Please read the notice at the end of this chapter.

Chapter 8.

As the medics ran out onto the field, Hinata began to blush as the entire stadium continued to cheer except a few people. The people in the Hokage's booth just stared in disbelief at a smirking blonde haired woman while the Hyuugas that were in the stadium just stared at the blushing young shinobi, in awe at her new found strength.

When Hinata finally made it back up to the competitors box her face was almost maroon she was blushing so badly. It didn't help matters any when she walked in to find everyone that had made it to the arena on time staring at her.

"Is that what Jiggly-baa-chan taught you?!" shouted Naruto before he dodged Tenten's punch out of fear of her own new found strength. If Hinata had gained this much he knew for sure that Tenten had as well.

"W-Well, s-she also taught me s-some medical j-jutsus." stuttered Hinata, who really wished everyone would stop staring at her. She knew that if any more blood gathered in her face she would pass out.

"Luckily for Dosu, Hinata-chan and I haven't mastered the technique yet. We're still nowhere near as strong as Tsunade-sama nor are we as quick." Tenten whispered to Naruto and Shino so that the rest of the competitors were left to wonder as to how strong the rest of Team 8 had gotten if Hinata had increased this much.

Then came an announcement that caused many of the competitors to become angry.

"It has been decided that instead of disqualifying Uchiha Sasuke, we are going to postpone the next match for thirty minutes so that we can find them." Genma shouted while most of the spectators didn't really seem to mind. They were still trying to calm down from Hinata's show of power. It hadn't been a long match by any means but the showing of power left them trembling with excitement.

"Lee, you had better kick that bastards ass when he shows up." Naruto growled while Lee smiled brightly and gave him a 'nice guy' pose.

"That will not be a problem my youthful friend! I have trained hard for this match and I shall not lose! I must show everyone the powers of youth!" shouted the spandex wearing boy.

"... Yeah." Naruto replied before turning back to his team and Tenten who were now talking to Kurenai and Anko.

"It was amazing how quickly she picked it up. Tsunade-sama said that her chakra control was nearly on par with her own because of all of the training she has been doing with the Gentle Fist as well as any you've been having her do. I'm equal to her in the technique simply because I worked on it nonstop." Tenten told them while Hinata tried to hide behind Shino's coat.

"So how much do you still have to do before you master it?" Anko asked excitedly. She and Kurenai had been sitting by the Hyuugas when Hinata fought and her performance caused most of them to say some very un-Hyuuga things.

"Quit a bit." Hinata admitted while Tenten's shoulders drooped a little until Naruto made his presence known and wrapped his arm around her waist. "Tsunade-sama said that we won't have mastered it until it becomes second nature. She can do it in under a second, it's amazing."

"She told use that the quicker you gather the chakra and the more you gather means more strength. It's like stuffing Guy-sensei and Lee full of energy pills and letting them loose." Tenten explained while many of the room paled and looked over at Lee who seemed to be practicing victory poses in a mirror. Where the mirror came from they had no idea.

"She just had to teach you that. It wasn't enough that your punches hurt before this." whined Naruto while Kurenai and Anko couldn't help but laugh at his misfortune.

"But it will help keep me safe on missions. You do want me to be safe don't you Naruto-kun?" Tenten asked as she looked at him with her best puppy dog eyes.

Everyone knew that Naruto would give Tenten anything she wanted if she asked normally so when she did this they knew he would give in.

"Of course I do. Now wait right here and I'll go buy you some cinnamon rolls." Naruto told her before running out of the booth and into the crowd of people while Tenten smirked at the rest of the group.

"Around my little finger."

"That's not fair!" shouted Anko. "I am supposed to be the only one who can control him like that!"

Kurenai sighed at her girlfriends behavior. "Anko-chan, it's only normal for this to happen. It's only a matter of time before Shino is doing everything Hinata-chan says."

As soon as she said this Shino looked at the girl hugging his arm and when she smiled up at him he knew it was true. He knew already that he would do whatever she told him.

"So what kind of training did you do Shino-kun?" Hinata asked softly.

"My kaa-san taught me her kenjutsu style." Shino answered while Anko and Kurenai looked shocked.

"That's it?" Tenten inquired only to have the two older shinobi look at her as if she were crazy.

"Tenten-chan, Shino's kaa-san is said to be the greatest kenjutsu user in the village, hell even Fire Country! Her taijutsu is even to the point where she is just under your sensei! The most unbelievable thing about it all is that she isn't even a shinobi!" Kurenai told the girl only to have Hinata and Tenten stare at Shino in shock.

"That is correct." he stated as he slid his glasses back up the bridge of his nose.

Before anything else could be said Naruto ran back into the room causing everyone to stop and stare at him ins disbelief. He had come back with cinnamon rolls of course but he had so many that it would keep Tenten fed for over a week.

Tenten stared at the amount before turning to the rest of the room. "Um... You can all have some if you want."

No one moved to get one until a small platform made of sand approached Naruto only to move back to the red haired Genin from Sunagakure once he had placed one on top of it.

"G-Gaara, it's probably poisoned!" shouted his blonde haired teammate who had forfeited against him in the prelims.

"Kaa-san said no one would dare poison the deliciousness that is a cinnamon roll." the boy stated before taking a bite.

Once everyone saw that the psychotic looking boy was ok, most of the room came and got one.

"Hey brat! Come away from the hot lesbians and come talk to me!" shouted Jiraiya from the doorway.

Before Anko and Kurenai could do anything though, Naruto was already at him with his foot buried in the man's groin. As Naruto drug the man out of the booth Anko looked about ready to cry.

"He's such a good boy!" she said happily as she hugged Kurenai who just rolled her eyes and wrapped her arms around her purple haired lover.

"You know you got off easy, Ero-hime! Anko-nee-chan and Kurenai-sensei would have killed you!" Naruto stated firmly while Jiraiya wondered if death wouldn't have been better.

After a few minutes Jiraiya was back on his feet as if nothing had happened while silently thanking kami for Tsunade teaching him some medical jutsus. "Ok brat. Old flat-chest Tsunade has... well shit. I forgot I was there when she took those two girls to teach. I was still a little off from seeing your nee... well never mind. Since you know the two, you know that the crowd loved that Hyuuga's fight. You are fighting one of Sunagakure's strongest shinobis so I was wondering how far you've come with it."

"Pretty far. I can do it and but I waste a lot of chakra. Luckily for me my chakra is different now." Naruto replied with a smile while Jiraiya wondered what he meant by that.

He was about to ask when a team of Jounins appeared along with Sasuke and Kakashi.

"Well put on a good show." Jiraiya told him before turning and walking back to the Hokage's booth while Naruto ran back to where he was supposed to be.

Just as he was arriving Lee was leaving.

"Lee, good luck!" Naruto shouted after him while Lee simply turned and smiled at him before continuing his walk down to the arena floor.

As Naruto entered the room we was a little saddened to find that Anko and Kurenai had already left to go back to their seats.

"They said 'tell my little bastard of a touto good luck and also tell him that if he loses that he might as well not come home'." Tenten told him causing a bright smile to appear while the rest that heard it and didn't know Anko wondered why he was smiling.

"Second Match: Uchiha Sasuke vs. Rock Lee. Hajime!" Genma shouted before moving out of the fighters way.

As if Lee was looking in a mirror, Sasuke copied him even as he moved into his Strong Fist stance.

With that the man with very large eyebrows who normally smiled all the time was actually frowning.

"That is most unyouthful, Kakashi. Having your pupil watch our training and copy our taijutsu style after you helped him gain his Sharingan, that is very unyouthful indeed." Guy said as he shook his head softly.

Kakashi looked around and noticed that many of the Jounins around them were also looking disappointed in him. Even as he shrugged and pulled out a familiar orange book, he couldn't help but wonder if he had done the right thing.

Suddenly Lee got out of his stance and smiled. "Sasuke, before we have our youthful fight we must hug!"

Sasuke watched in horror as the boy spread his arms and walked towards him.

"Don't you dare!" Sasuke shouted as the boy got even closer.

"I'm going to hug you!" Lee sang as he got right in front of him and wrapped his arms around the struggling Uchiha.

"Let go of me you freak!"

Lee suddenly started laughing. "Now I have tricked you! You may have copied my style but I have the powers of youth on my side!"

As if Sasuke weighed nothing at all, Lee lifted him and bent backwards, slamming Sasuke into the ground.

Lee stood back up and gave his sensei an all to familiar pose while Tenten sighed and muttered about 'green freaks' and 'turning your back on an opponent'.

When Lee finally turned back to Sasuke he was met with a strong backhand that knocked him back a few feet.

For a split second Lee lost his smile. It was clear to his team and Team 8 that he was a lot angrier at the Uchiha then he was showing. Naruto didn't blame him at all. Lee worked harder them any of them to compensate for his lack of chakra and along comes a 'genius' who copies his style perfectly simply by watching him practice.

"I will now show you that your eyes can't copy youthfulness!" Lee shouted before he became nothing but a blur until he jumped into the air while spinning both legs in succession. "Leaf Great Whirlwind!"

As Lee spun closer Sasuke ducked under his leg only to be met with a kick to the head by the second. The crowd cheered as Sasuke was violently flung to the side by the blow. They all loved the Uchiha but a great fight was a great fight and that was exactly what this was shaping up to be.

Sasuke slowly got to his feet and wiped the blood that was running down his chin. He was beyond angry that Lee was going to force him to use his Sharingan so quickly. As Sasuke stood and closed his eyes the crowd started screaming when he opened them again to reveal the fabled Sharingan.

"I am honored to see them so quickly!" Lee shouted while Naruto and Tenten thought he almost sounded sarcastic. "But they will not be enough!"

As Lee charged forwards and tried to sweep Sasuke's feet out from under him he wasn't to surprised to have Sasuke jump effortlessly over his leg.

The crowd kept cheering as their precious Uchiha continued to dodge every attack Lee could throw at him. Yet at the same time he was becoming more and more frustrated because he wanted to attack himself but Lee never gave him a chance.

Finally just as Lee was punching, Sasuke moved under his arm and punched him as hard as he could in the jaw. This seemed to be enough to give Sasuke some room to attack himself. Oddly the boy chose to run backwards and cling to the arena wall. Lee and everyone else watched as he quickly ran through a set of and seals and as he grabbed his left wrist as he began gathering chakra.

"LEE! YOU MUST QUICKLY REMOVE YOUR WEIGHTS! SHOW HIM YOUR TRUE POWER!" shouted Guy once he realized what jutsu the Uchiha was using. "I can not believe you taught him such a move for a Chuunin Exam."

While Sasuke was gathering chakra, Lee sat down and began removing his orange leg warmers to reveal two sets of weights. Many wondered how much difference they could possibly make, while Naruto noticed that Tenten was smirking slightly.

"Just watch." she said simply.

When Lee stood up and dropped the weights to the ground, the jaws of many followed. As the weights connected with the ground two very large craters formed underneath them.

"Chidori!" shouted Sasuke and suddenly everything went quiet. Gradually the sound of one thousands of birds chirping began filling the stadium.

Before anyone could blink, Sasuke jumped from the wall and charged at the still smiling form of Lee. Only just as he began to thrust his fist through Lee's heart, Lee vanished.

While Guy was cheering loudly from the stunned stands, Lee appeared on the opposite side and shouted. "Initial Gate! Kai!"

After a split second, Sasuke was being launched backwards the tremendous force that was Rock Lee. As the chirping faded, everyone saw that the blow had forced Sasuke to lose his ninjutsu.

"Heal Gate! Kai!" Lee shouted while Tenten began looking more worried then excited. "Life Gate! Kai!"

