A/N: Aaah, sorry for the long wait. I was sick, blah blah blah, all that stuff that you don't care about. This chapter probably moves a bit slow compared to the previous one, but I believed I needed the build up, some build, any build up! To get it to where I needed it to be.

After having since successfully placed the Kunoichi's journals back where they retrieved them, and having individually thought hard upon how they'd nab the Ultimate Boyfriend Book, the guys, again, got together, but this time to speak about the possible consequences of their actions.

"How will we face them after we uncover who it is they believe to be the 'ultimate boyfriend'?" Neji asked in a serious, but sincerely curious manner. "We'll have to continue to work with them having such knowledge, and it may make for rather, ahem, awkward situations. That's especially for whomever they've decided upon."

"I still don't really care about it all, but I do see your point." Shikamaru played back, in his mind, the possibility of himself being picked as the "Ultimate Boyfriend". The thought made him feel more than uneasy.

"Well, we'll just have to suck it up!" Naruto, on the other hand, didn't really care how awkward it could be, but was more focused on adoration he'd receive from a certain someone.

"Since we have started this, we have not a choice but to finish it, whether we like it or not! So getting cold feet is not something we should allow upon ourselves," Lee proclaimed.

Neji then gave a faint sigh. "That's fine, Lee. We'll go through with it, but that's not really the matter we're discussing, now is it? It's how we will face them afterwards, is what we're wondering upon."

"Well, we will simply just...! Uh, well, hmmm. I cannot say that I know." Lee pouted in defeat.

"You guys are making too big a deal out of this," Chouji stated entering into the discussion. "It could be awkward, sure, but we're Shinobi of the Leaf and this shouldn't shake us." He then proceeded to eat the snack he brought along for the meeting.

"I have ta say I agree with Chouji," Kiba added. "We're Shinobi, men, and so some little crush that our friends have on one of us shouldn't be that big of a deal. It'll just be interesting to know which of us they find to be the most attractive! Though my 'bad boy' attitude, like Hinata mentioned, will probably win it out for me." Kiba lightly chuckled as he petted Akamaru's head, before recognizing the death stare that was upon him by none other than Neji.

"I'm certain she didn't mean that in a complimentary manner, Kiba. So it'll be best if you'd not act like she did." Neji's tone was indicative of his hostility.

Kiba halted his laugh. "Yeah, sure."

"Wow, it's like he's trying to bore a freaking hole through my skull with those eyes," he then thought.

"Maybe we should focus less on how we'll handle awkward matters, and more on how we'll stay alive if they ever find out what we've done." Shino spoke as he adjusted his glasses. "I think we all know how ... intimidating the girls can sometimes be."

"And just how would that happen?" Sasuke asked him in a matter of fact tone. "We're skilled Shinobi aren't we? So something like that shouldn't even be a thought. If we all use the stealth we've long since been taught, then there won't be any finding out, unless one of us decides to be a fool and tell them."

This caused all to pause and look in Naruto's direction.

"Uh, what? Are you saying I'm going to tell!? Why would I do that! I know exactly what Sakura would do to me if she ever found out..." Naruto gulped, as he began imagining himself being laid up in a hospital bed for taking Sakura's journal.

"Is all of this really so important?" Sai inquired before smiling. "I hadn't known being admired by one's fellow Kunoichi was such a big deal to everyone."

Immediately, there was a wave of denial throughout the room, with everyone trying to justify their reasons for wanting to get their hands on the book, without seeming as though it was something truly significant.

Sai gave a faint puzzled expression. "So... none of you really care to be admired by them? And you are all just curious to know?"

"Something like that, you could say," Kiba stated as he rubbed the back of his head, giving a sly smile.

"Well since we've all come together, and we're all 'just curious to know', shouldn't we give this group a name? I read in a book that it helps make a group feel firmly bonded as one. One name I have been thinking on is 'the Curious Dopes'." Sai genuinely shared his idea with hopefulness.

"Why, at all, would we want to be called that?" Neji asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I uh, just thought, since you're all curious and are acting quite dopey over the matter, it would, well, would be fitting." Sai smiled, though feeling a bit unsure of himself.

Naruto then sighed. "We reeeeally gotta do something about you, Sai."

While the guys were continuing to discuss their situation, figuring out a way to get their hands on the Book, the girls, themselves, were having a meeting over something related.

"Okay, so I called this get together for a very important reason," Ino started. "But first, I wanted to get this off of my chest. Billboard brow, I really didn't like how you described Sai in your journal, and feel I should let you know." Ino eyed Sakura who was sitting across from her in the loose circle they all formed.

