Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

"Normal speech"

"Flashback/thoughts"

"Biju/Summon, empahsis" speech

"Biju/Summon speech" in flashback

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Chapter Three Part Two:

Cats and Bugs


A fuming, but still blushing Sakura, followed by an amused, (but what else), stoic Sasuke, and last but not least Naruto, who was rubbing his hand on his face where a giant red hand imprint now rested, stood before the park.

Sakura turned to the two boys and calmly through clenched teeth, reviewed the collected information. "Most of the people I asked stated that Tora was seen, or usually is seen, hanging around this park."

Sasuke spoke next. "I searched for evidence, to see if there were any hangouts that the kid may have frequented."

Holding out his hand, he opened it and displayed the clues he'd found. "I also found some orange hairs and a piece of his bow, hmph."

"Naruto, you?"

Naruto sheepishly said, "Nobody really gave me any useful information but... I noticed a scent that seemed to match that of one that was on Tora's mother, so I followed it here."

The three teammates contemplated this, and in unison they all turned and glanced through the park's entrance. Within they saw many kids playing here and there. Inwardly each of the Genin were wondering the same thing; How exactly were they supposed to pick Tora out of the crowd?

Then, after a moment, Naruto spoke up again "Hey guys, am I the only one who thinks that there is something odd about this mission, or at least this kid?"

Sakura started to chastise Naruto, but then Sasuke spoke up, "The fox dobe is right. Maybe some little kid would be curious enough to go through some trash bins, but what little boy wears a bow in his hair?"

Sakura considered this, "I don't know about that. It was pretty obvious that his mother dotes on him like crazy so that's actually possible. But…the people I had asked did act somewhat odd when I referred to Tora as a kid."

Another light bulb went off. "Also, this has been bugging me for a while; how or why exactly would the Damaiyo's wife mistake Naruto for her son, unless she was blind or something? Naruto was standing in front of a couch when she tackled him, so his ears and tails would be the only things she could see... "

Suddenly, Naruto perked up, sniffing the air experimentally. Turning to Sasuke, "Teme hold out those items you picked up."

Sasuke did so, and was shocked to suddenly have Naruto sniffing his hand!

Sasuke immediately pulled his hand back and asked indignantly, "Dobe, what the hell are you doing!" while shaking his hand, then rubbing it off on his shorts, as if it were poisoned.

"I think for a quick second I smelled the scent from Tora's mother! I wanted to verify!"

"Quick, where is he!" Sakura shouted.

Naruto pointed with a clawed finger towards a series of bushes in the middle of the park. Sasuke and Sakura took off towards the bushes as quickly as they could. Naruto took one step into the park, then cautiously glanced around in order to make sure that none of the childrens parents were near to assault him. Fortunately, none were near the central bushes, mainly off to the side, so he raced to catch up.

Naruto quickly overtook the two and reaching the point first, shouted, "HEY TORA, COME OUT!"

Sakura whacked him. "BAKA, we need to avoid frightening the kid!"

She stepped forward, and called sweetly, "Hey Tora, we're friends you don't have to be scared."

The bushes shook a little and after a few moments, Tora slowly came out…

"You have got to be &^*$#$ kidding me," the three genin each thought.

Tora was a cat. A cat with gold eyes, reddish orange fur, and a slightly ripped blue bow around its neck.

"So that's how she mistook Naruto for Tora," Sakura realized.

Deciding to continue luring the cat in, Sakura continued, "Here Tora, Tora, we're here to help you."

The cat cautiously crept closer.

"Your mother sent us..."

As soon as Tora heard the word "mother," a massive shift appeared in the cat's personality. It arched its back, claws extended and hissed, pupils narrowed. Then the cat was off like a furry rocket, streaking past Sakura.

"Ok, plan B, catch that cat!" Sasuke reacted first and leapt forward in a tackle. Tora performed an impossible 90 degree turn and Sasuke ended up eating dirt. Sakura managed to stop in Tora's path and snag him in her arms.

"CHA!" Inner Sakura shouted. "Now I've gotcha!"

Tora responded by biting down onto Sakura's hand causing her to let go.

"OW you stupid cat!"

Naruto sidestepped into Tora's path. The cat ran around him and Naruto took off after it. The cat wasn't faster than him but it wasn't slow either, and its small size made it a helluva difficult to grab. He lunged forward and the cat as if sensing it dodged to the right, running straight for a playground, the three genin in hot pursuit.

The cat darted under a large jungle gym, Naruto leaped high, and streamlining his arms at his sides, managed to sail right through the first and second set of bars, but having his eyes on his target and not where he was going, hit the third set of bars right in the chest, stopping his momentum hard and causing him to fall, painfully hitting the all the rest of the bars beneath him until he hit the ground in a tangled bundle of his limbs and tails.

Smirking at the scene as he dashed by, Sasuke muttered, "Dobe" under his breath, and took his shot. He turned his head to see Sakura running alongside. He pointed for her to go around and cut the cat off on the other side of a crowded playground.

Tora darted between all the kids, weaving in between their legs and feet. Sasuke sorely considered simply bowling them over but figured that it wouldn't do him any favors, so he simply gritted his teeth and lightly shoved in between them, dodging left and right, desperately trying to keep the cat in sight.

Tora slipped right through a small crawlspace underneath a bench. Sasuke for one, didn't crawl under as expected, but leaped over the bench, intending to cut the cat off on the other side… and repeated a variation of Naruto's incident, hitting his head on a low hanging branch. His momentum carried the rest of his body forward, as gravity took its hold, causing him to fall smack on his back on the ground, in his descent, hitting his head on a the bench on the way. Lastly, all the while the playground kids gathered around, pointing and laughing.

Up ahead, Sakura saw Tora heading her way. Recalling how taking her eyes off her target ended up for Naruto and Sasuke, she growled and focused on the cat. She waited…waited… NOW! She lunged at the cat and snagged it by the tail, hauling it up.

