A/N: Nothing much to say here. Another update, another chapter. Reviews and feedback will always be welcome and appreciated.

Big thanks to Beta Reader Kenchi Narukami.

Warning: Some bashing this chapter. (Don't say you weren't warned.)

Chapter three: Unexpected development.

Kurenai groaned as she stirred awake and pinched the bridge of her nose, grumbling "Goddamn it. That was a hell of a dream." Her nose twitched when she caught the scent of food cooking. She looked off to the side and saw her old friend cooking a large breakfast of eggs and bacon while dressed in only her underwear, while at the table sat the form of Naruto who was the first to take notice that their guest was awake.

"Hey Kurenai-san. Nice to see you awake. You had… hehehe, quite the night." Naruto greeted her with a sheepish grin, making the Genjutsu mistress quickly realize that the previous night's events actually happened. The memories of what happened crashed down in her like a ton of bricks, she remembered kissing that blonde woman, then there was some kind of wrestling match with lots of lotion, then she was groped and molested by the Oni's and then she grabbed the young Naruto and humped him like a bitch in heat.

"Oh my god. I am… I don't..." Kurenai tried to apologize for her drunken behavior, but her words kept sticking in her throat. She was silenced when the whiskered teen raised a hand and replied "I guess you remember everything that happened. Don't worry about it. You drank almost a gallon of Oni grade booze and miraculously didn't die of alcohol poisoning. I would have been amazed if you didn't act kinda crazy."

The Crimson eyed woman breathed a deep sigh of relief at how understanding the boy was and then asked "That woman and those girls, where are they now? Who are they? And why did that crazy little Oni girl call you master?"

The blonde hummed in thought, though he supposed that he did owe her an explanation after what happened. "Well, the long and short of it is they're my Summons. You had the misfortune to meet Shuten-Douji and her sister Ibaraki. They are… kinda difficult to fully control. And you already locked lips with Quetzalcoatl. They're currently back in card form to sleep off the party." At that, the black haired Jonin breathed a sigh of relief that those two Oni's weren't around to raise hell.

"I see. You certainly have an… interesting kind of Summons. Do take care though in case they prove too much for you to handle." Kurenai cautioned him as she joined him at the table, taking notice that she was wearing some of Anko's clothes. She could only guess that her old friend had dressed her so she wouldn't have to sleep in the nude.

"No kidding Nai-chan. Anyways, breakfast is now served! Eat your fill!" The Snake mistress announced as she deposited both Naruto and Kurenai's portions in front of them before taking her own seat. After a brief 'itadakimasu' they all began to dig in to their morning meal as the two Pariahs ate with gusto, while the Crimson eyed woman ate at her own pace in a more relaxed manner.

"Oi, Anko-sama. What are we gonna train in this time?" The Jinchuuriki asked out of curiosity to get some insight on their training for the day.

"The bread and butter of any Ninja worth their salt. Chakra exercises. The bare basics and perhaps one of the most important aspects of Ninja training." Anko answered with a large grin, her response prompting Kurenai to nod since it was indeed important, and she was actually a bit surprised to see her friend acting as a responsible teacher. But then, when Anko puts her mind to something, she'd always give it her best.

"Indeed. With the aid of Chakra control exercises it is possible to expand one's chakra reserves and use it more efficiently, therefore making High ranked Jutsu easier to perform and less taxing." Kurenai explained in a matter of fact tone, making the boy nod in understanding.

"Cool. I look forward to it." He spoke with a grin, but it fell when he heard a low chuckle come from his Sensei.

"You might change your tune when you do Chakra exercises Anko-style." She muttered with a malicious grin, which silently promised she was going to put the boy through hell. The Genjutsu mistress had to hold back a smile of her own, unsure whether to have pity or be amused for Naruto's upcoming plight. After a few more moments, they all finished their breakfast with Kurenai being the first to get up from her seat.

"I appreciate everything, but I must be going now. I have a team of my own to train and I don't want to set a bad example by being late." The crimson eyed woman spoke and gave a small bow of gratitude before departing towards her own apartment to acquire a change of clothes and to freshen up before meeting her team.

"Guess that's our cue to get going as well." Anko pointed out as she departed towards her bedroom to change into her usual outfit for the day while Naruto went to the guest bedroom to change as well. To be honest, he was actually glad that his new Sensei was letting him stay with her in her apartment. On the one hand, her apartment was much bigger and nicer than his with plentiful space. Plus Anko mentioned it was a team-building exercise unto itself, allowing them to continue bonding and getting to know each other better. Though their bond was already pretty strong and they already knew each other well, it was nice to have easier access now that they were under the same roof and would be working closely from here on.

Once they were ready they departed for the Forest of Death. After a few minutes, they arrived at the borders of the Forest which was generally the safest area since the numerous dangers and predators kept to the deeper parts of the woods where the treetops blotted out the sunlight. So it would be the perfect place for them to train in privacy and general safety.

"All right Naruto-kun, we're gonna be doing the tree walking exercise. The building blocks to higher levels of control. You're gonna focus chakra to your feet and scale the tree as fast as you can, the faster you make it to the top… the more I'll up the difficulty. Got it?" Anko asked at the end after giving her instructions causing the boy to nod in understanding. Though the exercise sounded simple, he could safely guess that it was far easier said than done since the trees in the Forest of Death were known to grow to enormous heights. Still, it seemed like great stamina and endurance training as well.

