Naruto

Steam and Sweat

The Invite – Part 2

Naruto now had a new list to choose from, to see who would accompany him for a night out at the hot-spring resort. Although he had considered them at first, he had become so wrapped up in asking the guys out, as well as his senseis that that note that he had left in the back of his mind had been all but forgotten. But now that he had been able to fish it out, he was ready for another round! The gloves were off, and it was high time he gave one big one to his opponent of denial, which he was certain to beat this time. It would be tough asking any of the girls out, a lot tougher then when he was going around the village asking the boys, but he was certain his nads could take the punishment.

First stop was Sakura, the girl of his dreams and the inspiration of both his determination and strength. Over the past few years since his return to Konoha from training with Jiraiya, Naruto had seen how much Sakura had grown, inside and out. Although her womanly appearance and magnificent beauty hadn't changed a bit in his eyes since the day they first formed Team 7, the spiky haired Jonin could still fully make out her entire potential as a whole. Her strength and skill as an exceptional shinobi, as well as a medical ninja have made her the best kunoichi and field medic-nin in the village next to Tsunade. Furthermore, he had reason to believe that his attraction towards her has increased ten-fold as well!

But it didn't matter how much he liked her, in this situation, it only mattered how much she liked him…

Around this time, Sakura was finishing up her duties in the hospital. The pink haired kunoichi was just patching up the last of the wounds on her final patient for the day, before signing off and heading on home for some dinner. Presently, she was right in the middle of treating a very bruised up Konohamaru, the brown haired Chunin having seriously injured himself due to…Kami knows what! Seeing the apparent seriousness of the wounds, Sakura looked the young teenager in the eye and decided to ask him about it.

"Hold still, Konohamaru," the pink haired Jonin fussed, holding him by his cheeks as she dabbed his black eye with alcohol to disinfect it. She sighed and shook her head, seeing the boy bite tooth and nail to stop himself from shouting out in agony. He apparently wanted to appear tough in front of the fabulous kunoichi, in a teen's foolish attempt to impress her. "How did you get so bruised up anyway?! Argh…quit moving around, would you? Do you want to get swabbed in the eye? Yeesh…"

"Well, I'll have you know, Sakura-chan!" Konohamaru began, clearing his throat with a fake cough. His childishness has failed to disperse as of yet, as well as his naïve arrogance. "I single-handedly battled off a squad of about sixty rogue ninja! You should have been there! You would have dug it the most! It was incredible!" the teen exclaimed, beginning to tell his tall tale to the rather amused Sakura.

"My team and I were heading back to Konoha from a long mission in Wave Country, just helping some old lady set-up shop! We were just walking along casually, minding our own business, when we were suddenly ambushed by the horde of bandits! Moegi was like, 'Oh no! Somebody save me!' And Udon was like, 'What are we going to do, Konohamaru?!' So I was like, 'I'll save us!' So I took em' all on!" the boy declared, moving his hands around in an attempt to visually describe the situation. He nearly caused Sakura to jab him in the eye with the swabbing stick.

"After taking them out, the leader of the rogue ninja was then like, 'Whoa, this guy is like too bad-ass man!' Then all of a sudden, eighty Akatsuki show up! I took out about…sixty-seven of them! But then twenty of them finally flanked me…so I was like, 'You know what guys; I'm not going to give you the pleasure!' So I grabbed my teammates and ran for it! But then when we finally got away, I thought to myself, 'Hold on, maybe I should have left them a party favor…?' Oh…I did! A kunai bomb! Right up their asses! BA-BOOOM!!!" Konohamaru threw his arms out, bouncing on the patient bed he was sitting on, causing Sakura to back off a little at his excessive enthusiasm.

Sakura raised an eyebrow at the boy, thoroughly amused by his little story. "Well…isn't that something!"

"Yup!" Konohamaru exclaimed. "They should just go ahead and make me a Jonin for that…or maybe even Hokage!"

"I'm sure that after this mission, they would definitely make you Hokage," Sakura stated, trying to act as though she believed his story. In fact, his story was so far-fetched, she felt like punching him through the nearest wall. But she restrained herself from doing so, knowing that hitting him with an easy punch would probably kill the Chunin.

As Konohamaru folded his arms, grinning proudly, the two of them suddenly heard a series of slow claps coming from the entrance to this room, and glanced around to see a very amused looking Naruto leaning against the doorframe to the check-up room. Shaking his head, the boy clapped a couple more times before folding his own arms.

"Congratulations, Konohamaru," Naruto began. "You've once again impressed us all with your… umm (clears throat)…'heroism'!"

"Yeah!" Konohamaru exclaimed, leaping off of the bed once Sakura had finished applying the pad and patch to the cut and bruise above his eye. Fixing his pants, the boy fastened his scarf around his neck and placed his left hand on his hip. In a full-blown cool display, the boy checked his right hand and nails and rubbed it against his chest, polishing them. "Cause I was like, a bad-ass!" He sniffed, running his finger across the crevice under his nose before turning around and breathing in deeply. It was then he folded his arms over his stomach and hunched over, suppressed sobs suddenly starting to rattle off of his shaking body.

Naruto and Sakura stared at the boy as he stood there, back turned to them, and was bawling his eyes out. After about a moment or so, the yellow haired Jonin shook his head and smirked up at his disturbed and crying friend. He had known the boy for a long time, and putting up such a laid-back display was definitely a trait of his.

"Stop crying, Konohamaru…"

"Huh?" Konohamaru straightened up immediately and turned around, brushing the ridge under his nose again, sniffing and easily composing himself. He grinned and clicked at Naruto, obviously putting up that fake mask again. "That's funny, Naruto-niichan!" He then flexed his biceps, tightening one of the bandages and sending a wave of pain through his arm. He cringed, but still managed to hold out under the pain. "Next time, I will do much better to impress you!"

