Naru sighed in relief at the sight of the familiar sandy, dome shaped buildings, ignoring the way Jiraiya rolled his eyes at her. Giving the guards a nod, she skipped inside the village.

The two Konoha ninjas were kindly greeted by an anxious Yashamaru and quickly brought to the Kazekage's office. The Sand Village's leader stood, face hard and serious.

"Jiraiya and Namikaze Naruto, it's a pleasure to see you again." Said both had just barely saw a smile play on the man's lips, "I initially planned on sealing the beast, Shukaku, into my third son, but I have decided to go along with your suggestion instead."

Naru let out a breath she had been holding, grinning brightly. Jiraiya's lips quirked up in a smile, "We're glad to hear that. Would you like for Naru to start?"

"Yes, that is if Naruto would be fine with that."

The blonde nodded, "Absolutely. But Kazekage-sama, call me Naru! It's a syllable shorter."

He shook his head in amusement, "That's not much of a difference, is it, Naruto?" The girl huffed. "Well, I would very much appreciate it if you would begin." He turned to his wife's bother, who had been silently watching the interaction with well hidden disbelief. "Lead them to where we keep the demon."

"Hai, Kazekage-sama." The three left, going down corridors and down the building. Without looking back at Naru and Jiraiya, Yashamaru inquired, "How are you on such good terms with him? In all honesty, I've never seen Kazekage-sama openly show positivity."

"Ah, it's a little complicated," Naru waved dismissively, "so let's just say that we bombarded him with many pleasant ideas and plans that would definitely help this village thrive."

He looked back at the two, an eyebrow raised. He turned back to the door that was heavily locked in front of them, "Well, I'm not sure what you want to do with it, but if you make even just one mistake, it would cost all of us."

Jiraiya nodded, "Ah, don't worry. We're efficient in seals, and Naru here has the trump card. All that matters is how she'll use it."

"Let's just hope you play your cards right, then."

With that, the door creaked open.

Rin sighed, "Kakashi, if you keep up that attitude, eventually we'll have to kick you out."

"That's what I'm hoping for." The Hatake replied snappishly. "Why the hell do I have to stay in here, when I'm fully capable of taking care of myself at home? It reeks of anesthetics."

Obito rolled his eyes at him. "Well, this is a hospital, if you haven't noticed. And you know, if you keep your face like that, eventually it would stay that way. I'm sure Naru wouldn't appreciate it." He received a glare. "Oi, what did I just say?"
"You should be glad your girlfriend ran into you. It would have become quite troublesome for us had she not fixed up most of your wounds." Tsunade's voice caught the attention of the three as she entered the room. "And I swear Minato can be such an idiot sometimes." She shook her head in disapproval, checking off a few boxes in her paper.

"You should see him with Kushina." Kakashi muttered, "You wouldn't be able to call him just an idiot."

Obito and Rin spoke in unison, voice monotone. "Agreed."

The woman rolled her eyes. She gave Kakashi an once-over, nodding while doing so. "Good, good. You're doing a fine job, Rin, keep up the good work. Kakashi, you'll be fine to leave by tomorrow." And with that, she walked off, heels clicking.

"Why do I always get the feeling that a storm's gonna happen every time she's around?" Obito shivered. "She's creepy, man. And that rack doesn't cover for it."

Rin smacked his head lightly.

"Learn how to respect, Baka!"

"I have to agree with the idiot. I can't comprehend what Jiraiya-sama sees in her."

The door slid open with a loud slam, and, much to the horror of the teens, Tsunade had appeared. On her face was a twisted, sickly sweet smile.

"Hatake, you'll have to stay for another week. I believe I have forgotten to check one of your wounds."

Obito couldn't even snicker at the obvious peril that was about to fall on his male teammate.

"Well, this is a boring place to be cramped in." Naru commented. "But I guess it's cool to be inside a gigantic kettle once in a while."

"Not if you're trapped in here with no means of escape!" Shukaku screeched as he had his claw raised to squash her.

Just before it managed to do so, however, a red, bubbly, claw shaped chakra seeped out of her.

"What the hell are you doing here, Kurama?" Naru winced at the venom dripping in the tanuki's tone. "It's worse enough I have to be stuck here in this shit hole, so why do you have to appear?"

"Funny, I recall you clinging on to me like that monkey Goku and screaming in my ear, 'Nii-san!' every five seconds when we were younger." The Nine Tailed Beast smirked as he came into form.

"Shut up! I just didn't know any better then. Hey, don't compare me with that ol' buffoon!" The raccoon-dog growled, "Had I known you would turn into such a prejudgemental—"

"That's not a word, dimwit."

"—bastard I woulda—"

Naru raised a brow, looking back at her lifelong partner, "He's not going to shut up, is he?"