By now even Guy had lost his smile and was watching his student intently as Lee's skin began to turn red while all around him the ground began to crack under the pressure of his chakra.

"Wound Gate! Kai!" Lee roared as the veins in his neck and face began to bulge. "Limit Gate! Kai!"

For a second nothing happened. For a second no one breathed. For a second no one even blinked. Then all hell broke loose on the arena floor as Lee's chakra flooded the area around him.

"Ura Renge!" cried Lee before he completely disappeared from view only to be seen kicking Sasuke into the air seconds later. No one saw him moving but the very ground he ran on crumbled under the pressure of his steps. That alone was something that left even Naruto humbled.

As Sasuke was launched into the air Lee disappeared again. While Sasuke was pummeled by an invisible force, the crowd watched in awe. Suddenly Sasuke was wrapped in bandages and pulled towards a now visible Rock Lee. When he was in range Lee smashed his fist into Sasuke with all the strength he had left in his body sending the Uchiha hurling towards the ground.

When the smoke cleared everyone saw a beaten and blooded Sasuke lying there while Lee turned back to normal and fell to his knees.

"Uchiha Sasuke is unable to continue! Rock Lee wins!" Genma shouted happily and as the crowd suddenly roared with cheers, Lee, from his knees, gave them a very shaky 'nice guy' pose before falling forward.

As the crowd continued to cheer, many of the shinobi stared in shock. Even Kakashi's favorite book laid forgot on the ground as he stared at between Lee and Sasuke before looking at Guy, who was smiling so bright many were forced to look away.

"Y-You taught him..." stuttered Kakashi.

"How to open the 'Eight Gates'? Yes I did. Lee needed something of a trump card for when taijutsu simply wasn't enough." reasoned Guy while Kakashi continued to stare with one disbelieving eye.

"And that boys and girls is why you don't steal." stated Naruto once he finally shook himself out of his staring.

"Naruto-kun, shut up." Hinata stated once she heard his joke while he simply smiled at her.

"Hey, at least we don't have to try and follow that!" Tenten shout causing Naruto to pout. She didn't have to but he did. He just hoped the crazy looking Sunagakure shinobi was strong enough to put up a good fight.

"That was defiantly impressive." the Hokage said after they all picked their jaws up off the floor.

"I can't believe Guy taught his student that." Tsunade growled while Jiraiya hoped that Naruto didn't get hurt while trying the move he let him learn or else he was dead.

As Naruto and Gaara stood before Genma, the blond cut off what ever Genma was going to say.

"Before this starts I'd like to dedicate this fight to Ero-hime and Jiggly-baa-chan!" Naruto shouted while many were wondering who he was talking about. They found out when Jiraiya and Tsunade were having to be held back by the Hokage from going down and killing the blond. Once they found out who they were most laughed while others look horrified that he would call their greatest shinobi such names. "Ero-hime because he let me read a scroll and Jiggly-baa-chan just because I wanted everyone to know my name for her!"

"Naruto-kun! How dare you?!" shouted Tenten as Hinata and Shino tried to hold her back.

Naruto saw how angry his girlfriend was and paled. "S-Sorry Tenten-chan!"

"Can we please continue before you piss off someone else?" Genma asked and when a pale Naruto looked away from Tenten and nodded, he continued. "Third Match: Mitarashi Naruto vs. Sabaku no Gaara. Hajime!"

Naruto and Gaara stared at each other for a few moments before Gaara spoke. "I will kill you."

"Why would you want to kill me? I gave you a cinnamon roll!" shouted Naruto while many in the stands sweat dropped.

"I will make it rain with your blood." Gaara stated while ignoring the fact the Naruto had indeed given him a cinnamon roll.

"Fine then!" Naruto shouted before making a familiar cross shape with his fingers. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

The crowd watched as nine clones appeared and as soon as the smoke was gone the real Naruto pulled out one of the kunai and tossed it into the air. "Kunai Kage no Jutsu!"

As the kunai split into nine different kunai everyone but three people were wondering what good they would do if he had thrown them into the air.

"That clever little brat." muttered Jiraiya only for the everyone around him to start watching more intently.

Everyone watched as the clones jumped into the air and caught a kunai each before turning and throwing them into the wall surrounding the two fighters. Just as they threw them a giant ball of sand surrounded the clones and crushed them. Gaara looked very disappointed when every single one disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Naruto smirked as he moved away from the angry sand user before shocking everyone with three little words. "Hiraishin no Jutsu(Flying Thunder God Technique)!"

The crowd stared stunned as the only thing they could see was a yellow and purple streak cut the shinobi from Sunagakure to shreds.

Temari, Kankuro, and the Kazekage watched in awe and horror as the blonde boy reduced their strongest fighter to a bleeding heap in a matter of seconds.

As Naruto stopped a faint purple hue continued to surround him making it look as if smoke was seeping from every pour of his body. Gaara could do nothing more then stare back at him in disbelief as he pulled up a platform of bloodied sand to lean on.

Everyone stared at Naruto in utter amazement before Tsunade, the Hokage, and the Kazekage turned to find a smirking Jiraiya looking back at them.

"That would be what I taught him." he said smugly even though he had only let Naruto read the scroll. "He hasn't mastered it because that purple you saw was, strangely enough, his chakra. I've got a few theories on why it is purple but nothing that has been confirmed yet."

"Go Naru-chan!" shouted Anko while everyone else remained silent.

"W-What are you?" asked Gaara as blood continued to pore from the thousands of cuts the blond had given him.

"I am Mitarashi Naruto. If you are what I think you are then I'd be correct in saying that I'm the same as you." Naruto told him. "Now will you give us so I don't have to kill you?"

"Give up? GIVE UP?" shouted Gaara before he started smirking in a way that even Anko had to admire. "I'm starting to have fun!"

Most everyone was shocked for many reasons at this point. One would be that Naruto had used the move of their villages greatest Hokage that had made him so famous. Second was that he showed mercy to the Suna nin instead of killing him like he was prone to doing. Third was that the shinobi from Sunagakure was still standing and fourth was that he was still standing while asking for more.

The crowd watched from the edge of their seats as Gaara tried to capture Naruto with his sand while Naruto simply used the 'Flying Thunder God Technique' to get out of the way. This proved to everyone that it hadn't been a fluke. The odd thing was that even as Naruto continued to dodge, Gaara laughed louder and louder and as it grew it started becoming more maniacal.

Finally Gaara stopped everything and frowned. After calling his sand back to him, Gaara covered himself in a ball of sand while an eye appeared just outside of it and trained itself on Naruto.

Naruto took this break and dropped to his knees. He had been forced to nearly empty his reserves as he continued to us the jutsus. After a few minutes rest Naruto bit his thumb and blurred though a set of hand seals. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

The spectators gasped and many jumped back as a giant snake appeared in a large cloud of smoke.

"Crush that ball!" shouted Naruto only to have the snake quickly wrap itself around the ball and contract. Suddenly the snake hissed loudly and let go of the ball. Naruto cringed when he saw it covered in spikes. "I didn't know. I'm very sorry. You may leave and heal yourself."

The snake gave a shaky nod before leaving. Unlike most summons, the snakes, the frogs, and the slugs could all take a lot of damage before they were forced to leave and once given an order, most won't leave no matter what happens to them.

"You bastard! I liked that snake!" Naruto shouted before he threw as many of his normal kunai as he could before placing something in his mouth. As Naruto flicked his neck backwards many of the shinobi noticed that he had connected wire to the kunai. Wire that was now wrapped around the ball of sand. "Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu(Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique)!"

After Naruto said this multiple streams of fire ran along the wire before engulfing the ball of sand. As the fire burned many were surprised by the heat of the flames as the sand began to slowly melt away.

Naruto then quickly created another clone and as it ran to the ball while holding a single hand seal it shouted. "Bunshin Daibakuha!"

As the clone exploded and blew away the front half of the shell, Naruto and many were shocked to find a distorted form or Gaara standing before then smirking.

"I wILL kiLL YOu!" shouted Gaara as his voice changed between his usual and one that sounded more demonic.

Naruto stared at the deformed arm and left side of Gaara's face and thought they reminded him of something. Then he suddenly remembered all the reading he had done on the Great Tailed Beasts after he had found out about Kyuubi. The face and arm were those of Ichibi no Shukaku(One-Tailed Shukaku).

"Gaara! Do you want to win so badly?!" Naruto shouted when suddenly a very large explosion rocked the very earth they were standing on.

"I do NOT care ABout WINNing! I merELY want to kiLL eveRYOne herE!" shouted Gaara before feathers started falling from the sky.

"Kai!" shouted Naruto once he recognized it as a genjutsu. It was easy to spot when your sensei is a genjutsu mistress. As soon as this was over a section of the stadium gave way to a sea of Suna and Oto nins. He then noticed Gaara was leaving the arena.

"I wasn't done fighting yet!" whined Naruto only to have Anko, Kurenai, Shino, and Tenten appear next to him.

"You still have fighting left to do, Naruto. Only this fight is of much greater importance." Shino told him as he unsheathed his katana and held in firmly in front of him while Tenten just cracked her knuckles.

"Naruto, go after Gaara and get back here as quickly as you can." ordered Kurenai while Naruto only nodded before disappearing in a yellow and purple blur.

"That brat put a seal on Gaara during his first attack." Anko said proudly while Hinata suddenly appeared holding eight of the kunai Naruto had used to perform the Fourth's technique.

"We might need these. If we separate and place them around us Naruto-kun will be able to cover a larger area. I can't seem to find the last one..." Hinata offered while Anko and Kurenai could have kissed the young Hyuuga.

Hinata realized that Kurenai and Anko would probably fight together so she handed them one each before handing Tenten and Shino two and keeping two for herself. After this was done they stayed together just long enough to whisper a quick 'be careful' before they all split up.

As Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro were running a sudden blur smashed into the back of Gaara's head knocking him to the ground. Temari and her touto paled once they saw Naruto standing there frowning at them all.

"You try and attack this village and then run?!" he shouted only to have the blonde with the battle fan step forward.

"W-We aren't trying t-to run! We're trying to get G-Gaara out of there! You know what would happen it he changed!"

"I can not trust you." Naruto said softly before flashing over to Gaara and shouting. "Gogyou Fuuin(Five Elements Seal)!"

Flashback:

Naruto was walking around the village a few days after his meeting with Kyuubi while reciting what he knew about the 'Flying Thunder God Technique' when he passed the hot springs and heard an all to familiar perverted giggle.

"Atsu Sai Hebi no Jutsu(Crushing Snake Technique)!" Naruto shouted before a very large snake appeared and wrapped itself around the Toad Sennin. As they both rolled out of the bush, Jiraiya looked very relieved that it was Naruto and not his nee-chan but as he tried to get out of the snakes hold he found he couldn't move. "That is another jutsu of my own design."

"Is this it?" Jiraiya asked who was clearly not impressed. Only as he attempted to use a jutsu and found the fangs of the the snake sinking into his shoulder was he impressed.

"Of course that wasn't it. That snake happens to feed off of chakra so if you try and use a jutsu it eats it and gets stronger. The only way to beat it is with shear power and you and I both know that there isn't a human alive that can over power a snake that size once it starts absorbing chakra. You might have gotten it off if you hadn't tried to use that jutsu right then and just tried to force it. I made this jutsu after my fight with Jiggly-baa-chan."

Jiraiya tried with all of his strength to get out but he found that Naruto was right. If he had tried this first it might have worked. "What do you want?"

"I want you to teach me a way to block off Kyuubi's chakra encase it takes over again." Naruto said as he suddenly turned very serious. He didn't like the feel of losing control even if it did help against Orochimaru.

