Chapter seven

"I can't believe you killed Gatou!" was all that Tazuna said, as he stared in awe at the ninjas, who had come back to report the situation at the bridge, he was, quite actually, smiling and in the process of dancing by himself, until his daughter, Tsunami, came in, and was *forced* to dance with her father.

"They killed Gatou! They made his thugs escape! The bridge is safe!" The super bridge builder than dashed off, yelling the good news to the rest of the village.

Inari actually came down, looking straight at Naruto's face, who gave him a small grin back.

"Living on, kid, means to grow strong to protect those stay behind." Naruto whispered that to the boy, chuckling to himself as he waved his goodbye, turning around, his hands in the pocket of the coat, as he tried to make a sort of movie exit from the house, only to be stopped by a really scornful looking Uchiha with a giant tick mark on his forehead.

"Dobe, Kakashi-sensei still isn't back."

"Teme, I was trying to make a movie-exit! For Kami's sake read the atmosphere!" as Naruto replied with a shocked face, and he and Sasuke entered a fierce competition on the most insulting insult, Hinata giggled, staring at her two team-mates actions.

After three hours, Kakashi finally returned to his Genin team, announcing quite happily, with a smiling eye:

"Sorry, I got lost helping life go across the street…no, wait, it was something else…anyway, my excuse is valid."

Hinata simply stared as both Sasuke and Naruto pointed their fingers at Kakashi, slightly growling but saying nothing.

Then, after the final salutations, which had Naruto try his *grand* exit again, this time with a toothpick in his mouth, and a grin that still sent Hinata the shivers and made her face red, they finally left to return to Konoha.

"You know, Naruto, you are either completely insane or unpredictable to boot." Kakashi muttered, as he took a relaxed stroll next to the blond-haired ninja.

"Thanks, I guess."

"Anyway, the mission is over, I must say I was pleasantly surprised of how, in the end, it turned out to basically account to Naruto doing the entire job." As Kakashi commented on that, Sasuke actually was about to snap something back, but he stopped himself.

Kakashi was right.

In the beginning, Sasuke had proved his strength, but he hadn't been alone against the two sound nins, he had proven his strength again, but with the help of Naruto, against Zabuza, to free their Jounin-sensei, but in the end? Naruto had talked eye to eye with two enemy nins, Zabuza and his hunter-nin, and had emerged unscathed, plus he had spoken to Gatou himself, and slaughtered his way out of the group of thugs. Sure, he would have been able to do the same, with ease, but the fact was that it hadn't been him to do that, it had been Naruto, the average one in class, the one who had a family to support him, a family that had stolen what had been rightfully of the Uchiha clan, and, furthermore, had managed to creep his way into his heart with food, food of all the things!

Hinata didn't know wherever their sensei was being sarcastic, caustic, sincerely amused, or wherever he had been pleased or not by it. She knew, however, that he was right, at least for her, she had done little to nothing even getting scolded even by Naruto himself, and worst, the only action that would even slightly qualify as ninja-like was to deflect a senbon needle, while Naruto had used careful tactics and Kage Bunshins, she had done nothing more than go call for her sensei, and she couldn't even walk on water. She'd never be able to be side to side with Naruto if she didn't become stronger.

"Remember guys, when we get back, we dine in hell," Naruto replied with a sigh, "A D-mission turned A-mission? I'm probably going to get so much of a punishment that I'll be off-duty for a while, especially because I actually broke the cover of a Salvatore."

Sasuke found it interesting, though.

"A what?" He wasn't familiar with the surname.

"Kakashi-sensei didn't explain? He was fussing over the bolt in Gatou's head for a while though." As Naruto shrugged, Kakashi's eyes narrowed, how did he know? He had wasted time precisely because he wanted to bring the bolt back as a proof of external interference, and to have more information, but he hadn't found it on the body.

"No, Dobe, he didn't, enlighten us." Sasuke growled slightly, he was the one permitted to act all high and mighty, not mister average.

"Salvatore, it's the surname of the family whose bloodline is called Nosferatu, they make it their objective to never leave much of a trace, that's why they use wooden bolts that have moths larvae inside, which means that, by the way, the bolt was no longer there because it had already been eaten. So anyway, one of them was in the area, and I ended up calling him by mistake…the godfather is so going to flail me alive."

"How can you call one by mistake, Dobe?" Sasuke was puzzled, assassin on demands? Where were they when his family was getting killed?

