The Ninth Fist

by Agurra of the Darkness

Betrayed by the people he vowed to protect Naruto finds himself in a new world with new skills. Searching for a purpose and people who accept him Naruto joins the Infamous Ragnarock, thus leading to the birth of the Ninth Fist.

12. Chapter 12

Hey everyone welcome to the next episode of The Ninth Fist. Now I know the last chapter wasn't as entertaining. However, I aim to make this particular chapter extremely entertaining and developed as its one I have been planning for quite some time and one I've be particularly interest in write, why. Three words ROMANTIC BUILD UP. That's a right folk, for everyone hoping for some serious romantic development and or humor well you're about to get your way. Now this chapter will mainly be focused on Naruto and Renkas relationship really starting to develop mutually and actually start to really take shape. Granted there will be some reveals and surprises here or there though I mainly want this to be more of a romantic chapter so bear with me if that's not what you're looking for. Just remember that I'm not very experienced with romance well stories in general but I will try my best with this chapter. So without further adue let the Fireworks fly.

Disclaimer:

Renka: Agurra of the Darkness does not own Naruto or Kenichi the Migthest Disciple in anyway. Why do I have to say this again?

ME: I'm the writer and what I say goes, besides you should be happy, you and Naruto are the main focus of this chapter.

Naruto: Really! Sweet, though what's gonna happen

(SMASH)

Naruto: OW, What the Hell Renka

Renka: Idiot if he told us that what would be the point in writing the chapter. Now come on lets finish this so the chapter can start.

ME: Thank you, now then I hope you all enjoy.

*Ninth Fist Start*

Everyone present stood in ominous silence as the First Fist slowly made his way over to the collective group. Kenichi's friends who'd finally arrived, having been delayed by Loki's minions after Fenrir moved forward we having similar reactions. Even the fearsome rainstorm that had been raging not long ago had stopped, as if out of fear of this individual's presence.

While it was pretty obvious he was dangerous, oddly enough Fenrir and Hermit seemed pretty calm. The Sixth Fist currently standing next to Honoka, keeping one arm in front of her in a protective manner, his eyes following his purple haired leaders movements with the precision of a hawk.

Kenichi merely watched the odd individual closely, he wasn't on guard at the moment but was ready to attack should the need arise, "So that's the First Fist. The leader of Ragnarock, man I don't know why but I'm getting a seriously bad feeling from that guy." Said uneasiness was carried to his allies with the exception of Miu who looked at the new enemy with a calculating gaze.

Loki however, surprisingly looked pretty shaken, his teeth clenching in either frustration or terror was hard to tell. One of his hands was gripped rather intensely as his gaze remained fixed on Odin, whose cold eyes matched his glance almost causing the Fourth Fist to lose his composure and take a step back in fear.

Finally after several moments that seemed like an eternity the First First stopped. His eyes slowly moved from one side to the other, scoping out everyone present, with the exception of the masters in the tree. As his eyes continued to move they seemed to narrow in irritation as they landed on Loki as well as catching a quick glance of Honoka and the beat up Kenichi.

He slowly raised his hand to his glasses before gently adjusting them while calming clearing his throat, Loki quickly straightened himself up as if on reflex. A decision well merited considering he found himself under Odin's cold gaze.

"Well Loki, this is certainly a fine mess you've gotten yourself into. Tell me, when did I give you permission to carry out this little scheme of yours?" Despite the tense air and all the eyes on him, the well dress warrior managed to display a completely dignified sense of composure, almost like that of a diplomat or prestigious figure.

Though his words at face value didn't contain any ill intent, the mere sound of them shook Loki up as Odin continued to peer at him with that cold gaze, "Well Loki, I'm waiting to hear your explanation, so lets have it."

It was interesting to see the normally talkative and loud mouthed Fourth Fist so quiet, it was actually pretty creepy. Even Hermit was a little unsettled by how anxious Loki was around Odin. Though one person out the group wasn't the least bit afraid and ready to make his presence known.

"I'd say in a nut shell Odin, he went behind your back and put this scheme into affect under your nose. I'm surprised you didn't see it coming?"

The rather blunt and mocking tone actually caused the composed Fist's hand to twitch, if only for a moment. His expression remained the same yet his eye slowly turned to the direction of the voice, "I'm surprised to see you had a hand in this Fenrir. As I recall you were vehemently against this kind of action from the very beginnings were you not?"

Those present could obviously pick up the retaliated mockery in his tone, a clear attempt to stir up the Ninth Fist. He seemed to respond with a tight clenching of his fists but merely looked at Odin with an ice-cold gaze that would have frozen a normal person solid.

"Don't even try to blame this on me Odin. I only came here to make sure that a certain idiot I know who'd gone along with this plan didn't manage to screw himself over anymore than he already has. And I also wanted to kick the living shit out of Loki for this asinine stunt of his." His tone was somewhat loud and violent, Odin remained calm again adjusting his glasses with the slightest touch.

"My, my Fenrir you should really watch your language. After all there is a child present." His eye slowly shifted to Honoka who withdrew somewhat only for Hermit to get in front of her, causing Odin's all seeing eyes to focus on him, "Hm, Hermit it's surprising to see you here too. I never would have expected you of all people to go along with one of Loki's schemes."

Hermit already frustrated by Loki's stunts, his fight being interrupted and the conflict going on in his brain was having a really hard time not lunging at Odin's tone or his implications. However, he was surprised when Odin merely raised his palm towards the Sixth Fist in disinterest.

"No need to get bent out of shape Hermit. As it stands I'm willing to forgive you for this little insurrection seeing as how it would technically be your first step out of line. Just try to remember whose in charge next time."

As he changed his attention to Loki, Hermit prepared to attack him in a rage only to be stopped by a gaze from Fenrir. Though he didn't make so much as a sound the look alone conveyed the simple message, "Don't, now's not the time for this."

The hooded fist reluctantly swallowed his pride and stayed quiet while Odin kept looked at Loki with a gaze that slowly became cold, "You on the other hand Loki aren't so fortunate. You see I've been growing rather tired of you constantly going behind my back with these little plans of yours, undermining my authority."

In a flash of a second there was a quick movement that Miu, Fenrir and the masters caught but was invisible to the others. Those remaining who didn't catch sight of the movement at first acted as if nothing happened but their eyes quickly widened, thought none more so then Loki whose face was now completely exposed, revealing his surprisingly good looking face to the world.