"Sure thing, little-man!" Naruto exclaimed, before thumbing him out of the room. "Now get out of here! I have to talk to Sakura-chan!"

"Okay! See yah later you guys!" Konohamaru exclaimed, skipping out of the room. As soon as he had Naruto and Sakura out of sight, he instead began limping away, the skipping becoming too much stress on his sore leg. Meanwhile, the spiky haired Jonin standing by the door just shook his head in amusement, and turned towards his favorite kunoichi, who was also standing and putting away her equipment.

"That Konohamaru," Naruto began, "Always getting into some kind of trouble!"

"Yeah…I don't know why he would go so far as to lie to us like that," Sakura replied, closing up her medical-kit and picking it up off of the bed. Naruto gently took it from her, putting it up onto the high-shelf as to save her the trouble. Though flattered by his gentleman like gesture, the pink haired Jonin just folded her arms and gave the boy an admirable smirk. "Do you know what actually happened on that mission?"

"Of course I do," Naruto exclaimed, turning back to the girl once he had pushed the box into place. He placed his hands on his hips. "I'm the one that double-checks his team's mission reports to see what they had been up too. Apparently, he was startled by a swooping crow when he and his team walked by its nest, and he fell into a ditch on the opposite side of the track. I would have asked how many times but…Baa-chan had crossed out that number from the record as a request from Moegi!"

Sakura giggled, imaging the scene as if she were there herself. "Now that's embarrassing!"

"Yeah," Naruto replied, placing his hands in his pockets. "You can easily tell why he'd lie about so many of his missions!"

"According to my memories, you were lying and telling tales just like Konohamaru at his age!" Sakura exclaimed, placing her hands on her hips and looking at the handsome Jonin standing before her. "Always telling fibs to us to cover up your ass!"

"And I must say what a fine ass that is…" Inner Sakura exclaimed, seeing through the same eyes her physical self was looking through.

Over the past couple of years, since Naruto had brought Sasuke back to Konoha, Sakura had developed an undeniable sparkling admiration for her fellow, knuckleheaded teammate. Not that she hadn't admired him greatly before in their younger years, she just didn't express it as much back then when they were twelve. But now, her powerful, hidden attraction to the yellow haired Jonin was beginning to show through her frequent erotic dreams, and dirty day-light thoughts. However, her inner decency continued to put up a good fight against her lustful urges.

Inner-Sakura however, had something else to say about her attitude and actions towards the elite-Jonin. The cool, alternate personality of Sakura revealed to her host her incredible attraction to Naruto in various mental outbursts, and simulated, erotic images! It annoyed Sakura, but she was progressively beginning to succumb to them.

Shaking her head from Inner-Sakura's latest outburst, the conscious Sakura blinked in shock and bewilderment, wondering what the hell had just come over her.

"Man…what the heck was that thought?"

"What?! I so did not lie like that!" Naruto shouted in protest, folding his arms in a childish manner. He leant back against Sakura's desk, getting comfortable in his exchange of statements with the young kunoichi. "Sure I sort of exaggerated my tales a bit, but most of my stories were true!"

"Sure they were!" Sakura replied, rolling her eyes. She also leant against a piece of furniture, the bed across from her, and looked at Naruto with disbelief. "Like that time when you came up against Zetsu! You told me that that guy summoned a giant Venus fly-trap, and when it swallowed you whole, you used a kunai bomb to get yourself out. Then you defeated him by hitting him with a Rasengan!"

"Yeah…what was wrong with that story?"

"What was wrong with it? You were scared out of your mind when you came up against him?! In fact, you were so scared, that it took a punch from me, and a flight made by you across the whole valley to get you to come to your senses!" Sakura said, throwing her arms out theatrically. "That's what happened! After that you chased him down and disintegrated him using your Rasengan!"

"Yeah! But don't forget, Sakura, I saved you!" Naruto stated, poking a finger in her direction. "You got trapped when Zetsu manipulated a tree to crush you, and sucked Sai into the ground so that only his head was sticking out! Then, when you were about to get squashed by the Akatsuki psycho, I hammered him with my Shuriken Rasengan!"

Sakura, blushing at the memory, turned away and huffed, arms folded. "So you did… big deal!"

"Big deal?" Naruto repeated.

"What do you want anyway, Naruto?" Sakura asked, rapidly changing the subject before he got too deep into it. She turned to her friend and love interest, giving him a considerate stare. "You obviously came here for a reason? So what is it you want to tell me?"

"Oh! Well uhh…" Naruto started, rubbing the back of his head nervously while glancing at the floor. Finding the right words, the young adult looked up with a smile. "You see Sakura; earlier today I won five gold-class passes from Ichiraku's Ramen Bar, allowing the winner and four friends to spend one day or night at the five-star Hot-Spring Resort in Konoha's Leisure District, downtown. They're V.I.P passes, where we get our own private spas, saunas and massages, and everything is free of charge for the time we spend there! So umm…are you interested in coming?"

Sakura was staring at Naruto as if he had just shared with her the most important and most shocking information in the world; her eyes widened in surprise and her mouth agape. Shaking her head to get herself out of her daze, the pink-haired kunoichi stepped forward, coming right up to Naruto's face and giving him a look of utter disbelief and excitement.

"Are you serious, Naruto?!" she shouted, her emerald eyes flashing with the prospect of five-class luxury. "You mean you won tickets to the most expensive, most popular and most relaxing spa house in the entire village?! Get out of here!"