"Sing-a-song, Teme, heck, if he hadn't warned me of Kakashi-sensei spying on me, I wouldn't have known." As Naruto grinned at that, looking over to his teacher, who acted unfazed, he kept on talking, "anyway, there's not much trouble in telling you that you need to sing to get one of them, point is knowing what song to sing, if I wanted you dead, I'd give you a fake call-song, and anyone in ear-range would know that you're an enemy of the family." The fact he winked at Sasuke made the raven haired Uchiha slightly shiver, for some unknown reason.

"T-That's a…b-bit ex-extreme Naruto-kun." Hinata fumbled, now she had to make extra sure not to sing random songs, or she might end up, with her luck, with a wooden bolt in her neck.

"If you're singing a Salvatore fake-call song, then you *did* something extreme, those are songs nobody sane of his mind would ever, ever, sing. Or be caught in public singing, furthermore, they're usually in the land of Iron native language, so there's a really little risk of it happening by accident." As he pointed that out, Hinata sighed in relief, well, she could keep up singing her own songs then. The ones she usually hummed in a sound-proof room to avoid anyone from her family to come to the understanding that she liked to Karaoke, albeit alone.

"So, why are you telling all this? And why would a simple *picciotto* know about it?" As Kakashi queried that, Naruto shrugged.

"If I know it then I can say it, I'm just advised not to, but nothing else will happen. I'm not yet a Wiseguy: they are the ones who have the secrecy seal and everything."

"Anyway Dobe, it was this Salvatore guy who saved your ass from Zabuza?" Sasuke smirked, probably had the elder ninja do everything for him.

"No, Teme, he just told me there was the Possibility that I would be able to Deliver something to Gatou till that night, with him being present as a back-up. They never stay still much, always moving, always protecting from the shadows, always Saving, Salvatore means *the one who saves* if we translate the surname literally. That's why I actually wasn't afraid that night of meeting Zabuza or Haku: I had family covering my back." The words actually stung Sasuke, the Dobe had everything he didn't have, and he was proud of it too, what did Naruto had that he didn't? Except a caring family, one that to Sasuke had been taken away from by his very own elder brother, and hearing the Dobe speak made him royally pissed at the moment.

Hinata was instead thinking how nice it would be, to have a family always ready to look-out for your mistakes, and help you grow, instead of outright hitting you to near death state, or bruising you till you couldn't stand and had to crawl back to one's room.

Kakashi was instead thinking about how he really, really needed to have a talk with the Hokage and the Godfather. Both were optimal poker-partners, but he thought the fact that any Genin could call upon a highly skilled assassin with barely a song was more than enough a proof that he needed to do something.

Naruto still seemed to act unfazed by nothing, and Kakashi, clearly not sensing any and all ill-will coming from the boy, shook his head and assumed a more relaxed stance for the rest of the trip back, which was uneventful, barring a late night talk.

They had camped for the night, just one day of voyage before reaching Konoha, and, as Naruto took his turn to guard the other sleeping members, a young white-eyed Hyuga couldn't fathom to sleep. Sasuke had banally chosen to ignore the words of Kakashi, using his own pride as a shield against the truth, Hinata on the other hand hadn't, and was sure that, once the news would spread, her father would double, if not triple, her training schedule, which would leave her probably with bruises and contusions. She was having a nervous time getting some nap-eye, and thus was rolling to the side of her sleeping bag more than once, a fact that Naruto didn't miss, at all.

"Can't sleep?" Naruto whispered to the girl, turning his blue gaze onto her white one.

"N-No." Hinata mumbled, blushing faintly, her Naruto-kun was there, near her, and he was worried about her.

"What's on your mind?" Naruto whispered, trying a small grin on his face.

"Y-You are." Hinata bit her tongue hard, blushing furiously. Why did she say that! Why, out of all the possible things she could have said, she had to say what she was actually thinking!

"Oh? What about me?" Naruto chuckled, looking at her with dream-like eyes that made Hinata blush.

"You…You're strong." Hinata pointed that out, like that was the most obvious thing to say.

"You think I'm strong?" Naruto queried back, before grinning and shaking his head, "You'd be wrong thinking that."

"B-But you defeated Zabuza, he's an A-class missing nin!" Hinata exclaimed, trying to keep her voice low.

Naruto shook his head.

