The Uzumaki Clan

Chapter 9

The First date

Naruto and Kenji were in their personal training grounds, a casual observer would consider this not a fight or spar but a form of dance as the two showed grace and flexibility, as well as quickness and ferocity, the style of Uzumaki was truly the style of the tiger.

The two had been fighting for hours now; Kenji had a light sweat going while Naruto was slightly puffed, Naruto was trying to work up the courage to talk to his grandfather about his 'girl' problems.

The spar went to a pause slightly and Naruto toke this time to ask his grandpa for help.

"Old man can I ask for some . . . advice" he said scratching the back of his head, looking down, his checks blushing slightly and his gaze never meeting his grandfather.

Kenji sighed and sat down on a rather large boulder, he used his old sword as a cane, he knew this conversation was to come he just wished he picked a better time and place to discuss this.

"I know what you're going to ask me Naruto" he said with a cheeky smile.

"So you've been following me again, so I'll just get it over with" he sighed as his face reddened even more.

"I need help with asking Temari out . . . I just don't know what to say, what to do . . . I'm nervous" he said trying to say more but didn't know where to begin, Kenji put a hand up to slow the boy down.

"Firstly I really never wanted you to get into some sort of relationship at this point of your training, I just think you're a bit young" he said pausing seeing the disappointed expression on Naruto face saddened Kenji but he continued.

He chuckled slightly "I toke you for a man that would go after someone from Whirlpool, but nooo you had to go and found a girl from half a continent away" he said almost laughing at the reddening face of Naruto's.

"Let me just say though, that if you thought you liked any other girl other then Temari than I would have denied you until you were more mature, maybe when you turned sixteen or mastered the Uzumaki style" he said, Naruto seemed confused at first but slowly realized that his grandfather had approved of his liking of Temari.

"But old man I still need help, I don't even know if she likes me!" he said grabbing his hair in frustration.

The old man smiled and said "She likes you Naruto"

"REALLY" he said showing the small excited boy that resides inside him; he realized how he was acting, coughed and tried looking serious.

"How do you know" he said excited and curious.

"I have seen the way she looks at you when she thinks no one is looking, it is a look of care and want I know the look" he said finally looking at Naruto dead in the eye.

"Please what should I do" he said begging for help.

"Give her a single flower, a rose . . . hand it to her and say what you want to say" he said from experience.

"I-I don't know if I-

"You can and you will" he said, taking out a small paper and scribbling down something.

"There is a flower shop in the lower eastern side of Konoha an old war buddy of mine owns the place give this to him and he will know what to do" he said handing him the note.

He sat up groaning in pain from his old back, he used his sword as a cane lately feeling his age catching up to him.

"Ask for Inochi and say I sent you, he can help you better than I can right now" Naruto nodded and witnessed a strange look on his grandfathers face.

"Have you . . . ah . . . had . . . . 'The talk"

"The talk?" he said confused.

"You know the birds and the bees" he said, near face faulting.

For the next half an hour, Naruto went through mental hell as when you get 'the talk' from a ninja, they can use Kage bushins and Henge, nuff said.

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Yamanaka flower shop-

Ino was staring down at an old fashion magazine, thinking about her crush, while unconsciously ignoring the one or two costumers coming in browsing.

Naruto entered when Ino's full attention, the small chime alerting Ino of another costumer went ignored as she kept her nose buried in her magazine. He looked around and sniffed the air, inhaling the mix of fragrances the many flowers created, rows and rows of different colors and styles were stacked beside each other giving the illusion of a colorful meadow.

He approached the counter trying to get the attention of the flower shop worker.

"Ah excuse me" he said trying to get her attention.

Ino sighed at the disturbance and looked up at her new prey.

"Ah hi, yeah um I need . . . ." Ino's ears went deaf, and her eyes were replaced with love struck hearts, in her mind a small genjutsu was cast, showing a shining sun only making his beauty stand out even more to her.

Naruto sighed as the female worker gave off a familiar look that he receives from his usual fan girls, he started snapping his fingers, trying to get this girls attention, again.

Inochi entered his shop wanting to see if his daughter had any problems with any costumers or anything, he saw a boy looking very similar to the fourth Hokage's, trying to get the attention of his obviously love struck daughter.

"Ah . . . is there something I can do for you sir" he said curious with the fourth look a like.

"Yes sir, I'm looking for an Inochi I have a message fro, Kenji Uzumaki" he said with respect.

Inochi was caught by surprise at the fact that Kenji wrote something for him, his pride deepened when he thought that Kenji must have remembered Inochi, Naruto handed the note to Inochi, and he read the quickly written message to him and smiled at the message.

Ino had started to get back from her small world and started following her new found love, she saw her father reading a note he gave him and started chuckling she went past the counter and moved closer to the two, she started sorting flowers into different combinations and styles making no difference, just really wanting to hear what they were saying.