"No… I'm not joking or anything," Naruto said, reaching into his jacket pocket. "In fact, I've got the tickets right here! Look!" The Jonin held up the five laminated passes, which immediately drew Sakura's attention to them. The girl gasped and snatched them from his hand, taking a much closer look. Naruto just smiled proudly and slipped his hands back into his pocket, while looking down at the pink-haired kunoichi, seeing as that he was a head and quarter taller than her.

"T-These…these are real!" Sakura gasped, reading one pass over, and checking it from back to front. "I can't believe this!"

Naruto smiled and reached out, taking them back from her and holding them above his head. "So…do you want to come? I'll understand if you don't want too… if you're busy or… or something!"

"WHAT?!" Sakura said loudly. "You don't just dangle five limited edition passes to the most luxurious spa in the village in front of a girl's face and expect her to say no, do you?!"

"Is that a yes, then?" Naruto asked, smirking.

"YES! IT IS!" the girl practically shouted, waving her arms in the air. "I will go out with you, tonight!" Catching onto this, Naruto smirked down at her, giving his teammate a very mischievous look as he watched her catch her breath from all her yelling. It only took her a few seconds to realize what she had said, and when she did, Sakura stepped back and pressed her trigger fingers together, looking away and blushing a bright pink. She smiled nervously, before stammering out an excuse for her without-a-second-thought outburst. "I mean…sure…I'll come to the spa with you."

"Alright then!" Naruto exclaimed, handing her one of the passes. "Here you go, Sakura-chan!"

"T-Thanks…Naruto-kun," Sakura replied, taking it.

"Meet me at the front of the spa resort at six o'clock this afternoon. You don't need to bring anything extra. Everything will be supplied for you there!" Naruto stated.

"Okay! See you then, Naruto!"

"Yeah…see yah, Sakura-chan!" the Jonin replied, walking out of the room while waving to her. Sakura shyly waved back, still blushing brightly and clutching the ticket close to her as if it were her most precious possession. Once Naruto was out of sight, the girl shuffled around nervously where she stood, her mind a whirl with all the thoughts wildly concerning Naruto, and how she had accepted that invite from him.

"That was so sweet of him to ask me out…and to such a nice place too!" Sakura said in her head.

"Now you're starting to warm up to him…after all these years…IT'S ABOUT TIME!" Inner-Sakura shouted, arms folded and a glare fixated on her face.

"I've rejected most of his offers asking me out before…but that was when we were much younger, and I liked Sasuke back then!" Sakura exchanged, letting out a sigh. "Now things are much different!"

"He's much more mature, stronger, smarter, much wiser, and I must say, a lot sexier then before!" Inner-Sakura said, drooling as she imagined the boy clad in boxers. Though she hadn't seen Naruto bare-skinned since he was twelve, Sakura could only imagine what he must look now. The thoughts of what he must look like made the real Sakura drool, as the images of Naruto popped up in her mind. "Can you imagine it? Kissing him would be orgasmic enough…but imagine getting down to the actual fucking…WHOOSHA!"

"Oh yeah…" Sakura sighed, before realizing what she was agreeing too. "Wait a second! That's just going way too far! Sure I like Naruto now, but do I actually like him like that?! How can you even argue that I do like him…you know…the way you think?"

"Firstly, I am you!"Inner-Sakura stated. "Secondly, I can tell that you like him like that because you're seriously turned on right now!" The conscious Sakura blushed a bright red, scratching her right cheek with her finger. "The warm sensations coursing through your body, the way you get aroused by those erotic thoughts of you and him, the hunger in your eyes when you gaze at him, and the drooling…it all adds up. You want him!"

"Heh…I guess you're right," Sakura replied, unable to argue with these facts about herself coming to light. "But…I'm so confused…what am I supposed to do then?!"

"Well…tell him that you like him! Tell him that you think he's hot, and that you want to screw him senseless!" Inner-Sakura proclaimed, chuckling evilly while raising a painted fist. "Then you can have sex with him in the spa?!"

"What?! Hang-on a sec, what if he invites Ino or anyone else along? Surely I don't want to do it with Naruto in front of them!" Sakura shouted, completely flabbergasted at her own dirty mind.

"Come on! It's still the most perfect opportunity for the two of you!" Inner-Sakura exclaimed. "Live a little! Just ignore the others and just do it! Besides, being watched makes it all the steamier!"

"I'm still not sure about this," Sakura thought, blushing nervously and finding this suggestion rather embarrassing. However, she couldn't set aside the growing warmth between her legs, which caused her to squeeze her thighs tightly together. "I mean…it'll be embarrassing…"

"So…ask them to join in!" Inner-Sakura lustfully and shockingly replied.

"Alright, now that's just taking it too far!" Sakura replied, shutting her overly sexual stimulated persona out of her head.

"Still…to be with Naruto…that would be very nice…" Sakura exclaimed.

"Okay! That's one down, three more to go!" Naruto thought as he vacated the hospital, looking down at the three remaining tickets he wanted to give out. Scratching his chin in thought, the yellow haired Jonin thought about the next person he wanted to invite. As he began walking down the dirt road through the various shops and boulevards, Naruto's mind then clicked onto the next person and he clenched his fist in success. "Ino! Of course! She's just working in her Flower Shop today! She should be closing up right about now! I'll see if she's available!"

Grinning at the thought of having the one of the most beautiful kunoichi in Konoha along with him to the spa, Naruto set off for the Yamanaka's Flower Shop. It was only a few blocks away from the hospital, and knowing Konoha like the back of his hand from his pranking days, the Namikaze heir knew exactly where to go immediately. Setting his mapping skills on autopilot, he moved himself through the streets quickly, avoiding large crowds as much as possible. At the same time, he avoided engaging in conversation with many of his newly made fans, seeing as that his victories over Orochimaru, Sasuke, Pain and Madara have made him a very popular attraction in Konoha. Everyone had seemed to forget that he was the carrier of the Kyuubi.