"No, I was lucky with Zabuza, I never fought him. I am weak Hinata-chan, terribly weak," Naruto spoke slowly, in a slow soft mutter, "but my strength lies not only in me, but in the bonds I have with my friends, and my family, those bonds make me strong. I acted rashly, and stupidly, charging head on into the battle, and I'm sure that I will be severely punished by the Godfather himself, for the idiocy I have committed: I didn't act like a team-mate, but shoved all responsibility on myself, instead of sharing the burden of the mission. I considered you weak, as I did with Sasuke-kun, but, instead of voicing it out like the Uchiha usually does, I kept it to myself. I am sorry."

Hinata stood silent for a moment, taking in the kind words and the excuses of Naruto, he was being sorry for having considered them weak, when, at least she, was weak herself. Naruto slowly moved his head to the right, putting up a slight grin.

"I'm going to tell you a secret. You're the strong one, Hinata-chan: you just need the right drive, that's all." As Naruto added that sentence carefully, the Hyuga girl blushed.

"Na-Naruto-kun…" Hinata muttered, "W-would you be my drive?" what did she just say? WHAT DID SHE JUST SAY! Now she'd done it, now she really had done it, she was going to faint right there, right in that moment. As on cue, her heart gave way, and just as she blushed, fainting, she thought, for a brief moment, to have heard Naruto's reply, and then his chuckle.

The next morning, Hinata woke up, and stared absent-mindedly at Naruto covering the cinders of the fire camp with dirt, while Kakashi was already ready, reading his book, and Sasuke had just barely, and groggily, gotten up and started exercising. She kept staring in a dream-like state at Naruto's face, for some strange sort of reason that her brain, riddled with doubt over wherever to define the night before like an hallucination, a dream, or something else entirely, didn't compute. The strange silence continued at least until they got to the gates of Konoha, where an incredibly outraged Francesco stood, and, if his gaze could have murdered someone, then, in that precise instant, Naruto would have been dead. Not just any death, no, a horrible excruciating death, the type of which even Kakashi would have done his best to avoid.

"Hey, Ot…" he didn't finish, he simply raised his right hand to wave, and the next moment Francesco was a blur that had grabbed Naruto's arm and had proceeded to throw him on the ground, a cloud of dust gushing out.

"YOU IDIOT!" he ranted, proceeding to then hold him in a chokehold, while Sasuke smirked and Hinata watched worriedly.

"Ehm…excuse me." Kakashi muttered, which made Francesco relent from gripping harder, and turning a perfectly unfazed look to the silver haired Jounin.

At least I know where he took the unfazed-like look. "We still need to report to the Hokage…I'd like him alive."

Francesco sighed, and removed his hold, Naruto's face had just barely gotten back a normal hue, that someone else had dashed to grab him by the head and flung him on the dirt once more.

"YOU IDIOT!" This time, it wasn't Francesco, but actually Leonarda Preziosi.

"You damn worthless S! You're getting ball-gagged and that's final!" such words made Hinata blush horribly while Sasuke actually paled, because, as the Jounin stopped and stared at the Uchiha, she actually licked her lips for a moment, and then turned her red eyed gaze back on the boy on the ground.

"As I was saying before…I need him alive till the Hokage." Kakashi sighed, the woman in front of him was one of the first Jounins ever made from the Corleones, and she rivaled Anko in her perversions, in truth, they were best drinking buddies, and poor Kurenai was always forced in the middle between them in drink contests.

"Oh…sorry," Leonarda blushed, as she stepped away from Naruto who slowly got back on his feet.

"I'm glad to see you too…" he muttered, taking a deep breath.

"Hokage tower, five minutes," was all that Kakashi commented on, no longer caring if they heard him or not, before disappearing in a twirl of leaves.

"I'm going on ahead." Sasuke all but growled it, as he left in the direction of the tower; something inside of him was aching, probably, a thought that lingered for but a second, envy at the dobe for having someone worried and fussing over him.

Hinata stood her hand clasped together, not knowing wherever to move forward or not, that is, until Francesco looked at her, and smiling, beckoned her to come closer with a movement of his right hand.

She actually did that, timidly, and then *eeped* in surprise when the man made a refined bowing of the torso, his right hand reaching for his heart.

"I apologize for any shameful behavior my son must have subjected you to." He actually felt sad, and guilty, of something Hinata didn't understand. What did Naruto do to her? Expect stating the hurtful truth that was the actual reality: she was weak.

"H-He d-did no-nothing." She sputtered, easing up after a brief moment, when she realized the man's smile was warm, strangely so.

"My, such gentleness is a rare gift in a Kunoichi. Especially since…" he was a nice person, Hinata decided right there, he had that smile of his, that way of acting, and moving his hands, he kind of looked like the perfect fatherly example, his words, however, were cut off by a katana's blade, that reached inches from Francesco's right cheek.