"What!?" Sakura felted figuratively sucker punched. "You bring this up now!? You didn't say anything about it before, Ino-pig!"

"Well, I was more focused on getting the results instead of starting an argument, but overall, I feel you didn't give Sai a fair chance in your recordings on him." Ino folded her arms fully ready for a rebuttal from Sakura.

"Grrr, of course you would feel like that with me!"

"Well, it's not like I'm the only one!"

"And what's that supposed to mean!?" Sakura was getting angrier with every word Ino spoke.

"Hinata thinks you were harsh too! Right, Hinata?"

Sakura looked in Hinata's direction who was sitting to her right, not expecting as much. "Uh, really?"

Hinata then spoke up as she twiddled her fingers. "Sakura-chan did come down a bit, um, harsh on Naruto-kun," She blushed, both for speaking of Naruto, and feeling embarrassed for Sakura.

"I mean, how would you like it if we spoke harshly about Sasuke?" Ino asked forcefully.

"You like him too, ya pig!"

"Yeah, but still!"

As the two continued their back and forth, Tenten spoke, getting annoyed with all the yelling. "Um, is this why we were called here? To talk about each other's opinions of the guys?"

Ino quickly realized she was getting far from the original topic she really wanted to speak about; it was something urgent, she felt, that needed to be addressed. "Ahem, no." Ino cleared her throat. "There's a more pressing matter I want to discuss about our ... results in our book."

"Well, what is it?" Sakura curiously asked.

"Well, you see..." Ino began.

Towards the end of their meeting, the girls were all in agreement, after quite a bit of convincing that what was settled between them would all work out for the better.

As they were all leaving Ino's house, they smiled to each other walking down the road together, unobservant of Naruto, who "happened" to be walking by just as he caught glimpse of them.

His eyes quickly noticed a few tablets Ino was holding.

Some seemed like they held medical documents, but there was one that stood out in particular to him.

"There it is!" Naruto thought loudly to himself. "It's the book! I can tell by all the little hearts on it! That must be where she's wrote all about the ultimate boyfriend!"

As planned beforehand by the guys if they ever saw a chance to get what they believed to be the book, they would do whatever the situation called for to remove it out of the girls' possession and into their own. And Naruto did exactly what he believed the situation called for.

As Ino broke away from the others, taking another road to walk, Naruto conspicuously ran back toward her, after having already passed by. This time, he made certain to run directly into her, knocking everything she had in hand to the ground.

"Naruto!" Ino yelled with frustration.

"Aha, oops. Sorry 'bout that Ino," Naruto rubbed the back of his head feigning a small chuckle. As he averted his eyes to the ground, trying not to be apparent in his actions, he was able to see where Ino's heart covered tablet landed.

"I was just in a rush to get in some training. Here lemme help you out there." Naruto smacked Ino's hands away as she tried to pick up her own belongings, and he gathered them all quickly together, slipping the tablet behind himself, while shoving the rest of the other tablets in Ino's face so she wouldn't see what he was up to.

"Well, gotta run!" He spoke as he made a mad dash away from the area before she suspected anything.

"What a weird guy," Ino thought, still somewhat dazed.

"I got it! I got it! The guys are gonna love me!"

Naruto made his way to his apartment, knowing there'd be a meeting later that day to see if any had succeeded in their goal on retrieving the book. Before any got there, though, Naruto decided to take a look at what was inside, even though they all promised they'd view it together.

"Hmmm, just a little peek won't hurt," he thought as he flipped through the pages.

What he saw was some sort of numbering system and it seemed each of the guys listed were being scored by it.

The way Naruto saw his score is shown below.

Naruto's Final Scores

1)Maturity:14

2)Spontaneity:75

3)Humor:19

4)Intelligence:20

5)Wild side:56

6)Kindness:66

7)Confidence:80

8)Honesty:68

9)Discipline:35

"Naruto!" Shikamaru yelled, as the others stood in the doorway.

"What! Nothing! I was just making sure this was the book!" Naruto pleaded, having been taken by surprise.

"Yeah, yeah. You should probably get your lock fixed. The door's too easily opened," Shikamaru showed how he really hadn't noticed or cared for what Naruto was doing before their arrival.

As Lee zoned in on what was upon the table in front of Naruto, he couldn't help but feel victorious for the group. "I take it you have succeeded in our mission, Naruto. When I came across Ino today, she seemed quite in a stir that something of hers was missing, and now seeing this, it seems that something was the Ultimate boyfriend book."

"Yeah, I used all of my skills, and was able to take it without suspicion." Naruto gave a large grin, to which Neji shared his skepticism toward.

"Oh really? I assumed you probably did something idiotic and then ran away with it."