Though what was more surprising was his signature goggles currently resting in Odin's hand. The now exposed Fist quickly covered his face with his hands in embarrassment was Odin kept talking with clear authority, "If it weren't for the fact that the Great Sage Fist finds your information gathering skills a vital asset I'd have you removed on the spot." To emphasize his point he crushed the goggles with a single grip shattering them to pieces.

Loki growled in frustration yet still kept his hand glued to his face to conceal it, Odin's eyes then slowly drifted oddly enough to Kenichi, an action Fenrir paid particular interest too.

"Well well, its nice to see you again Kenichi. It certainly has been along time hasn't it." Unlike when he'd been grilling Loki or conversing with the other fists Odin's tone here was actually almost friendly and nostalgic. It was something Fenrir and even Hermit had never seen in him.

Fenrir actually found his eyes darting between the two individuals, taking note of Odin's own relaxed posture, "Looks like Odin has some kind of connection to Shirahama over here. That's odd… Wait a second if I'm reading into this right than that would mean Odin knows Kenichi on a personal level. If that's the case then how is it he didn't know the Kenichi we'd been dealing with all this time who we've referred to by his full name wasn't the same Kenichi he'd probably known in the past." Fenrir suddenly found himself even more suspicious of his current leader than before at the possibility of him holding out information.

Though while he was able to draw the conclusion quickly enough Kenichi hadn't a clue what was going on, looking at Odin as if he were a complete stranger, "I'm sorry but who are you exactly?" His tone was honest and blunt, though Odin didn't seem the least bit shaken by his answer, almost as if expecting it.

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With a sigh he again adjusted his glasses in a calm manner, "I see, so I guess you don't remember me after all this time. Oh well its no problem, it'll come to you when the time is right along with the promise you and I made a long time ago." Kenichi's eyes widened at the implication of his connection to his enemy yet for the life of him couldn't recall any of what said individual was telling him.

Odin merely took the information he'd gotten and slowly began to walk away, though not before directing another cold look towards Loki that caused him to stiffen like a statute. There were no words, but his expression said all that needed to be said.

With a grunt of annoyance Loki kept his face covered before looking to the balcony, "Number 20, we're pulling out so get down here already." The military otaku managed to recover from Hermit's rather brutal attack quickly leaped down to Loki's side as they prepared to leave.

However, Loki turned to face those present, though his gaze was primarily focused on Fenrir having been the key distorter of his plan, before pointing at the hooded Fist, "Don't think I'll forget about this Fenrir. Mark my words I'll make you regret crossing me." He then turned his attention to Hermit still atop the balcony, "And the same goes for you Hermit, don't think I'll let you get away for mucking up my plan either."

Neither fighter flinched or even reacted to his proclamation and watched as the humiliated and defeated trickster quickly followed behind his leader, lest he suffer greater humiliation.

Once the two were gone the air grew progressively less tense, so much so that Kenichi promptly fell on his butt, too sore from the fight to stand though still maintaining his optimistic attitude, "Man I was afraid I was gonna have to fight that guy too. If that had happened I'd be dead for sure."

Miu slowly approached her friend with a curious look as her eyes were focused on the area where Odin was, "That was pretty strange though, Kenichi are you sure you don't know that Odin guy from somewhere?"

Kenichi's expression alone answered her question for her, his gaze indicated his mind working to try and pieces together the strange puzzle of Odin and what relationship he and Kenichi had, "Sorry Miu, but I really can't think of anything, whoever he is its pretty obvious he knows more than I do."

"Sorry to interrupt you're little chat but I believe I have something that belongs to your Shirahama."

Kenichi's eyes widened as his head quickly jolted up only to quickly be slammed down to the ground and have his face obstructed by something pink and soft. He actually howled in a humorous manner as the pain from his injuries and the fall clashed like two high-speed trains.

Sadly his sister Honoka, now clinging to him for dear life paid no mind to his brothers pain, merely content to bury her head in his chest, "Oh Big Brother you were so cool out there, it was incredible even though you didn't win."

Kenichi quickly deflated like a beach ball at his sister acknowledging that while he'd fought hard against Hermit, they hadn't technically decided a winner. Though said thought quickly reminded him of something as he slowly pulled his sister off of him before turning to Hermit with a grateful expression.

"Tanimoto, I wanna thank you for saving Honoka, I really appreciate." Hermit diverted his face to avoid people seeing him slightly blush in embarrassment to the praise though only slightly, trying to maintain his tough guy act, "Sheesh don't get the wrong idea Shirahama, I just didn't want Fenrir or the brat getting on my back about it."

Said fist quickly made himself known by slapping his coarse cohort upside the head meriting an angry looked from the Sixth Fist which Fenrir merely shrugged off, "Quit trying to act cool. You did it because you didn't want to see the little girl get hurt, even if she does annoy the living hell out of you, you still enjoy having her around."

Now Hermit had gone from just kind of angry to flat out embarrassed anger as he slowly looked at Honoka who as expected listened to everything Fenrir had just said and now looking at Hermit with a very cute yet kind of creepy happy face.

Hermit actually slapped his forehead in frustration, his mind portraying images of the little girl running around his house causing a huge mess in every direction trying to clean it all the while feeding him food that was likely to give him food poisoning. "My life just went from sucking to hell in a manner of three seconds. Thanks a lot Fenrir."

Though Fenrir himself actually looked in surprise as Kenichi had made his way over to the Ninth Fist and said Fist geared himself up for an attack. However, Kenichi surprised him by outreaching his hand as a show of good faith with a smile on his face.

"I'd also like to thank you too Fenrir, you helped save Honoka too and I'm grateful to you."

Kenichi awaited his response hoping that he'd return the gesture, but sadly found his hand slapped away, though not in a violent manner.

Fenrir merely looked at Kenichi with his eyes as cold as ever, though nowhere near as harsh as before, "Don't get the wrong idea Shirahama. Just because I helped save your sister doesn't mean we're friends now. I did this to save the girl who has no reason to be involved in these matters in the first place and to keep Hermit from screwing his life over. You and I are still enemies and I still intend to settle things with you in the future, so keep that in mind." His tone though harsh was still calm and for the most part Kenichi took it rather well, his friends looking on.

Fenrir quietly pulled his hand back and slowly turned his back to the group, though not before turning his head slightly to address Hermit, "Hermit, after this little stunt Loki's gonna be gunning for both our asses from now on. So I feel it'd be good for both of us if we made ourselves scarce for awhile."

The Sixth Fist didn't seem too broken up by the idea and seemed okay with it, "That's fine with me, I'd been planning to go and train some more anyway." The Sixth fist quietly turned to Kenichi who straightened himself, "Shirahama, we'll call this fight a draw for now. I wanna fight you properly without any interruptions or as a part of someone's plot. The next time we fight it'll be on my terms."

