A/N: To my beloved fans who gave me nearly three hundred reviews on a one-shot, this is for you.

No lemons in this one (don't feel like getting in trouble). Though there is some sexual content, so respect the M-rating.

Things had gone to hell, Naruto thought as he watched Orochimaru, Sasuke and Kabuto escaping.

It should have been a simple mission. They had finally gotten a lead that should have taken them directly to Sasuke, the first one in nearly three years. When they finally reached the boy, he somehow managed to hold off Naruto, Fu, Sakura, Kakashi and Sai. Until Orochimaru and Kabuto returned to extract him.

Mind you, that was with the two Jinchuuriki holding back. Apparently Sai was under the command of an enemy faction within Konoha, and they were, under no circumstances, not allowed to let the boy see their true power. Naruto hadn't even been allowed to go into Sage Mode around the ROOT-nin.

THUMP. Sai slumped to the ground, unconscious.

Looking passed him, he saw his girlfriend whistling a merry tune. Naruto turned back and grinned. Both he and Fu transformed, into their respective Bijuu Chakra Modes, in an instant.

In a flash, Naruto was in front of Orochimaru…with eleven Rasengans heading right for the man. To the boy's disappointment, the Snake Sannin didn't really have much to say. In spite of all the speeches, the threats, the needlessly giving away his motivation and plans, the trying to move his opponents to despair before killing him…despite his very reputation as a cunning linguists. When everything was said and done, Orochimaru merely uttered a grunt right before he died. Caught in a maelstrom of eleven spiraling spheres, the Snake Sannin was all but vaporized.

Sasuke's and Kabuto's eyes widened at the sight. Kabuto, who was behind Sasuke, was batted away by a flying, literally flying, kick.

Sasuke turned to look at the girl before turning back to Naruto. Much like the battle with Lee three years back, Sasuke was treated with the sight of his Sharingan telling him exactly how his opponent would attack him, while his body was unable to react. Naruto's grinning face was the last thing he saw before darkness took him.

Icha Icha Paradise: Spiraling Love (pt 2 – Minato's Formidable Poker Face)

~Before Returning to Konoha~

The three members of Team Jiraiya were emotional rocks for each other. Those rocks weren't needed more than on the jinchuurikis respective birthdays. Birthdays were hard on jinchuurikis, especially ones like Naruto who were born on the same day that they were sealed.

Naruto's birthday wasn't just hard on Naruto, but on Jiraiya as well. On the boy's first birthday, whilst on the training trip, Naruto adamantly refused to get out of bed. Before resorting to outright dragging the blond, Jiraiya managed to coerce Naruto out of the room with promises of sweets and festival games. The older man was disappointed that the promises of loose women and fun times failed to sway the blond. It was fortunate, that they happened to be passing through a village that was in the middle of a festival. Thinking back, Naruto presumed that it wasn't actually luck that led them there on October tenth. Either way, the duo enjoyed each others company for most of the morning until Naruto got over his funk and became his normal outgoing self. Then Jiraiya, disappeared, something that Naruto only barely noticed.

Jiraiya, for his part, was just as miserable as Naruto. The Toad Sage was an orphan, just like both Naruto and Minato had been. He'd been alone his whole life, that is, until he met Minato. Sure, he constantly said that Orochimaru was like a brother. Hiruzen Sarutobi was like a father. Tsunade Senju was like a girlfriend. Jiraiya constantly said that Minato was his son. Not 'like' his son, HIS son. Blood didn't mean a damn thing in Jiraiya's opinion, Minato was his since the age of 6 when Team Jiraiya had been created. He never had that much of a connection with the other genins he taught, nor the Ame orphans. Sure, he cared for each and every single one of them, and even associated with the ones that were still alive. In spite of the fact that he would lay down his life for each and every single one of them, he never had the same connection with them that he had with Minato. He reasoned that it was probably his own fault more than anything else. Either way, it was the reason that October tenth was such a hard day for the man. He lost his son.

So after waking up Naruto, who was like a grandson to him, Jiraiya tried his hardest to cheer the boy up and spend some time with him. Since he knew that Naruto never really enjoyed his birthdays, few jinchuurikis did, Jiraiya wanted to make sure that he at least got to have some fun while the boy was under his care. Then, hypocritically, Jiraiya ghosted away from the boy, found a twenty-four hour bar and started drinking himself to oblivion. Sometime before midnight, Naruto managed to find him and, after winning a drinking contest, Naruto let the old man lean on him as he guided the Toad Sage back to their inn room.

And why wouldn't he? Jiraiya was like a grandfather to him.

The dynamic barely changed when Fu joined the group, about a month later.

Though she never actually told either of them when her birthday was, Jiraiya managed to surmise an approximation. On January twenty-fifth, the girl behaved moody and distant. The latter was especially surprising in those first few months, since she normally behaved rather clingy when she first joined the party. His estimate narrowed down three days later when they found the young woman hiding in her sleeping bag, refusing to come out for breakfast. Putting his plan into motion, Jiraiya grabbed Naruto by the scruff of his orange jacket and threw his ass off a cliff. That had the desired the affect; the girl sprung out of her tent and looked over the side of the ledge. To her relief, she saw Naruto sitting on top of Gamabunta's head. Both boy and toad were swearing up a storm. Turning to glare at the old man, Fu was shocked to see that he had disappeared...along with their camping supplies. When Naruto got back up to where they were camping, Fu presented him with a note, the only proof of the old man's actions/presence. It was a map, with a toad, who happened to have a Jiraiya-esque hairstyle, etched in the corner. It also had an arrow pointing from the toad to a nearby town, with the name Hikari's scribbled next to it.

The teens followed the map, planning to give the old man a good thrashing. Fu for nearly giving her a heart attack and Naruto for nearly giving him a heart attack via throwing his ass over a cliff...AGAIN! They eventually found the village in question, though were surprised to hear that it was not named Hikari. The man they spoke with actually referred them to a famous restaurant overlooking the ocean. Following the man's directions, they arrived at the restaurant and asked about Jiraiya. Instead the owner simply gave them each a parcel. They each received swimwear and some cash. Naruto also received a neatly wrapped gift, with instructions to give it to Fu when the mood was right. Not quite sure what he meant, Naruto simply handed the shiny green box to the girl.

The mint-haired girl started at the box for several moments, before her eyes began to water. "You're giving me a birthday gift?"

And then Naruto understood.

The girl had tenderly opened the gift, not quite sure what to expect. Only one person had ever given her gifts before...and those were always weapons and clothing...practical items for a kunoichi. Jiraiya gift was a collection of novels. Not ones that he would ever read, since they had too much plot and dialogue, and not enough sex and violence, but the set he gave her were critically acclaimed. She treasured the gift. It was the only gift she had ever received that was just for fun and not practical. The first gift that had made her feel like a human and not like a weapon.

They later found out that her birthday was the next day. Still, she loved the effort they made for her. The teens changed outfits and spent most of the day at the beach. They also spent the following day, January twenty-ninth, celebrating, since it was her actual birthday.

Those two days, Jiraiya kept an eye on them from a distance. He was glad that they enjoyed themselves. And since he had done good, he decided he could reward himself with loose women and fun times.

Things became business as usual after that. The two Jinchuuriki got back to training, nearly every day, and Jiraiya got back to balancing the life of a sensei, Konoha's premiere spymaster, and the greatest pornomancer in the Elemental Nations. At least, until eight odd months later, when Naruto's birthday came around.

Senjutsu training was probably the most difficult training that Naruto had ever gone through, with the added danger of polymorphing into a stone statue if he screwed up. Still, Naruto jumped on it with the same gusto that he gave everything he ever did. He woke up that morning, unsurprised to see Fu already gone. While Naruto normally liked to sleep in for an extra hour, or two if time permitted, Fu preferred to get up early.

He got out of the bed, which was fortunately human-sized and walked out of the bedroom to find Fu, Pa and Ma waiting for him.

In unison, they greeted him: "Happy Birthday Naruto-kun/chan."

Having completely forgotten his birthday, Naruto stood dumbfounded. Though if he had remembered his birthday, he probably would have still been dumbfounded at the sight of Fu's little yukata, which showed off a generous portion of her long legs. Regarding forgetting his birthday, Naruto always found it difficult to keep track of what day it was when they were out in the field. Though they were technically in the toad village, the Toad Clan didn't follow the same calendar so he still had had no idea what month it was.

Seeing their faces, Naruto smiled, "Thanks a lot." He happily embraced his girlfriend, hugged Ma and then accepted a hand-to-webbed-hand shake from Fukasaku. After a hearty breakfast of ladybug eggs, earthworm bacon, plus beetle cookies for desert (Toad Clan gourmet was not for those with a delicate stomach, in fact only: jinchuuriki; S-ranked ninjas; and any member of the Akimichi clan, could hope to stomach Shima's cooking) Naruto went outside and greeted the other toads that he had gotten to know during his stay in the mountain village. Gamakichi and Gamatatsu greeted him right away. Though they were getting too big to carry, Naruto allowed them both to ride on his shoulders that day. Things went to hell when Naruto met up with the Toad Boss, Gamabunta. It was long due that they had a sake drinking contest together and the Boss held Naruto to the ancient right of passage.

Naruto's resistance to poisons were put the limit, but even it could not keep up with a Toad that was easily a hundred times larger than Naruto. The blond had to drink exactly forty two saucers of alcohol to match one of Gamabunta's, all the while wondering where the hell the Toads got so much sake. The blond eventually succumbed and fainted.

It was a few minutes after ten in the morning when Naruto fainted. Sadly, he wouldn't wait up until eleven at night. Still, his first birthday with his girlfriend was quite memorable…and eleven pm was not the end of the night.

-xXx-

Naruto woke up to the sight of his girlfriend looking down at him. "You lost", she said matter-of-factly.

It took him a moment to realize that his head was resting on the girl's lap. The feel of bare thigh made him blush. Naruto frowned. "He cheated."

Fu raised an eyebrow, "He cheated?" Naruto smiled and nodded at the question. Fu looked up for a moment, pretending to think over Naruto's accusation. After a moment, Fu looked down. "Why didn't you cheat?"

Naruto frowned again. "Why didn't I cheat?"

Fu giggled and patted Naruto on both shoulders. Naruto, reluctantly, got off of her. Slowly rising to his feet, Naruto rubbed his head. He turned around to see his lover had walked over to a nearby lake. "Wanna go for a swim?"

Naruto frowned. "Too late…besides, I don't have a swimsuit."

Fu shrugged and pulled on the sash of her yukata. With a flourish, she tossed the sash to the side…and her yukata fell off her shoulders a moment later, revealing her bronze skin.

Naruto had only a moment to admire the sight before the Nanabi Jinchuuriki dove into the water. Momentarily upset, the blond waited for the girl to resurface. After waiting for what felt like minutes, Naruto walked closer to the pool of water and crouched down at the edge. Despite the crystalline water and the bright moon, he wasn't quite able to see his girlfriend in the darkness. Still, he was only mildly surprised when a pair of arms rose out from the water—"WOAH!" SPLASH—and pulled him in.

Whilst submerged, Naruto took a moment to berate himself. He had probably pulled that trick well over a dozen times back in the Academy. He wondered if that was what Jiraiya meant when he said that naked women acted as a negative force multiplier on a man's intelligence.

Swimming to the surface, he was treated to the sound of his lover giggling. "That was not funny!"