"Where is he?" The woman behind him literally growled, staring with a killing intent that would have made Zabuza himself cry, at least, that was Hinata's opinion on the matter.

"He's not at my left?" as Francesco queried that puzzled, he, and even Hinata, turned to the left, just to see two mannequins that vaguely resembled both Leonarda and Naruto, standing in a pose, with a sign reading: "Gone to Hokage Tower."

"He's gotten good, hasn't he?" there was actually pride in Francesco's words, a clearly hearable pride, the man even had his chest rise from such a pride as Elena, instead, simply scowled about punishment later, and left her husband there, muttering more curses on taking on an *evil* streak.

"So, you don't have to go to the Hokage's tower too?" Francesco queried with a chuckle to Hinata, who had looked at him like a fish would look through a fishbowl.

"Ah! Y-Yes! Please excuse me!" With that, Hinata dashed off, mentally noting down that she had to find out Naruto-kun's father's name.

She dashed as fast as she could, reaching the tower, and then reaching just outside the Hokage's studio, just in time to see Sasuke and Naruto, both with an annoyed face, looking at each other with slight annoyance, even the two guards outside the Hokage's office had an annoyed look on them.

"Where's Kakashi-sensei?" Hinata queried, puzzled, as she caught her breath slowly.

"That's the point, Sasuke-teme lost sight of him." Naruto muttered.

"I wasn't supposed to look out for him, Dobe: he said five minutes, he'll be here in five minutes." Sasuke snapped back.

"Yeah…Five Ryos he won't come in five minutes." Naruto replied.

"Challenge accepted." Sasuke replied.

As time slowly passed, Naruto's grin grew wider, while Sasuke's scowl intensified, making even Hinata shiver. The two guards sighed, as it seemed that this had been the cause of an intense verbal debate among the two kids until Hinata had arrived. Finally, the clock marked Six minutes having passed, just to be sure.

"Told you so," Naruto muttered.

"Told him what?" Kakashi-sensei queried, opening the door from *inside* the Hokage's office.

"Gah! How long have you been there?" Naruto exclaimed, jumping away from the door surprised.

"I was lost on the way of life," was all that the silver-haired Jounin replied.

"We can't know who has won the bet if you don't tell us!" Naruto whined once more, which earned himself a smirk from Sasuke: the same thought the raven haired Uchiha had, but dared not voice out loud.

As they slowly entered the conjoint office of both the Hokage and the Godfather, when they had to receive reports on the missions, Naruto tensed, staying slightly behind Kakashi.

Kakashi repressed a grin, no matter what, the boy knew when to be afraid, that coupled with the words he had heard him say last night, well, it nearly made him want not to report the *whistle call* of a probable Anbu-class assassin. Nearly, however, wasn't completely.

"Was the mission a success?" Hiruzen queried, looking at Kakashi, and then slightly raising an eye-brow when he stared at how Naruto's face had turned pale, he'd ask the boy later, maybe over some Ramen.

"Well, concerning that…" Kakashi actually explained his version of the facts, the mission in truth being an A-rank, the demon brothers, Zabuza of the hidden mist, a hunter-nin who helped him, Gatou's thugs, and even Gatou's assassinations, by the time he finished, the third Hokage gave a look in Naruto's direction, who gulped.

"So, Naruto, what exactly did you do to convince Zabuza and his associate to *not* attack you, and instead run?" He was actually curious, if he had tapped into his Kyuubi chakra or something like that, Kakashi would have probably warned him by animal summon.

Naruto fidgeted, as he didn't know what to say: there he was, at a cross-way. On one side, he could say a lie, a lie he knew that would be discovered, as he wasn't a good liar. Hiding facts? Good. Lying out straight? Horrible to such a point that if he ever actually managed to convincingly lie, they'd actually believe it without problem, point being he never managed to.

He could, however, say that he offered them something, maybe the Godfather would help him out, but then it might be suspicious, as he didn't know anything except that he had to deliver them a letter too, and that it had to be hidden to the rest of the group. Certainly they'd hate him for that, as anyone would for having been excluded from a part of the truth.

Or he could outright give the fault to the Godfather, a fact which was the utter bane of his existence: the godfather was the reason he had a family, the reason people no longer scorned him or hated him, he was the reason he had ended up adopted by Francesco, the father he would had never had before, how could he even think about betraying them?