"I second that," Sasuke added dryly.

Naruto gave them a bitter look, confirming, for them, their own words.

"Let's just get this over with. I could be taking a nap right now." Shikamaru continued voicing his displeasure over the entire situation they were in.

Upon re-opening the book, Naruto decided to share what he had already read.

"Ya know, while I was making sure this was the book, I noticed something funny."

"Yeah, what is it?" Shikamaru asked in a less than interested manner.

"It was like a numbering chart or something, and we all had a bunch of numbers under our names, ya know?"

"Huh?" Shikamaru was somewhat lost by Naruto's vague explanation, though it did pique the interest of everyone else in the room.

"Well...here! Just take a look and see if you can figure it out! It all looked pretty confusing to me!" Naruto shoved the book into Shikamaru's face, much to his comrade's annoyance.

"Alright, alright. I knew you weren't the most literate guy, Naruto, but I thought reading a bunch of numbers would be easy for anyone," Shikamaru said, believing Naruto to have exaggerated the issue. However, upon seeing the pages, flipping from one to the next, he began to understand the confusion on Naruto's part.

"I see." Shikamaru gave a pause, which caused the other Shinobi to wonder.

"Well? What is it? Does it say who's the ultimate boyfriend?" Neji asked more urgently than any would have expected.

"Reading these pages, this seems to be the system as to how they whittled things down to come to their final result," Shikamaru started. He then began to explain the chart he saw as best as he understood it.

"From what it looks like, it seems each girl scored us accordingly on a 1 to 20 point chart, for each available attribute below our names, based on how much they believed we excelled in each said attribute. And the highest score total we can get for each one listed is 80."

This is intrigued the others, until he continued on explaining.

"And from what I'm reading in their side notes, they were then scoring us on a 1 to10 point chart for each unique and particular trait of our own, based on how much they thought such traits mattered, or in other words, their own preference for it. They were also subtracting on a 1 to 10 point basis according to our negative traits, whether they thought each trait was a big deal or not."

Most within the group seemed puzzled.

"But the thing is," he continued. "None of the girls were allowed to grade their own teammates on anything other than the 20 point score chart. And then from there, it seems they added it up, and came up with a final result."

This left Naruto and a few others scratching their heads as to how exactly the girls went about scoring them.

"Uhh... did anybody else get that?" Naruto asked in a confused manner.

"I get it." Sasuke stated unfazed by the explanation. "So the girls scored each other's data from 1 to 10, excluding their own, from when they wrote down our traits, so that there'd be less of a bias toward the end result. And added to that, they've all also scored us from 1 to 20 on totally different traits based on how well they think we live up those certain attributes."

"Yeah, that's the gist of it." Shikamaru confirmed.

"Oh yeah! I got that!" Naruto chuckled.

"No you didn't, you idiot." Kiba called him out.

"Well you probably didn't either! You're dumber than me!"

"What'd you say!?" Kiba quickly became irritated with Naruto's remarks.

Ignoring the two as they argued and Akamaru's loud barking, Shikamaru continued explaining all else he saw. "I don't see any names next to any numbers, so I guess, to us, it's anonymous toward who gave which score. In later pages, it seems like they added all the scores up, and in the final page they speak about the winner."

This regained the attention of everyone in the room, who were either uninterested in and confused by the numbering system, or trying to break up the fight between Naruto and Kiba.

"This seems like an awful lot of work to put in for something as meaningless as this. It's a drag just thinking about it." Shikamaru finished.

"Who cares! The winner! Just get to the winner, that's what we're all here for!" After wrestling the book away from Shikamaru, Naruto flipped to the last page, ready to read the final content so that he and the others would know what they had long been waiting to know.

"Okay, here it is, the Ultimate Boyfriend." Sweat droplets covered Naruto's forehead as he began. He read the following and final page aloud.

The Ultimate Boyfriend

As concluded by Yamanaka Ino, Haruno Sakura, Tenten, and Hyuuga Hinata, all Kunoichi of the Village Hidden in the Leaf, the "Ultimate Boyfriend" of the group of nine Shinobi listed below is understood as certainly being one in his own class. He is one of his own style as well as his own intelligence, and can certainly teach other Shinobi how to be as attracting, though not nearly as attractive, as he is.

Of the nine Shinobi, that is, Naruto, Sasuke, Sai, Neji, Lee, Shikamaru, Chouji, Kiba, and Shino, there are certainly those that stand out more, but undoubtedly one that stands out the most.

We all have come to agreeing that this partciular Shinobi's mysterious style, wild and free nature, healthy appetite, relaxed and yet lively mood, stern discipline, curious attitude, aloof personality, and determined will, all make him the ultimate boyfriend girls once believed they could only dream of, and yet does indeed exist in him, and maybe only him.