"Shannaro! Not so tough now are you, cat?" and gave Tora a shake.

Tora's response was to snag a claw on Sakura's hair, and use it as leverage to then latch onto her face… and start clawing repeatedly. Shrieking, she grabbed the cat by its back fur, and ripped from her. Nothing but murderous rage over reason going through her, she flung that cat away from her like a football, in the process bashing her arm on another nearby bench.

Tora couldn't be gladder, and bolted, just as a bruised Naruto and Sasuke caught up.

"This…" Naruto started.

"…means…" Sasuke continued.

"…WAR!" Sakura finished.

They all tore after the cat as it escaped out the park entrance. Tora looked over its shoulder, and onlookers could have sworn that the cat's eyes bugged out with fear, as it increased its speed, being followed by a madly screaming pink haired girl, a murderous looking Uchiha heir, and a nine-tailed fox boy, who had his fangs and claws bared and was snarling.

They headed straight for a market area. This time none of the three genin held back. Sasuke dashed through the people, shoving them aside with Sakura squeezing through the cleared path, whereas Naruto leapt up, and actually started running across people's heads, moving lightning fast, so that they only felt a light tap of Naruto's feet, and then he was gone.

The cat jumped high up to avoid a diving tackle by Naruto, who ended up sliding headfirst into a wall. It continued its leap and started running along the awnings of stores and vendors.

Sasuke followed it up there and finally having enough, flung a kunai right in front of the cat. The knife impacted the wall space right before the cat, stopping it cold. Sasuke and Sakura landed behind it, grinning evilly.

"Ok, kitty, prepare to die…" Thought Sakura, and anticipating, punched her fist into her palm.

Suddenly, they felt the awning beneath them give a foreboding shake… Apparently it wasn't designed to support their combined weight, and it gave way, sending them crashing to the floor in a tangle of limbs, Sauske's full weight landing on top of Sakura, (Which under any other circumstances, Sakura probably would have welcomed).

Tora, however, obeyed the old adage, and landed right on his feet, then casually licked a paw as if to gloat at the two.

Suddenly a shadow fell across it and it turned to see Naruto standing above it, claws and fangs bared, tails writhing, and slit eyes glaring. Naruto started to lunge for the cat… to which Tora jumped straight up, hoping to dodge over him… when it was revealed that Naruto didn't follow through completely on his lunge, expecting the dodging attempt. He snagged the cat by its two front paws, holding it up so that it couldn't scratch him.

"Finally gotcha!"

The cat spat in his face, reflexively causing him to let go.

Growling, Naruto tore after it, past Sasuke and Sakura who had just untangled themselves, and then joined him. The cat weaved to the left road down a divide, and then ran pass some restaurants. As they passed, Naruto recognized that he was on the street where Ichiraku's was. Sure enough there it was, upcoming…

"Ramen! No! Must… focus…. on…. the… mission… but… so close…"

Just thinking of the ramen cooking in the pot… Slowly simmering to its noodle perfection… "That's it!"

Naruto turned to his teammates; "See if you can corner him, I've got an idea!" He then diverged and ran straight for the noodle shop.

"What the-NARUTO THIS IS NO TIME FOR A SNACK, BAKA!" Sakura screamed.

"Damned dobe! If he causes us to fail this poor excuse for a mission, I'll kill him!" Sasuke thought.

After breaching another crowd, they succeeded in herding the cat into an alley, where it leapt up and started climbing windowsills.

What the hell? Did this cat take shinobi lessons or something? Sasuke thought incredulously.

Sakura only snarled, and overcome with rage, didn't stop running. In fact, she increased her speed, raised her fist… and impacted the wall with it! Surprisingly, she left a small crater, and the wall shook! This in turn caused the cat to lose its grip.

Tora fell to the ground, twisted, and landed on its feet, and was about to continue running, when several kunai thrown by Sasuke landed centimeters in front of its path, blocking and stopping it… just enough for Naruto to come down from above and land right on the cat with a large ramen cooking pot, effectively capturing it!

Tora gave one final screech of dismay and started banging on the inside of the pot, desperately trying to break lose, while Naruto sat on top of the pot, grinning cheerfully.

"Well done!" The three Genin looked up to see Kakashi standing on the roof above them, incidentally holding an empty popcorn box in his hand.

The Jounin landed in front of them. "Today's mission was an information gathering, retrieval, and escort. You three gathered information about your target, namely asking about it to the populace as Sakura did, or in Sasuke did in finding information and evidence. Naruto did good in finding a trail to follow."

The fox boy beamed at the praise.

"Though I do admit that chase was crazy and very amusing..." He tossed the popcorn container out in a nearby trash bin.

"Is that what you'd call it, sensei?" Naruto started, his good mood evaporating instantly.

"Why didn't you tell us the target was a CAT!" Sakura screamed.

Kakashi did his eye-smile. "I never said that the target WASN'T a cat now did I? Besides, it was another unexpected variable that does happen. Also, on escort or retrieval missions, you might not have a client or target that is *ahem*, willing to go where you want them to, or listen to what you have to say. It's something to keep in mind. Lastly, nice innovation at the end of the chase."

"Now then, let's get this cat back home to its mother."

At this, Tora's yowls increased drastically in volume and the pot started shaking so much that Naruto had to actually brace himself against it to keep it pinned.

"Geez, what the hell is with this cat? It's like it doesn't even want to go home!"


At the Damaiyo's house…

"TORA! MY BABY YOU'VE COME HOME!" Madam Shijimi wife lunged at the cat and wrapped it in the same crushing hug that Naruto fell victim to earlier. Only thing is this time it seemed worse. The cat screamed in obvious discomfort, but its owner seemed oblivious.

The cat seemed to look despairingly at Team 7, who simply turned their heads away and whistled to themselves.

"Ouch, poor cat, I know your pain, believe me, but considering what you put me through today…."

"Hah! Serves you right cat, next time we meet again, well pray that we don't!"