"Sounds fairly straightforward. Anything else I need to know? Like saaaaay how to use my Chakra to climb?" Naruto asked with a small frown, scratching the side of his cheek while his sensei chuckled a bit.

"Well, first you need to focus chakra to your feet to stick to the tree and start scaling it. Too much chakra, you'll blast yourself off the surface. Not enough and you'll slip off. You gotta keep your chakra in balance and under control at all times. Though how much depends from person to person. So you kinda gotta figure the rest out on your own." She instructed, making the boy nod as he prepared to sprint up the tree, focusing chakra to his feet as Anko instructed as she pulled out a small stopwatch.

"You may start whenever you're ready." Anko spoke with a small smile, eager to see what would come next. The blonde smirked and then charged towards the nearest tree, but as soon as he planted his foot against the surface, he was blasted back, leaving a footprint where he attempted to begin his ascent.

The boy groaned as he got up from the ground and muttered "Okay. Way too much that time." He got back to his feet and cracked his neck a bit, deciding to use a little less Chakra this time. He charged at the tree again and was blasted off once more, though with slightly less intensity than the first time. Once more Naruto got up and lessened the amount of Chakra again before charging up the tree once more, only this time he managed to cling to the surface and began to scale up the tree earning an impressed whistle from Anko.

"Not bad, took me at least ten tries before I found the right amount on the first session." She whispered to herself as she followed behind him to both keep track of his ascension and to join in on the training as she trailed behind him. She noticed that he didn't seem to be running at his full speed, it was likely he was pacing himself to get a better handle on Tree Walking before going all out. Not a bad idea. It would be most likely he'd quicken his pace on the next try.

At last, her student broke through the tree tops and perched on one of the many branches as he looked down towards the ground, smirking a bit on his progress. "Not bad for a first timer. But I think you can do way better than that." She spoke as she dangled the stopwatch, challenging her student to try and beat his own time. A challenge he accepted as they went back to ground level, and then resumed running up the tree. Much faster this time which impressed his Sensei.

"Not bad. It's actually pretty impressive. You caught on pretty quick. Next time I'll be sure to add training weights to slow you down." She announced, eager to up the intensity of their training on the next session. Naruto smirked as he cracked his knuckles in eagerness. Now this was his kind of training, the kind that involved no long winded lectures, like at the Academy, but actual experience.

They continued the process of running up and down the tree for some hours until the sun began to set, and after they had finished their session, the two were panting as a sheen of sweat was visible on their bodies. "Damn. That was actually pretty fun." The blonde spoke as he wiped the sweat from his forehead, his sensei nodding in agreement.

"You said it Gaki." Anko agreed, her face flushing a bit as she got closer to her student with a grin. "Come on, we should head back home and shower. If you want, we can take one together." She offered with a sultry smile, her offer making the blonde blush a bit. But then, they had already bathed together at the Hot springs. And Anko had promised him… well, some very intimate things.

He grinned as he nodded but before they could head home, a certain Cat masked Anbu appeared before them in a swirl of leaves and spoke "I thought I might find you two here. I hope I'm not interrupting anything important." Neko spoke suggestively, almost as though she were teasing them. Though Anko waved her off with a light-hearted smile.

"Nah. We were just finishing up here. What's the problem? You're not here for a social call, are you?" Anko spoke in a more serious tone since if the Anbu captain sought you out, it usually meant that it was for something important.

"The Hokage summons you both to his office. Immediately." Neko spoke bluntly, earning nods from the two Pariahs. It was likely the Hokage had another mission for them.

Meanwhile. Hokage Office.

Hiruzen hmmed in thought as he awaited the arrival of Team Pariah, a loud sigh could be heard from the man sitting across from the Sandaime. The visitor in question being none other than his student Jiraiya, the Toad Sannin who seemed to be a bit perplexed as to why he'd be summoned so unexpectedly to Konoha. "Hey, uhh, Sensei? You mind telling me what this is all about? I was in the middle of investigating Oto when you called me." The Sannin asked since the silent treatment from his sensei was making him uncomfortable.

"You'll know soon enough." The Sandaime answered cryptically as he laced his fingers while giving the Sannin a hard stare. The kind that any teacher worth their salt would give to unruly students, making the Toad summoner feel like he was shrinking in his seat a bit. He chuckled nervously and replied "Listen, Sensei. If this is about the hot springs staff catching me installing cameras last month, I assure you it was with good intentions. You know, for the spy network."

The Sandaime said nothing, and only glared harder at the Sannin, making Jiraiya swallow a lump in his throat before shutting his mouth. For some reason he had a feeling in his gut that told him that he wouldn't be able to weasel his way out of this one. After a few more moments of awkward silence, the doors to the Hokage office finally opened revealing the forms of Neko who ushered in both Anko Mitarashi, and Naruto Uzumaki.

Jiraiya was surprised to see that Minato and Kushina's child was here, but he decided to play it cool and pretend not to know the kid. If Anko was here, it was likely about her Curse Mark. "Heeeeeey, Anko-chan. As nice as it is to see you again, I haven't made any progress in dispelling the Curse Mark. Sorry." He spoke apologetically, however… something about it actually seemed ungenuine.

