practically been living on the past few weeks when not on missions, Naruto cocked an eyebrow but rose without complaint, moving forward fluidly to stand in front of the Hokage's desk. Yasuo leapt from his perched position on the arm of the couch, landing a few feet from his brother, and leapt gracefully from the wooden floor to his shoulder, making himself comfortable as easily as a cat would.
Naruto vaguely hoped that the sudden appearance of the droopy-eyed pug meant that the spoiled brat holding his position on Team 7 had finally resigned. The scroll that had been dropped on the desk certainly pointed to the idea. He was surprised to find himself anticipating what his sensei for the past four years had to say.
The Sandaime chuckled as he watched the boy in front of him do the Naruto-equivalent of a squirm. It wasn't much but the slight tensing of his shoulders and the glint in the boy's eyes was like a blaring signal to his mentor. Taking pity on the boy, he unrolled the scroll, skimming over it quickly to confirm what he already assumed. Nodding to himself, he allowed the scroll to roll back up and looked up at the boy, grinning.
"Congratulations on your acceptance to Team 7, Naruto."
Naruto grinned as well, unusually long canines glinting in the morning sun. Yasuo, who, along with his brothers and sisters, had picked up a bit of the human language, wagged his tail in anticipation, his mouth opening into a fox version of a grin.
"Granted, you must pass Kakashi's survival exercise but with your determination and quick mind, I don't think you have anything to worry about."
Naruto opened his mouth to speak for the first time the entire day, "When do we leave?"
The boy still growled many of his syllables and each sentence he spoke had a strange accent to it. What would one expect when, though Japanese was his first language, he had spent most of his life speaking another language?
"Well, are you ready? We can leave right now, unless you want to wait until tomorrow…"
Naruto shot him a half-hearted glare, his vulpine slanted eyes making it all the more intimidating, and made it quite clear he wanted to leave now.
The Hokage chuckled, rising.
"Alright, alright, let's go."
Sasuke eyed the boy up and down carefully, his dark eyes narrowed beneath the fringe of his bangs. What an unusual kid…Standing next to the Hokage himself was his newest teammate and possibly the oddest boy he had ever seen.
He was a few inches shorter than himself, an inch or so shorter than Sakura. The boy's right arm was bandaged from the knuckles all the way up to his shoulder, which kind of explained why the boy's shirt only had a left sleeve. It was a billowy shirt, loose enough to be comfortable, but tight enough that the boy didn't look like he was swimming in it. It was of an ebony color with a red spiral on the front. The lone sleeve was very long, long enough to cover the boy's finger tips. He wore strange tan cargo pants that ended a little below his mid calf…and he wore no shoes.
A wild mop of blonde hair adorned his head and was long enough to frame his angular face. Strange faint red scars (three on each side) ran the length of the boy's jaw to curl up his cheek. It was very strange but what Sasuke caught next caused his eyes to widen. The boy was close enough for Sasuke to discover, to his shock, that the boy's ears had a slight point to them, slight enough that one would not really take too much notice unless they were as sharp as he was.
He recovered quickly, shifting his gaze to the boy's eyes to gauge a reaction from him. First impressions lasted with Sasuke; he wasn't one to change his mind often.
The sapphire blue eyes, unusually angular, narrowed on him. Obviously the boy didn't like to be examined like a horse about to be bought. Sasuke scoffed and locked gazes with him and found, to his surprise, that the boy held it with the same daring intensity he himself was giving. The boy's gaze was challenging, his eyes so narrow, it made him look fox-like. He suddenly felt as if he was trying to stare down a large predator and he found he wanted to turn his gaze away. Luckily for his pride, the boy's attention was diverted when the Hokage rested a hand on his shoulder.
"Play nice, Naruto."
The boy in question merely smirked wickedly. The Hokage sighed in resignation, bringing his fingers up to rub at his temples for a moment before speaking again, this time to Kakashi.
"This is Uzumaki Naruto, he's here to fill the empty position on your team. He's quite the talented youth and he should…fit in quite well into your squad. This is a copy of his profile," the Sandaime handed the Jounin the scroll, "And this is your first mission to begin in two weeks' time. You are to deliver the official invitation to the Chuunin exams to Suna."