"So a little bit of young love eh" he said with a smile, seeing the reaction from his daughter got him worried if only slightly, I mean she only met him two minutes ago.

"Ah yeah so do you think that you could help me out here" he said in a slightly begging tone.

"Anything for the honorable grandson of Kenji-sama" he said with a bow.

He gestured for him to follow and Naruto followed him to the back of the store, with Ino at his back, her appreciating everything she saw.

Inoichi showed him through his private garden and let him through while stopping his daughter, she pouted while trying to watch Naruto trying to still get past her father.

"Sorry sweetie but, I think we have some costumers" he said pointing to a few old ladies staring at some daffodils.

"Bu-But" she said trying to think a way for her to get closer to this god, Inoichi just gave his daughter an affirmative look, and she sulked her way back to the counter, mumbling things about evil fathers.

Inoichi closed the door behind his self and went beside Naruto, who was admiring the many diverse flowers among the small back room.

"So what are you after" Inoichi asked, with kindness and respect.

"I really don't know" Naruto said, confused with what Temari would want.

"What does she look like" he asked trying to figure out something that would make a better pick to help out Naruto.

"Beautiful sandy blonde hair" he said smiling looking out to dreamland "Dark green eyes" he said slightly blushing at how he was describing her to some stranger.

Inoichi smiled at this youths love, it wasn't something like his daughters, simply a physical attraction, he could see the depth of this crush, it was something else, and he needed something more though.

"Very good, but there has to be a something more, there are many flowers that would suit what you said . . . hm . . . where is she from, the name is foreign, no" Inoichi said thinking more on the subject.

"She is a Suna nin" he said with a smile.

A smile rose from Inoichi's face this information defiantly helped, he moved to the far corner seeing a small batch of flowers from Suna.

"There are only four types of flowers from Suna, excepting cactuses and weeds and such" he held up the flowers, to Naruto the first three he saw never caught his attention but the third.

"It's perfect"

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with Kenji-

Kenji was concerned with his grandson, he knew of Orochimaru being here and him being here alone was dangerous enough.

He really wanted to give his grandson his time to at least, maybe set up some sort of pen pal thing, he really didn't know how deep this relationship went, but he would give it time to nourish.

He knew time was pressing but he would give him at least a week, a day before the chunin finals.

Kenji could feel doubt creep into his shoulder, he needed some allies, he needs his army.

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with Naruto-

Naruto held the single flower in his hand, sweating at amazing an amazing rate like never before, he felt Temari's chakra coming closer, his worry was growing not knowing how she would react, what if she said no and that she didn't want to be friends with him anymore, he didn't want to risk this friendship over how he just feels.

While he was pondering over his dating worries Temari snuck behind him, she saw him earlier very distracted with something and saw the opportunity to sneak behind him and give him a small freight.

She slowly creped behind him, and grabbed his shoulder.

"Got cha" she said loudly which shocked Naruto to the core, he mentally prepared himself that once he saw her he would ah . . . . Do something.

He turned around and Temari saw the beautiful Desert rose in his hands, a sandy yellow color that reminded Naruto of her.

He hesitated slightly and held out the flower to Temari.

"It's for you"

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with Kenji-

Kenji chuckled at seeing his grandson being so unlike himself, he pushed his bandana over his eyes and toke a quiet nap in the tall trees of Konoha, he was an old man you know.

Even with his eyes closed he could feel everything around him, although age has robbed him of his strength and legendary speed, he always felt that his senses could only get better, everything was as clear as day.

He could feel it all, the two chakra signatures of Temari and Naruto , the many birds, animals and living things, the chakra of the many ninjas of Konoha and the approaching sage chakra of Jiraiya.

He sighed and moved his bandana to see properly, he bit his thumb and summoned a small tiger cub with a whirlpool bandana on.

"Kina" he said to the little pup who puffed her chest out proudly to the clan leader.

"Yes master" she said in a serious manner.

"Enough of that now" he said with a smile, he reached into his pocket and brought out two scrolls.

"Can you please send these to your mother, she will know what to do with them" he said in a grandfather tone.

The tiger nodded and puffed into a ball of smoke, Kenji just felt the need to sleep, now more then ever but he still had some lose ends that needed to be attended to.

with Naruto-

Naruto saw Temari staring at him strangely, deep down inside he was begging himself to do something, say something, anything.

"Ah . . . um . . ." while his mind was mush and his checks blazing red, Temari wasn't any better.

She to was blushing wildly, seeing the rare flower in is hands, the also rare look of nervousness on the face that usually held the look of confidence and calmness, right now he was anything but and Temari couldn't help but push him a bit.

She pushed past her own nerves and cough slightly to see if her voice was fine "Yes Naruto-kun". . Is that flower for me" she said pushing her inner shy self away.