He is with a doubt, the handsome, the ever appealing, the one we'll all be asking out soon ...

"Aaaahhh!' Naruto yelled. "Where the hell is the rest of it!?"

"What do ya mean where's the rest?" Shikamaru asked, recovering from Naruto's piercing scream in his ear.

"Look! The ink, it looks smeared! What are we going to do? How will we know now!?"

"Seems we won't," Neji stated, seeming somewhat relieved.

"No, no, no. But I have to know! We gotta figure it out some other way!"

"Well, from the looks of their description of the guy, this could be anyone," Kiba stated. "I mean, it mentioned mysterious, but also says wild and free? It says lively mood but relaxed, too."

"Yes, I noticed that as well," Neji added.

"It also mentioned he has his 'own intelligence.'" Sai spoke.

"Well, that puts Naruto out of the running, since he doesn't have any at all," Kiba teased.

Lee then stood to the attention of his comrades. "I am with Naruto. We have done all this work, so there has to be another way to figure out who he is."

"How do you propose that?" Sasuke asked in a dull tone.

"Well, they said they would be asking him out 'soon', so maybe we should all go find the girls, and listen in on their conversation, to gain insight. It is almost certain they will be speaking of the guy they want to ask out, if it is as urgent as they make it seem."

"You mean eavesdrop," Shikamaru put it bluntly.

"Well, when you say it that way..." Lee was slightly embarrassed. "It's not as though we can ask them straightforwardly, so I figured..."

"Yes! yes! What Bushy Brow said. We gotta know!" Naruto agreed in an ever eager tone.

"And if they aren't talking about him?" Shikamaru asked skeptically.

"Well then, we'll just have to follow them, and wait for a time when they do." Sasuke replied.

"You mean stalk them." Shino retorted.

"Not exactly." Sasuke looked in Shino's direction, somewhat annoyed by his implication. "But something of a sort. We are ninja after all. And you're supposed to be an expert at stealth, right... Shino? Or maybe you and your clan isn't as good as everyone says."

"There's no doubt when it comes to the uncanny stealth abilities of my clan... Sasuke." Shino glared at Sasuke from behind the lenses of his shades. "Maybe you're thinking of you and your own clan not being as good as everyone says, or rather, as everyone said they were."

Sasuke narrowed his vision on Shino after he said this, feeling a strong desire to give reply in action rather than words for what he felt were insolent remarks of the Uchiha, but before things could escalate, Shikamaru took charge and urged them all to just get ready to find the girls.

After splitting up and looking all over the village, when night came, they eventually tracked the Kunoichi down at a most obvious location; Ramen Ichiraku. With all arriving there, Naruto and Chouji began to have cravings for ramen.

"Not now you imbeciles. We have to listen in." Neji told them as they hid around a corner.

They could hear the girls speaking with each other.

"Oh yes, he's definitely everything you could dream of, isn't he?" Ino proclaimed.

"Ha, yeah. Other guys don't stand a chance." Sakura agreed.

"He might be the most perfect guy you could ask for." Tenten added her say.

"Yes, he is, rather um, charming and well rounded." Hinata spoke.

They all listened intently while Chouji and Naruto's stomach growled.

"That's it!" Naruto yelled. "I'm going over there and asking them!"

"What? No, you idiot. You said you wouldn't reveal anything to them, remember?" Shikamaru and the others all looked on at Naruto, still hidden around the corner from the girls' sight.

"But, but..." Naruto's stomach growled again. "Have some self control, Naruto." Shikamaru charged him. "Even Chouji isn't doing anything to blow our cover." And just then, they all realized Chouji wasn't in their midst any longer.

"Huh? Where'd he go?" Naruto wondered.

Setting their sight on the Kunoichi again, they came to seeing Chouji sitting with the girls ordering a bowl of Ramen.

"That traitor!" Naruto yelled as he ran over.

"Wait!" Shikamaru called, and all the Shinobi followed suit after Naruto.

"Mmmmmm, yeah, this is goooood." Chouji stated gleefully.

Shikamaru walked over with a disappointed look on his face, and with his hands in pocket. "Chouji, you were supposed to stay with the group."

"Yeah, Shikamaru, but I couldn't just wait there while all this good ramen wasn't being eaten."

"Hey guys! How's it going?" Ino innocently greeted them all.

Straightaway, almost all the Shinobi began behaving suspiciously as not to arouse the girls towards what they were just doing only a few moments back.

"Are you all alright? I just asked what's... up?" Ino was thrown off by how nervous each guy looked.