From two feet away, the mint-haired girl gave him a wide grin, still giggling, "Heheh, it was a little funny. Besides, you still smelled like alcohol."

"Maybe…but did you have to get my ninja outfit wet. You know how annoying it is to dry this thing?"

Fu's smile shifted in a way that got his blood pumping. She swam closer to him, wrapped her arms around him and pulled herself close to him. "I'll make it up to you", she whispered, running her hand over the back of his head.

Naruto blushed for just a moment, before wincing.

"Whoops, sorry about that." Fu ran her finger tips over the spot on Narutos head, barely brushing the spot she had touched him before. "That's a bad bump."

"Yea, Gama-jiji is just trying to keep me from screwing up; I kinda wonder if he actually needs to hit me that hard though."

"I would have thought the Kyuubi would have healed this for you, by now."

Naruto shook his head. "Gama-jiji said that the staff kind of makes it difficult for the bastard fox to heal." Naruto turned away form the girl and frowned. "It's funny, I can't even remember a time when I healed this slow."

Fu frowned at that. "It's weird. I can still remember a time when I didn't have the Nanabi inside of me?"

"Really?" Naruto cocked an eyebrow at that. "I didn't know. I just assumed that you got it when you were a baby like me." Gaara had been the same way as him. He'd been a Jinchuuriki since birth.

Fu shook her head. "I was actually eight when I became the container." She turned her head away from Naruto, looking off into the distance. "It was a competition actually."

"What?"

"They made it into a game. They gathered all eight of us, we were all related to the Leader of the Village in some way." The orange-eyed girl's face scrunched up. "We all competed in front of the village." Her expression darkened further, "They cheered us on throughout the whole thing. The winner of the competition was the one who won more games than the other seven." Fu turned back to face the blond, unshed tears in her eyes. "I won."

Naruto growled and pulled the girl closer to him. "I'm sorry…I'm so sorry."

Fu took a moment to enjoy the tight hug before she shook his head. "Don't be. At least I got a good eight years before those bastards turned on me. I can't imagine what it must have been like to have been born that way."

The blond shrugged. "I don't really mind…it eventually led me to you", Naruto finished with his patented grin™.

Fu giggled at that. "Wow, what a line. I think that deserves a reward."

"Well, you still owe me for wetting my ninja outfit."

Fu smiled and brushed her lips against Naruto's.

The Fourth Shinobi War officially started when the masked man known as Tobi challenged the Five Great Shinobi leaders at the Kage Summit held in Iron country. Unofficially, most agreed that the Great War started months earlier, when the terrorist group, the Akatsuki, began attacking the various villages in order to capture nine Jinchuuriki.

It all started when two of the missing-nin, Suna's Sasori and Iwa's Deidara, attacked and captured the Suna's Kazekage and Jinchuuriki, Sabaku no Gaara. Team Kakashi composed of: Kakashi Hatake, Naruto Uzumaki, Fu Uzumaki, and Sakura Haruno were already on route to Suna on a diplomatic mission. At Suna, they were joined by a fifth person, a Suna Kunoichi named Chiyo, and moved to intercept the Kazekage's kidnappers. With Naruto's Senjutsu training, and the tracking abilities he learned from Jiraiya, Naruto managed to lead the team to the cave the two missing-nins were hiding out in just as they began laying traps.

The battle commenced and ended with the lives with the rescue team taking the lives of the two Akatsuki members. Chiyo took Sasori's body, as well as the desecrated body of the Sandaime Kazekage, back to Sunagakure. The Konoha-nins took Deidara, planning to take the bounty on him. Gaara was recovered and healed on his injuries.

Accounts remain sketchy, but rumors indicate that Naruto and Fu had a long talk with Gaara. Though few knew what was discussed during that time, reports seemed to indicate a change in the Kazekage. When he returned to the village, he took an extended leave of absence. When he returned, people swore that he seemed a lot…happier. Though, again, accounts were sketchy.

Over the next few months, the Akatsuki continued their actions, though they left in peace for the time being Suna and notably avoided Konoha like it was a plague. Though a team from Konoha briefly engaged a pair of the Akatsuki, Kakuzu and Hidan; the pair quickly retreated. While that was going on, Jiraiya the Toad Sage went to investigate Amegakure.

Naruto Uzumaki awoke that morning to find he was, disappointedly, alone. Over the years he had grown so accustomed to the extra warmth his lover's body provided that it hit him like a icy deluge whenever he woke up to find her absent. It didn't help that they normally spent quite a large amount of time, upon waking up, cuddling. Sighing in disappointment, the blond crawled out of bed.

After going through his morning routine (brush, bath, etc.) Naruto left his bedroom and made his way towards the kitchen. A few years ago, both him and Fu had moved out of his old apartment into this one. Though it was only a little bigger than his old apartment, it had the advantage of not being a studio. Their current home was a two-bedroom apartment on the third floor. Since the two shared a bedroom, the second room was nothing but a guestroom that had never been used. They had originally thought of using it as a hobby room…but as it turned out neither of them needed a whole room for that. Naruto, who enjoyed growing plants, much preferred to keep his plants all over the apartment and not confined to a single room. Fu, who loved reading novels, just needed a place to sit…and maybe a shelf. They'd probably find a function for the room eventually.

As he began gathering the ingredients he needed to make his favorite breakfast (Read: Ramen), he began wondering what it was that Fu had to do that morning. He seemed to remember that she had mentioned it last night…sadly he couldn't quite remember exactly what it was. 'Something about having to go into work early today?' the blond rubbed his head. He probably shouldn't have been relying on his long-term memory while Fu and he were…being intimate.

-xXx-

Fu arrived back home about ten minutes later. Silently letting herself in, the girl was treated to a loud moan, which obviously came from her boyfriend. "Oh Kami! So good…" Fu cocked an eyebrow at that. "Oh man…I want you inside of me!" Her face flushed and she was treated to an abnormally obscene slurping sound. When she rounded the corner she saw Naruto was messily eating a large bow of ramen. Seeing her from his peripherals, Naruto turned and gave the girl he loved a fond greeting, "Yo, Fu-chan!"

The girl gave him a playful grin. "Would you two like to be alone?"

Naruto blinked innocently. "I swear, this isn't what…" he paused a few moments, looking around nervously, "…alright it's exactly what it looks like."

Fu just shook her head in amusement before walking towards the blond. She rounded the table and hugged the blond from behind. "Good morning Naru-kun."

Naruto leaned back a bit, enjoying his girlfriend's warm, soft body pressing up against him. "Good morning to you to." Naruto took a few quick chews before swallowing the mouthful of noodles and broth. He nearly asked her where'd she gone to…but felt a bit too embarrassed to do so. "So…free day, what do you want to do today."

"Well I'm supposed to be meeting Sayuri at eleven. After that…I don't know." Sayuri was a friend that Fu made within a few weeks of arriving in Konoha. She had graduated a year before Naruto did, placing her in the same year as the members of team Gai. Fu knew her as a loud, foul-mouthed kunoichi who had recently joined T&I. Most people who knew her back in her Academy days, remembered her as an introverted wallflower…not unlike the Hyuuga girl in Naruto's year. Of course, that had been before she had been subjected to the personalities of her former teammates. An overbearing bossy know-it-all, a lazy pervert who made a dirty joke every other sentence, and a Jounin-sensei who had been nicknamed 'Gai-lite' (half the energy, all the crazy). Apparently, it left her with some issues that she seriously needed to work out…which is why she was enjoying her work in T&I.

"Long meeting?"

"Just lunch."

Naruto grinned, "We still have most of the day…"

Tap-tap tap-tap

Naruto turned towards the source of the tapping, the window, and scowled. "Know any good recipes for Messenger Hawks?" he asked, as Fu released him, much to his disappointment, and walked towards the window.

"We could try making something up, but I'd probably just end up burning it." Neither of the two had had much luck attempting to cook a complicated dish. She opened the window and grabbed the message the bird had been carrying.

"That'd be insulting enough", the blond mumbled. "Me, you or both?"

Fu frowned, "Both. Tsunade-sama wants us in ASAP."

"Damn, was hoping we'd be able to spend at least a few hours together", he said before shoveling down the rest of his ramen. An emergency meeting with Tsunade likely meant that she had a mission for the two of them.

"Who knows, maybe she just wants to tell us something", Fu offered.

Naruto grinned. He leaned in close and brushed his lips against hers. "Let's go see then."

-xXx-

The trip to the Hokage's Tower was uneventful. The actual meeting though…

"JIRAIYA WAS WHERE?" Naruto asked, a bit of anger and worry swelling up in his chest.

"He was in Amegakure", the woman repeated with more than a little annoyance in her tone. She wasn't annoyed with Naruto, despite his yelling. She was actually annoyed with Jiraiya who hadn't reported that he intended to infiltrate the Akatsuki's home village.

Fu herself looked rather pale. Though she had a connection with others in her village, Jiraiya was probably one of the first normal humans that she could honestly say she cared for. He was also the first normal person, whom she felt reciprocated those feelings. "Is he alright?"

Tsunade placed her elbows on her tables and rested her chin on her hands. "Like I said, he was in Amegakure." Both Naruto and Fu let out a breath that they hadn't known they were holding. "He left the area as soon as he was done with his investigation."

Fu actually looked hopeful. "Did he find them?"

"Unfortunately, he didn't." Both Naruto and Fu turned to the new voice. Shizune had walked in with a familiar figure.

"Sennin Ji-chan."

The Toad Sage Fukasaku smiled as the young man gave him a respectful bow. "Naruto-kun", he replied, returning Naruto's bow.

Behind the blond, Tsunade stared wide-eyed at the scene in front of him, not quite believing what she was seeing it. "How…" with that one word, she had gathered everyone's attention. Tsunade locked eyes with Fukasaku, "How the hell did you get him to respect you like that?"

Fukasaku, Shizune and Fu sweat-dropped at that statement. Naruto turned the blond Sannin and shrugged. "I dunno. He accepts his age; he ain't living a lie like you are-"

Uzumaki met fist, Uzumaki met wall…face first.

Again, Fukasaku, Shizune and Fu sweat-dropped. Turning back to the toad, Fu gave her own bow, "Fukasaku-sama."

Fukasaku smiled and bowed to the girl. "Hello, Fu-chan. Ma has been asking after you."

"I miss her too. I'd love to visit you guys again, when things become less hectic." Fu frowned after that, "How is Jiraiya doing?"

The toad sage nodded. "When I left him, he was already outside of the Ame. He asked me to deliver this message for him while he checked out a few of his sources."

"So he didn't find anything?" Naruto asked after he managed to peel himself off of the wall.

Fukasaku shook his head. "Actually, according to the rumors he heard, Amegakure is run by the leader of the Akatsuki. However, the man in question was missing."

"He didn't find any Akatsuki members?"

The toad shook his head, "None. He is currently working under the assumption that they are out hunting other hosts. That is why Jiraiya stayed behind, he is currently trying to find any leads."

Tsunade sighed as she started to rub her temples. "Either way, I'm taking this as a confirmation that the Akatsuki's home base is indeed Ame. I need to discuss this with my advisors, however I wanted you two to know ahead of time." The woman turned towards the toad, "Thank you for bringing us this message Toad Sage."

Fukasaku nodded, "It was my pleasure."

"Until then, you two are dismissed."

-xXx-

Naruto and Fu both walked out of Tsunade's office, with Fukasaku sitting on Naruto's shoulder.