"Heh…dumb animal was no match for me…"

"I'll make sure you never get lost again!" The damaiyo's wife cried. She gestured to her servants, one of whom brought home a large case. She opened it, revealing a chain link collar, (Naruto could've sworn that cat's eyes grew to the size of plates), which she snapped around Tora's neck.

"I'll be right back, I just must return Tora to his room." She then walked down the hall, chain in hand, oblivious to Tora digging his claws into the ground, futilely trying to fight its pull, leaving long, deep grooves across the floor, until the two turned the corner and were out of sight. A door was heard closing, and after a few moments, the woman returned, minus her cat.

"Now then, Team 7 was it?" As she pointed at each member, they introduced themselves with a bow.

"Kakashi Hatake."

"Sasuke Uchiha."

"Sakura Haruno."

"Naruto Uzumaki."

At Naruto's name, Madam Shijimi stared at Naruto for several seconds, her face was seemingly unreadable. She squinted for a moment, then put a hand up to her mouth for a moment, as if gasping or in shock, then regained her composure.

"Well then," she continued in her merry tone. She held up an envelope to Kakashi. "That contains the mission fee, as agreed upon."

"And this…" she reached into a nearby drawer, and scribbled for a few moments, then placed three more items in the envelopes, "…is a little some-thing extra for you."

"Also, I insist that you four join me for lunch! Nothing extravagant mind you, just that I'm so happy I have Tora back!"

She then led them outside to the courtyard, where there was a large table set up. As they all sat, one by one, a few servants came out and placed plates in front of each of them. Sakura and Sasuke started right away, famished after the mission, while Naruto simply stared at his plate.

"Is something wrong Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

"No… nothing sensei, I'm just not that hungry….Ouch!"

(At this Sakura and Sasuke had just kicked Naruto under the table)

Sakura muttered under her breath, figuring that Naruto would hear her with his fox ears. "Eat damn it! It's free and we don't want to disgrace our host!"

Naruto sighed, then dug in. Once they were done, (Kakashi's full plate having mysteriously vanished of food seemingly in under a split second, all without him apparently removing his mask), the four bowed, thanked their host, and were escorted out through the front gate.

Once they exited and were a couple of ways away from the estate, Sakura turned to Naruto, who was unusually quiet, and asked, "Naruto, what the HELL was wrong with you? You've gone through ramen by the tub load, so why didn't you eat?"

Naruto paused, and after a few moments, said quietly, "I… uhh… I thought I saw something I was allergic to Sakura-chan. Then he laughed nervously. "I guess I was wrong, heh!"

"Then you should have said so! For once, that's a perfectly legitimate reason. Geez, what's wrong with you?" (In her mood, she didn't notice that Naruto showed no signs of an allergic reaction. Sasuke however, did notice, and narrowed his eyes as he thought about this)

"Sakura, that's enough…" Kakashi interjected. He knew that with the fox sealed in him, Naruto effectively had no allergies, so he saw right through the lie. "Naruto, are you all right?"

"Yeah, Kakashi-sensei! Hah, never better! Well, is there anything else today Kakashi-sensei?"

Warily, Kakashi answered, "No that's all… oh yeah, here are your envelopes." He pulled out the large envelopes, and read the names off as he handed them out. "Let's see, one for me, one for Sasuke, one for Sakura, and one for…" He trailed off, as he saw that there wasn't an extra envelope for Naruto. He saw Naruto's downcast look, along with the questioning looks of the other two.

Abruptly, he stopped. "We'll meet again tomorrow at 10 am. Don't be late!" With that, he vanished in a puff of smoke.

"I'll see you guys later…" Naruto then dashed forward, took a running leap, vaulted over the building, and then disappeared.

Sakura stared as he went… "Sasuke-kun… did it seem like something was wrong with him?" For that matter, why didn't Naruto receive an extra tip?"

When she didn't receive an answer, she turned, and found Sasuke had gone too…


Naruto ran along the rooftops, trying not to cry, running at his max to clear his head. Every flip, leap and dash was on full instinct, as his mind was elsewhere.

*Flashback*

She then led them outside to the courtyard; where there was a large table set up and directed them all to sit. As they all sat, after a few minutes she returned, being followed by few servants that then placed plates in front of each of them. Sakura and Sasuke started right away, famished after the mission, while Naruto simply stared at his plate.

He knew it, he knew it from the scent… The woman had been slobbering over him earlier when she thought he'd been the cat after all. She had spit in his food. Naruto didn't want to eat it, but he didn't want to embarrass his team. So he did. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw the woman's satisfied smirk. She thought that she had one up over him? He'd been through worse when his food growing up was poisoned. He would not let this stop him.

*End Flashback*

To top it off, the old bat didn't even give him a tip! Right now, Naruto just wanted to clear his head. So he poured on the speed, intending to run for the rest of the day, and maybe even the night.


Naruto was in such a focused mood, that he didn't know he was being followed. Sasuke Uchiha ran along the rooftops, doing his best to keep Naruto in his sight. He didn't know what got Naruto so agitated, nor why he wasn't paid extra for the mission, but he definitely found himself interested in the blonde's speed, agility, and unusual strength. He remembered one time in the past, when they sparred at the academy…

That aside, he found that it was taking almost all his strength and endurance to just keep Naruto within his line of vision. Sasuke was literally huffing and puffing, sweating like crazy. Despite all the training he'd done, all the exhaustion he put himself through, the dobe outpaced him easily!

"Keep running Naruto. You'll be the measuring stick by which I'll measure my own potential. And someday, I'll challenge you, and if I beat you, then I'll be one step closer to defeating HIM."

Suddenly, he stopped on the roof he was about to leap off of. "Damn, I lost him! If I'd awakened my Sharingan already… argh… nothing I can do about that….yet…"

Finding himself too exhausted to locate and chase Naruto further. Sasuke made his way down to the streets, and slowly began to walk home,

"Fine… tomorrow is another day…"


The next day, Team 7 met up at their usual spot, only this time they had wizened up and arrived somewhat later, so as not to be too bored by Kakashi's tardiness. Or at least, most of them did…

Naruto, still trying to work out his thoughts, arrived at the meeting time with, as he figured, two hours to spare. So he started a little training program. Hey, he thought to himself as he performed his warm-up stretches, "When Rock Lee's your best friend, when you train, you train hard."

