[A/N]Hey all, Tek again! My deepest apologies for the long delay… this thing has had me entirely stumped for a while since I finished my one-shots. However, I'm back on the assembly line, so here comes Chapter 11! I owe my friend Ace6151 a lot for helping with brainstorming for this chapter, which is being turned into my first ever Christmas Special! :).

In addition, this chapter contains a rather… special character never seen before. The next few chapters are going to be dedicated to her arrival in Konoha.

He has TONS of ideas for new stories, and they're all up for adoption:
( forum/Original-Characters /118194/)
( forum/Plot-Bunnies /118331/)
( forum/Original-Powers-and-Abilities /118859/)

Make sure to pay his pages a visit if you're interested! ^_^

Additionally, I've added another side of the story for this chapter and the next; as such, I'm setting up a legend for which character uses which symbol:
Naruto: ~Speaks like this~
Hinata: -Speaks like this-
Guren: +Speaks like this+
Sunako: *Speaks like this*

Now, because you've been waiting for so long for this, let's get on with our standard fare. Once again, if you're going to review, PLEASE make an account so I can properly reply to you. They're free to make, last I checked, so you don't have to pay for anything. ^_^ [A/N]

~~~ IN THE SHIROHARE HOTEL, CENTRAL NAMI NO KUNI RESORT DISTRICT ~~~

After their early dalliance with breakfast, Naruto and Hinata rose from the floor and cleaned up quickly. After all, they had a night out to enjoy. After a long shower to get the excess bacon grease and maple syrup out of his hair and face, Naruto dressed allowed Hinata to take a quick shower herself… but not without a playful pinch on the rear, which made her giggle like a school girl. Naruto couldn't recall the last time since their wedding that she'd acted that way. He hoped there was some chance for a little bed play in the not-so-distant future for both of them; he had a LOT to make up for, especially the issue of Guren gate crashing their wedding and trying to kill her.

He slowly dressed as she cleaned up, leaving his shirt and tie for last. They didn't NEED to dress up for what he had planned, but it was just as well that they did. They WERE important people.

When Hinata stepped out of the bathroom in nothing but a towel, she was treated to the sight of Naruto slowly slipping on a dress shirt. She smiled and walked over to him when he missed a button.

"H-Hina-chan?" he asked, smiling when she started undoing the buttons. As she spoke, she kept her eyes on his shirt.

"Don't get me wrong, Naru-kun," she said with a grin, "I'm the Hokage's wife. I can't let you go out with a button undone. However… I still think you look MUCH better with it OFF." She looked up from his neck when she finished buttoning the shirt and gave him a playful smile.

He smiled and said, "Ah, Lady Hokage, your wish is my command. Would you like it off before… or after our night out?" The teasing tone in his voice almost set Hinata to tearing his shirt back off and insisting they spend their night out as a night in instead, but she held back. There'd be time for that after.

"Hmmm…" she cooed, kissing his cheek equally teasingly, "How about DURING AND AFTER?" Naruto's grin widened as he reached down to lock his lips to hers for the briefest of moments. She pulled away and sauntered off to get her own clothing together for the night. Naruto was now the one treated to a wonderful sight.

From not even five feet away, Naruto watched as his beautiful wife dropped her towel, pulled a slim-fitting, red body-suit off the bed and slowly slipped into it. Naruto almost felt his suit soak from the copious amounts of drool coming out of his mouth; Hinata pulled the suit on from the feet up and slid the fabric slowly up her body until it wrapped around her generous bust. The fabric seemed to struggle against the size of her bust as she zipped it closed around her neckline. After this, he felt a small pulse of chakra come from her body, and he watched as the legs of her suit changed to become flesh-like. Soon, her arms and legs were once again skin-colored, while the rest of her appeared to be covered in nothing more than a figure-hugging red dress with shoulder straps. Naruto didn't need to use his eyes to know that Hinata was intending, essentially, to walk about on their night out in nothing more than underwear… and it sent his mind into the gutter.

Over her "legs", Hinata pulled on a pair of stockings, and she put on a pair of elbow-length black, lace gloves. She absolutely REFUSED to wear high-heeled shoes unless they were making love, so she wore simple slipper-like shoes. Naruto smiled and took her hand when she came over to tie his tie for him.

"With everything that's happened recently, with our wedding and the attack, where did you find the time to special-order these?" he asked, grinning with half-lidded eyes when she gave him a suggestive look.

"I felt like giving you a SPECIAL gift for our honeymoon. As long as you don't mention that I'm essentially wearing glorified underwear and nothing else while we're in public, no one will know!" she replied, returning his half-lidded grin with one of her own while draping her arms over his shoulders. He chuckled.

"Won't people notice that your "skin" doesn't crease the way it normally does?" he asked, somewhat suspiciously. She shook her head.

"Nope, it's made of a special chakra-conductive material that casts a genjutsu. YOU and I know that I'm not wearing anything underneath this… but no one else will unless you say something, because to the naked eye, I'm wearing a sexy dress with who knows what underneath. They'd NEVER guess I'm walking around almost nude." Naruto smiled.

"I don't want to ruin the mood… but what are my chances tonight?" he asked hesitantly. She smiled and kissed him.

"That depends on how tonight goes," she said pointedly, "If things go well, your chances are astronomically superb. If not… Well, let's just say you'll be spending the night freezing on the couch, and I'll be nice and cozy warm in the bed with all those covers. And, if I get to hear more of your story before we go to bed… well, your chances go up in spades." Naruto grinned.

"Excellent," he said, "I'll be off the couch tonight." Hinata gave him a smile and half-nodded.

"I'd say you've got a decent shot tonight, yes," she responded, "But for now, don't you think we should actually go OUT if we're going to have our night OUT?" Naruto nodded, gently slapping his head.

"Let's be off then, shall we?" he asked. He took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze as they went to the door. Naruto discreetly swiped the room key from her purse on the way out and slipped it into his wallet. This, he thought, was going to be payback for swiping that sock before they left Konoha.