Kenichi actually took the challenge with confidence bringing his fist out in front almost in excitement, "I'll look forward to it Tanimoto. You can count on it."

Fenrir took one last glance at the group before walking away and disappearing from the scene. Hermit quickly disappeared as well, meriting the two hidden masters to jump down from their perch.

Sakaki looked down a Kenichi with beaming pride, "Nice fight you had there Kenichi, a little too flashy but I'd been lying if I said I didn't enjoy it." He quickly chugged another beer while his disciple looked at him with a blank shocked face.

Miu however, looked at the pair with a suspicious look, "Just how long were you two up in that tree?"

Akisame however, simply waved her off calmly, "Its not important Miu, we just wanted to see Kenichi in action and if possible catch a glimpse of the infamous Fenrir you've been talking about. Have to say I was pretty impressed. Though Sakaki didn't you say you wanted to Talk with him."

Kenichi actually felt himself worry for his enemy at the idea of his Karate Master having any kind of conversation with the Ninth Fist. Thankfully the drunken master looked away slightly embarrassed at not going through with his intended action, "Must have slipped my mind, hehe. Well no reason to dwell on that right now, gotta get Kenichi back to Ryozanpaku to get healed up and start training again."

The aforementioned disciple quickly started to panic at the idea of training again and attempted to flee, only for his massive master to hoist him over his shoulder and carrying him away with Miu and friends in tow.

Akisame however, took one last glance at where Fenrir had disappeared too, smirking slightly as the wind blew through his hair and face, "I have a feeling that we'll be seeing Fenrir again quiet soon in the near future." With that thought in mind the Jujitsu master followed after his comrades his mind already thinking of what ways he'd planned to interact with the mysterious fist.

Meanwhile said topic of conversation currently had something more pressing on his mind then the prospect of meeting and possible being interrogated by dangerous masters.

"Great now I'm homeless again, can't stay at Hermit's house since Loki knows I stay there and I figure it'd be better to give Natsu and the kid some bonding time together. Looks like I've got only one option."

(Scene change Gekirin)

Renka who'd already been shell-shocked once was now currently standing at the entrance of the Restaurant with her jaw opened wide, again shell shocked at the sight before her, barely managing out her next words in a stutter.

"You, wan..nna WHAT!"

The source of his rather odd speech pattern was her now secret crush Naruto whom she'd tried and failed to ask out not to long ago, now standing before her with a suitcase and an uncomfortable grin on his face. "hehe, funny story Renka," The blonde rubbed his head in embarrassment as he continued to speak to the still stunned bluenet.

All the while Hakubi found himself chuckling at the development listening intently to the conversation as Naruto spoke.

"See I got more or less kicked out of the place I was staying in and well I was wondering if possibly I could live here with you and Hakubi at Gekirin?"

(Pause)

Renka's face didn't show any sort of change, as she almost mechanically tried to comprehend her next words. Thankfully Hakubi, being the insightful master he was quickly managed to come in and bail the frozen girl out.

"Of course Naruto, your welcome to stay here as long as you like. We're happy to have you here, aren't we Renka?" with a slight elbow nudge said girl was at last knocked out of her mind pause quickly coming back to reality.

Naturally once the full realization of what was going on hit her, she was practically doing back flips in her mind at the idea. "YES! Now Naruto won't be able to disappear on me like he did earlier." The girl quickly paused and blushed in embarrassment recalling her rather epic failure in her attempt to ask the blonde out. As she thought about it further her face turned redder, "Plus with us being together more often I might be able to learn more about him, maybe even…!"

At the risk of acting like a screaming schoolgirl Renka quickly shook her romantic thoughts out her head for the time being and stored them away for another time. Once her composure was regained she offered Naruto a simple look of delight, "Yeah, now I can keep an eye on you so you don't slack off anymore or run off in the middle of your shift." At the recalling of the event Renka quickly snapped her fingers before getting in Naruto's face with a suspicious look, "That reminds me, just where the heck did you run off too. By the sound of how you reacted to that phone call and bolted out of here, must have been pretty serious."

The blonde quickly gulped recalling not only taking off in a rush but also leaving Renka hanging without a clear explanation, "Crap, I completely forgot about that, There's no way I can tell Renka what actually happened. I could always lie, no I already feel bad enough about lying to her once and she's already been so nice to me, Hakubi too. Now they're even agreeing to let me live here, I can't just lie but I can't tell the truth either DAMN what do I do?"

At the sight of his rather conflicted face, Hakubi could easily tell Naruto didn't want to share his secret. Though not one to force a person to reveal something they wanted to keep buried Hakubi quickly devised a counter measure, one that would kill two birds with one stone.

A slight glint in his eyes he quickly leaned towards Renka and whispered something into her ear. At first her face heated up some in embarrassment before shifting to a cunning smirk, indicating it was something she was obviously interested in.

With a nod and no warning she lightly slapped the conflict blonde in the back of the head, getting a slight yelp from him.

"OW, Oh Come on Renka I didn't even do anything that time, what the hell."

Said girl merely sighed before putting her hands on her hips with a gleeful smirk growing across her face, "Listen Naruto, I'm willing to forgive you for running off like that earlier today and you don't have to tell me why you did it."

At first Naruto was about to breath a sigh of relief when he noticed Renka's grin grow causing his shoulders to drop at the obvious sign of there being a catch to such a generous offer.

"Alright Renka, what's the catch?"

Renka quickly brought one of her hands up to her face in an excited gesture as she spoke, "You have to come along with me somewhere and you can't refuse no matter what."

Here is where things went weird. Naruto had spent his whole life fighting for his life as a ninja, defeated a man who'd thought he was god, spent six months on the high seas training with an insane master and now acting as an enforcer for a tough gang, never backing down without a hint of fear, shock or regret.

Yet despite all that he'd gone through, those few words stopped him cold, causing him to freeze in place and his face to rapidly heat up at the insinuation. His mind now running a mile a minute, unable to process the stimuli in mere seconds his brain pretty much self-destructed.

Though he did manage to retain enough brain function to ask a simple question he'd thought he'd never ask anyone period, "you mean lllike aaa Date!"

As if like a declaration of war or peace everyone in the restaurant was suddenly hushed by the words. All eyes quickly glued to Naruto and Renka, both staring at each other in hushed silence. Their faces red with embarrassment, Hakubi all the while chucking in the background as if he'd just smoked a whole bag of pot.

