I do not own Naruto or the other characters, at this point my only creations are Kita, the Kiraa-bi (aka the Kiraa) and the plot.

Special thanks to my wonderful chapter 3 reviewers:

Kunoichibrat, The Sociopathism of Trees, SB01, where r my chips, Mayumi Crescent Moon, ref346, wind797, daniel, I.E.T.S., Ryo-yasha, Orchid Nymph, kabata4life, Sakuraangel1327, and Nani kiwi gurl.

Now ready for chapter 4? I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I don't let down all of the readers who've been so kind & supportive - I really don't want to let you all down.

Chapter 4: Beauty Begins

Naruto wasn't stupid, he just didn't spend too much time in deep thought, he preferred physical activity to mental. The new day brought the need for lots of pondering and it set him on edge – things had changed. When he found out that Kakashi would not hold training that day, Naruto wasn't sure it was a good thing to have nothing to do but think. Making up his mind, Naruto went in search of his friends and food, not necessarily in that order though.

First up a trip to Ichiraku for a good breakfast of ramen with fried egg and pork. Just the thought of the steaming dish, made his mouth water. All of his random thoughts were chased quickly from his mind as he made his way to Ichiraku.

Climbing onto a stool, Naruto was greeted by Teuchi, "How is my best customer today?"

With a grin, Naruto happily replied, "Hungry! I think I can break my old record today."

Teuchi laughed broadly at the young ninja's energy and enthusiasm. In truth there was no more faithful customer than the blond teen. Naruto's orders alone were a large percentage of his weekly business. Naruto never ordered just one bowl of ramen, on average he ate five at a sitting, after hard workouts or missions the young man could easily finish eight bowls.

Still smiling, Teuchi replied, "Okay, just tell me when to stop. So what will it be today?"

Without hesitation, Naruto replied, "Pork and fried egg!"

Teuchi gave Naruto the thumbs up and began fixing the first bowls, while Naruto settled in to wait.

"Oi, Naruto!"

Naruto turned at the sound of the familiar voice, greeting the fellow ninja in a friendly manner, "Hey Bushy Brow, what are you doing here? I thought you were on a mission."

"Yes, we returned yesterday, Lady Tsunade has given Neji, Tenten and myself the next week off for completing the mission so quickly. I knew you were not on a mission and hoped you'd be up to sparing with me today."

"Hey that would be great! Just let me finish eating and we can get a good workout."

As they walked to the Spa, Kita reviewed the plan for the rest of the day.

"Part of being a kiraabi is the art of deceptive beauty. Your hair, skin, clothes, even nails are all tools to support that deception. You will learn to be the most beautiful flower in the village, today skin, hair, and clothes... but first a bath."

Sakura followed, listening intently as they arrived at the Tavron Spa. They were greeted by the attendants and led to the changing room and given fluffy white towel wraps. They removed their clothes and wrapped themselves in the towels and walked out to the heated springs.

Three hours later, the two kunoichi left the spa. Kita always looked gorgeous, for her the trip was merely refreshing. But Sakura had never been so pampered in her life. Her skin was rosy, softer than the finest silk, and scented of cherry blossoms and myrrh. Her hair had been had been washed, conditioned and styled so that it was bouncy and shiny. A small trim of the ends had evened up her previous haircut, making her look softer and very feminine. The last part of their spa visit had been manicures and pedicures, completing the head to toe treatment. As they left, Sakura carried with her a sack of hair and skin products for home use and makeup. Once her hair had been completed, Kita and the staff had also given her a makeover using colors that complimented her skin and hair perfectly.

Stepping back onto the street, Sakura felt like she was in a dream. The dream did not end there though, Kita surprised her further by saying, "Okay, shopping now!"

With Sakura closely in tow, Kita headed further into the shopping district. Very quickly they found themselves in a small ladies wear shop. As the saleswoman approached them, Kita nodded towards Sakura and told her, "She needs to be fitted for a bra, demi-cup push up style."

Shopping for new clothes should have been easy, until Sakura found herself stripped to just her panties, everything else being thrown away to be replaced by items that were more suitable to her changed status. Gone were her chest bindings, leggings, and sleeveless shirt.

First the saleswoman forced bra after bra upon her to try on until Sakura felt lost in a sea of lace. After so much time binding her breasts she was surprised to find that she had full B cups that stood out proudly in the lingerie. To accentuate this fact Kita chose a deep red colored top with a deep wide v-neck that closed with a single button between her breasts. The top ended just below her breasts, revealing her firm flat stomach. Owing to the deep cut of the shirt, the intricate white lace of her new bra peaked out provocatively. With it Kita passed her a short tan colored flounce skirt that featured attached taps. The skirt flowed across her hips and thighs and accentuated them perfectly

It was an outfit Sakura would not have chosen for herself in a million years, her mother and father would surely be quite disturbed when the saw it, but even Sakura had to admit she looked like a million yen. Looking at herself in the full length mirror, Sakura did not see the same girl that left her house this morning. The girl that looked back at her was truly and unequivocally beautiful.

