Naruto Uzumaki: Master Shinobi, Tamer Extraordinaire

Written By: Rave Rose of Twilight

Warning: I don't own Pokegirls or Naruto.

Chapter Eleven: Tournament Part Two: Test of Brains and Brawn

A week later, all of the Genin-Tamers were standing in the area they had met at for the first time. Some of them looked a mix of worried and relieved. After seeing how Tenten, Neji, and Rock Lee fought, several were happy to have not fought them. The first match of the day was between Naruto and Chouji.

Naruto and Harley, the newly evolved Harlequin, were ready to fight. Chouji and Musubi were throwing out practice punches. Both sides were restless. "Are both fighters ready," asked Asuma.

"We're as ready as ever," Naruto called as he clenched his hands on and off.

"Same here," Chouji stated as he prepared to fight his best friend's teammate.

"Fight!"

Chouji and Musubi charged Naruto and Harley. "Harley, Metronome!"

Harley smirked as she waved her fingers from side-to-side, glowing an eerie color. "Metronome success!" She grinned as a wicked glint appeared in her eyes as her feet hovered a few feet off the ground.

Naruto channeled chakra into his feet and seemed to disappear alongside Harley. Without warning, Musubi and Chouji could barely keep their footing as Harley zoomed between them, creating a massive sonic boom. "Aerial Ace," Harley called out.

Before they knew what was happening, Naruto grabbed Harley and threw her toward Chouji, creating another sonic boom that knocked off his sense of hearing. "Combination Technique: Air Raid," Naruto called out. Within the span of a few seconds, everyone noticed several copies of Naruto, taking turns flinging Harley in different directions while Aerial Ace was active, creating a central point where several sonic booms were occuring in quick succession. Kiba had to have headphones on, shortly after the first sonic boom occurred to protect his sensitive hearing. Even Akamaru and Luna seemed to be a bit put off by the constant exploding sounds happening nearby and returned to their Pokeballs.

Eventually, the technique wore off and all of Naruto's clones had vanished, leaving the original and Harley standing across from a significantly deafened Chouji and Musubi. Chouji had fallen to the ground shortly after his sense of balance had been thrown off after about five sonic booms. Musubi, however, was faring slightly better as she tried to keep her ears from ringing too loudly. While mildly off balance, physically, she was handling the last attack pretty well.

Naruto and Harley were smiling widely, their first test of a random combination attack actually having some mild success. Naruto pulled out the ear plugs he had been wearing and shook his head lightly. After regaining her balance, Musubi looked around for her tamer, only to be stunned that he was rolling on the ground, his face green with sickness.

"I...urk...give up," Chouji barely muttered. "I can't...hmp...fight in this...gurk...condition."

Kurenai sighed sadly, though she knew that Chouji didn't stand much of a chance against a Pokegirl as infamous for her ingenuity and pranks as her Master. Asuma sighed too, having wanted to see something a bit more come from Naruto and his newly evolved Pokegirl. "Winner: Naruto Uzumaki and Harley," he said. "Next match: Kiba Inuzuka versus Rock Lee."

Kiba, however, had other plans. "Sorry, guys, but I'm gonna have to forefeit too. My ears are still ringing from Naruto's last attacks and I'm sure Luna and Akamaru are too."

Everyone seemed to glare at Naruto, who simply grinned and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Don't blame me. Blame the random effects of Metronome!"

Naturally, everyone still felt like part of it was still Naruto's fault for taking a normally weak Flying-type move and making everyone around him pay for it by making it worse. Even his teammates were a bit put off as to how they felt about it. On one side, they were proud to say Naruto took down two ninjas and their three combined Pokegirls with two moves. On the other hand, if he wanted to, he could have toned it down instead of aiming to cripple his opponent into submission and simply knocked the two out while allowing Kiba a chance to fight his opponent. On the mutated third hand, he likely saved everyone about thirty seconds of watching Kiba go through the same thing Sasuke did.