The two left the hotel and went around the growing economic metropolis that had become of Nami no Kuni. There were so many more buildings and businesses open now than there had been thirteen years ago… in fact, there were now so many of them that they were crowding each other in places. In fact, despite there being a specifically designated "gourmet district", with every type of restaurant imaginable embedded within, not even fifty feet from their hotel, the street around them was littered with tiny little one-stop diners and sports bars. Together, the two newlywed lovers made their way to the Gourmet District and sat down in one of the fancier restaurants. They placed their orders and sat waiting for about ten minutes before their appetizers came. Naruto was highly impressed with the speed of the staff's service. Hinata was soon impressed too; the flavor of the food made her tongue come alive from all the flavors.

About an hour later, after ordering another entrée each AND desert, the newlyweds pulled themselves from their seats and made to leave. Naruto happily paid the entire meal, and the two went to a theatre in the "Entertainment District". It was called this because, for some ungodly reason, those in charge had decided to group adult entertainment in with family entertainment and kid's only entertainment. So what one saw was an unholy amalgamation of strip clubs, casinos, book stores, theaters and children's playgrounds that would make even the most stalwart man weep. It was just… so… demented. It was bad enough to drive monks to drink.

They managed to pick their way through the porn theaters and strip joints to find ONE theater that was playing something both wanted to see: an action movie with a romantic sub-plot between the hero and a princess. The movie was good and very entertaining… or, it would have been if there hadn't been couples sitting to every side of them, either making out or making love. Naruto shook his head. Had they found their way into a porn theater after all, or were these people just horribly confused? As the quarter mark of the movie rolled onto the frame, a tender embrace gave way to what could only be described as "hot monkey love." Naruto shook his head and looked over at Hinata to tell her they were going off in search of a REAL theater when he noticed her face turning blood red. The way she was breathing with her mouth open almost made her look like she was breathing steam. It didn't take long for him to understand what was going on; when she dove between his legs and opened his pants, he resigned himself to taking part, whether he wanted to or not.

The movie ended nearly an hour after they went in, and when the nearly empty theater emptied out, Naruto was walking with a bit of a limp. Hinata, on the other hand, had a beaming grin on her face, coupled with a deep red blush and three small lines of "Naruto Sauce" running from the corners of her mouth; no matter how much he pleaded with her, she refused to clean it away.

Hinata stopped just long enough for Naruto to catch up with her. When he did, she hooked her arm in his and led him around with that same beaming grin growing broader by the second. Naruto, as happy as he was, was looking back and forth, as if hoping something would happen soon.

About five minutes into their walk, as if on cue, it began to gently snow. Naruto and Hinata both quietly sighed in relief, while everyone else around them either spun in circles voicing amazement, or standing still in abject shock and bewilderment.

It shouldn't have been snowing at all… IT WAS THE MIDDLE OF JULY.

'THANK KAMI,' Naruto thought, 'Took her long enough! What'd she do, fly in from the moon or something?'

'THANK KAMI,' Hinata thought, 'what the hell took her so long? Did she have to make a trip through Kumogakure to get here or something?'

Quite some distance away, suspended between two trees by a self-camouflage platform of ice, Haku sat with her legs crossed, gently weaving her Hyoton chakra through the air of Nami no Kuni to make it gently snow. She'd only been asked to do this the one time, and only for a little while due to how exhausting it was to use THAT much chakra. However, the more she thought about doing this for her leader and his wife… The more the desire to do more grew.

Unfortunately, once her desires grew, so did the force behind her actions. In mere seconds, the flow of her chakra intensified, causing the light dusting of snow from the sky to become a gale-force, hurricane-level snow storm. Civilians ran in terror or got blow into buildings, while the shinobi capable of stopping the storm did their level best to do JUST that, only to ultimately fall short a matter of seconds later. Naruto sighed; Haku had lost control once again.

Using his eyes quickly, he began transporting as many of the surrounding people as he could into The Dimension, then back out and into the hotels nearby. Meanwhile, Hinata locked around for something she could use to stop Haku before anything else went wrong. Locating a set of small rocks nearby that had nearly frozen solid, Hinata used a bit of her power to float the rocks to her hands, where a short burst of Fuuton chakra turned them into sharp projectiles. With one good glance at Haku's hidden location, Hinata took to the air with a strong leap and sent the sharpened stones flying through the fierce winds, guided by her chakra, straight through several key locations in Haku's platform. This, in turn, caused it to shatter and give way, sending Haku tumbling to the ground. As soon as she hit the ground on her head, the winds and snow ceased altogether. Haku stood and vanished. Hinata nodded solemnly; Haku had felt her silent warning of impending doom and had taken off before anything happened.

Soon after, Naruto left the hotel to check the conditions and saw Hinata standing in the road, nodding slowly while facing towards the hotel. He slowly rotated her neck to one side to catch his glance. Naruto immediately strolled to her side, took her hand in his own, and walked her back through the district to reach their hotel. Despite both getting what they'd wanted, both considered having called Haku in for aide a complete failure.

Once back, Naruto sank into the couch with a worried look on his face. Hinata strolled over, slipping out of her body suit and into a nightgown as she approached. As she sat on his lap, she moved the bottom hem of her nightgown over her head and squeaked in surprise when Naruto's arms clasped around her back to pull her flush against him. The gown was still over her eyes, which did nothing to protect Hinata from a surprise kiss… not that she was really complaining. After a minute of passionate kisses, Naruto pulled away and pulled the gown down, helping her dress. She smiled coyly and kissed his nose.