Fukasaku frowned when he saw the attitude the two teens possessed, "You two should relax. Jiraiya-kun knows how to take care of himself."

Naruto nodded and smiled. "You wanna go to Ichiraku's with us?"

The trio continued away from the Hokage's tower. The three of them started talking about what they had been up to since the teens had left Mt. Myobokuzan. In the middle of a long anecdote, Fukasaku stopped mid-sentence.

It happened within the span of a second. A deafening silence overcame the area, which most in the area took notice to. Suddenly sound came back full force in a crash that caused everyone in the area to cringe. Dust was kicked up and flew away from the center.

Naruto cringed and wrapped his arms around his girlfriend's body, stabilizing the two. Most of those around the crash weren't so lucky, and found themselves on the ground.

Fu's orange eyes stared into the dust cloud, "What was that?"

"I don't know."

Luckily for the residents of Konoha the wind was strong that day. Even before the dust fully cleared the spectators could see a shadowy outline of a human within the cloud. When it did clear, everyone saw an orange haired man (1). Few bothered to take in his facial features…they were too busy staring at his clothing. A black cloak with red clouds.

"AKATSUKI!" A shinobi called amongst the crowd. The Konoha shinobi in the crowd took immediate action. They began ushering civilians away, trying to get them away from the terrorist. In the blink of an eye, the man did a quick change of hand seals before slamming his hand on the ground. A puff of smoke overtook him and, again, prevented the crowd from seeing him. A few shinobi took the opportunity to get in close and launched several elemental ninjutsus at the smoke. The attacks never connected.

Both the jutsus and the smoke dissipated almost immediately. Most in the crowd were shocked to see the man now had reinforcements. One had become nine.

Most in the crowd recognized the missing-nins Kakuzu and Hidan. The former wasn't wearing an Aaktsuki cloak, instead he had a form fitting gray outfit that; he also had a total of twelve animal masks stitched over his body. The latter, also lacking the typical Akatsuki cloak, wore black armor that exuded a strange black chakra.

The rest were relatively unknown. The only female in the group was a blue haired woman who wore an Akatsuki cloak.

The last six stood together. All of them had a number of strange black piercing over their faces, though five of them had orange hair.

All nine figures dispersed amongst the crowds.

Fu looked at Fukasaku, who had jumped off of Naruto's shoulder. "Go get Jiraiya."

The toad nodded and disappeared.

Naruto scanned his opponents briefly, trying to find out who the boss of the group was. He vaguely recognized the outfit of the masked Taki missing-nin, as one of the ones that Fu nearly gave herself up to so many years ago. Not seeing one in particular, Naruto opted to transform and attack one of the ones with orange hair that were still close by.

Fu was hesitant. The closest one she saw was Kakuzu…a man that was a literal boogieman back in Taki. Seeing him injure a Konoha-nin snapped her out of her stupor. She instantly transformed into her Seven Tails Chakra Mode. The girl was completely covered by skintight green charka. A thicker portion of blue chakra, came from her elbows to her arms, and from her knees to her feet. A vine-like green tail came out of her tailbone. Six other tails, came out as orange wings from the thoracic region of her spine. Her eyes focused on Kakuzu and she moved to engage him…

But was stopped by a hand that grabbed her arm. She turned back to see Kakashi's hand on her arm. "Let us handle the ones on the ground", he pointed upwards towards the winged, blue-haired shinobi. "That one will be a serious pain for anyone who can't fly." Fu barely had time to nod before Kakashi moved passed her.

Fu's eyes focused on Konan for just a moment before taking off like a rocket.

A quick set of handseals and a pair of water swords emerged in either hand.

-xXx-

The plan was simple: whilst Pein, as well as the zombie duo, create as much hell as possible, Konan was to go around looking for the location of the two jinchuuriki. The woman flew away from her position and immediately located two shinobi that happened to be off alone.

She made a beeline for the two and dissolved into paper. The paper bound the two shinobi. Konan's head and upper body reformed itself, right next to one of the shinobi. "I'll ask this only once, where are the jinchuuriki." The Konoha-nin looked beyond Konan and grinned. Sensing danger, Konan dissolved once again, avoiding the sword slash that would have taken off her head.

-xXx-

Fu watched as all the paper floated high into the air, releasing the two Konoha-nin. Fu flew upwards and stopped herself a few meters away from the floating mass of paper. She cautiously watched as the paper fused and reformed into a person. Konan, now had a pair of large, paper made, wings coming out of her back.

Konan and Fu floated in front of each other. The green haired girl glared at the woman in front of her, "You guys are pretty ballsy to attack a Hidden Village directly. Haven't you heard how that worked out for Sasori and Deidara?" Though the duo had managed to capture Gaara, it had also left a clear trail for the newly reformed team 7 to follow and they managed to rescue the Ichibi Jinchuuriki before the extraction was complete…after killing both Sasori and Deidara.

Unlike Fu, Konan was perfectly passive. "I see why they were defeated", the woman said as she looked the girl up and down. Zetsu's report didn't say the two had such control over their own Bijuu. Regardless… "You underestimate our abilities, and overestimate your own. One way or another, we will capture you. If you and the other give yourself up we will have no reason to destroy this village and kill its people."

Fu's orange eyes narrowed. She opened her mouth to reply, when a loud roar interrupted her. Both Fu and Konan turned to the source of the roar to see the Kyuubi no Kitsune off in the distance. The great nine tailed fox was batting three of the orange haired figures. Fu grinned and turned back to the paper user. "There's your answer."

Konan narrowed her eyes, "How unfortunate…for you."

Fu shot forward and aimed to slash the woman with both swords. Konan flew left and attempted, narrowly avoiding Fu's attack. Paper dissolved off of her body and flew towards the younger girl. Not quite registering the danger, Fu did nothing as the first piece of paper slipped through her guard and cut into her chakra covered arm. After that, she swung her swords in a flurry to block the remaining paper shurikan.

After a brief chain of handseals, Konan waved her hands in the air, causing the paper to coalesce in a ring that was easily twice her size. With little effort, the paper-user threw the chakra straight at her opponent.

Not batting an eye, Fu created a perfect Rasengan from her tail and smashed it into the spinning ring. As the spiraling sphere cut into the attack, the paper which created the spinning ring separated, surrounding the girl in 'ordinary' paper. Strange symbols began glowing on the paper. Fu's eyes widened for a split second before all the paper surrounding her exploded.

Konan waited. In her mind, either the girl was finished, or close to finished, or she used a Kawarimi at the last minute. What she didn't expect was for the girl, wingless and covered in blue chakra, to simply freefall from the explosion. Unlike the skintight green chakra that covered her before, the blue chakra, which matched the one on her lower arms and legs, was notably thicker. Not quite sure what to expect, Konan opted to fire a dozen more paper shurikan at the freefalling girl.

The blue chakra began to recede and her wings quickly grew back; soon enough Fu was back in her normal Seven-Tails Chakra Mode. With a brief chain of seals, she had a water sword back in either hand, to block the paper shurikans.

Konan narrowed her eyes at the girl before her. 'That blue armor. It's a defense that she can shift in and out of easily.' She watched the girl rocket towards her, strangely enough whistling a tune. Konan's eyes widened as her refined danger senses screamed at her. Ignoring the girl in front of her, Konan turned and transformed her arm into a blade made of paper. The Ame-nin was just in time to block both of Fu's water swords, before they could cut her down.

For a brief moment, Fu grinned, "RASENGAN" Fu's tail, which was holding another spiraling sphere, shot straight out towards Konan's face. The woman's eyes widened as the sphere caught her right in the forehead. Her body then dissolved into paper, which began glowing with familiar red characters.

Off in the distance, Konan watched as the remains of her paper clone exploded around Fu at point blank range. Nearly ten times the amount of explosive notes, she thought, surely the girl's armor technique wouldn't protect her from that. She watched impassively as the girl, again covered the blue chakra, fell from the smoke. With a moment, the armor receded and Fu was flying again, looking none to worse for wear. Konan's eyes narrowed when she got a closer look at the girl. "Are you amused, little girl?"

Fu smirked, "I hate to admit it, but…yea. Sure I wanna pulverize you for attacking my village, but I've never fought with someone who could fly before. It's kinda fun."

"You have to know that you cannot defeat me." Things were not going as easily as expected. Despite the unexpected transformation, she had expected Pein to have dealt with the nine-tailed fox by now. The demon's roaring and constant moving told that it was still fighting.

"Well, attacking you with my water swords really hasn't worked as well as I hoped it would", the girl began a quick series of handseals. Fire erupted to life in her right hand, taking the form of a scimitar. Lightning began dancing out of her left, taking the form of a rapier, minus the hand guard. Water flowed from her tail, taking the form of a katana. "Santoryu no Jutsu (Three Sword Style technique). I think I'll try mixing things up a little bit." With that Fu shot out straight towards the paper-user, whistling in the mean time.

Konan prepared to block the attack, when Fu disappeared in front of her. Again, Konan's danger sense flared, but she wasn't fast enough that time. Fu smashed her foot against Konan's chest, sending the woman plummeting downwards.

Stopping herself mid air, Konan grit her teeth and looked up at the girl. That was when it hit her. 'She's using Genjutsu while using sound as a medium.'

Fu, who was trying to continue whistling through her smile, merely pointed off in the distance behind Konan. The paper-user, using her peripherals, followed the girl's finger. Eyes wide as saucers, Konan's head then snapped at the sight, seeing a Tailed Beast Ball heading right for her. Again, Konan dissolved to avoid the attack, which nearly vaporized all the paper that formed her.

Some distance away, Konan reformed herself. After taking a moment to catch her breath, Konan glared at the girl impassively.

"Aside from making sure it doesn't hit any of our allies, Naruto really isn't too careful with those Bijudamas." Fu flew straight at the woman, wielding her three elemental swords.

'Twenty notes failed to pierce her armor.' While the girl was flying towards her Konan began going through her own hand seals. 'Two hundred notes failed.' Konan's arms transformed into paper blades, which she used to quickly block the girl's fire and lightning swords. 'Let's see how she deals with two thousand explosive notes.' The water sword shot out and cleaved the woman's head clean off her shoulders. Again, the woman began to dissolve into paper. Fu immediately dispelled her swords, and covered herself in the blue chakra. The dissolved paper then partially reformed. Konan did a quick hand seal and created another paper chakram, before throwing it straight down.

Fu's eyes widened as she saw the projectile make contact with her. Though it didn't actually hurt her, her own free falling speed plus the speed of the chakram caused her to plummet towards the ground. The only thing she could think about was that she couldn't release the armor without facing the probability of having the 'spinning ring of death' cut into her.

Fu hit the ground…HARD. The ring continued to grind into her for a few seconds before it dissolved into paper…and exploded. Even before the smoke cleared, Fu began to stand, unfortunately she failed to notice the five paper clones that landed on the ground next to her.

As the smoke cleared, Fu began to pick herself up off the ground. When her vision was unhindered, she saw Konan, still in the air, surrounded by ten, glowing red, paper clones. Before Fu could think of a plan, all the Konan's were pulld backwards.

Beyond Konan, a hundred meters behind her, Fu saw a sphere of black energy floating into the air. The ball appeared to be pulling large chunks of earth towards its center…

Her eyes widened. Off in the distance, just under the orb, she could see the glowing form of Kurama, with Naruto on top of his head. Soon enough, the light that was Kurama disappeared, which just left the glowing, form of Naruto to float helplessly upwards.