He handed the now intrigued Jounin (who conveniently looked over the fact that the Sandaime had given the team a mission before he had even passed them) the scroll and mission brief.
"I expect you to leave on time, Kakashi."
With that said, he turned to the fox-like boy sternly.
"Behave."
Naruto merely grinned innocently at him, reaching up with his bandaged hand to pet the strange timer grey fox balanced expertly on his right shoulder (1).
"I mean it."
Naruto sighed and nodded, looking the Hokage directly in the eye to let him know there would be no trouble…from him anyway. After all, it wouldn't be his fault if the dark-haired boy, whom had been glaring daggers at him since he arrived, started trouble.
The Hokage smiled kindly, putting his wizened old hand on the boy's head, ruffling his hair affectionately. Instead of being offended, as any normal child his age would be, Naruto grinned widely, letting loose with a very rare laugh.
"I expect to hear how the test went this evening, okay?"
Sasuke and Sakura looked slightly panicked at the mention of a test but Naruto nodded in confirmation and watched as one of the only two humans he trusted headed back towards the inner bowels of Konoha. Instantly, his face sobered, as he turned to face his new teammates and sensei. There was awkward silence for a few moments as they stared each other down. Kakashi broke the silence by coughing loudly, motioning to his team to take a seat.
Sakura poised herself in a lady-like position on a nearby boulder while Sasuke moved away from his original position to casually lean against a thick tree. Naruto, however, had no qualms about plopping down in the dirt, the grey fox leaping from his shoulder to the ground to sit calmly beside him. Kakashi heaved himself onto the end post of the railing of the bridge and cracked his neck.
"Alright, since this is to be our real team from here on out, let us begin by introducing ourselves, your likes, dislikes, hobbies, and dreams. I am Hatake Kakashi and… I am un-inclined to tell you anything else about myself."
Naruto narrowed his eyes at the lack of information but Sakura and Sasuke remained unperturbed, they were quite used to their sensei's quirkiness.
The man motioned to the girl, "You next."
"I'm Haruno Sakura. My likes…well…" she blushed and looked in Sasuke's direction, "My hobbies are…umm…my dreams…"
Kakashi began to look rather impatient and she took the hint, leaping instantly to something she was unabashed to shout out to the world.
"I hate Ino-pig!"
Naruto felt his eyebrow twitch. This was why he generally avoided human females around his age.
Kakashi rolled his eyes, motioning for the strange dark-haired boy to go next.
"I am Uchiha Sasuke. I don't like much of anything and I dislike just about everything. My hobby is training. My dream…well, it's more of an ambition; to kill someone and revive my clan."
Their sensei nodded to this as well, obviously having expected such a response. He turned to his last student, staring at him expectantly. Naruto sighed, straightening slightly.
"I am Uzumaki Naruto and this," he motioned to the fox seated beside him, "is my brother Yasuo. I like training and spending time with those I trust. I hate snakes and dislike humans in general. My hobbies include sparring and…other things I don't feel like telling you. My ambition," his eyes narrowed, glinting, "as you would put it, is to rip apart the human who murdered my mother and the parents of my brothers and sisters."
His impassioned declaration was met with absolute silence.
Naruto's eyes thinned dangerously, "What?"
Kakashi noticed vaguely that the boy had a strange accent, growling his 'r's and slurring his 's's. It was quite strange but it suited the boy, it contributed to the wild look the boy had about him. He had followed quite easily until the boy had mentioned disliking humans in general, though he had found it strange he referred to the fox as his brother (and that he referred to people as humans). Then he had been surprised to hear the boy declare a similar goal that Sasuke himself had. It was…odd to say the least. Obviously if they passed his survival test today, he would have to read that scroll very carefully.
"Nothing," Kakashi assured him (Naruto looked far from reassured but he dropped it) and straightened on his perch, "Today because this is our official team, I am going to give you a test to see if you are actually worthy of becoming true Genin."
