A/N: Okay, let's get this out of the way. In response to those of you who have reviewed, thank you for your input. I forgot to mention this in the first chapter, but I'm also writing another story at the same time as this one so updates may be delayed slightly. I'll try to update at least once a week though. Now to clear up a few things. First off, some of you need to keep in mind that this is, in fact, fan fiction. I'm not subject to follow any specific guidelines set by canon.

In response to the chakra control dispute, while some issues may have been caused due to Kyuubi's chakra, it stands to reason that having a larger supply of something would obviously make it more difficult to manage. However, even with the issue with the warring chakras between Naruto and Kurama, there is no evidence to say it would be impossible for him to increase his control. If that were the case, he never would've mastered tree-climbing and water-walking. All of this is irrelevant however because, as I mentioned before, this is merely fan fiction.

I was also noticing mixed opinions from people saying things were rushed. As far as claiming the plot was rushed, if you compare to canon's timeline, it's really not moving any faster. I also didn't feel like spending time writing in pointless parts of the timeline that held no bearing on the actual story.

And as far as the relationship being rushed, how do you figure? All they've done was go out to eat one time. This would be totally normal for any other case between teacher and student from canon and it was by no means a date. Kurenai clearly rejecting him is a pretty straightforward sign that their relationship hasn't advanced to anything special and won't be anytime soon.

Also, to the statement "Naruto in your story knows he's hated, obviously hasn't put up a idiots mask" that is completely controversial. Naruto's mask in canon was directly related to the village's hatred. I appreciate constructive criticism, but I prefer it not be completely flawed and utterly pointless.

Anyway, enough of this and on with the show. As always, please enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 2: This is a C-rank?

"I swear if we have to catch that damn cat again it's gonna be my turn to leave some scratches." Naruto said angrily as team 8 entered the Hokage's office. Looking the team over, Hiruzen could see that Naruto had, what he assumed to be, several cat scratches on his face. Hinata was quietly laughing to herself while Shino nodded his head in agreement to Naruto's distaste for their previous mission. Closing the door behind her as she entered, Kurenai shook her head at her student's antics.

"Don't you think it's about time we did a C-ranked mission, Gramps? We've done more missions than any of the other teams already haven't we?" The elder kage exhaled the smoke from his pipe as he considered Naruto's request. It was true that they had done the most missions of all the rookie teams, and with more efficiency at that. Setting his pipe aside, he looked through the stack of requests that were on his desk. Finding one he liked, he smiled softly as he held it out for Kurenai.

"If Kurenai thinks you're ready for this, then I have no problem with it," he said as Kurenai approached and took the offered file. Reading it carefully, she raised an eyebrow at the mission details.

"Are you sure about this, Hokage-sama? I believe they're ready for a C-rank, but something like this seems like a bit much for their first time." Hiruzen smiled as he assured her he had the utmost faith in their ability to complete the mission.

"What's the mission, Kurenai-sensei?" Naruto asked as his excitement grew. The others were also excited at the idea of their first C-ranked mission, though not as visibly as Naruto.

"We will be escorting a merchant to the land of hot water. The client will be meeting us at the north gate tomorrow morning. Be ready and waiting by 7." With a collective affirmative, the 3 genin left to pack for their first mission out of the village.

To say they were surprised by their client would be an understatement. They had been expecting some middle-aged man, not the young girl in front of them who couldn't have been more than 16.

"You're the merchant we're to escort to the land of hot water?" Kurenai asked incredulously. The girl gave a small laugh and responded in a soft voice.

You're half right. My name is Sachiko and I am indeed the one you are to escort, but my uncle is the merchant who paid for the escort. I was merely here to assist him in selling his wares while he was bedridden. Now that he is healthy once more, I'm returning to be with my father." That cleared up any questions they had so with that said, they started their journey.

"Oh my, you were quite the prankster, Naruto-kun." Sachiko laughed as Naruto told her about the time he had put itching powder in the uniforms of several ANBU members. They were currently several hours outside of Konoha walking in formation around the client. Kurenai took point while Shino and Naruto stood to her sides with Hinata taking up the rear. Hinata would activate her Byakugan occasionally to make sure no bandits were flanking them or sneaking up behind them. So far, it had been a rather uneventful trip with only Naruto and Sachiko conversing most of the time.