"I…well…I thought I could convince them to change sides, if I spoke with them for a while, Gatou was a heartless man, and he would have probably died anyway, not hearing the warning of Don Gianfranco, so…I kind of spoke to them, and they actually accepted?"

"You actually convinced two missing Nins to stop their mission with words? I'm sure, with the shipping magnate Gatou in the mix, he would have offered them a really high paycheck." The Hokage pressed on, while the Godfather kept a neutral face, seemingly uninterested.

"I…I just spoke to them, that's… really all, Hokage-sama." Naruto didn't feel good lying at the Jiji, but he had no choice, that's what the Godfather asked him to do.

"I can vouch for him being highly convincing, Hokage-sama," to his surprise, it was Kakashi who had spoken, "he managed to convince this rag-tags to group together, and they actually *took* the bells from me, at the training grounds."

Hiruzen's eyes shot forward for a moment, before returning to normality, as he repressed a cough, and muttered something about *should have expected that*.

"Anyway, concerning the death of Mister Gatou, care to explain why you called a Salvatore, and then actually used him, forcing him to later on change his cover and rotate with the others? And what was a Salvatore doing there in the first place?" The Hokage queried, but was, before Naruto could try and come up with a good enough excuse, stopped by Don Gianfranco, who actually answered the second question, that had been addressed at him.

"The Salvatore was there on a mission, a really important one that he couldn't complete because of Naruto's interference, even though he called him by mistake, he broke his cover, forcing him to give up on the mission. As such, I'm afraid the Salvatore family asked for remuneration from the boy." The Godfather looked with a cold stare at Naruto, who shivered.

Hinata watched worried from one side to the other, not knowing what to actually say, while Sasuke grinned, the Dobe was going to get it.

"What limb?" Naruto asked in a mutter, barely audible, gulping down and trying not to cold sweat too much, albeit he actually was really scared at the moment.

"Limb? Gianfranco you can't be…" the Sandaime was cut short by a nod from the Godfather.

"They want your right arm, you called, by mistake and that's why they didn't ask your head, a Wiseguy of the Salvatore, his task is an S-secret, and you have infringed on it, thus, you must pay the price." Hinata brought her hands to her mouth, while Sasuke was actually a bit pale, wasn't it too extreme, a limb? Some extra punishment missions would have done just fine, with the right arm…he risked losing his shinobi career, and they'd end up in other teams or having to wait a year for new team-members!

Kakashi narrowed his only visible eye and, staring at the Godfather, muttered.

"This was more a fault on the Salvatore part, than on Naruto's, was he punished in the same way?" Gianfranco looked back at Kakashi, and then commented:

"The Salvatore will do some family missions and then he'll be set back on track: that was the punishment the Salvatore head deemed worthy on him."

"Naruto instead loses a limb? What kind of equally guilty thing is…" but before Kakashi could reply, Gianfranco had already hit the table with his right fist.

"He is a Giovanni, the guy is a Salvatore. The choice does not fall on the Giovanni's family head but on the Salvatore's family, as I had to punish the Salvatore for failing his mission, so the Salvatore can punish Naruto for making them fail their own. They have been lenient, in the punishment, as their motto is…"

It was Naruto, who meekly whispered, interrupting the Godfather.

"Testa per occhio, famiglia per dente" As he finished, the Godfather nodded, "if it's the right arm, well, I'll learn how to use the left one, right?" as he said that with a small sad smile, Hinata gasped, not knowing what to say.

"That's still extreme! As their Jounin-sensei the fault is also mine!" Kakashi was actually bewildered, he had simply hoped that he'd get some explanation, but now it turned out that Naruto had simply done what he did best: opening beehives and running straight through them. There was also another thought, that had crossed his mind, a more grim one: that he had done that to guarantee the team's safety by accepting, by himself, the consequences of his actions, maybe he had seen Kakashi get his ass *nearly* kicked, and had thought the copy-cat ninja not to be able to defeat Zabuza and his associate together, maybe he had decided the team would need back-up, and he had done that, maybe, to protect the team.

"No…the fault is of Naruto and of Naruto alone, he must thus face his punishment, and that's final." Don Gianfranco spoke harshly, staring back at Kakashi who was trying to find any possible excuse, but couldn't, as he instead looked at the Hokage.

"I can't intervene on the matter, Kakashi-san: it's a family matter, it pains me, but I can't do a thing." Sarutobi had the most saddened expression on his face that Kakashi had seen but once, before: at the fourth's funeral.