None was more shocked then Naruto who now felt like his heart was going to burst out his chest, ribs and all. In his entire life, no person had ever asked him out on anything resembling a date. Truthfully after leaving the village he thought that it was gonna remain that way.

Now here he was being asked a question by his very close and more importantly attractive friend who despite not knowing too well had slowly become very important to him. Truthfully he had slowly started to see Renka as more than just a friend but never even considered her possibly returning those feelings or even having them.

"What do I do, What do I say! Think dammit think, okay um crap. I mean I could just say no but then again would going out with Renka really be so bad?"

Just as it seemed this little mental debate wouldn't end a familiar fist managed to resolve his mental balancing act. Renka too embarrassed by the implication struck Naruto hard dead center in the face.

The shell-shocked blonde rocketed out the doors, across the pavement before colliding head first with a telephone pole, finally falling in a heap. Renka was currently standing with her fist outstretched, hyperventilating at what had just happened and staring at Hakubi still chuckling like a madman.

With an angry and embarrassment look she spoke to Hakubi with resentment, "You planned for that didn't you?"

The wise master merely diverted his eyes, acting as if all he heard was the shifting of the wind. Seeing little point in arguing Renka quickly walked out towards her downed friend who was still recovering from the punch.

With a little effort she quickly managed to get out, "Its not a date you idiot. Master Hakubi just told me where my dad's hiding out and I want you to come along with me got it?"

Surprisingly Naruto quickly got up and laughed lightly at the scene he'd just caused rubbing his head in shame while diverting his eyes, "oh, hehe sorry about that. Just the way you made it sound… Anyway sure I've got no problem with helping you with your dad, so lets go."

As if the little misadventure a moment ago hadn't occurred the two teens quickly disappeared into the night towards Ryozanpaku. Hakubi merely looked at the doorway with a smile on his face, knowing that things were progressing better than he'd hoped, if that little display was anything to say about it.

"Now things can really start to get moving between those two. Hopefully spending some time together outside of this restaurant will help Naruto realize his feelings as well. With Kensei especially I have a feeling that those two will become a great deal closer if he has anything to say about it. If only to keep Renka out of his hair. Lets see how you measure up to the masters of Ryozanpaku Naruto."

With his mental thoughts cleared and his plan set into motion the old master returned to his restaurant, taking one last look in the direction the two teens had taken off. Hoping that this next little adventure would lead both down a path that would hopefully strengthen the feelings between the two and perhaps even culminate into something more.

(Scene Change Ryozapaku)

On the other side of the city, Kenichi despite all the craziness that had just befallen him had somehow managed to find himself enough time to sit out and enjoy the night sky.

Enjoying the cool breeze flowing against his skin, his mind flashing back to his fight with Hermit and how much he'd managed to improve since their last fight. True to his vow, Kenichi had been training himself harder and with greater determination which seemed to be paying off.

Yet he couldn't help but feel somewhat confused about Fenrir's actions not too long ago. "It's weird, here I thought Fenrir was just another heartless thug, but looks like I had him pegged all wrong. Wonder if there may be a possibility of us not having to fight each other someday, maybe even be friends."

Truthfully Kenichi didn't hate Fenrir, it took considerable effort to make Kenichi hate anybody. It was just everything he'd done up to that point made it seem like Fenrir wanted nothing more than to kill him and what he'd done to Miu not too long ago didn't exactly help. Yet now he actually helped rescue his sister and even knocked one of his fellow Ragnarock members around.

Kenichi actually found himself angrily rubbing his head in frustration at the seemingly endless puzzle that was Fenrir's actions and motives, "Dammit, I know the guy said we can't be friends but he still helped me out and took a big risk attacking Loki but still." The frustrated disciple continued to ruffle his hair angrily for several seconds until a voice he hadn't heard in a while brought him back to reality.

"So this is how my dad, Trains his number one disciple. Letting him sit on a porch why trying to pull his own hair out?"

Kenichi's brown eyes widened and his head quickly looked forward to be met with the sight of none other than Renka Ma, standing with a happy look on her face with one hand in a waving motion.

"Hey there Kenichi, its be awhile, how are you?"

Kenichi merely paused, just staring at the girl in front of him, surprised to say the least to see his sensei's daughter, wow he still wasn't used to saying that, now standing in front of him. Before he could react Renka's eyes quickly narrowed and slowly shifted to the sound of footsteps moving along in a creeping manner.

With a great deal of authority, like commanding a dog Renka shifted her finger outwards pointing towards the noise. "Hold it right there Daddy!"

Kenichi looked on only to find himself looking away slightly in shame at the sight of his Kenpo master currently sneaking towards the exit of Ryozanpaku like a some sneaker pervert, oh wait he was one. Regardless it was still shameful to see the man revered and respected as possibly the greatest master of Chinese Martial arts, using his skills to avoid talking with his daughter.

Kensei of course reacted almost immediately to his daughters call, slowly turning his head to face his daughter, looking at him with a disappointed gaze. Trying to play dumb he lightly waved to his daughter as if he intended to run into her, "Oh hello there Renka, I wasn't expecting to see you here. Um mind if I ask how you found me?"

Renka sighed at her father's poor attempt to bail himself out and placed her hands on her hips, "That's easy, I managed to get Hakubi to talk, he was actually very generous in giving the information. I was planning to make him so drunk he'd blab it out to me, but oh well, saved me some trouble." Kensei frowned at the sudden input imaging Hakubi laughing at him in his head, "Dammit Uncle, I thought you were on my side in this mess."

Of course the balding master saw little point in getting upset at his family betrayal, now thinking of a way to escape. Only problem was Renka came prepared with an X factor Kensei didn't count on.

"Sorry to interrupt Mr. Ma. However, why don't you just save us all a lot of pain and aggravation and just do as she says. You know Renka won't quit." Both Kensei and Kenichi's eyes widened considerably as the looked in the shadows behind Kensei to find Naruto standing there with his arms crossed, currently dressed in a black shirt, white jacket, jeans and black shoes. A bored and annoyed expression on his face as he stared down Renka's father though not before offering him a friendly wave.

Kenichi actually got out of his shock and quickly found himself little unnerved at the blondes' presence. In truth like with Fenrir, it wasn't that Kenichi didn't like Naruto especially considering how he'd helped save his and Renka's lives not long ago. Yet there was something about him that just made him feel uneasy, as if the boy were surrounded by an aura reminiscent of a battlefield. Still he was a friend of Renka's and she was Kenichi's friend now, sort of.

