A clone disperses and Naruto pauses briefly in her trek, and a bright grin splits her face. It appears her genin found the giant flesh eating plants, a laugh escapes her, such fond memories from the chunin exam.

From what her clone relayed her cute little minions are faring very well, but then again this is their second jaunt through the forest of death. At least no one has broken any bones, or pissed off a group of flying squirrels, or ended up poisoned due to eating the wrong berry or root, or landed in a pit of giant mating snakes.

Three days in and their journey seems auspicious, (aside from the various cuts and bruises and torn clothing).

This is Naruto's idea of training.

Insert: 'Torture,' and a menacing smile from Kurama.

Naruto has every intention of being a great jonin-sensei, and so far she thinks she doing an awesome job, believe it!

Insert a derisive snort from Kurama.

Anyhow.

This is a part Naruto's training regimen. Drop each genin off to a different entrance to training ground 48, for a week they stay within the confines, and Naruto watches as chaos ensues. This is a test of teamwork; the genin have zero supplies, but the clothes on their back, and the weapons they carry. They must look to the land for nutrients, survive the many dangers, but most of they need to find each other and use teamwork to accomplish this.

Naruto does this because D-rank missions are out of the question. Naruto does not care that they are a part of tradition, and meant to teach genin unit teamwork. Team Naruto will be badass from its founding; they will not have their history book sullied with humiliating missions involving chores around the village. They'll pay their dues to Konoha outside its borders, and blaze a trail through the elemental nations and beyond.

As seen Naruto has great aspirations for her cute little minions… woe to all.

Besides there's nothing like life or death situations to inspire bonding and teamwork.

And it's best to start conditioning them now to face the dangers that they will encounter outside of Leaf. She doesn't want them to freeze the moment an enemy nin or adversary shows lethal intent.

Aside from throwing her genin team into The Forest of Death, Naruto's spent the last four weeks discerning her team's weaknesses and strengths, and working with them individually and as a unit. Kage Bunshin has once again proven to be the greatest jutsu ever created in this aspect. If she is not away on solo missions, or specially requested for the ANBU missions, and her roster is clear, she trains her genin team from dawn to dusk… with ramen breaks in between.

Naruto is hands on, a stark deviation from her own past jonin sensei. Kakashi had left team seven to their own activities and allowed them to figure things out their own… and well that worked, but it definitely could have been executed better… probably. Jiraiya teaching style was in the same vein, with a spy network to maintain, more times than not she was left to her own devices. However, when he did teach, she paid rapt attention, fuinjutsu was one of the few things that came naturally to her.

(Naruto realizes now, that their "training trip" was more than likely a strategy to keep Naruto away from Leaf, in case the Akatsuki appeared and unleashed the Kyuubi upon the village once again, leaving havoc in his wake. The village must come first, and she was a liability… that plan turned out to be for naught.)

She digresses, in a few hours she'll send another hoard of shadow clones to combat her genin team, probably to attack them while they sleep. Complacency kills, and she likes to keep them on their toes.

Insert Kurama's unwanted opinion from the ether: "Once more I reiterate, those poor tea cup flesh bags. Whoever thought you should be a genin instructor should be stabbed repeatedly."

Anyhow.

The torture… er training can wait for later, she has a date.

Fireside.

Naruto's in her happy place.

There's a bounce in her step, a euphoric tune whistling from her lips, and a gleam in her eyes that seems manic. Usually these are signs of danger, woe is going to befall some poor fool(s), leaving them with mental scarring. This is the appearance of a prank gone horrifically right.

People passing by her shudder, and look over their shoulders, searching for signs of danger. Others shake their head and wonder who is the poor, unsuspecting fool that managed to inspire their village idiot's ire.

Luckily for them, no one has incited Naruto enough to get on her hit list… for now.

Nothing can rain on her parade.

Until… well, she halts her off tune whistling.

In the not so far distance she can hear the telltale sounds of an irritated pink banshee and the growl of a canine with hackles raised.