"Oh come on! The Dobe is a ninja! He's a good one at that too!" Sasuke finally snapped, "sure, he's all for friendship and family and team-mates and that's sickeningly sweet and clearly gay, but he's nearly as good as me, and I'm an Uchiha: so why make him worse? Just have him do some missions like the Salvatore guy, heck, have him do the same missions at that Wiseguy! If he does them, then he's free to go, otherwise he's dead and the Salvatores can't complain!"

"Naruto-kun is a strong ninja! You can't remove him from the shinobi ranks for having helped us on a mission! It's STUPID!" Hinata looked at her hands. Then she kind of touched her lips, did she just say that the Godfather's words were stupid? Did she just do that to the second most powerful man in Konoha, who took orders only by the Hokage, did she just…why wasn't she already committing Harakiri in a corner?

"As a team, I say whatever missions the brat does, we'll do them together, it will be good team training." As Kakashi said that, Naruto's eyes widened, he was…he was having some dust in his eyes, that's what it was.

The Godfather coughed once, and as the eyes of the group turned on him, he rolled his eyes over with a deep sigh.

"Damn, you all can't take a joke," the next moment, everyone in the room, except the Godfather, face-planted against the floor.

"What? You really thought I'd take a LIMB from him? What are you thinking I am, a bloodthirsty criminal?" as Gianfranco said that, Naruto actually started crying in relief, and the next moment, in the room, a wave of killing intent rolled by, making everyone very, very uneasy.

The Godfather gulped, and then added.

"Well, it was clearly no-one's fault: the boy couldn't know the call for a Wiseguy class Salvatore, so he just had the rotten luck to have actually started singing a song that worked as that, while the Salvatore was expecting someone that he had to protect for a night, who in truth was somebody else entirely, and thus their information mismatched, and there was a misunderstanding. It was cleared, however, and there were no problems."

Everyone sighed in relief, albeit the killing intent still remained in the room.

"So, Naruto and the others of the team, you will receive the D-class compensation from having delivered the message, while…" Sarutobi took the word, and finished the Godfather's sentence, "you will receive an A-class payment for having solved the mission, and having defeated Zabuza and his minions…albeit in an unorthodox manner…you're dismissed."

As the group left, the Hokage turned quietly to Gianfranco, who turned to face Hiruzen with a grin.

"Told you the brat would have taken the blame, he's an adult now."

"And I told you that his team would have tried to defend him, they're all adults, Gianfranco, you can't have him participate in both, you know."

"Who says that?"

"You know he'd probably try that, and then you'd end up with him dead, probably."

"The boy's not going to fail: he did the right thing right there. He didn't shift the blame on me, for the offer to Zabuza, and he didn't rat out any of his team-mates weaknesses, nor did admit the reason why he went on with calling the Wiseguy never the less."

"He's still a Genin, and while I do not approve or your underhanded ways to test loyalty and responsibility, I can say he's not going to get forward in your ranks, until he at least gets the Chuunin rank in Konoha's shinobis." As Hiruzen pointed that out, taking a puff of smoke, Gianfranco rolled his eyes over.

"The killing intent on us isn't stopping."

"Yeah, I'm starting to think it's sort of going to linger all day long."

"Better solve it, before we actually scare to death other teams who still have to report." As the third Hokage sighed that, he muttered.

"You can come out, or in, or inside, or wherever you are, Elena-san."

As a set of shining blades and kunais actually appeared in a corner of the room, both men flinched, starting to sweat. A mother angry is one thing, a royally pissed mother is another, a Giovanni's mother when angry is a strength to be reckoned with, but Elena Corleone Giovanni, known as the Corleone's walking armory, when in her full Mother Hen form, was worse than anything the shinobi lands had ever seen.

Outside the office doors, the two guards on duty heard a set of girly screams.

"Did you hear that?"

"Must be those females of the chorus, it's too high-pierced to be a man."

*Ichiraku's ramen*

As Team 7, plus their sensei, stood for the first time all together at Ichiraku's ramen, nobody dared to say a word, all too proven by the previous minutes that seemed like hours, in the Hokage's office.

"Naruto," Kakashi spoke softly, turning his only visible eye to the Genin, who looked back at him, "remind me never, ever, to make the Godfather angry."

"I'll do that gladly…I'm sorry for before." Naruto replied in a whisper, barely audible.

"Umpfh! A Dobe will remain a Dobe no matter what," Sasuke growled, did he actually call Naruto a *good ninja* back there? He was in dire need of some more scowling lessons, "still, when's the feast going to be?"