So with his mind working again he finally returned Renka's greeting and identified Naruto's presence, "Its nice to see you guys again, its been awhile. Glad you're both doing well." Renka offered him a brief glance and a smile though was prudent to not take her eyes of her slippery father. Naruto on the other hand merely glanced at him before resuming his glaze at Kensei, though he did offer him a few words.

"Seems like you've gotten a little bit better since the last time we saw each other Kenichi." The brown haired disciple actually found himself a little happy at the blondes praise, considering how well he'd fought against Sougetsu, which actually managed to ease his tense mind, if only a little.

"Thanks, what you said to me back when we first met really had an impact on me."

At that moment normally Naruto would have smirked as he once again had in impact on someones life. However, the blondes eyes were currently narrowed slightly, finding himself growing more uncomfortable being this close to his enemy and his masters. He was already regretting this little favor of Renka's but didn't have much of a choice at this point.

So with a sigh he returned his full attention to Kensei whose eyes were darting between the two before pointing at Naruto with an accusing finger, though his face was focused on Renka, "I can't believe you Renka, you actually dragged Naruto into this, that's hardly fair."

Renka however, snorted at his remark and pointed at him with a similar gesture, "Your one to talk about being fair, you left momma all alone in China to take care of your disciples so you could run off here and abandon your responsibilities. Besides.." Her face heated up slightly as she spoke, an action her father took note of despite her voice losing little force, "Naruto came because he wanted too, right Naruto."

Said Blonde who'd tried to stay out of the little spat between family members attempted to remain neutral, "Well honestly Renka I was kind of against this from the start cause it seems lik…" he promptly shut up as Renka glared at him before turning her glare to her father, now shaking like a leaf.

With an evil chuckle Renka quickly reached into her pocket, "You know Daddy, Momma's been really upset with you since you left, given all the work you dumped on her. Not to mention all the perverted stuff you've been doing right now. I wonder what she'd too you if…" Her hand quickly pulled out a small red cell phone that quickly opened with Renka's hand on the dial button. "I called her right now and told her exactly were you are?"

Kensei, the mighty Kung Fu master froze solid, sweat dripping down his body by the gallons looking at that phone as if it were the switch to an Electric Chair. In mere seconds he was at his daughters side, on his knees crying and begging her for mercy. "Renka PLEASE don't, Your mother will kill me if she finds me here." His mind quickly flashing to images of a shadowed woman, looking at him with fearsome eyes reminiscent of a wild tiger, eagerly awaiting to inflict the unholiest of pains upon him.

Sadly his groveling only served to make Renka's grin turn sinister, like she was enjoying it, "You know dad, I have mom's number on speed dial so all I have to do is press call and…"

Kensei now looked like he was gonna have a heart attack, his body paler than a bleached ghost. His eyes quickly shifted to Naruto in a pleading manner before moving over to him, "Naruto, please I'm begging you, make her stop please. I'll do anything, just don't let her make that call. She'll listen to you, I know she will, please." The sight of the grown man crying and begging truly creeped out the blonde and almost made him feel sorry for him. That is until he recalled exactly what said man had done to his wife which was a pretty assholish thing to do, reasons be damned. On top of that, this guy was like a short, bald version of Jiraya, someone Naruto enjoyed seeing suffer.

With that in mind he gained a sinister look of his own turning to Renka, "Renka if you make the call, I'll spring for the travel arrangements." Kensei went from pale to absolute white as he looked between the two, coming to a freighting realization.

"Its almost like this boy is a male version of Renka. A little bit more serious and composed mind you but the similarities are almost impeccable. You know, if it weren't for the current situation I'd probably be happy that my daughter somehow managed to find someone she so easily clicks with. Wait that's it, all I have to do is…"

"HEY What's all the racket out there?"

The four individual currently in the middle of a battle to decide the future existence of the great Kensei Ma, suddenly found their little war interrupted by the loud, bellowing and always drunk voice of Shio Sakaki, followed in close pursuit by the other masters of Ryozanpaku.

At the sight Kensei quickly got to his feet to avoid embarrassing himself while Renka merely offering the group a smile to mask her early intentions. However, Naruto felt himself go from uneasy to flat out paranoid. "Dammit, this is not good. Now I'm surrounded by Shirahama's masters, if I so much as take one step out of line I'll be screwed." Despite no longer having his chakra, the blonde could easily sense the immense power coming from each of the master level fighters. Some could argue that the people Naruto had faced in the past were much stronger, though that only applied to chakra skill. If they were going by raw physical skill, then his enemies would have been screwed against these people.

Doing his best the blonde attempted to calm himself and remain scarce as masters looked over Renka with an interesting eye while the girl introduced herself.

With a simple smile she bowed to the masters in a polite fashion, "Hello sorry for the interruption, my names Renka Ma, I'm Kensei's daughter. Thank you for looking after my father all this time." Sakaki quickly found himself laughing as he looked over Renka, finding it hard to believe the pervert could actually have kids at all. Akisame didn't seem too surprised, while Appachai and Shigure didn't seem too interested. Hayato of course being the dojo leader approached the girl with his normal happy look while stroking his beard.

"Well, its an honor to have you hear. Not often that we get to meet Kensei's family." Said master was currently sulking at the Elder's obvious implication of his attempts to avoid his family. Though it didn't take too long for the gazing eyes of the masters to land on the blonde standing not too far away.

The elder of course smiled at him too in a friendly manner, "Oh, and who may I ask is this the young man with you is." The eyes of the masters all fell on Naruto, who felt as if a massive weight had been placed on his shoulders. He actually gulped slightly at their presence but kept his uneasiness concealed.

Of course Renka, though she couldn't see her friends obvious uneasiness decided to take some of the attention away from him, "Sorry about that, this is my friend Naruto. He works with me a Gekirin and I kind of dragged him along on this little trip." The girl lightly rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment at having to admit she forced her friend to come along.

The masters took her words in stride as Hayato approached Naruto, whose heart quickly felt as if it were being clenched in a vice. The man standing before him was simply huge, easily seven feet tall, just slightly taller than his own master Sol. Though his face was joyous and peaceful, Naruto could tell just by looking at him that this man could destroy him with no effort. It made standing in the mans mere prescience difficult.

"There's no need to be so uptight young man."

The blonde's blue eyes widened and looked up to the face of the man towering over him, offering him a gentle, grandfather smile, "I may seem a bit intimidating but I can assure you I don't mean you any harm. I'd just like to personally welcome both you and Renka to Ryozanpaku." It didn't take long before Akisame quickly had made his way over to the teen as well. Looking at him with a calculating gaze.

