[REWRITE STATUS]: COMPLETELY NEW CHAPTER

Naruto grinned as he vaulted up the Hyuuga Clan Compound wall, his hands and feet easily finding the route that they had taken hundreds of times before. With a grunt, he heaved himself over the edge with even more force than normal, relishing in the liberating feeling of soaring through the air.

Before yesterday, he would have never pulled a stunt like this. For one thing, his body wouldn't have been able to keep up, and he probably would've ended up doing something spectacularly stupid- such as breaking his own neck. Also, his previous self would've been much too cautious and would've ruled out the possibility for showing off and having fun, deeming them unnecessary, completely disregarding his own desires.

But now, it was like he had truly been freed. Without the heavy oppressive shackles of intelligence, he felt like he could do whatever he wanted to. He had never considered how tiring the constant over-thinking and analyzing that he had been doing had been. Compounded with the fact that the constant headaches had deprived him of any chance for a decent night's sleep, it was now clear exactly how bogged down he had been.

However, as he was now, flying through the cool air with nothing urgent on his mind- just enjoying life and the emotions it brought, was one of the greatest feelings he had ever experienced.

As he approached the ground, he stuck out an arm nonchalantly and caught an outlying tree branch, swinging around it and flipping to land safely on the ground. Before, that manoeuvre most likely would have ended up with a broken branch, a crater in the ground, and various injuries to his person.

"Hi Neji!" greeted Naruto enthusiastically, straightening up.

Neji looked over from the furious kata he was practicing.

"What's with you today, commoner?"

"What?"

"Why're you so happy?"

Naruto only grinned wider.

"I just am!" he proclaimed.

At that moment, Neji decided to flash on his Byakugan for a split second, just to check if the person claiming to be his friend/rival/sparring partner was under a genjutsu. The reason for his suspicion was obvious.

His prior experiences with the blond were rather specialized. Almost all of it was shinobi-related.

If they weren't actually fighting or training, then they would talk about tactics, or strategy, or equipment. Everything that Naruto seemed to say seemed to concern improving either Neji or himself to be better shinobi. Exceptions were limited to the curt greetings he offered when he showed up. Not that Neji minded, being the driven young man that he is, but he found it a little strange nonetheless.

So it was no surprise that Neji was a little wary when the normally gloomy, stoic boy would jump over a wall and greet him with such friendliness and enthusiasm.

However, a cursory once-over with the Byakugan revealed that it was indeed Naruto that he was talking to. The enormous reservoir of chakra was a dead giveaway, but Neji noted a strange quality in it that he hadn't noticed before.

Although he had long since become accustomed to the strange maelstrom of turbulence that raged within his friend's chakra, today, it was no longer present. Instead of the violent clash of internal energies, Naruto's chakra flow was calm and tranquil, moving no differently from any other person's.

"I see you've gotten that trashy chakra system fixed up. But I wonder why you even bother. You're never going to beat me," Neji taunted.

Naruto narrowed his eyes.

"Them's fighting words, Neji. I think I'll make you take them back… after my fist's been surgically removed from your ugly mug."

Neji glanced at the eyes shining with the determination and stubbornness that he knew from countless hours of training, and smirked.

Yep, he thought, that's definitely Naruto.

He dropped into a stance and gestured mockingly.

"Well then," he said, "give me a shot. Show me where this misplaced confidence comes from."

Naruto stepped back into his own improvised fighting stance. He had experimented extensively with various postures, lacking an official tutor as he was, and had fought one that seemed… least uncomfortable to fight in.

He rolled his shoulders, grinning as he heard the crack. He hadn't tried fighting with his now painless body, and was eager to get started. His muscles tensed, feeling like greased cogs instead of the grinding rocks that they were before, and he sprang forward with a battle cry.

Neji dodged the leap with a confident smile on his face. He had been initially surprised by the speed with which Naruto had attacked at, but his Byakugan had easily allowed him to preempt the movement by watching his muscles.