Instincts tell her to ignore going in their direction, potential threats lay in that way. Naruto happily ignores her instincts, she's always courted chaos.

The scene she comes upon is Sakura and Kiba making a public spectacle of themselves in front an unfortunate vendor's stand. Their screams and yells are mighty and should startle away the merchant's potential clientele, but they seem to be drawing a crowd and inspiring them to buy snacks… so the merchant is not so unfortunate, there's nothing like profiting off the entertainment of quarreling couples.

Off the side is Uchiha Sasuke, looking quite bored with this display. Naruto comes to stand at his side, greeting him with, "Bastard."

Sasuke grunts out, "Moron."

"They're at it again," Naruto says conversationally, as if she's talking about the weather, or bluntly stating the sky is blue.

Sasuke snorts, "Of course."

"Kiba! We had barbecue last time, and the time before that, and before that, and THE TIME BEFORE THAT. Are you seeing a trend here!?"

"Barbecue has plenty of variation," Kiba says peevishly, and proceeds to list them off, "There's tenderloin, ribeye, short ribs, brisket, neck meat…"

With every word that comes out his mouth, the vein on Sakura's forehead protrudes and pulses. She clenches her fists and seethes, "Are you patronizing me!?"

Kiba blinks at her in false innocence, "Of course not Sakura." His voice rises in pitch as he states, "I'd never do such a thing!"

After listening to the harmonious sounds of yelling, Narruto turns to Sasuke with a sly look, "Bet you 50 ryo they break up over this."

Sasuke looks down the bridge of his nose at her, every iota of the Uchiha disdain marring his features. "There's no way in hell I'm falling for that."

"Come one," Naruto wheedles, "One hundred ryo says they break up over this."

Sasuke glares at her, "Naruto, gambling against you is a battle in futility. I'm not Lee or Konohamaru, I will not fall for your wiles."

Naruto sticks her tongue out at him childishly, "Spoil sport."

Sakura suddenly stomps her foot, and the resulting tremor causes the surrounding shinobi to fuse themselves to the trembling earth via chakra, and the civilians to give startled shouts.

"Fuck this!" Sakura yells, "Don't show up at my house, at the hospital, or in my face—"

"Or what?" Kiba says defiantly.

"Or I'll-arghhhhhhhhh!" Sakura screams in frustration, and stalks away.

Akamaru, who had sat quietly between the bickering duo, quite used to their antics. Looks between Sakura's retreating form and Kiba's aggravated countenance, and makes an easy decision. He lopes after Sakura, it's her turn after all, last time he chose Kiba. He'll see his human soon; the separations are always short after all.

As Akamaru leaves him high and dry, Kiba curses and yells after the ninken, "Traitor!"

And this ladies and gentlemen is breakup number eleven.

The crowd begins to disperse once they realize that their source of entertainment has ended. Naruto approaches Kiba and pats his shoulder, "Better luck next time dog breath."

Kiba glares at her half-heartedly and snarks, "Your words of wisdom are not wanted, dumb blonde."

"Come on," Naruto goads, "That was weak."

Kiba sighs, "I'm off my game. Nice seeing you Naruto, but I really gotta go after her."

Naruto salutes him, "I wish you luck. When you guys get married and then divorced, I'll keep Akamaru until you get remarried."

Kiba flips her off, and takes off in the direction Sakura left.

Sasuke comes to stand next to Naruto, and dryly comments, "Well there goes my afternoon plans. I think I'll go visit Shikamaru and his brat, I haven't seen him yet."

"Look at for Ino, she's taking her duty as an honorary aunt seriously. And seeing you holding a baby might give her ideas."

Sasuke shudders causing Naruto to cackle at his coming discomfort.

Fireside.

She approaches.

He would be able to recognize that blond hair, and eye blinding orange anywhere.

Her face is etched in a caricature of a fox, he has come to learn that this expression is a defense mechanism, one she has carried on from her childhood and has yet to lose its use for her.

