Well I hope I haven't kept you all waiting too long. BEMB is nearing its end so I have been giving it a lot of love. (sniff) That has to be one of my best works. Sadly, the last chapter got a lot of negative comments on Tsunade and Jiraiya being drugged. They were in their own village, they let their guard down, and were not expecting to be drugged. Plus they were distracted with the whole rescue Sasuke thing. I mean, Tsunade drugged Jiraiya once. They are human, meaning they can slip up and stuff. But you aren't here for BEMB. Sorry.

As for my SG-1 comment in the last chapter, I think you all misunderstood me. I meant to say that was the way the series should have ended. Then make a couple of movies. Would have had everyone holding their breath.

Now for the moment you have all been waiting for. Let's rock!

-x-

Sarutobi scanned the mission report of Team 7. He had read it several times of course. Each bit of it was clear in his mind. However, he wanted to make sure he hadn't missed anything in the three days he had it. In front of him stood Kakashi with his famous bored look.

Three days had passed since the mission to Nami. During those three days Sarutobi had gotten his share of headaches. One source of the headaches was the council after they had found out about Haku. After hearing about her abilities, half of them wanted to make sure that she had children as soon as possible and by any means necessary. The other half just wanted her to stay away from her cousin before he 'corrupted' her. Then there was the attack on Team 8. He had gotten word of it the other day by messenger hawk and was relieved to find out that everyone was ok. However, from what he read, Hinata was the target. Very few people knew about that mission and even fewer knew that it was a cover to get Hinata to the island. The Hokage suspected Hiashi, but he had no proof. Yet, it was rewarding to see his scowl when he told the council about the real reason for the mission and Hinata's adoption.

The last source of headache's came from the mission report given to him by Kakashi. In his report, Kakashi accused Naruto of disobeying orders, fighting with his fellow teammate, and causing his commanding nin harm. Kakashi finished his report asking that Naruto be removed from the program and to have his chakra sealed away for good. Now, had anyone else had read this they would have agreed with Kakashi. However, Sarutobi decided to investigate the matter before casting judgment. He talked to the genin about the mission, taking in the common threads to their stories. He also talked to Haku as well.

Now, here he was. He had a mountain of paperwork to do and instead he had to deal with this.

"Kakashi," said Sarutobi as he slowly put the report down. "Your report has some serious accusations. Are you positive about all of them?"

"Hai," said Kakashi.

"Well that's interesting," said Kakashi. "According to your report, Naruto shocked you with his Raijin. But you failed to mention that he did that in order to free you from a jutsu. You also didn't mention that Naruto refused to follow your orders to teach Sasuke one of his jutsus. Did it also escape your attention that Sasuke started the fight between them?" Kakashi said nothing as Sarutobi continued.

"Kakashi, what am I going to do with you? You are constantly late for meeting. You haven't been training Anko or Naruto. You can't order a genin to give up one of their jutsus, especially ones that they created themselves. Because of all this, Anko and Naruto have indicated that they want to be moved to a different team."

"That might be for the best," said Kakashi.

"Yes, well, it's not happening," said Sarutobi. "Currently there aren't any other genins who are asking for a transfer. Also spots won't be open until the end of the chunin exam when we promote the other genins. Now, I want you to start acting like a sensei or else I will be placing you back in ANBU. Council's wishes be damned! I will not allow you to risk the futures of two young genins just for one."

"From what I have seen, both Naruto and Anko are very skilled," said Kakashi. "Maybe they should see my not training them as a sign that I have nothing to teach them."

"That's a load of crap," said Sarutobi with a deadpanned expression. "Naruto's skilled with ninjutsu alright. However, his taijutsu and kenjutsu are based on the principle of swing and hope he hits something. And they both suck at genjutsu." Sarutobi paused and rubbed his temples. "Just get out of here Kakashi. Consider this your one and only warning to shape up or ship out."

Kakashi nodded and left without saying a word.

-x-

In the morning two days later, Naruto was still in bed. His body was sprawled all over the mattress. Then, the smell of something burning woke him up with a start. He quickly got up and went to the door. As he did this, thoughts raced in his mind. There were only two things that could cause him to smell something burning. The first was some angry villager had started a fire. The other was Anko was trying out a new prank. Quickly he made his way out of his room and found…Haku in the kitchen.

Personally, he would have preferred the apartment being on fire.