"Well somebody had to make sure those guys stay on their toes, haha," Naruto laughed along with her as she stood closer than was necessary to the young blond. The others noticed this and had varying reactions. Hinata just smiled and didn't think much of it. Shino raised an eyebrow at this and couldn't seem to read Naruto's reaction to the close proximity. Kurenai brushed it off as unimportant, but a part of her was somewhat annoyed at the sight.

"This should be a good time to set up camp for the night. After we eat, I'll take first watch. Naruto, you take second, Shino will take third, and Hinata will take the last shift." Everyone nodded as they moved off the path a ways and setup camp for the night. Soon there were several tents erected and a small fire in the middle of the area. Naruto was mildly surprised to see Hinata and Shino were sharing a tent, but it wasn't completely unexpected. After eating 2 cups of instant ramen, Naruto went into his own tent to rest some before his watch.

A little over an hour later, Kurenai was sitting on a tree branch when she noticed Sachiko leaving her tent. She thought nothing of it and just continued to keep on her guard. Until she saw the girl enter Naruto's tent.

Naruto woke up when he felt someone crawling on top of him. Opening his eyes, he came face to face with the girl they were escorting. His eyes immediately widened as confusion took over. He looked around quickly and verified that he was indeed in his own tent.

"Sachiko? What are you doing here?" She gave him a strange smile before answering him. "I thought we could have a bit of fun," she said as she licked her lips.

"What do you-" Naruto was interrupted as his lips were assaulted by the girl above him. Too shocked to do anything, Naruto remained completely motionless as his body tensed and his mind went blank. Once she pulled her lips away from his, he let out the breath he didn't realize he was holding.

"W-what? Did you just…why?" Naruto's thoughts were having trouble catching up with him as the realization of what just happened settled in.

"You're cute so I figured we should have some fun before I go back to my father." Naruto was still trying to figure out what to do in this situation when a voice decided to help him make a decision. "Do it, kid. There's no reason to hold back."

'But…what about Kurenai-sensei? And who are you?' Naruto questioned the voice. "Who I am is unimportant for the moment. As for the red-eyed woman, what about her? She rejected your feelings remember," came the reply putting emphasis on the "rejected" part.

"I know, but-" "No buts, kid. Think of it as a replacement to take your frustrations out on if you have to," the voice interrupted. Naruto considered the idea for a moment. After a while of the word replacement floating around his mind, something in him seemed to just "click" and his eyes darkened. A slight smirk crossed his face and he immediately switched places with the girl on top of him. Sachiko let out a small "eep" of surprise at the sudden change.

"Silly girl, you didn't really think you'd be the one in control did you? Tsk tsk, guess I need to get some payback for you interrupting my rest and stealing my first kiss." Before she could reply, Sachiko's lips were covered by Naruto's while he held her arms above her head. Without warning, Naruto's tongue forced its way into her mouth and slid against it. Sachiko moaned softly into his mouth and Naruto enjoyed the feeling of dominance he had over her.

Just as he was moving a hand toward her chest, Kurenai poked her head in to let him know it was time for his watch. She certainly hadn't expected the sight in front of her if the look on her face was anything to go by. Naruto was kneeling over her with both her hands held tightly above her head by one hand with the over hovering over her breast and a trail of saliva connecting them as he pulled back from their kiss.

"Cheh, just when it was getting good," he mumbled as he crawled out of the tent and moved into the center of the camp. Kurenai's gaze shifted between him and the panting girl laying there with a dazed look on her face. '…what the hell just happened?' Kurenai thought to herself. Knowing she wouldn't get an answer, she shook her head and went to her own tent to get some sleep.