His brows knit together, and he can't help the faint expression of concern marring his features. He steps from behind the awning of his favorite tea shop, and upon noticing his appearance her expression changes to one of brightness. Itachi feels his heart speed up at the sight of her smile, and he feels his own lips quirk in response.

The feeling is mutual.

Upon seeing Itachi, Naruto's pace quickens and she raises her arms to embrace him. He manages to stand the impact, but stiffens upon the contact, which Naruto ignores that and tightens her arms around him. She says, muffled against his shoulder, "I haven't seen your face in forever."

Itachi huffs out a laugh, "It's only been six days."

Naruto retorts, "That's like an eon, or is that an epoch!?" She looks up at him, face contorted in confusion.

Itachi laughs again and shakes his head; slowly he returns her hug.

(Here's something curious.

Itachi's a prude.

Or rather conservative, his upbringing brought him up as such.

Naruto still thinks he's a prude, and she has a point considering the single minded way he approached her and persuaded her to date him.

During their six weeks of courting, his displays of affection had tapered off. Naruto seems to initiate overt displays, while Itachi is subtler.

Nonetheless he is gradually learning to get used to her.)

Itachi relaxes and holds her tight, murmuring, "How are you?"

He can hear her grin, "I'm awesome, just awesome. You?"

"I'm well," Itachi says content. He closes his eyes, and buries his face in her hair, before he remembers himself. Over her shoulder his eyes flare red, spinning tomoe reinforcing the subtle genjutsu he weaves when they are in the village together, to ward off inquisitive interlopers.

They're relationship is not a secret; they just prefer their privacy. Naruto is overt in her affection with everyone, but when she is dating she is guarded. It is simply her way. With friendships she is open, vibrant, and willing to move mountains. Relationships such as this inspire a different closeness, and Naruto has spent most her life living with a certain degree of cautiousness, that is something difficult to change.

Itachi is similar in that regard. He is selfless, some would even go as far to say he has a martyr complex... The irony does not escape him in regards to Naruto's hero complex. They are both self-sacrificing to a fault (aren't they two peas in a pod!?), but he digresses. Itachi has never allowed himself to have a wide array of friends, it is not his nature, but watching his best friend commit suicide left a great shadow over him. Aside from Hana welcoming him back to Leaf after years away, Sasuke and protecting Konoha were his only driving force for many years, there were no thoughts or time to spare otherwise. Thus allowing himself to feel, yet alone act on what he yearns for is novel.

Henceforth, keeping their relationship between them, and reveling in the growing intimacy between them without a gawking peanut gallery is a reciprocal feeling for both.

Unfortunately, they seldom see each other. Particularly within the village, between training/raising genin, Naruto's duties as the Hokage candidate, and Itachi's ANBU missions. More times than not they rendezvous at various venues around the continent, when completing solo missions early.

Itachi contacts her by sending a crow, forming from her shadow (which is still fucking creepy, heebie jeebies anyone?). While Naruto uses summons, and the complex diagrams of seals.

Speaking of seals, Naruto perks up, remembering something of great importance. "Holy shit! How could I forget!?"

She pulls away from him, and Itachi watches in interest as she bites her thumb and smears blood across her arm, igniting a matrix of a seal. Her methods never fail to pique his interest, fuinjutsu is such an obscure art and from working on ANBU missions with her, Itachi still cannot understand her unorthodox approach to sealing. Perhaps it is simply an Uzumaki trait. From within the matrix a kunai appears, a three prong kunai, it's hilt is wrapped in a familiar seal.

Naruto takes it and holds it out to Itachi, "I've been meaning to give this to you for the longest. It'll make meeting up easier."

Itachi takes the kunai, and looks at stoically. For a long while he says nothing, for this is a symbol of Naruto's trust, not long ago this was something he did not think he would ever have. In his silence, Naruto fidgets nervously and blurts out, "You don't have to take it if you don't want it, dattebayo!"