Haku was over the stone with a knife in hand. In front of her was a pot with a lid on it. Suddenly the lid popped open and a green glowing slime came crawling out. Haku began to stab the slime and Naruto could have sworn he heard it cry out in pain. The slime seemed to crawl back into the pot and Haku quickly put the lid back on.

"Ok," said Haku to herself. "That's new even to me." She then felt a presence behind her. She whipped around and saw Naruto standing behind her in his pajamas. "Oh Naruto-itoko, I didn't hear you get up."

"Ah, what were you doing?" asked Naruto. Haku blushed.

"Well I was trying to make us breakfast as a way of saying thank you for letting me stay here," said Haku. "However, it seems like my cooking is only getting worse. This time it actually came to life." Behind her, the lid began to bounce up and down. Haku turned around and held it down with both hands. "Listen, how about we go out for breakfast. My treat."

"Fine," said Naruto as he turned around. "Let me get changed."

"Great," said Haku as she raised the knife. "While you do that, I'll take care of this."

-x-

"It's great to be back!" yelled Kiba as he, his team, and Yuruichi walked down the streets of the village. "I can't believe we go here so quickly." Yuruichi shrugged.

"In the political world you can never be late," she said. "That's why all of my uncle's ships are much faster than the ones your all used to."

Shihōin Hinata smiled at their friendly exchange. It was nice to see everyone getting along. After the mission on the boat was over, they arrived on the island. There they were met by Yuruichi who then explained to them that Hinata might be getting adopted into the Shihōin clan. This, of course, came as a big surprise to everyone. Hinata, in fact, nearly fainted in surprise.

The meeting itself was, like any meeting, long and dull. Hinata sat there while they debated the issue over and over. Well, issues to be precise. The first was whether or not to allow succession to fall to Yuruichi, making her the next Daimyo. Many pointed out that it didn't look like the current Daimyo's wife would have children seeing her age and obsession with her cat. Those opposed pointed out that Yuruichi, while she was intelligent and witty, was too laid back. In the end, they concluded that if an heir was not born before the Daimyo's death then Yuruichi would become the next Daimyo of Hi no Kuni. As for the issue with Hinata, most of them were in favor of the adoption. Those opposed believed that she still might have ties with her old clan and use her new place to do the will of the Hyuuga. A vote was then taken and Hinata became Shihōin Hinata.

"Before we go see the Hokage there is something I need to say to all of you," said Kurenai. The group stopped to look at her. "This was your first C-ranked mission. While we did come across some unforeseeable events, you all did well. I am very proud of all of you." She was then met with smiling faces. "But don't let it get to your head." The smiles faded. "This could have been much worse and I don't want you to think it will be getting easier. In fact, it will only get harder. I hope you will all keep that in mind."

"Hai sensei," they all said.

"Lighten up Kurenai," said Yuruichi as she swung her arm around Kurenai's neck. "How many rookie genins go up against nuke-nins and actually win? I say we have a little party before see the Hokage." She then saw something heading their way. It was Naruto and next to him was a pretty young girl. Oh shit, thought Yuruichi. Naruto hooked up with a girl while we were gone. Can't let Hinata-chan see this or else she'll lose it!

"Hey Hinata-chan!" yelled the voice of everyone's favorite blond. Hinata, Kiba, and Shino turned around and stared at the two coming at them. Yuruichi cursed under her breath that the blond just had to spot them before she could do anything. "Hey guys, I want you to meet my cousin Uzumaki Haku."

The reactions they got were interesting. Shino said nothing. He just stared at Haku with a raised eyebrow. Kurenai nodded politely at the ice user. Yuruichi gave a sigh of relief at the fact that she wouldn't be up all night while Hinata played sappy love songs on the radio and eating chocolate. Hinata smiled warmly at Haku while in her head a little chibi version of herself was doing a happy dance that he was still on the market. Kiba…

"Holy shit," he declared. "How the hell are you two related?"

"Well if I'm getting this right," said Naruto as he folded his arms, "her father was the brother of my mother. Isn't that right Haku-itoko?"

"Hai," said Haku. "We were just on our way to breakfast. Would you all like to join us?"

"I don't see why not," said Kurenai. And with that, they made their way to a tiny restaurant.

Along the way, Kiba kept staring at Haku. In his mind, he began to think what it would be like to have two girlfriends. He could see it now. He would be the luckiest guy in the village having both Hinata and Haku all to himself. Hinata had the cute girl next door thing going for her. Haku had the drop dead sexy look. Put them tighter and he was in heaven. Now all he had to do was get them.