But even as Naruto sailed past him, Neji kept a close eye on him with the Byakugan. He had learnt that Naruto was a wily opponent, and was prone to making surprising plays that had managed to raise his chance of winning by a substantial amount. Not that he could ever capitalize on the chance… but they were good strategies, nonetheless.

So even though Neji didn't turn around, he retained his ready pose. The vision granted by the Byakugan allowed him to react as… Naruto jumped towards him again?

Deciding that it was probably just a ploy, Neji didn't hold back as he spun and in one clean movement, smashed a Consecrated Smite onto the blond's temple unrelentingly. Granted, Naruto's new speed and ease of movement were a little off-putting, but Neji was being trained by some of the best Hyuuga in the village. Compared to them, Naruto moved in slow-motion.

He glanced down at the blond lying prone at his feet. Normally he would have finished him off with Primordial Eclipse, but he didn't feel like it today. Besides, it was obvious he had won, anyway.

"What was that, commoner? Pathetic!" he snarled.

Naruto groaned and struggled to roll over to be face-up.

"Shaddup, Neji. Your Gentle Fist is too dangerous, I can't compete against that straight up. Before, I could just dodge it by reading your movements and calculating the potential moves… but I can't do that anymore. I… ah… lost my intelligence. I need to find a new method."

"Hmm… I didn't really understand much of that, and I don't really understand the circumstances, but basically what you're saying is that you're a dumbshit now, correct?'

"… I guess you could put it that way."

"Anyway," said Neji, dismissing the subject, "I was wondering, during that battle… if you could call it that… why do you always start off with the first attack? Maybe you could do something worthwhile if you just waited for an opening to counterattack. With your freakish strength and speed, you might be able to do some damage."

Naruto shrugged.

"I guess that's just the sort of person I am. No changing that."

However, unknown to the 'new' Naruto, the reason why his 'old' self always attacked Neji first had actually been thought over carefully and painstakingly analyzed. He had reasoned that Neji's attacks were simply too fast and accurate to consistently dodge or block. Even though he had the stamina to outlast Neji, the devastating nature of the Gentle Fist made such an option unviable. He had to try and burst Neji down as quickly as possible. However, Neji's own blinding speed and defence had so far resisted any attempt of a quick reversal.

Naruto's fight with Hana had been a different story. Even though she and Neji had similarly untouchable speed, Hana's fighting style was less rapid and structured. Her strikes regularly sacrificed her speed for power, and Naruto's (previous) intelligence could take advantage of that.

But Naruto didn't remember much of that. As his intelligence had been dispersed, he had lost much of the recollective function of his brain. His 'memories' remained, and although he may remember the thoughts that went through his head at some times, he cannot accurately recreate the same process. It was like reading a book about himself. He understood the content, but it was still slightly distant to him.

For example, as his previous self, he had memorized the first and last two hundred entries in the bingo book (obtained illegally). However, now, if someone asked him to recite some of the entries, Naruto wouldn't be able to do so. But if one of those same criminals appeared in front of him, that would likely trigger a recollection, and he would probably remember the information.

But for now, he considered the way he was presently was just perfect. He didn't need the excess of intelligence.

"Yo, Neji! Fight me again!"

Neji looked up.

"Nah… maybe later. I have things I want to do."

Naruto shrugged, nodded, and stood up.

"Fine, catch ya later!" he said.

He bounded back to the wall and scaled up it in an instant, vaulting over when he got to the top.

But it wasn't until five minutes later that he realized he didn't have anything to do.

He didn't feel like bothering the Hokage so soon, Kakashi (who visited him occasionally) was on a mission in Earth Country and he wasn't on friendly terms with anyone else in the village…

"Hey!"

Naruto looked over to who had grabbed his sleeve. A spiky mop of purple hair filled his vision. He looked down, past the pair of light-brown pupil-less eyes, to a very distinctive fishnet covered body.