The Snake Mistress crossed her arms beneath her bust and gave an unimpressed look "I'll just bet. Though that's no longer necessary. My Curse Mark is gone now. All thanks to my new apprentice. Naruto? Meet Jiraiya." She spoke and gestured towards her student after introducing the Sannin. The Jinchuuriki glaring suspiciously at the toad user.

"So you're Jiraiya, eh? I'd say it's nice to meet you… but then I'd be lying." The blonde spoke in a bitter tone, making the Sannin frown a bit.

"Hey now. Where's the love? Why are you people treating me like some kind of crook?" The Sannin questioned, wondering what he did to deserve being treated like this.

"You can stop playing dumb now 'godfather'." Naruto answered with a snarl, making the Sannin jump in his seat a little as he rubbed the back of his head and glanced over at the Sandaime, guessing that the aging Hokage must have told the boy. Before the Sannin could open his mouth, he was cut off by the boy who continued "I'm curious. When were you planning to ever be part of my life? What stopped you from visiting me every so often? What stopped you from sending a simple letter to let me know I had some form of family out there? Does this have anything to do with a so-called 'prophecy' or the fact you paid of a Chunin to sabotage my education and keep me prisoner in the Academy?"

At that, the Sannin stiffened up, his face now one of shock as he turned towards the Sandaime for an explanation. "We already have Iruka in custody and he confessed to everything. I warned you long ago that it is unwise to put too much stock into prophecies, as they are often prone to misinterpretation. And now look at what you've done! You tried to ruin the future of a child." The Sandaime spoke as he gave a subtle nod to Neko who discreetly pulled out a set of handcuffs.

"It was for his own good! I had to do it!" The Sannin shouted while pointing at the whiskered teen, who seemed furious at the excuse.

"For my own good? Do you really even care what is good for me? I certainly don't believe so." The Jinchuuriki countered in disgust, with his teacher, the Anbu captain and the Sandaime all in agreement as Neko approached and slapped the pair of cuffs on the Sannin's wrists which locked with a 'clink' sound.

"Jiraiya. You're under arrest for conspiracy, bribery, child neglect and… a number of other charges that may require your picture so I can put it next to them. You're hereby stripped of all rights and privileges and shall be detained pending a trial to determine the full extent of your punishment. Though if I have my way, your Chakra will be sealed. Neko? Take him away." The Sandaime spoke, prompting the purple haired Anbu to nod as she dragged the Sannin away to toss him in prison.

"That guy… no wonder mom didn't want him to be my godparent. He had an untrustworthy look about him and then some." Naruto pointed out, recalling the tidbit when the Sandaime mentioned his parents disagreeing on Jiraiya being his godfather.

"Indeed. To be honest Naruto-kun… I feel this is partially my fault. I have always had a soft spot for my students and gave them a lot of leeway. Perhaps I should have learned my lesson after Orochimaru went rogue, but I did not. I should have pushed Jiraiya to properly caring for you, but I didn't. I am sorry." Hiruzen apologized, giving an exhausted sigh.

"Eh. Don't beat yourself up over it Jiji. Everything turned out okay. That aside, he probably would have still done a shit job anyway. I'm better off without that asshole." Naruto replied, casually dismissing the Hokage's apology.

"Perhaps so. You're both dismissed. I'll summon you again when I have settled on a trial date for him or have need of you for an urgent mission. Until then, take some comfort in the fact that Jiraiya is going to be waiting in a cold and dark jail cell for a long time." The Hokage spoke with a small grin, earning a nod from the Jinchuuriki as he and his sensei departed.

As they exited the office, Anko asked "You okay there Naruto-kun?" The blonde sighed a bit tiredly as he pinched the bridge of his nose before answering "Better than I thought I'd be. Thanks for asking. At least that's one more thorn out of my side."

Anko chuckled a bit, she had to give him credit, he was certainly made of tough stuff. But then, she supposed that after dealing with adversity for so long, that he learned to shrug off almost anything. She should know from firsthand experience. To Naruto, he likely viewed Jiraiya as yet another obstacle in his way, and now he had finally been removed.

"If you want, we can take a day off training tomorrow?" She offered, earning a chuckle from her student.

"You getting soft on me already Sensei? I'm good to go. Anytime." He relied confidentiality, making his teacher give a malicious smile.

"Nah, nothing like that. I just wanted to be generous and give you a day to prepare yourself for some real training. But if you're that eager, Anko-sama won't hold anything back!" She promised him and then ruffled his hair a bit which caused both Pariah's to laugh heartily. Since she was gonna have fun putting him through hell, and he was going to enjoy overcoming whatever challenges were thrown his way.

A month later.

Naruto smirked as he continued his daily exercise of running up one of the countless towering trees in the forest of Death. The sounds of chains rattling could be heard as he sprinted up the tree trunk. Anko certainly made good on her promise on not holding anything back as she kept pushing him harder and harder in his Chakra control exercises, often using training weights and heavy chains to make it more difficult for him to run up the trees.

Sometimes she would have him run across large bodies of water to master Water-walking. Of course that wasn't all he trained in, he had plentiful sparring partners thanks to the Deck of Heroes that he kept on his person at all times, and each day he would summon a different Servant to spar with and familiarize himself with them. Suffice it to say, many Servants had certain… quirks. And others had some rather… extreme personalities that would make them difficult to properly control.