"I must say, Kenichi spoke rather highly of you, how you saved both himself and Renka from Kensei's brother." The blonde shivered slightly trying his best to stay calm and maintain himself, offered the Jujitsu master a simple courteous look, "I appreciate the praise, but I didn't do anything too great. After all Sougetsu did knock me straight through a wall."

The blonde felt his tension increase at the feel of Hayato's massive palm on his shoulder, or rather his hand smothering his shoulder considering he could fit the whole damn thing in his palm. Said master merely offered him a kind look, "You mustn't look down upon your own abilities, fighting against any master would be difficult to merely escape from alive. Besides you did it to protect those important to you, a noble trait to be found in anyone."

Naruto actually felt his blue eyes widen slightly, and for the briefest moment he could swear he saw the Third Hokage standing in the Hayato's place, offering him that same grandfatherly smile that had managed to help bring him out of some of the darkest moments in his life. This brief flashback almost brought a tear to his eye.

Hayato could see all the emotions flowing through the boy's eyes and it made his gaze harden, if only for a moment. "Its just as Kensei described him. Eyes like those of one who has seen much in his young life, far more than anyone his age should ever be forced to see. So many emotions ripping through his eyes, like a violent storm howling in rage. What story do you hide behind those eyes of yours my boy?"

The old master attempted to pry further into the boys mind when a sound of a ladle and frying pan clashing together got the attention of all those present. Naruto was shaken from his thoughts and his focus brought to someone who made his eyes harden.

His for lack of a better word, main obstacle Miu Furinji still clad in her purple leotard though now with a yellow apron with orange spots draped over her body. Her face, held a very light hearted and happy gaze, completely different from any he'd seen on her in the past.

Her voice matched her more lighthearted demeanor, very chipper, "Hey everyone, dinner's almost…?"

The girl finally managed to pay notice to the two additional individuals whom she'd never seen before, though quickly adopting a very welcoming tone, "Oh hello there, I didn't know we'd be having guests over. I'm Miu, nice to meet you both."

Kenichi of course being the polite and sanest of those present at the moment introduced the two properly, "Miu these are some friends of mine I made a while back. That's Renka, Kensei's daughter." He pointed to Renka who offered her a slight wave and then his hand shifted to Naruto, "And that's her friend and coworker Naru…" The brown haired boy stopped mid sentence as in mere seconds the Blonde object of his affections had the other blonde wrapped in a very tight hug, tracing over his whisker markers while staring at them with massive doe eyes.

Naruto wasn't doing much better himself, his face currently red at the girls close proximity, though also having a hard time keeping himself from attacking the girl on reflex do in part to their prior clashes with each other. He attempted to speak to the currently ecstatic girl however, it was obvious she was in dream land.

"OH! Those marks on your face make you look like a little kitty cat. They're soooooo, Cute." The masters all sweat dropped at Miu's reaction towards the boys face marks, though Sakaki was chuckling at the boy's predicament. Appachai on the other hand was looking at Naruto as well with a similar look to Miu's, "Apa, Miu is right he does look like Kitty. I want to try." He quickly reached out his hand and made of move to pet the blondes face, causing Kenichi of all people to panic, knowing exactly what the Muay Thai masters hands could do to someone's face.

Thankfully for Naruto Akisame managed to keep the Muay Thai death god from advancing. Though he wasn't able to prevent Miu from in her cat obsessed mode from scratching against Naruto's whiskers like one would a cat, causing him to purr in response.

The girl let out a massive scream of happiness and continued the onslaught of cuddling.

Of all those present however, Kensei currently found himself shaking a little with a nervous twitch as his and not long after Kenichi's eyes drifted to a growing source of murderous intent. Said source was a rather PO'd Renka, currently glaring at Miu cuddling Naruto like a little kitty.

Kensei actually felt himself gulp in freight at the girls look, "Oh this isn't good, It's bad enough Renka is obvious interested in this boy but now Miu has to pull something like this. When Renka has her sight set on something she can become very competitive, especially with romance. I just hope she doesn't take things too far, like last time."

With a look of murderous jealousy Renka slowly contemplated her course of action and retaliation, musing over her anger towards the girl, "That Blonde, Balloon Chested Bimbo. Who said she could cuddle Naruto like that or touch his whisker marks like that. I haven't even gotten to do that yet." Her gaze quickly shifted to that of a squealing little girl as she recalled something, "But now I know that Naruto purrs if you scratch his cute whisker marks, ohhhh I have try that."

At that point however, she quickly shook herself free of such thoughts for another time returning to her thoughts one of jealous anger and revenge before adopting a menacing smirk, "Alright, bimbo you think you can move in on my man and think I won't retaliate. Well lets see how you like it when I do it to you." Her eyes slowly drifted to Kenichi, now apologizing to Naruto profusely after Miu had finally let go of him. Her evil smirk growing larger as she thought of her plan. Kensei merely sighed at the sight, looking at the two unsuspecting males with sorrow.

"Alas to be young and in love. All the joys and pains that come with it. Be prepared Naruto, though its fairly obvious, at least to me that you and Renka would be good for each other, lets see how well you can handle all the baggage that comes with her."

(Inside Ryozanpaku, Dinner table)

Kensei now found himself sighing considerably at how things were currently progressing with dinner. Needless to say it had gone from a little awkward to flat out war. The main participants in said war were…

"Here Kenichi, you can have some of my food, I'll even feed it too you."

"Naruto, could I please pet your whiskers again, Please?"

Yes said sounds of affection would normally mean that both pairs of teens had seemingly made serious progress in their romantic strides. There was just one problem: SAID GROUPS OR RATHER GIRLS WERE TRYING TO WOO THE OTHER GIRLS GUY.

After the little petting incident that took place not too long ago, Renka had become extremely jealous at Miu's incredibly close proximity to Naruto and as a form of retaliation/revenge said girl was now doing everything in her power to get close to Kenichi in order to piss the blonde off. As expected her plan did manage to irritate the blonde girl, who quickly returned the favor by increasing her efforts to get close to Naruto. It wasn't long before it became a contest to see which girl could piss the other off the most and didn't show any signs of stopping.

Despite the tension being built by the girls, the masters for the most part ignored the little spat with the exception of Kensei, paying close attention to Renka and Naruto. Finding himself somewhat uneasy though not in a frightened sense more of a mildly annoyed sense, "I really hope Miu tells Renka she doesn't have any interest in Naruto and Naruto starts to see my daughter the same way obviously does him. If she manages to get a boyfriend, then she'll finally leave me alone and more importantly not call her mother."