Rushing round another corner, Naruto grinned wildly at himself. "Ino wouldn't say no to going out to the spas tonight! Since Sakura is also coming along, she'll definitely agree to it!" At the same time, the spiky haired shinobi tried to think about how he would be able to invite Hinata and Ten-Ten. Perhaps the same approach he was considering of using on Ino as he had with Sakura; calm, smart and casual.

"What's there to be afraid of?"

After about five minutes, Naruto was now coming up on Ino's flower shop. Jogging down the street, the boy was eagerly about to make his entrance when he suddenly heard a loud crash, a shout of anger and a terrified scream. Stopping, Naruto's ears opened up to get a better fix on what was going on down in the flower store two shops down, blinking and utterly bewildered. A split second later, the store's glass shattered and a body went flying out. Rolling across the road outside, the man that was tossed through the window shakily got up, and with a terrified scream, began sprinting away.

Naruto watched on in surprise as he saw Ino, dressed in her ANBU ninja-attire that was an equivalent to her previous purple uniform, come running out of the store with a katana in hand and an obviously pissed off look on her face. She growled angrily as she watched the terrified, would-be burglar run off.

"Yeah that's right! Run!" Ino screamed. "You'd better think twice before robbing any of these stores! YOU HEAR ME!"

Realizing that the man was going to get away, Naruto growled and rushed onto the road, getting a better fix on the man in his line of sights. Reaching into his ninja pouch, the boy drew two balls stuck together and, cranking his right arm back, tossed it forward, the twin metal orbs flying straight past Ino and aimed for the man's feet. Suddenly, right before it reached its target; the ball's separated, but began spinning around on a central access thanks to the nylon wire and robe holding them together. They spun and struck the man's legs, immediately snapping them together, tying up and causing him to fall forward, flat onto his face with a loud, 'oomph!'

Ino, surprised at what had happened, turned around to see Naruto walking towards her, hands in his pockets and a smirk on his face. He grinned at the surprised, blond haired ANBU Captain.

"I think it's just coincidence that I always show up on the scene at exactly the right time, don't you think so?" Naruto asked. Boy, what a great way to start up conversation.

Recognizing the spiky haired Jonin, Ino smiled and sheathed the sword back into the scabbard at her side. Seeing him drawing closer, the blue eyed Jonin checked to see if her outfit was straightened and alluring enough, and made sure her hair was okay. After which, she placed her hands on her hips and smirked at her unexpected visitor.

It should be well noted that Ino had grown very well in years past. She's still the same height as Sakura today, and she's still exceptionally beautiful. Aside from her enhanced strengths, abilities and jutsus, Ino had also joined ANBU only last year, and her fighting prowess was increasing greatly through the extra training she was receiving from Anko (though her strength was nothing compared to the Hokage trained Sakura). Of course, Ino was also starting to inherit a lot of those traits easily recognized in the purple haired proctor, such as attitude, dominatrix, methods of torture, and well-sized breasts. Naruto, however, could not tell the difference in size between Ino's and Sakura's. Needless to say, the spiky haired Jonin found the blonde bombshell as equally attractive as Sakura, and had considered trying to go after her himself if she wasn't so involved with her teammates. Little did he know however, was that Ino had dropped her crush on Sasuke long before he came back to Konoha with the new girl, and has now begun pursuing her secret attraction towards Naruto himself. It would be incredibly shocking news to him if he ever realized what Ino was daydreaming about in her free time.

"Well, well, well, Naruto…what brings you here?" she asked, seeing him stop right in front of her, and return her smirk with a very handsome smile. His close proximity, as well as his sexy grin made Ino blush and look away briefly.

"Not much! I just wanted to see how you were doing, is all," Naruto replied, stepping around her, while looking the beautiful kunoichi from top to bottom. Flexing his eyebrows in appreciation, the yellow haired Jonin then pulled out one of the tickets from his jacket pocket and waved it in front of her. However, this did not tear the girl's attention away from his face or his form.

"And…seeing as that I've got no missions this afternoon, I was also wondering if you were available for tonight. You know, just to hang out…if you're not busy or anything," Naruto added. Ino, noting the obvious question, immediately decided upon her two choices, surprising the yellow haired shinobi.

"Of course I'd like to hang out with you tonight!" Ino exclaimed over flushed cheeks. Though her enthusiasm was noticeable, it was hard to miss the girl's slight nervousness and embarrassment when answering the question. She pushed some locks of her hair behind her ear and smiled in a very…very friendly manner, up at the handsome ninja gazing down at her. "So…what did you have in mind, Naruto…-kun?" She asked, saying the last bit with a flirtatious tone dripping hotly from her tongue.

"Wow…if it was this easy to ask Ino out…I would have done so a long time ago," Naruto thought, blinking in surprise. He was completely oblivious to the lustful look Ino was giving her, as well as the down-toned inflection she used in her emphasis on, kun. Come to think of it, he also heard the same phrase come from Sakura's lips, only he didn't think anything of it, and assumed that to be just a kind reply from his teammate. He just shrugged it off. "Well…she'll definitely make her yes official now!"

Smiling again, Naruto held out the ticket he was holding for her, the girl glancing down at it in surprise. "That's great, Ino! Here…I won a couple of tickets to the Hot-Spring Resort, the five-star spot downtown in the leisure district! This one's for you!"

"Oh-my-gosh!" Ino exclaimed, taking the ticket into both her hands and gazing down at it with wide eyes. "Y-Y-You actually have unlimited, official passes to that place?! How much do these things go for, like…five-hundred ryu for one? My goodness!" She gazed up at Naruto, eyes sparkling in a highly animated style with a streak of red flushed over her cheeks. "This is incredible, Naruto-kun!"