"I thought you wanted me out of my clothes?" she asked, feigning shyness. Naruto smiled and kissed her neck gently.

"I did… but your skin feels really cold," he said, "If you stay undressed, you may catch cold… and what fun could we possibly have on our honeymoon is my honey under the moonlight isn't at her best?" He smiled as Hinata melted into his arms and kissed his cheek.

"When did you get so romantic?" she asked happily.

"When we started dating behind everyone's backs," he replied with a kiss to her ear. She shivered and cuddled closer as Naruto reached for the other side of the couch and grabbed a blanket. Soon, they were carefully wrapped in the fluffy article, and getting quite warm.

Hinata smiled warmly as she said, "Can you continue with the story, Naruto? We were just finishing up the mission to Nami."

Naruto nodded and hummed a short tune before replying, "Yes indeed… I think we left off the day we were leaving…"

_
CHAPTER 11A: A NIGHT ON THE TOWN & A SPECIAL START

OP: "RE:MEMBER" - FLOW

~ It had been a rough couple weeks for all of us, but finally it was time to go back home. I was still kind of shocked that despite all that had happened, they still wanted to name Tazuna-san's bridge after me… ~

The day after Tsunami and Inari finished off Gato and guaranteed he would never rein over Nami no Kuni again, Team Kurenai set out for Konoha with Zabuza and Haku in tow. The townspeople had gathered and decided to name the bridge after Naruto in honor of his bravery, strength and force of will… despite the fact that the boy's ravenous hunger had nearly eaten their town to pieces.

The initial trip into the forest outside of Nami was a simple trek, and luckily, no bandits or assassins were about looking for a quick headhunt. By the time night had fallen, the group of six had made it half-way through the forest and had set up camp in a small glen for the night. Kurenai set up s small array of seal talismans to project an illusory barrier around the campsite; this ensured that if anyone DID stumble upon them, they'd have sufficient warning. After a quick dinner of wild tiger stew and whatever emergency rations Hinata and Shino had left, Naruto struck up conversation with Zabuza, asking him if he could teach him the Kirigakure technique, which the taller man readily agreed to. Haku set about attempting to make amends with Hinata for keeping her away from Naruto's battle, and despite their earlier animosity, the two girls managed to get along quite well.

Meanwhile, Shino had slunk off to check on his hive, leaving Kurenai alone to evaluate the situation. Left alone with no one to talk to and only her thoughts for company, Kurenai did the one thing that had gotten her so far along in her career: allowing her eyes to wander from one person to another, she set about analyzing everyone in the clearing with her.

'Alright,' she thought, moving her eyes first to the only other females in the group, 'Hinata is due for a new analysis. She's definitely proven herself to be a ferocious adversary in battle, if what she did to that one thug in the forest is any hint…' Kurenai shuddered violently as she remembered the one man in question… Hinata had simply activated her Byakugan, walked up to the man in question and tapped a string of points along his waist, then sliced at him with a flat hand. She'd then used his upper body as a ball and kicked it up into a tree, where it had become impaled on a sturdy branch. From there, gravity had done its own work and the man's severed lower body, having held on by only a few loosened muscles fibers before the kick, finally gave up the ghost and separated from the rest of him, falling to the ground in a useless heap.

'ENOUGH KURENAI, DO NOT TRAUMATIZE YOURSELF!' she screamed at herself, clamping her eyes shut tightly to try and shut out the image. A couple seconds later, she reopened her eyes and continued, 'Hyuuga Hinata: a sleeping dragon locked inside the body of a lamb. At first glance, there's nothing to her, but given proper motivation or undue provocation, and she will not hesitate to make cream cheese out of an opponent. Full potential is yet to be realized, but it seems no real work will be needed to raise her abilities to another level."

Moving her gaze to the girl next to Hinata, Kurenai thought, 'Next is Yuki Haku… This one seems nearly as fearsome in battle as Hinata, though a little rough around the edges; it appears she is unable to control her desires for extended periods of time and has little to no knowledge of anything of a sexual nature, save for how to sate herself when the urge gets too strong. She possesses a very strong Kekkei that grants her control over ice and snow and is an apprentice to Momochi Zabuza. Potential threat level: high. Potential ally level: high. Chance of turning against us depends solely on whether or not Zabuza does.'

She then moved on to the man himself, giving him a piercing stare as she thought, 'Momchi Zabuza, nuke-nin turned Konoha ally. Formerly the Demon of the Mist, he has a high degree of suiton techniques, as he should for his ex-home nation is known for it. He is also a master of swordplay, particularly zanbatou swordsmanship. He seems to be quite amiable with anyone he can use, or bests him in combat. He doesn't seem to possess a Kekkei himself. Potential threat level: extremely high. Potential ally level: extremely high.'

At this, her gaze shifted to Naruto, and her mind stopped. She considered him for a moment before thinking, 'Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto, a mystery wrapped in an ever expanding enigma. Initial analysis still proves true; this boy is chock-full of hidden talents, tricks and surprises. His latent abilities continue to become stronger by the day, and his endurance in the face of exceedingly high obstacles is noteworthy. He may very well wind up becoming the one who carries the team on his back soon. Overall potential and power levels are unknown, but continuously growing. He may very well achieve his goal of being the Hokage.'

Kurenai nodded slowly and got off her seat to pull up her sleeping bag and curl up inside. Inside of a few minutes, the red-eyed illusion mistress was sleeping like a baby. A short time later, the others followed her examples and settled in for bed. The last to fall asleep was Zabuza, who insisted on remaining awake to keep watch, though he passed out several hours after the others, and it was roughly midnight before his drowsiness took him.

~ I was actually kind of shocked when I woke up later… you definitely surprised me, Hina-chan. ~

- . . . I already apologized for that, though! -