Naruto started his routine with about three hundred jumping jacks. Once that was done, he did two hunrdred handstand pushups, and four hundred sit ups. Finishing that, he tried a new variation, his tail workout. Naruto leaned back, and braced his tails beneath him like a chair.

He then lifted up his legs, and supported his weight fully with all nine. He then applied pressure, pushing himself up and down on them alone, mimicking a pushup effect.

Naruto did about a hundred "reps" then gradually would lift one tail up, then two, and then up to five, (He found that four was the least amount of tails that he could "sit" on and still maintain balance), gradually increasing the amount of weight on each of the nine appendages, and rotating so that each one tail received the same workout.

"Hmm, now how can I use this," Naruto thought to himself. "Wait, with my feet free like this…" Naruto kicked out with both of his feet.

"Hmmm."

Getting off of his "tail chair," Naruto walked over to a nearby tree. Reclining again, he repeated the kick, leaving two large prints the shape of his feet in the tree's bark… and having the opposite effect of sending Naruto sprawling backwards on his back.

Picking himself up, Naruto thought to himself… "That kick did a good amount of damage to the tree, but it propelled me backwards… a tree's much more solid than a person though, so it seems like I won't know what I can really do with it until I practice with somebody."

He sat down and absently scratched at a tail. "What should I name this? It's gotta be something really cool sounding! After a moment, he jumped up. I got it! This move will be called "Fox Spear Kick!"

"Ok, yeah, I like the sound of that." Naruto gave a little victory dance. Now then, he started the next phase of his workout…


Sasuke and Sakura arrived to see the unusual sight of Naruto back flipping across the entire clearing in a large circle.

Raising an eyebrow at the sight, Sasuke walked up to Naruto, careful not to interfere or get hit by his flailing limbs or tails, calmly asked, "Naruto, What are you doing?"

Naruto appeared not to hear him, and continued flipping. Slightly annoyed at being ignored, Sasuke looked around until he saw a rather large branch.

"Sakura, help me out here." She was all too happy to oblige, and took the end right behind Sasuke to brace it.

Moving in unison, the two placed the branch right in front of Naruto so that it would hit him right in the middle of his rotation where he couldn't see it. True enough, Naruto "tripped" and went head over heels over tails into a sprawling heap.

Naruto's world was spinning from the vertigo. "Note to self; Do not do that for five minutes straight without taking a break…ugh."

A sharp knocking on the side of his head slightly brought him out of his reverie. Sakura-chan? Sasuke-teme? Why are you two upside down and spinning?"

Sakura only facepalmed. "I could ask you the same question. Sasuke-kun and I arrived and found you flipping like a madman."

Naruto smiled, "I was trying to see if I could come up with something cool! You know, a new technique or something!"

"Nice, dobe, it seems like all you did was make yourself sick to your stomach."

"Heh, but it would have been well worth it if I learned something!" He smiled goofily. Sasuke merely rolled his eyes, and Sakura threw up her hands.

Kakashi arrived about 15 minutes later. "Good morning team! Sorry to be late, but a comrade of mind challenged me to another insane contest, so I had to agree or he'd never leave me alone!"

"Yeah right, Sensei…" Sakura deadpanned.

"No!" Kakashi held up his hands. "I swear you guys it's the truth! He wanted to swim a race in Konoha's river ten times!"

"Whatever, Sensei, let's just get on with it," Sasuke interjected.

Seeing Naruto, Kakashi asked, "Naruto, are you okay from yesterday?"

Naruto only kept smiling. "Sure, let's get at 'em today!"


Naruto regretted saying that. Today's task was cakewalk compared to yesterday's. It was dog walking. The dogs were for the most part, docile. You just merely had to direct them where to go so they could do their business and that was it. Kakashi said this mission simulated what would happen if the escort mission had easy, agreeable clients.

At least that was the theory.

Naruto once gain found himself on the short end of the stick, as most of the dogs seemed absolutely terrified of him. The moment that the team entered the kennel, the dogs either started howling, whimpering, or backed away with their tails between their legs! The only ones who weren't as skittish were immediately grabbed by Sasuke and Sakura, and those kept sniffing at him every second they got, leaving Naruto with a MASSIVE dog that was almost bigger than he was, (But apparently too dumb to be afraid like the others).

Naruto found himself digging his heels and claws into the ground every time the dog chose to walk or run somewhere that Naruto didn't want it to go. He didn't give any ground, but held firm, all the while muttering curses under his breath, (Though after the fifth time of nearly stepping in his dog's "business," he sorely considered beginning to wear shoes), the stench of which alone was hard on his nose), he was darkly considering slicing the dogs throat with his claws…

Fortunately, aside from those factors, the task only took about two hours.


Since that task ended so soon, Team 7 took on another mission a half hour later. This one was making deliveries for a popular take-out restaurant.

This task required them to carefully carry the food to the destination and then return as fast as possible, with no mishaps which, according to Kakashi, gave them experience in delivering important items as safely and quickly as possible. The team was also required to wear a hat and apron from said restaurant to signify who they were working for. The restaurant owner gave a look at Naruto, but a stiff glare from Kakashi shut him up.

Naruto could say that he honestly enjoyed most of this task. He ran to and from the location as fast as he could run, which was pretty danged fast.

Kakashi partook in this task too, running alongside his team members for individual runs and group runs, giving them tips on how to maximize their efficiency, although he didn't feel much of a need to give traveling instructions to Naruto, given his speed level was high already. That aside, the only advice he really had to impart to the fox boy was to not perform flips and similar acrobatic feats while carrying the food to avoid spilling it. Just run straight ahead to the arrival point.