"I guess we'll move onto the next battle," Asuma said weakly. The jonin were looking rather pointedly at him still for Naruto's win over two opponents. "Neji Hyuuga versus Tenten Higurashi."

Tenten was standing beside Motoko and Neji had his Amazonchan at his side. Both Pokegirls and their Tamers entered matching stances. "Begin!"

The four became as blurs. Motoko and Tenten were slashing at their opponents, but Neji and his Amazonchan were deflecting the blows using their Ki/chakra-enhanced palm strikes while throwing out their own attacks, which were either blocked or narrowly dodged. As the two exchanged blows, the newly minted Genin could only watch in awe at the battle between two experienced Ninja Tamers went at it with everything they had.

Naruto's eyes continued to analyze both of their fighting styles, but even he would admit to missing a few moments due to the incredibly fast pace. The only Pokegirls he had that were this fast at full speed were Samara and Zelda and he himself was getting a bit faster since he began training with the two experienced Pokegirls.

After a few moments of getting nowhere, Neji could feel himself beginning to sweat. He had to think of something quickly or else he would lose the battle. He had to pull out a move he was saving for the Chunin Exams.

"Amazonchan," he called out silently. "We're going to have to use our special technique." Amazonchan's eyes widened.

"But we still don't have it down perfectly," she said worriedly.

"If we don't use it, we'll lose," he informed her.

She nodded and the two synced up their breathing and settled into the same symetrical stance they opened the battle with. "You are within the range of our divination," they called simultaneously. "Combination Technique: 16 Triagrams 64 Palms!"

"Four Palms," they said as their glowing palms lashed out against the bodies of their surprised opponents.

"Eight Palms."

"Sixteen Palms."

"Thirty-two Palms."

"Sixty-four Palms!"

When the last of the flurry of palm strikes landed, Motoko and Tenten were sent crashing to the ground. Motoko was clearly knocked out and Tenten was struggling to stand up after half of her chakra nodes had been shut down. Naruto could see what had happened. Amazonchan had been trained to use the Gentle Fist with her Ki to deal damage and used a modified Gattling Punch to mimic the flurry of blows Neji had delivered to Tenten to deal similar damage to Motoko. Because she didn't possess the Byakugan Blood Gift, she had to copy Neji's movements precisely, thus why they fought side-by-side when using the technique.

Asuma and Kurenai walked over. Kurenai approached the downed Tenten and her Pokegirl, using her own chakra to undo the damage the Gentle Fist technique did to her. "Winner: Neji Hyuuga," Asuma stated, raising his hand to Neji's side of the field. "Next battle! Naruto Uzumaki of Team Ten versus Rock Lee of Team Gai!"

Naruto and Rock Lee approached the battlefield. "Yosh," Lee called out enthusiastically. "It's good to be able to battle with a skilled opponent such as you, Naruto-kun!"

Naruto smirked, though it didn't feel cocky in the least. "The same could be said for you, Lee. You're definitely a powerful Ninja Tamer." Naruto turned to Harley. "Harley, sit the rest of this tournament out."

Harley nodded. "Okay, Puddin'," she said before giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Do your best!"

"You wish to fight me and my Youthful Chun-Li on your own, Naruto-kun," Lee said. "YOSH! Truly the flames of your youth know no bounds!"

Naruto scratched the back of his head with a sheepish grin. "Not really, Lee, but you and Chun-Li are just too strong for Harley and me. I just want to even the odds." He pulled out a Pokeball and pressed the button, summoning Samara the Tigress, shocking almost everyone in the area. "Ready for a scrap, Samara-hime?"

Samara chuckled as she cracked her knuckles and popped several joints before bringing out her claws. "Ready as I'll ever be, Naruto-koi," she said.

"A Tigress," Lee said in awe. "Such a Youthful Fighting-type Pokegirl you have! Come, Chun-Li-hime! Let us show our opponents the Springtime of Youth!"

Chun-Li ran over to Lee and stood beside him. "Yosh," the Amazonlee called out in excitement.

"Both combatants ready," Asuma asked, getting a nod from all four Ninja Tamers. "Begin!"