"Tomorrow probably, lunch time, come with an empty stomach: trust me," as Naruto said, a grin appearing on his face, Hinata slightly blushed, more because, while Kakashi was on Naruto's right, she was on Naruto's left, and since Sasuke was on her left, she had full front view of the boy's grin.

Hinata turned to her ramen, which Teuchi had just delivered, and after saying the usual word *Itadakimasu*, began eating the noodles, trying to concentrate on what she had just done before in the Hokage's office, and what she had said in the face of the Godfather.

Yeah, she was sure going to get a beating from her father, in the form of *training*, when she got back to the Hyuga compound.

After the ninth bowl of ramen, on Naruto's side, Kakashi suddenly decided that he had something to do, disappearing into a cloud of smoke, and leaving Naruto, Hinata and Sasuke, with a scowl on their faces, to pay for his part too.

Afterwards, Sasuke muttered something about training, leaving the Hyuga and the Giovanni alone, on the road, but, as the raven haired Uchiha turned the corner, a loud set of "SASUKE-KUN!" echoed that made the young Genin yell, dashing back on his tracks, this time followed by a mob of fan girls, and run in the completely opposite direction, passing by Naruto and Hinata, who stood perfectly still, to allow the raging mob to go forward.

"Well, might as well bring you back home, Hinata-chan," as Naruto said that, he stared, with a small smile towards the Hyuga, adding afterwards, "that is, if you want."

"Sh-Shouldn't we help…?" as Hinata queried that, looking in the direction of Sasuke's mad dash, Naruto chuckled.

"Nah, the Teme is probably enjoying that, though he'll never admit it," as the blond haired boy said that, he nonchalantly placed his arm around Hinata's shoulder, "well, time to bring you home".

Hinata blushed, as she let Naruto gently surround her shoulder with his arm, and as they began walking back towards the Hyuga compound, she was quite actually suspecting it was a dream, a hallucination or simply she had gone mad directly. Just why was the boy she loved acting so directly with her? She hadn't even confessed to him! Or maybe she had? She was steaming and her face was red, on a shade completely unused by her before.

"Na-Naruto-kun!" Hinata blushed, as she stared with her white pearly eyes into his blue ones, "Wh-Why a-are y-you?" why are you holding me like this? Like a l-lo-lover?

"You asked me if I would be your drive, Hinata-chan: wasn't that a love confession?" Naruto queried, puzzled, his right eyebrow shooting up in surprise.

Hinata outright fainted. The moment before, her brain clicked on the melt-down button, the next moment her heart gave in with a Naruto-Fatality, and finally her legs collapsed on themselves, the only thing avoiding her from getting a meeting with the floor being Naruto himself, who grabbed with a sigh and a small smile, and carried her all the way till the Hyuga compound.

At least, till the guards outside, handing her over to one of the guards, who had a puzzled look on his face, he simply replied:

"She mustn't feel well I suppose," but before turning to leave, he stopped after just two steps, turning to the remaining guard out of the compound, eying him with a pretty torn expression, "would it be possible to arrange a meeting with Hiashi-sama? My name is Naruto Uzumaki Giovanni, of the Giovanni family, and I need to discuss something with him." The guard stared at the boy for a moment, not knowing wherever he should leave his post or not, seeing as there was no-one else, as the other guard had gone to bring Hinata-sama into her room.

"Could you wait here for a moment? Neji-sama!" The guard exclaimed, raising a hand to attract the attention of another ninja shinobi, one that was probably one year older, since he wasn't in the same class as Naruto, who, nodding, moved closer.

"Giovanni-sama here would like a meeting with Hiashi-sama, I must take my leave momentarily to query the master's disposition, would you kindly watch over the entrance for a moment?" The guard was actually making sarcasm in the use of certain words, a fact that Naruto didn't miss, but which didn't make him care in the slightest.

"Hai," was all that Neji replied, letting the guard go swiftly.

"Why did he call you Neji-sama?" Naruto queried, puzzled as he stared at the boy no older than him of a year, maybe.

"Why do you want a meeting with the head of the Hyuga clan, and what makes you think he'll accept?" Neji retorted with his own questions.

"Two questions for the price of one? You drive a hard bargain, my friend!" Naruto replied with a grin, "I need to speak to him concerning my team-mate, Hinata-san, and he'll accept, either because it would be rude not to, or because he's simply curious why I had the guts to call for a meeting to begin with."