As they ate, they exchanged stories with each other. Naruto was shocked that they had also met up with nuke-nins. And after hearing how Hinata took care of one of them he began to praise her loudly. Then he told them about his mission. Kurenai turned pale when she heard that they ran into Zabuza and was surprised that Kakashi actually continued the mission. She was also a little shocked to learn that Haku had been helping Zabuza. Yet, Naruto seemed to trust her and so did the Hokage if he had allowed her to stay in the village so she let it go. For now at least.

-x-

"Team 7," said Iruka as the team stood in front of him and the Hokage. "The council has issued a training mission for Uchiha Sasuke. They have asked that Kakashi train him in isolation for a period of one month and no one else."

"Nani?" yelled Naruto.

"That's bullshit!" yelled Anko. "They can't do that!"

"Actually they can," said Kakashi. "Anyone can have a mission issued as long as they can pay for it."

"And the Hokage approves of it," said Sarutobi sternly. Then, an odd smile appeared on his face. "And I have. I will see you two back here in a month." Kakashi eyed the old man sitting in front of him. Was this the same man who was yelling at him two days ago? He didn't sense a henge so what was going on? Deciding to be on high alert, he and Sasuke left the room to begin their training mission.

"This is so unfair," yelled Naruto. "I have half a mind to…"

"Yes we know you have half a mind so please don't waste it," joked Sarutobi. Not getting any laughter, he went back into business mode. "Alright, I know you both are…upset about this. However, I would never allow something like this to happen unless I had good reason. For the next month, you will both be getting individual training. Anko, I have talked to Morino Ibiki and he has agreed to assist in your training."

Anko stood there, her mouth hanging open. The head of the ANBU Torture and Interrogation Department was going to be training her. This was like a dream come true. She was going to be trained by the man whose job she wanted.

"So where do I met him?" asked Anko after she had regained her senses. Suddenly, she felt a kunai pressed against her throat. Naruto jumped back and got into a fighting stance.

"I'm right here," said Ibiki as he slowly removed the kunai.

"Ibiki was that really necessary?" asked Iruka. Ibiki smirked.

"Hai," he said as he placed a hand on the girls shoulder. "I need to know if she has the nerves to take my training. And seeing how she didn't piss or anything I'll take her." He then looked down at Anko. "Let's get going gaki." With that, Naruto watched as they vanished in a cloud of smoke. Then, in complete eagerness, he turned to look at the Hokage.

"So what about me oji-san?" he asked.

-x-

About twenty minutes later, Naruto was standing in front of what looked to be an old candy store. Apparently, this was where he was supposed to meet a retired shinobi who had amazing skills or something like that. He waited for a minute or two before going in. The inside looked old fashion but clean. Naruto walked down the aisle, stopping once or twice to look at the items that they sold.

"May I help you?' asked a young girls voice. Naruto looked up from the item he was looking at and saw a young girl with a broom in hand. She had black hair that was tied into pig tails. She wore a short shirt and a pink and white poke-a-dot skirt. Before Naruto could answer, a red headed boy entered the room very quickly. He had on a white shirt and blue shorts.

"What's the matter with you?" he demanded. "You should be showing him what we have on sale. Also, why haven't you put away all of today's shipment?"

"I am sorry," she said in a quiet voice. The red head smiled.

"Well, if you're not going to do all your work then perhaps you shouldn't get all of your pay," he said. Suddenly a large shadow appeared on the boy. He looked up and saw a large man with a mustache, and a big one at that.

"I will keep that in mind when I hand you both your pay checks," he said. "Especially since you were asked to put away today's shipment." Then man then turned his attention to Naruto. "You must be Uzumaki-san. My name is Tsukabishi Tessai. Please follow me."

Naruto shrugged as he followed the large man into the back room. Tessai then stopped as he reached down and pulled up a trap door. Naruto looked down and saw stairs leading downward into the dark. Tessai took the lead and Naruto reluctantly followed him. This was just getting too weird for him. Who the hell was his sensei supposed to be?

When Naruto got to the bottom of the stairs he was amazed by what he saw. So amazed that he ran in front of Tessai. It was a huge cavern. All around him were rock formations that could be used to get higher ground or to get a rebound on. The walls were even painted to look like the sky.

"This…is amazing," said Naruto in awe. "This has to be the coolest thing in the village!" He then turned to look behind him and saw that Tessai was crying rivers of tears. "Ah, are you alright."