~ I know… I just find it cute, and can't help but bring it up . . . ~

An hour later, Naruto awoke to a rustling sound in his bag, as well as a foreign body. He turned slightly and fund himself face-to face with a sleeping Hinata. His face reddened considerably, and his body heated up as blood pumped through his veins at a heightened level. He blinked several times for confirmation, finding himself unable to rub his eyes to check because they were pinned to his sides by her arms. He stayed perfectly still until several minutes later Hinata stirred next to him. Naruto watched her eyes flutter open slowly, and as realization set in, Hinata began to blush and opened her mouth as if to scream. Naruto managed to move enough that he extricated his arms from her grasp, flipped them over, and pinned her down with one hand over her mouth. She looked up into his eyes and saw worry. Her own pale orbs were glazed with horror and fright, and she felt a faint coming on.

"Hinata-chan, I'm going to take my hand away," he said, "And when I do, I want you to calmly explain what happened here, OK?" Hinata steeled herself and nodded slowly, and as Naruto moved away, she breathed a sigh of relief. However, what was strange to her was that her sigh also held hints of… frustration and disappointment. She hated to admit It to herself, but she had wanted him to hold her down and do whatever he wanted. Despite him moving away, she felt relieved; maybe he wasn't that kind of person, regardless f what the villagers said about him. She saw Naruto motion for an explanation, and took a deep breath. It was now or never, and there was no margin for error now; fainting and poking her fingers together wouldn't cut it.

In a single moment of blind courage, Hinata grabbed Naruto's hand and led him outside of the illusion barrier, and into a small clearing not too far away. She stood behind a tree, still holding his hand tight in her own, and said it.

~ It amazed me how brave you were to admit that to me, Hina-chan. You were always so shy, but scary when you were mad… I never thought you'd actually come out and tell me. ~

"I LOVE YOU NARUTO UZUMAKI!"

Naruto's eyes exploded from his head. It was all he could do to keep his mouth from dropping into the bedrock below. He wasn't sure how to react until Hinata jumped forward and wrapped her arms around him tight.

"That's why I was so scared when you lost consciousness and lost my mind when you burned away. Those three days without you around were hell on earth for me; your being here always makes me strive to be better. I'm sorry if this is too much for you to handle right now, but I… I just couldn't stay without saying it for one more moment. My feelings for you have been eating at me for so long…" Hinata said, taking gasping breaths of air in between gentle sobs. She wasn't so surprised when Naruto gripped her shoulders lightly and pushed her away; it just meant he didn't feel the same way for her, and she'd been expecting that outcome.

What did surprise her was Naruto pulling her back into his arms and kissing her square on the lips.

- You really made an impression on me you know. We're only twelve years old and you're going for a more mature kiss? -

~ I wanted it to be special for you. I wasn't going to hurt you, after all. ~

Hinata's eyes widened comically at the contact between their lips, but she did nothing to stop him or resist. After all, why should she when the boy of her dreams was granting her second-greatest wish? Her eyes slowly closed, her arms sealed around his back, and her right leg slowly lifted into the air, bent at the knee at ninety-degrees and her standard-issue open-toed boot flew off into the leaves.

For as much as she never wanted the moment to end, she sighed a bit in disappointment when Naruto slowly pulled away. Naruto smiled.

"We don't have to stop. If you want to, we can keep going," he said innocently. Hinata's eyes brightened and she nodded happily. Naruto smiled and sat them down against the tree. Before Naruto could say a word, Hinata's lips were on him, kissing him harder than a 12-year-old would know how. Naruto didn't let it bother him, though, and returned her emotions with his own.

~ That kissing session was fun. But what truly shocked me was what you said next. ~

After three minutes of passionate kisses, Hinata pulled away and said, "Y-you can touch me if you want, Naruto-kun… just…" Naruto looked her in the eyes, confused.

- . . . I-I don't know what came over me there… -

~ But you were so CUTE when you said it! ~

"Y-you can t-touch over my clothes… and you c-can touch wherever you want… j-just not under my clothes yet…" she continued, building up her courage, "A-and… p-please don't hold b-back… b-be as r-rough as you want…" Naruto's eyes nearly popped out of his head as he nodded dumbly and embraced her again, kissing her and running his hands slowly up and down her back. At a slight moan, Naruto nodded.

~ I really didn't know how far you wanted to go. I was just going on instinct. ~

Hinata pulled away and tuned around so she sat facing into the woods with her back against his chest. Naruto took the hint and took his chin in one hand, then slowly turned her head up so he could kiss her again. As soon as their lips touched, Hinata tried to take control of their situation by pressing her tongue against his mouth. She wasn't prepared for Naruto's response; instead of simply allowing her access, he opened his mouth and sent his tongue into her mouth. Hinata blinked once in surprise at the sudden turn of events, but relaxed into his arms as their tongues danced in her mouth.

Hinata squeaked in surprise when she felt Naruto's free hand press against her sweater, and gave a somewhat strangled yelp when he squeezed the fabric. She squealed in shock when his hand found the zipper and pulled it down, then pushed her forward just enough to loosen her sweater around her shoulders to allow him better access. With her hands still inside the sleeves at the wrists, the sweater nestled into the space between Hinata's rear and Naruto's lap, effectively trapping her arms behind her back. She squirmed, trying fruitlessly to free her hands as Naruto's hand snaked its way over her mesh top to gently rub and squeeze her budding chest. She moaned softly, the feeling of his hand on her body, even if it WAS over her clothes, sending sparks throughout her body.

Hinata's face carried a multitude of shifting emotions: fear that someone would find them, bliss at being in her Naruto's arms, pleasure from his touch, and a careless smirk that seemed to say she didn't care if they were found. The hand that had moved her head to meet his left as her right arm hooked around the back of his neck and the other hand rested on his cheek.