He startles as if caught day dreaming. He shakes his head and replies, "Of course I'll keep it."

Naruto's response is muffled by the arms gathering her close, enfolding her shoulders.

Fireside.

Their fingers are knotted through each others.

Between them Naruto swings their hands back and forth like the child she is.

They're headed to Ichiraku's ramen for the first time as a couple. This time without Itachi intruding on sacred team seven bonding time, or him stalking/planning her assassination.

Naruto is once again in her happy place.

"How did your mission go with your new minion?"

Itachi glances at her, "This was our second mission together, my apprentice seems promising."

Unlike Naruto who decided she needed to scar the impressionable psyches of three genin. Itachi took on one genin and recommended the other two for a genin pool under three chunin. Of course he chose the Yuki with a civilian background, but has shown potential with her manifesting bloodline limit. Itachi is interested in seeing whether the Yuki kekkei genkai is a malleable force of matter that can be manipulated as the Uzumaki once manifested their special chakra, into weapons such as chakra chains, shields, swords and kunai.

"Where'd you guys go?"

"We went to Sawa no Kuni, what was supposed to be an escort mission became a B-rank once we reached the Daimyo's palace. The noble we escorted was a part of a conspiracy to kill the Daimyo's second wife, who happens to be his favorite, and the daughter of a major business man in Kaminari no Kuni.

"What's curious is that once we took care of the coconspirators, the Daimyo threw a celebration for us. He's very fond of Leaf shinobi," Itachi slants onyx eyes onto her, and comments mildly, "particularly of blond haired kunoichi."

Naruto begins to sweat, "That's oddly specific."

"Yes it is," Itachi remarks, "He wondered if we could pass on a message to this certain ninja, and to tell her that his proposal is still open, especially if she decides to one day retire and wants to settle down and become his fourth wife."

Naruto blushes and groans, "Gahhhhhhhhhh! This so embarrassing."

Itachi tries fruitlessly to fight a smile as he says wryly, "My thoughts exactly."

They're rounding the corner to Ichiraku's. Naruto is explicating how she and her team will finally take an C-rank mission next week. "I hope it's to Yuki no Kuni, I saved a princess there, 'attebayo!"

"What's in Yuki no Kuni?" Itachi asks, amused.

"Giant wolves, snow leopards, and yetis," Naruto recounts, gesticulating wildly with her hands.

"Abominable snowmen?" Itachi raises a brow.

"Yah, yah they're reclusive, easy to piss off," Naruto relays, "but also pretty friendly." (Considering Naruto could make friends with a rock, what she says isn't really reassuring). "Sasuke, Sakura and I ran into a herd of them on a mission once. You haven't lived until you've ridden on the shoulders of yeti, while sleighing down a mountain side."

Itachi gives her a look of utter fondness, "We'll have to try it together one day."

By the time they've finished their conversation they're ducking under the awning of the ramen shop. And all conversation seems to come to a screeching halt. (That's a misnomer, but Naruto likes to be melodramatic.)

It appears Itachi's genjutsu is a bit too late in coming.

(Here's the problem with going to Ichiraku's Ramen shop midday with your secret, kind of, sort of, maybe, but yah totally boyfriend:

Ichiraku's is a place Naruto has frequented since she was seven, that's fifteen years of patronage. Any friend Naruto has made is treated to the ramen experience here, along with watching the horrifying, yet fascinating spectacle of Naruto putting away ten bowls.

Naruto's method of making friends and creating allies caused visiting shinobi to visit the stand as a go to restaurant in Konoha. When her popularity spiked in the wake of her war hero status, Ichiraku's business boomed along with it, causing Teuchi and his daughter Ayame to expand the shop into the building next door.

Point being, Ichiraki's is a known hot spot for Naruto, thus by default her many friends, especially the Rookie 9 and Team Gai.)