Sakura gaped, her hands falling slack to her sides. Sasuke stared, his jaw slackening slightly as his shoulders tensed immensely. Naruto, however, looked completely nonchalant. He had expected as much.
"What?!?!"
Sakura leapt off her rock, swinging her arms out to either side in an angry gesture.
"What the hell was this entire year about then?! How could we not be true Genin yet?!"
Kakashi smirked beneath his mask, this was what he had been waiting for the past year, to send these children back to the academy so he could have his peace.
"Why, my dear Sakura, it means that this year was an entirely lucky chance for you. I give a survival test to every Genin team that is unlucky enough to get me as a Jounin. Because you had that little lordling on the squad, the Hokage forbid me from failing you, assuring me the boy would quit after a while and there would be no ill will between Konoha and the boy's parents. Now that I have a normal team, I'm going to give you the real test and, should you fail, you will be sent back to the academy."
Sakura look horrified and Sasuke had stopped breathing, an indication that he was shocked.
Kakashi merely grinned wickedly, his one visible eye curving upwards.
Silence once again settled around the camp and Naruto looked vaguely annoyed, rising from his sitting position.
"What are we waiting for?"
He was rather impatient when it came to most humans and he had a fairly good feeling that this wouldn't be the last time he would become annoyed with his…team. He suddenly found himself wishing once more that the Sandaime had made an exception for him and allowed him to participate in the Chuunin exams by himself, it certainly would have been an improvement as opposed to working with this team for a few months before participating in it.
Kakashi regarded the youth, balanced on the balls of his feet expertly, ready and waiting to get started. Obviously, the boy had known exactly what he was getting into.
"We aren't, follow me."
Naruto made what sounded like a huff, to which the fox beside him seemed to respond to before following his new sensei. Sasuke and Sakura followed angrily, their fury evident to Naruto in their heavy, scuffing footsteps. He smirked to himself as Yasuo bared his fangs in the equivalent of a fox laugh.
"The way to pass this test is to get one of these bells," he held up two bells, each dangling from a piece of string, "from me within a certain time limit. The one who doesn't get a bell is tied to a log and gets sent back to the academy. You have to come at me with all you have to get a bell, so don't hold back, come at me with the intent to kill. If none of you have managed to get a bell before the time runs out, you all fail."
He tied the bells to his pants and pulled out a timer from his jacket, placing it on said stump.
Naruto straightened instantly at the mention of teammates getting sent back to the academy. If he could get all the bells, he would be the only one on the team and he wouldn't have to deal with these tiring children! The prospect made him brighten immensely, maybe he wouldn't have to deal with these brats for the next few months for the Chuunin exam.
Yasuo, however, slanted his ears.
"Something isn't right about his test, Naruto. Why would the old man force you to sign up with this team if you could go at the Chuunin exam by yourself?"
Naruto slouched instantly, growling quietly and shifting his weight to his other foot.
"You're right, of course. I had completely forgotten about that little detail. There is a hidden way to win this, I just have to find it. Obviously one cannot enter the Chuunin exams with just two people and, as far as I know, this is the only Genin team that hasn't been officially named Genin yet, so winners can't be teamed with winners of other teams…"
The conversation was made silently, through gestures that came very easily to them and were discrete, greatly useful when hunting.
Naruto shifted his weight to the other foot, contemplating this predicament. There had to be a way to win this for the entire team. He didn't get the chance to ponder this thought further, however, as Kakashi gave them the signal to start. Quickly and efficiently, he leapt into the trees as his other teammates dashed for similar cover.
As silent as the dead, Naruto peered through the tiny gaps in the leaves to observe their Jounin instructor and, thus, get a better understanding of the situation. Yasuo was silent beside him, no doubt watching his back as he studied the situation. He almost fell out of the tree in surprise when, after five minutes had passed, their quirky Jounin sensei whipped out a strange orange book and began to read, a blush quickly making its way across his face.
Obviously, the man wasn't taking them seriously.
Uchiha must have come to the same conclusion as, moments later, he leapt from his hiding spot to launch a vicious assault upon the man, clearly insulted.