Lee and Chun-Li shot toward Naruto and Samara before launching a simultaneous kick to their heads. The move was so fast, neither Naruto or Samara could react before the kicks landed.

Fortunately, the two proceeded to explode in a large puff of smoke, confusing everyone around them. Samara's eyes glowed slightly as an aura of Ki surrounded her. Her muscles tensed significantly and Naruto's own chakra was unleashed, enhancing his own strength and durability. "Wind Style: Wind Claws," he called out, creating an invisible set of claws over his fingertips.

Naruto and Samara charged their opponents, who spun around and avoided being sliced by two pairs of claws. Everyone could see that Naruto and Samara were completely immersed into the battle when they spun around using their momentum to deliver a shocking punch to both Lee and Chun-Li, sending them skidding a few feet back.

Naruto was grinning like a loon and Samara was laughing to herself. This fight was making her feel so alive again. Against a strong opponent like Chun-Li, she would love to fight like this more often.

Everyone, including the Jonin, were stunned that Naruto and Samara managed to land a solid hit against a more experienced Genin, but Lee and his Pokegirl looked like they were enjoying the fact that someone landed a blow on them.

"Yosh," Lee called out with a few tears in his eyes. "Truly the Flames of your Youth are exploding! We must match...no...we must surpass the brilliance of your Flames of Youth in order to come out victorious!"

Lee and Chun-Li moved to remove weights from around their ankles, but kept their heads up in case Naruto and Samara would attack them while their attention was divided. "Go ahead, Lee," Naruto said with a kind smile. "We want to fight you at your best! It wouldn't mean much if we beat you while you were handicapped by your weights."

"Truly the Flames of your Youth are radiating explosively," Chun-Li said as she and her Master removed their weights and set them off to the side. The two of them threw out some practice jabs and jumped a bit before nodding to one another. This time, they disappeared from sight. The next thing anyone knew, Samara and Naruto were sent flying a few yards from the site of the battle.

Asuma raised his hand tentatively until an explosion of laughter erupted from where Naruto and Samara had unceremoneously landed. "Wow," Naruto called out with a chuckle. "That was some right hook you got, Lee, but I'm afraid it's going to take more than just one shot to knock me and Samara out!" The two previously mentioned people walked out of the dust cloud. Naruto had a nice bruise on his cheek and Samara's fur hid the bruise on her jaw.

Before anyone could tell what was happening, Naruto and Samara disappeared and this time, Lee and Chun-Li were sent crashing to the ground with matching scuff marks on their cheeks. It wasn't long before all four disappeared. The only thing that would tell you they were still fighting it out was the sounds of flesh smacking flesh and the odd crack of two blows connecting.

As the minutes wore on, the four had begun to slow down. Sweat began to roll off of their brows and their blows were connecting more often than they had started to. Asuma began to wonder where this sudden burst of speed and strength came from, but then he remembered about Naruto's Blood Gifts. Some of them may have activated during training while others probably activated during the fight. However, even with his seemingly limitless stamina, the combination of their high-speed movements and the damage the two ninjas sustained by going blow-for-blow was taking its toll on Naruto and Rock Lee.

The four had seperated from one another. Samara and Naruto were barely standing alongside one another. Samara looked like she wanted to rest, but fought to keep herself standing. She refused to show such weakness in front of her beloved Master. Naruto was also barely standing. He had bruises all over his body and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth and nose. Chun-Li was looking worse for the wear and Lee didn't look much better than Naruto. The blows the four were dealing were mostly superficial. No broken bones. No potentially crippling injuries.

Lee and Chun-Li looked to one another and were smiling in joy. This was the first time outside of a mission or training with Gai-sensei that they'd ever been pushed this hard. The fact that it was a rookie to do this to them gave them pride. "You are both...incredibly strong," Lee admitted as he breathed in heavily, trying to catch his breath.

"Same goes for you," Naruto stated. "Man. I don't think my blood's ever run this wild before. It's really refreshing."