The giant, red and furry figure shook his head.

After a while of listening to the loudmouth demon rant, Naru stared in awe. "Amazing, he hasn't even noticed that we weren't listening."

"—and I'll have you know that the Ol' Sage just thought it would be kinda cool for each of us to have a number! Not because he wanted to show the difference in power! Being one's pretty awesome! At least I don't look like a mutant—Hey! You listenin' to me?"

"You finally noticed we weren't?" Kurama rolled his eyes. "I thought you would have improved through the decades. Looks like I was wrong."

"You―You… Grah!" The one tailed beast had kicked the walls of the kettle that confined them, resulting in him clutching his foot in pain. Naru cringed; even she felt embarrassment for the guy. Then, Shukaku pointed accusingly at her. "What the hell's that thing doin' here?"

Rolling her eyes, the Namikaze huffed, "I have a name, and I'm not a thing. Uzumaki Naruto, known as Namikaze Naru here, a not-your-normal human girl at your service!"

"Oi, bastard, you're babysitting this brat?" Naru aggravatingly tugged at her hair. "Who would've thought you'd stoop this low! Ahaha! The world's gonna end!" Shukaku did a combination of screaming, screeching and cackling.

Surely, even the readers would understand that this was not at all pleasant to hear.

Kurama sighed. This was going to take them longer than they thought.

Rin scoffed, "Serves you right."

"I thought that medic were supposed to heal people." Said Obito, who was sporting a black eye. On the bright side, it was fading. He rubbed his neck sheepishly at the sympathetic gazes he received, mostly from the civilians they crossed in the street.

"You forget the fact that she's also a ninja."

"Rin…" He whined. "You're supposed to be on my side. Tsunade-baachan was being unreasonable!"

"Quit with that disrespect towards Tsunade-sama! It's bad enough Naru calls her that!"

Obito scoffed, before scrunching his nose. "Speaking of Naru, she just came back, and yet she gets sent away on a mission three days after! What's up with that?" Kakashi sighed in exasperation, rubbing his temples tiredly.

"Obito, stop complaining. It's destroying my eardrums."

"What? She's your girlfriend. Aren't you even a little upset about that?"

His voice was laced with irritation. "She's a kunoichi, and has missions to do. Besides, I need to train; she probably improved greatly while I was off on my own missions."

Rin whipped her head towards the silver haired boy, attempting to stop him, "Kakashi, wait—" He disappeared with a puff of smoke, cutting her off. She glared at the leaves left behind. "That idiot. He's supposed to rest."

Obito hummed and nodded thoughtfully, "Yup, he's certainly upset." He yelped when the brunette next to him pinched his arm. "Ow! What did I do?"

Rin shook her head at him, "Don't pester him, Obito."

"Mm." He sighed, and casually brought his arms behind his head. "But, I know you can't deny that he's slowly turning back to the Kakashi before that Iwa mission."

Despite the number of missions they had done that concerned Iwa, Rin had known just which one he meant; it was unforgettable. "He needs her that much, eh?"

"We all need her that much. Anko's changing for the better, remember? And don't forget the Uchiha clan."

Rin had a smile on her face at the memory of Fugaku's lips lifting up slightly when Itachi brought his friends over. "Mm, certainly."

Okay, things weren't looking so good. Naru watched, absolutely wary, Shukaku's eye flash ominously, and her partner's small curse wasn't helping. Her hands inched closer to her holster, and that seemed to cause the one tailed demon to cackle.

"You think a puny bunch of toys you call weapons will leave a scratch on a giant, powerful being like me?"

Kurama flicked his eyes at his former friend, then down at Naru. He scowled, "You're using that so early? He isn't—"

"Aah, I know that!" She snapped. Tie him down!

Grumpily complying with her demand, his tails prolonged and swirled around Shukaku's limbs in a blink of an eye. The furry whips tightened its grip around the other beast's wrists and ankles when he tried to thrash around.

Naru took this chance and ran forward, whipping out a slip of paper with two of her fingers and bringing it to her mouth. Her eyes narrowed as she closed the distance between her and Shukaku, and she jumped high using chakra.

Now her body was level with his face, so she slammed the seal to his forehead.

First calling the name of the jutsu she was using in her head, she then cried, "Fūin!"

Instead of falling flat on the ground, something soft and furry caught her. She sat up, and realized that Kurama had offered a tail. "Thanks."

He snorted, but didn't say anything. Naru got off, patting away the dust from her pants. She flashed her partner a victory sign, grinning.

But the bright smile wore off from her face at the piercing bloodlust oozing out from the demon behind her.

Iruka pouted as he stared out the window, completely ignoring the boring teacher. He let his eyes follow the flock of birds then shifted them to the toddlers playing at a playground in envy. And then, out of sheer, desperate boredom, he counted the people in the streets.