"Why should I?" Jiraiya inquired while already making plans to teach him.

"I'll simply leave you here and go get my nee-chan, Jiggly-baa-chan, and sensei." Naruto threatened with a smirk while Jiraiya suddenly became very pale.

"I-I'll teach you a way." he promised and as the snake disappeared he quickly got to his feet.

"So?"

"Here." Jiraiya said simply as he tossed Naruto a small scroll.

"Lazy Ero-hime." muttered Naruto as he took the scroll and walked off leaving a smirking Jiraiya behind.

When Naruto was back in his training ground he opened the scroll and read. "Gogyou Fuuin and Gogyou Kaiin(Five Elements Unseal). These should work."

End Flashback:

As Naruto's finger tips began to glow, he slammed them into Gaara's stomach. A shocked look was all Gaara could give him before the arm dissolved into sand and he fell unconscious.

"Take him and go. If I see any of you in this battle again, I'll will kill you." Naruto vowed before he felt one of his kunai getting placed in the ground and disappeared.

It was only mere seconds after Shino had stabbed the modified kunai into the ground that Naruto appeared beside him. "We are placing these all around Konohagakure so that you will have a greater range. Do not strain yourself, we will need you."

Naruto nodded and suddenly felt another of his kunai being placed into the ground. "Someone's just placed another one. Shino, you had better make it out of this. Hurting Hinata-chan is something I will not stand for. If you need my help simply re-stab the kunai into the ground and I'll be here at once."

With that the blond shinobi disappeared, a trail of yellow and purple was all anyone could see as he raced across Konohagakure. Any enemy shinobi he happened to pass along the way was bleeding to death on the ground before they had even felt the kunai slid across their neck.

As soon as Naruto left his side, Shino turned back to a small group of Oto shinobi and dropped into his kenjutsu stance. He knew that at his current level of ninjutsu and taijutsu that he wouldn't last for very long against their numbers if he didn't use his katana.

"A Genin?! They have Genin fighting!" shouted one of the Oto nins before Shino shot forward and like a hot knife through wax, his gleaming sword separated the man's head from his shoulders. The man had been a Chuunin, a single rank higher then his own and yet he had believed that because of that he would over come the Aburame. He had been foolish.

"A Genin is all we will need if the rest of your force is so arrogant." Shino stated confidently as he suddenly dove at the men while began to spin. The spiraling shinobi cut through the group with an easy that shocked many who had looked away from their own battles to watch.

Ignoring the blood dripping from his blade, Shino walked calmly towards the next group. As he arrived a sudden and familiar sound caused him to duck quickly. He watched as a woman appeared out of nowhere and ended the lives of the men in a series of silver blurs.

"Kaa-san." Shino said in shock as his kaa-san wiped the blood off of her blade.

"My musuko, do not allow the blood of the unworthy stain your blade." she stated only to have Shino quickly wiped the blood from his blade with the end of his coat.

While his kanai and musuko were beginning their dance of death amidst their enemies, Shibi stopped and took off the gourd that he kept on the back. Many shinobi from Konohagakure watched whenever they were able as that gourd had been one of the biggest mysteries surrounding the man.

As he reached in and began to pull, many watched as a long stream of insect followed his hand as he removed it. But as the incests swarmed into the sleeve of his coat they left behind an eerie looking, green bladed sword that he held tightly in his hand.

"I have not used this in a long time." Shibi whispered to himself before he jumped back into the battle. As he began slicing through his enemies, his insects swarmed around him like a thick fog, making it impossible for the enemy shinobi to tell where the strikes would be coming from.

As Hinata slammed her kunai deep into the ground, she felt relieved when Naruto appeared with his usual sadistic smirk. "I just saw your boyfriend. He told me what's going on and I can only image that this is your plan."

"Yes." Hinata stated while feeling grateful that Naruto had told her that Shino was still alright. She didn't look it but she was very close to breaking down. She had never been in a battle like this and seeing the lives of people, be it an allies or a foes, being taken was not resting well with the young Hyuuga.

After being friends for so long her true feelings were instantly known to the demon vessel. With a gentleness that would have surprised most, Naruto stepped forward and placed a hand on her cheek.

"I know this is hard and you've never had to take a life before, but so many people need you to be strong. This village needs you, Hinata-chan. Your the heart of our team. I told Shino that if he hurt you that I would kill him but I will be equally unhappy if you are harmed because you couldn't bring yourself to harm another. Shino needs you to make it through this, I need you to make it through this, and Tenten will be pissed if she is the only female in our group." he whispered softly before a sudden feeling overcame him. "Another kunai has been place, Hinata-chan. If you need me you know what to do."

Then, just as suddenly as he had appeared, he vanished leaving Hinata with a will to survive like no one had ever seen before within the gentle Hyuuga.

"A Hyuuga? We could get good money from Kumogakure if we got her eyes." a Oto nin said while he and his comrades smirked. They had seen the blond standing next to her and honestly felt reluctant to attack, but now he was gone and they believed the Hyuuga girl wouldn't put up much of a fight.

However, what they hadn't factored in was that just like Neji, Hinata had a deep seeded hatred and fear for Kumogakure no Sato and her shinobi. It had been because of them that Hinata had been kidnapped and her tou-san had to kill the kidnapper, leaving Neji's tou-san to take the blame with his own life. They had broken the trust Neji had for the Main House and had cost her, her itoko. At that point all she could hear was 'Kumo' echoing through her mind as long since buried memories resurfaced.

"They cost me my family!" roared Hinata.

Hinata's Byakugan flashed into existence before she hauled back and punched the ground with all of her strength. As the ground cracked, many stopped to watch as two slabs of earth buckled under her power and smashed the group of shinobi between them. As they separated again many winced and looked away while Hinata's hard eyes turned towards the next group.

She didn't know it but her itoko had been standing nearby and had heard her words. He was going to have to live just so that he could think about many things once this battle was over. His entire life needed to be reevaluated it would seem.

When Naruto arrived beside his kunai he found Tenten already fighting off groups of shinobi with her monster like strength. It looked strange because her abilities with the technique were still developing so there was a slight pause before each kick or punch. Still the enemy shinobi never seemed to catch on because if they had only came at her at once the weapons loving Genin would have been a lot easier to deal with. Naruto assumed that the monstrous strength also had an intimidation factor to it that kept them at bay. Once the area was clear she turned to find Naruto standing by the kunai.

"Naruto-kun!" she shouted before she ran to the blond and jumped into his arms. Without a seconds hesitation the two began kissing as if they hadn't seen each other in years. "You had better come back to me or I will piss on your grave every day!"

"That's very lady-like, Tenten-chan." Naruto said dryly while Tenten just smiled. "I love you."

Tenten watched him suddenly disappear before turning towards the new group of advancing shinobi with a smirk playing on her lips. "I'll have to make this one short. I have a boyfriend I need to make out with!"

Tenten held both arms together and quickly surrounded them with chakra. Thanks to Tsunade's training in chakra control, she was even getting better at her taijutsu style. Tenten briefly wondered if it was even really a form of taijutsu since she was always using weapons. Yes her body molded to form those weapons but they were weapons just the same. Before long her arms were in the form of a very large, very top heavy mallet. It seemed a little awkward at first but Tenten heaved the giant hammer onto her shoulder and began packing chakra into the end of it.

As soon as the enemy shinobi were close enough, Tenten nudged the mallet off her shoulder and used the momentum to swing the incredibly heavy weapon around in a full circle. When it was over her head, Tenten shouted in exertion as she slammed the hammer into the ground with a much force as she could manage, releasing the power at the exact moment the metal face connected with the ground.

Under the tremendous power of the blow, the entire area under her feet and those of her enemies began to break apart. Tenten watched with a grim satisfaction as the ground sallowed her opponents whole before to large hunks of earth began grinding them together. She didn't know it at the time but the shock wave the blow had produced was felt for over one hundred meters in all directions.

Naruto wasn't all to surprised to arrive at the next kunai to find Anko and Kurenai fighting together. While Kurenai stood back and formed genjutsus, Anko dashed in and out of the 'blind' shinobi, slitting their throats as she went. Watching the two was truly awe inspiring. They seemed to fight together so perfectly that Kurenai was able to duck as Anko launched a large number of shuriken over her head without saying a word.

Once the group was dead or very close to bleeding to death, Anko returned to Kurenai's side and smashed her lips against the beautiful brunette's. Just as her was reaching for her lover's breast, Naruto made his presence known. "I don't want to see that!"

For once Anko decided not to tease or embarrass her touto. After releasing a still slightly dazed Kurenai, Mitarashi Anko turned to Naruto and smiled. "I don't think I need to remind you of what will happen if you are hurt, do I?"

"Come on, I was trained by the best. These losers couldn't touch me!" Naruto laughed while Anko and Kurenai seemed very happy about his answer. Of course they had been the ones who trained him so that might have been some of it. Suddenly the blond's face lost all traces of humor as he looked at the two older woman and smiled slightly. "The two of you had better make it through this. I... I don't know what I'd do without the two of you."

"We'll be fine, Naru-chan." promised Kurenai. "Anko-chan is far to stubborn to die and you know if she is still breathing that none of our enemies will be able to touch me."

"I love you two." Naruto told them with a faint bit of pink appearing in his cheeks before he disappeared.

"H-He's never said that to me before." whispered Kurenai as her eyes slowly began to tear up.

Rather then allow Kurenai her touching moment, Anko bite her finger and began a long sting of hand seals. As she slammed her hand in to the ground a large amount of glyphs spiraled outward, she then shouted. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Kurenai let out a surprised shriek while Anko laughed happily as they two began rising into the air at an amazing pace. When the smoke cleared they were able to view the entire battle and many enemies were struggling to escape the giant snakes range; they wouldn't make it.

"So, Anko, you've finally decided to summon me." mused the baleful Manda as he surveyed the area around him. "And in a battle too! I suppose you wish for me to keep the shinobi from Konohagakure alive?"

"If you don't mind! Could you try and keep the damage to the buildings at a minimum as well?"

"I suppose." sighed the anaconda before it began slithering across across the battlefield, smashing any enemy stupid enough to stand in his way.

Kurenai could only stare down at the massive snake in awe.

While everyone was moving into their positions, the Kazekage quickly grabbed the Hokage and pressed a kunai against his throat before jumping onto the roof, only to be quickly followed by Jiraiya and Tsunade.

The Kazekage whistled loudly and almost at once the two bodyguards he had brought with him separated into four shinobi from Oto. They quickly turned their back to the four shinobi and erected a large blue barrier around them. Keeping their hand on the barrier, the also created a second one that would protect them from the Konohagakure shinobi inside. Many became worried when they found themselves unable to break the barrier and aid their Hokage, but when Orochimaru dropped his rues the Konohagakure shinobi didn't think they needed to help.

From where Naruto's snake had bitten Orochimaru during the Second Exam, the area around the bite and the entirety of the man's arm were completely black and withered. His once intimidating appearance seemed like nothing more then a joke to the two other shinobi he was facing off against and even the one he was holding hostage. He growled in frustration as the Hokage broke away from him rather easily.

"Orochi-chan, I think you've been bitten by something. Do you want some ointment?" Tsunade teased while Jiraiya snickered and even the Hokage cracked a smile.

"Shut up you ugly bitch!" he snapped. "I'll kill the brat that did this to me after I've finished killing the three of you!"

"Ugly?!" screamed Tsunade and Jiraiya. Tsunade was honestly surprised when Jiraiya spoke up in her defense.

"Tsunade-hime is what every man desires!" shouted the older man as he walked up and grabbed hold of her breasts. "Have you seen these things?!"