Though for the most part, they all seemed pretty loyal. He supposed his connection and ownership to the Holy Grail helped keep them loyal to him. Once he made it over the treetops and perched on a branch, Anko emerged with a triumphant grin as she held up a stopwatch "Nice work. You just keep on getting faster. You're making great progress after only a month of training." she congratulated him with a proud smile.

"Appreciate it. I'd like to see Sasuke handle a month of this kind of training. You been keeping tabs on the other teams?" The whiskered teen asked as he pulled out a bottle of water and started to slowly sip at the liquid.

"I check in on their progress every now and again. Asuma and his team have been going at their own pace for the time being, though they aren't totally slacking off. It's possible they're trying to hide their real skills for now. Kurenai has been pushing her team pretty hard, but it seems like she's been having a hard time getting Hinata out of whatever slump she's in. As for Kakashi's team… well, he's been almost exclusively been working on Team building exercises." Anko explained, though at the end she gave a small scoff.

Naruto raised an eyebrow and spoke "That's all? That's kind of pathetic. If you ask me, team building is a waste of time. That kind of thing should come about naturally on its own. It's not something you can hammer into anybody."

"True. Though that's one of the benefits of apprenticeships. You get way more flexibility in training. Though I should mention that other guy on their team? A pale kid called Sai? There's something… off about him." Anko muttered as she crossed her arms while scratching the side of her face.

"Off how?" The Jinchuuriki asked out of simple curiosity since he had never seen or met anyone called Sai back in the Academy. So how did he end up on Team Seven?

"I dunno. Just… off. I'm having a hard time finding the right words to explain. Though from what I could tell, I don't think that kid gets out much. And not just because he's pale looking. You'll see what I mean later. Anyways, what say we swing by the missions office and see if there's any missions worth doing. I think a C-rank mission will be good for us." She spoke, earning a look of excitement from her student since they hadn't performed any missions since dealing with Mizuki, largely to help prepare Naruto with some much needed training.

"Sounds good to me, it might be nice to go out on one. What do C-ranks usually involve?" He asked with a grin as they started to descend back down to the ground while the blonde removed the heavy chains and weights on his body.

"Can involve all kinds of things. Bodyguard duties, dealing with thugs or yakuza, escort jobs. Stuff like that. Though don't let your guard down, in the Shinobi world, anything can happen. It's not uncommon for unexpected developments, even among C-ranks." She warned him at the end, earning a nod from her student, although they both silently agreed that they were confident that they could handle it.

"Sounds better than chasing Tora or pulling up weeds for chump change." The Jinchuuriki spoke with a low chuckle as he dumped the various training weights to the ground before using a sealing scroll to store them away. With that finished they made their way to the mission assignment office, silently wishing and hoping that the good ones hadn't been snatched up yet.

As soon as they reached the door of their destination they heard a familiar voice speaking inside… belonging to Sasuke Uchiha. They couldn't make out everything he had said, but they were certain it was something along the lines of the Uchiha demanding a higher ranking mission. "Kami. Why is it I keep bumping into this guy? Does the universe hate me for some reason? What did I do to deserve this?" The blonde asked himself as his sensei shook her head while mockingly making 'tsk tsk' sounds.

"Suck it up cupcake." Anko spoke with a playful smirk, although she could understand his pain. That Sasuke was a walking migraine waiting to happen. His piss-poor attitude alone was enough to give someone a mind-splitting headache.

"I refuse to take that as an insult. Cupcakes are delicious." The whiskered teen countered, earning a small snicker from the Snake mistress.

"Okay. I'll give you that one. But watch yourself, or I might eat you up since you so kindly pointed out that fact." She spoke and made some smacking noises with her lips to emphasise the joke, earning a small light-hearted punch to her shoulder. After their little banter, they entered inside to find the Hokage sitting at the desk, giving Team Pariah a grateful look since they had apparently provided a welcome interruption.

"Ah. Team Pariah. Welcome, welcome." The Sandaime greeted the two happily while Team Seven stood off to the side. Kakashi seemed to be busy burying his face into his book while Sasuke was glaring hard at the Jinchuuriki. Sakura seemed to be in her own world as she openly ogled the Uchiha. Finally there was a pale looking kid that could only be Sai who was giving a somewhat fake looking smile that gave Naruto a slight chill. Now he realized what his Sensei meant when she mentioned there was something off about that guy.

"Yo. Team Pariah-we-don't-give-two-shits reporting for duty!" Anko proudly stated while giving a two-fingered salute, earning some sweat-drops from the Hokage and Team Seven.

"What kind of Team name is that?" Sakura asked with a twitching eyebrow, feeling somewhat annoyed that this loud woman burst in. The pinkette glaring hard at the woman's sloven and revealing outfit and her large bust.

"It's ours. And it is the most awesome and unique Team name in the history of Team Names." Anko spoke pridefully and then stuck her tongue out mockingly towards the pinkette before continuing to speak "Anyways, we're here for a C-rank mission. Got any good ones to get my precious student's feet wet Hokage-same?"