Now on a normal basis, most that knew Temari, heck anyone who glanced upon her could see and feel the confidence that this girl held about herself, but when she was around Naruto, she was different, she thought and knew she acted different, she didn't know why, she seemed shyer, she spoke her thoughts as usual but not in the negative tone she gave to different opinions to hers, she felt different, but when she spoke this way it brought more confidence from her, it made this desired situation all the less unbearable.

"Ah . . . um . . . ah" he tried speaking yet his head suddenly turned off, he still had the rose in a firm grip, Temari saw the tight grip and decided to push a bit further.

"Such a beautiful flower" she said smiling, looking down at the flower, in Naruto's mind he said something under the lines of 'a beautiful flower for a beautiful woman' but alas his mind and his mouth did not met.

She saw the stiff hold on the flower and thought of a cunning way to get her present, she stared deep into his deep ice blue eyes fighting the warmth in her cheeks, she grabbed his hand with both of hers holding with a soft hold and slowly pulled the desert rose from his strong grip.

After getting the rose out, she held his hand ever so slightly, she blushed the heaviest she ever thought she could and pulled her hands away, holding the rose close to her chest. Temari pulled the rose and sniffed it slightly; the desert rose brought an aroma that reminded her so much of home.

A spark in Naruto's mind that said 'SAY SOMETHING' brought him to life "Temari, could you . . . ah . . . I mean . . . would you . . . um . . . its . . . I mean" he stuttered and never could really get the message across, he never looked at her and that was starting to get her slightly annoyed.

Temari gave mercy and toke the reins, she saw that he still wasn't looking directly at her and had enough of this 'shy' Naruto.

"Naruto" he looked slightly at her, only further angering Temari.

"Naruto" she said in a tone that she knew he would listen to, Naruto remembers that tone, he would never forget the pain.

"Meet me tonight at six at my hotel, you'll take me out to a fancy restaurant and we will have a good time" she said with her high and mighty voice, Naruto sighed in relief.

"I have to get ready for tonight" she said leaving Naruto in a mess, she made her way to the forest and before leaving she went back to Naruto and gave him a light kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you for the rose" she said, not daring to look him in the eyes again, she ran off calling out "See you at six"

Naruto just stood there, completely unmoved and placed a hand on his cheek, smiling a goofy grin, he sighed in a relief and collapsed to the ground, Naruto Uzumaki was out of energy, it was a strange feeling, yet he was the happiest he had ever been.

Six, at a fancy restaurant.

Shouldn't be too hard.

Right?

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with Temari-

The second Temari had left Naruto, she turned and pressed her back against a large oak tree, she gave out a small squeal of excitement and daydreamed about the possibilities of the night, where she would be going, what she would wear, would they kiss for the first.

She gave out another girly squeal.

Several animals in the background ran away freighted at the sound.

At six.

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with Sasuke-

He was searching high and low for the blonde knuckle head, how dare he hold back against him, he felt betrayed and confused.

He decided that he would beat Naruto, beat him to the point that his grandfather would teach him and him only and Jiraiya and Kakashi.

He smirked evilly at his own brilliance. Only a Uchiha.

Only a Uchiha.

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with Kenji-

Jiraiya had arrived at the small grounds to find a strange sight, two large tigers about the size of a fully grown horse and the Uzumaki clan head and Kakashi laughing their heads off in a very anime style.

Jiraiya was confused at first but saw behind one of the large white tigers was Naruto with his back on the ground, staring oddly at the sky ignoring all the craziness around him.

"What's up with him" Jiraiya said pointing at the odd why Naruto was acting.

"He has a date with Temari" Kenji said with raised eye brows, a heavy smile still on his face.

"Temari" he said, wondering if he was thinking of the Suna blonde.

"Temari" Kakashi confirmed, nodding at where he was going with this.

"Ho-ho Naruto didn't know you had it in ya" he said with his pervert mode going.

"Ero-sennin, don't start" Naruto pleaded, hearing the arrival of his sensei brought him out of his day dreaming.

"Didn't know you had a thing for 'exotic' women" Jiraiya said causing Naruto to blush at the teasing.

"Na he likes the blondes, remember the Akina girl from before" Kakashi pointed out, causing the blush to deepen.

"Sensei" he pleaded for mercy.

"Ah the blonde bombshells, there are many things you will learn from them" Jiraiya said, daydreaming slightly.

"Sensei"

"She is quite a looker Naruto, nice job" Kakashi said with a eye smile and a thumbs up.

"Grandpa . . . please"

"Now that's quite enough" he said bringing the laughter down slightly.

"He has a first date with a suitable woman, that we all approve of" he said staring out to the rest of his company, no one argued that point.

"He will have a nice time, and he will act like a gentleman, and that's that" he said with his grandfather smile.