"Hey…think nothing of it! I really wanted you to come anyway…" "And to think I asked Sasuke to come first…tsk…bastard. I'm such a moron…"

Ino smiled, pocketing the ticket while giving Naruto a very friendly smile. "Well…thanks a lot, Naruto! What time do you want me to meet you there?"

"Meet me there at around six o'clock! I promise you, it's going to be really enjoyable!"

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind!" Ino exclaimed, nodding to him. "See you there, Naruto-kun!"

"Yeah…see-yah!" the Jonin replied, waving to her with a bright smile before walking off to his next destination. Ino watched the young man depart, her eyes guiltily trailing over his butt. The sight of it made her blush various shades of red, as well as making her insides feel sensuously warm. She licked her lips.

"Yummy…" she exclaimed in her head. "Can't wait to get a feel of that…"

Thinking of the prospects the night held for her and Naruto, Ino completely forgot about the burglar lying unconscious not too far from her…

Loud shouts of effort could be heard echoing throughout the central compound of the Hyuuga estate as a familiar, purple haired Jonin was busy practicing and exercising her taijutsu skills. Packed on by chakra inflamed punches in her self-developed form of the Gentle Fist style of fighting, the young kunoichi was making incredible progress in her training. There were: no faults in her fighting stances, no staggering from lack of balance, and no mistakes in her form whatsoever! She unleashed every attack perfectly with absolute precision, the blue flashes of chakra escaping every initiated attack being a clear sign of her effort.

The purple haired kunoichi known as Hinata was in her most superb form to date. She had grown quite well in the past few years, and in some places many guys gawk at today. Hinata presently was wearing a black turtle neck with the hem cut high to show off the flawless skin of her stomach, which was well-shaped into her figure. The seemingly tight turtle neck had ninja mesh-net sleeves that stopped just past the elbows, and the tightness of the top allowed a very generous view of her sized chest. Further down, she also wore tight black spandex pants with purple lines down the sides, and dark blue sandals to match. She mostly wore this outfit to training, so people rarely saw her wearing it outside of the estate. Furthermore, Hinata's hair had lengthened quite a bit, but not compared to when she was sixteen. Now she had it cut, so that it was tied back in a nice pony-tail, which suited her rather nicely. She still had the bangs of hair hanging on either side of her face though, which framed her pretty face.

Forward flipping through the air, Hinata landed soundlessly, crouched low into a sort of mantis fighting stance seen in kung-fu, and began unleashing swift, smooth strikes and attacks, which were quick and precise. Every kick unleashed a streak of blue energy through the air, and every punch, a small burst of chakra. These accurate precision shots could easily leave any ninja incapacitated, unless their chakra circulation was formed into that of a human's. However, the blows would nevertheless be agonizingly painful! Hinata gritted her teeth as she quickened her pace and increased the strength of her blows; more and more chakra seen bursting out of every follow-up strike made, with booms of force heard reverberating off of the courtyard's walls.

Letting out a growl of effort, she put forth a great deal of chakra into her hands, and began striking out in front of her, palms first, with super-human like speed. Against the side of a distant tree, which had been planted in front of the bordering wall, right in the girl's line of sights, thousands of chakra generated needles suddenly became impaled in the tree trunk. They struck the tree in their masses, eventually beginning to slice through the wood and cut the tree into pieces. Hinata's assault eventually ended on the tree, resulting in it collapsing due to the change in weight distribution and the damage inflicted upon it. The dead tree was reduced to nothing but splinters.

Panting from the effort the purple-haired Jonin had outputted, Hinata straightened back up from her stance and, concentrating on her breathing, relaxed her racing heart-beat. With sweat dripping down her body, the young kunoichi stretched out her arms, relieving her exhausted muscles and bones. Now that her training sessions were over for today, she felt a great need for a nice relaxing shower and a good afternoon of rest. Little did she know however, was that a familiar face was to come her way with a very interesting proposition that she could not possibly refuse.

It nearly made her jump out of her skin at his appearance…

"Still training hard I see, Hinata-chan!" Naruto exclaimed, leaning against the side-wall about six meters away from her to her right.

The purple haired shinobi gasped, and immediately locked herself into attention. Frozen where she stood, with her arms and legs snapped to her sides or together, and a bright red rush of blood coming to her face, the Hyuuga girl couldn't help but immediately feel incredibly warm and embarrassed at the presence of this unexpected guest. When she replied to the young man's words, she did not glance around to look at him, for fear of fainting from overwhelming feelings.

"N-N-Naruto-kun!" Hinata said; her voice a whisper as she slowly glanced to her right. Without a doubt, she saw the spiky haired Jonin standing right there in the shadows of the wall, his smile illuminating his face, with this particular look of admiration directed straight towards her. Unfolding his arms, the boy stood up off of the wall and walked over to her, the girl still standing stiffly, yet turned to meet him either way.

Naruto stopped in front of her, giving her only a couple of feet of distance between them. He smiled down at her. "Your technique has improved greatly, your stances are flawless, your style unhampered by fatigue, and you've gotten much stronger…" he glanced over at the destroyed tree, seeing the splinters rested on their own on the stone floor and the chakra needles disintegrating into energy particles, once again becoming a part of the air. The Jonin raised an eyebrow, clearly entertained by the sight and the previous one of the training girl before she stopped. "I see your Hell Pin Fire Jutsu is coming along really well. Very nice…"

Hinata gulped, seeing Naruto's attention draw away for that brief moment, before he settled his sights on her once again. "H-H-How long have you been…w-watching…Naruto-kun?" she asked.