"I'm (sniff) just glad you appreciate it," he said. Then he suddenly stopped crying and stood at attention. Naruto then turned around and saw someone new. He was a blond haired who wore wooden sandals and a bucket hat. He stood in front of Naruto with a cane in one hand while fanning himself with the other.

"I see you're here Naruto-kun," said the man as he folded his fan. "Yuruichi-chan has told me a lot about you. It certainly is a pleasure to finally meet you in person."

"So I guess you're going to be my sensei for the next month," said Naruto.

"Hai," said the man. "My name is Urahara Kisuke."

"So what are you going to be teaching me?" asked Naruto. "Some cool new jutsu or something?"

"Hardly," replied Urahara. "The Hokage has informed me of all your weakness. Although, telling me your strengths would have made for a shorter list."

"Hey!" yelled Naruto in rage as tick marks appeared on his face. Urahara smirked at this.

"Since you're all fired up I'll cut to the chase," said Urahara. "You have the fighting style of an Irish drunk. Your sword style isn't even suited to cut butter. No skills what so ever in genjutsu except that little nudie show of yours." Naruto crossed his arms and look away. "Your ninjutsu, on the other, hand is better than most chunins and some jonins. However, from what I have heard, most of them border on overkill.

"What I will be doing is teaching you the stances for battle. The only one who can teach you how to fight is yourself." Naruto squinted as he looked at Urahara.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Naruto.

"It's simple really," said Urahara. "I can teach you how to guard and where to punch, but the only person who can bring them all together in a form of battle is you."

"Well, as long as it's training I have no problem with it," said Naruto.

"Good then," said Urahara with a big smile. He then pulled out his blade from his cane. "Here's your first task: knock off my hat. You are not allowed to use any jutsu, just your fists or your Raijin." Naruto smirked at the man as he reached behind his back and pulled out his sword.

"You'll be sorry," said Naruto as he activated his blade.

With that Naruto charged at his opponent only to be side stepped. The moment Urahara was behind him he hit Naruto in the back with the cane part causing Naruto to fall to the ground. Naruto slowly picked himself up and turned to look at his sensei. Urahara was yawning.

"So, when will I be sorry?" he asked as Naruto stood. Naruto looked at him and charged once again. Only this time, Urahara blocked his attack.

"What the," said Naruto before Urahara's fist hit his face. Naruto fell on his back, his nose bleeding.

"You're probably wondering why I didn't get shocked," said the older blond. "While it is true that my sword does conduct electricity, my wooden handle doesn't." He then let out a sigh. "Are you even thinking about your attacks? You charged at me with no real thought, hoping for the best. Well, hope won't work in the shinobi world. There are no might or might not. When you aim to do something you will need complete conviction in every act. When you aim a kunai at someone, it will hit them. When you throw a punch at your opponent, it will hit them. When you swing your sword at them, it will cut them. When you accept a mission, you will complete it. Do you understand now?"

"Yeah," said Naruto as he got up and got into a fighting stance. "You talk too much." Naruto prepared to strike, but this time he added some more chakra into his feet to give him an extra boost. His movements where faster, but Urahara kicked him out of the way. As Naruto fell, he reached behind and then threw several kunai aimed at the hat. Urahara looked shocked for a moment. Still, he blocked each one before Naruto hit the floor.

"Didn't think that you could do that after getting kicked in the stomach," said Urahara.

"It isn't the first time I've been kicked there," grunted Naruto as he tried to get up. "I'm not going to give up!"

"Don't worry," said Urahara as he placed the blade of his sword on his shoulder. "We have all month to work on this."

-x-

At the same time, Sechs walked down to the office of Hanzo. He was a guy of about 14 years of age. His hair was a messy black and had one eye covered a metallic circular object that was imbedded in his skin around the right eye. He wore black from head to toe with metal arm and leg guards. On his back was his Titan Blade, a weapon that folded out into a staff like weapon that was a mix of sword and saw. When he reached the office, he went in without knocking.

Inside the room, three genin teams were in front of Hanzo. They had been talking about something until Sechs entered. Now they all turned their heads and looked at the rudest and most aggressive shinobi in the village.

"This is crap old fart," said Sechs as he stood in front of Hanzo, pushing the others out of the way. The other Ame-nins growled at him, but he paid them no mind. "Let me and my team go and take that sissy chunin exam they got over there."

"I have already made up my mind," said Hanzo sternly. "I am only allowing three teams this year to go. I need as many people here as possible with this little civil war going on. You can go next time." Sechs then suddenly slammed his fist onto the desk, breaking it in half. Hanzo's guards were about to grab the angry boy but Hanzo held up a hand to stop them.