"I am not your friend." Neji replied with a stern look, "but if fate has decided our meeting, then so be it: I'm the son of the previous head of the branch family, thus I'm simply the head of the servitude, and my name is Neji." The reply came bitterly, and just for a brief moment, there was a look of scorn on the boy's face.

"I see," was all that Naruto whispered back, though he wondered why if he hated being the head of the servitude so much he didn't simply leave, he didn't ask, everyone has their own reasons.

"Is Hinata-sama being of any use, in your team, Giovanni-sama?" Neji queried back, probably to interrupt the tense silence.

"My name is Naruto, please, no need to be so formal, and yes, she *is* a good Kunoichi." Naruto replied, noting down the scorn in the boy's words, there certainly was a story behind it.

"I find it hard to believe." At the boy's reply, a slight nervous tick appeared on Naruto's face, who queried, trying his best not to seem angered.

"And why would you find it hard to believe?"

"Because she's weak." The voice didn't come from Neji, however, but from a taller man, with long raven hair and pearly white eyes, who was wearing a traditional outfit, and sandals, and was staring, from top to bottom, Naruto, with a stern and impassable expression.

"Hiashi-sama." Neji bowed, before being dismissed with a hand-wave by the Hyuga's clan head.

"I take it you are my daughter's team-mate: I am a busy man, so make it quick." Naruto nodded, and staring back at Hiashi with a clear steeled gaze, he muttered.

"Hinata-chan is my team-mate, but also my friend. She wouldn't speak about it, but it took me only a glance to see the bruises she has on most of her body," actually, it was when she tried walking on the water, and being drenched and rolling in the sand some skin *was* exposed, obviously Naruto had averted his gaze…after a while.

"And how would you know of that?" Hiashi's tone grew colder by the second.

"Because chakra control on water surfaces tends to make people wet, rolling up sleeves or removing jackets," Naruto replied, holding the gaze on Hiashi, no matter what, he wouldn't be able to use his influence on him, nor kill him on the spot he stood, "anyway, mine is simply concern, as she fears being hit, I suppose you are clearly training her wrong."

"And what would a brat like you know about training in the art of the gentle fist?" Hiashi was starting to become furious.

"Nothing, but I know that if you close your eyes when you're fighting, then you're just a dead-man walking. I am a Giovanni, Hyuga-san, I was trained to be the shield and the sword of the Godfather, and trust me: I can recognize fear of fighting. So tell me, why would your daughter fear being hit? I came to the only logical conclusion: you're training her wrong." Hiashi stared for a moment in pure disbelief at the brat, the eleven or twelve or thirteen year old brat, he didn't care about his age at the moment, and thought about his blood splattering on the ground.

"Why shouldn't I kill you on the spot for having offended me?" Hiashi muttered, staring at him, trying his hardest *not* to hit him in the heart.

"Because I'm a kage Bunshin, Hyuga-san, or you think I'm an idiot to point out your idiocy in person?" at those words, Naruto grinned and dispersed, not before, however, managing to get one last sentence in.

"If anything happens to Hinata, you'll pay for it, capiscete?"

Hiashi stared at where the insolent, arrogant and foolish brat that had dared tried to intimidate him had been, he stared at the cloud of smoke for a brief moment, then turned around, furiously, and left for training with someone from the branch family who wouldn't complain being hit for good part of the afternoon. He had not only offended him, the head of the Hyuga family, but with his words he had offended his way of teaching, the entire Hyuga family, and, most of all, he had hit him in his pride as a Hyuga.

He'd make sure the boy would pay his mistakes dearly, oh if he would.

*Giovanni compound*

Naruto sighed, as the memory of the clone rolled in, just why did he do that? Why didn't he use better words, or more gentle ones, he was sure he was going to get it, oh yeah, but still, he couldn't leave the situation as it was, he *had* to do something about it, respect the women, that was one of the tenants.

As Naruto slowly opened the door to his house, he stared with a bit of a warm smile at the hallway, that had stairs on the right, two rooms on the left, and one door at the end that led into his father's studio, on the left, the first door led to the kitchen, while the second was of the general use room. He smiled as, for the first time in weeks, he could finally say:

"Kaa-san! Otou-san! I'm HOME!"

Author's notes

this chapter turned out mellower than I had expected it to be.

Dictionary:

Testa per occhio, famiglia per dente: Normally, it would be "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" but the Salvatore are cruel with their enemies, and their motto is thus: "a head for a eye, a family for a tooth".

Next chapter: Filler time!