After the incident with Kurenai's horrible timing, the rest of the night passed like normal and the group had resumed their mission. Shino and Hinata were certainly more confused than they were the day before. Sachiko was now walking next to Naruto with her arms wrapped tightly around one of his and seemed to be pressing herself as close to him as possible without making it difficult to walk. Naruto himself was acting rather unusual as well. He would throw out a reply every now and then as Sachiko talked his ear off, but for the most part he seemed completely apathetic. His teammates recognized the look as how he gets when he's deep in thought about something, but what he could be thinking about, they had no idea.

'So you're the Kyuubi?' Naruto thought back to the voice in his head. He was trying his hardest to appear like nothing was going on, but it's difficult to seem normal while having an internal conversation with the strongest of the tailed beasts.

"Correct. We can continue our conversation when you're alone though, your teammates are starting to get suspicious." Seeing the expression on Shino's face, he knew the fox was right and decided to leave it for another time.

"So how far are we from the land of hot water, Kurenai-sensei?" Naruto asked as his usual smile returned to his face. Shino continued to watch him carefully until he was sure it was genuine before redirecting his attention to the road ahead of him once more.

"We should be there tomorrow night at this rate," Kurenai replied. As if just to prove Kurenai wrong, Hinata called out for everyone to stop as she looked around them with her byakugan. Seeing this, the others pulled out kunai and looked around.

"Well what do you know, the brats actually spotted us, hehe," one man said as a large group of bandits walked out of the trees with swords drawn. Some of them laughed at the frightened look on Sachiko's face as they slowly approached.

"Give us the girl and MAYBE we'll let the rest of you go," another man said as he stepped forward.

"Hinata, you cover Sachiko. Naruto, Shino, you 2 back me up," Kurenai ordered as she stepped forward and got ready. The others nodded as Naruto got into an offensive stance while Shino was surrounded by bugs. "Now!" Kurenai called out as she cast a genjutsu over the bandits and the boys moved to strike. Naruto and Shino moved through the bandits immobilizing and knocking out as many as they could while they were trapped in Kurenai's illusion. Things seemed to be going fine until they heard a pained yell from behind them. Naruto looked over to see what happened.

"KURENAI-SENSEI!" Naruto yelled out as he saw her on the ground reaching to pull out the kunai that was sticking out of her thigh. Naruto tuned out any sights and sounds other than what was in front of him. There was a large man standing over Kurenai wearing a headband with a slash through it that showed he was a missing ninja from Iwa. He didn't see what the man was wearing or how big his muscles were. All he saw was the smile on the man's face as he looked at what he had done. And that's when everything changed.

Naruto's eyes turned bright red while his pupils became slits and chakra oozed out of him. The smile on the man's face was replaced by a look of confusion as he noticed the young blond releasing an aura so full of hate it was suffocating. He watched suspiciously as the boy raised a single hand in front of him and pressed his thumb and middle fingers together.

-SNAP-

The man couldn't figure out what just happened. One moment he was staring at some young genin, then the boy snapped his fingers. And now, he had some…thing pinning him to the ground with its hand around his throat. He struggled for air as he watched the boy approach him slowly and make an upwards motion with his hand. As if obeying the unannounced command, the thing on top of him lifted him into the air as the boy stopped in front of him right next to the…ogre? The blond smiled and without a word, shoved a kunai deep into his leg in the same area he had stabbed the woman moments ago.

"So tell me, what do you think of my genjutsu? I'm quite curious since you are the first to experience it," Naruto spoke calmly while the man grunted at the pain in his leg. As if refusing to believe it was an illusion, he lashed out with his uninjured leg to kick the ogre holding him, only for his leg to pass directly through it. Having proof that it was indeed a genjutsu, he channeled his chakra and called out "release!" as he attempted to dispel the illusion.

"Tsk tsk tsk tsk, that won't work. You're not going anywhere. I'm gonna kill you nice and slow for what you did to Kurenai-sensei," Naruto ridiculed the man as he brought his fingers together once more. A look of horror spread across the man's face when he realized he had no way out. The look was replaced by one of intense pain however as soon as Naruto snapped his fingers again. Naruto smiled as the man's screams filled the air when a pillar of flames erupted around him. By the time the flames stopped, some of the man's flesh had melted right off of his bones and the rest was completely charred. Naruto took out a kunai as the ogre set what was left of the man on the floor. Naruto walked around him and smiled when the man begged for death.