"He might not be there that time," said Sechs.

"Oh," said Hanzo. "And who might that be?"

"You know damn well who I'm talking about," said Sechs. "The one you picked out."

"Still haven't gotten over that have you," said Hanzo. "Alright, you and your team will be allowed to go. Just be warned that there will be others after him. I have gotten word that I have heard that other villages are sending shinobi after him as well." Hanzo paused for a moment. "I have a good idea, let's make this a game. Whoever brings back the Kaze-shu will become chunin no matter how you did in the exam."

"This isn't a game to me!" yelled Sechs as he turned around. "I'm doing this for me and my pride as an Ame shinobi."

-x-

One month later. Over thirty days of training with Urahara had done wonders for Naruto. He spent every day in mock battles with Urahara learning all sorts of battle skills. They also worked for a bit on his genjutsu. Now, Naruto was able to sense weak to medium level genjutsu and dispel them. He also learned that Urahara used to be with the ANBU Science Team developing new technologies to aid in the defense of the village. However, he had pissed off the council when he had refused to do work that he claimed was morally questionable and an insult to the house of Mizukaze. Naruto asked him what he meant, but Urahara wouldn't budge. All he would say after that was that the council then forced him into retirement.

Naruto was now walking down the streets of the village trying to figure out what he should do with his day. He hadn't seen Kakashi or Sasuke at all during this time and was wondering what they were doing. But those thoughts left Naruto as he thought about the teammate that he liked. He hadn't really seen Anko in the time that they had been training and was wondering how much her skills had improved. Maybe he could ask her out and they could talk about how things were going. Or maybe Hinata. He hadn't seen her in a while as well.

"Hey, let me go," came the voice of Konohamaru. Naruto, hearing the urgency in the boy's voice, ran in the direction he heard it. Naruto turned the corner and saw Konohamaru being held up by a guy in a cat suit and wearing make-up. Next to him was a blond girl with four pig tails and a giant iron fan on her back.

"Stop it Kankuro," said the girl. "Gaara will be made if we are late."

"Don't worry," said Kankuro. "This won't take long. I'm just going to beat the shit out of this little brat. Maybe then he'll think twice before bumping into me."

"Whatever," said Temari. "But when Gaara gets mad at us I'll be blaming you."

"Well, well," said Naruto as he made his presence know. "Don't you look all big and strong picking on a little kid? If you want to improve your image that much, why don't you try getting rid of the kitty pajamas?" Hearing that caused Temari to fight hard not to laugh at her brothers embarrassment. "Or maybe that make-up should go." Now tick marks were appearing all over Kankuro's face as he dropped the grandson of the Hokage.

"Are you trying to pick a fight?" demanded Kankuro as he pointed a finger at Naruto who was busy cleaning his ear with his pinky.

"Well I would love to have a good fight," said Naruto as he inspected what he had gotten out of his ear. "It's just that, I want a good fight and not a lame one." He then eyed Temari who had regained her composer. "She looks like she would put up a much better fight. And she's cute too." That comment caused Temari to blush.

Kankuro decided right then and there that he didn't like the blond at all. Nothing at that moment would give him more pleasure than to see him dead. Without thinking, he grabbed the wrapped object on his back. But, before he could do anything he felt something slither up his leg, he looked down and saw a purple snake around his right leg. Then he felt a kunai press against his throat.

"I'm hurt Naruto-kun," said Anko in a hurt tone. "First you start this party without me and then you hit on the first girl you see." Anko then looked at Temari. "What a weird hairstyle."

"Why you little…" began Kankuro.

"Kankuro, stop it," said a dark voice from a nearby tree. Every turned to look and saw a red headed boy. He was dressed in black and had a gourd on his back. On his forehead was tattooed the kanji for love. He then vanished and appeared next to Kankuro. "You are an embarrassment to the village."

"I bet he is," said Naruto. "I mean, how can he go outside looking like that?" Gaara said nothing to Naruto. Instead, he looked at Anko.

"Please release my teammate," asked Gaara. Anko smirked before releasing him. She then puffed over to Naruto. Gaara then spoke to Kankuro. "If you ever embarrass us again I will kill you."

"G-Got it Gaara," said Kankuro.

"Good," said Gaara. With that they turned away. Little did they know that Kakashi and Sasuke were on the roof, watching everything.