"… Anko?"

"Heya blondie! Um… N-'Naruto', or something?"

Naruto nodded in confirmation and waved a greeting at Kurenai and Hana, who were only now approaching, out of breath.

"Anko," huffed Kurenai, "Don't just rush off like that without saying anything! Oh, hi Naruto-san."

Anko waved her hand dismissively at her friend's lecture and instead turned to Naruto.

"So Naruto-kun! Howya doin'? Busy?" she asked.

"Not particularly. I was actually going around looking for something to do, you know. Running into you was a real stroke of luck, Anko-chan," Naruto replied with a smile.

Anko laughed.

"Well, if you got nothing better to do, why don't we-"

"Hold up for a goddamn minute here!" said Kurenai, holding up her hand, "Why are you two so familiar with each other? Was there some meeting I wasn't aware of?"

Anko and Naruto turned to look at each other, before simultaneously turning back to shake their heads in unison.

"But you're already throwing around those honorifics like candy after one meeting?"

"Well, Nai-chan," grinned Anko as she slung an arm around Kurenai's shoulder, "maybe Naruto-kun and I are just on the same wavelength, eh? Just leave it at that, hmm? We're friendly people. Maybe you need to socialize more, eh? You're getting a bit stuck up, Nai-chan... heh heh, no, I kid, I kid.

Anyways, Naruto-kun, if you've got nothing better to do, why don'tcha come train with us? It won't be anything too hard, I promise. Nothing too tiring for weak little maidens like us, haha."

"Heh," Naruto said, "Sounds good... oh, I hope you guys don't mind me crashing your training session…"

Kurenai shrugged. She had thought Naruto had been more of a quiet person from their first meeting, but she didn't mind outgoing and enthusiastic personalities- she was friends with Anko, after all.

"Sure. The more the merrier," she said with a small smile, "Hana?"

The brown haired girl looked distinctly uncomfortable with the attention on her.

"Eh," she murmured softly, "I don't mind."

Naruto blinked and stepped closer to Hana.

"Eh, Hana-chan? Is something wrong? You seem kinda nervous," he asked her.

"Ah! Er, it's nothing, Uzumaki-san!" she stammered in panic.

Anko stepped in close to stop Hana's frantic backing away.

"Come to think of it, Hana-chan, you do seem really nervous. Have you swapped personalities with Nai-chan or something? Don'tcha like boys like Naruto-kun?"

She ruffled Naruto's hair and chuckled.

However, Hana took the joke seriously and hurriedly turned to Naruto to dispute the fact.

"N-no, that's not it! It's just that…"

She trailed away in mumbles too soft to make out, even to Naruto's sharp senses.

"Sorry, what was that?" he asked.

"Um… ah… I'M SORRY I HURT YOU! It'sjustthatIwasfightingandIlostcontrolandohmygodI'msosorryIdidn'tmeantohurtyou-"

Naruto took a few seconds to understand the gist of the almost incoherent stream of words before he held up his hand to try and stop her. When that didn't work, he resorted to covering her mouth with his hand. That seemed to do the trick, as Hana promptly stopped talking and immediately started blushing.

"Hey, hey, Hana-chan," said Naruto, "It's okay, it's okay. Look, I'm fine. Things might have gotten a little bit out of hand, but it's okay. I'm uninjured, you're uninjured. In the end, we're all better off for it. I got some valuable battle experience from that little scrap. It's actually better that it happened than if it didn't. I made friends with you three, didn't I?"

After a short pause, he felt Hana's lips move under his palm, and he realized that she was trying to talk. With a sheepish smile, he hastily withdrew his hand from her mouth and wiped it on his pants.

Hana attempted a shaky smile and took a deep breath, presumably to say something heartfelt. But before she could start, a loud yell interrupted her and all four of them turned to look at the source. Upon seeing the angry man who had shouted at them, Anko paled dramatically and grabbed Hana's hand in her right, turning to grip Naruto's in her left.