"I'd say right up to the point you switched from advanced style taijutsu to high-level bursts of your gentle-fist style of jutsu," Naruto stated, placing his hands on his hips and tilting his head down at the still blushing Hyuuga. "That too is an impressive feat. Most ninja of the Hyuuga Clan, including Neji, have been known to suffer from muscle stress the moment they unleash such taxing bursts of chakra and energy. On top of that, such a complex style of combinations…heh…I bet even Sasuke couldn't even keep up with you. You've been training your body well!"

Blushing to the roots of her hair, the Hyuuga girl looked away, flattered to the utmost extent by her love interest's comments. Placing one hand over the cleavage of her breasts shown at the front neck of her top and the other against her cheek in an attempt to cover up her blush, Hinata giggled and closed her eyes.

"N-Naruto-kun's impressed by my technique?" she whispered in her mind, opening her eyes slowly and looking away through sparkling eyes. "H-he is! I…I knew he would be!"

"So…Hinata," Naruto began again, drawing the girl's attention back to him again. "I was wondering…if you're not doing anything tonight…" Hinata's eyes immediately widened upon hearing these words escape the Jonin's lips.

"Oh-my-gosh…is N-Naruto…going to… ask me o-out?"

"…would you…like to join me at the Hot-Spring Resort?"

"He did! He did! My goodness…w-what should I do? W-What should I s-say?" Hinata thought, the blush on her face remaining and the shock she felt also expressed visibly. Naruto didn't think anything of it, and just took it as a part of her nature. It didn't bother him, he liked the way she blushed and always tried to hide herself away. "Should I say yes or no…oooh…! I have to say something! He's looking at me!"

"Ahh…umm…" Hinata stammered, trying to find the right words. She continued trying to hide herself. Her hand, now slightly curled into a fist, still held above her chest, and her other hand held low, her thighs pressed together tightly.

"I mean…I understand if you don't want to go," Naruto exclaimed, shrugging. "It's that I really find your company very nice…heh!"

Shaking her head to remain conscious, the now more then shocked Jonin kunoichi then glanced up at her love interest, staring him right in the eyes, holding herself from blinking. She gulped, taking in a deep breath of air to compose herself and nodding her head with all the confidence she can muster.

"S-Sure…N-Naruto-kun," Hinata exclaimed softly. "I…I'd really like to join you tonight!" The thought of the handsome, spiky haired Jonin having passes to the most renowned spa area in Konoha didn't strike her as shocking at all. In fact, she was so used to the surprises the boy had that she just passed it off as some regular occurrence. Either that or she was too wound up on nervousness and shyness to trigger any other feeling or emotion when confronted by the yellow haired shinobi.

Naruto grinned, obviously pleased to hear her acceptance. "Then…I'll see you at the hot-springs! It's the five-star place downtown! Here!" the young man pulled out one of the passes from his jacket pocket and handed it to her. "Six o'clock…I'll be waiting there for you!" Hinata shakily took it from him, and gazed down at the ticket with wide eyes and a steak of bright red across her cheeks. Reading what there was written on the pass; she then glanced up at the boy and smiled at him, also delighted that she had been asked out by the boy of her dreams. Naruto nodded back. "See you there…" he exclaimed in that husky tone of his whenever he addressed a girl with sincerity.

Bowing to her in a show of gentlemanly appreciation, he then turned on his heel and left. Once he was out of sight, and was shown out by an incredibly honored Hyuuga Father, Hinata glanced down at her pass gripped in her hands tightly. Knowing that it had been Naruto that had given her this ticket, she began clutching it tightly to her, as if she had accepted a gift from Naruto. After all, in the years she has known him, Naruto always put his safety and his own well-being behind everybody else, caring more about those he treasured, and respecting them to his own full extent. Hinata knew that she was in love with him, not only because he was a handsome young man, but also because of those traits that made him special. His undying refusal to give up, his inner strength, and his way of the ninja!

Hinata's eyes shone even more, a brighter smile joining her blush as she clutched the pass to her head and shuffled around on the spot shyly.

"Naruto-kun…"

"Man…this asking-out-girls thing is actually turning out to be a lot easier then I had anticipated. I mean, with Sakura and Ino… I expected them to have at least played hard to get. But now I'm just shocked! I didn't have to do any favors or anything!"

"They're just attracted to your shining personality, kit!"

"Wow…really?" Naruto asked as he continued walking down the street with a happy spring in his step.

"No…" the Kyuubi replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "Of course they are you idiot! Geez! Haven't you realized it yet? The girls love you!"

"Huh? Really? Awesome!" Naruto exclaimed, his eyes widening on the outside and his jaw dropping slightly as these realizations were gradually beginning to reveal themselves. Of course, sharing these with his opposite, otherwise known as the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox confined inside of his body, was very enlightening, and shocking at the same time. "B-But why? What is the real reason they like me so much?"

"Dear God, even at eighteen, you're still as thick as a fruit!" Kyuubi groaned, shaking his head at his master and host's stupidity. Even though he had come to respect the yellow haired Jonin since Naruto became stronger then him, they silently agreed to treat each other as equals, yet fought like best friends. This was what is meant by them being opposites. "Look, the truth is what I said before. You're a kind soul, kit…strong up here in the head, and selfless to a far-outstretched extent. You always put your friends' happiness before your own, which you have done for those girls countless times in the past, and you're always protecting them. Not only that, but they're not the only ones to have grown more attractive…"

"Wow…though I'm really flattered by your words, foxy…you're not really my type…"

"Fuck you, kit!" Kyuubi growled, causing Naruto to grin on the outside. "The point is, you've grown and changed…and so have they! You're not only at the peak of finding the perfect mate for you, but you're also the most perfect male bachelor ninja in the whole of this village! With most of the competition either taken or… just…stuck up bums and such…you've become the main affection of those girls. Even though they've liked you long before today!"