He realized his mistake when he began heard a grinding noise that was steadily getting louder. He began trembling in fear as he looked up to find his old teammates face flushed with rage. Rather then risk a beating unlike anything he had ever encountered, Jiraiya decided to quickly tease their opponent and hope that Tsunade forgot about him grabbing her.

"Are you sure you don't want a rain check? We're good for an invasion on the 13th if you're interested." Jiraiya teased only to have Tsunade forget her anger and laugh before slapping him on the back. Silently he was crying from the slap but he looked so cool right now and he couldn't mess that up. He also knew that the slap was still a lot better then what his beating would have been if he did anything to remind her that he had just groped her.

"I haven't forgotten, Jiraiya." whispered Tsunade darkly only to have Jiraiya whimper like a scared puppy.

Luckily Orochimaru was pissed off and said something that turned her attention away from her perverted teammate. "One arm is more then enough to beat a pervert, an old man, and a big chested whore!"

"Come now, I'm not that old." the Hokage whined.

"Pervert?! How dare you?! I'm a super pervert!" stated Jiraiya as if it were an honor.

"I may have big tits but I am not a whore! I've only slept with two people and that... t-that is none of your business." Tsunade said as she blushed a little.

"Orochimaru, what is it that you hope to accomplish by doing this?" the Hokage asked while even though he was confident in their chances of winning, he would still rather not have to fight.

"I just want to see Konohagakure burned to the ground. I want you all to realize that by not choosing me you have created your worst nightmare!" the snake man shouted. Sadly for Orochimaru, when he said these words the three shinobi didn't think of him but of what Naruto could become if pushed to far.

"Is this all because I ate that apple pie you were saving? I told you I was..." started Jiraiya only to be cut off.

"Damn it! I had forgotten about that! Now I'm really pissed off!" Orochimaru hissed while many sweat dropped.

"It was a really good pie. Tsunade made it when she was drunk and while normally she can't cook worth a damn, while she's drunk she is amazing." Jiraiya explained while Tsunade was making a mental note to ask Shizune about this.

Just as they were about to continue their 'fight', Jiraiya called for everyone to wait before pulling out a familiar kunai and throwing it into the ground. He smirked as a purple and yellow blur appeared only to run face first into the unbreakable barrier.

While Naruto began cursing everything under the sun, Jiraiya and Tsunade laughed as loud as they could. The fact that there were battles popping up all around them didn't seemed to faze them one bit.

"What the fuck was that for?!" Naruto shouted while even the four Oto nins were snickering.

"That was for calling me 'Ero-hime' in front of a stadium full of people! Also for calling Tsunade 'Jiggly-baa-chan'!" stated Jiraiya only to have Tsunade actually turn and kiss him square on the lips.

Once she pulled away she was still smiling brightly by the fact that Jiraiya had gotten the blond back for earlier. Jiraiya, on the other hand, was barely hanging on to consciousness from the kiss the blonde beauty had given him. Seeing the self proclaimed 'super pervert' act this way would have been hilarious but sadly no one saw it as they were still laughing at Naruto.

"Fine, you've gotten me back! This is a fucking invasion so stop acting like a fucking child and let me get back to my figt..." Naruto shouted before finally seeing Orochimaru and falling silent.

The Hokage watched as purple chakra engulfed the demon vessel.

With more self control then even Naruto thought he had, he turned away from Orochimaru and towards the Hokage. "Kill him or I will make your life a living hell!"

With that he disappeared back into the village and suddenly there were gurgled screams coming from all across Konohagakure as Naruto raced across the village, killing any enemy shinobi unlucky enough to be standing in his path.

"You know? For some strange reason I don't think Naruto likes you very much." Jiraiya offered lamely once he got over the kiss, which was no easy feat. His heart, however, was still pounding in his chest.

At the sound of the name, Orochimaru's eyes flashed dangerously. "Do not speak that name again!"

"Naruto, Naruto, Naruto." Tsunade chanted mockingly before suddenly the blond appeared once again only to run face first into the barrier... again.

"One more time and I'm killing everyone in this village!" he swore before disappearing... again.

"How the hell did you do that?!" Jiraiya shouted while Tsunade only shrugged, her own face a mirror for the shock she was feeling.

"Please don't try it again." sighed the Third while inside he was laughing happily at the blond and saying how much the sadistic brat deserved it for the way he pranked him once when he was five. The Hokage had never forgotten about that and still had nightmares about male parts drawn on every woman in his favorite book.

They all fell silent as they tried to work through what had just happened until they heard Jiraiya chanting. "Tsunade naked, Tsunade naked, Tsunade naked!" When he opened his eyes all he found was a very pissed of blonde, who was still fully clothed, and two sighing shinobi.

"Can any of you blame me? I thought it was magic day or something." he reasoned only to have Tsunade's fist meet his face on a very personal level.

As she smashed the pervert into the ground the Hokage took off his robes to reveal battle armor.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" he shouted after making a long set of hand seals and biting him thumb.

Instead of a giant snake or frog, the Third Hokage summoned a monkey. A monkey that easily exceeded the size of two very large men. Even with their own summons being so large, the Densetsu no Sannin still stopped everything and looked at the monkey in fear.

Flashback:

"What have I told you about fighting?! A team should work together!" a large monkey shouted as his hand came down onto the ass of a young Jiraiya. Suddenly the monkey looked at a younger Orochimaru and Tsunade and said. "You two are next."

End Flashback:

"Still fighting I see." the now older monkey stated while the three instinctively covered their behinds. "You and I are both far to old for that to work. Besides, that pervert would probably like it."

"Hey!" Jiraiya shouted angrily while Tsunade laughed and even Orochimaru forgot himself and snickered before shaking himself and sneering. "I'm not into that! Now if you have some more human looking female monkeys I'd be more then happy to write a book about them."

"Can we please start fighting now?" begged Orochimaru who was looking worse and worse as their 'battle' raged on.

"Fine, fine." the Third stated as his summon, Enma, suddenly changed into a very large staff. A staff that he expertly twirled around before holding in tightly under one of his arms. While he did this his two students cracked their knuckles in anticipation. "You shall have your fight."

As Naruto continued to run across Konohagakure, he suddenly noticed that Oto and Suna were starting to withdraw. After he stopped he heard a loud cheer start in some part of the village and before long everyone else had joined in.

Just as Hinata, Shino, Tenten, Kurenai, and Anko arrived at his position, Naruto smiled one final time before everything went dark and he began falling backwards. The sounds of people screaming his name echoed throughout his mind.

As his eyes slowly opened and began to focus, he only saw a very white ceiling. A hospital's ceiling. Over the years, when Anko's training got a little to rough, Naruto had learned all to well what the rooms of Konoha's hospital looked like and their ceilings were still a welcome sight.

Sighing heavily, Naruto figured that he had put to much strain on his body. That assumption only seemed to solidify when he barely twitched and his entire body seemed to light up with pain.

"So, you're awake." Tsunade stated as she leaned into his line of sight and smiled. "You had us all pretty scared, Naruto."

As Naruto ignored the pain and slowly raised into a sitting position, with more then a little help from Tsunade, he felt something slide against his skin. Reaching down Naruto found a necklace with a long green gem attacked to it. "What's this?"

"That is from me." Tsunade answered as she sat down on the edge of his bed. "My jii-san gave that to me. It's said that if you were to sell it you would have enough money to buy three mountains."

"And pay off at least half of your debts." Naruto teased.

"Maybe." she replied with a slight smile which only served to confuse Naruto more.

"Why would you give it to me?" he asked as he began staring at the beautiful necklace in wonder.

"Because I wanted you to have it. You gave me a reason to want to stay in this village again, something I haven't had in a very long time. You may have Anko and Kurenai but I also think of you as an touto." she answered while Naruto smiled back at her happily. "Plus I have some bad news."

Naruto's eyes widened but before he could even begin his list of what 'bad news' she could possible have to tell him, Tsunade said. "The Third finally realized how old he has gotten when we finally got around to fighting Orochimaru and he has decided to step down as Hokage. I'm sorry, Naruto, but he has named me the Fifth Hokage and not you."

To anyone wandering around outside, a loud 'NOOOOOOO!' was heard throughout most of Konohagakure but only a select few realized what it meant.

"I haven't been sworn in yet because I want you there." she told while smiling kindly down at him. Naruto knew something was coming but still he took the smile to be an honest one.

"I suppose you can't be sworn in without a future Hokage present." Naruto stated firmly with a curt nod of his head. For a moment he noticed how strange it felt to have his hair down.

"Fuck no! I just wanted to rub it in your stupid face, you little bastard!" Tsunade shouted with laughter evident in her voice only to have Naruto growl and dive at her.

When the rest of Team 8, their sensei, Tenten, Anko, and Jiraiya arrived they found Naruto sitting on top of Tsunade trying to choke her to death while the blonde woman just laughed. To the select few who had seem them together when they had first met it seemed like an odd change of position.

"So she told you?" Kurenai asked gently as her and Anko moved to pull Naruto off of their soon to be Hokage.

"Yes and I was fine with it until that jiggly bitch said the only reason she waited to be sworn in was so that she could rub my face in it!" Naruto shouted as he fought the hold Kurenai and Anko had on him. Now, however, Jiraiya was forced to hold back Tsunade who seemed just as willing to strangle the blond as he was her.

"You had better respect me you little shit!" Tsunade shouted. "I'm going to be Hokage!"

"I don't respect jii-san so why should I respect some big chested skank like you!" he shouted only to pale as Jiraiya smirked and let Tsunade go. While Naruto closed his eyes and waited for the punch he knew was coming, all he left were a pair of lips press up against his forehead.

As Tsunade wrapped her arms around Naruto, she whispered. "I can't even begin to tell you how glad I am that your around, Naruto. Your annoying as hell but you're starting to mean a lot to me."

"I guess I could be a little more respectful to you." Naruto said gruffly while Tenten looked as though she wanted nothing more then to peal the skin from his forehead and keep it as a souvenir.

"What the hell is going on in... oh." shouted Shizune until she saw everyone. "Tsunade-sama, you should know how to act in a hospital!"

"Sorry." muttered everyone.

"N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata stuttered as her face turned a bright red.

"Yes, Hinata-chan?"

"Y-Your g-gown is o-open." she stuttered only for Naruto to do the dumbest thing possible. He tried to see for himself only to spin in a circle, flashing the entire room. Really only Tenten appreciated the view.

"Oops." he whispered while his own blushed immediately began to spread across his cheeks as he reached back and held it shut.

"Are you sure there wasn't any brain damage?" Kurenai asked the two med-nins while Naruto pouted and crossed his arms.

"None that we could find."

"No, he's fine. My little Naru-chan has never been the sharpest cookie in a shed." Anko said and it must have been a joke between the two because only Naruto and her laughed. The others just looked confused. "N-Naruto used to say that until I told him that he was combining sayings into one that didn't make any sense. Y-You should have seen his face!"

"Think about it. This is was what your going to marry into." Kurenai teased Tenten.

"Why are you making fun of me? You're already basically married to Anko!" she countered only to have Kurenai mouth 'oh yeah' before turning away as she blushed prettily.

"So who dominates who?" Jiraiya asked and before they could stop themselves Kurenai, Naruto, and Anko all answered.

"Anko-chan/Anko-nee-chan/Me."

When they saw Jiraiya pull out an all to familiar notebook and jot it down, the entire room turned and glared at him.

"Now who likes...." he started before he looked up and saw their glares as well as the company he was currently keeping. Before they could stop him, he quickly did a swan dive from the window. After they heard a loud crash and a series of curses Shizune sighed.