The blue chakra receded, and her six wings returned. The girl took off like a rocket, heading straight to intercept her partner. Konan, as far as she was, managed to clear the Chibaku Tensei's gravitational pull. Fu, on the other hand, allowed the gravity to increase her velocity.

-xXx-

Naruto, in the Nine Tails Chakra Mode, grit his teeth as the black energy sphere slowly pulled him upwards. Seeing a nearby boulder, also floating helplessly through the air, Naruto extended two of his tails and used them to pull himself towards it. Making contact with the boulder, Naruto held on for dear life until he spied a second piece of earth closer to the ground. Again, he extended two of his tails out to grab onto the rock and pull himself towards it. As his new anchor began floating upwards, he looked for another piece of earth to grab onto…

"NARUTO!"

The blond Jinchuuriki looked up to see his girlfriend flying straight towards him. She extended her arm out towards him. Naruto leapt off the boulder and reached out to grab the young woman's hand.

Clasping hands, Fu pulled Naruto close to her and began flying away from the gravitational orb. Fu dived straight downwards, weaving slightly to avoid a large piece of land.

At that point, the black energy ball was completely invisible, covered as it was by the earth and debris.

Though the gravitational pull was slowing her down to a snail's pace, Fu was still managing to move away from the gravitational pull. She strafed left to avoid a large chunk of land. She shifted right to avoid a piece of debris. She saw another piece heading right for her…however before she could move, an strange robotic figure, which she recognized as one of the attackers, landed on the boulder that was heading straight for her.

The Asura Path extended his arm out and fired his own hand straight towards the two Jinchuuriki. The gravitational pull, added to the hands rocket-propelled speed and struck the girl right in the face before she, or Naruto, could react. Stars exploded in her head and Fu was sent plummeting upwards, releasing Naruto from her hold at the same time.

"FU!" With one of his tails, Naruto reached out for the girl and held her close to him. Though that did little to stop them from flying towards the floating landmass. Before he got too far, Naruto saw the Asura Path disappear in a puff of smoke.

Naruto, Fu in his arms, hit the landmass hard. He was caught, being squeezed between the floating earth and his lover; in spite of that he didn't dare let her go though. Still conscious, his eyes widened as he saw pieces of earth about to bury them alive. He extended his tails out, turning them into fists and punched the first chunk of land. The smacked boulder away. He used two hands to catch an especially big piece of debris and tossed it away.

Regaining her senses, Fu extended her one tail upwards to help Naruto smack away a piece of land. She grabbed Naruto as hard as she could, "Come on, I'll fly us out!"

Before he could respond, Naruto saw something beyond the girl's head that made him pale. Turning her head, to follow his gaze, Fu mirrored the boy's facial expression. Naruto. The whole 'sky' was littered with large pieces of rocks. Naruto's nine tails extended outwards and wrapped around them both. Fu followed suit with her six wings.

The first boulder landed, bouncing off the barrier. A second, a third and a fourth piece of land followed suit. Soon enough, the two were buried under the land.

-xXx-

From the ground, the five remaining Paths of Pein, as well as Konan, watched the new moon that had been formed by the Chibaku Tensei.

-xXx-

Sensing that the cavern they had created, through the use of their makeshift barrier, would hold, the two jinchuuriki powered down to there natural forms. Though the force was a lot less than it was when they were pulled towards the miniature moon, gravity was still pull down on the two a lot harder than they were used to. The girl still pressed hard against his chest, Naruto noticed that she was breathing a lot harder than normal.

Through the darkness, Naruto stared down at where he knew his girlfriend to be. "Are you alright?" He brushed his thumb along the girl's cheek.

"I never mentioned this before, but I don't like enclosed spaces."

Naruto frowned and, with two fingers, tapped himself on the forehead thrice. Realizing his mistake, he instead tapped the girl on the forehead three times. Within a moment, they both entered the telepathic mindscape that only a Jinchuuriki had access to. Naruto and Fu stood right in front of each other, while the Nanabi, Chomei, and the Kyuubi, Kurama, stood behind their respective Jinchuuriki.

"You need to calm yourself Fu", 'Lucky Seven' Chomei began, "if you keep breathing as hard as you are now, you both are gonna run out of oxygen."

Fu grit her teeth and turned to glare at the seven-tailed beetle. "You're not helping!"

Naruto frowned at his girlfriend. "Seriously, are you alright?"

"I'm fine", the girl snapped. Taking a moment to calm herself, Fu took a deep breath before looking back towards the blond. "We just need to plan how to get out of here."

The Kyuubi snorted from his position. Unlike the other three, Kurama had taken a relax position, almost looking as if he were attempting to take a nap. "At full power, a Bijudama, will blow this place apart." Naruto smirked, however before he could respond, Kurama continued, "I will likely have to expend all of my power to do it. I won't be able to lend you my power for quite some time." Naruto frowned.

"Then you two can take a break and I'll take care of them."

Naruto's eyes widened, "Woah, no way, you can't just fight all of them by yourself."

Fu shrugged, "You were fighting six of them alone, I can hold my own against them until Kurama regains his power."

Naruto shook his head. "You don't understand, these six guys are like connected or something?"

While Fu frowned at that bit of information, Kurama opened his eyes to look at Chomei, "The humans we were fighting have the same eyes and power as the Sage." Kurama snorted after a moment. "Though clearly diluted, each of the six humans controls one of the Six Paths."

Only partially filled in on the story, Naruto turned back to the girl, "You don't understand though, I've killed four of those guys several times and they just kept coming back." Fu's eyes widened at the information. "That's when I noticed that one of them was actually reviving the others." Naruto gestured towards the air, "When I tried going after that guy, the leader decided to hit us with this stupid gravity ball thingy."

Fu nodded, "Alright, so we should go after that guy first. What's he look like."

Naruto frowned, "Did you get a good look at the leader?" Fu nodded. "Well the reviver guy is the only other one with spiky orange hair."

"Afterwards, we should fight the one that was stealing my chakra", the Nine Tails chimed in.

"Oh yea, that guy! He even absorbed a Bijudama."

"So one of them is strong enough to stop…" the girl trailed off after that. Assuming he couldn't dissolve, like her other opponent, going after the ninja who could resurrect the others didn't seem like such a daunting task. However, if the shinobi who could absorb a Bijudama got in her way then things became a bit more complicated. After a moment though, Fu grinned. "How quickly can you go into Sage Mode?"

Following the girl's line of thought, Naruto flashed the girl his trademark grin, before kissing her.

"Ah yea…" Chomei began, while Kurama gagged at the sight.

Ignoring the Bijus, the two separated. Naruto gestured around, "By the way, if this mini Moon thing survives, do you wanna build a house up here?"

When what Naruto said registered, Fu cracked a smile before going into a giggling fit. Behind him, Kurama opened his eyes again and stood up on all fours. "Don't bother thinking about it, this thing won't survive."

-xXx-

From the ground, those that were staring up at the moon watched in fascination as deep red fissures began cracking across the surface. Most would agree that there was a certain calm before the storm, right before all hell broke lose. The fake moon exploded, in a torrential storm of red energy, sending the earth and debris, which created it, hurdling back to the ground.

From the ground the Six Paths of Pein, plus Konan, watched the red energy which destroyed the moon slowly recede, only to be a bright blue, green and orange one, green and orange light.

Konan's eyes narrowed, "It's the Seven Tails."

The Deva Path, as well as the other five, remained silent.

-xXx-

The light of Fu's Seven Tails Chakra Mode illuminated the area. After a brief chain of hand seals, Fu began gathering water into both of her hands. Within a moment, she gathered enough water for a Mizukiri no Yaiba. She continued gathering water and expelling chakra though. Soon enough, the sword doubled in length and quadrupled in width. Within a few moments, the water began spiraling. The point of the sword became smaller while the guard widened until it completely engulfed Fu. "Nanabi-ryu: Mizukiri no Uzumaki (Seven Tails Style: Water Cutting Whirlpool)."

Her target was clear to everyone.

Jutsu now complete, Fu dived down like a missile, using her jutsu to cover her. Fu continue flying downwards, letting gravity help increase her velocity. She didn't bother dodging the pieces of land that were still plummeting towards the ground, she just went right through them, cutting through them like paper and not even losing an ounce of her speed.

Konan flew close to the girl and fired a volley of paper shurikans at her. The enhanced Water Sword cut through the paper, like a hot knife through butter.

The Animal path sent his Giant Drill-Beaked Bird to intercept the girl. Drill met Drill, and Fu managed to cut all the way through the bird, again, without losing any speed. A shower of blood and gore erupted from where the girl exited, long after she was gone.

Noticing that the Naraka Path was now moving, the girl adjusted to her angle of descent.

The Asura Path attempted to intercept her, firing missiles and rocket propelled fists at her. Again, they fell short against Fu's technique.

The Deva Path rose to stop the girl. With gravity at his side, the man called out his jutsu, "Shinra Tensei." The girl didn't even look phased, as she continued her descent. For once, the Deva Path, as well as all the other Paths, had a look of shock that betrayed their emotions.

Naraka Path continued watching as the girl was heading straight for him.

At the last moment, the Preta Path jumped into the fray, and absorbed the chakra from the technique. Finally, to the Six Paths visible relief, the jutsu slowed. Within a few moments, to Fu's horror, she was left with an ordinary Water Sword in her hands. At that point, the Human Path jumped in the way, and used one of the black chakra receivers as a blade to parry the girl's attack. Though the Human Path tensed at blocking an attack of such velocity, the attack was halted none the less.

Soon enough the other Five Paths moved to surround the girl. Fu took one look at her situation and grinned a grin that was not unlike the one her lover was famous for.

Behind Naraka Path, Naruto leapt through the air, "Choodama Rasengan (Ultra-Big Ball Rasengan)." The enormous spiraling sphere was enough to smack down a Biju, Naruto would know. Naruto smashed it down on top of the Naraka Path, annihilating him.

The remaining Five Paths turned towards the blond; however it was the Human Path and the Preta Path who launched themselves at them.

Quickly getting into his Frog Kata, Naruto threw a punch towards the Human Path. Though it missed the Human Path by a mile, the aura associated with Senjutsu sent the long-haired man flying. Using the 'opening' however, the Preta Path managed to grappled with the blond. Quickly enough, the Preta Path began absorbing Naruto's chakra…natural chakra and all. Having no experience with natural chakra, the Preta Path soon mutated into a large toad, before turning to stone.

In the mean time, Fu took off, going after the Human Path who Naruto launched into the air. A water sword in both hands, Fu swung the blade to bisect the man, only to be stopped by a paper blade. Konan, visibly angry, scowled at the younger girl.

Fu was about to grin back at the woman, when she reverted back to her natural state. 'Lucky-Seven?'

"Sorry Fu-chan, but when that chakra thief stopped the water drill, he also took a lot of my chakra. I'm gonna need some time before I'm able to replenish it."

Konan slashed her paper sword left, but Fu easily parried it with her water sword. Konan lunged forward, slicing left and right with her sword, however Fu retreated backwards, parrying each strike from. Leaping backwards, Fu held the water sword in just her right hand and began a chain of handseals with her left. A moment later, she created a second water sword.

Sending the other woman a competitive grin, Fu lunged at the other woman, attacking with a flurry of slashes with her two swords.