"Well since you asked so nicely…" Naruto trailed off as he flipped the kunai in his hand before shoving it forcefully into the man's skull. With no further need for him, the ogre vanished as Naruto's eyes returned to their usual blue and he fell to his knees.

Kurenai couldn't understand what was happening. When Naruto snapped his fingers, the man flew back as if he were tackled by an expanded Akimichi and started gasping for air. Her confusion only grew when he started floating in the air and clutching at his throat. When Naruto suddenly stabbed him in the leg and claimed it to be a genjutsu, she couldn't believe it. What kind of genjutsu could physically affect somebody? It was completely unheard of. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sudden high-pitched scream of agony. Kurenai visibly paled as she watched the man's skin blacken as if he were on fire, but there were no flames. When Naruto finally ended it with kunai, she limped over to his kneeling form ignoring the odd stares and questions of concern from the others.

"Are you okay, Naruto?" she asked as she knelt next to him, choking back the pained grunt that wanted to escape her. He acted as if he hadn't heard her as he kept looking back and forth between his hands and the body in front of them. When he finally turned to look at Kurenai, his hands were shaking and the look on his face was heartbreaking. Without a second thought, Kurenai wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a hug. Neither of them paid any notice to the fact that his head was resting on her breasts as he slowly wrapped his arms around her and began crying into her chest.

"Are you sure you're okay now, Naruto?" Kurenai asked softly as they continued toward the land of hot water. Sachiko had explained that the men were most likely hired by a rival businessman of her father. The man overpriced his wares and was losing business fast because her father sold his much cheaper even though his were of a higher quality. With that out of the way, they reorganized their formation and continued. Hinata moved up to replace Naruto on Sachiko's flank, while Naruto and Kurenai were behind them with Kurenai's arm slung over his shoulder to take some weight off of her injured leg.

"I'm the one who should be asking if you're okay. How's your leg feeling? Should we rest for a bit?" Kurenai shook her head slightly.

"No I'll be fine. Hey, Naruto…how did you do that?" Naruto flinched at the question and she immediately apologized. He waved her off and said it was okay.

"I'm not really sure to be honest. But as soon as I saw what he did to you, I felt so…I don't know how to put it. I just wanted him to suffer for it, and put all of my concentration into trying to form a genjutsu. Next thing I know, there's a giant ogre pinning him to the ground. After that I just kinda…did what felt right? Sorry, I'm not making any sense. I really don't know how to explain it," Naruto explained as she listened closely. Kurenai wasn't sure what to make of the situation. Could it have been some type of bloodline? She had never heard of any Uzumaki using genjutsu before and Minato certainly had no such ability. Could it have been from the Kyuubi? That still didn't quite add up either since the previous jinchuurikis couldn't do that.

"There's no need to apologize, Naruto. As long as you're okay then everything is fine," she replied with a smile. Naruto's chest tightened, but he ignored it and continued walking.

"I'll take first watch and cover the second watch too. You guys get some rest and I'll get you for your shift, Shino." Naruto said as he finished eating a fish and stood. Kurenai looked like she was about to protest, but Naruto cut her off.

"You need to get plenty of rest, Kurenai-sensei. Besides, I don't really need a lot of sleep," Naruto pointed at his stomach where his seal was located when he was sure the others weren't looking. Kurenai sighed but nodded in agreement anyway. Once the others were in their tents, Naruto sat by the fire and closed his eyes.

'Any idea what happened?' Naruto questioned the other occupant of his mind. "I had a few theories, but none of them seemed right. One that's unlikely, but still rather plausible, is that you have somehow developed your own bloodline. A factor that's throwing me off is that you were tapped into my chakra while doing it. I myself have no such ability, but I suppose some combination of things between us could have caused it. You should attempt to do it again." Naruto listened carefully and nodded. He had intended on attempting to do it again, but he was hoping the fox would have some helpful information. Putting his other thoughts aside, Naruto opened his eyes and focused on the space several feet in front of him. After several minutes of straining to recreate the genjutsu without results, Naruto thought of other factors.