'What will Naruto think when he sees me,' she wondered. She had not thought of him all day or what had happened the night before. But as he crossed he mind now, she wished she could somehow share this with him...to confirm that he thought she looked as beautiful as she now felt.

Once the first outfit was complete, Kita coaxed Sakura from the dressing room and they began to create other outfits, ones for training, missions and just plain civilian wear. Sakura was afraid they would empty out the store, but the saleswoman kept running to the back store room bringing out more. In the end, as their purchases were being totaled up, they had more bags than Sakura thought the two of them could handle. The final bill was more money that Sakura made in a month working double shifts at the hospital, Sakura's jaw dropped when she heard the total but Kita simply paid the bill and requested that the purchases be delivered the Haruno home.

As they exited the store, Sakura couldn't help asking her mentor how they could afford those things.

"Don't worry about it, all training expenses are paid by the Hokage," Kita replied nonchalantly, "Enjoy it, this is the easy part, the rest is won't be near as much fun – but it's all worth it. So tell me how do you feel?"

Stopping to catch her reflection in a window, Sakura considered herself for a moment before she turned back to Kita and replied, "Like I'm in a fairy tale...like a princess."

"Hmm, yes a very pretty princess. Can you begin to see the beautiful woman that was hidden inside?"

Sakura looked back into the window, the vision was her, just a better her. She timidly ran a finger over her gloss covered lips, it was still her under there. The clothes, hair and makeup didn't change who she was or had always been...they just presented her better than ever before. Maybe she had always been beautiful...but for the first time in her life she felt beautiful.

Sakura nodded as a shiny tear slid down her face, accepting this simple truth was an overwhelming revelation.

Kita placed a supportive hand on Sakura's shoulder and began, "Good, because you are little sister. Now-"

Kakashi appeared from a burst of smoke and Kita never finished her sentence. "Lady Tsunade is calling all jonin to a meeting now," he stated simply then disappeared.

Kita handed Sakura a small wallet, "Why don't you go have lunch with some of your friends? After that, can you please go to Xuan's shoe store and pick up my packages? They should be ready, just tell Xuan-sama you're there to pick up my stuff. If you have time buy some chocolate bars, lots of them. I'll catch up with you later after the meeting."

With that Kita turned and took to the rooftops heading towards the Hokage tower, leaving Sakura alone. Sakura watched Kita disappear from sight then decided to go find Ino, maybe she could eat lunch with her.

Kita stepped lightly in through the open window to Lady Tsunade's office. A quick glance revealed that she was not the first to arrive but not quite the last, a few familiar faces were still missing. Lady Tsunade was sitting at her desk reviewing her papers awaiting the final arrivals. Kita moved quietly to the side of the window and leaned upon the wall waiting to find out what was going on.

Knock, Knock, Knock.

"Enter," Tsunade bellowed without stopping what she was doing.

Ebisu and Homura entered the office, and as all well-trained nin do they surveyed the room taking note of all attendees. Homura, a village elder felt it his duty to oversee the update meetings with the jonin. All was as he expected until his eye fell on the raven-haired kiraa. He sized her up, taking in the pretty face and makeup, the hands that looked as if they never did a day's work and the enticing cut of her fitted wrap tank top that made her breasts entirely too prominent. As he looked at her he saw a mockery of the seriousness of everything the jonin stood for.

"What are you doing here?" Homura asked Kita incredulously.

Tsunade looked from her papers with a raised eyebrow, her glance traveling from Homura to Kita and back again, but she said nothing, sitting back to watch things unfold. Challenges were a part of the ninja lifestyle, it was best she not get involved but let it play out.

Kita remained calm, her posture unchanged as she examined her new manicure.

Homura stalked across the room to stand in front of her, then repeated his query, "I'll ask you again, what are you doing here? This is a meeting for Konoha jonin."

With slow deliberate ease, Kita lifted her gaze from her nails and captured Homura in her steely gaze, then she replied in a cold hard voice, "I am a Leaf jonin. Born and raised in Konoha."

"Bah! You know nothing of what makes is required of a Leaf ninja to be a jonin. Jonin is the highest rank and most honored rank we can bestow. What makes you think you're worthy to be here?"