"Iruka!" The teacher shouted, causing him and some of his other classmates to jump. "Pay attention to class!"

Itachi, who sat next to the tanned boy, scoffed at the sheepish head scratching his friend did. Not like it was Iruka's fault—even the Uchiha was having trouble staying awake in class. The way the chunin drawled had caused half of the class to sleep, hiding behind their textbooks.

He blinked at Haruhi, who was paying full attention on the other side of him. She hurriedly wrote her notes, wide, milky eyes concentrating on the board. He rested his head on his palm, watching her from the corner of his eyes. Itachi sighed, before doing the same as she and copied down what was on the blackboard.

Once the bell signaled the end of class, Haruhi packed her things, and blinked, remembering something. She turned to see Iruka and Itachi leaving. "Ah, Itachi-kun!" The boy stopped to look back expectantly, causing the girl to fidget slightly. "Um, it's just that I thought you were looking at me, so I was wondering if you needed some notes."

Iruka blinked in surprise, and then gaped in shock when Itachi seemed to look embarrassed at having been caught. "It's just that I was admiring how you were able to concentrate. But, if it's not too much trouble, may I look at them? I think I missed quite a lot of what the teacher told us."

"Oh, thank you." Haruhi had a light blush staining her cheeks. "It's fine; you two can come over if you want—I'm sure Father won't mind. And I'm sure Iruka missed the whole class." She said with a joking smile, giggling when said boy spluttered.

"Haruhi-chan! I did pay attention!" And then he whooped, "Study party at Haruhi's!"

"Thank you for the invitation, Haruhi-san. We'll try not to cause trouble." Itachi shot Iruka a warning glance. "And we'll leave as soon as we can."

"Aw!"

The three went out and dashed to their mothers for permission. Haruhi beamed at the two boys running to her, nodding.

The Hyuuga woman next to the girl smiled warmly, "You must be Iruka and Itachi! Thank you two for always sticking with Haruhi over here."

Iruka grinned, "She's fun to be around! We think of her as our best friend!" Itachi nodded.

"I'm glad to hear that. Ah! My name is Kazumi, and I'm her mother."

Itachi bowed, and Iruka saluted, "Pleased to meet you, Kazumi-san!"

Kazumi let a small laugh, "Pleased to meet you, too, Iruka, Itachi." She ruffled their hair, "Let's go—I just baked some cookies, and I think it would be nice if you would try them before it cools down too much."

The three six year olds grinned.

"You got a baby?" Mikoto slammed her hands flat on the table in shock.

Kushina grinned, "Mmhm! Three weeks pregnant!"

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" She whined uncharacteristically. "Best friends are supposed to tell everything to each other!"

"I'm sorry, but isn't this great? Our babies might become besties, too!"

Mikoto smiled and nodded enthusiastically, "Oh, imagine that! We'll have picnics, dinner, lunch, breakfast every weekends!"

The two squealed at the thought, and clasped hands together. "That would be so nice!" they said in perfect unison. Fugaku had come by in the dining room at that precise moment, took one look at them, shook his head, and walked away rubbing a temple. He had never understood the concept of women and their behaviors, and didn't plan on trying now.

Mikoto sighed happily, "Tea and crumpets! Like they do in the movies!"

"Ew, no." Kushina scrunched her nose at the idea, and imitated one scene she remembered, "They hold cups like this, don't they?" She held the handle of an imaginary teacup, sticking out her pinky.

"Mm… that is quite pathetic." Mikoto concluded from the redhead's performance. "Kakashi and Naru would certainly not appreciate being forced to do something like that, too."

"Kakashi and Naru?" Kushina repeated questioningly, before her eyes shone. "Ah, I see.

Speaking of which, I can definitely see that boy becoming my son-in-law!"

"Son?" Mikoto blinked. "But… Naru's your sister-in-law…?"

The Uzumaki smiled, but her eyes were downcast. "I'm having my… suspicions lately, 'koto. Well… I can't really say lately—I've been having this feeling even before her training trip with Jiraiya."

Mikoto furrowed her brows, seriousness replacing her humor from earlier. "Suspicions?" She paused, before nodding slowly. "I've been having similar thoughts as well. You two are so alike… and I feel that Fugaku's hiding something from me. Something big." She kept her voice low, despite her husband being rooms away now.

"Mm. I think the same with Minato. With his whole team and Jiraiya-san for that matter."