With another quiver of freight at the prospective thought of his wife coming to Japan Kensei looked on at the battle between the two girls. Miu was currently scratching Naruto's whiskers, and it was pretty easy to see he was uncomfortable, "Um Miu, not to sound rude or anything but do you think you could stop touching my face please. It feels really weird, especially considering you and I just met."

Renka actually perked up at the idea and smirked, though Miu quickly caught sight of the action and moved in by actually rubbing her cheek against the lines on the blue eyed blondes now red face.

"Oooh, but Naruto they're so soft and cute looking, I can't help but brush against them." She rubbed against his face with greater vigor and to add to the tension actually positioned herself so her large breasts actually pressed against his arm. The feel of which caused his face to go almost supernova.

"GAHHHH, Holy Crap, what the hell is with the girls in this city. They've all got huge boobs, I mean this girls are practically the same size as Renka's… Not quite as soft though. WAIT where did that come from?"

(CRACK)

Miu felt her grin grow while Naruto felt sweat drip down his neck as his eyes slowly drifted to an increasingly angry Renka, barely managing to keep a pleasant smile on her face while her chopsticks were currently broken in her hand. The muscles of her lips and cheeks were actually shaking at how much force she was exerting to keep it in place.

Miu of course made it a point to take advantage of the situation looking at the girl slyly, "Oh Renka, what's the matter are you feeling a little frustrated? If there's something the matter feel free to tell me so I can help."

With another smirk Renka's grip tightened even further as her mind was now a sea of violent images of her beating the living crap out of Miu, "OH you can help me alright… BY TAKING YOUR GRUBBY HANDS AND OVER SIZED KNOCKERS OFF NARUTO!"

It took a great deal of effort from the blue haired girl to keep from lunging over and strangling Miu but somehow Renka managed to keep calm. With a breath she slowly turned to Kenichi trying his best to remain inconspicuous.

With a slight grin she moved closer to Kenichi and lightly tapped him on the shoulder, while speaking in seemingly innocent voice, "Kenichi, do you think you could possibly lend me your chopsticks since I broken mine?" The Brown haired disciple lightly turned to his Kenpo master for a way out of this time bomb situation, only to get the left side of his master's head.

"Thanks a lot Master."

Lightly griping his chopsticks he slowly handing them to Renka offering a hesitant grin, "Sure Renka, here you go." The girl took them quickly from his hands, though with a sly grin she quickly shifted her wrist slightly to knock the chopsticks to the floor.

With a look of mock embarrassment Renka looked to Kenichi and then the downed utensils, "Oh, sorry about that Kenichi. I can be such a klutz sometimes, here I'll get them."

The girl quickly leaned forward to pick up the wooden utensils and at first it seemed perfectly fine. That is until Kenichi looked a little closer and quickly brought his hands to his noise to prevent blood from flying out as he now had a clear view of Renka's breasts from the gap at the top of her dress. He quickly tightened his grip as Renka shifted from side to side, causing her already magnetic breasts to shift and bob from side to side, adding to their allure.

Renka all the while was laughing in her mind as her attempt to distract Kenichi was working perfectly, "Take that Blondie."

(Grip…CRACK!)

Kenichi was quickly brought out of dreamland by the sound of cracking wood. He slowly shivered as he felt that temperature of the room drop several degrees before slowly turning to Miu, no longer cuddling Naruto's face and instead staring off in Renka's direction. Her eyes now pupil less and white, in a somewhat scary comic fashion while her hand was clamped firmly on the table, several cracks forming.

Renka however, now properly seated upwards took it as a direct challenge and responded with a glare of her own. It was only a matter of seconds before people could literally see sparks coming out of their eyes.

Kensei was now starting to really panic as he watched his daughter and Miu look ready to strangle each other. That is until he took note of some off about Naruto, who was looking at Kenichi with a somewhat violent glare, his hands clenched rather tightly almost to the point of shaking.

The sight of this actually brought Kensei out of his fear and actually smiling, "Well well, looks like Miu isn't the only one not too keen on having Kenichi looking down Renka's shirt. This could actually work out in my favor Hehehe…. Though that look in his eyes, its familiar somehow, strange."

Kensei wasn't the only one picking up on the boys gaze, both Akisame and Sakaki felt themselves stricken with a case of déjà vu. Shigure however, looked upon the boys facial expression from a different angle.

"His eyes say much, they've witnessed many deaths and much pain in the past. He's no ordinary teen, he could be a threat." The weapon mistress actually reached below the table and pulled a set of kunai knifes from her belt. She prepared to act when her eyes caught sight of Akisame. His gaze quickly told the young weapon user to halt her action, given the other people present and not wishing to cause a fuss.

Attention soon became refixed on the girls still glaring at each other rather fiercely. Naruto had by now dropped his harsh glare and had taken the time to gaze at those around the room. "Man, I feel like I'm walking on pins and needles around these people. If I make even one step out of line it'll blow my cover, these guys may act stupid and goofy but I know what they are capable of."

"If you wanted to remain out of their line of sight then you probably shouldn't have glared at your enemy."

The blondes eyes quickly widened at the familiar bellowing voice he hadn't heard in a while. "Fox, where the heck have you been all this time, I haven't heard from you since the incident at Gekirin."

"Don't blame me, its hard to communicate with you because of this blasted seal. I've been trying to find someway around it."

At that remark Naruto felt his pulse increase at the prospect of perhaps being able to used his chakra again, "I thought you said the seal was unbreakable."

"That's what everyone said about the seal the Fourth put on me the first time and we already proved that wrong."

Naruto actually found himself getting more hopeful by the second however, the foxes next words dashed that hope. "Don't get too excited kit, I said trying not succeeding. This seal is strong and I can't seem to find any weak point around it."

Ex-ninja found himself mentally slouching his shoulders in defeat, "Well I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Even though I haven't really needed my chakra up to this point, I feel empty without it almost. Hell I'd be happy if I had enough chakra just to make a clone or transform."

There was a brief pause between the mental conversation between the demon and ninja before he spoke again, "Listen brat, I'm not crazy about it either and stop complaining so much about it, it doesn't suite you. I'll keep trying to find away around the seal, who knows you might not be able to use all your chakra but maybe at least some of it or mine."

Naruto's ears perked at the idea and the thought of having his chakra actually brought a smile to his face, "Guess having some hope is better than none. Thanks fox."

"Don't get friendly with me boy. We're not friends in any regard. Anyway you should be focusing on other things, like avoiding drawing attention to yourself just because your mate is flirting with your enemy."