Pretty much all of Naruto's customers were surprised to see that their courier was the jinchuuriki, and their responses varied. Usually unless Kakashi were with him, Naruto would find many doors shut in his face. In these cases, he would simply sigh, and leave the food on the front porch. Of course that didn't' go over very well, as then the owner would deduct the bill from the mission fee, which in turn, put Sakura and Sasuke in a bad mood.

Travelling through the village also nearly yielded incident, as several villagers would disregard the apron and hat Naruto wore from the restaurant, and would try and shout that he'd stolen the food, throwing things at him in order to capture him. Naruto, normally was too fast for them to catch, ended up getting hit because he couldn't risk damaging his precious cargo.

One particularly odd delivery though did result in benefit for him. The restaurant owner upon Kakashi's recommendation based on Naruto's high speed, gave him an assignment to deliver for quote, "a very important, frequent customer."

He was carrying a very large amount of food though, almost to the extent of overloading him, and that was just the hot secured stuff. The rest of it was sealed in stored containers which themselves were placed into a specially made sealing scroll.

Following the directions, Naruto arrived at another clan's grounds, and cautiously walked up to the front door of the main dwelling area. No sooner than he'd arrived the door opened and to his surprise, Chouji Akimichi answered the door.

"Hi Naruto, what are you doing…here…" The boy trailed off as he took into account the logoed hat, and apron Naruto wore, with the scent of the delicious food…. Chouji started salivating, and Naruto was feeling very creeped out.

Chouji turned and shouted back into the house, "Hey Dad! The food's here!"

Then quickly turning back to Naruto, and appeared to be barely restraining himself. "You might want to put the scrolls and food down and get back about, oh, twenty feet."

Before Naruto could ask why, he felt the ground start shaking, as the seconds went by, it grew in intensity, and if Naruto was about nervous before, then he was terrified now. He quickly slung off the packages and laid out the scrolls, and then darted back about twenty feet. Then, after thinking a moment, he increased the distance another ten, just to be safe.

He did so just in time, as Chouza Akimichi's roaring large form came barreling out of the house, followed by at least ten or so equally sized clan members, who in a speed belying their size, attacked the containers with the force of a hurricane. Some of the members stopped briefly, in order to activate several seals on the scrolls Naruto had laid out, and a veritable feast of food sprung out, enough that looked to Naruto as if it could feed him for a month.

It was all gone within minutes, leaving only scraps and ravaged containers. Naruto stared opened mouth at the destruction, feeling very, very small. "If Chouji hadn't warned me, I might have been the main course by accident!"An image of his skeletonized body passed through his mind, all the flesh stripped from it surrounded by Akimichi clan members causing Naruto to shudder.

Chouza belched, then turned to Chouji. "That was excellent! The meal was so fresh! It was like it only took a minute between the stove and getting here! Several of his kin agreed with him. "Who was the courier, as he certainly has impressive skill?"

Chouji pointed at Naruto.

Naruto had been bristling with pride at the elder Akimichi's praise, but then felt his sprits fall when Chouza and some of his clan turned their eyes on him. Several of them whispered amongst themselves, a few turned downcast, and Chouza himself seemed contemplating. He got up, and walked up to Naruto… scrutinizing him…. reached out with one meaty hand…

…and gently patted Naruto on the top of his head and ears, (At least to him, as the large man's physical strength nearly knocked poor Naruto down) and laughed heartily. "Well Naruto! If you decided to stop being a shinobi, you'd make a killing as a delivery boy! Thank you very much for your service!" Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a large sum of money, and practically shoved it into Naruto's hands.

"The restaurant has a tab for us, that is all for you! It's just my way of thanking you genuinely!"

Naruto's mouth fell open and shut, but no words were coming out…. Somebody was… happy with him? Appreciative? Naruto beamed, and bowed politely, "Thank you sir!"

Chouji then walked up to Naruto, with the bundled up scrolls in hand. "Here Naruto, these preserving scrolls belong to the restaurant. They were a gift from my family cause we were tired of our food being delivered cold, what with the prep time and large amounts we order."

Naruto took the scrolls, bowed again, then ran off. Chouza and Chouji watched him go.

"Chouji, that boy is very strong of heart. He has persevered where others would be broken. Take note, and never give up, regardless of what happens."

Chouji nodded.


Naruto stopped briefly on top of another nearby building, and started counting all the cash he'd obtained. His eyes widened further and further. The amount was easily more than what he'd missed in tips from disgruntled customers and then some!

Wiping his eyes, his spirits lively, Naruto leapt off the building and headed back.

When they got back, the owner handed out their pay, (of course, Naruto's was significantly less), but Naruto couldn't care less, he just went through the whole process smiling.


The next day, one of the more detail-oriented tasks consisted of a visit to the Aburame clan's estate. The houses in this area were rather drab on the outside, with no individualistic decoration, and each one contained a large curved dome behind it.

Naruto was happy with this task because he was able to see Shino again. The younger Aburame greeted them at the gate, and then introduced them to his father, Shibi. It was also Naruto's first time meeting any other member of Shino's clan members, and if anything, Shino's father was somehow more stoic than his son, (Naruto's found that his previous goal of making Shino laugh had just elevated. Forget just Shino, he's targeting the entire clan!). Their task was to help organize several of the hives for this month's insect circulation session. Shino explained the routine for today as he led them into a large building containing a facility lined with containers filled with varying bugs, and even some free-flying insects down the halls.

You see, the Aburame clan specializes in insect related matters, making them very ideal for scouting missions and espionage. They can communicate directly with their bugs for exchange of information, and in addition to symbiotic relationship that the clan member's and bugs already share, there is an added bonus; Aburame's are usually highly resistant to genjutsu techniques. This is because their bugs can if need be, stir up their hosts' chakra levels, or manipulate it on their own accord so that outside forces can't accurately gauge it. Of course, the efficiency of this all depends on the level of skill and experience of said host.