"Idiot didn't remember this was the third floor."

With that she walked out of the room to go and get the pervert.

"Mitarashi Naruto?" asked a deep voice from the doorway.

"Yes?" Naruto said as he turned towards the door to find three ANBU standing there looking slightly worried. The one who had spoken was wearing a mask that looked like a bear and was standing in the middle. The one to his left wore a tiger mask while the one to his right wore a hawk mask.

"We've have been ordered by the council to bring you before them." The man in the bear mask told him only to actually shiver under the combined glare of everyone in the room. He couldn't see Shino's eyes but by his body language alone he knew.

"Listen you little fuc..." started Tsunade before Naruto cut her off.

"It's ok. I kind of figured something like this would happen once everyone saw me us that technique. Now that I'll be doing higher level missions and displaying more abilities, I wouldn't be surprised if they call me before them more often."

"I would like you to know that most of us in ANBU hold nothing against you. In fact, I've heard a few of my superiors talk about offering you a position once you've held the rank Chuunin for long enough." the man in the bear mask said while the two with him nodded.

"Is it alright if nee-chan comes?" Naruto asked.

"Like I'm fucking staying!" shouted Tenten while the rest of the room nodded.

The three ANBU members quickly realized that the only way they would be getting Naruto in front of the council was if he was allowed to bring everyone in the room. Since the room included Anko and Tsunade they also had to worry about their own health should they try and deny him his request. Keeping this in mind it wasn't much longer before everyone was outside of the room in the administrative building the council used to hold their meeting. Since they also didn't want to listen to the council whine about all of them being there, the ANBU members quickly let them inside before leaving.

"Why are you all here? We only asked for that... thing." asked one of the councilmen who quickly fell silent once Anko, Kurenai, and Tsunade glared at him.

"They are here because they are my family. Now what do you want?" Naruto asked as he was silently glad Tsunade talked him out of wearing the hospital gown. He had planed to moon them all but Tsunade said it wouldn't help his case any to show off his bony little ass. Even though Tsunade was her hero an everything she aspired to be, Tenten had to disagree with her comment about his ass. She found it quite pleasing to look at but still felt that him wearing the mini-Anko outfit he always wore was the best choice.

"You are here because we have found you guilty of treason." the councilmen stated with a gleeful smile while Tsunade and the rest gasped.

"Treason? How the fuck have I committed treason?!" Naruto shouted while most of the council frowned. Only Hiashi and Shibi looked as though they didn't want to be there.

The Third had finally arrived without a sound and was also frowning but for a very different reason then the council was. This was not what the council was created for. He absently wondered what they would do when Tsunade became Hokage. A slight smirk appeared when he thought of the headaches she would cause since she was as stubborn as they come and would refuse to breath is she were against it.

"For one thing you stole a scroll from Jiraiya-sama and learned the Hiraishin no Jutsu, thereby tarnishing the name of our Fourth Hokage. For another we know for fact that you let three Sunagakure shinobi escape unharmed. Those shinobi happened to be Sabaku no Gaara, Sabaku no Temari, and Sabaku no Kankuro; the children of the Kazekage!" another councilman shouted.

"For one thing, Naruto didn't steal the scroll. I gave it to him to read after he proved to me that he could learn it. I happened to be following the orders left to me by the Fourth Hokage so how could Naruto be tarnishing his name?" asked a fully healed Jiraiya once he appeared beside Tsunade. His gaze hardened greatly as he scanned over their faces. "You would have known this is you had bothered to ask Tsunade, Jii-san, or myself. The fact that you are making up false claims and charging people with them makes me doubt the competency of this council."

It would seem that the council had only added that charge in the hopes that Jiraiya wouldn't show up.

"How do you know that I let them go? If I remember correctly, this council, save a few honest shinobi, ran for cover as soon as the attack started." Naruto inquired while those on his side laughed quietly.

"We had members of Root tailing you to make sure you weren't involved in the invasion." one of them said proudly. This man had one eye covered with bandages, only half of his right arm, and a cross shaped scare on his chin.

"So instead of helping us fight of the enemy you had shinobi tailing someone on our own side and you're calling Naruto in for treason?!" Tsunade shouted while most of the council sank back. It was very well known throughout Konohagakure that Tsunade had a very short temper and was prone to putting someone in the hospital for the smallest of misdeeds.

"Besides, if you had shinobi tailing me then you should know that the three in question never killed or attacked anyone. They were so eager to leave because they feared for their touto, Gaara, and I can't seem to recall where it is write that it is against the laws of our village to spare the lives of innocent shinobi?"

"Hearing this, exactly how is this council charging Naruto with treason?" asked Anko through clenched teeth. She knew how hard Naruto had fought and hated that after giving his all to protect them, the council still wanted to make his life a living hell.

"Who's charging? We've already found him guilty." the man with the cross shaped scare said as he and the most of the council smirked. Hiashi and Shibi were forced to look away from their children when their faces snapped towards theirs.

"I really doubt that." a voice stated firmly as the doors opened to reveal a beautiful woman with bright green eyes and black hair who led no less then twenty Aburame into the room.

"I don't know who you are, woman, but you have..." started a councilwoman only to stop when the Aburame behind her moved forward a step and Shibi himself stood and slammed his fists into the table.

"You would do well to remember your place when addressing my kanai!" Shibi snapped while Naruto and the rest looked between the woman and Shino in disbelief. Shino seemed just as shocked but not because his kaa-san had arrived, he was amazed that his tou-san had broken out of what Aburame consider to be proper behavior and shouted.

"W-Wow." stuttered Hinata who like everyone, save a select few others, felt intimidated by the beautiful woman. Of course she was also dating the woman's musuko so in Hinata's mind there was the need for her to be liked by this woman.

"Hiashi, I am very disappointed in you. You used to live you life to make Hitomi happy and now you are disgracing her name. You know how she felt about Naruto." Akiko said and for the first time in her life, Hinata saw her tou-san look ashamed. "As for you, Shibi-kun, I do not know what they have said to you to cause you to vote this way but you will be changing your vote."

"I will." Shibi promised before turning towards the council. "I change my vote. Now, since you no longer have unanimous consent of this council, it is still under the Hokage's jurisdiction."

"I would also like to change my vote, even though it is no longer needed." Hiashi said firmly.

"You'll let this... thing walk out of here alive? Knowing what it is, what it's done?!" the scarred man shouted.

"Danzo, need I remind you that I disbanded Root many a year ago? Since you have openly admitted to keeping it running I could very easily charge you with treason as well as this entire council as they admitted to knowing it was still active without informing me. And I will. Unless, of course, you decide to forget about this entire ridiculous ordeal." the Third stated while speaking for the first time.

The council muttered a few things as the rose to their feet and entered a small chamber in the back of the room. No doubt so that they could talk about how much 'good' it would have done to kill 'that demon brat'. Hiashi and Shibi, however, both stood and disappeared in twin swirls of leaves with the knowledge that Akiko would surely kill them later for what had almost happened.

"Thanks a lot, Ba-chan(informal version of aunt; auntie)." Naruto said as he smiled back at Shino's kaa-san. Shino stiffened when he heard this, he was used to Naruto being Naruto but not when he was addressing his kaa-san.

"You are very welcome." Akiko replied softly before turning to Hinata who gave an odd sound and hide further behind Shino. "Come on out from behind him. I would like to see for myself what kind of woman my musuko has chosen."

Hinata did as the woman asked although very slowly. She even started tapping her finger tips together like she used to do before meeting Naruto. Seeing this seemed to change something in Naruto as he suddenly lost his smile. This was only noticed by a select few people.

"H-Hello." Hinata stuttered before bowing deeply.

"Choose your words wisely. I know you are Shino's kaa-san but I won't allow anyone to hurt Hinata-chan." Naruto threatened the woman while every Aburame around him, even Shino, began swelling with anger at his words. "Hinata-chan is a very good person and Shino is lucky to have her."

"I know all about Hinata's kindness. I just wanted to see clearly what she looked like. I had seen her in passing during the invasion and wished to see her more clearly. I also know of your protective nature when it comes to her and I assure you that I mean her no harm; be it mentally or physically." Akiko told him with a faint smile that seemed to make the other Aburame relax before she turned back to Hinata who had been shocked by Naruto's words. "You look just like your kaa-san did at you age. You seem to act like her too. I remember when I first met her she used to stutter and blush just like you. Of course she didn't have Naruto to force her shell open."

"Akiko-sama, we must be returning." advised one of the Aburame.

"Must we? I would love to spend more time among those who have become so important to my musuko." Akiko said sadly. Even Anko and Naruto appeared affected by the sadness in her voice.

"If you'd like you can join us in getting something to eat? I'd like to make it up to you for thinking the worst in you a moment ago." Naruto offered while more of the Aburame looked very offended by this but Shino and the others felt happy that Naruto could act like a gentlemen when the mood struck him.

Akiko looked at him for a moment before shocking the others with her by nodding. "I believe I will. I have never eaten anything outside of the Aburame Sector."

"I hope you like ramen." Shino muttered while Naruto pouted and the others who knew him began laughing.

As Naruto led the large group into Ichiraku Ramen Bar, Teuchi nearly cried when he looked out from the back after his musume called out to him. Of course the group was even larger since Akiko's guard suddenly 'felt' like ramen as well.

"Hey, Jii-san! I brought more people!" Naruto shouted causing Akiko to smile and turn towards Anko.

"Is he always like this?"

"Yeah. I don't know where he gets it from." Anko said while everyone around her stopped and stared at her. "Ok fine. He fucking got it from me! You happy now you fucking.."

Kurenai quickly silenced her with a well placed hand. "Stop licking my hand. You can lick me later."

"Sensei!" shouted Hinata and Naruto while Jiraiya suddenly got a nose bleed and passed out.

"Would I be correct in assuming that you two are lovers?" Akiko asked as they all sat down, her sitting beside Tenten and Hinata while Naruto and Shino sat on the other side of their girlfriends. Kurenai and Anko sat down next to each other by Naruto. Which left Tsunade to carry Jiraiya's unconscious body over and sit down next to Shino.

"You would." Anko said happily while Kurenai smiled also.

"Would I also be correct in assuming that you do that kind of thing often?"

"You bet your ass they do!" Naruto shouted causing Anko and Kurenai to pout. "And at home and anywhere else they happen to be."

"If they are happy and in love why should they hide it?" Akiko asked before turning to Ayame and placing her order. She had never had ramen before but Tenten had whispered to her that they were all good. Naruto seemed to want to prove that by ordering one of each flavor.

"Kaa-san, it is good to see you out side of our sector." Shino told his kaa-san softly while she turned and smiled.

"I had originally wanted to go see you and Naruto fight but along the way the invasion started. Now I find myself out once again to stop your tou-san from doing something foolish. Perhaps next time I will be allowed to leave simply because I wish to."

"Hey! What makes you think Naruto-kun would have beaten me?" Tenten asked, or more like whined.

Naruto smirked and suddenly began whispering things into her ear. The more he said the redder her face got and soon even her nose started to bleed.

"O-Ok... y-you win." she whispered.

"That reason exactly. I remember a time when I was in the middle of sparring with Shibi-kun, when he began whispering the naughtiest things to me to make me forget my next move. Of course we were at an age where we actually did those things. Not that we don't anymore. Shibi-kun is...."

"Kaa-san!" Shino snapped while everyone else laughed at him, even his kaa-san turned and smiled. He had never seen his side of his kaa-san before and even though it was embarrassing it was good to see her smiling so much.

"Anko and Kurenai are not the only once who like to tease their musuko. Yes, I know he is her 'touto' but I can bet you Naruto does not think of them as merely his 'nee-chans'." Akiko said and when everyone looked at Naruto he suddenly became very... or even more interested in his ramen.