The Hokage sighed as he took a drag from his signature pipe, but before he could reply, Kakashi beat him to the punch and spoke "Seems this is going to get a tad awkward. I was looking for a C-rank mission for my team just as well, and it seems there's only one currently available."

"Seriously Kakashi? A C-rank for your team already? Are they even properly prepared? Pinkie Pie over there doesn't even look like she's done any training. Look at her hands! Not a single blemish! No Kunoichi's hands are that dainty and delicate looking!" Anko pointed out while glaring at the Fan-girl who gulped as she hid her hands behind her back.

"Like the Dobe is in any better condition. He was the worst in our class." The Uchiha spit back, earning a small groan from Kakashi who seemed like he wanted to force himself into the contents of his book and vanish out of existence.

"Sasuke… are you really that dumb, or do you not pay attention? It has been proven that Iruka rigged my education and sabotaged me." Naruto spoke with a sigh, and pinched the bridge of his nose. How on earth could a nice lady like the late Mikoto have given birth to such a douchebag? As far as he knew, Itachi and Shisui Uchiha were amongst the few Uchiha males that were actually decent people… though the blonde was fairly sure they may be mutants since they weren't the norm.

"And for the record, Naruto-kun's been training hard. I bet he could wipe the floor with you easily." Anko piped in, flipping the bird to the Uchiha before pinching Naruto's butt, earning a surprised yelp and a small blush from the Jinchuuriki. Both Kakashi and Hiruzen caught that and quietly snickered to themselves.

"It seems we're at an impasse on who gets the mission. In that case, I am assigning both teams to jointly work on this C-rank mission." Hiruzen interjected since that seemed to be the only solution to diffuse this petty arguing and save himself the headache.

"Say what Jiji? You mean I gotta work with Sasuke of all people?" Naruto whined a bit, earning some looks of pity from the Jonin and Hokage. But the Hokage answered him "Sometimes ninjas must work with people they don't like. You don't have to be friends or anything, just tolerate each other long enough to complete the mission."

The Jinchuuriki crossed his arms grumpily and replied "Fine. But Sasuke better not pester me about my summoning contract or any techniques I know or am in the process of learning." With that said, he sent a glare over to the Uchiha who seemed ready to say something but someone else interrupted him.

"That seems fair. I'll try to keep Sasuke out of your hair. Just please don't try to kill each other." The masked Jonin spoke with an eye smile, trying to keep the peace between the Uzumaki and Uchiha. If there was one thing that Konoha didn't need, it was a reenactment of the Uzumaki vs Uchiha feud that could have resulted in the end of Konoha. Thank Kami for Mikoto for ending it, lest there would have been a bloodbath.

Now he just needed to keep these boys from potentially murdering each other. "I'll hold you to that Hatake. So anyways… what's this mission anyway?" The blonde asked, making Team Seven and the Sandaime face-vault while Anko sweat-dropped since they had joined on a mission without knowing the details.

The aged Hokage cleared his throat and replied "Erm, yes. Of course. You'll be serving as bodyguards for a master builder named Tazuna who has requested protection from bandits and highwaymen until the completion of his bridge in Wave country. Here he is now." The Sandaime explained and then snapped his fingers, prompting a man to enter inside. His face flushed from the influence of alcohol as he took another swig of sake from the bottle in his hand.

"So this is going to be my protection eh? A bunch of snot nosed kids? Well… I certainly wouldn't mind the company of that pretty lady there." He spoke with a slightly lewd grin, which quickly faded as Anko sent a bone chilling glare in his direction before pulling a kunai from her coat and began to twirl it between her fingers.

"I'll pass that off as the booze talking. But if you continue to make any advances or try anything funny, then client or not, I'll cut off your balls and fry them in butter and motor oil and feed them to you. Got that?" She threatened, clearly not amused by his comment.

The spectacled man seemed to quickly sober up as he replied "Yes, ma'am. Absolutely. I'm sorry." He quickly apologized at the end, earning a satisfied nod from the Kunoichi, but she didn't stop giving him a warning glare to not mess with her.

"I have to apologize for my colleague Client-san. Though for future reference, it's not always the best idea to flirt with a Kunoichi. Most especially one with a fiery temper and trained in the arts of torture. And I can assure you that you'll be more than adequately protected." Kakashi spoke in a half-joking, half-serious tone, making their client nod in understanding.

"Uh. Right. My names Tazuna, and I'll be counting on you guys to keep me safe." The aging builder said with a small bow, likely having learned his lesson and decided to try and stay on the Ninjas good side.

"Okay now, Kakashi we'll meet up at the Konoha gates in an hour after we pack up. Don't be late." Anko spoke, giving a warning glare to the Copy ninja who was infamously known for his tardiness.

"Oh don't worry. The Hokage made it very clear that such things wouldn't be tolerated, when he promised that something very valuable to me would be confiscated." The Jonin replied with a nervous chuckle as he tapped at the area of his covered Sharingan eye. While he wasn't sure if the Sandaime would make good on the threat, he certainly didn't wish to risk the memento that was given to him by his fallen teammate.

With that done, the two teams departed to their respective domiciles to pack up for their first out-of-village mission. "Hey Sensei. I'll bet you 5,000 ryo that Sakura's gonna pack up an excessive amount of clothes and unnecessary junk." Naruto spoke as he and his teacher made their way to their apartment.