"Whether you like it or not," she ground out advancing menacingly on Homura, continuing, "I have earned my title of Kiraabi master and jonin with my blood and sweat. If you doubt my skills, I will prove them too you, but I guarantee you won't live to admit you were wrong. If you doubt my commitment to the Leaf then you are a baka and even death cannot fix that."

The two stood nose to nose neither backing down or advancing. One was past his prime, but still a very dangerous force to be taken seriously. The other an extremely lethal assassin, trained to never fail. If this continued to escalate surely a life would be lost this day in Konoha

"Oh, sorry," a calm voice broke the uneasy silence, "I thought we were having a meeting. But if this is a duel, I'll just come back later."

Kakashi leaned on the edge of the window looking bored, opened his copy of the latest Icha Icha novel, then turned walking away across the roof eave reading.

With a diabolical ease, all focus was transferred from the two squaring off in the center of the room to the lone escapee.

"Oh no you don't! Kakashi get back in here!!" Tsunade meant business, the white haired ninja knew how to push her buttons. Turning back to Homura and Kita, Tsunade settled the matter with four words, "You two cool it!"

Kakashi climbed into the window, joining his fellow nin. Homura and Kita backed away never losing eye contact, both refusing to be the first to release the tension.

Tsunade's gaze caught the wordless threats and she decided their posturing had gone on long enough. "Kita try to refrain from killing your comrades and Homura don't be baka enough to make her do it. Now on to business."

Behind his mask, Kakashi had to smirk, he noticed that Lady Tsunade had not ordered the asashin not to kill the village elder, but only to try not to.

Walking into the quiet Yamanaka family business, Sakura looked around for her best friend and foremost competitor, Ino. The front of the shop was empty, no customers or workers, only flowers and brightly colored potted plants.

"Hello? Ino are you here? It's me Sakura."

"Hey forehead, we're back here!" came Ino's voice from the back of the building.

Sakura followed the sound of her friends voice, into the combination storage and work room. There she found Ino, Temari and Tenten gathered casually around the room. Sakura stood silently at the door watching the drama already in progress.

"So are you going to go out with him or not?" Temari badgered Tenten.

"I don't know, I really like him, but we're on the same team...I don't want to cause problems. We work well together now but what if things go badly? What would happen to the team?"

"Aghh! Tenten you make me crazy! If you like the boy go out with him already!" Temari lamented, throwing her hands in the air. It was only then that she turned her attention to the newly arrived kunoichi. "Oh, my sweet kami!"

Sakura felt her face turning a deep crimson as their eyes turned to her. Like Temari, her other friends registered varying degrees of shock to her appearance.

"Forehead...is that really you?"

"Wow," Tenten managed to squeak.

Not knowing what to say or do, Sakura opted for a simple greeting, "Hi!"

"What happened to you?" Ino asked walking forward to examen Sakura's new outfit, hair and makeup.

"Long story, but I'll tell you over lunch. It's my treat."

Sakura's friends quickly accepted her offer and the foursome headed off for some serious girl time. As they headed into the market area, it was under the scrutiny of one of their peers and his faithful companion.

'Wow, is that Sakura? She looks hot!! Wonder if Naruto's seen her today?' he thought, then deciding this was news the blond ninja would definitely want to hear, he went in search of his friend.

One thing about sparring with Lee, it's always educational. Lee's fervor to be an excellent ninja drove him to constantly increase his strength, speed and skill. It could not have been more than two weeks since the last time they sparred, but Naruto could definitely tell Lee was faster than before. Sparring with Lee forced Naruto to think on his feet and challenged him to push himself harder. The training ground suffered the most from their battle, broken branches and cracked earth gave witness to the earnest blows the two passed.

Sometime during their match, Kiba and Akumaru arrived and settled in to watch the two friends battle. Kiba found a high branch on a tree a good distance from the battle, then he and Akumaru could easily lounge and watch without worry of being accidentally injured in the fallout. When they finished both Naruto and Lee lay on the ground breathing heavily, battered and bruised and both wore huge smiles that said they were extremely pleased with themselves.

"Ah, thank you Naruto. That was just what I needed to get my blood flowing before my afternoon workout."

"No problem Bushy-Brow."

"So are you two finished trading love taps? Let's go get some lunch!" Kiba yelled from his branch. Akumaru barked his agreement.

Naruto sat up, leaning on one elbow, while he shaded his eyes with his free hand. "Yo, Kiba, how long you been there?"

"A little while now...you two ready to eat or what?"

Naruto smiled his big goofy smile and asked, "Ramen?"

Kiba shook his head and said, "Sure, why not."

"I could use some food now also," added Lee, climbing to his feet.

As the trio headed into the village towards the market, Kiba casually asked Naruto, "So Naruto, you've been back in the Village for two months now – you able to get a date with Sakura yet?"