Even as they spoke, Lee and the others could see that Naruto was recovering far faster than they'd ever believed possible. He wiped the sweat from his brow and the blood from his mouth and nose and it was hard to tell he was even injured to begin with. Neji and Sasuke both narrowed their eyes, though only Neji's eyes could be described as calculating.

Sasuke was clearly jealous of Naruto's ability to keep up with an opponent that knocked him out with one move and to even show that he could stand toe-to-toe with such an opponent was a blow to his pride and ego.

Lee, looking at his opponents, felt a weight land on him. He weakly raised his hand. "I give up," he said, stunning his teammates and making his teacher proud. "I won't be able to beat Naruto-kun without opening the Gates or resorting to the Lotus and Chun-Li-hime is too tired to continue."

"Winner: Naruto Uzumaki," Asuma announced proudly.

Naruto walked up to Lee and extended his hand, which Lee gladly took. "You're strong," Lee stated. "Keep training and keep getting stronger. Maybe then when we fight again, we can go all out without worrying about destroying one another's careers."

"I'm definitely looking forward to sparring with you again," Naruto said before turning to Samara. "Get some rest, Samara. You performed admirably." With that said, he recalled her into his Pokeball and clipping it to his belt. As Lee and Chun-Li walked over to meet with the rest of their team, Gai congratulated him for such a 'youthful' match that could have gone either way. The future promised much harder training for all of Team Gai.

"The final match of this tournament will be between Neji Hyuuga of Team Gai and Naruto Uzumaki of Team Ten," Kakashi stated neutrally. "However, to ensure a fair match, we will allow an hour break for both to recover from any injuries sustained over the course of their battles as well as to heal their Pokegirls."

Naruto and the rest of Team Ten sat down in the field while Team Gai took the time to go to the Pokecenter to heal their Pokegirls. Teams Seven and Eight had simply decided to wait there since none of them had to fight anymore. Besides that, Naruto had already beaten the physical powerhouse that was Lee and his Chun-Li, which had initially surprised many of them since nobody ever considered him as one of the finalists in this mock tournament.

Ino was, quite loudly, congratulating him on beating such a superior opponent, even if said opponent held back to prevent any kind of permenant or physically crippling injury. Of course, with those congratulations, she also gave him a migraine by nagging at him over his injuries, which had almost completely disappeared within a matter of minutes. Shikamaru was smirking uncharictaristically, quite thankful that he had a literal tank of a Ninja Tamer on his team. Someone who could take as much damage as a Steel-type or a Rock-type Pokegirl and keep on pushing back no matter what.

Of course, this also made him want to become stronger just so he wasn't the weakest link on the team. Looking over at Ino and Naruto as they interacted almost like siblings, he could already see that she was beginning to develop a slight attraction to their other blond teammate and it actually made him happy to see her seeming to let go of her feelings for Sasuke. Either that or she was more worried about Naruto's health and well-being after watching him get the crap beat out of him while he simultaneously beat the crap out of his opponent. Either way, her attention was off of the Emo Avenger and he couldn't be happier.

After a few moments of waiting, Team Gai showed up and Neji looked either bored or mildly amused. It was hard to tell when his half-lidded eyes said something different than his 'Superior-To-You' smirk that Sasuke seemed to sport a lot.

Naruto jumped back up from his seated position on the ground and threw out a couple of practice jabs before standing in the make-shift arena. Neji grabbed a Pokeball from his belt and expanded it to full size with his thumb.

"Amazonchan, front and center," Neji called, bringing out his seemingly favored Pokegirl from her Pokeball.

Naruto pulled out his own Pokeball and tossed it high into the air, bringing out Zelda, his Elf Hunter. Zelda narrowed her eyes appraisingly toward the Amazonchan. "I take it this means you and Samara defeated Lee and his Amazonlee," she stated. Naruto nodded in acknowledgement, causing her to smirk. "Then I guess I can't afford to lose or else Samara might consider trying to take my place as your Alpha."

Lee, having walked over to congratulate Naruto's teammates for having such a youthful teammate on their squad, appeared mildly confused by the statement of the Elf. "What does she mean by that," he asked nobody in particular.

