Knock, knock...

"Enter." Naruto said. In came four top ANBU; them being Sakura, Shino, Kiba (with Akamaru by his side of course) and Tenten. They all stood silently whilst the Hokage just finished a piece of paperwork.

"I've got an urgent mission for you four. There have been reports of… suspicious behavior in the northern part of the fire country. The mission is for you guys to go up there and get some information. Do whatever you must do to obtain this. You have up to two months, depending on how the mission goes. As for it's rank, I'm not sure. That's why I'm sending my top ANBU there to investigate. Any questions?"

"When will we be leaving?" Sakura asked.

"In one hour. Oh and before you leave, meet me by the northern gate." With that, they were all gone in the ever-so-famous poof.

One hour later…

All of them were there already when the Hokage came. They were all wearing the typical ANBU gear. Their masks were all different; Sakura had one with a bird on, Shino's had a bug, Kiba's was obviously a dog and Tenten's was a cat.

"I'm giving you four a new scroll which I've recently made. It's called a transportation scroll. Whatever you write on it will appear on a similar scroll which I have, and vice versa. Anything that you place in it will be sent to me by my scroll. This is a way for us to communicate, fast and efficiently. If you put a drop of your blood on, then only you will be able to use it. Make sure that no-one else gets it… Good Luck." With that the four ANBU were gone.

Naruto then decided against going back to the his office, instead, he went back home.

When he entered, he found that Tsuki wasn't home, as she was in school. But Kitai was there and had been taught by Tsuki on how to greet Naruto when he entered the house; by throwing yourself at him and giving him a giant hug, which is exactly what Kitai did.

"…It's nice… to see you… too… Kitai." Naruto managed to say. He then got off and scratched the back of his head with a hand. "So, what are you up to?" Naruto questioned.

"Nothing."

"What do you say to us doing some one-on-one training together? Just you and me."

"Really?" Naruto nodded. "I'd love to."

So the two went out back of the house and stopped when they had reached the private training grounds.

Northern fire country…

The four ANBU had been traveling for a couple of hours, covering a very large distance. They had stopped to take break for some rest and food. They sat quietly, not making a single sound, until Shino said,

"Someone is near, someone powerful." With this they all got into a defensive position, where they all stood back to back, forming a very small circle.

There was a rustle in the bushes. But they all stayed calm. But then, two men came out, one wearing a very large black trench coat, which started at his feet and ended with a very high neck collar, covering half of the man's face. The other man wore something similar, except that it had grey swirls covering it.

"Well, well, well… if it isn't my old classmates…" Came the teasing voice of the first man.

"Who are you?" Sakura demanded.

"What, you don't recognise me. Surely you of all people hasn't forgotten about your old teammate."

"Sa-Sasuke?"

"Oh so you do remember me."

"What do you want Sasuke?!" Kiba demanded, his voice showing anger and hatred for their old friend.

"I thought you guys would be happy to see me. I mean, I don't remember the last time we met." Sasuke was now obviously harassing them. Just then a shurikan came flying towards him, but he managed to easily dodge it. "I see that Tenten is also here… you didn't possibly think that that would have got me. You'll have to try much harder."

"I was just testing you."

BANG…

"I see you didn't notice the explosive tag I put on the shurikan, did you?" Tenten said.

"No matter. It still wouldn't be enough to take me down."

"What do you want Sasuke?!" Kiba shouted again.

"I came for two reasons. One; Itachi has quit the Akatsuki and I'm sure that Hokage knows where he is, and you guys are his friends, right? So I would appreciate it if you told me where he is."

"We didn't even know that he had quit the Akatsuki." Tenten said.

"I see… No matter, I shall find him…"

"What else did you want?" Shino said in his emotionless voice, but the others of the group could tell that he was slightly annoyed.

"Not wasting any time, are we… Anyway, I also came to give you a warning. If Konoha doesn't surrender, then we won't go soft on you when we attack, and we shall attack you." With that Sasuke and the other man accompanying him vanished. The group of ANBU waited for a while before sitting down to discuss.

"We must tell the Hokage right away."

"I'll send the message to him." Sakura said before pulling out the transportation scroll. She bit her thumb so that a drop of her blood could land on the scroll. She then took out a pen and started writing; Hokage, Uchiha Sasuke has been found. He warned us that if Konoha doesn't surrender, then they won't go easy when they attack. We're returning home.

The four then stood up and headed their way home.

At the training grounds…

"You're very good. How long have you been training?" Naruto said as he was watching Kitai throw punches at a tree.

"Since the Kazekage took me in. I had a lot of time and I wanted to be able to protect myself and the people important to me. So I thought it wise to train."

"I see. Well, that's exactly what I did when I was younger."

"Really. But you're so strong now. I bet you were rookie of the year or something."

Naruto just chuckled before he answered. "No, no… far from it actually. I was dead-last, to tell the truth. But I trained and worked hard and when you try your hardest, you'll almost certainly succeed."

"Wow… do you think that I could become as strong as you?"

"I don't see why not… Hey, why don't we go and buy you some shinobi gear? I think you deserve after this training session."

At hearing this Kitai hugged Naruto before saying, "Thank you… dad."

When Naruto heard Kitai call him father, his heart instantly melted. Kitai was indeed like a son to him. He would do anything for, even if it meant that he would lose his life.

After a while the two parted before heading off towards the shops.