"Hmm…I kind of like where this is going!" Naruto exclaimed. It was then a look of utter puzzlement, nervousness and thought suddenly crossed his expression, and the boy looked down at the floor in front of him. He stopped in his tracks. "But… if I'm really going to choose one of these girls to be my girlfriend and/or life partner…then who? I mean…my heart is set out for all the girls, Sakura, Ino, Hinata…even Ten-Ten. I haven't gone so far as to consider either one to be higher up the ladder then the other!"

"I see your point…" Kyuubi said, nodding his head in agreement. It was then a feral grin crossed the fox's face and he inwardly nudged at the image of the boy in his head. "You're one lucky son-of-a-bitch! I so wish I could still take over your body at my own will!"

"What the hell are you getting at, fur-ball?"

"Come on! You so know what I'm talking about! If you can't choose one girl over the other…" Kyuubi then smirked, an eye flashing. "Then how about having all four of them?!"

Naruto's face paled at this suggestion and prospect, before having it replaced by a full-face blush! Feeling himself getting a little hot under his jacket and hair, the young Jonin fisted his hands tightly, cutting into his palms with his fingernails, so to keep himself from fainting due to high-blood pressure. The pain did the job, but the embarrassment and dirty thoughts starting to seep in did an even bigger job downstairs. Growling, Naruto pounded his head with his cut fist, shouting at the fox in his head.

"You are one dirty-minded demon, you stinking pervert!" Naruto shouted. "And as if I haven't had my fair share of them!" Memories took him back to old-man Sarutobi, who was soon followed by Jiraiya, then the disturbingly terrifying Anko, and finally, incredibly enough, Tsunade. Naruto had had his fair, estranged sights of spotting the blonde haired Hokage peering into the man's spa area from time to time, whenever Jiraiya went in. That saying went for the both of them. It was quite ironic, really. Naruto slumped forward in overwhelming distress, eyes overshadowed. "My world is one of Ero-sennin's sick novels, and I'm the main character!"

"Something tells me that you should have gone to see the movie…"

"Okay…though I'm not as perversely twisted as you are, or any of the others for that matter…" Naruto restarted, clapping his hands together and taking in a deep breath. Taking all his thoughts into consideration, he let out all doubt and human-decency out in one sigh in order to ask himself this question. "Say I did try to get with all four girls! If I did make that particular move, how will all of them react to it? Will they be able to see reason behind my arguments of me liking them all equally, or will they just ignore it and murder me, leaving my blood-soaked corpse hanging from my apartment window, drawn and quartered?"

"Wow…you're even more perverted than me!"

"Hey! I take offence to that!"

"Says the protégé of the world's most perverted Sannin in the country," the Kyuubi laughed,taking in Naruto's expression of dismay. "Seriously though, if things turn out the way you plan it, and you play your cards right…I am absolutely certain that you'll emerge from this conflict intact, at the same time looking as though you've had the wildest and most pleasurable experience of your life!"

"Alright…what are you getting at this time?" Naruto asked folding his arms and standing on the side of the road, continuing to engage in this weird conversation.

"Listen, setting aside all the killing and butchering of you in the near future if this screws up, which it might… try piecing together all the little things we have talked about thus far!" the Kyuubi began, raising up a tail as he began counting. "Number one, you're inviting all of the girls to the most relaxing hot-springs in the village that they cannot possibly resist. Number two, each of these girls are harboring intense feelings of attraction towards you, as noted by their interactions around you. Number three, all of you are at a suitable age to mate! Number four, you've grown up very much to the girls' liking! Number five, you are the perfect male for them, and with a life-long personality that compliments all four girls. Number six; all the girls are close friends with each other! Number seven, you like them all equally! Number eight, you are thinking of mating with all four of them tonight! And number nine, I haven't seen you back down from a life-endangering challenge yet!"

"Okay, okay…yeesh!" Naruto replied, fanning his flushed face. "Alright…I admit that I…want to…you know…do that…with the girls tonight! But you're provoking it! It may not even happen if you keep carrying on the way you are!" Shaking his head, he shoved his hands into his pockets and once again, started down the road towards where he knew Ten-Ten would be at this time of day. "Besides…I still have to see if Ten-Ten-chan would like to come…"

"If not then three is good enough, right?" Kyuubi said with a grin.

"If I know Ten-Ten…then she's probably not as violent as Ino on a bad day…"

In fact…she was even worse…

"AAARGH! NEJI! YOU ARROGANT ASSHOLE!" the brown haired girl shouted as she threw a barrage of perfectly aimed kunai at a picture of the man she was venting her rage at. The kunai punctured the picture, striking the face at the eyes, mouth and forehead. She had long since this moment stop throwing kunai one after another, and was now just pelting them.

Panting heavily where she stood fifteen meters out, Ten-Ten, feeling slight relief over her target practice, growled and clenched her fists. Reaching behind her, she drew a cluster of ninja stars from her pouch, and threw them at the picture. They curved through the air, and struck the picture, tearing it to pieces. The barrage of ninja stars sort of did the trick for her, but she was still venting, and her outbursts weren't going unheard by a familiar yellow haired Jonin hiding behind the trees for protection.

"After all these years! After everything I've done for him! He still doesn't notice me! Well notice this, you glass-eyed jerk!" she screamed, drawing a scythe knife from her pouch and hurling it at the tree. When it struck, it sliced right through the tree, impaling the picture and remaining stuck with its blade piercing right through the photo's forehead. "It's not like we can all be serious work-a-holics like Sasuke! It's always training for you, and worrying about your students! IT'S ALL ABOUT YOU! WELL, WHAT ABOUT ME?!!"

"Wow…" Naruto thought, glancing around the tree he was hiding behind. "She's pissed…" The Kyuubi, who was quietly resting in the boy's head, would have made one of his smart-assed comments at this statement of the obvious. But he was too stuffed and too bored to make any sort of remark whatsoever. "I can't just walk up to her in her present state! She'll skewer me!"