Ino was quick to respond. "Zelda and Samara are undoubtedly Naruto's strongest Pokegirls. Samara, as you've noticed, is an amazing close-quarters combat fighter. Zelda, on the other hand, tends to used ranged combat in one-on-one Pokegirl battles. However, when she fights alongside Naruto during team training, she's proven to be as good at CQC as Samara is. Everyone on Naruto's Battle Harem defers to Zelda as the Alpha except for Samara, who believes she would make a better Alpha."

"Troublesome," Shikamaru moaned. "Every so often, Samara will challenge Zelda to some sort of contest to prove who's more qualified to lead his Harem. So far, it's been either tied or Zelda jumps into the lead by a few challenges. Currently, Zelda and Samara are at 62 wins a piece. If Zelda loses to Neji and his Amazonchan, she agreed to defer to Samara as Alpha until she can either bring it back to a tie or ends up in the lead again according to their drawn out rules. Out of all four of his current Pokegirls, it's always been my opinion that Zelda was the stronger, more intelligent of them and the best suited for the position of Alpha. As far as his Beta Pokegirl, I would say it was somewhere between Aeris, who is the healer of our team with her herbal remedies, creams, and tinctures, and Harley, who has known Naruto the longest of the four and is just as unpredictable as he is more often than not."

"I see," Lee said. "Of all of the members on our team, Neji is definitely the strongest. Out of all of our sparring sessions, I've never once beaten him. Naruto-kun will definitely need to fight Neji with everything he has or else he won't be able to win."

"Believe it or not, Naruto wasn't the best when it came to his Shinobi classes in the academy, but he was definitely the strongest as far as the physical aspects like the obstacle course. If it wasn't for the rules and being restricted to fighting in a ring, he probably would have been the best in taijutsu just because he can take a punch and give it back twice as hard, as you also probably noticed," Ino replied. "If it wasn't for his bad scores on the written exams and his inability, at the time, to perform the Clone Jutsu, he could have probably been the Rookie of the Year."

Lee and the others couldn't help but silently agree with Ino's and Shikamaru's assessment of Naruto with the exception of Sakura and Sasuke, who would never believe that Naruto could ever be as strong as the raven-haired avenger.

As Naruto and Zelda stood face-to-face with Neji and his Amazonchan, the two continued to analyze one another. Searching for some form of weakness to give their side the edge in the battle. Asuma looked on, raising his hand as soon as he noticed the four were ready to begin. "Begin!"

Naruto started off the fight by drawing a trio of kunai and throwing them toward Neji. Neji simply took out a kunai of his own and deflected all three. Naruto smirked as the three kunai fell around Neji and his Amazonchan before flying through a few seals that many Jonin recognized. "Great Clone Explosion," he called, and with a surge of his chakra, the trio of kunai glowed before exploding rather violently.

Smoke and dust filled the training ground. Naruto and Zelda held themselves in a defensive stance, preparing for a counter attack to come. They weren't disappointed as Neji and Amazonchan dashed through the smoke, their palms alight with chakra and ki respectively. With a well-coordinated series of strikes, Neji and Amazonchan were trying to land a solid blow against their opponents. Naruto and Zelda, however, were either deflecting or outright evading the blows while throwing out their own attacks. Thanks to the Byakugan, Neji was able to help Amazonchan and himself avoid several blows that would have probably knocked out his Pokegirl partner.

Many of the spectators, who knew what the Hyuuga clan was capable of in Taijutsu, were surprised that Naruto was keeping up with one. Of course, that didn't mean he wasn't getting stricken by the Gentle Fist strikes. On occasion, he could feel a piercing pain burn when one of his chakra points was hit by a glancing blow, but he opened it up as fast as he could before inflicting a blow of his own.

Neji and Amazonchan jumped back and were panting from exertion. Naruto barely looked winded and Zelda looked almost as good as Naruto did. Neji and Amazonchan settled into the stance they used to beat Tenten. "Combination Technique: 16 Triagrams 64 Palms!"