'Let's go ahead and try it with your chakra and see if that's a factor." His reply was a sudden pulse of chakra entering him. With that done, he once again concentrated on the area in front of him. However, once again, he received no results. He even tried visualizing the scene from earlier to test if emotion was somehow involved. Still nothing.

'Do you think I have to have an actual target? Maybe it has to directly involve someone's mind somehow.' There was a moment of silence before he heard anything. "That is a strong possibility. Luckily you have others around you can test it on."

'I'm not gonna just experiment with my friends in their sleep, Kyuubi!' He heard a sigh followed by a grumble of "humans". Ignoring the comment, Naruto thought of his options. Sadly, the one that made the most sense was to ask someone to let him test it on them. He wasn't happy about the idea of potentially harming his friends, but he couldn't come up with a better plan.

After considering his options, he decided he would ask Shino to help when they had a chance. With that out of the way, he decided to train until it was time to wake Shino for his watch. He still hadn't come up with a better chakra control exercise, so he spent his watch balancing on his finger like the day Kurenai had found him.

"I'm sorry for all the trouble you had to go through because of my daughter and I. Please make yourselves at home and we shall celebrate tonight," Sachiko's father bowed as she did the same.

"That's really not necessary. We were just doing our job after all," Kurenai waved her hands in front of her and asked them to stand up.

"Nonsense, I insist you 4 stay the night. You can leave in the morning," the man motioned for them to proceed into the living room and relax. The rest of their trip had been uneventful and they made it into the land of hot water before sunset. Once they had arrived at Sachiko's home, she immediately ran to her father and told him about what had happened. It was still early in the evening now and Sachiko was preparing a large meal for them while her father, Jirou, had just returned with a rather large variety of alcohol. Kurenai and Naruto immediately reached for drinks while the others sweatdropped.

"What? Aren't we supposed to be celebrating?" Naruto asked as he grabbed a bottle of sake while Kurenai poured herself some vodka. Jirou let out a deep laugh as he smacked Naruto on the back.

"I like your style kid. Let's have some fun shall we?" With that said, he too poured himself a drink and the 3 of them began talking as if they had known eachother for years. Shino and Hinata continued to watch them for a moment before shaking their heads and deciding to assist Sachiko instead.

They spent the rest of the night enjoying themselves as if the events of the day before never happened. Kurenai was once again amazed at Naruto's ability to drink and Naruto was laughing at the stories Jirou told from when he was younger. Shino and Hinata passed on the offer to drink, but enjoyed the company all the same. The food had been delicious as well and Naruto thought he was going to die when Jirou made a joke about him marrying Sachiko and he choked on his food. Hinata and Shino laughed when Kurenai spat out her drink and started coughing as well.

Eventually things had calmed down and everybody went to bed. Apparently Sachiko had other plans though because she quietly crept into Naruto's room once everybody else was in their rooms. Naruto had to cover her mouth to stop the startled scream from escaping when he snuck up behind her. He shushed her and showed that it was him before removing his hand.

"How did you know I was coming?" Naruto chuckled softly at her question. "I'm a ninja, remember? It's not that easy to sneak up on me. More importantly, what were you intending to do, hmmm?" She slowly backed away as he continued to advance on her until she stumbled back onto the bed. Before she could say anything, Naruto had her pinned the same way he had when she snuck into his tent. She gave a surprised squeak before returning the kiss.

"Nobody is gonna interrupt us this time," Naruto said with a smirk as he started lifting her shirt over her head.

Naruto awoke the next morning to the sunlight on his face. He slid his legs off the edge of the bed and yawned as he sat there and stretched. Noticing he was alone in the room, he was happy thinking it had been a dream. That hope was crushed when he noticed his clothes scattered around the room and the dried blood on the sheets. His face dropped into his hands as he thought about the night before.

"What have I done…" he whispered to himself.