Following suite, Konan created a second sword and began parrying the other girl. Unfortunately for the woman, the green-haired girl was a lot more skilled with swords than she was and Konan began to get pushed back. Fu got within the older woman's guard and stabbed the woman in the chest.

Again, Konan's body turned into paper, which began to glow with red symbols. A second later, the paper clone exploded. Panting, Konan watched the scene unfold from several yards away. Before the smoke cleared, Fu, covered in blue armored, leapt out of the dust cloud and went straight for Konan.

Surprised that the girl had been able to use her Bijuu abilities, she was caught by surprise when Fu punched her in the face, sending the older woman flying backwards.

Again, reverting back to her natural state, Fu made to follow up her attack, when a cloud of smoke erupted between her and the blue haired woman. A giant Chamelon, with an orange-haired man, appeared in front of Fu.

"Damn it!" Fu cursed. The Chameleon whipped his tail down to smash the girl against the ground. Fu managed to leap to the side to avoid the attack. The Chameleon swiped with his tail and Fu jumped over it. While the girl was airborne, the Chameleon opened its mouth and shot its long tongue out to capture the girl. Unable to dodge, Fu was caught and ensnared by the sticky tongue, and pulled into the giant reptile's maw.

The Animal Path looked down in satisfaction. The Chameleon's natural abilities would keep the girl from escaping via a jutsu and keep her Bijuu abilities in check. Without either of them she would never be able to get out of the reptile. Now, they just needed to-

The Chameleon let out a sudden squeal and a beam of light erupted from the creature's head. Animal Path only had a second to realize that the beam of light was actually a blade of lightning before it pierced him through the head, killing him instantly. As the lightning dissipated, Animal Path slumped down on the reptile's head, just as the Chameleon fell to the ground.

Fu managed to crawl out of the reptile's massive mouth, nearly gagging at the experience. As she managed to get to her feet, she was immediately tackled to the ground by a paper clone. Nine more paper clones flew down and dog piled the girl.

The real Konan looked down at the scene from above, "Even your armor has its limits. Let's see how it deals with two thousand explosive notes." The paper clones began to glow, before exploding in a massive explosion. Konan watched the scene, prepared, just in case the girl managed to block that attack as well. After the smoke cleared, all she could see was Fu lying on the ground, motionless. The sight made the woman frown. She hoped she hadn't killed the girl. As satisfying as it would be, they still needed the girl alive to claim the Nanabi.

Konan flew downwards and landed on the ground a few feet away from the younger girl. She waited for a few moments, prepared to pelt the girl with more paper clones at a moments notice. After another moment, Konan believed it was safe. She took one step forward…and her heard four separate whistling sounds. Konan was immediately ripped from reality.

She found herself surrounded by four large toads, wearing samurai-esque armor. She knew she was in a genjutsu…yet at the same time she didn't know. She watched her body as if she were separated from it, yet at the same time she found herself unable to think at all. She knew she should attempt to escape the illusion, but at the same time was unable to comprehend that she was in an illusion that she needed to escape from. Konan knew that outside in the real world, Fu was pointing her blade at her, yet at the same time she couldn't quite register that she wasn't in the real world.

Outside in the real world, Fu aimed her sword straight at Konan's heart and lunged forward. Fu's blade was a mere meter away from the woman…it seemed like the end. That is when the Deva Path appeared right in front of Konan. The water blade cut into flesh.

Fu's eyes widened, but only for a moment before she was blasted away by an invisible force, releasing her sword.

Konan blinked for a moment, slowly coming back to her senses. She saw the body of Yahiko with a clearly fatal wound in his chest. It took her a few more moments to regain her higher-level thought processes and realized what that meant. He never risked Yahiko's body. NEVER. The other five were resurrected dozens of times, but never Yahiko's. Yahiko died once, and that was more than enough for both of them. So why…

"Nagato…" Konan stared at the body of Yahiko. "Why?" Memories ran through the woman's mind. "Why did you jump in front of me like that? Nagato…"

The body of Yahiko turned back to look at Konan. For the first time in years, the man grinned. "Shinra Tensei…was…on…cooldown…no…choice." Yahiko's body fell forward, dead.

"NO!" Konan practically leapt on the body and began checking it for any vital signs. Horror visible on her face, Konan held onto the body as hard as she could and disappeared in a swirl of paper.

-xXx-

While Naruto and Fu were fighting Pein and Konan, the rest of Konoha was busy fighting off the Zombie Duo.

Kakuzu had been an absolute nightmare. Pein had enhanced Kakuzu's Jiongu (Earth Grudge Fear) abilities to a surprising degree. Pein then gifted Kakuzu with a stockpile of human puppets, with intact human hearts, which Sasori had left behind after his demise. The result was Kakuzu, who originally controlled only four masks, having a grand total of fifty-three. Kakashi had led a group of ANBU and jounin against Kakuzu. Every now and then, one of Konoha's shinobis managed to destroy one of the Zombie's hearts; however Kakuzu would then steal a heart to replace the one that was destroyed. The fighting escalated further, causing quite a lot of collateral damage to the surrounding environment. Though, that had actually worked in Konoha's favor. Jiraiya appeared soon enough, riding on top of the Toad Boss, Gamabunta. Seeing no reason to hold back, since most of the buildings were already beyond repair, he ordered the Konoha forces back and had the Toad Boss spit oil on Kakuzu. With a simple fire ninjutsu, the oil was lit and Kakuzu and his masks were set ablaze. Kakuzu casted a water technique to put out the flames, but by then he was left with less than a dozen of his masks. Kakashi then led his remaining forces against Kakuzu, slowly overpowering the once invincible man. Kakashi finished the fight off by unleashing the power of Kamui on the Zombie's final heart.

Hidan was an even bigger pain. In lieu of his Akatsuki cloak, he had on a set of black armor that fed off his very nature. He had been attacked with numerous kunai and ninjutsus that simply seemed to glance off of his armor. None of the attacks even seemed to slow him down. Gai opened seven of the Hachimon, receiving a near instantaneous boost of energy and lunged at the man, hitting him with a flurry of powerful punches. Hidan didn't even seem to feel any of the man's hits and aimed his scythe to behead the man. Gai ducked under the slash and kicked the man up into the air. A Kage Buyo followed shortly afterwards, but not from Gai. Asuma appeared underneath Hidan and concentrated wind chakra through his trench knives, and attacked the man's neck. To Asuma's surprise, the wind blades actually met resistance, on there way to the man's neck. After a moment though, Asuma's knives went through the man's armor, and severed his head from the rest of his body.

Jiraiya scanned the battlefield from his position. A few of Pein's summons still remained, but it appeared that Tsunade was taking care of them. Sending Gamabunta to assist the woman, Jiraiya disappeared and went to go find his students. After finding the two Jinchuuriki, the trio then went to search for Konan and Pein. They returned just a bit over an hour later. Aside from declaring that everything was officially over, all questions regarding what happened were deflected.

In the end though, things were just beginning.

The Fourth Shinobi War had swept through the continent like a plague. The madman known as Tobi declared war on the Elemental Nations and brought with him an army of the undead, powered by the chakra of the other Bijuu. To combat the threat, for the first time in history, the Great Five Shinobi Villages put aside their differences and formed an alliance. Though debates were waged on what to do with the remaining four Jinchuuriki, in the end the four ended up leading the charge against Tobi. Though the battle was a difficult one, with the lost of hundreds of shinobi from the Alliance, the masked man Tobi was defeated. When they recovered and analyzed the body, everyone was shocked at the true identity of the terrorist…

…

…

…

Anyway, after the war was won, a search party was formed to locate the five Bijuu (the Nibi, the Sanbi, the Yonbi, the Gobi and the Rokubi) that had been captured by Akatsuki. They were eventually found, each sealed in one of the opened eyes of the now broken Gedo Mazo statue. The five eyes were extracted from the statue and each Bijuu was returned to their respective Nations. It was an act that had actually saddened all four of the still active Jinchuuriki. They each just prayed that the people would treat any future Demon Containers with the respect they deserved, and not fear and hostility. Though none of them expected too much from the masses.

So the Fourth Great War ended with relative peace through out the Elemental Nations. Unfortunately, not all things were peaceful.

Two months after the war ended, Takigakure sued Fire Country and Konahagakure for the return of their Jinchuuriki, Fu.

"Our rights are clear, Tsunade-san", the young man before her stated in an even tone. Sadly, Shibuki, the former leader of Takigakure, had fallen in combat while the Great Five Villages were fighting the remnants of the Akatsuki. He had been replaced by a twenty-something year old Jounin, named Daisuke.

The meeting was in a hotel room bordering their respective countries. Daisuke sat with two, much older, advisors on either side of him. On the other side of the table sat Tsunade, with both Shizune and Jiraiya flanking her. Fu sat alone on the third side of the table.

Daisuke was looking at Tsunade with impassive eyes. "This is the agreement that your grandfather made with our village's first leader. I trust that you'll do what's right." The young leader flashed Fu a chilling look before turning back towards Tsunade.

Tsunade pursed her lips. It had taken quite a bit of talking, promises, threats, and bribes to get Naruto to stay away from this meeting. Finally she broke the boy's leg and left him in his apartment. Which was a good thing; he probably would have attacked Daisuke for giving Fu that look. "I understand the treaties my grandfather made all too well. However, it was your village that threw her away."

"Bah! Is that what she told you?" Daisuke asked with a scowl. "We gave her everything she could ever want and the spoiled wretch repaid us by running away at the first instance that she did not get her way." Fu's jaw tightened at the lie.

Tsunade could honestly say that she was proud of the green-haired girl for keeping her composure. "Yet you never reported her in any of your bingo books."

"Of course we didn't! We were afraid the other villages would hunt her down and try to steal the Bijuu! A fear that was obviously not unfounded", Dasiuke accused.

"And yet you've made no attempts to acquire her back until the threat of the Akatsuki was over" Tsunade shot back.

"We-"

"We", Tsunade interrupted, "made it no secret that we had her. In fact, we all but broadcasted that we had her. And if you had told us that she had run away back then, as your ally, I would have handed her to you without a second thought." Fu actually looked down at that statement. "But you didn't. You're only bringing this up now, an action that coincides with her story, not yours."

Daisuke's jaw tightened. "The Great Five Villages weren't the only ones going through hard times Tsuande-san, don't forget that in a recent conflict that our own village was going through, our dear leader Shibuki lost his life. We couldn't very well turn away from those issues to deal with a missing-nin." He turned to glare at Fu, "One that might have saved our leader if she hadn't run away from her duties."

Fu clenched her fist under the table. Shibuki was one of the only people in the village that had been kind to her. He had also been one of the few who had fought against her exile and the only one to do so because he didn't want to lose a citizen of his village. She greatly mourned his death.

Tsunade frowned at his response. Though stoic and seemingly respectful, this Daisuke was quickly proving himself to being a giant sack of cra-excuses. After everything that happened Tsunade desperately had wanted to maintain the peace that so many people had died for. But this man was making things difficult. "It's clear that Fu here will never be a loyal Taki ninja again", Tsunade began.

Fu wanted to add a 'you got that right', but wisely kept her mouth shut.

"How about if we agree to give the Nanabi back to your village when Fu passes away?"

"So if my village is unlucky, as it has been in the past few years, then we will receive the Nanabi back in, what, fifty or sixty years? Maybe longer than that!" Daisuke glared at the woman. "It is unacceptable that we should be forced to wait so long to receive what was ours to begin with!"

"Allowances must be made when human lives are concerned."