The two seemed to disappear and were standing in front of Naruto and Zelda within moments, breaking through their guard.

"Four Palms!"

"Eight Palms!"

"Sixteen Palms!"

"Thirty-Two Palms!"

"Sixty-Four Palms!"

As the last series of blows landed, Naruto and Zelda were sent crashing into the ground. Neji stood up with a neutral frown on his face. "This match is over," he said before beginning to walk away with Amazonchan behind him.

Suddenly, a loud laughter rang through the training ground. Neji's eyes widened as the two spun around to see Naruto and Zelda both standing up. "Yeah," Naruto said, his hair hiding his eyes from view. "If I were anyone else, that might have put me down for the count. But there's something you should get into that thick skull right now, Neji Hyuuga."

Without warning, Naruto flared his chakra, opening his chakra points all at once and enveloping him in an aura of blue flames.

"Out of everyone here, I'm the worst possible opponent you or any Hyuuga could ever hope to end up fighting," he said, looking up and giving everyone a view of his once blue stilted eyes glowing crimson and his whisker marks becoming deeper and more defined.

Zelda did the same, causing her body to glow with a black aura. Her blue eyes were beginning to bleed into black.

Just as the four were getting ready for another round, a young chunin appeared in the middle of the training ground. Without warning, the chunin ended up getting hit by three sets of fists, sending him flying into the sky before something fell from his pockets. "Mission for Team Ten," he wailed before his body disappeared into the sky with a small twinkle.

As Naruto and Zelda were ready to fight Neji and his Amazonchan, Asuma grabbed the falling mission scroll, opened it, and skimmed through the details before holding his hand up and stopping the match. "Sorry, Naruto, but this mission is a high priority. Go to the Pokecenter and get your 'Girls healed up, get your gear ready, and meet me by the west gate.

Naruto groaned childishly and Zelda could only shake her head in mild disappointment. She was actually enjoying the fight and fighting alongside her Master against a more experienced Pokegirl and her Master. However, Zelda realized she had to take charge and grabbed Naruto by the collar and began to drag him to the Pokecenter, much to his embarrassment.

"Come on, Naruto-sama," she said sternly. "We have a mission and need to be ready for whatever might happen.

As Zelda dragged Naruto away, the other teams were looking on in awe. Naruto and Zelda were, up until their interruption, going toe-to-toe with Neji, a superior opponent with more experience and essentially was forced into a draw by a surprise mission. Ino and Shikamaru, who were used to the antics between Naruto and his various Pokegirls, walked to their homes to prepare for the mission.

Within fifteen minutes, Naruto had healed all of his Pokegirls, got Erica the Eva registered as his pet, and was at his small apartment gathering his gear. Once he had all of his equipment ready, the Genin Tamer walked into the living room where everyone was waiting for him.

"We just got a mission earlier this morning," he told the 'Girls. "I don't know how difficult the mission's going to be or if it is a Tamer mission or a Shinobi mission. I want to bring only two Pokegirls, not including Erica-chan, with me on the mission. Who want to go with me?"

Zelda raised her hand. "As your Alpha, it is only right that I be on the active Harem as an example of how strong your Pokegirls are should we run into any wild Pokegirls."

Naruto nodded in understanding. He was actually planning on bringing her anyway because they had an incredible team dynamic with his teammates and their Pokegirls. The next person to raise their hand...was somewhat of a surprise.

Aeris was raising her hand almost hesitantly. "I'll go. You and your team will need some support and between Erica-chan and me, we'll be able to support you best."

Naruto nodded in understanding. His first pick, if he had to choose, would have been Zelda simply because she was a) his strongest Pokegirls and b) she had a great team dynamic with his teammates and their Pokegirls. The next one to raise their hands was a bit of a shocker.

Aeris was standing beside her sister with her hand raised while the other one was wrapped around the waist of Erica. "I'll come too. Even though I'm not a combat Pokegirl, I can still provide support with my knowledge of medicinal herbs, creams, and potions. And with Erica-chan, we'll be able to take care of any injuries that your team might get."