"Ohhhh no. I'm not dumb enough to start taking sucker bets. I'm not gonna drown myself in gambling debts like a certain Kunoichi." The Snake Mistress spoke with a chuckly, her words causing a certain gambling addicted Kunoichi to sneeze.

Later. Konoha gates.

"Called it." Naruto spoke as he pointed towards the form of Sakura who was dragging along a cartoonishly stuffed backpack that seemed ready to explode at any given moment since clothes and various other objects were visible including a hair dryer, some makeup kits, et cetera. Fortunately, Naruto had proven he saw this coming and had another sealing scroll ready for Sakura's stuff.

Not because he wanted to be nice to her, given her abusive nature back during the Academy. But because if he didn't lighten the load, this mission would drag on a whole lot longer, meaning he'd be stuck with the Uchiha for a longer period of time. He looked to the side and saw the other members of Team Seven looking mildly annoyed by Sakura's excessive baggage, except for Sai who seemed to be doodling in a sketchbook he had on his person.

"Give." Naruto muttered curtly as he snatched one of the straps off Sakura's shoulders and removed the backpack before sealing it away, much to Team Seven's apparent relief, especially Sakura who gave the blonde a grateful look. "Well, nice to see someone that planned ahead." Kakashi spoke with an eye-smile.

"What have I gotten myself into?" Tazuna muttered a bit, feeling like he was caught in the middle of some angsty drama series or something. Still, it could be worse. There could be sparkling vampires.

Without a word further, they began their trip to Wave Country. For the most part, the long walk was largely uneventful with Sai still doodling in his sketchbook, or Sakura pestering the Uchiha for dates. "Say Tazuna, just curious. Why didn't you hire any Ninja from your own village?" Naruto asked out of curiosity.

"Wave doesn't have a Shinobi village like the other Nations. Never really needed any up until now." Tazuna answered as he popped open a fresh bottle of booze.

"Up until now? The hell is that supposed to mean?" Naruto asked suspiciously, finding that phrase to be rather odd. This didn't go unnoticed by the Jonin either since they had heard as well. It seemed like their client was holding something back for some reason. They couldn't say for sure why, but they would certainly press him for answers later on, likely when he is under the influence of alcohol to help loosen his tongue.

"I suggest you leave Tazuna-san to his own devices, for the time being. If you don't mind my asking, what kind of summoning contract do you have? I heard you summoned an entity that shares the name of a god before Iruka's arrest." Kakashi asked, hoping to distract the boy for a little bit.

"Before I answer, why do you want to know? It's not to satisfy Sasuke's curiosity, is it?" The whiskered teen asked suspiciously, glancing over at the Uchiha who was now covering his ears to try and drown out Sakura's non stop requests for dates.

"Nah. Nothing like that. I promise. On my headband." The Copy ninja replied while holding up his hands to ease the blonde's worries.

"Guess it wouldn't hurt to tell you. My contract is kinda special. It lets me summon many historical and mythical entities. Some of which may be familiar to you. It can range from legendary heroes and figures, to even deities. All I need to do to summon them is pull the desired card from my deck and transfer some chakra into it." The blonde answered and then patted the small card holder on his hip.

"Interesting. And you're not worried someone like Sasuke may try to steal it and form the same contract?" Kakashi asked, finding that such a method of summoning to be a little too convenient.

"Let's just say that the Summons are loyal to me and leave it at that. You're starting to cross into territory I don't feel comfortable discussing, even if you're an ally. And I especially don't want to say too much with Sasuke in earshot." The Jinchuuriki answered while jabbing a thumb in the self-proclaimed Avenger's direction who seemed to be leering at the deck holster on Naruto's person.

"I see your point. And pretty smart of you not to reveal the full workings of your techniques. I think you'll do just fine as a ninja. To be honest, before Anko snatched you up, I was hoping to add you to my team." The copy ninja spoke with a smile visible beneath his mask.

The Jinchuuriki quirked up an eyebrow and spoke back "That so? The hell for? And no offense, but I'd sooner jump off a cliff than be stuck on the same team as the king of brood."

Kakashi let out a small chuckle as he rubbed the back of his head and replied "I don't blame you for that. Sasuke was largely placed in my care because of… certain circumstances. As for why I wanted you on my team, I was close with your parents. But I was also happy you were paired with Anko, you two would work well together. And I had a strong feeling she wouldn't coddle you."

"You knew my parents too? What can you tell me about them?" Naruto asked out of curiosity, wondering why others seemed to know about his parents, but he himself knew next to nothing.

"Unfortunately, I can't say too much without compromising certain gag orders. But I will say this, your mother was a terrifying person. She led numerous missions that aren't on any official record, and she was the kind of person that was impossible to say 'no' to. If you earned her trust, then you earned a friend for life. But if you ever betrayed that trust… well… the last person that did that didn't get to live long enough to regret it." The Jonin answered with an eye-smile.

Naruto looked over his shoulder towards his sensei who was listening the whole time and gave a subtle nod, as if telling him it was all true. He turned back towards the silver haired man and replied "My mom sounds like an awesome and scary person."