Naruto's hand worked its way down her clothing to her pants; it ran slowly and carefully over the cloth on her legs. She gasped silently as his fingers dipped briefly, and accidentally, between her legs on several occasions, but couldn't help but feel her body react to the stimulus he unknowingly delivered. She felt a wet spot develop on her panties, which, fortunately, Naruto hadn't touched yet. She gasped and shivered when his fingers slipped underneath her pants to touch her thighs. Hinata sucked in a long, deep breath as electric shocks shot from the points of contact all the way to her brain. Her eyes went wide as his hand trailed over her legs and onto her panties, where he took one feel of the wet cloth and removed his hand. She watched as his fingers entered her field of vision and spread to reveal a sticky web of fluid forming between his digits.

~ I didn't realize I was arousing you at the time… and I don't even know what led me to do what I did next. ~

Naruto looked at the sticky fluid clinging to his fingers and looked down at Hinata to see her head bowed in embarrassment. A deep crimson blush, deeper and redder than any she'd ever had, adorned her face, and her breath had hitched into sighing pants. His mind ground to a halt as realization hit him, and his hand shot under her pants again. She gasped audibly as his fingers soared over her moistened underwear again and again, rubbing the smooth fabric, and the lips of her womanhood below. Hinata's voice came out in garbled gasps and moans as Naruto continued touching her, and soon the full effect of his actions showed through. He gasps gave way to euphoric moans as years of desire and frustration were slowly worked out of her system by Naruto's inexperienced, yet deft fingers. However, she knew it wasn't the right time for him to see this side of her. However, his hands felt so good that she just couldn't work up the voice to make him stop.

Soon after, Hinata gave a strangled cry as she did another thing she'd thought would be impossible; JUST before Naruto could bring her to the point of no return, she used her hands to push away from him and landed several feet away, face down in the dirt with her hands behind her back and her panties soaked. If the wrong person had walked in and seen the situation, they'd have suspected the young man of rape.

For several agonizingly long minutes, Naruto sat in place, staring at the ground where Hinata had just been, unable to understand why she'd broken away from him. On the other hand, Hinata didn't move as she breathed in long pants and tried desperately to control her aching body. Soon, after several deep, ragged breaths, she steeled herself and slowly rose to her feet. Naruto was inadvertently treated to the sight of Hinata straightening her clothing and pulling up her pants slowly, as if to entice him. He rose also, straightening his clothes as they walked back to the camp. Along the way, he reached over, took her hand in his, and gave it a gentle squeeze. Hinata jumped when he did so, but smiled and relaxed as she pulled closer to him and rested her head against his shoulder.

When they returned to the camp through Hinata's careful use of her eyes, they climbed back into Naruto's sleeping bag and fell asleep in each other's arms. As Naruto lost consciousness, he found himself thinking that it was very comfortable being next to Hinata. Neither noticed the subtle change taking place in Hinata's eyes that night.

The next morning Kurenai awoke before the others and went on high alert when she discovered Hinata wasn't in her sleeping bag. However, after a couple quick seconds of searching, she relaxed and smiled happily when she found the missing girl in Naruto's bag.

"It would seem they're trying to comfort each other," called the voice of Shino from a tree several feet away. Kurenai spun on her heels to find Shino hanging upside down from a large branch on the tree; he was surrounded by a double helix formation of his bugs. They disconnected his feet from the branch and brought him to land on his feet in front of her.

Before she could even ask the question, Shino continued, "Hinata sleep-walked into Naruto's bag last night, and he nearly had a bad reaction when he woke up. They had a brief scuffle that ended with her grabbing his hand and leading him out of the barrier, where she announced her feelings and he kissed her. They kept up like that for a good three minutes before she gave him permission to touch her. That particular scene ended with her breaking away into the ground. It would seem she didn't want him to make her go over the edge." Kurenai was stunned; she didn't whether she should congratulate Hinata for her courage, scold the two for going as far as they had, or slap Shino silly for watching his teammates and not alerting her sooner. She settled on taking the unknown fourth option: She slapped Shino hard across the face, scolded him for peeping on his teammates, and then thanked him for telling her. She'd congratulate the two when they woke, and in private, before warning them against going too far at their age. That thought brought back a painful memory from her own past… the beginning of her relationship with the son of the Third.

She pushed the memory to the back to her mind and waited for the rest of the camp to stir before releasing her barrier and helping the group to pack and ready for mobilization. Within twelve hours of fast travel, they arrived at the village gates, where they were greeted by a patrol squad and taken to see the Hokage. The elderly man was shocked at Naruto's actions, but willingly accepted Zabuza and Haku as shinobi of Konoha… except…

"I'm sorry Team Kurenai," Hiruzen said, "But I'm afraid a rather urgent mission came up that I volunteered you four for. Momochi-san and Yuki-san will be given their rank tests while you're gone, but you must leave immediately." Your contractor, Su-Mo will meet you all at the entrance to the Sunagakure deserts; you're headed for heat, so bring LOTS of water."

Having been given such short warning, the group made for their homes, packed what they'd need and took off for Kaze no Kuni as soon as they could. What awaited them was...HHHH

Naruto finished his tale when he heard the gentle sounds of Hinata's breath against his chest. Once more, she'd fallen asleep in the middle. He shifted her into his arms in a bridal carry, then rose and strode to their bed, where he set Hinata down on the mattress and climbed in. He pulled the covers over them and held her close as she slept. He wasn't happy about not having any "Bed Play", but was more than happy to just lay there and hold his beautiful wife in his arms as she slept. Soon, he lost consciousness, his last waking thought revolving around what she'd do tomorrow.