Naruto took a breath and accepted the two's choice to join in the mission. He then turned to Boota and Nezumi. "I know we haven't worked on your team dynamics yet or even gone into serious fighting, but I would like to ask you if you would be willing to join my teammates Harems, temporarily mind you, for this mission. I have a feeling we're going to need as much help as possible and with Boota being a Ground-type and Nezumi's sensitive hearing, we could be better prepared for any potential threats that we might face."

Nezumi and Boota looked at one another before walking away and whispering to one another.

"What do you think," Boota asked Nezumi.

Nezumi looked a little bit off. Sure. When she interacted with Naruto's teammates, she enjoyed playing shogi with Shikamaru and his A-Bra. Naturally, she was slightly put off by his lazy nature, but Naruto told her that it was mostly because he was so smart that he didn't see much point putting much effort into a lot of things. It was one of the reasons he wanted to just be an average ninja tamer.

"We've been training a lot harder and...I would like the chance to see how much stronger I've gotten by going on a mission," Nezumi told her Digtit sibling.

"And I've been spending a lot of time with Ino-chan and Sasami-chan both during training and outside of training," Boota stated with a light blush. "I've been thinking about asking her to become my permenant Tamer on our next training day with Team Ten."

Nezumi nodded and gave a slight smile to her sister. She was happy that after being abused by their former masters that her sisters could find a partner that they were happy with. Erica became Naruto's pet. Boota was going to join Ino's Harem. It was something she was proud to have witnessed and made her faith in Naruto virtually unshakable.

The two walked back and took a deep breath. "We agree to temporarily join the Harems of your teammates. I will join Shikamaru and Boota will join Ino," Nezumi stated, causing Naruto and the other Pokegirls in the room to smile.

"That's fine by me," Naruto said happily. "Grab your Pokeballs and we'll meet up with the rest of the team at the west gate."

It didn't take long for the group of four Pokegirls and Naruto to arrive at the gate. Asuma, Ino, and Shikamaru looked surprised when Nezumi and Boota followed Naruto, Zelda, and Aeris to the gate until Nezumi handed her Pokeball to Shikamaru and Boota gave hers to Ino. "I asked Nezumi-chan and Boota-chan if they wanted to join the team on the mission to help give us a slight edge during the mission. They came to a consesus that they wanted to join your Harems temporarily to see how far they've come during their training. This means that all three of us will have two Pokegirls on our Harems," Naruto stated, getting warm and thankful smiles from his teammates and their sensei.

"Actually," Boota interrupted. "Since I've been spending time with Ino-chan a lot lately, I wanted to ask her...if she would be my permenant Tamer."

Ino blushed and wrapped Boota in a huge hug along with Sasami. "I would love to be your Tamer, Boota-chan," she said with a squeal of delight. "When this mission's over, I'll have you registered as my Pokegirl."

"And I'll report to Old Man Hokage that Boota-chan's rehabilitation is complete and she found a Tamer," Naruto added.

"Now that that's been settled, I'm going to give you the details to this mission," Asuma said as he unfurled the scroll, capturing the group's undivided attention. "According to Hokage-sama, a Chunin team was sent on a mission to deliver important diplomatic documents to the leader of the Kusagakure. On their way back, they were supposed to check in with Konoha's Border Guards and a message would have been sent to Hokage-sama confirming that they were on their way back from either a successful mission or a failed mission. No message was received. Hokage-sama has officially labeled this a C-Rank Shinobi Mission, the same rank as the mission the Chunin team was given. However, he suspects that the team was intercepted on their return trip by either enemy ninja, feral Pokegirls, or some combination of the two. If sufficient evidence is found, he will upgrade the mission from C-Rank to either B- or A-Rank based on the level of threat discovered. Our destination is the Border Tower located between Grass Country and Fire Country where we will meet up with the current Border Patrol squad to discuss the situation and to go over the events leading to the disappearance of this Chunin team."

The group nodded and left for the border, unaware of what exactly they were going to face.