"Shiiiiiiiiiiit!" she yelled, "Let's go!"

Before any of them could protest, Anko was already motoring along, pulling her two friends behind like a tail of a kite.

"Nai-chan!" she shouted as she ran, "Meet us at the normal place!"

Kurenai snapped off a casual salute with one hand, turning backwards to face them even though she was still on the move.

"Gotcha," she said coolly, before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

Naruto's eyebrows shot up. Despite Kurenai being eleven years old (which would usually mean attending the Academy), he had heard she was already a full-fledged genin and was aiming to complete the chuunin exam this rotation. However, knowing that and seeing the physical proof was entirely different things, as Naruto hadn't really believed it before Kurenai had actually completed the Shunshin (a chuunin-grade technique) before his very eyes.

Anko noticed this and grinned.

"What? Can't believe Nai-chan's awesomeness? She's a regular prodigy, you know. And while I'm hailed as a prodigy as well, in actual fact I'm a lot less impressive than Kurenai. I have a talent for the bloodier side of shinobi life, but Kurenai… jeez, that girl is a monster. Her general skills are no joke- chuunin level already, easy, but her genjutsu are what really make her a scary son of a bitch. I wouldn't be surprised if she became a jounin by the time regular shinobi are trying out for chuunin. That's at sixteen, so… in five years. Ha! She could be a jounin before you've even graduated from Academy, Naruto-kun! She might even be your jounin instructor!"

Naruto eyes widened as he marveled at his friend's strength. And to think he had tried to pick a fight with her at their first meeting. But then a more pressing problem came to light.

"Um… Anko?" he ventured.

"Yeah?"

"Why are we running from that guy, anyway?"

"Eh… well, I might have been a little too enthusiastic in uh… pranking one of the Academy instructors," she grinned sheepily.

"WHAT?! That means that guy is a chuunin, at least! Why are we even running from him?"

"Nah… don't worry- I spiked his food with some chakra dampeners… and some depressants… and some anaesthetics… and a mild poison, I think… oh yeah, I think I even added an aphrodisiac! But the point is, he's even more harmless than Academy students like us."

"Yeah… but I'm not even in the Academy," muttered Naruto, starting to wonder if his skills were enough to sustain him.

"Hey, you beat Hana, who's one of the better ninja in our year level. In terms of rank, I'd say she'd definitely qualify as genin level. If you could keep up with her, you can outrun this fat pig chasing us."

After this casual compliment, Anko let go of Hana's hand and patted him on the shoulder.

"Thanks," smiled Naruto, thankful for having a friend like her.

How he had coped before, while trying to maintain the flimsy façade of having no emotions and no bonds, he would never know.

He reveled in the feeling for a few seconds, before he remembered that Anko still hadn't answered his original question.

"So… why are we running… exactly? What did you do?" he asked sharply, his tone leaving no room for fancy excuses.

"Eh, well," said Anko, "He was a little… disapproving… I guess you could say, of the way I dress. I told him that I could dress however the fuck I wanted and he couldn't stop me. That's actually true, so that bastard couldn't actually punish me or something. But he started stacking on the work for me in the Academy. He said I was 'lacking' in certain areas. Which is bullshit, because I'm top of my class. So I started pranking him so hard…"

Hana gave an uncharacteristic snort.

"Prank, she says," she muttered in disbelief, "More like full-blown attacks."

"Hey!" Anko defended, "Well, okay, one or two may have gotten out of hand…"

"Out of hand? Out of hand?! Anko, you hospitalized him three times in one month! Now it's like a small scale war between you two! And now look where we, your friends, are- caught in the middle of this madness."

Hana gave a long-suffering sigh.

"Oh," grinned Anko mischievously as she slung an arm around Hana's shoulders, "You know you love it."

Hana turned to look at her blankly before finally acquiescing with a small smile.

"Well, I guess it does keep things interesting," she admitted softly.

Naruto felt a thrill of warm emotions- an unfamiliar feeling- rush through him as he witnessed the bonding moment. Then he realized something.

Man… he thought, I can't believe we had such a casual conversation while running full pelt through the streets. I guess it's a ninja thing.

But even deeper in his mind, a small seed of an idea began to sprout.

Pranks? Hmm… I might ask Anko about those.

Naruto leant against a tree that stood in the middle of a glade in one of the many random patches of forest that existed all over Konoha. Apparently this was the girls' 'secret meeting place' and Naruto couldn't help but admire the tranquility that the place exuded. Despite the ever-present hustle and bustle of Konoha being just a few kilometers away, none of the sound managed to penetrate the comfortable silence of the natural clearing.

The trio had managed to lose the intoxicated chuunin a couple of streets back, in the centre of the main marketplace. Naruto had followed the two girls through a couple of detours (you could never be too sure- the man was a chuunin, after all) until reaching this place. Awaiting them was Kurenai, who had obviously gotten here much earlier, judging by the degree of which she was engrossed in the book she was reading.

Naruto sighed. Although he wasn't out of breath (his stamina was amazing) he had been hard pressed to keep up with the girls. He had to really push his body to the limits in order to keep the pace at which they ran and leaped through the streets and the rooftops.

Added to the fact that he was constantly watching the girls as to not get lost, as well as trying to maintain his sense of space as to not crash into anything, meant that Naruto was mentally exhausted.

The difference that four years meant was a lot in the shinobi world. Although Naruto was physically nearly the same as the girls, the inherent age difference translated to a distinct contrast in ability. His body was unnaturally powerful for someone only five years old, but the shinobi-trained physiques of Anko and Hana could still outpace him.

Perhaps that would change when he started to get shinobi training, but for now, he was actually quite inferior to his older friends.

Meanwhile, Kurenai, registering the arrival of her friends, looked up from her book and waved a greeting. She carefully marked the page she was on, snapped the book shut, and then gracefully uncoiled herself from the ground in one sinuous movement.

"So," she said, "What shall we do today?"

Anko flopped to the group with a tired sigh.

"Man, Nai-chan, I don't feel like sparring or katas today. Why don't we don't do something else for a change?"

Kurenai felt her eyes flicker almost inadvertently towards their guest, who had been enticed to come with the promise of training in the first place.

"Anko…" she said warningly.

Naruto quickly raised his hands.

"No, don't worry about me! I don't care what we do! Please, do what you want to do."

Kurenai searched his face for a couple of seconds more before sighing in defeat.

"Whatever. Anko, what do you want to do, then?"

"Hey, why don't we play a game? Don't worry, it's kinda like training as well."

"That sounds fine. Naruto-san, Hana-chan- what do you guys think?"

Naruto grinned exuberantly.

"Great!" he yelled.

Hana's response was a little more subdued.

"Um… okay," she said.

Anko rubbed her hands with glee.

"Haha! Cool. Okay… these are the rules. See these strips of cloth?"

She held up thin strips of dark blue fabric.

"Well," she continued, "Everyone will get one of these- and your job is to stop the others from stealing it. Last man standing wins. Simple, right? Oh yeah- you have to wear it like this."

After tucking one end into the waistband of her skirt, Anko gave a little twirl to show off the little streamer.

Kurenai raised her hand with a cocked eyebrow.

"Eh, Anko, I don't have a waistband- oh, thanks," she said, catching the belt that Anko threw to her.

Naruto smirked as all four of them began to prepare for Anko's game, trying to place the streamer in such a way that it would be hardest for the opponents to grab.

Finally, when all four were satisfied with the way they had placed their streamer, Anko smiled wildly and yelled an enthusiastic "Begin!", already leaping forward as she did so.

Naruto didn't know what to expect when the game started. Maybe he still harboured some pathetic delusion that it would be a normal 'fun' game. But that delusion was ruthlessly shattered as the game started. The three girls had exploded into action so fast that the ground underneath their feet formed small craters to mark the force at which their legs hit the ground.

Luckily, Naruto was no stranger to extreme speeds- he regularly sparred with Neji, after all, whose speed was almost as untouchable. And Naruto himself was no slouch when it came to speed. His enhanced body allowed him to reach quite a respectable speed- compared to a normal civilian.

But these three girls, despite their relatively unremarkable appearances, were not 'normal civilians' by any definition of the word.

Normally, Naruto probably would've gotten his tag stolen in those first few chaotic seconds. However, his reflexes, honed by countless hours dodging Neji Hyuuga's lightning-fast Gentle Fist strikes meant that he had barely enough time to gather his wits and burst towards the edge of the clearing, away from the centre of the confusion.

Which was just in time, as Anko had darted in and attempted to swipe the stationary boy's tag. His sudden movement had been just enough to allow the soft fabric to trail over the outstretched hand as he pushed his body to the limit to create some distance between him and the girls.

Shit, he thought, if I rush into that, I'm gonna get my tag stolen in about all of two seconds.

He bounced on the balls of his feet for a couple of seconds more, watching the intricate dance play out in front of his eyes, the quicksilver weaving and juking that rippled and changed that changed with each heartbeat.

But despite the daunting sight of the writhing, twisting bodies that he could barely see, Naruto still prepared himself to go in.

Why not? he asked himself, It's all a bit of fun, anyway.

Over the course of the 'battle', a trend had established itself. It was becoming clear that Kurenai and Anko held the definite advantage. Although Hana was perhaps faster in pure speed, she lacked the precision to grab the small tag that fluttered with each of her targets' movements. On the other hand, Anko's movements seemed to emphasize precision and accuracy, and enhanced this with crazy acrobatics and feats of flexibility that managed to consistently place her in unbelievable (although advantageous) positions.

In contrast, Kurenai's movements were again less polished than both of Hana's and Anko's, but she had a two year age gap, and which coupled with the shinobi's naturally enhanced maturing and development rate, allowed her to stay ahead with sheer physical prowess.

Naruto suddenly saw an opening, where Anko had overextended just slightly when backflipping away from Kurenai's long reach. Without hesitation, he charged forward, his fingers outstretched to snatch the flapping material as it passed across his field of vision.

However, just as he was about to make contact, he saw a mischievous, almost sadistic smile on Anko's face. Apparently she had known about his attack in advance and had been ready to dodge out of the way the entire time. With an effortless spring, she flipped backwards… leaving Naruto scrabbling uselessly at nothing.

Or that's what he thought he would have been doing. But what he didn't know was that behind Anko, Hana had also been chasing that elusive fabric tag. Anko's body, however slight, had been obstructing both their views of the other, and so when she had backflipped over Hana, the two had about 0.1 seconds to react before the seemingly inevitable collision.

Which wasn't nearly enough, judging by the way Naruto ploughed straight into Hana. A chaotic ball of tangled limbs and writhing bodies tumbled across the ground for a few seconds, before sanity re-established itself and the two managed to calm down.

Unfortunately, when the dust cleared, it was obvious to the other two onlookers that their friends were in a rather… compromising situation. Hana had ended up on top of Naruto, their bodies lying parallel on top of each other.

However, because Hana was slightly taller than Naruto, his face ended up… buried in her budding cleavage.

Of course, neither of them were aware of this, as they were still trying to wrap their heads about what had just happened.

The first to regain their wits was Naruto, who was feeling a rather heavy weight on his chest- no- over his entire body. Also, there seemed to be something covering his face. It wasn't unpleasant- being rather soft, but it was still obstructing his breathing.

So, naturally, he tried to bring up his arms to remove whatever was covering his face. But there seemed to be something weighing his arms down, and he couldn't seem to move them as well as he wanted to. However, because the need to breathe was becoming more and more urgent, he exerted even more strength and finally managed to bring his arms up to grab at what was on his face.

And when he heard Hana's soft voice utter an almost inadvertent moan right into his hair, that he fully realized what their situation was like. He froze up solid, and he could feel his breathing speed up. Idly, he noted that although Hana didn't flaunt it as much as Anko did, she still had quite a respectable pair underneath her fur-lined clothing. Well, they weren't big, but there was definitely something there. Damn shinobi growth.

It was not until he heard a dry cackle that Naruto snapped out of his stupor and finally pushed Hana off his body. Sitting up, he looked over to see that Kurenai was staring straight at them with a dumb-founded expression on her face, complete with wide eyes and slightly parted lips. Anko, on the other hand, was laughing her ass off.

Slightly annoyed, Naruto glanced over at Hana, who was still lying prone on the ground. Her eyes were glazed and staring straight ahead, and an enormous red blush tinted her entire expression.

Man, he thought, was it really that embarrassing? I think she might be in shock.

Naruto snapped his fingers in front of her stupefied face, and seeing no reaction, rocked back in confusion. He actually had no idea what to do. His previous self would've probably diagnosed Hana's condition and solved it in a heartbeat, but Naruto couldn't remember what the hell he was supposed to do. Not for the first time, he cursed his former self for absorbing so much information. It was ten times more annoying having that nagging feeling in the back of his head that kept telling him that he knew this information, but simply being unable to remember it.

No doubt it'll come back to me at some completely inappropriate instance, Naruto thought sourly.

But at the moment, Naruto was stumped, and all that he could remember was something about elevating the legs… if the condition was shock, that is. Remember, Naruto had not ever possessed breasts at any point in his life, and the psychological impact of mounting a friend (actually, more like an acquaintance)and shoving them into their face was lost on him, resulting in him being slightly less sympathetic to Hana's plight than he otherwise might have been.

But Naruto was almost certain that it wasn't serious.

Reaching over, Naruto picked up one of Hana's ninken puppies (who had been sleeping on the ground) and plopped it on her stomach, waking it up. It gave a slight whine and shook its head in confusion.

"Look after your mistress, 'kay?" Naruto said kindly.

Then, as a devious thought struck him, Naruto bent over Hana's form to look at her hip. The confusion had temporarily stopped the game, but that didn't mean he couldn't take the opportunity to take Hana out once and for all. They were shinobi, after all.

A twinge of guilt resonated in his body, as Naruto simply disliked the dishonourable action, but the slivers of his previous self still managed to hold sway, the dispassionate logic ringing true.

But to his surprise, he couldn't find the tag.

He cast around, dumbfounded, for a few seconds, until Anko (who had continued vying with Kurenai to grab the other's tag) threw out some mocking words.

"Oi, Naruto-kun! Lookin' for this?" she sang.

Naruto turned around and immediately saw what she was referring to. Clenched triumphantly in her fist, two long ribbons fluttered in the wind.

Wait, two?!

Naruto's hands flew to his waist, but he already knew that they'd find a ribbon-less waistband.

He smiled in amazed disbelief.

"Wow. Not bad, Anko-chan," he admitted, shaking his head.

He was about to continue to watch the contest in front of his eyes, but then he saw, in the shadows of the edge of the clearing, a bone-white mask.

ANBU? he thought.

Gradually, he made out the rest of the body, and then realized that the ANBU was gesturing for him to go over.

Looking at his companions, he saw that Anko and Kurenai were still absorbed in their attempt to win the game. Hana was now stirring, shaking her head to try and escape her ninken's vigorous licks.

Standing up, he silently went over to the ANBU.

"What does the old man want now?" he asked quietly.

He thought he might have heard what might have been the quietest of quiet chuckles, but the grave voice that came out was rock-steady, without the slightest hint of humour in it.

"Hold my arm- you're about to find out," the operative said, equally quietly.