The Copy ninja chuckled and answered back "Trust me, you have no idea. That reminds me, I think your parents would want you to have these." The Jonin reached into his vest then pulled out a trio of scrolls and handed them to the blonde, who gratefully accepted them. "One is my own personal Jutsu, the Lightning blade, also known as the Chidori. The other is a technique called the Rasengan, which was developed by your parents. That third one though… I have no idea what's in that one, but I think it's sealed so it'll open to your blood. Your mom told me to give it to you after you became a ninja." The Copy ninja explained and gave the boy a thumbs up.

"Awesome, I'll be sure to put these to good use. I can't wait to start practicing with them." Naruto replied happily as he pulled out the scroll containing his training equipment and stored them away for later.

"Have fun. Consider them to be late birthday presents, and something to make up for some of my past failures." The Jonin answered before pulling out his little orange book, that last part of his sentence earning a puzzled the blonde, but before he could question the Copy ninja about it, a shout from the Uchiha interrupted him.

"Wait a damn minute! Why the hell does the Dobe get Jutsu scrolls?!" The Uchiha demanded angrily as he quickly jogged up to the Jonin with a snarl, pointing an accusatory finger at the masked man.

"It has nothing to do with you Sasuke. This was personal business. That aside, I don't feel very comfortable teaching any dangerous jutsu given your… instability." Kakashi replied while giving a small glare with his lone visible eye. Naruto could then immediately sense what direction this was going to turn when he felt the Uchiha's eyes boring into his back.

"First this Dobe gets his own personal apprenticeship and Jonin teacher. He has some kind of powerful summoning contract, and now this?! Why is the Dobe getting all this special treatment?" The Uchiha demanded angrily, earning a scoff from Anko.

"You're one to talk about 'special treatment'." The Dango lover grumbled in disgust, earning a glare from the Uchiha who shouted "Nobody asked for your opinion Snake whore!"

Before Anko could spit back, Naruto turned on his heel and quickly shoved the Uchiha to the ground, making him fall into the dirt. "You shut the hell up Uke-teme. I'm not gonna let you talk that way to my friend!" Naruto balled his fists, preparing to land a shot on the Uchiha but Kakashi quickly stepped between them to diffuse the fight.

"Okay, let's all calm down here. We're all Konoha Shinobi. No need to kill each other." The Cyclops spoke, giving Naruto a warning look to not push his luck any further. Not because he felt that he couldn't handle the Uchiha, but the Uchiha had allies of his own in high and potentially low places.

"Are we Hatake? Are 'all' of us really Konoha ninjas?" The whiskered boy asked and sent a glare in the Uchiha's direction as he slowly got up from the ground. Sighing in aggravation, the blonde marched off into the woods to put some distance between himself and his long-time nemesis.

Anko didn't bother chasing after him, she knew he just wanted to be left alone for a bit. He just needed to cool off for a spell. She supposed that this had to be expected. Putting an Uchiha and an Uzumaki was a disaster waiting to happen. If things escalated any further, it was likely one clan was going to go completely extinct.

Kakashi glared at his 'student' and seemed almost ready to chew him out… but a shout from Naruto could be heard just a short distance in the trees. "The hell was that?" Anko muttered worriedly, then dashed off to find her student with the others following close behind, except for Sasuke who stayed rooted in place on the road. His form rigid and shaking in anger at what had happened.

After a short sprint, then found Naruto standing in a small clearing, staring at a corpse that seemed to be propped against a tree with blood around the mouth area. From the looks of the body, they were holding a pair of twin swords and was wearing a Shinobi headband bearing the mark of Kiri. From the looks of it, Naruto had accidentally stumbled on the body while trying to get away from the drama that had taken place moments earlier.

There didn't seem to be any wounds visible on the body, so whoever this ninja was, they didn't die in battle. Maybe they had been poisoned. "Man. This is just awful. I feel bad for this guy." Naruto muttered as he approached the body, it was likely he was going to express the desire to bury them. As he knelt down, he stopped when he felt cold steel pressing against his neck and noted that the eyes of the 'corpse' had fluttered open.

"Oi, oi. What's this? A rapist thinking he found easy prey? Thought you found a helpless sleeping woman and thought you could get your rocks off or something Rapist-kun?" The person asked in a feminine voice and then gave a shark-like grin as she pressed the tip of her blades a bit further into the blonde's neck.

He gulped slightly but tried to keep his cool as he answered "No ma'am. Nothing like that. I erm… actually thought you were dead." He explained, his words causing the unknown woman to quick up an eyebrow.

"What gave you the crazy idea that I was dead? I haven't kicked the goddamn bucket yet." She replied and then tasted the familiar flavor of blood in her mouth and glanced at one of her blades, using it as a makeshift mirror to see that blood had indeed pooled around her mouth while she slept. "Oh. That's why. I guess it was an honest mistake then. Congrats Rapist-kun, your manhood has been spared… for now."

Once she finished speaking, she withdrew the blade from his neck and yawned a bit. Wiping the blood from her mouth before standing up and seeing that she was now surrounded by Konoha ninjas. "Who're they then? Were you planning to make this an orgy or something Rapist-kun?" The woman asked in a snarky voice, obviously taking some sadistic enjoyment in calling the boy a rapist.

"He-hey! Just who the hell are you ya weirdo?! If you try anything suspicious, then we'll have no choice but to attack!" Sakura shouted and nervously pointed a Kunai towards the stranger, with the other Ninjas warily watching this woman in case she tried something.