Daisuke glared, "She hasn't been human since the sealing!" Once again, Fu's fist tightened under the table. "If she won't serve willingly then we will personally extract the Nanabi and find a more suitable candidate."

Tsunade glared right back. "You misunderstand the situation. If it came to that, we would be the ones to extract the Nanabi and hand it back to you." Daisuke frowned at that and made to reply, but again Tsuande cut him off. "Jiraiya took an unskilled kunoichi with few of your 'secrets'-" the Water Sword hasn't been a Taki-exclusive technique for decades now "-and turned her into what she is now. And don't you dare say otherwise." Daisuke snapped his mouth closed. "We will certainly not allow our secrets to return to another village, ally or not."

"And we cannot allow one of our kunoichi to be taken by another village, for the same reasons." Daisuke replied, clearly losing his cool. It was obvious that part of the reason that he had wanted Fu was to grill her for information and techniques. Techniques that they could use for, not just their normal ninja, but for their next Jinchuuriki as well.

"Which raises issues for both of us." Tsuande shot back. "The four Jinchuuriki led the charge during the Fourth Great War. Not many people will be pleased that one of them will be executed for such reasons."

"Then you must relinquish your claim on her!" Daisuke fired back. "We can keep what happens within our village quiet, and it will remain so if you don't turn it into a political shit storm!"

"We both know I can't do that", Tsunade replied. "What I can do is offer to forward some of our village's missions towards yours."

"You think you can just buy it from us?"

"I could also give you scrolls containing some secret techniques." They weren't Konoha secret techniques, but techniques that the village had managed to fish from other villages by one method or another. Whatever the case may be, the fact that they were foreign techniques just made them easier to share. Tsuande mentally grinned. If she were that type of person (Read: A bitch) she'd also include some techniques that were stolen from Taki-nin…along with a list of notes for possible improvements. At her offer, Daisuke and his advisors shared a look. They were clearly interested.

After a moment of thinking it over Daisuke replied. "Their would need to be quite a few of them for us to consider letting the Bijuu go for even a decade, much less her life span." Assuming she wasn't killed, Fu could easily live for another six or seven decades. Much longer if she regularly saw a competent doctor…and the three that Fu happened to be friends with were beyond competent.

"I disagree" Jiriaya piped in for the first time. "I knew two of Fu's predecessors, and the girl herself obviously. Even if you can figure out how to recreate Fu's Jinchuuriki-related abilities, there is no guarantee that the Nanabi will cooperate. On the contrary, since the Nanabi is actually quite fond of Fu, there is a good chance that it will fight you and your new container every step of the way…if nothing else but to spite you."

Tsunade nodded and rose to her feet, gesturing for her shinobi, Fu included, to rise with her. "It's getting late so I'll let you think on what we have discussed. Our offer to barter some of our jutsu scrolls, for the remainder of Fu's life…at which point the Nanabi will be handed over to Takigakure. Oh-" Tsunade's eyes immediately narrowed. "-And any attempts to expedite your recovery of the Nanabi will be met with extreme prejudice. Good day gentlemen."

With that, the team from Konoha exited the room and the building.

In the end, victory wasn't that easy. Daisuke tried to ask for more than Tsunade thought Taki deserved. There were several incidents where threats were made but in the end, Taki conceded.

It was about that time that stories of a Giant Fox perched right next to the main (and only documented) entrance of Takigakure began spreading around. Accusations and accounts remain sketchy at best.

Naruto himself refused to comment on the rumor.

Eventually though, things with Taki settled down and the land new true peace…which is where things got confusing.

Since the founding of the shinobi villages, the land had never known true peace. Sure their was the 'fine I'm tired of fighting for (insert seemingly redundant reason here) I'm gonna go rebuild my numbers to fuck you up later'-peace. But TRUE PEACE?

That was unheard of. And many shinobi, especially old veterans, were having trouble adjusting. One might have had an easier time trying to explain to the late Danzo Shimura that he could actually trust another human being. The man would probably look at you as if you've grown a second head…which some may call a wee bit hypocritical of him, but whatever.

As one of the key players in bringing about this peace, Naruto was eager to make sure it lasted. Soon enough, he attained a position that would allow him to do just that. Three months after the Fourth Shinobi War ended, Naruto's dream was within his grasp…Tsunade declared him to be her successor. It was only a matter of time after all, Naruto was clearly one of the world's strongest ninjas, and that was without the Kyuubi. With the Kyuubi, only Kirabi (who's Bijuu provided him with power levels that nearly matched Naruto) and Fu (who's Bijuu granted her air superiority) could hope to match him.

However, unlike some villages that instituted a 'learn as you go' approach when dealing with a situation similar to Naruto's, Tsunade would not hand over the hat until she was one hundred percent sure that Naruto was ready for all the responsibilities that it entailed. Tsunade swore to see him there soon enough. Everything started for Naruto with a stint in ANBU. It was essentially a crash course in some of the most security sensitive roles a shinobi could be a part of. After about three months, Naruto became Tsunade's personal assistant…giving Shizune a much-needed vacation.

During that time, the newly formed team 7 had been officially disbanded and it's members separated. Kakashi went back to doing high profiled missions. Sakura rotated between being a combat medic and working part-time at the hospital. Sai, who had grown fond of his codename and decided to adopt it as his real name, eventually worked his way into ANBU as well…though he never worked with Naruto.

Fu herself ended up in a large pool of ninjas that had been 'orphaned' during the war. Tsunade, and some competent advisors, analyzed each of these individuals and formed squads out of them based on strengths and weaknesses. Fu ended up becoming a part of a four-man squad of other young ninjas. During this time, Fu's team, like Naruto, began rotating through different shinobi assignments: guard duty, recon, heavy assault, etc…

Soon enough though, the time came for Naruto to achieve his dream.

Jiraiya sat down on the chair offered to him, whilst giggling like the perverted schoolboy that most agreed he was. In place of his normal attire, he was dressed in a dark red kimono in celebration of the special day. "Yep…I'm awesome. No need to hold back on me, feel free to gush over my mad skillz."

"Can't believe a man your age used the word 'skillz'." Fu deadpanned from her seat across from the old Toad Sage. Fu herself was clothed in a western-style, black, cocktail dress that stopped just short of her knees…with a matching pair of heels.

"Quiet you! Don't you see how important this day is for me?"

Fu cocked an eyebrow. "You mean for Naru-kun?"

"No, I mean for me." Jiraiya emphasized. "Naruto is the second student that I trained who achieve the rank of Hokage. I'm obviously just that awesome."

Fu rolled her eyes, quickly glanced at the clock before burying her nose in her book. Naruto and Tsunade were currently talking with some council members, finishing up the final details that would get the blond Jinchuuriki instated as the Rokudaime. After that, there would be a small Ball in the new Hokage's honor. Unlike the inauguration, this would be a much smaller event with Naruto, a few people he invited, various Daiymos, and other VIPs. This had been the arrangement for most of the Hokages, Hashirama (who was still setting up the village and forming alliances) and Tsunade (who was still dealing with the fallout with Suna and Oto) being the only exceptions.

"So, you were around when Naruto's father became Hokage?"

Jiraiya nodded, "Yea. Kami, I'll never forget that day."

"Memorable?" she asked, casually flipping a page in her book.

"Yea, but not for the reasons you're probably thinking. During the after party, Kushina snuck under the table and started 'congratulating' Minato." The Toad sage laughed.

Fu just looked at him in shock. "She just went under the table and gave him a-"

"Oral commendation." He interrupted. "And she didn't just go under table, that would have been too noticeable, she used a Body Flicker to sneak under there. Anyway, while that was going on, he had various people come up to him wanting to shake his hand and congratulate him. He perfected his poker face that night, that's for damn sure." The old man grinned at the thought. While Jiraiya was lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice the naughty gleam in Fu's eyes. Otherwise, he probably would have squee-ed like a teenage otaku.

The ceremony would start in another hour.

-xXx-

Naruto, Tsunade and Shizune walked into the ballroom where the gala was set to take place in. The event in question seemed very high class, much more high class than Naruto was normally used too. On one side of the room was a dance floor that, amusingly enough, Ino seemed to own. On the other side of the room were the bar and the door that led to the kitchen. Thirty-two tables were in the center of the room. Each of the tables seemed big enough to fit about a dozen patrons, though most only had about eight or ten. A black tablecloth, which was long enough to reach the floor, covered each of the tables. His own table was apparently on the far end of the ballroom. At least he hoped it was his table, for that was where Fu was sitting, along with Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Sakura.

He was about to head over there when Tsunade stopped him. "Business before pleasure, kid." She gestured around the room. "Not everyone is here, but you gotta go around and greet everyone who is." She briefly turned towards Shizune. "Help him." With that, Tsunade headed towards their table.

Over the next thirty minutes Naruto greeted all the clan heads of Konoha - plus their families, various dignitaries from around the country, and even a few from other countries. Though Gaara, as Kazekage, wasn't able to make it, he had sent his sister to act as a diplomat from of Sunagakure. Temari, was the only foreigner currently there that Naruto knew by name and face…luckily he had Shizune there with him. She had all the names and positions of various VIPs down so well that Naruto assumed that she had a cheat sheet. He'd definitely need someone like Shizune, who would most likely retire with Tsunade, to be his assistant. Fu maybe? It probably would set a good precedent for a couple, especially one that would eventually restore a clan, to be seen in such a way…though he wondered if he could stay completely professional with his lover so close to him. The blond frowned at that thought. It would probably be a good idea for him to find someone else.

By the end, he finally found himself at his table, silently disappointed that only about half the room was full. He'd need to tear himself away to meet the rest of them later. When he arrived, Fu immediately stood up and embraced him. The blond reciprocated the act, enjoying the girl's scent for a moment. When they separated, he took in her sight. She had certainly grown since Naruto had first met her nearly three years ago. She grew a bit taller and through heavy training she had develop some slight muscle tone over the years, which gave her an Amazonian-esque quality. Her mint green hair was roughly the same length that it had been three years ago. The little black dress she wore revealed an ample amount of cleavage, while also showing of her long legs. After Fu took a step back, Sakura came in and gave him a hug. Kakashi (who despite the suit, was STILL wearing his mask) and Jiraiya followed shortly afterwards.

Naruto's seat was next to Fu, of course. After Fu was, in order: Jiraiya, Tsunade, Shizune, Kakashi and Sakura. Though, due to the size of the table, there was quite a large space, about one quarter of the table, between Naruto and Sakura. After greeting him, most of them went their separate ways…either heading towards the restroom or to greet someone. As he went to sit down, Fu immediately stood behind his chair, earning a confused blink from Naruto. "I think I'm supposed to do that for you."

The girl grinned, "Your special day, you get special treatment." The blond shrugged at the girl's logic, but let her have her way. As he sat down, Fu pushed the chair forward so that Naruto was right at the edge of the table, and then pushed him in further so that his lap was under the table and hidden by the tablecloth. As Naruto gave the girl another confused look, which was promptly ignored as Fu plopped down in her seat. "It's a beautiful celebration isn't it?" Suddenly, Fu stood up pointed towards the other side of the ballroom. "Hey Naruto, what's that?"

Naruto looked towards where Fu was pointing just in time to see her disappear in a small puff of smoke. The blond blinked at the girl's sudden exit. He glanced around the room for her, but only noted the bewildered looks from others who had noticed her departure. After a while, they quickly turned back to what they had been doing. The blond sighed, still wondering where his lover had gone at. Which is when he heard her voice, barely discernible due to the volume of the music.