At the present Sasuke pauses in smirking down at a flustered, but receptive Hinata. (Obviously he's looking to be the Hyuuga's rebound after her recent break-up with her ex girl-friend, Sasuke you slut. However, these two have a history, but that's another story.) Sasuke looks up at their approach with raised brows, Sakura gapes, while Kiba leisurely rests his chin on his palm, expression expectant.

Itachi nonchalantly takes a seat at the counter, two seats down from the gawking peanut gallery, and tugs a sheepish Naruto down beside him.

"Hey ya Kiba, Sakura-chan, Sasuke-teme, Hinata-chan. It looks like the two of you made up, I'm happy. Hinata it's great to see you. And wow Sasuke, it looks like you didn't get around to visiting Shikamaru and Temari after all. It's funny how life works, your plans came back through…."

They simply stare at her, Naruto's never done well with awkwardness… unless she fails to notice it. Itachi squeezes her hand in comfort, they seem to zero in on that gesture.

"So," Kiba begins, looking entirely too satisfied with himself. "I would say it's about time, but that would be anticlimactic cause it's been six weeks since you got together."

That statement is met with Hinata titling her head, Sasuke's brows meeting his hairline, and Sakura's expression morphing from surprise to irritation.

Yet before Sakura can open her mouth, Ayame appears to take their order. Naruto's always known she was an angel, but she can practically see the halo around her head now.

After patiently waiting for Itachi and Naruto to order, Sakura proceeds to lay into Naruto. "So," she says, tone saccharine, "I know you don't understand girl code, but did you seriously tell Kiba you were dating Uchiha Itachi before you told me!?"

Naruto stares at her in incomprehension, and says in a matter of fact tone, "Of course."

"Seriously!?"

"Yah," Naruto says slowly, "Kiba and his aneki knew Itachi liked me before I did, and besides dog breath is the bean paste to my rice ball."

Kiba grins in response, "The broth to my ramen."

Naruto raises her fist, and Kiba leans over to return it.

Sakura is expectedly annoyed.

Meanwhile:

Sasuke and Itachi have a stare down.

The bickering around them is superfluous.

The tension between them is tangible.

The both of them remain startling still, Hinata fidgets, and decides to tune in to the other's conversation.

Itachi is a pro at awkward silences, hell he revels in them, he inspires them. Sasuke… Sasuke is still an amateur compared to his brother. The disciple buckles first where the master remains resolute.

However, that does not mean Sasuke cannot deliver a blow, he too has a mastery. A mastery of one-liners, sarcasm and all around smartass comments.

"Wow," Sasuke deadpans, "You got the stick out of your ass aniki. What'd it take? Five years?"

Itachi eyes widen slightly.

"Yes," Sasuke says smugly, "I knew about your crush on the dobe."

Itachi's eyes flare briefly with the sharingan, that's Sasuke's only warning. While Sasuke may be a master in smart ass comments, Itachi grew up with a master, one Uchiha Shisui. Itachi decides to do his memory well.

"Wow," he mocks, "You've been chasing the Hyuuga heiress for what, four years. And yet you still persist even though it's obvious her inclinations lie elsewhere."

Itachi glances at Sasuke and sees his face faintly flushed with anger. He turns away, satisfied.

Yes.

Bow down, otouto.

"Oh! The food is here," Naruto announces in happiness as their bowls are placed in front of them. "Eh!? Itachi you got shrimp ramen. Why didn't I think to order that?"

"Want some?" Itachi queries.

"Can I?" Naruto asks hesitantly.

"Hai," Itachi responds in the positive and proceeds to feed her with his own chopsticks, and then takes a bite himself.

Naruto blushes in response to the intimate gesture, while Itachi thinks he'll come to enjoy ramen more in the future.

AN: this is the final chapter unless I get inspired. Might write a chapter on Naruto's genin team, which is a brood of twelve-year-old boys, or a prequel featuring Naruto and Kiba as hell spawn. Tell me me what you think via review!