"Besides we Uzumaki men have a thing for fiery women, if you ever met your grandma oh baby . . ."

"OLD MAN"

Laughter continued as Naruto covered his ears, trying his best to ignore his fellow sensei's slash perverts.

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later that day-

Naruto was at Temari's hotel feeling very uncomfortable, not with the date or anything but what he was wearing.

His sensei's had convinced him to wear something a bit more casual, a white button up dress shirt that molded very well with Naruto's muscles and gave off a very masculine look, he kept his ANBU style pants only in a dark grey color, instead of having his bandana in his usual headband style, it was rapped around his arm and a kunai holster over his thigh.

His hair was loose and if the attention that he was getting from the opposite sex he looked pretty good, he felt a little strange doing all this but he knew it would be worth it.

He just hoped nothing went wrong at this point.

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with Temari-

Temari had been stressing over what to wear but decided to go with a nice black dress (sorry I'm a dude, dats as much detail as ya gonna get) that she brought out of the few outfits she brought from shopping earlier today.

She had on a small amount of makeup that heightened her facial features and made her even more attractive, she had been wondering if she would keep her hair out or not but decided to keep it in her classic style.

She looked in the mirror and seemed very happy with what she had done with herself, she made her way out of her personal room and made her way through the lounge hopefully without being noticed by her teammates.

"Where are you going" her sensei asked, Baki was usually a carefree individual, but he knew that time was pressed and the invasion was nearing.

"I-I have a date" she said looking behind her fearing Gaara was behind her.

"A date" he said slightly confused "Not a Konoha nin, I hope" he said surprised at the answer Temari gave her.

"Of course not" she said sheepishly.

"A citizen?" he said a little worried, the possibility of a kage's daughter and a citizen was an odd and dangerous one.

"No, why would you say that" she said trying to change the subject.

"Don't pull that on me" he said looking at her cautiously. "All right, be on your way, but I expect a big talk with you afterwards" he said giving her a nod.

"Thank you" she said making her way out to meet with Naruto.

She felt a small creeping feeling make her way down her spine, she felt Gaara's presence near and started rushing a bit faster, making that small feeling leave as quickly as she could, she rushed down the five flights of stairs fairly quickly and made it past the lobby, rushing through the front door.

She slammed through and accidentally ran into Naruto with full force.

Naruto groaned at the unexpected pain and saw Temari on top of him in a very uncomfortable position.

"Hay Temari"

Temari sighed at her luck and gave out a small chuckle at the casualness of Naruto.

"Hay Naruto"

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later on-

The date continued as Naruto took Temari to some fancy restaurant from the Upper East Side he was a little cautious on the fact that Jiraiya had recommended it but it was a classy respectable place.

The two had talked a lot over the time they had known each other very well over the short time they had known each other, but this date sort of thing, it sort of brought out one and another, the two confessed childhood memories, their likes and dislikes, their dreams, their team and sensei's, the two never knew more about the other ever before and yet they still wanted to know more.

It was late at night the two blondes walked side to side, not speaking in a comfortable silence. Temari never felt so comfortable before being in his presence.

But suddenly that small shiver returned, piercing the warmth that she had felt throughout the night, she looked around trying to find her brother.

Naruto saw the panicking beside him and wondered what was happening, he was about to speak his thoughts when suddenly ten meters in front of them, a large ball of sand formed in a front of the two, Temari froze but Naruto kept his head high and his senses alert.

The sand crumbled apart, leaving Gaara standing ankle deep in the sand as his gourd started slowly sucking the large amount of sand inside.

"Uzumaki . . ." he said, slowly mumbling to himself as he walked ever so slowly to the blondes.

Naruto stood his ground as he showed no fear, he had a hand in his pocket slowly forming chakra, he felt the fear foaming from Temari and felt for her.

He pulled her body across, slowly and gently behind him as he felt that she had no need for this, he respected her as a kunoichi but this one was a whole other level.

"Yes" he said hoping nothing would happen that might provoke him.

"My existence" he said slowly mumbling walking slowly towards Naruto

"Don't do it" he said warning Gaara who toke no heed.

"Mother wants something. . ." Gaara whispered as the sand started whipping and acting as crazy as his controller.

"Gaara please" pleaded his sister, her voice filled with fear as the sand only closer to the two.

Naruto pulled out a kunai and cursed himself for coming unarmed.

Gaara saw the way he was protecting that pathetic sister of his, it made him feel strange, a feeling he never felt rose inside his chest, the sand rose and for one second all was silent.

Then the sand formed into a single pillar and traveled at full force at the blonde, Naruto swore as he used wind chakra to help him defend.

The sand made its way far too quickly for Naruto to handle as suddenly the sand maneuvered its way past Naruto aiming for the heart of Temari.

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