Anko quickly leaned in and whispered something before kissing him on the cheek. Of course Tenten and Kurenai started teasing him only to make his already red cheeks become even redder then they had been after her kiss.

"S-Stupid nee-chan. I still have to get her back for that prank she pulled on me during the Second Exam." Naruto muttered as he stabbed his ramen a few times, but Tsunade suddenly looked interested in this.

"What's this about the second exam?" she asked while Anko and Kurenai smirked while Tenten and Hinata started laughing. Even Shino allowed himself to laugh very quietly along side his insects increase in noise. This alone seemed to make Akiko more curious then she had been before because she rarely heard her musuko laugh and had never heard about him laughing outside the compound.

By the time Anko was finished telling them the story and showing them the pictures of Naruto as a baby and from that night, which she apparently carried around with her for embarrassment on the go, Naruto was reduced to hitting his head on the counter while everyone was laughing at him. The only reason he knew Akiko's guards were laughing was because he had been around Shino so much.

Akiko suddenly stopped Shino's laughter by showing them all pictures she had of him from when he was a baby. Hinata of course cooed over the picture of a three year old Shino in a little sailors suit he did not seem to want to be wearing if his glare and swarming insects were any indication. As odd as it seemed, Akiko also had a picture of a naked Shino running from a swarm of bees. She told them that at the time Shino had thought his insects were better so he would make fun of the bees while he swam in a pond on their property. What he didn't know was that his insect were translating his every word and apparently the bees took offense to he was saying.

Luckily for Tenten and Hinata their parents weren't there or else they would have had to take their turn at hitting their head against the counter as people laughed at them. Hinata knew that as cold as her tou-san seemed at times, he would have taken his turn happily.

After Naruto paid a large sum of money for the meal and Teuchi hugged him and thanked him for years of loyal service, he was finally able to rejoin the other and ask. "So when do we find out who got promoted?"

"After I become Hokage. Jii-san didn't want to put up with it so he made it my call." Tsunade told him with a smirk.

"You look so beautiful today, Tsunade-sama!" Naruto said as if on que. "If you promote me I'll steal every Icha Icha book in the village and burn them all."

Tsunade looked very interested in this offer while Jiraiya paled and started pleading with the boy to retracted his offer.

"What about those of us who didn't get to fight?" Tenten asked sadly.

"I'll ask those who saw you fight in the battle as well as your sensei and parents. Believe me, if you should be promoted I will know." Tsunade assured her leaving Tenten looking a lot happier then she had just a moment ago.

"Jiggly-baa-chan, can I talk to you?" Naruto asked quickly while sounding so serious that many wondered what this had to do with. Tsunade was even able ignore what he called her as she followed him away from the group.

"What, brat?"

"I want to tell you something I've been keeping from jii-san." Naruto said with a smirk while Tsunade smiled and began listening far more intently. "You know how he always has stacks of paperwork that keep him from doing what ever he wants?"

"Yes." muttered Tsunade when she thought of the only bad thing about being Hokage. She wanted the title and paycheck but hated the idea of actually having to work for it.

"Well, I was saving this for when I became Hokage so I could rub his nose in it but since you're going to be Hokage before me, I'll tell you so you can do it." Naruto whispered while Tsunade smiled even more at the sound of it. "He is incredibly smart and yet I've never seen him do this even though I thought about it mere moments after learning it. You can just use Kage Bunshin to do the paperwork so you can go out and do what you want!"

Everyone watched as Tsunade squealed like a Uchiha fan-girl before picking Naruto up and hugging him tightly between her large... assets. While Jiraiya looked envious the rest just looked confused, curious, and slightly scared.

"Anko, I love this brat!" Tsunade shouted before she grabbed a still sulking Jiraiya and ran off towards the Hokage Tower.

"What in the hell did you tell her?!" Anko shouted. She had been the one looked at the scene feeling slightly scared. Naruto and Tsunade usually were trying to strangle each other so seeing her hugging him like that was just plain weird.

"The secret to becoming a great Hokage." Naruto answered with such conviction that many wondered if what he had told her wasn't really the secret he claimed it was.

"Ok..." Kurenai said slowly before she and Anko just turned and walked away. The entire thing seemed to far fetched for their liking so they choose to simply leave the blond as they made their way back to their home.

"My musuko, I would like to meet with you and Hinata." Akiko stated while Shino and Hinata followed obediently behind her. They were both very nervous about the upcoming talk but neither of them could find a single good reason to postpone it. The smirks on Tenten and Naruto's face didn't help much either.

"You know? I never even asked but, how long was I out?" Naruto asked Tenten only to have her laugh at him. Normally that would have been the first question out of someone's mouth after the wake up in a hospital but Naruto had waited until everyone was gone to finally ask.

"Two days. You were actually in pretty bad shape because of the strain that technique placed on your body. I remember Tsunade-sama saying that you broke just about every bone, tore just about every muscle, and were left with just enough chakra to stay alive. Lucky for you the fox seemed to refile your chakra reserves rather quickly and even helped Tsunade-sama and Shizune-chan heal you." Tenten answered while Naruto nodded and took her hand in his. To most she would have sounded calm and even indifferent towards his injuries but Naruto knew her far to well to believe that. He knew she had been very worried simply by the look she had had in her eyes when she first saw him awake and choking Tsunade. A look of complete and utter relief and joy.

"Since you're here I'm assuming that your parents are fine?"

"Absolutely perfect. Tou-san is under house arrest because kaa-san caught him sneaking back into the house after the battle when she forbade him from going." Tenten told him with a giggle.

"I'm glad everyone is ok. I realize that we lost a lot of good people during the invasion but I can't help but feel happy that none of them were close to me. It makes me think of how badly that could have gone if Gaara had been able to fully transform." he whispered softly only to have Tenten let go of his hand and grab hold of his entire arm. He took a great deal of comfort form her as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

It wasn't until right then that a thought suddenly struck him. He had thought about it a little but something always seemed to push it aside in terms of importance. Tenten's taijutsu style. It just seemed to... unique to be a simple style. He had always toyed with the thought that it was actually a kekkei genkai(blood inheritance limit) but had never gotten around to asking Tenten about it. Now, he had no reason not to.

"Tenten-chan?"

"Yes, Naruto-kun?" she replied without looking up from his shoulder.

"Are you sure that your taijutsu style isn't a kekkei genkai? I mean, doesn't it seem quite a bit beyond a simple taijutsu style?"

"Kaa-san said it was a taijutsu form." Tenten answered with a shrug. "If it is anything more then that I don't think she knows. Truthfully I don't really care what it is. It's cool and it helps me in battle so that's all that matters. Why?"

"No reason. It's always bugged me but every time I think about it something comes along and pushes it aside. I just wanted to ask you about it while I had the chance." he explained before the two fell into an easy silence that lasted all the way to Tenten's front door.

Unlike the last few times, Naruto actually entered the home and immediately began laughing along side Tenten at the scene in front of them. The incredibly intimidating Imaki Kenshin was being forced to dust by his much smaller okusan. He looked back at them and growled but a sharp look from his kanai forced his attention back to his task.

"This is what you get for sneaking out to fight in that battle! You know I told you not to go!" Emi chided as if she were speaking to a small child and the large man in front of her.

"I said I was sorry." he muttered while Naruto was forced to hold up Tenten as her knees finally gave out. Finally Kenshin rounded on them, the fact that he was still holding the duster seemed to ruin the effect thought. "I may be under house arrest but I am still your tou-san and you are still dating my musume!"

If it hadn't been for that feather duster the two might have taken what he said seriously. Even Emi was forced to hide her laugher behind her hand as she watched her shujin sulk and returned to his punishment. Finally she took pity on him and walked up behind him before wrapping her arms around his waist. Seeing this seemed to be a warning sign to Tenten because she quickly grabbed Naruto's hand and guided him up to her room.

Even in their time apart her room hadn't changed much except for the new pile of senbon needles stuck erratically in the target opposite her bed. A lot of people wondered about Tenten's pinpoint accuracy and simply brushed it off as talent but few realized that while she did have a talent for range weapons, she also spent hours upon hours working on her aim or keeping it at a level she found to be satisfactory. Which was normally perfection, or as close to it as she could manage.

While Tenten ran and jumped into her bed, Naruto walked over to the wall and pulled the needles out before joining her on her bed. She smiled happily when he divided up the pile and handed her a half.

"How about we play a little game?" she asked with a slight gleam in her eyes. It only seemed to make Naruto more nervous when she jumped out of bed and locked her door. Which was easily understandable considering how her tou-san usually acted when he was in Tenten's room.

"And what game did you have in mind, my love?"

"Why a little game of strip target practice of course!" she announced while immediately Naruto blushed as his mind became flooded with images of Tenten in.... less clothing. "We each throw one and the closest wins."

"How much have you already practiced with these?" he asked with a hint of accusation in his tone. It was a playful accusation so Tenten took the comment in stride and pretended to look insulted.

"Do you honestly think that I would try and hustle you out of your cloths? I'm shocked, Naruto-kun, shocked!"

"Ok then, I'll play." he finally agreed and smiled as Tenten threw her first one and it stuck a hairs width outside of the bullseye. Her look seemed to falter a little when Naruto threw his and it landed dead center. "I believe you have some thing that belongs to me?"

Tenten muttered insults and death threats under her breath as she pulled off one of her boots and threw it at him. He only laughed and hugged the boot as if it were made of gold, or ramen in his case.

"My other boot says that you can't do that again!" she challenged and Naruto knew that her pride and competitiveness had begun to take over. This used to happen a few times when he beat her in their kunai throwing games and usually led to a fight. He could only hope this didn't. Still, if he missed on purpose she would know in seconds and accuse him of taking it easy on her because she was a woman. Sometimes Naruto agreed with Shikamaru, women were troublesome. Beautiful, but troublesome.

"Ok but your feet will be cold." he teased in an attempt to keep their game on the fun side as he lazily took aim and threw his second needle. Tenten growled as it slid in right next to his first before chucking her other shoe at him. "So... do you still want to play?"

Tenten didn't say anything as she threw her needle, her frown became very pronounced as it landed less then a half an inch away from Naruto's. Apparently just hitting the bullseye wasn't enough anymore.

"Tenten-chan, lets go..." started Naruto before Tenten shot him an all to familiar glare that told him that there would be no stopping until the end. He knew that he was in for trouble whether he won or not. He almost started cursing as his needle slid in next to the other two. If Tenten got closer to the center then maybe he could slip on in just outside of hers. As he thought about this his slightly angry girlfriend took off her hitai-ate and roughly forced it into his hands.

Her next one was a blessing as it split two of his and made it impossible for Naruto to get closer. So, after he threw his and missed tying her by a hairs width. She seemed more then happy to take his left shin guard.

This continued and Naruto found himself able to lose a few more times until it dawned on him that Tenten had already taken off everything except her shirt and pants, and what was under them of course. He still had on his pants and shirt but his 'shirt' didn't cover much in the first place. Seeing as how she was able to win a few, Tenten seemed to be looking at him oddly once again but also with a hint of unease as she realized that losing even one would allow Naruto to seem more then he had since they were younger. Of course by now Naruto found himself wanting to win as his hormones seemed to kick into overdrive.

The two threw their next needles. Naruto won.

"Tenten-chan, you don't have to...." he started to tell her just encase she was feeling scared or uncertain about losing one of the garments but Naruto lost his ability to speak when she began undoing the row of buttons along the right side of her shirt.