~~~ MEANWHILE, IN KONOHAGAKURE TOP-PRIORITY PRISON, MAXIMUM SECUIRTY ZONE FLOOR THREE ~~~

Only six people had been granted temporary rights to come to this floor. However, it mattered little, for the girl in the Warden's office couldn't have cared less; they could come and go as they pleased. She was just SO BORED.

Sunako Momoshiro was never known for her patience or ability to cope under dull situations. Most of the time in such circumstances, she'd hunker down and drift off to sleep until the sounds of battle rang and stirred her to action. Most of the time, she was a simple person who didn't like pointless questions, especially when they revolved around her… predicament.

Sunako was not a full Konoha resident, not yet. However, the Hokage at the time had seen her as a VERY competent addition to their ranks, despite her being a treaty offering between Sunagakure and Konoha a decade and some years back. She had met the current Hokage as he passed into her village on a mission… and he had been one of the first to receive her "rebuttal" for pointing out her limbs.

The origins of her arms and legs were not a story that many people liked to hear, as they involved a certain degree of experimentation and amputation. Her limbs weren't her major area of issue, however; it was her dislike of boredom. Most people who knew Sunako knew that if she got bored, one had better find her an outlet to vent her boredom, otherwise she'd fall asleep… and a sleeping Sunako would often lead to scenes such as the one witnessed by a certain twitching prisoner with light-blue hair not two hours before this particular nap.

Guren slowly uncurled from her fetal position curl and slowly rose to her cot to curl back up and sleep. She still couldn't understand the insane outburst of the seemingly insane female warden; what in KAMI'S NAME was a "Beat Buster"? Moreover, was "Stag Buster" supposed to be the new name for those girls that popped out of cakes at stag parties?*

Guren had nearly climbed onto her cot when she heard a banging at the bars of her cell. She was afraid to turn around, but something deep in the pit of her stomach told her to turn anyway. Against her better judgment, she turned quickly on her heels and screamed.

In front of her cell was the prison warden, who had chosen to use her favorite intimidation factor: The Dragon Armor, giving her a purely reptilian look and a large dragon maw for one hand. She held a full-sized paper parasol in one hand, bearing an image of a dragon breathing flame.

Sunako had no idea what was happening; it was just another of her freaky moments. Lucky for her, it would scare her unintended target into complete silence and submission… at least for that day.

Sunako spun the parasol in her hand absentmindedly, and, despite being fast asleep, had a full, deep, scary tone to her voice when next she spoke.

"In the Land of Fire, Leaves Dance in Shimmering Wind. In the Land of Wind, the Sand Blows Fierce. In the Land of Lightning, the Clouds Mold the Stones," Sunako said in a deep, almost swimming voice. With this, she tossed the parasol into the air and spun on her heel to the left.

"The public doesn't know, and will never know, what transpires in these dark halls!" At this, Sunako lifted one leg in a massive sweep and turned to face Guren, who shrieked in fright. This girl's eyes were fastened shut in sleep, and a demented grin was all over her face! She rotated her upper body from her hips.

Sunako clapped her hands, then, in a booming voice, Sunako announced, "I AM KONOHA'S PUPPET PRISON WARDEN! MOMOSHIRO SUNAKO, ASANJOU!" Sunako raised her left hand into the air, then back down in an open palm along the side of her head while her right extended forward, open-palmed and fingers spread. Her face had a weird, twisted grin on it… and then her eyes opened.* Guren screamed in horror and dove under her cot, grabbing her blanket in the act to cover herself.

Sunako seemed to snap to her senses a moment later, when she looked from one side to the other and back again several times and then asked aloud "What am I doing here?" She looked into the cell on a whim and noticed Guren under her cot, shaking like a frightened puppy. She shrugged and walked away.

"Oh, you're going to cower in fear?" Sunako said loudly as she walked away, baiting Guren out, "And here I was going to tell you all about how I met the Hokage for no apparent reason. But, if you're sure you don't want to know, I suppose that's fine. I'll just go back to the Warden's office and nap some more. Who knows? Maybe I'll wind up here again and torment you a little more…"

In less than a second, Guren had slammed herself against the bars of her cell and shouted, "PLEASE, DON'T LEAVE! TELL ME HOW YOU MET HIM! I WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THAT BRAT!" Sunako turned and smirked.

"Well, I'll tell you then…" She drawled, almost seductively, "What I tell you may or may not play to your desires. You may hear something interesting… and you may not. Are you still sure you're up to it?" Guren gave no more response than a simple nod. Sunako smiled and leaned against the wall opposite Guren's cell.

"Alright then, let me tell you all about it…" she cooed, "It was roughly thirteen years ago, and he was coming in to help me on a mission…"

_
CHAPTER 11B: ANTICS AND TALES FROM THE WARDEN
_

** Before we start, I understand the brat usually provides commentary while he tells his story?*

+Yes, actually… +

*Well, I'm not. I don't like interrupting myself, so I'll go from start to finish without saying a word, and you'd BETTER do the same.