Also joining the kunai impaled picture of Neji, there suddenly came a barrage of needles, which was then followed by a boomerang kunai, which took a big chunk of wood out of the tree, and not just tore the picture in half. Naruto raised an eyebrow in interest, finding Ten-Ten's display of anger towards her teammate rather puzzling. For one, he never knew the girl could get so worked up over the lack of attention from the Hyuuga elite, let alone expression her anger this way. One thing was for certain, Naruto has rarely seen Ten-Ten ever get angry, only Sakura and Ino. He still found her quite pretty when she was angry all the same.

Panting heavily again, Ten-Ten eventually gave into her muscle fatigue and collapsed to her knees. Hunching over, the girl proceeded to catch her breath, giving Naruto the opportunity he needed to approach her safely. Smiling, the yellow haired shinobi fixed up his scarf, and stepped around from behind his tree-trunk. Unfortunately for him, he accidentally stepped onto a small branch, causing it to snap loudly, as well as the resting Ten-Ten to respond in a very unexpected way. Growling, the girl stood up and, drawing a cluster of kunai, threw them into the trees where she heard the sound. Naruto, seeing this, let out a yell of shock and dropped down to the ground, the flying knives shooting off into the forest above him.

"TEN-TEN!" Naruto shouted. "What did I do that made you throw kunai at me!?"

Ten-Ten, suddenly realizing who she had thrown her kunai at, gasped and ran over to where Naruto had hit the deck. Sitting up, the yellow haired Jonin rubbed his chest where he had landed on a rock, and looked up to see the brown haired girl kneeling beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder and checking for any serious injuries possibly inflicted by her.

"Oh-my-gosh, Naruto I'm so sorry!" Ten-Ten fussed, looking him over frantically. "I didn't know it was you!"

"That's okay…it happens to me all the time!"

"Here…let me help you up," Ten-Ten exclaimed with a smile, pulling the staggered and no-doubt, shocked Jonin to his feet. Once he was up, the young man brushed himself down and smiled up at the woman with the Ox-horn style of hair braiding. As always, Ten-Ten was a friendly soul when she was cheerful, and always a real whizz to have around. In a way, she was sort of like Sakura; cheerful, strong, witty, and always willing to help out. She was also incredibly beautiful. "Sorry about that, Naruto. I'm just…not feeling myself today…"

"So I could tell," Naruto pointed, smiling at her. "Usually you would have hit me with that kind of attack. Good thing you weren't as thoroughly focused as I had thought…"

"Eeh…well…heh-heh…" Ten-Ten giggled, rubbing the back of her head and blushing in a bashful manner. "It was just a reflex action. I might have hit you if I had gotten a better lock on you…"

"Oh…I see," Naruto exclaimed, rubbing the side of his head nervously. "I don't know if that's a good thing…or a bad thing!"

Giggling at the spiky haired Jonin's grin, the girl blushed under his gaze as she moved her hand over her left side, pushing some stray hairs behind her ear. Shyly, she retraced her steps back to the curious reason why her friend was here, and decided to ask him about it. "So umm…Naruto…what's going on? You came here, obviously wanting to say something to me?"

"Hmm…" Naruto blinked. It then clicked to him the reason why he came here and nearly got himself nailed to a tree. Boy was he lucky to have survived. Smiling again, the boy reached into his pocket, but kept it there for a fall-back on his proposition. "Oh-yeah! The reason I came around was…well…if you're not too busy tonight, I was wondering if you would like to join me over at the Hot-Spring Resort!"

"Huh…The Hot-Spring Resort?" Ten-Ten queried, wondering which establishment the young man was referring to. When the image of the place popped into her mind, the girl's eyes widened and she gazed at him in both disbelief and shock. "You mean that five-star spa down town? You're inviting me to go there with you?"

"Of course," Naruto exclaimed, pulling out his second ticket and holding it out. "I mean…who wouldn't for such a lovely kunoichi like you? Are you interested?"

Ten-Ten gazed down at the ticket, still awe-struck and bewildered. Her mind was screaming, shocked to know that Naruto was asking her out. All the anger she had pent up inside her of Neji dissolved into shock, and the comment the Jonin passed onto her made her blush to the roots of her hair. Clearly, this was no proposition she was going to back down from, especially from such a handsomely grown shinobi she also had hidden affections for. Rubbing her right cheek, she reached out and grabbed the ticket, but didn't take it just yet. She looked up at him with a smile.

"I'd love to come, Naruto," Ten-Ten began. "But…I'm also wondering. Is anyone else coming?"

"Oh…well…" Naruto shrugged. "I did invite some of the other girls. I thought that we could all hang out…you know…and get to know each other a little better!"

"Oh I'll get to know you a little better, Naruto," Ten-Ten thought with a smirk. "Even if that means prying you out of those other girls' hands…I'll get you!" Knowing how available Naruto was, and how much he meant to her for all the things he has accomplished, she would not pass up something like this.

She took the ticket, smiling in a very friendly manner up at the young male. "I'll see you there…Naruto-kun!"

Naruto nodded, bowing to her in a highly honored action. "Thank you so much, Ten-Ten! I'll see you there too! Six o'clock! Don't be late!" With that, he straightened up and departed, waving to her and receiving a wave in return. Once he was out of sight, Ten-Ten's determination and fighting spirit kicked in. Holding up a fist, she held it up with a very Gai-sensei like grin. Truly, she had picked up some of Lee's personality.

"We'll see where this goes!" Ten-Ten thought. "Be prepared, Naruto-kun! Tonight is the night I make you mine!"

TO BE CONTINUED…