In the shopping district…

They had been to many different shinobi shops but they hadn't found the perfect attire yet, so their search carried on. When they had reached the final shop, they crossed their fingers before entering.

Kitai was trying on the last outfit which they had found when he said. "Perfect…"

As he walked out of the changing rooms, Naruto just stood in awe as he thought he looked like a true shinobi of the leaf. Kitai was wearing a black t-shirt with a high collard turtle-neck, white shorts and under his shirt was a long-sleeved fishnet shirt. He got a new pair of black ninja sandals, but these had a small pocket on the inside where a shurikan could be kept.

They bought it and left the shop for home. But Naruto decided that he had better get back to the office, so he just dropped Kitai off at home.

When he entered his office, he saw that his transportation scroll had received a message. As he opened it, he read it. When he had finished he was shocked at what he had heard. This can't be possible… not now… I need to talk to Shikamaru, but I don't want him to leave Temari, not at a time like this… but what choice do I have?... Hey Kit. What's bothering you? Sasuke and Orochimaru are planning an attack and they want us to surrender but we can't do that… Those two sn of a bs, if I get my hands on them I'll… whoa whoa... calm down… they haven't attacked yet… But I need some advice on what to do… I see… well I haven't got much to say… except… no… what is it… tell me… It's too extreme… I don't care, I'll do whatever it takes to protect this village and you know that as well as I do… I know kit, but it's a painful process and you'll have huge mood swings, not to mention that you'll get a lot less sleep… Anything, just tell me what to do, and no holding back. Very well, but don't come crying to me at any time during the process. It should take about a month to finish, but you'll need another two to master it, and that's if you train non-stop… I'll do it, whatever the cost, I'll do it and no-one can stop me… Good. Now, the first step is for you to get, I'd say about five liters of liquid Charem, which is a rare type of chakra enforced metal which is basically unbreakable. When you have it, you must insert it into your muscles, using a syringe. But no more then 200 milliliters a day or you could endanger your life, not to mention mine. This is extremely painful and it does have some side effects. For example, you won't be as strong as you usually are due to your muscles adapting to the Charem and also you might have the occasional muscle spasm. During this process, you also need to wear weights, two hundred pounds should do. Anything else? Yes, I would advise you to try and use as little chakra as possible, this will make the process more bearable and it will also go much faster… Very well… but where am I to find Charem… I've never heard of this before… That's because it is very expensive and considered illegal as it is also hard to control its power… You should be able to find some in the hidden market… ... Ok, I'll go find it…

Naruto then made the hand seal and transformed himself to look like a man in his late forties and eh wore a large dark grey cloak. He jumped out of the window and used his speed (he'd learnt how to obtain the speed of the fourth Hokage) and ran to a small building near the edge of the village. He knocked on the door and eye hole piece opened. The man on the other side eyed him up and down before allowing him to come in. He showed Naruto the way to some stairs which lead him deep down into a market which was full of illegal trade. There he searched for the Charem. He had asked many, but none claimed to have any. He then approached a stool which sold the most odd of items, there were such things as shaman crystals and missing-nin headbands. When he had asked the man there about the Charem, he looked around wearily before he motioned for him to follow. He did and he entered a small run down building. In there he found huge jars full of obscurities.

"So… How much do you want of it?" The man asked, it was obvious that he had a breathing problem.

"Five liters!"

"Really? Do you have the money for it?" He asked in a sneaky type of voice, obviously planning something. Naruto held out a rather large bag and said, "This should do. For both the Charem and for you to keep this quiet." He then threw the bag at the man before grabbing two bottles full of the Charem. He then ran out at top speed and back home to his house. He ran up to his office and hid the two bottles in a secret compartment which he had under the floor boards.

When finished, he ran back downstairs and sat down in the living room. He relaxed but before he could think any further, Hinata came into the room and sat beside her husband.

"Hey there Hinata-kun."

"Hi yourself." She said cheekily before she started caressing his cheek. He closed his eyes before he felt Hinata sit down on his lap. Their lips were nearing each other before they touched. When their mouths opened, their tongues entwined and Naruto was stoking her long hair. He then started moving down towards her neck. She let out a small groan, indicating that she was enjoying it. She moved her hands to his waist and then lifted his shirt a little so that she could feel his chest. But before they could get any further, Hinata said, "Honey, the kids are here. This wouldn't be right." She then chuckled.

"You're right as usual." He then gave her a quick peck before she stood up and started her way towards the kitchen to prepare dinner. He followed after her and stood behind her and started to play with her hair.

"What's with you lately, not that I'm complaining."

"I just realised that I haven't spent that much time home lately. I missed you."

"I missed you too sweetie but I must really get on with the cooking, or the kids will suspect that something's wrong."

"I hate it how you're always right." Naruto sat down on a chair by the eating table, pondering for a while.

"What's wrong." Hinata asked in a concerned voice.

"What would you say in adopting Kitai, I mean he's practically our son already."

Hinata turned around before smiling. "I think that would be nice." She went over and gave him a quick peck on the cheek before whispering, "I think you should go tell him." He nodded and made his way upstairs.

Knock, knock…

"Come in."

Naruto entered and sat on the bad, motioning for Kitai to sit on his lap, which he did.

"What would you say if Hinata and I wanted to adopt you? To make you officially part of our family"

Kitai turned around in disbelief, searching through Naruto's eyes to see if there was any trace of him lying but when he couldn't find any, he started crying ,saying, "Yes, yes, YES…"