Now, enough with the pleasantries, it's time to get on with the story. I'd never been one for company, and I sure as HELL didn't want to have to call on Konoha of all villages for help. However, our Kazekage demanded I be the one in charge of our mission, AND demanded I call for aid. Although it irritated me to have to do it, I sent out a mission request to the Hokage and asked for a strong team. I never thought I'd be on the receiving end of watching a twelve-year-old boy tear strips out of men more than twice his age… *

At the edge of a vast, desert wasteland, a single young girl stood, as though waiting for someone. She was bored of all the waiting and finding herself nodding off. Her ocean-blue eyes slowly fluttered shut as she passed out standing straight up, silently allowing the desert sands and harsh, hot winds to blow through her pixie-cut blonde hair. The wind did little to her clothes, as the only clothing she had was a black leotard; a large black scroll with a yin-yang insignia sat across her shoulders, held in place by a pair of crisscrossing straps that rested under her shoulders. The wind blew her body to and fro, but not once did she tip over.

She didn't know how long she'd been sleeping, but she was jostled awake by a slight shaking of her shoulder. Her eyes snapped open and she went on high alert, lashing out with a kunai to strike her attacker. She found the tip of her blade piercing the hand of a young boy, and she blinked.

"A… Are you… the ones from Konoha?" she asked tentatively. She scanned over the four before her, an evenly-balanced group of two boys and two girls. The tallest of the group was a dark-haired female with strange, red eyes. The shortest of the group was a blonde boy with an idiotic smile; the other two were a dark-haired boy with a high-collared jacket and shades, and an indigo-haired girl with pale eyes and a somewhat nervous look on her face.

The taller woman was about to say something when the dark-haired boy stepped forward and spoke, "My name is Aburame Shino, of Konohagakure's Aburame Clan. Next to me are my teammates Naruto, of the Uzumaki Clan," He gestured to Naruto, who nodded, understanding why Shino left out his Namikaze roots, "Hinata, of the Hyuuga Clan," he gesture to Hinata, who blushed a bit and nodded, "And our sensei, Yuuhi Kurenai. We were sent to meet someone by the name of Su-Mo for a mission; where can we find them?" Kurenai gave Shino a nasty look.

Sensing the tension in the air, Naruto plastered a dopy smile on his face and asked, "Yeah! Were looking for a big fat guy in a fundoshi and a topknot! Where can we find him?"

The reactions of those present were highly varied. Kurenai gave Naruto a scandalized look before breaking into soft chuckles. Hinata snorted once in amusement before breaking down into hysteric laughter. Shino's head slowly rotated on his neck as he sent Naruto an evil glare with his covered, blind eyes. Sunako, on the other hand, simply stared dumbly at Naruto and his two female compatriots. Who the hell WERE these people anyways?

"I hate to burst your chuckle bubble," she said in an odd dead-pan, "But Su-Mo is right here. My name is Momoshiro Sunako, and I'll be at your service until we reach Sunagakure. Follow me, please; I'll brief you on our way." With that, she turned to lead the way.

She barely made it a step, however, when Naruto piped up, "Hey, your arms and legs are kinda weird. Are you sick or something?"

Naruto, for reasons that escaped him, NEVER saw what hit him. Neither did his team mates. Sunako never saw what hit her back, either. Before anyone could see what happened, Naruto had hit the ground face-first, foam building around the edges of his mouth and a large knot on his head. Moments later, Sunako had doubled over on the ground next to Naruto, gasping for air and clutching her sides in pain. Kurenai looked from the odd young woman to her brash student multiple times before noticing Hinata. The young girl had a shroud of pale, blue chakra engulfing both her hands, and her Byakugan were active… but it was strange… where had she seen that ring-like pattern before?

And… if her eyes WEREN'T playing tricks on her, why were the veins around Hinata's eyes less pronounced, and fewer in number?

However, as soon as they'd appeared, the halo effect in Hinata's pale eyes had vanished. No sooner had Hinata returned to normal than she collapsed into the sand. Kurenai wasted no time and ran to help her student.

A quick two-second diagnosis determined that Hinata was suffering from a moderate case of chakra exhaustion, and would require several hours of rest. When Naruto and Sunako stood several minutes later, Naruto took charge of Hinata, and carried her on his shoulders as they walked towards Sunagakure.

On their way, Sunako spoke.

"The purpose of calling for outside help on this mission is due in large part to the nature of the mission itself. I'm part of a special force designated to watch over the children of the Third Kazekage, namely his youngest child Gaara. You see…" Sunako said, stopping to think her words over briefly before continuing, "He's a Jinchuriki."

Kurenai and Shino's breath hitched in their throats; THEY were being sent to do something about a Jinchuriki?

"The decision to use young Gaara was made by the Kazekage himself, and ever since he's strongly regretted it. The Elder Council of Suna has decided that Gaara is unfit to be a shinobi, let alone ALIVE, and have deigned to … well, "DISPOSE" of him, if you will," Sunako said, using finger quotes on the word "DISPOSE". She continued, "The Kazekage recently became aware of their plans when FIVE separate attempts were made on young Gaara's life, all within the span of 12 hours." Naruto listened intently.

Sunako took a short breath and continued, saying, "The Kazekage has ordered me to call in help from Konoha, which is where you four come in. our job is to protect young Gaara-sama with our lives. So far the assassins they've sent have been low-scale weaklings who couldn't handle Gaara-sama's unique brand of… how would you say… survival instinct…or mental protection, maybe? In any case, Gaara-sama is capable of defending himself, but things have been escalating. They started with simple ambushes, but they've begun using some of the more classical means, such as poison and traps in the halls. They've yet to assassinate his guards and pose as them, but that's one of the reasons Kazekage-sama has requested I bring you in. He fears they might try to take ME down in some way, and I'm actually the strongest guard Gaara-sama has, aside from his older siblings."