The Kiri nin's face hardened as she glared at the Konoha ninjas before speaking "You do that… and someone's going to die." She spoke in a chilling voice making the Jonin adopt defensive stances in case things turned ugly.

"And who will that be exactly?" Sai asked with a fake smile as he kept his hand on his tanto. In response to his question, the Kiri Kunoichi bluntly answered "Me of course!" Her response causing the Konoha ninjas to immediately face-vault since they didn't expect such an answer.

"Okaaaay. My name's Naruto Uzumaki. Who're you supposed to be?" The whiskered teen asked, this woman was certainly quite the character. Then again, she didn't seem like a bad person.

"Names Ameyuri Ringo. At your service. No autograph requests please." The woman answered with a sly smile, her name instantly recognized by the Konoha Jonin.

"You're one of the Seven Swordsman of Kiri." Kakashi pointed out, wondering what someone like that was doing all this way.

"That's me all right. As fun as it was to make friends with a potential rapist, I have more important things to do in Wave Country." Ameyuri spoke with a bored yawn, her words surprising the other Ninjas.

"That's funny. We're heading to Wave ourselves. What's your business there?" Anko asked as she crossed her arms beneath her bust, knowing there was absolutely no way that could be coincidence.

Ameyuri twirled a lock of her hair and answered "I'm on a mission for the rebels. The Mizukage has been in cahoots with a corrupt shipping tycoon by name of Gato. Stubby little fella that's been monopolizing on Wave's ports to help ship supplies to those willing to pay for them. Usually to the highest bidder. That and he's been shipping drugs and who knows what else out as well."

At that, the Konoha Jonin glanced over at the Client and decided that he owed them an explanation. It seemed that he'd been holding out on them. It wasn't long until Tazuna cracked and began spilling everything, he claimed not to know that Gato was working with the Mizukage, but explained that he was trying to build his bridge to break Gato's hold over Wave. As this went on, Anko asked the swordswoman "So wait, you're working for the Rebels? Didn't you earn your reputation by hunting down and killing missing nins and traitors?"

"Ironic, isn't it? Tell me to gut some traitorous bastard, and I'm all for it. But I never signed up for burning kids in the streets and tossing babies out windows just for being related to clans or bloodline users." Ameyuri explained with a small sneer, her answer earning a nod from the Dango lover.

"Well, this doesn't fit the mission parameters we were given. But, way I figure it, we have two Jonin and potentially an infamous sword wielding Kunoichi. I think our odds are pretty good. And the people of Wave need our help pretty badly from the sounds of it." Naruto spoke, earning nods from both Kakashi and Anko.

"Eh. Helping out the little folk wasn't exactly in the job description, but what the hell? Seems killing this Gato prick will be good for everyone. So, fuck it, I'm in." Ameyuri piped in with a lazy smile before happily clapping Naruto on the shoulder and spoke to him teasingly "I'll get my revenge on you later Rapist-kun."

"I told you already! I thought you were dead!" The blonde grumbled with a sigh… and then he took notice of something "Wait a second… Where the hell is Sasuke?" At that, both Kakashi and Anko took notice that the Uchiha hadn't bothered showing up yet. Where was that little brat now?

If he had gone off and done something stupid… there would certainly be hell to pay.

Elsewhere.

"Shinobi 101 kid. Don't separate from your team." Spoke a gruff voice as he sat on the back of a bound and gagged Uchiha who seemed to be having trouble breathing due to the weight of the man on his back. The man's face wrapped in bandages as he laced his fingers together, while three other figures wearing masks could be seen.

"Zabuza-sama, why go through the effort of kidnapping this boy?" Spoke a surprisingly gentle voice from one of the masked individuals who was holding a senbon between their fingers.

The one identified as Zabuza smirked a little and answered "It's all strategy Haku. Our target is being protected by both Kakashi Hatake, and Anko Mitarashi. Both highly accomplished ninjas from Konoha. Not to mention we don't fully know the full capabilities of the other brats. When it comes to Konoha ninjas, they'll always protect one of their own before anything else. And this kid? He's got the mark of the Uchiha clan on his shirt. Not very many of those guys around, so that alone makes this little shit extremely valuable."

"I see. But what if they don't try to save him?" Haku asked with slight concern, still uncomfortable with unnecessarily taking someone's life. Even with years of training in Zabuza's service, she couldn't bring herself to snuff out the softer side of her heart.

"I'm fairly confident they will. That aside, even if this job doesn't work out, we can cut our losses and leave. I imagine that a lot of people will pay big money for this brat and his balls." Zabuza muttered with a dark sense of humor. He was wary of Gato and his unscrupulous business dealings. Not to mention he was aware that Gato would sometimes hire missing ninjas like himself… only for said Ninjas to perish before every actually receiving payment.

He certainly wasn't going to trust someone like Gato. Not by a long shot. Regardless of the outcome, Zabuza was confident that he would be the victor in the long run of things. After all… you didn't get this far as a ninja by being a jarhead.

End Chapter three.

A/N: No servant Summons this chapter, and it seemed a bit more 'filler' than usual to me. Hope you still enjoyed all the same. Reviews and feedback much appreciated.

Next potential project:

Keys to the Kingdom.

Empathy.

Family is Forever.

The Throne Wars.