And before anyone could answer her, Naruto chose to confront the girls. "All right! That's it!" he spouted. "We know all about your little book, and we want answers!"

"What?" All the girls looked toward one another with stunned expressions. "You guys know...?" Ino spoke.

"Way to go Naruto, just like we all figured." Shikamaru thought to himself.

"Yeah, damn right we know! We took your journals and got your book, but the result was smudged! And we want to know who this 'ultimate boyfriend' is!" Naruto continued his demands unabashedly.

"Narutooooooo... you stole our journals?" Sakura began clenching her fist in anger as she ground her teeth.

"Uh, uh, Sakura... wait... Did I say we took them? I meant w-we found them..." Naruto's voice quaked as he held his arms up in defense, ready for Sakura to punish him for his untimely confession of his misdeed.

"Look," Ino interuppted. "The thing is, even if we told you, we still aren't done."

This statement caught the guys off guard.

"Uh, aren't done?" Naruto spoke in a puzzled tone.

Though Sasuke was feeling annoyed by the whole situation of it all, he still was curious as to what Ino was speaking about. "And just what exactly is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, you see," Ino began. "We were able to conclude on paper, but not in person."

"Still clueless as to what you're getting at." Naruto scratched his head.

"It means, even though we've said one of you is the 'ultimate boyfriend', we still need to confirm it." Ino continued.

"And how ... are you gonna do that?" Naruto asked.

All the guys looked on trying to understand Ino's meaning of "confirm".

The Kunoichi all looked at each other, nodding in agreement. "Well, we'll simply have to go on a date with him."

The guys were stunned by this reply, but were all ready for what they had been waiting for; the reveal of who the Ultimate Boyfriend exactly was.

"Well then, which of us is it you want to go on a date wi-"

Naruto was interrupted as Ino held up her finger near his face, pointing it straight up. "Ah ahh..." she started. "You see, we're not going to tell you all so easily. You invaded our privacy and betrayed our trust as your teammates, so as punishment, we're not simply going to go on a date with the ultimate boyfriend, but will go on a date with you all before we reveal anything. This way, you won't know who it is until it's all said and done."

"What!?" Naruto was not amused by her answer.

"Go on a date with us all? Not only does it sound ridiculous, Ino, but impractical." Shikamaru stated to which the other guys agreed, with the exception of Chouji who was now on his ninth bowl of ramen.

"It would take days for us to get to the end of it all, and frankly, I'm not that interested in knowing anyway. So count me out."

"No you don't Shikamaru!" Ino stated brashly.

Shikamaru then became alert at Ino's raised voice.

"You took something that belonged to me, and now you're going to go through with this to make up for it. That goes for all of you!" Ino stated at the whole group.

"You could do that, or you could face the other punishment." Sakura began cracking her knuckles, giving all the guys a threatening look. With that, they all reluctantly agreed to go through with it.

"Now, to make certain it doesn't last for days, like Shikamaru stated, we'll do it by the hour."

"By the hour...?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, by the hour! Each guy will have an hour with each Kunoichi, one of us per day, and after a total of nine hours, all the dates should be through."

Sakura then began to elaborate further on Ino's words. "Say we start at ten a.m., and one of you picks up whoever is first to go out with, like, Tenten! One of you will date her from ten to eleven, to which the next guy will come in and begin his date from eleven to twelve. After it's all done, the next day, you'll do it all over again, except with a different girl. This means it'll be a total of 4 days, and at the end of it, we'll be able to confirm if the ultimate boyfriend is truly as we all believe," she finished.

"And...?" Naruto stated eagerly.

"And... we'lltellyouallwhoheis" Sakura mumbled.

"Fine we can do this! Bring it on!" Naruto stated happily thinking all about his date with Sakura.

After having written up and assigned papers for who would date who and at what time and day, everyone went their own ways until their day came up.

"This is absurd," Sasuke thought after receiving his paper.

"How peculiar." Sai smiled. "I've never done a thing like this before."

"I'm finally gonna go out with Sakuraaaaa..." Naruto drooled.

"I hope I get a dinner date!" Chouji was wishful.

"What a drag this all is. I should have left sooner." Shikamaru lamented at heart.

"I'll have to keep a close eye on Lady Hinata; I don't trust them dating her." Neji was suspicious.

"Yes! This is the Power of Youth at it's finest! I will prove myself to Sakura!" Lee was hopeful.

"This could prove interesting." Shino thought.

"Heheh, the ladies won't know what hit them right Akamaru?" Kiba grinned.

And they all, guys and girls, readied themselves for what would be a time in their young lives to truly remember.