Here, Naruto interrupted, "I'm sorry to butt in, but what exactly MAKES you the strongest guard this Jinchuriki Gaara has? As far as I can tell, you're about the same age as us, if not a little older. You can't be more than a couple months fresh form the Academy yourself." Sunako tensed, wanting to lash out at him again for addressing her sensitive issue, but instead decided it was better for them to know. She held up a hand for the group to stop and pulled the sealing scroll from across her back.

"You want to know so badly? Fine, I'll show you," she snapped, biting her thumb and swiping some blood across the parchment of the scroll to release the seal. From it came a large, round object with the kanji for "Dragon" emblazoned around an image of a dragon breathing fire. She swiped the same thumb over the image on the object, causing it to burst into flames, and then fold out into a large, winged mechanical dragon.

Sunako squatted on one leg, then leapt into the air with a shout of "KUGUTSU GATTAI*!" With that, time seemed to stop.

Naruto and his team watched in shock as Sunako's arms and legs simply POPPED off of her body, leaving gaps at the shoulders and hips, which revealed mechanical ports with small silver streams of what appeared to be chakra coming out of them. These streams disconnected from her limbs; her limbs then fell onto the scroll to be safely sealed away. The Dragon roared as it flew behind her and disassembled. As the limbs and head, connected to its long neck, separated from the dragon's torso, the tail shot off and straightened into a long spear. The torso clamped down around Sunako's body, reconfiguring to her body to give her winged armor. The dragon's limbs connected onto her shoulder and hip sockets, and the dragon's neck connected to her right-hand shoulder; the dragon's mouth reconfigured itself into a large, fang-covered flamethrower that covered her clawed hand within. She clenched her right hand's talons into a tight fist as her body finished reconfiguring, with the horns on the dragon's head moving up to form a spiked crown atop her own skull. With a flourish, Sunako took to the skies, grabbed the dragon's tail in her left hand and assumed an open-legged stance. She thrust the spear in a repeated stabbing motion while her right hand released a torrent of fire.

"GATTAI KANRYO! MOMOSHIRO SUNAKO, ETO-RYUO MODE!*" She announced as the sun seemed to glow a deep crimson behind her. Inside his mind, Naruto could feel his Mother ogling the young woman with drool coming from her mouth, while his father and cousin whistled in appreciation of her skills. The Kyuubi, for as quiet as It had been, simply growled in jealousy; deep crimson sunsets were HIS THING!

Sunako touched down, let her transformation sit for a few moments, then blinked and willed the armor off. The Dragon Armor extracted itself from her body, then pieced itself back together, then flew back into the scroll and tossed out her limbs. The human-like puppet limbs reconnected to Sunako's sockets quickly, allowing her to regain her footing rather quickly.

"THAT is what makes me Gaara-sama's strongest guard. I am a practitioner of Sunagakure's famous puppet techniques and was PERSONALLY trained by the man now known as Sasori of the Red Sand before he went rogue. I have 11 other puppets like this one back in Suna, all of which were a parting gift to me from him before he left on his path," she said. She turned and continued walking, giving the signal that they should follow.

However, Sunako felt uncomfortable the whole trip, and her discomfort was directly related to her words. She hadn't lied about having been trained by the legendary missing-nin Sasori… but from there, she knew her story had to have sounded suspect. No one picked up on it in the least, as far as she knew. The thought of a murderous rogue ninja being NICE and giving PRESENTS to ANYONE, let alone TAKING AN APPRENTICE, sounded strange even when she SAID it.

However, she didn't realize that Naruto and Shino had seen through her lie. They gave each other a side-long glance that confirmed each other's thoughts; they would wait until she felt comfortable enough to talk about it.

~MEANWHILE, IN SUNAGAKURE… ~

Three figures in dark clothing had snuck into a seemingly random hotel room that strangely had several animal-themed puppets hanging on the walls. Each one was attaching a small device onto each puppet, but despite their hardest searching, could not find something specific. They suddenly heard a small clicking noise as the door knob turned, and they left before the hotel maids came in to clean up, all admiring the craftsmanship of the puppets on the walls and idly commenting on the absence of one particular puppet…

Sunako smiled wickedly as she stretched and yawned dramatically, then said, "I'm getting bored of telling you that story. Maybe I'll go take another nap." She started to walk off, when Guren called, "Why not take up a hobby? Like jigsaw puzzles or making ships in bottles?"

Sunako blinked and tottered off, thinking about this while leaving Guren behind to ponder what she'd heard. The Warden wasn't telling her the whole story; what else was going on?

~ THE END… FOR NOW… ~

Hope you liked it! :)

For those who don't know, Sunako's little skit in front of Guren's cell is a reference to the roll call for "Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger". To SEE these guys do their roll call is akin to watching Jiraiya's posturing. Additionally, the references to "Beet and Stag Buster" are a reference to last year's Super Sentai series, "Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters". Later, the line "Kugutsu Gattai" roughly translates as "Puppet Combination", and is yet another reference to Super Sentai, as all of the giant mecha they use have the word "gattai" in the name. And again, shortly after, "GATTAI KANRYO! MOMOSHIRO SUNAKO, ETO-RYUO MODE!" roughly translates to "Combination Complete! Sunako Momoshiro, Zodiac Dragon King Mode".

For those wondering, the various technique names are thus: