It took some doing for Tsunade to postpone the meeting that the council had called to speak with Naru about the dirty pictures circulating around the village.

And while she had been freeing them of the genjutu she had sent a group of Jounin and Anbu to rip down the posters that had been made from the genjutsu'd pictures, and to stop anyone that she called 'hostile' out looking for Naru. Sauske had been asked to sit in a room down the hall from her office with five assassination specialist Anbu guarding the door to make sure that he didn't try to run away.

And once everything was said and done she found herself walking out of the tower with Shizune, Ibiki, Anko and several others in tow and wound up standing at the smoldering ruins of Naru's home wondering just how Sauske's bile and venom had spiraled so out of control. And if it could have been stopped before this happened. "I can't believe the civilians did this..." Shizune said with a distraught look on her face.

Anko gritted her teeth and kicked at one of the charred pieces of wood at her feet. "Dammit! I knew that we should have killed that fucking brat!"

"Has anyone been able to locate Naru?" Ibiki asked curiously. Tsunade bit her lower lip and shook her head no. Ibiki got a pained expression on his face and bowed his head a little bit.

He may not have gotten to know the Kyubbi vessel on a very personal level, but she had been one of those rare people that could strike up a conversation with anyone no matter how frightening or lethal and could make friends with them after just a few words. Ibiki had been that way the first time that she had ever talked to him. It had been after the second part of the Chunin exam, and he had been out trying to pick up a gift for a friend's birthday.

Wanting to make the gift as personal and special as possible because shinobi had so very few birthdays because of what they did for a living. And he had been stumped. His friend was an Anbu, and though he knew certain likes and dislikes he had never really managed to figure out what to get this particular person. He had been about to give up the search when a little blond that he recognised as the Kyubbi vessel walked up to him and picked up a card and handed it to him then grasped his jacket sleeve and sort of pulled him-it was as amazing as it was shocking that this small child that normally didn't get too close to people-was actually pulling him along the store isles and stopped in front of a display of gift baskets.

"Gift baskets? Really?" He said in amusement.

"If all else fails-" Was all Naru had said before letting go of him and stuffing her hands in her jacket pockets and walking away. Ibiki had always been a little bit puzzled by why the girl had stepped in to help him, but he was never the less grateful for her intervention. Especially since it had been the last birthday that his friend had ever had.

And I never thanked her for it. Or for the time that she had saved his little brother. Ibiki thought almost bitterly as several of the rookies came wandering up. Tsunade looked at them and for a second wondered what she could say.

Naru might be dead and gone forever because of Sauske's actions and she had no idea what to do or say to lessen the pain. She opened her mouth to tell them the devastating news when Neji walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her and whispered. "Naru's alive. She's safe. Kakashi has her at his place."

"Oh thank god!" Tsunade said in a weak and thready voice as she buried her face against the Hyuga's shoulder and started crying. She was so happy that her little gaki was safe!

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Kakashi had never been so nervous before in his life. Not the day that he had lost his father, or the time he had lost his eye and Obito. He hadn't even been this rattled (though it was a close call) when Rin had died.

He was sweating, his hands were shaking slightly, and he was having trouble standing or sitting still for more than a left him pacing around the room restlessly trying to figure out how to convince Naru that this-

How marrying him was in her best interests.

He was pacing around his living room for like the up tenth time when a soft moan alerted him to the fact that Naru was stirring. "Naru." He walked over to the couch and sat down on the edge of it as she turned her head and her eyes fluttered open and she looked at him.

"Kakashi?" He smiled at her and combed her soft ash blond hair back from her pretty face as he noted that her eyes were red rimmed from when she had cried earlier.

"Hey, how are you feeling?"

"Like someone posted stupid fake nude posters of me all over town then caused my home to be burned down." Naru said in a hollow voice that Kakashi had never heard before.

"I'm sorry about your apartment."

"Not half as sorry as Sauske's going to be once I rip out one of his lungs, then start working on his intestines." Naru hissed softly as she pushed the blanket back a little bit and tried to sit up, but Kakashi's hands on her shoulders, pressing her back down on the couch, stopped her.

"I'm sorry Naru, but I can't let you leave to confront Sauske-" Kakashi said gently as she frowned up at him. "I need you to stay right here and let me take care of everything." But first he had to get her permission to act on her behalf. As her future husband.

"Why Kakashi? It isn't your proble-mmmph!" Naru was cut off when Kakashi yanked down his mask and leaned over her and sealed his mouth over hers in a searing toe curling kiss that made her squirm under him a little bit. He slipped his tongue along her bottom lip before pushing it inside of her mouth and tasting her completely as Naru lifted her hands and gripped his biceps through his shirt and something inside of him, some foreign part of him actually purred and wanted her to touch him more.

Naru's eyes widened a little bit in shocked surprise as she felt his tongue inside of her mouth, doing a slow, lazy, stroke along her own and she shivered and dug her finger nails into his upper arms through his shirt sleeves and tried to make sense of why he was doing this as her lungs started to burn and her eyes teared up and she pushed against him, trying to get him to pull back so that she could breathe again.

And so that she could smack him. His tongue did another slow lazy sweep of her mouth and she moaned and her body twitched as he lifted his mouth a fraction of an inch and finally allowed her to breathe, she gasped several times and tried to think of something scalding to say to him to get him to back the hell off but the only thing that came out of her mouth was a weak and shaky, "Jesus Christ..."

If there was one thing that she could say about the man it was that he was a fantastic kisser. Maybe a little bit too fantastic since she was having trouble thinking strait.

Kakashi gave her a wicked grin and brushed his lips across hers in a feather light caress that made her heart flutter strangely and her head spin. She was about to surrender herself to the strange sensations when full awareness slammed into her hard and she panicked and quickly shoved him back away from her and off of the couch as she jumped up and scurried over the back of the couch and stood there behind it panting, her face flushed and beautiful pale rose pink as she glared at him.

"What are you doing?"

Kakashi blinked at her from where he sat on the floor and tilted his head to the right a little bit. He knew that Naru was a mite on the innocent side but he had never realised just how innocent she was until now.

What am I doing indeed. He thought in amusement as he picked himself up off of the floor. "What did it feel like I was doing?" He asked Naru curiously, his voice low and velvety. Naru lifted her hand to her lips and subconsciously traced her lower lip.

"It felt like you were getting ahead of yourself. Since when did I give you touching privileges?" Naru growled at him and he smiled at her. That was his Naru. All sweetness and fire.

"You didn't. But I'm hoping to change that since I want to marry you." He said as he moved over to the couch, his gaze predatory. She stared at him wide eyed and her breathing hitched a little bit before she leaned down and grabbed the bottom of the couch and flipped it over on top of him and hissed.

"No!"