Once roughly every few months or so, the Aburame conduct circulation sessions with their hives. Inside the largest dome on the Aburame grounds, there is a very large open circular tankard, resembling a swimming pool. The clan's members gather, and they simultaneously release up to about 90% of their insects into the tankard. The insects circulate and mingle amongst each other in a process that can take up to a several hours.

There are several reasons for this. First and foremost is an exchange of information. For example, a clan member who went on a difficult mission can send the experiences to another. Second, techniques that are known to one individual can be constantly shared and experimented on by others, and then exchanged back. The third reason is related to the second. The bugs themselves can accelerate their breeding with or pick up on traits exhibited by other species, yielding entirely new abilities and even forming new breeds on rare occasion. When the bugs are finished, usually about 85% return to the host, while that remaining 5% stay in the tankard, leaving a base for the others to merge with, (That 5% is easy for the Aburame to replenish within a short time).

The downside to this is that the clan members are left vulnerable to outside influence and attack with most of their bugs gone. That is why Team 7 are here today. As Shino explained, the clan member would walk up to the tankard, and then deposit his or her bugs. After this they would recline on a gurney, and fall into a type of self-induced coma. The Team 7 member watching over the clan member would then carefully wheel said individual down a series of corridors, to a dark room where the bodies were all gathered together for physical checkups by the clan's medics.

The sight unnerved most of Team 7 quite a bit, as the room itself seemed to resemble a morgue. The team members would also carry a checklist, which listed the times at which they would return to the "morgue" and retrieve the body, wheel it up to the tankard, where the clan's bugs would flow back into the body, where he or she would regain consciousness. Despite the atmosphere, Naruto had to admit that it sounded like it ran extremely smoothly, with virtually no delays, (at least on the part of the clansmen).

Naruto felt fine when he heard what task they'd be doing today, having been used to the bug user. He walked ahead of his team alongside Shino and engaged in light conversation.

"So Shino, how has your team been?"

"My team's structure has been progressing slowly at first Naruto. Kurenai-sensei is a fair but tough teacher."

"What about your teammates? Is that mutt Kiba giving you trouble?"

"No, he has actually not, surprisingly, at least not after our first meeting."

"What happened?

*Flashback*

Team Eight sat on a bench on the Academy Ground. Across from them patiently sat their instructor, Kurenai Yuhi, with one her hands laid lightly in her lap, a polite smile on her face. She had guided her team out here for their first assessment, to get to know each other a bit better.

If an onlooker were to pass by, then they'd say that this was undoubtedly the quietest team meeting that had occurred in the History of Konoha.

Shino didn't say much to begin with unless it was absolutely necessary, and Hinata was nervously twitching her fingers together, and lastly, though Kiba would normally be the loudest, boisterously saying his goals and what not, he was leaning forward and staring opened-mouthed at his, *ahem*attractive sensei.

Surprisingly, Akamaru, sitting on his haunches next to Kiba, was shaking his head at his friend's lack of discretion. Reaching up with a paw, he pushed Kiba's mouth shut.

After introductions were finally made, Kurenai told them that they would talk amongst each other, to ask heac other their opinions for their upcoming missions. She then sat back silently in order to gauge their interactions.

Kiba immediately turned to his two teammates, "So guys, I guess I'll be taking the lead in assignments then, I mean, since I'm the strongest here."

Hinata nervously fidgeted her fingers, as if anticipating a calamity.

Shino's eyes narrowed behind his glasses. "I disagree, Kiba. This is after all, a team effort, not just focused on an individual perspective."

"Oh yeah? What are you gonna do when an enemy attacks us? Can you even fight hand to hand? I'm the best one suited for that job!" The Inuzuka then snickered. "Maybe you've been hanging around Eyebrows and Fox Fre…"

Before he could finish, several bug swarms emerged from Shino's coat and swarmed threateningly around him, though not attacking.

Hinata gave off a tiny shriek, and began to shudder, as her eyes darted between the two.

"Do not finish that statement, and do not use that word in reference to my friends. I will not tolerate that. I'm sure your canine companion is aware of how… annoying insects such as fleas are… correct? Would you like to find out firsthand?"

In response, Kiba bared his claws and growled, Akamaru alongside him.

Kurenai was instantly on her feet, careful to not making any sudden moves, "Shino, Kiba, stop it right now!"

Shino retracted his insects, but didn't turn his gaze from Kiba, who remained on guard. "I am willing to put the past behind me, and work in unison with you… BOTH of you. It is my hope that we indeed become closer as teammates, and even friends."

"To put it in terms that you can understand, Kiba, your pack, if you will, works with each other as a group, and not recklessly. If you are not up for the pack, you are cast out, yet if you do, you are accepted. My insects are the same way, more or less. If anything you should be able to empathize with me the most. As for whether or not I can fight… let us say that you do not want to be on the receiving end from somebody whose friends are taijutsu experts, as I will attest. Also, you have left out the fact that your other teammate is a Hyuga, a clan notable for close combat abilities, (Hinata blushed slightly at this), so do not think we are helpless or dead-weight."

Kiba seemed to be considering this, and he slowly lowered his guard.

Shino extended his arms, palms up. He displayed no weapons, bugs or tricks. "I am not trying to assume dominance over you. I am only trying to say that we are all equals, here, and that the only one who at this point has the authority to give orders is Kurenai-sensei. So then, we agree? Teammates?"

Shino held out his hand, and then turned his head to stare both at Hinata and Kiba.

Hinata regarded Shino's speech and also noted that Shino's expression seemed to soften when he had glanced at her. She realized that he held no grudge against her, and only wanted all of them to get along. She could help herself get stronger this way.

Maybe… she'd also be able to ask him about Naruto-kun too as time progressed.

She extended her hand and placed it on top of Shino's.

Kiba stared at the two, then somewhat… wistfully… at Hinata for a few moments. Finally, he glanced at Akamaru, and flipped his head towards the other two. The puppy leapt up and landed on Kiba's head and extended a paw. Kiba then placed his hand respectively on top of the other two's hands.