Without even looking up from his book, Kakashi dodged, swinging out his leg to catch the Uchiha in the back and send him plummeting to the ground. Naruto winced as the boy's face cracked into the ground, that had to hurt. He had to commend the boy, however, when he recovered fairly quickly, rolling to the side and launching off the ground forcefully, making a quick snatch for the bells. Surprised the boy had recovered so quickly, Kakashi leaned backwards, the dark-haired boy's fingers barely missing the bells.
He flipped backwards quickly to a safe distance before once more relaxing into a lazy pose to read his…novel.
The Uchiha smirked, he had gotten quite close that time. Lunging forward once more, he swung his hands forward to run through a quick series of seals. He inhaled as he ran, skidding to a halt mere feet from his opponent before bringing one of his hands up to his mouth.
"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"
From his perch, Naruto quirked an eyebrow. That was different, he had never seen that particular jutsu before. He filed it away for later, reminding himself to ask the Sandaime if it was something he could learn…
Sakura gaped as their Jounin instructor was engulfed in flames. They were going to get into so much trouble for killing another ninja! Even if that ninja had said to come at him with the intent to kill, Sasuke had gone overboard! She brought her hands to her face in misery, she was never going to become a ninja now.
Naruto smirked as the cloud of smoke dissipated to reveal…a rather charred log. He figured as much but a gasp of surprise to his left revealed that Haruno had expected the man to perish. He scoffed, this was a Jounin, no half-wit Uchiha boy was going to defeat him in battle. Even if said boy had such a unique trick up his sleeve, he never had a chance to beat the man, not with the meager training they had had. Even together, they could never hope to defeat him…
And it suddenly struck him.
That was the idea. They weren't supposed to fight him one on one! The man was testing them! It was a trick question all along, to call forth their determination to succeed by dangling the bells in front of their faces while the only real way to win was to work together. The bells didn't even matter.
"Yasuo, I got it, the answer to the riddle. It's teamwork, we have to work together and show him we can work as a team to pass."
Yasuo regarded him dryly, "Excellent, get back to me when you can round up these morons and convince them to work together."
Naruto sighed, but his brother had a point. Well, first thing was first. Had to get the Jounin far enough away so that he could talk to his teammates alone. He smirked wickedly quite suddenly. It was a good thing he had Yasuo. A quick glance to Kakashi proved that the man was quite distracted by the Uchiha, who had been buried up to his neck.
"Yasuo, I have an idea."
"So you see, Sasuke-kun, you were overconfident and it was your overconfidence that landed you in this mess. Ah well, another year in the academy isn't so bad, neh Sasu-"
And quite suddenly, Kakashi found himself Icha-Icha Paradise-less. He stared stupidly at his empty hand for a moment before his quick, furious eyes landed on the gray fox dancing proudly along the end of the clearing, obviously taunting him. Completely ignoring the Uchiha in favor of retrieving his precious graphic novel, he dove after the fox as it leapt into the woods at top speed, eyes alight with mischief.
Naruto snickered quietly to himself before leaping out of his tree to land in front of the buried Sasuke. The boy in question glared furiously at the blond, daring him to say anything. Naruto pondered just leaving him there and waiting another year to find another Genin team before deciding that, no, that wasn't the best option, and squatting down a few feet from the boy, met his gaze easily. He was delighted to find that the dark-haired boy's glare faltered a little.
"Would you like to pass, Uchiha? I've got a proposition for you if you'd like to make it."
He had decided to convince the Uchiha to work with him first. If he succeeded in getting the boy to agree, Haruno would just come with the package. The plan was ingenious, if he didn't say so himself.
Uchiha glared some more.
"I haven't got all day and Yasuo can't keep Hatake distracted for long."
Sasuke contemplated his predicament. He wanted to pass so badly but he didn't want help to do it. Damnit, he had to achieve his revenge by himself, without the help of others! Others would just drag him down and prevent him from killing his brother! No one could understand, he had to do this for himself, to ask others for help was a weakness! His revenge was his own…
He blinked quite suddenly as he discovered something. This boy had a similar quest to his own, to achieve revenge. Both of them had lost their respective families to some insane murderer. Looking into the other's eyes once more, he realized this boy had no trouble with asking for help to achieve his goals. Hell, the boy was asking for his assistance to overcome this obstacle and get closer to his revenge…
He nodded to show he was listening.