He watched and his eyes steadily grew wider as Tenten fumbled with the last button, her face was incredibly red at this point. She looked up at him one last time before ducking her head shyly as she opened her shirt and pulled it off. Being only thirteen meant that Tenten didn't exactly have a lot to look at but what she did have Naruto loved. The strapless bra she was wearing seemed to be the exact same color as her shirt and fit her like a glove. He couldn't help but rake his eyes over her exposed skin and even the sight of her supple shoulders seemed to stir up quite a few feelings inside of him. When her skin seemed to be turning pink Naruto looked up to find her blushing horribly and looking at him as if trying to gauge his reaction.

"Y-You're beautiful, T-Tenten-chan." he whispered breathlessly while Tenten only seemed to blush more but smiled none the less.

"T-Thank you." she whispered so softly that Naruto almost didn't hear her.

Her blush only got worse when they threw their next needles and Naruto won again.

When she stood up and place her hands on the fastens of her pants, Naruto stopped her. "T-Tenten-chan, I-I realize that this is a rather big step for us and if you're not comfortable making it then we can stop. The last thing I want you to do is to feel forced into doing something you aren't ready for because you lost a game."

"Honestly..." she started as she bit her lower lip and averted her eyes. "I... I don't think I am. I know I'm the one who suggested we play this game but I had hoped I would beat you. Do you mind if we stop playing?"

"Here." he said gently as he handed her her shirt which she quickly put back on and fastened.

Before the game had ended he had seen enough of Tenten to keep his mind entertained for a very long time. He knew he had made the right choice when Tenten crawled in next to him and forced him to lay down beside her.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun." she whispered before gently kissing him on the lips.

"I love you, Tenten-chan. I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to see you take off your pants but I'd never ask you to do that if you were comfortable doing so. Besides, seeing you without your shirt made me realized that I probably would have fainted before they were even all the way off." he admitted and felt glad that he had when Tenten giggled slightly. Although she did blush at the reference to seeing her without her shirt.

"Call me a pervert but I had hoped to see a little more skin then usual." she mused with a wink once she got over her embarrassment.

"You've seen me in swimming trunks so how are my boxers any different?"

"Er... I had our game going a bit further then your boxers in my mind." she admitted shyly while Naruto laughed and pulled her towards him.

"Pervert. And here I was feeling guilty about looking at you in your bra while you were over there think of me naked."

"Why did you feel guilty?" she inquired while feeling honestly surprised by this.

"I didn't exactly try very hard to stop you so I wasn't sure if you actually wanted to."

"But you did try. To be quite honest with you I didn't mind taking off me shirt and I may even do it again if you're lucky." she told him and smirked when Naruto's eyes widened slightly. "If you're very very lucky."

"I don't want to sound perverted but there isn't really any subtle way of asking this so I'm just going to say it and hope you don't slap me." Naruto said quickly. So quickly in fact that Tenten was forced to wait a few moments until she had worked through what he had said.

"Naruto-kun, ask me anything. I'll even give you a free pass this time that allows you to ask anything, perverted or not, without me slapping you in return."

"O-Ok." whispered Naruto while sounding uncharacteristically shy about what he wanted to ask her. "R-Remember that you said you wouldn't slap me. I-If you and I were kissing and my hands seemed to move without me r-realizing it, w-would you kill me if I t-touched you?"

"As in my breasts?" she asked in return as her own cheeks flushed slightly.

"Y-Yes."

"D-Do you think that y-your hands finding their way up there is a p-possibility?"

"Not if you don't want them to." Naruto answered in a very quiet voice. In all honestly he was afraid that Tenten might think he was a pervert and slap him anyway, or worse that his question had scared her and she now felt uncomfortable about being with him.

"I... I don't think I would mind a little touching, so long as it doesn't seem like that is all you care about. Also it has to be over the clothing only, you hands begin to wander under and I'll cut them off. W-Why don't we try now that way if I don't like it it isn't happening while we're kissing?" she offered and Naruto nodded in agreement fairly quickly.

Tenten rolled onto her back while Naruto moved closer lifted himself onto his elbow, his forearm acting as a pillow for Tenten. From his spot over her, Naruto could see her nervous look and was reasonably sure that he had that exact same look on his face. Very slowly he lifted his hand but stopped and rested it on her stomach for a moment.

"A-Are you sure? I-It isn't l-like it's this incredibly i-important..." Naruto started before Tenten grabbed hold of his hand and slowly slid it up until it was resting on her right breast.

"Does that answer your question?" she whispered an very slowly Naruto began gently moving his hand against her small breast. They were small, yes, but to him that felt amazing even if he was only feeling them over her shirt and when Tenten grabbed the sides of his face and began kissing him, he realized that she probably was enjoying it as much as he was.

Sadly a sudden pounding on the door shocked them both so badly that Tenten shoved Naruto off of her with enough force to push him off the bed and onto the floor. Without checking to see if her boyfriend was ok, Tenten jumped out of the bed and ran to her door before unlocking it. Luckily it was Emi and not Kenshin standing there. Still, the older woman seemed suspicious and even more so when she noticed their flushed faces and state of undress. Normally being in a shirt and pants was nothing big but when it was Naruto and Tenten, who were hardly ever seen with their hair down and without the few key components that made up their outfit, it seemed... odd.

"And what was going on in here that required the door to be locked?" Emi asked as her musume and her boyfriend sat down on the bed and began putting back on their discarded items.

"N-Nothing like that." Tenten assured her even as her face flushed an even deeper shade of red.

"Hmm... Perhaps you should leave it unlocked whenever Naruto is here?" Emi offered. "I trust you both not to do anything you'll regret but please do this for your tou-san's sanity."

"Of course we will." replied Naruto quickly who would much rather leave the door unlocked then be told that he wasn't allowed in Tenten's room anymore. Tenten seemed to be thinking along those lines as well because she nodded her agreement.

"Now, the reason I came up here is because we need you to watched the shop." Emi explained while looking at Tenten. "Your tou-san and I want to spend a little time together but with the invasion we've been getting more business then usual so we don't want to close for the night. Will you do this for us?"

"Yeah, sure." Tenten agreed even as she put the finishing touches on her hair before walking along side Naruto out of her room and down to the store.

When they arrived they could see why Emi had asked them to watch the store as neither Tenten or Naruto could ever remember so many people browsing the many different weapons they displayed. Business had always been good for them mostly because people trusted Kenshin to not sell them faulty weaponry and he was also more then willing to make custom weapons if the customer called for it. Still it seemed strange to see so many people and yet also finding Kenshin looking as if he wanted to be somewhere else at that moment. Of course Naruto knew exactly where the large man wanted to be and couldn't blame him.

Tenten may have loved weapons but watching other people buying them was not her idea of a good time. Especially when she had her boyfriend standing right next to her that she could have been spending time with... alone. However, she rang up peoples purchases with a friendly smile as if she were honestly happy to see them.

Naruto watched the people around the shop and noticed quite a few of them looking at him out of the corner of their eyes. It was almost like they expected him to suddenly start foaming at the mouth and grabbing weapons to use on them. Finally, after about an hour the blond demon vessel walked around the counter and began looking at the weapons. He knew most of their selection almost as well as the Imaki family did but the senbon needles in Tenten's room had been a new addition.

He never really branched out in the types of weapons he used as he was most comfortable using a katana and kunai. Only one of which he even bothered to carry with him most of the time. However, the needles had been perfectly made and felt nice in his hands. Because of this even Tenten wasn't to surprised when he walked up to her with a couple sets of them.

"Are you going to use them or are you just wanting them for the memories?" she teased as she took his money and watched him blush.

"A little of both."

"I was actually going to tell you about them after I got good enough with them. Their harder to block then kunai and with your knowledge of anatomy they seemed like they were made for you." she said as he strapped one of the casings on the inside of his left wrist while taking the needles out of the second one and moving towards the small target the had hanging behind the counter.

"Care to make a little wager?" he asked with a slight smirk while Tenten immediately looked intrigued. She was almost as bad as Tsunade when it came to betting but luckily she was able to win far more often then the soon to be Hokage. "I'll throw twenty of these at that target and if even one of them misses the bullseye I'll do anything your little heart desires."

"And if you make it?" she asked and even those wandering the shop seemed to be paying attention to this.

"Then you have to do anything I say."

"Make it thirty and you have yourself a deal." countered Tenten and almost at once Naruto agreed. The reason Tenten had asked for ten more to be thrown was simply because the size of the target would be pushing his skill if he made that far along.

"Brat, do you really think you can do it?" a voice asked as two older shinobi walked into the shop and judging by the awed look on Tenten's face it was rather easy to tell who it was even if he hadn't recognized the voice.

"I wouldn't have made the bet if I didn't think I could. You see, that's were you and I differ, Jiggly-baa-chan." stated Naruto as he turned to find Tsunade and Jiraiya standing a few feet behind him. "Did you need something?"

"Your team is being called in for a mission and we were supposed to bring you to Jii-san's office. But that can wait, I want to see you fail so I can laugh in your face." she said before motioning him to go ahead.

"Ok but only if you enter into the bet as well." he said and when Tsunade nodded Tenten seemed to be thinking the same thing as Jiraiya and Naruto. She had already lost if she was betting on the same side as Tsunade.

Like so many times before Tsunade was forced to stand there and watch as one of her bets fell through. Naruto didn't even look as if he was trying very hard and yet he never came close to missing the bullseye. Although, Tenten didn't look all that upset about having to do whatever Naruto happened to think up, or at least not when compared to Tsunade.

"So... what should I make our future Hokage do?" he sang as he turned to the woman and smirked evilly. "Perhaps run through the village naked?"

"Please!" pleaded Jiraiya as if it would mean the world to him, sadly it probably would.

"Naruto-kun, remember who your girlfriend's idol is and that she will be in charge of the missions you go on in the future." Tenten said in a sickeningly sweet tone that promised pain if he did anything to humiliate her idol. Once again Tsunade told herself that she really liked that brat's girlfriend.

"I wasn't actually going to do that." he assured her while fearing Tenten a lot more then what Tsunade could possibly do to him in the future. "I honestly can't think of anything right now so I'll have to get back to you on that. Do you have any idea how long the mission will take?"

"Open. That means that it will last as long as it takes for you to finish the mission. So, it could take a few days or it could take a few years. Personally I don't think it will take all that long, maybe a couple of weeks or a month." Jiraiya told him while Tsunade still seemed to be pouting that she had lost yet another bet.

Sighing heavily, Naruto turned back to his girlfriend and offered her a small smile. Without a word the bun haired girl pulled him towards her by the front of his coat and kissed him soundly. The kiss continued and even Jiraiya was beginning to feel slightly uncomfortable.

"I don't know where your going or what your doing but you'd better be careful." she whispered hotly across his lips. Her eyes being the only part of her that displayed just how worried she was about him. "I love you."

"I love you too, Tenten-chan." he whispered gently and after kissing her one last time, Naruto turned and followed the two older shinobi out of the shop. As soon as they were outside he turned towards the two older shinobi. "Hokage-jii's office?"

Jiraiya and Tsunade both nodded curtly before disappearing an twin swirls of leaves, leaving Naruto to sigh and follow. When he arrived he was actually surprised by the number of people waiting for him. Aside from Hinata, Shino, and Kurenai, his nee-chan was also there and so were Shino's parents and Hinata's tou-san. There were also two people sitting beside the Hokage who appeared just as old as he did.

After giving each of the people in the room either a smile or a nod, Naruto noticed that a simple change of clothing was making his two teammates slightly nervous. Kurenai was no longer wearing her usual white wrappings but the standard issue Jounin uniform, complete with flank jacket. Hinata had rarely seen Kurenai in anything but her wrappings and Shino had never seen their sensei dressed in anything but. If anything it only told them both that the mission they were about to be sent on would have a higher risk of fighting then any of the ones they had need sent on before and Naruto knew that their worries were not misplaced.