He gave a discreet nod, as if acknowledging Shino somewhat, before adding, "Teammates."

*End Flashback*

"Kiba is still temperamental, and apparently views himself as the "leader of the pack" and insists on giving orders to us when we are in the field practicing. I know for a fact that Kurenai sensei has been gradually been trying to decrease his ego through teamwork exercises."

"To aid her in this endeavor, I tend to point out the more logical courses to take in actions to Kiba, though his attitude admittedly makes this difficult at times, where Kiba goes for a more direct approach. However, I have found that a simple subtle suggestion often gets the point across to Kiba, and he HAS cooled down. Somewhat though, as he still often cannot resist showing though."

"Hinata, on the other hand is more accepting to others and their input. However, this is a tradeoff. Unlike Kiba, she stands at the opposite side of the spectrum, seldom stating her views on scenarios, and backing down to avoid confrontation, even if she is in the right."

Turning his head, he faced Naruto. "Curiously, she has been asking me quite a bit about you."

Naruto blinked surprisingly. "What about me?" He bristled slightly, hoping that her clan hadn't have anything against him...

"She has asked about things ranging from how long I've known you, to what you were like before the Academy, to how you have trained. This appears to be done in sincerity and curiosity, as she does not strike me as one to possess ill will towards a person."

"How would you know that?" Naruto asked, still wary.

"I do not know Naruto. Perhaps it has to do with my being her teammate and associating with her over a period of time has given me insight into her personality."

Naruto stopped his walking immediately, his eyes wide. Regaining himself, he caught up to Shino and asked slyly with a grin, "Was that sarcasm, Shino?"

The bug user didn't respond, just continued to stare straight ahead, and continued his speech.

"Of course, I did not tell her anything regarding your…"condition." Lastly, she inquired me as to how you are doing in relation to your team and its structure, something I too am inquisitive about."

"Well, if that's the case, then how come she doesn't just ask me herself?" He guessed that based on what Shino just said, this Hyuga didn't seem to have it out for him, so he figured he could lower his guard.

Behind his glasses Shino blinked, as if in disbelief. "Hinata is… somewhat shy, shall we say."

"Oh. Well, about my team…" Naruto glanced over his shoulder to make sure his team couldn't overhear him.

He realized that he had nothing to worry about. Sakura was walking extremely stiffly. Her skin was a ghastly shade of white, eyes were wide, and the record of time for her not blinking was reaching the triple digits.

Ever since they had entered the building, the slightest touch, ranging from a tap on the shoulder to an accidental brushing up against something, would cause her to shriek nervously, and glance around obsessively while brushing herself off, making sure that nothing crawly was clinging to her.

Sasuke was the polar opposite. He glanced around curiously here and there, but didn't say anything. The bugs buzzing about didn't outwardly seem to bother him. But, the first time one landed on him when they'd entered, Shino darted back with surprising speed, and caught his hand before Sasuke could slap the offending insect.

Sasuke and Shino just glared at each other, before Sasuke, apparently realizing that pissing off this clan in a building filled to the brim with their bugs wasn't in the best interests of self-preservation, lowered his hand, and instead carefully placed the small bug on a nearby wall. He then gave an extremely short nod, then placed his hands in his pockets and walked nonchalantly.

Kakashi on the other hand, had his face buried in his book, giving no indication that he could hear anything. Surprisingly, he avoided bumping into anything or anyone while walking. But if one paid close attention to him, one would see his fingers twitch every few moments, he was breathing slightly heavier than usual, and he was sweating lightly. Inside Kakashi's head, he was berating himself for forgetting insect repellent over and over.

Turning back to Shino, he muttered, "It's a bit of an uphill battle, but hey, I like a challenge."

The sunglass wearing boy nodded, having already surmised Naruto's situation from observing the other two.

After a moment, Naruto realized something, "Did you have to catch Tora too?" he asked with another cheeky grin.

Shino's entire countenance seemed to grow stiff, his brows furrowed, his fists clenched, and his glasses seemed to take on a dark gleam. As if that weren't enough, his insects seemed perturbed too, as they buzzed more furiously.

*Flashback*

Team 8 stood surrounding a tree. Shino was standing there stoically, although closer inspection showed that his brow was furrowed and his fists were clenched. One could have also sworn that he was growling to himself. Also, his jacket was very torn in several places, and he had scratch marks located on his lower legs.

Next to him stood Hinata, Byakugan activated as she stared up into the tree's thick branches. She looked comparatively less "damaged," though her hair was mussed up slightly and she looked as though she were about to sweatdrop.

As for the third, and technically, fourth members of their team…

Akamaru stood at the bottom of the tree, barking furiously up at Tora, who was clinging to the upper branches. Normally, the sight of a dog barking up at a cat would not be a unusually sight… were it not for the feral-looking twelve year old boy with red markings on his face and a grey hoodie, crouched on all fours at the base of the tree, doing the exact same thing.

*End Flashback*

He then turned his head slowly to Naruto, and in a voice resembling a growl, "Yes. I would rather not speak of it."

Naruto wisely decided not to press the issue.

Further progressing to the center of the hive building, Sasuke latched onto Sasuke's arm with an iron grip, and it took both Naruto and Kakashi to dislodge her, as an even louder buzzing noise pierced their, (and especially Naruto's), ears. They'd reached the center tankard…

…And that's when everything went to hell.

See, as soon as Naruto had stepped into the hive area, the bugs apparently went completely out of their freakin' hive-minds!

A massive cloud of all the bugs in the tankard rose up into the air and buzzing furiously. Some of the conscious Aburame clan members also looked disturbed, and found their own insects come bursting out of their bodies to merge with the cloud.

Team 7 also justifiably appeared somewhat more nervous.

"Oh, this can't be good…" Kakashi thought.

Shino looked extremely uneasy, apparently his bugs were affected too by the massive congregation. Gritting his teeth under the strain of what his bugs were communicating, he managed to growl out two words;

"Naruto…run."