"Become a man? Don't human males see their first conquest as a sort of rite of passage?" Naruto sighed deeply. "I never cared about that sort of thing. I just…"

"…you feel you betrayed the other female, don't you?" The silence was all the answer he needed. This time, it was the Kyuubi's turn to sigh. "Yeah yeah, I know what you're going to say. She rejected me already and blah blah blah. I get your point, but it's not like I can do anything about it." Laughter was not the response Naruto expected. Before he could say anything, the fox spoke again.

"You presume to know too much brat. What I was going to say was give it time." Once again, not the response he was expecting. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but he was completely speechless. So instead he got dressed and went to see if everybody was ready to go.

"So, did you sleep well, Naruto?" Shino raised an eyebrow when the recipient of his question suddenly crashed into a tree and slid down it to the forest floor below. This also gained the attention of their other teammates as they all stopped to watch the blond pick himself up and run up the tree. Naruto cleared his throat and looked around to see them all waiting for an answer.

Y-yeah, why do you ask?" Naruto could feel himself starting to sweat as Shino stared at him silently for what felt like forever before muttering "liar," and hardening his gaze. Naruto chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his head.

"Naruto, if you wish for my help with what we discussed, then tell me. What happened last night?" That put Naruto in a very tight spot. Shino had agreed to help him figure out his genjutsu when they returned to Konoha, but now he could lose the chance. The question was which was worse. Being embarrassed in front of his team, or losing Shino's help. Naruto let out a heavy sigh and dropped his head.

"I slept with Sachiko…" He had said it so quietly, but he might as well have yelled it. Nobody could think of anything to say and just stared at the blond like he had grown a second head. After the initial shock, Hinata blushed, Shino didn't seem to think much of it, but Kurenai looked pissed. Noticing this, Naruto winced and looked away.

"I'm sorry, Kurenai-sensei, I know you hate perverts…" Kurenai didn't say a word and just started moving toward Konoha again. Shino and Hinata looked at Naruto before following shortly after. Naruto let out another sigh and shook his head before doing the same.

"I see. Considering the involvement of enemy ninja, this will go on record as a B-rank. Congratulations on your success team 8," the Hokage said as team 8 gave their report on the mission. As soon as they were dismissed, Kurenai vanished in a swirl of leaves. Shino and Hinata left as well, but Hiruzen stopped Naruto as he was at the door. He hadn't missed the look Kurenai gave him out of the corner of her eye when she left and he wanted to know what the reason for it was.

"You don't have to ask Gramps, I know what you want to know," Naruto closed the door and leaned against it as he closed his eyes. Hiruzen could tell this was going to be a difficult conversation for the boy and waited patiently for the answer.

"To put it simply, Kurenai-sensei hates me now." Of all the things the old man had expected to hear, that was not one of them. Naruto kept his eyes closed as he clenched his fists. Hiruzen let out a small sigh and asked what happened.

"I fucked up, that's what happened," Naruto slid down the door until he was seated on the floor. "I slept with the girl we were escorting last night." Hiruzen blinked a few times and thought he had to have misheard the boy. But one look told him he had heard correctly. Naruto was seated against the door with his knees raised and his forearms resting against his legs with his head in his hands.

"I don't know what I was thinking. I knew Kurenai-sensei hated perverts and I still…" Naruto couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence. He felt like his heart had dropped into his stomach and was finding it more difficult to breathe. 'So much for giving it time, eh fox?' Naruto thought as he kept picturing the pissed off look Kurenai had in the forest.

"I don't think she hates you, Naruto. While it's true Kurenai doesn't like perverts, she wouldn't change her opinion of you so drastically from something like this." Naruto made no sign that he acknowledged what Hiruzen had said. He just stood up and slowly opened the door. Without saying a word, he walked out and closed the door behind him.

When the door clicked shut, Hiruzen let out a sigh. "I hope you work this out before the chuunin exams, Naruto…"

What did you guys think? I wanted to get away from the overused method of assisting team 7 in Wave while mixing a little drama in. Sorry if you were hoping for a bit more action than that, but I wanted to try and get his ability out there while still keeping it to a point where he's not completely overpowered. Next chapter will reveal a bit more and possibly get into the start of the chuunin exams. Thanks for reading.