"Naruto", Fu whispered.

Naruto's cocked an eyebrow when he noticed that it came under the table. He nearly pulled up the tablecloth to look under it when he felt her hands at the zipper of his pants. She then unzipped him. He was so shocked at her actions that he couldn't react when she reached her hand in to pull 'him' out. Feeling her hands on that part of his anatomy brought him out of his stupor. "What are you doing?" he whispered/hissed.

In response, she just shushed him. He then felt the familiar, and most enjoyable, sensation of her mouth engulf him.

The blond immediately went red in the face. And that was how Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Shizune found him. Jiraiya clapped him on the back before the three of them sat down. Naruto immediately looked away, trying to avoid eye contact with the others. "Where's your girl?" asked the oldest man at the table.

"Umm…bathroom?"

Tsunade cocked an eyebrow, "We just came from the bathroom; we didn't see her go in."

The blond felt his face heat up. "She…went to a different one…"

Tsunade and Shizune shared a look before mutually shrugging. Jiraiya's eyes were wide, the conversation of about an hour ago playing in his head. The old toad sage grinned to himself. "Hey kid, would you mind going to the bar and grabbing me a drink?"

Naruto's eyes widened, "Uh…later."

Jiraiya faked a frown, "Come on kid, can't you grab your old sensei a quick drink at the bar?"

Naruto had no idea how to react to the…situation. Luckily Tsunade intervened and smacked the older man over the head. "It's Naruto's special day, stop asking him to do stuff for you, you old lech. So go grab your own drink…and get one for me as well." The older man whimpered slightly, but complied with Tsunade's wishes.

Naruto relaxed for a bit when Jiraiya left…at least as much as can be expected considering what was going on under the table. "Naruto-sama."

The blond turned towards the sound of the voice, and saw Shion, the priestess of Demon Country. She looked as pretty as normal, wearing a modest, at least compared to most of the women in the room, purple kimono. "Shion-ah." The blond yelped when Fu's suction increased in strength. That wasn't too surprising…Fu wasn't exactly fond of Shion. Not that Fu was naturally a jealous woman mind you. The Nanabi Jinchuuriki absolutely adored Tsunade and Shizune and could say that she liked majority of the women in Naruto's life, and that list included ones that typically flirted with the young Kyuubi Jinchuuiki. However, when one of those women comes out and asks her boyfriend to father her child, Fu becomes understandably territorial.

Seeing that the blond wasn't going to get up to greet her, Shion leaned down and wrapped her arms around the blonde's neck. Naruto blushed at Shion's action. "I'm so happy for you." It didn't help that the priestess was now pressing her ample bosom against the young Hokage. When Shion pulled away, Naruto let out of a sigh of relief. It was at this time that Jiraiya returned, wearing a smile that could put a Cheshire cat to shame. The old man quickly handed his former teammate her drink, before sitting down and nursing his own. "So, how about a dance?"

Naruto's eyes widened, not sure how to respond. Unconsciously, he reached under the tablecloth and attempted to push his girlfriend away. His eyes widened, he was forced to repress a yelp, and he quickly pulled his hand away. She fucking pinched him. "Ummm…not now, I have something to speak with Ero-Sennin…I mean Jiraiya about."

"What thing?" Jiraiya asked.

Naruto nervously glanced towards the older man, "The…seal. I had a seal I wanted to talk to you about."

The Toad Sage shook his head. "No idea what you're talking about, and is this really the right time? Go and dance and be merry." Jiraiya ignored the glare Naruto was leveling him with. "And I would definitely do it before Fu gets back, I doubt she'll let go of you for most of the night."

Shion giggled, "That's true."

Naruto, no longer red but white as a ghost just smiled nervously at the young woman before him. "Promise I'll make time for youuu!" the blond groaned, "But I really need to speak with Jiraiya."

"Are you sure Naruto", Jiraiya continued, "Are you sure you can't just get up and dance with this lovely young woman?"

If looks could kill, Jiraiya would be so dead that he would come back to life just to die again. Shion just looked at the scene with a confused look on her face before nodding in acceptance. "I suppose this is one of those secret shinobi things I should accept. Well, just please do remember to make time for me, okay Naruto-sama?"

Naruto, still lost in a silent bliss, barely nodded as the priestess walked away from him. After she did, Jiraiya began giggling perversely to himself.

Tsunade was actually shooting glances between Jiraiya and Naruto. Since she had known what Kushina had done all those years ago at Minato's inauguration, it didn't take her long to figure out what was going on…and that Jiraiya had somehow put it in Fu's head. After taking a moment to run through a list of things she probably should do(as the boy's predecessor, mentor, adopted-sister), Tsunade opted to just sit back and enjoy watching the boy squirm. If he was going to become an effective leader, he sure as hell was going to need to deal with stressful situation, even with his head in a haze.

Shizune, like her mistress, was also looking at the situation with curious eyes. Unlike Tsunade though, she completely misinterpreted the situation. Shizune stood up and walked around the table to stand behind Naruto. During that time, Kakashi and Sakura returned to the table, the former humming along with the tune of the music. Which, unfortunately or fortunately (pending on who you ask) gave the girl hiding under the table the brilliant idea to join in. The new Hokage flinched and had to suppress a moan from escaping his lips. And then he felt a pair of hands fall onto his shoulders.

The boy turned to see Shizune behind him, looking at him intently. "Shizune."

"Shhh, try not to attract too much attention." Shizune's hands then began glowing a faint green color. "It wouldn't do for our new Hokage to show any sort of weakness." Having Naruto's back, which was currently being covered by Shizune, towards the majority of the other guests did wonders to keep what she was doing a secret from everyone. "You're temperature is normal", the young woman frowned, "but your heart rate is much higher than it should be, even if we were to allow some deviation for today's excitement." The green chakra around her hands dissipated, and she began kneading the boy's shoulders, earning a gasp from Naruto.

"What are you doing?" he asked, turning back towards Shizune.

Shizune, still oblivious to what was going on under the table, just gave him the a simply reply, "Trying to help you relax a little bit. Why are you so tense right now Naruto?"

Jiraiya giggled at the action and Tsunade shook her head in amusement. Kakashi just stared on in confusion, wondering if there was actually something wrong with the boy. Sakura had a similar look as Kakashi…but unlike Kakashi she was also doctor and medic-nin. "You need some help?"

"No!" Naruto hissed, surprising everyone except Jiraiya and Tsunade.

"Not so loud" Shizune chastised him, but didn't stop massaging him.

While that was going on, several tables away Hinata Hyuuga decidedly to randomly activate her Byakkugan. Two seconds later her head hit the table and she was unconscious.

"Shizune", Naruto groaned. "Please stop." He tried to grabbed her hands be she just batted them away.

"You need to relax a bit Naruto. You shouldn't be this tensed on your special day."

Naruto felt a strange vibration from downstairs, as if Fu was trying, and failing, her hardest to stop herself from giggling. 'She's fucking enjoying this!' Hell, if he weren't so worried about being caught by dozens of dignitaries, and if the woman who he thought of as an older sister would stop massaging his shoulders, he'd probably just sit back and enjoy it as well. Sadly, the thought of a possible scandal and being the subject of gossip didn't allow him to enjoy the feel of Shizune's surprisingly soft hands working on his shoulders, or the sensation of Fu's warm and moist mouth sliding up and down his 'Onoki and Both Scales'.

"You know, I should really teach you and Fu some of these techniques", Shizune mused. She frowned when she thought of where a couple massaging each other usually led to, "Not that I want to help you two with your love life-" Tsunade and Jiraiya both broke out giggling at that point. So lost in thought was she, that Shizune didn't notice them. Kakashi and Sakura were still confused. "-but it might help out in situations like these."

Naruto, once again, had to hold back a groan as Fu began massaging his thighs, thankfully, through his pants.

"Senpai", Sakura warned in a whisper, "Someone's coming to see Naruto."

Shizune pulled her hands away from Naruto, earning a sad whimper from the man in question, and walked back towards her seat. Before she left, she briefly whispered, "We'll talk more later."

Naruto lolled his head a bit, barely able to form coherent sentences.

"Naruto-kun."

Higher-level thinking immediately jumped started when he heard the voice of the next person. "Yukie!" He turned to see the Daiymo of Spring Country, Koyuki Kazahana standing before him. She was wearing a regal purple kimono. The woman smiled down at him and, like Shion before her, decided to lean over to hug the man who had once saved her life.

Naruto's face heated up at the action, but Koyuki didn't think that was enough. As she pulled away from the boy who had defended her from her psychotic uncle, she planted a soft kiss on his cheek. Naruto's eyes widened, not at the act, but at something else that was about to happen. The culmination of Fu's (mostly Fu) hard work, Shizune's massage, and two sexy women embracing him should have been obvious to anyone. In the end, Naruto's head simply fell against the table as he tried to regain his breath.

Tsunade and Jiraiya were both red, trying to keep their laughter contained. Shizune quickly got up and went to check up on the young blond, while Koyuki looked on in both fear and uncertainty. Sakura and Kakashi, were STILL confused.

Under the table, Fu placed 'Naruto' back where he belonged.

By the time Shizune reached him, Naruto's head shot up, "I'm fine!" he said, a bit to energetically. "How are you?"

Koyuki blinked a few times at the blond, but quickly dismissed the odd scene she just witnessed. "How about a dance?"

Shizune frowned, and looked about ready to deny Koyuki herself, but Naruto got up and took the actress' hand before she could. Hand in hand, the duo made their way to the dance floor. Shizune just sat back in her chair, still worried about the blond. "I really hope he doesn't overexert himself." Again, all at the table were oblivious to Jiraiya and Tsunade's giggles.

Sakura just shrugged. "It's Naruto, ya know. He can take anything."

After another moment, which was spent making sure that all eyes were actually on Naruto, and not on their table, Jiraiya casually knocked on the table…getting everyone's attentions. "You're clear, if you wanna join us."

At that point, Fu popped her head up from under the table and sat in her chair. Kakashi and Sakura's eyes widened. Tsunade, who already surmised what was going on, wasn't surprised at all. Shizune, who had finally connected the dots, was white as a ghost.

Fu looked around for a moment, and quickly found Naruto on the dance floor. "Wow…" her eyes were wide, "He told me about it, but I still can't believe Naruto-kun knows Yukie Fujikaze." This time, Shizune let her forehead drop against the table.

Let it be known that Icha Icha Poker Face was written three days later. However, because of...past events that Jiraiya refuses to touch upon, the Toad Sage never published it. He would simply lent it out to a few choice customers.

-xXx-

As the party came to an end, Naruto and Fu exited the building hand in hand. They turned once to wave goodbye to Tsunade and Jiraiya…who still had a shit-eating grin on his face. The moment the door closed behind them, Fu let go of Naruto's ran away giggling. With a predatory growl, the blond quickly followed his lover. The young woman ran all the way back to the apartment building they both shared, laughing and sending the blond shameless looks all the way home. Naruto decided quickly that he wouldn't let her get away with what she just pulled (no pun intended). Not by a fucking long shot.

Fu reached the apartment building first and hopped up the stairs three at a time…Naruto going by twos. When she reached their floor, she made a beeline towards their door and quickly turned around, pressing her back against the door. Naruto reached her a second later, slamming his hands on either side of her, giving the woman he loved a grin that spoke of untold things that he was about to subject her to. Fu looked back with a faux-coy look.