"Team 8, I have a mission that I believe your team is well suited for." stated the Hokage once Naruto finally took a seat between Hinata and Kurenai. The old but still very powerful shinobi shot Anko a weary look before continuing. "First, however, Tsunade needs to do something."

When most of the room turned towards the large breasted woman, said woman merely smirked and tossed each Naruto, Hinata, and Shino a flank jacket. While Naruto leapt to his feet an began taking off his trench coat, Hinata and Shino, as well as the rest of the room, could only stare at the flank jackets and Tsunade in disbelief. Even as Naruto zipped the jacket up before putting his usual tan trench coat over it, still no one moved or spoke.

"Jiggly-baa-chan, you are the greatest!" Naruto shouted happily, finally breaking most of the room out of their shock.

As chaos broke out and many people began screaming for an explanation, Shino and Hinata quickly followed Naruto's example and took of their jackets only to put them back on once they zipped up the flank jackets that signified that they were Chuunin of Konoha. However both of them closed the jackets they usually wore back over top of them.

"I am very proud of you, my musuko." came a whispered voice from behind the team of newly promoted Chuunin. Turning they found Shibi and Akiko looking at Shino with pride shinning even in Shibi's face. Hiashi had been standing with the group but had yet to say anything as he looked down at his blushing musume.

"Hinata..." he started only to falter when she looked up at him as if expecting him to berate her for not becoming a Chuunin quicker. "Hinata, I can't think of anyone more deserving of the title of Chuunin then you and your team. The strength you each showed during the invasion proved to many that you were by no means a normal Genin team. I stand by Tsunade-sama's decision to promote you."

"T-Thank you." Hinata whispered as she shyly stepped forward and hugged the usually expressionless man. This time, however, he was smiling slightly as he place his hand on top of her head. Hinata only seemed to smile even more when he gently slid his hand down her hair before patting her on her back.

"I do not believe that Uzumaki Naruto is ready for to be named a Chuunin!" snapped the old woman who had been sitting next to the Hokage. This comment was met by frowns from everyone but the old man beside her.

Utatane Koharu, the older woman, may not have been very popular with those around her now but for the most part she was well known and respected by the villagers and shinobi of Konohagakure. Mitokado Homura, like Koharu, was a member of the Third Hokage's own Genin team after graduating from the academy and placed under the leadership of the First and Second Hokages. Despite their reputation, to those currently before them, it all amounted to nothing the moment they spoke out against Naruto.

"Why?" asked Jiraiya simply and when they stayed silent he continued. "Such a simple question and yet you couldn't give me a single reason as to why Naruto shouldn't be given the title despite the fact that he was one of the major reason the invasion went so smoothly. Do you not realize how much of the invading force was cut down by him alone? Or is your complaint about the Kyuubi and not Naruto?"

"Honestly I don't really care what your reasoning is." Tsunade said as she crossed her arms across her chest and sent the two elderly shinobi a look that could cut glass. "It was my choice when it came to who is being promoted and if these three weren't promoted then no one would have been. The reason they are being promoted now and not during the ceremony is because Hokage-jii has a mission for them and they will be gone from the village. Without unanimous consent of the council, which you don't have as Hiashi and Shibi have already voiced their approval, your job is to advise. Nothing more."

"Koharu, Homura, I believe your objections have been addressed." mused the Third Hokage, dismissal evident in his tone. Without a word the two council members stood and left the room with as much dignity as they could muster. It was easily apparent by the look in th Hokage's eyes that he hadn't enjoyed dismissing the two like he had.

"Hokage-sama, I assume that their promotion was what you wanted us here for?" asked Hiashi who, along with Akiko and Shibi, stood once the elderly man nodded his head. With that the parents stood and began making their way out of the room, only pausing to congratulate their respective child one last time.

"So what's this mission your sending us on?" Naruto asked even as Tsunade and Jiraiya moved away from the group slightly to hold their own conversation. Despite the serious air surrounding the two, Naruto wasn't fooled for a second. He would bet a months pay that their conversation wasn't nearly as serious as people would have been led to believe.

"I almost don't want to tell you." whined the elderly Hokage as he watched Anko shift around in her seat, as if moving to allow herself an easier way to attack him. At least that was what it seemed like in the Hokage's mind. "It is a goodwill mission to another shinobi village but..."

"But?" asked Anko sharply, in reality she was only held in place by Kurenai's hand resting on her forearm. If that hand happened to be removed, Anko very well may have attacked the elderly man so the Hokage's suspicions weren't completely without merit.

"Despite being a goodwill mission, the risk of encountering enemies is rather high." explained the Hokage before sighing heavily and continuing. "With Sunagakure and the newly formed Otogakure having moved against us, we can not be without allies in this inevitable war. Those who were once our allies are now our enemies and those who were our enemies are now potential allies..."

Before the Hokage could even finish speaking, Naruto was already on his feet and slamming his fists into the solid wooding desk of the Hokage. While everyone turned their attention to the young blond, the Hokage merely stared back at him with a look of understanding. It was obvious to everyone that Naruto was further along in the conversation then they were but to see him act in such away against the Hokage left them wondering what could have happened. Naruto joked with and teased the elderly man but they all knew it was only because he respected him greatly and cared for him like family.

"Don't you fucking dare." Naruto whispered coldly but still the Hokage's expression never changed. "Do you realize what you are asking of her? Do you realize the pain she will be in?"

"But she will not be alone." pressed the Hokage gently, almost pleadingly. "I realize that what I am asking is great but it must be done. Surely you of all people can understand why?"

"I... I do understand but... will she?"

"What are you talking about?" Kurenai asked calmly, which was more then anyone could say about Anko. Seeing Naruto act in such a way immediately put her on guard and she was now simply waiting for the worst.

"Our goodwill mission is to Kumogakure." Naruto stated while never looking away from the Hokage. He didn't need to to feel the weight of Hinata's reaction. The Hokage, however, could plainly see the fear and pain swell up inside the young woman and it pained him greatly. It was times like this that made him look forward to his retirement all the more.

"He is correct." the Hokage added finally and even Kurenai seemed to be clutching the arm of her chair far tighter then was necessary. "By sending our own Jinchuuriki, the heiress of the Hyuuga Clan, as well as the heir of the Aburame Clan, I hope to show them how serious we are in asking for an alliance."

"And if they saw this as a provocation instead? Sending that which they have longed for right into their village only to ask them for an alliance, does that not seem as though we are mocking them?" inquired Shino, who was trying his best to offer Hinata as much emotional support as possible while she held onto his hand as if she would die without the contact.

"It could also be seen as a sign of trust." pointed out Jiraiya from his spot in the back of the room. Whatever Tsunade and he had been talking about, they decided that this conversation was much more important.

"Sending them what they have longed for under a white flag and they may very well be more open to discussing an alliance. We have to show them a certain amount of trust to even get our foot in the door. If we were to send a group of no name shinobi it would seem as if the treaty wasn't important to us." continued Tsunade while everyone was forced to admit that the two were right.

"If we go, what makes us qualified to oversee an alliance?" Naruto asked but it was answered by Jiraiya as he moved towards the Hokage and sat down on the corner of his desk.

"You aren't. I will also be going to over see the conditions of the alliance." he answered while sending Hinata a reassuring smile. To know that someone of Jiraiya standing and power would be accompanying them did cause Hinata to feel slightly more at ease.

"Great, now we also have to babysit." muttered Naruto just loud enough for everyone else to hear him. He was joking of course but he was also completely serious. Whatever the reason for saying what he had had been, at the very least it broke the tension in the room as everyone, save Jiraiya, was forced to laugh. "Why would you send Ero-hime? All he is going to ask for is unlimited access to their hot springs! He would probably sell us all out for a night with a beautiful woman!"

"Brat!" roared Jiraiya as he slammed his fist into the top of the Chuunin's head. "Do you really think that I would settle for only one beautiful woman?!"

Immediately the laughter in the room died and the four females were looking at the older man and cracking their knuckles. Even Hinata forgot her worry and began glaring at the man. Clearly what he had said had not gone over very well with anyone in the room, nor did it instill a great deal of confidence for the upcoming mission.

"Do not worry." the Hokage said quickly and before Jiraiya was beaten to death. "Kurenai will be given a scroll that will list what I think are acceptable terms. This list is not set in stone but I implore you to use common sense. This is an alliance I wish for but it is not so important that I would sacrifice any of my shinobi. Never again..."

As the old man trailed off, the weight of his words affected Hinata the most. Almost at once her pearl-like eyes locked with those of the leader of her village. In them she saw untold amounts of pain and regret for what had happened all those years ago. Without a word the young Hyuuga had already come to the conclusion that she would be accepting this mission. Her own pain was great but it was bearable if it was for the betterment of her village.

"Naruto-kun, Shino-kun, everyone, thank you for thinking of my feelings but I want to accept this mission. It may be difficult at first but I could never live with myself if I refused and our village suffered because of my selfishness. Perhaps now is the time to begin mending the breach between Kumogakure and the Hyuuga Clan, if nothing else it may allow me to move past what happened."

"We accept." Kurenai sighed gently. She honestly didn't know why she was surprised with the outcome. She knew Naruto and Hinata very well and should have known that in the end they would agree to nearly any mission if it was for the good of the village. Shino, it would seem, was the exact same as his teammates in that respect.

"This will be an open mission, meaning it is not over until an alliance has been created or you feel as though it will be impossible. You will leave immediately." ordered the Hokage and as everyone stood and began moving towards the door, the Hokage continued. "Naruto, Hinata, Shino, I have decided that you should be given credit for an S-Ranked mission for your actions during the Second Exam. Because of you three, we were alerted of Orochimaru's presence within the exam itself as well as the fact that you were the ones that forced him to flee."

"Thanks a lot, Hokage-jii!" Naruto shouted happily before he and the rest of his team followed their sensei and the others out of the room.

A/N:

This is the only new chapter to be posted since this story was first posted. I am currently working on chapter nine but to be perfectly honest with you, there is no telling when it will be posted. It all depends on whether or not ideas come to me.

In any case, I hope you've enjoyed my story so far.

EDIT: July, 10th, 2009, 10:53 am

I received a review pointing out that I have been using the Japanese term for 'little brother' wrong. I'm not sure what site ErikArden uses for their translations but every site I have gone to, and I have been to a great deal of them, has listed it as either Otouto(give or take a hyphen) or Touto. To my knowledge, and of course I could be wrong, the 'o', when referring to family members, can either be given or not. Ojii-san and Jii-san. Okaa-san and Kaa-san. Otou-san and Tou-san. Onee-san and Nee-san. Otouto and Touto. Every site I've been to has listed them bothas correct. There is, from what I have found, a rule that is supposed to be used to know whether or not the 'o' should be used but I've never found out exactly what it is, so I simply don't use the 'o'. I believe that it has to do with whether or not they are members of your own family or another's.

As I said in my reply, I do not mean to be rude but, until someone explains to me the rule about when to use the 'o', this is something that I will not be changing and will continue to use in later chapters.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: PLEASE READ:

As of October 3rd, hopefully, I'll be moving from Cali back to what I consider to be my hometown in IL. While I'm looking forward to the move as I'll be back around my family and friends, until I find a job and am able to save up enough, I won't have an Internet connection. Now I'll still be writing when I can, but whether or not I'll be able to update my stories depends on whether or not I can find a wifi spot or another connection to use. I beg those of you who are waiting for my next update to be patient with me.