Naruto smirked, excellent.
Kakashi snarled quite convincingly at the yipping fox (who, to his fury, looked quite pleased with itself) before it bounced away, disappearing into the forest and vanishing.
Dusting his precious novel off, he pocketed it to keep it safe from any other crazy animals that may have decided that it would make a wonderful chew toy. Really, wildlife these days.
Quite pissed off, he meandered his way back to his wayward Genin, more than willing to take out his frustrations on them, especially the feral-looking blond. He owed that cheeky brat for getting his fox to kidnap his graphic novel. When he arrived at the clearing, however, he was quite surprised to find that the Uchiha brat had escaped somehow. No, that wasn't right. He looked like he had been…dug out.
That was the last thought he achieved before something rocketed up from beneath him to claw wildly at his face. Leaping backwards to avoid being mangled, he moved right into the oncoming path of a flying kick aimed at his face. He managed to perform Kawarimi in time, appearing in the tree closest to where he had been attacked. As soon as he had managed to identify his attackers as the Uchiha and the Uzumaki brat, he realized that he had set off a trap, which had sent a rain of kunai down about his head.
Flipping out of the tree, he found himself in hand to hand combat with his two previous attackers. They worked surprisingly well, considering that neither of the boys liked the other and none of them had fought with a partner before. He was skilled enough in hand to hand combat (now that he wasn't surprised) to take time to ponder on where the third teammate could be. He continued to contemplate this matter before he realized too late that the boys were herding him to a certain area in the field under a rather large tree.
Another trap went off, this one causing a net to launch up from the ground, ensnaring Kakashi and hauling him thirty feet into the air to swing comically back and forth. He reached instinctively for a kunai or shuriken to cut him down only to find his bags empty. Open-mouthed, he stared down at a grinning Naruto who had each kunai and shuriken the Jounin owned clutched in his fingers and a smirking Sasuke, whom held the few bomb tags he carried around.
Reaching his limit with these children and more than ready to be rid of them, he reached forward to rip his way out of his imprisonment when he was stopped by the buzzer of the timer going off.
Sakura hopped out from behind one of the trees in the surrounding area carrying an extra length of rope and string, obviously she had been the one behind the traps…Kakashi paled in growing horror. That meant…
"Neh, neh. Kakashi-sensei, I suppose this means we pass. After all, the point of this entire test was teamwork and we all worked together, like any good Genin team…" The boy's smirk grew, his gleaming canines glinting in the sun.
Kakashi threw his head back and groaned, deciding that he probably shouldn't have gotten out of bed this morning.
Heeeee. You guys asked for a long chapter...Sorry for the long AN...
(1): By timber grey, I mean the color most timber wolves have.
ANSWERS:
As far as the slashy-ness goes, it's going to be fluff-stuff. As much as I like READING yaoi, I couldn't hope to write it. As far as those of you who don't like shonen-ai, I can only say it won't be too much, just the two of them hanging out relatively often, very close, maybe a little quality time together here and there…it won't be too bad. Maybe one kiss or two.
No SasuNaru. :D Yay.
And, no (to the person who asked), Naruto is not the only adult fox left. I agree with you that that would be stupid. There are a lot left, I can assure you.
No, the black fox from the first chapter was but a small one-shot character. So was mum. The nine that will eventually all be described are pretty much the only OC you have to worry about now. Maybe I'll get around to drawing them for you guys...
AS for the guy who asked why we crazy fangirls like yaoi so much and WHY it is so popular here:
I can't quite answer your question but I can take two guesses.
One: I believe there are more female writers here than male. As a result, those females of that population who are inclined to write shonen-ai or yaoi will do so, thus the yaoi populations.
Two: The amount of gay fiction here is about equal to the amount of lesbian porn-o magazines and movies overflowing the shelves in XXX rated stores. Thus a balance. :P