Naruto felt his face warming at the memory of he night before, so far he'd done an excellent job of keeping his mind clear of the unanswered questions about him and Sakura. Why did Kiba have to ruin it? Avoiding the answering the question, Naruto returned, "Why'd you ask a thing like that?"

Kiba took his time answering, "I'm just wondering if you have a real claim on her or if she's a free agent."

The clench in Naruto's stomach was echoed by the clinch in his jaw. "What do you care? Aren't you dating Hinata?"

Kiba stopped and leaned against the corner post of a small restaurant, with a smirk and a casual nod to the interior, said, "Just checking my options. Cause if she's not 'officially' your girl, I'm might have to try to get with her...she's hot."

Naruto followed the direction of Kiba's nod to see a small table of kunoichi, all friends of theirs. The girls seemed to be enjoying some hen time, and one in particular caught Naruto's eye.

The particular kunoichi had luscious shiny pink hair that fell to her shoulders in soft waves. Even seated at the table, the low cut of the back of her shirt showed the soft curves of her shoulders and back and it was enough to make him drool. Everything he could see, and all that he couldn't, captured him hypnotically.

As Naruto stood outside and stared at Sakura's back, Kiba and Lee moved into the restaurant to join the girls. Suddenly Naruto realized that if he was the last one to get to the table he would not be able to sit next to Sakura and his feet began to move with a life of their own.

Tenten was facing the door and had a bird's-eye view of the approaching males, a smile crept onto her face as Naruto clumsily moved towards them. None of her other friends suspected they were about to be joined. Temari caught Tenten's look and glanced over to see the quickly approaching males.

As the handsome blond came into earshot, Temari casually asked, "So Sakura, what's going on with you and Naruto? Are you two dating yet?"

"Temari!," said Sakura in shock, when a very familiar voice came from behind her.

"Um, hi!" The goofy teen said loudly, "Hey we're getting lunch too, can we sit with you guys?"

Hearing his voice behind her, Sakura was caught doubly off guard having the subject of their conversation show up suddenly. She couldn't help or hide the genuine smile that filled her face as she turned to face Naruto. She could feel her heart start to race as she eyed her secret love, after all no one knew just how much she truly cared for him. Even last night she had not fully told the truth to Naruto.

Naruto looked at Sakura and said, "Wow, Sakura-chan you get more beautiful every time I see you." With every fiber of his being, he meant those words. She had always been beautiful to him, the most beautiful and precious girl in the whole village of Konoha. But seeing her as she turned, Naruto was caught up first in the soft gloss of pink to her lips, then by the blush that started at her cheeks and extended down to her neck and chest. The deep crimson of her smooth skin stood out like fire against the white lace peaking at him from the now prominent mounds of her breasts. It really was a lot for him to take in.

Hearing Naruto's words, Sakura's heart leapt into her throat. For once the loud-mouthed moron said something that was truly complimentary and non-moronic...that is until he added to his original comment.

"And I totally approve of being able to see your breasts!"

Instantly her blood began to boil and Sakura began gathering chakra to her hand as she clinched it into a fist.

"Yeah nice rack, Sakura," Kiba added with a wink and a wolfish grin standing just to Naruto's side.

From behind Kiba, Lee began to babble, "Sakura-chan...b-b-b-breasts! Wow!"

"You bakas!,"Sakura's fury connected first with Naruto's jaw, then she repeated the pummeling blow to Kiba and Lee. The three young nin found themselves on the floor staring up at a very angry pink-haired ninja. "That is not how you talk to your teammate and peer!"

Furious and partially unable to believe the sexist comments they had said, Sakura stormed out of the restaurant.

"Okay, maybe she is a really good choice to join the kiraabi," Temari said in between giggles.

Ino laughed openly as Kiba and Lee crawled to their knees and then chairs. Tenten leaned close to her fellow kunoichi and asked, "Aren't Kiba and Hinata an item?"

Ino responded with a nod, still too breathless to speak watching the wounded males. As soon as she could speak, Ino teased Kiba, saying, "Oh, I'm so telling Hinata on you!"

Kiba had made it into the chair beside the annoying blond girl and offered her a mild growl. But from the bright red of his face everyone could see that his jaw wasn't his only problem.

Naruto, still on the floor, weakly rubbing his head and asked, "What did I do?"

His peers simply stared at him in disbelief that he could be so clueless as to what he had done to upset the young kiraabi.

FYI: taps are the attached pants/bottoms on cheerleader skirts.

Hey I need a beta for chapter 5, if you can & are willing to proof it for me I can post it immediately. If some generous soul out there is willing to help just PM me. Thanks!! -- UPDATE: Thank you all for the wonderful response...a Beta reader has been found!

Cheers!