The blond growled again and reached won the top of her dress. Not having any visible pockets, the blond figured Fu was keeping any loose items she kept (i.d., cash and – more importantly – her house key) in a pouch she sometimes strapped under her right breast. On the way down, Naruto was a bit rough, earning a sharp gasp from the green-haired girl. He quickly found what he wanted though and pulled out a small silver key. Grinning at the girl, who was panting, Naruto unlocked and opened the door.

Before Fu could pull away, as was her intention to further tease the blond, Naruto grabbed Fu by her behind pulled her up and off her feet. In response, Fu giggled and wrapped her legs around the blonde's waist. Walking inside, Naruto kicked the door close and made his way to the bedroom the jinchuuriki couple shared. On the way, Fu started pressing butterfly kisses on the boy's forehead.

"Oooo, what's the big bad Hokage gonna do to me-Eeeep!" the girl yelped when Naruto dropped her on the bed. Naruto growled again, and crawled on top of her, grabbing both her hands and pinning them above her head. In response to her inquiry, Naruto just narrowed his eyes at the girl. Much to his chagrin, Fu giggled again and, in a childish voice, said, "Please have mercy."

The new instated Hokage leaned down to the girl's ear, "I'll have you begging by the end of the night", he said in a husky voice that sent a shiver down Fu's spine.

The girl turned back and replied, "I am all yours, Hokage-sama."

Naruto responded by leaning down and kissing the arch where her shoulder met her neck. He then went down an inch and kissed along her clavicle. The girl purred at each kiss.

The man then grabbed the top of Fu's dress and began pulling her dress down. First revealing her breasts, then her navel, and finally everything else. Fu helped him out at the end by kicking her heels off, revealing her naked feet to the blond. Looking down at his lover, he realized two things: the first was that Fu wasn't wearing any panties (which actually disappointed him, since he had wanted to personally deal with those) and the second was that she had done some 'landscaping' around her nether regions. That second thing might have disappointed him if she had gone completely bald; though he had heard that a lot of guys were into that, he actually loved that portion of Fu. Not only did it prove that her hair was naturally mint green, but he honestly found the color itself to be arousing…especially when it framed that part of her body. But no, Fu didn't shave it all off, instead she trimmed it down until it formed a neat and intricate spiral…the symbol of the Uzumaki clan. The clan they had both agreed to revive in the future. Naruto followed the green spiral around several times, being almost memorized by it.

For once, Fu seemed genuinely nervous. Seeing the look in Naruto's eyes, the girl timidly asked, "Do you like it?"

Face still leveled with her crotch, Naruto leaned down and kissed Fu in response. It took Fu a while to realize that Naruto DID in fact like what she had done. Admittedly it took her far longer to realize it than she was proud to admit. To be fair it was probably because she didn't care too much about the question at the time.

Naruto and Fu went for well over five hours that night…using a number of high-level jutsu to enhance the experience…something they were forbidden to admit to doing.

Though Naruto never did follow through with his promise to make Fu beg, they would later agree that that was the best night they spent together.

By the end, they just lay their, bodies entwined. Naruto had his face buried in Fu's hair, admiring the sweet smell of her hair (she actually found a mint-scented shampoo), which was mixed with the smell of their sweat and carnal activities. Naruto watched his and Fu's hand, their fingers laced. Fu moaned and rubbed her face against Naruto's chest, taking in his scent. "What are you doing?" she asked, staring at him with orange eyes.

"Just thinking."

The girl yawned, "You should get to sleep, I imagine Tsunade-shishou is going to have a lot of work for you tomorrow."

The blond grunted in response.

Fu looked up and raised herself on her elbows. "What are you thinking about?"

"Just everything that's happened the last few years", he replied, looking into the girl's bright orange eyes. "How lucky I was to find you."

The Nanabi Jinchuuriki grinned and leaned forward to kiss Naruto on the lips. When they separated, the Fu gave him a loving smile "I adore you."

The blond smiled and, actually, blushed. Considering everything they did that night, he really had no reason to blush. "You know…" Naruto did a quick hand seal, with a puff of smoke something appeared in his hand. He quickly hid it behind Fu's back so she couldn't see what it was. "For a while, I thought I'd try and come up with some silly way to do this, something romantic ya know…"

Sensing what was coming, Fu's eyes widened.

Naruto looked down at the girl, bathed in silvery moonlight, "But you…I honestly can't think of a more perfect moment than now." He pulled his hand forward, and Fu's eyes lit up when she saw the small black box. Naruto sat up and flipped the box open. He stared down at the woman he loved with longing eyes. "Marry me."

The girl looked down at the gold band with wide eyes. Not able to form coherent sentences, the girl just, shakily, presented Naruto with her hand. In response, the blond smiled and placed the wedding band over her left ring finger. Shakily, and still not sure what to say, Fu briefly stared at her hand before switching to his face, her fiancé's face.

Naruto grinned and leaned down to catch Fu's lips with his own. And just like that, the spell was broken. Fu immediately leaned into the kiss and crawled onto Naruto's lap. They each explored the other's mouths, enjoying the battle of tongues. They stayed like that for several minutes, neither wanting to separate from the other. When they finally did separate, they were left panting.

When he regained control of his breathing, Naruto looked upon his lover, seeing the tears rolling down her eyes. "Fu…"

She didn't let him finish, instead she just pulled him close again and began nibbling on his lips whilst grinding herself against him once more.

Feeling his body react towards hers, he smiled and, before capturing her lips again, just said, "So is that a yes?"

~Epilogue~

Peace amongst the shinobi nations lasted for nine long years…sadly all good things must come to an end and soon some trouble started up again. Though it upset Naruto, he'd be lying if he said it was completely unexpected. After five years, the old Tsuchikage finally passed away. Though the other kages tried to negotiate with Onoki's successor, it ended up being all for naught. The great five nations shifted, and by the ninth year Konoha and Suna were the only nations that still acknowledged the treaty that ended the Fourth Great Shinobi War. Perhaps the Five hadn't developed a close enough camaraderie, as Naruto had initially believed. In the end, it didn't really matter though. If it came down to it, he would fight. He had a family now, he could be expected to do no less.

Naruto looked up from his bowl of ramen to stare at his wife of nearly nine years. Though he himself looked much the same, she had allowed her hair to grow out to the middle of her back. A little over a year after they got married, Fu gave birth to two beautiful children: a boy and a girl. That had been an interesting ten months (standard for a pregnant Jinchuuriki). Insects around the village had acted odd, especially during the two days that she had been in labor.

The oddest were the kikaichu of the Aburame clan, who absolutely refused to work during that time. During other such situations, the bugs could communicate any such issues with a series of buzzing and flight maneuvers. Those days the kikaichu had translated the kikaichu version of, 'go fuck yourself', to there hosts….The Aburame were still thinking over the implications.

The problems cleared up when the Fu finally gave birth after forty-seven hours of pain and cursing Naruto out.

After mothering them for two long years, she eventually went back to active duty as a full time guard for the village. Though some cried foul when the Hokage's wife got a nice safe, relatively speaking of course, position in the village, most agreed that having someone who could fly—watching the borders—was a good idea.

It was then that the door to his office slammed open and two balls of, what Naruto assumed literal, energy rushed through sat down next to their parents. Though they both had a mock pout, they each quickly reached for their respective bowls without much of a fuss. Mako, the boy, had his mother's green hair and her orange eyes, but otherwise looked much like Naruto himself did, minus the whiskermarks of course. Likewise, Shiori, their daughter, looked like Fu herself and, like her brother, had the same orange eyes. The funny thing was that she seemed to inherit the same red hair that was apparently a trait of the Uzumaki clan.

Naruto turned to the group at the door. The tallest figure, the jounin of the team, actually looked on in amusement. "Thanks Konohamaru…though honestly I expected you here a little earlier." Three pairs of eyes glared at the blond man's words. Konohamaru's genin team, looked burned (especially the kunoichi), bruised, beaten up, one of them smelled like urine, and had their clothes torn at various places.

It should be noted that, 'Retrieving the Hokage's Children' replaced 'Catch Tora the Cat' as the most hated mission amongst the genin of Konoha.

Deciding to speak with his 'boss' later, Konohamaru quickly gestured his team to follow him, though not before offering his rival a thumbs up, which Naruto reciprocated. When the team left, he turned towards his children and asked, "Why were their clothes burned?" Singed clothing was new.

His son shrugged nonchalantly, "I put a snake in Keiko's pack."

Naruto blinked in confusion, "A snake?"

"The fireworks kind" Mako quickly made clear. "Not the rep-rep…not the lizard kind."

"Reptile." His mother quickly corrected.

Mako nodded, "Yea, not the reptile kind."

Naruto nodded, "And, why did one of them smell like urine."

"Suzaku followed me", Shiori began, with no small amount of amusement in her voice, "through the Inuzuka training ground while they were showing their dogs to aim their pee."

Naruto snorted at that. "You got the Inuzuka clan members to take shots at him?"

Shiori shook her head, "No, they did that on their own. Kiba-san said it was good practice."

'Only Kiba…' the blond thought, shaking his head. As Naruto looked over at his family, eating peacefully, he honestly found himself at peace.

"Hey Naru-kun-" The Hokage turned towards his wife, "-your birthday's coming up and I was wondering if their was something special you wanted?" His children actually turned to look at him when she asked that.

Naruto smiled at the question. "This is going to sound super corny, but I honestly don't think I could ask for more."

Fu smiled back, "You're right, it does sound corny."

The both leant towards each other and, ignoring the 'ewwws' from their Mako and Shiori, kissed.

A/N: I've actually been working on this one for a long time. The basic premise remained the same, though I deleted a bunch of scenes, added some others. Got stuck in a funk for a while because I couldn't come up with the one scene I needed to finish it up.

Hope it turned out alright…I guess you guys will let me know.

I honestly had no intention of writing this, despite the large amount of followers I had for it. However, one reviewer mentioned that the story isn't over until Naruto is Hokage and he has kids raising hell around Konoha...so I decided to run with that.

One last Omake, since we can't have too much Jiraiya.

Omake #1 : Jiraiya borrows Tsunade's stamp

"Hokage-sama wants me to dance around topless for you?" the blond woman asked skeptically.

Jiraiya nodded, "That's what it says on the scroll. Look, there's the Hokage's Seal and everything."

The blond looked down at the scroll, noting that the Hokage's Seal was indeed at the bottom of it. Still… "And what purpose would a 'mission' like this serve?"

The old Toad Sennin's shrugged at the woman in front of him, "Sweetie, like you, I'm just a soldier. I don't pretend to know what our leaders were thinking when they assigned us this mission, but I trust that they had underlying reasons that I can't quite understand without being able to see the bigger picture."

The mint-haired bombshell slowly nodded.

Jiraiya grinned and turned back to the other young lady in the room. He grabbed another scroll out of his pocket and tossed it to her. "And Tsunade-sama really wants these kinks worked out of my neck and shoulders."

The second women nodded as she read off the order in the scroll. "Alright…"

The retribution that Tsunade would carve out of his ass, for stealing her stamp and using it for such perverted reasons, would be colossal. So Jiraiya figured that'd he make it as worthwhile as humanly possible. "Oh and don't be afraid to call your friend here a dirty girl."

-x-

(1) Jiraiya never fought Pein in this story, so Nagato never had to replace the first Animal path. Hence, man not girl.