In hindsight, the resulting chaos could actually be considered quite funny.

Right now however, not so much. Recalling in his mind the direct route to the outer grounds, Naruto made a direct beeline for the door. Right behind him was the massive cloud of insects.

Unfortunately, Team 7 had been standing in between Naruto and said door, as they had been walking behind Naruto and Shino.

Naruto wished he'd had a camera to record the looks on their faces. Even Kakashi and Sasuke looked mortified.

Naruto shot right past them tails and all, a black and orange blur, the bug cloud in hot pursuit… and completely enveloping his team in the process, cutting off Sakura's terrified screaming.

He barged through doors, passing several members of Shino's clan, who turned to watch him go, (Who, true to form, merely raising an eyebrow to show their surprise), and then look behind them just in time to see the insect hoard hurricane envelop them, which in turn caused their insects to join in the fervor, the shock causing the clansman to, in some cases instantly drop to the floor.

"Got to think… where can I get away?" Naruto panicky thought to himself. "Let's see, what did Shino say his bugs hated…. bug spray's obvious, but it's not like I can buy any right now!"

He bashed right through the exit doors of the complex, and still right behind him was that damn bug cloud. Naruto poured on the speed.

"Come on…. think Naruto! This is no different than those angry mobs…where would I hide in case of those…trash can? No. Alleyways? No. ARRGH!"

As he ran, he splashed through a small puddle.

"THAT'S IT!"

Naruto made a hard right and ran to his destination. Unfortunately this took him right through the bazaar area of the village… Naruto wasted no time and charged straight through, shoving people aside or using them has footholds to jump over.

Regrettably, (Or not, depending on how you look at it), they too fell victim to the massive cloud, screaming as it enveloped them.

Finally, Naruto reached his destination, one of Konoha's rivers. He nearly jumped right in… then stopped right at the edge of the riverbank, and felt that he could have slapped himself as he recalled a sudden, very crucial detail.

He didn't know how to swim.

He stared into the water's relatively calm surface, trying to see just how deep the water was.

Well… the closer to the shore he was, the shallower the water. Maybe if he stooped down... but still… it intimidated him slightly, his tails starting to wrap around him unconsciously.

A buzzing noise reached his ears, and he started to panic. There had to be some way out of this!

Now frantic, he glanced behind him as he saw the cloud approaching, then down at the river's waters, and gulped loudly.

"Death by insects, or death by drowning? Which one would be quicker?"As once again, his life seemed to flash before him, he heard a different noise, a low humming sound.

Looking to his left, he saw that it was only some nearby reeds. "The wind must've been blowing through them. Wait, that means that they're hollow!

The cloud was fifteen feet away and closing fast…

Realizing he was out of options, Naruto snatched up a reed. Slicing the ends off with his claws, he leaped right into the river.

The insect cloud hovered over the spot where Naruto had dove in, buzzing angrily for several minutes, apparently not seeing the reeds sticking out the water's surface, before finally dispersing.


Beneath the surface, Naruto breathed throughout his impromptu snorkels. He stood on a shallow area, his head about two feet beneath the surface. His finger and toe claws were digging into the muddy floor, preventing himself from rising to the surface. His tails billowed around him, being manipulated slightly by the light current

Naruto was hyperventilating through the reeds, desperately trying to calm himself down.

"Don't panic don't panic don't panic…" he repeated to himself. He closed his eyes to focus for a few moments, and he slowed his breathing. Slowly, he opened them and cautiously glanced around in this new environment.

"Hey, this isn't that bad… well, aside from a little water in my ears."

He glanced up, through the water's distorted surface and saw the bug cloud above gradually disperse.

"Heh, Bugs 0- Naruto Uzumaki 1."

He decided to be on the safe side, and waited an extra minute to ensure that the bugs were gone. Naruto then gripped a rock sticking out of the riverbank, and started to haul himself out of the water…

…only for the rock to come loose. Naruto slipped and fell backwards, losing his grip and consequently, the reeds he was breathing through. As he fell lower into the river, a stray current caught him and he found himself being dragged downstream.

"OH CRAP OH CRAP OH CRAP OF CRAP!" Naruto was panicking. He grasped out desperately with his arms, and his feet kicked out desperately. He wouldn't give up! His tails flared, trying to extend his grip on something, anything!

The current swept Naruto into a medium-sized but deep pond, where it seemed to decrease as he sank further towards the bottom.

He felt his air started to give out. He needed to breathe!

An agonizing few seconds later, he felt his chest about to burst and his vision began to darken.

Through his fading vision, he could have sworn he was hallucinating. He saw a heavenly scene in the water above him, a feminine image outlined in the sun's light reaching for him.

"M-M-Mom?" Through the encroaching darkness, he slowly dared himself to hope.

Maybe… maybe dying wouldn't be so bad, at least if he got to see his parents for the first time…

It would be so easy…. all he had to do was just…let go…


*End of Part 2*

Author's Notes.

*Chaos Controls into existence.*

*Puts up a shield*

Yes, yes, the infamous cliffhanger of doom.

So, I hope everyone enjoyed the Great Cat Chase. Also, what did you all think of the Aburame Clan Structure?

Character Interactions

A little insight into Team 8's first meeting, especially since we know Kiba would have some friction with the others based on his attitude.

Abilities

Fox Spear Kick- Naruto "sits" or braces himself on his tails, then lashes out with both feet. He can alternatively slash with the claws on his toes. A basic taijutsu move.

No true major techniques yet. I think I'm gonna hold off until after the Wave country mission.

Now then, regarding the cliffhanger…

Will Naruto live? Or am I just gonna cut this story short in an anticlimactic manner?

Was that truly Kushina Uzumaki that he saw? Let me know who you think!

Find out next time, on Dragon Ba- Oops, heh, wrong series.

Until next time!

*Holds up emerald*

CHAOS CONTROL!

*Vanishes*