Mikoto's brows knit together further, "But it's… impossible. Naru—She's fourteen, too old to be…"

Kushina ran a hand through her long, fiery red hair. "Exactly. It's confusing the hell out of me, Mikoto. And with the way Minato's been jittery the whole time…" She inhaled deeply. "Adding to the fact that all five countries have suddenly become cooperative with us during the time span of Naru and Jiraiya's six months trip…"

"You've surely noticed the obvious change in this clan right, Kushina?" Mikoto frowned, and continued after she received a nod. "Naru… she had a meeting with Fugaku for the first time, and it had only been a couple of hours, but he looked like he had changed into a new man! He had called up a clan meeting so suddenly and when we were all tense, wondering what he wanted… He told us he's changing the clan ways!"

"What…?"

"He said we should participate in public affairs. He basically told us to loosen up—"

Kushina scoffed, "About time."

"—and that caused the elders to blow up! They were so furious, Kushina! And he knew they would react that way, yet he had gone up and done it!" She continued as if she wasn't interrupted. "But… well, after seeing the great effects, the elders had finally gotten off his case, and actually appreciated it. Our clan completely changed for the better thanks to Namikaze Naruto!"

Kushina sucked in a breath and hissed it out. "Naru… she had done all that?"

Mikoto nodded intently, "Yeah. I feel like he's hiding something important. Fugaku's showing open affection for crying out loud! He… instead of worrying about outside appearances and the strength of power this clan has, he worries about his family's happiness!"

"That a bad thing?"

"No, it's just… it all seems… like a dream." Mikoto said with a sigh. "A dream that I'm bound to wake up from sooner or later. A dream that, after having gotten used to and loving it, would shatter in a matter of seconds."

Kushina massaged the bridge of her nose. "I see." Shaking her head, she offered a weary smile, "All this thinking's making me sick. Let's talk about something else."

Mikoto clearly brightened up at the change. "Well, back to Kakashi and Naru, Fugaku's been sulking about it for quite a while now." At her best friend's questioning gaze, she explained with a giggle. "Apparently, he's been hoping for Naru to stay single until Itachi finally comes of proper age for them to date. He seems to think of her as a daughter he never had. Well, same goes with me. It feels like we have found something we've been unconsciously wanting, you know?"

Kushina laughed, "Really? Naru and Itachi… All I can see is six year old Itachi-kun being piggybacked by her." She laughed harder at the image of the boy wrapping his arms around the blonde's neck, suffocating her.

"Pft. Well, I've been given quite the scare at seeing Itachi cling onto her the first time we met."

"Oh?" Indigo eyes twinkled in mirth, "Do tell."

I was trying to tell you it wouldn't work. Kurama's exasperated voice rang in Naru's head. He's too restless to be sealed by that tissue you made with Jiraiya.

Ignoring him, Naru jumped back just in time to avoid the gigantic claw that crashed on the ground. It formed an equally enormous crater. Damn it, I need to make a new seal fast!

She widened her eyes and was unable to prepare herself for the major sound blast Shukaku had brought down at her.

Flying back, her ears pounded painfully and her vision was blurred. Her mind was in jumbles, and had Kurama not knocked the other beast with a swing of his tail, she would have been as flat as a pancake. The Nine Tails had taken charge of fighting Shukaku, and was on equal level of power due to most of his chakra being contained in Naru.

Naru cursed; how was she supposed to concentrate in this state? Well, it's not like I have a choice! She molded chakra, cringing when she added in too much and burned her hands. Her hands had taken a forest green color, before lightening and changing to lime. Quickly, she brought it up to her ears before it could revert back into its original color.

Tajuu: Kage Bunshin!

The many clones dashed for Shukaku with a growing, crimson ball at their hands. Their eyes shifted from sky blue to blood red, the pupils morphing into slits. The whisker marks were more defined and the jutsu in their hands were now the same size as them.

"Vermillion Rasengan!"

Explosions sounded, bringing another wave of pain in her mind and ears as Naru tried to complete the new seal. A drop of sweat rolled its way down the side of her face, lips pursed and eyes narrowed in concentration.

She finally raised her bloody thumb away from the paper and wiped it on her black jacket. Naru watched up at the fallen Shukaku with determined blue eyes. Her clones had gathered and then disappeared, leaving smoke behind in their place. Using this to her advantage, she ran into it, as silent as she can muster.

The silhouette of the One Tail's form had made her crouch further, and brought the slip of paper to her lips.

Kurama went back into his host's body, knowing she'll need his chakra to combine with hers to make this seal more effective. He sent a large portion of his chakra the same moment Naru had placed the seal on the weakened Shukaku's forehead.

"Eien Kangoku, fūin!"

Sorry for the absence of an update! T^T

I've decided which gender the baby will be and the name, but I'll keep it a surprise! :D I won't use the name "Naruto" for the baby, either, because that name belongs to Naru.

Thanks for the many reviews! I'm glad many of you enjoyed the first chapter!