Naruto's face suddenly exploded red at the implication, reminding himself of his little mishap at Gekirin not to long ago. "DAMMIT FOX, Renka's not my mate, she's just a very close friend of mine."

The blondes inner demon scoffed, "Just a close friend my nine tailed ass. You really think I buy into that BS. Lie to yourself all you want Kit, however, I've been watching everything you've done up to this point and I can tell you have strong feelings for that girl whether you want to admit it or not."

The Blonde geared up to make a retort but think back he suddenly realized that to an extent the fox was right. His eyes slowly drifted to Renka, though she was still glaring at Miu, the blonde felt his face heat up a little. His mind quietly drifted to a number of images of their past interactions. Unlike the members of Ragnarock who the blonde may have trusted to an extent, he always felt like he had to hide a good chunk of himself from them, having to hide his face behind a mask as if to hide his true self.

With Renka however, he didn't need to do that. At first he may have been a bit hesitant, as time past the blonde slowly began to actually feel like his old self and even shared sides of himself with her he'd never shown his comrades in Ragnarock. Even more so Renka genuinely cared about him and he cared about her, far more than he did any of his other friends. It made the blonde question

"What is Renka too me? I mean she's a really good friend and I care about her a lot but, Is she just my close friend or maybe…"

Naruto could suddenly feel the hairs on the back of his neck rise up as he felt a familiar hand brush against his cheek causing him to tighten up and his eyes to quickly shift to the source, his hand ready to strike.

However, he loosened up when he saw it was Miu looking at him somewhat curious of his behavior, "Everything okay Naru….?"

She was quickly silenced when Renka shoved her out of the way and got close to the blondes face before smacking him upside the head. Causing the originally stoic and panic blonde to yelp in pain, those watching flinching/snickering at his agony.

The blonde however, held his head while looking at Renka with an agitated look, "Okay, seriously Renka what is it with you and hitting me upside the head. Do you secretly enjoy hurting me or something?" Renka merely shook her head at his response, "Well sorry Naruto but I find that when you go into one of you little mind trips, hitting you is the best way to wake you up."

Kensei found himself chuckling some more at the girls response before throwing in his own two cents, "Better get used to it my boy, Renka's mother did the exact same thing to me every time I spaced out during dates. You'll get used to it."

Naruto and Renka both suddenly ignited in the face at the crack, true Kensei could obviously tell there was more to Naruto than he led on, that didn't mean he still didn't feel the boy wasn't a right fit for his daughter. Thus decided it was his fatherly duty to help him steer the boy on the right path, even if it meant embarrassing him and his daughter to do so.

After another minute or two of silence Akisame slowly raised himself up, "Well I believe that's enough fun for now. Kenichi why don't you show Renka and Naruto around while we clean up?" Kenichi, thankful that little war between Renka and Miu was put on hold nodded. Both Renka and Naruto slowly followed, though Naruto took a brief glance at the masters. True his mind may have been focused on other matters, that didn't mean he'd forgotten where he was or who he was surrounded by.

The masters merely offered him a casual wave, which he took as a gesture to leave. Miu paused for a moment, taking in the fact the person she'd been having a silent war with was gone before taking note of the current situation, "Guess I'd better start cleaning up."

The blonde with a sigh quickly gathered up the plates and left the room leaving the masters alone and silent for a moment.

"I take it you all picked up on it as well?" Akisame spoke rather calmly, as all the other masters had now adopted more serious looks, even Apachai. Kensei however, didn't look nearly as for lack of a better word on edge as the others.

"I had my suspicions after seeing how well he managed to handle Sougetsu. Even if he didn't manage to hurt him in the end, no person could do that kind of damage without serious training. Though I never would have suspected him of being our disciples newest enemy"

Shigure's eyes slowly shifted upwards, able to easily determine the teen's current location. Her hand slowly reached into her shirt, "So should we.." A pair of kunai knives and shuriken were slowly pulled out as the weapon mistresses face was deadly serious as she paused mid sentence before continuing, "Deal with him?"

Of the remaining Masters, Apachai and Sakaki both looked eager to act while Akisame and Kensei seemed content with leaving things as they were. Of course all the masters were silenced when the Elder raised his own hand to get their attention.

"Now, lets not do anything too rash here. After all the boy hasn't really done anything to merit harsh treatment at this point." True the Elder was slightly peeved about what happened to Miu, he wasn't the type of person to go crazy on some teenager just cause he knocked his granddaughter around. After all even the Elder's weakest would be considered overkill.

The other masters seemed content with the Elder's response though Akisame still seemed interested in the boy, "Even if we can't necessarily attack him, that doesn't mean we shouldn't keep an eye on him. After all there is far more to that boy then meets the eye."

Hayato actually felt himself tense up slightly at the notion. Though all the masters knew some of the blondes secrets, there was currently one only the Elder knew. A secret he intended to reveal very soon to a certain ex ninja.

(Time Change Night)

"Ah what a pleasant night, perfect time for tea."

Hayato was currently seated out on the porch of the Dojo, simply sipping tea and enjoying the night air. He slowly brought the cup up to his lips with the steam from the cup under his nose.

"You know, if you want to speak with me my dear boy you just have to ask."

The wise Elder's eyes drifted off into the darkness of the dojo to reveal Naruto looking at him with an uneasy expression, though it was pretty obvious he was serious about something.

Of course his somewhat harsh look didn't faze the Invincible Elder in the slightest as he once again sipped his tea quietly. After about a minute he slowly placed the tea on a coaster nearby his eyes still closed, "Drinking tea during the night can be so refreshing. You should consider trying it, might ease up the tension you've been feeling since you got here, Naruto." After a moment his eyes opened revealing a more serious gaze as he spoke with in an equally humorless tone, "Or would you prefer I call you Fenrir?"

The Blonde body tensed at the causing the Elder to drop his serious visage almost instantly with a chuckle. With a somewhat rough snort the blonde quickly appeared in front of the Elder not far away. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised you figured it out. What I'm wondering is why you or the others have pulled anything. I figured you would have wanted nothing more than to get a crack at me after what I did to your disciple and granddaughter."

Hayato paused briefly, allowing the wind to blow through him, Naruto actually felt his pulse start to race out of fear of this powerful man not even reacting. After a moment the Elder looked Naruto dead in the eye and Naruto actually jumped back a little.

He quickly looked back to see the Elder smiling at him and chuckling in a mirthful laugh, "HAHA, no need to get so jumpy my boy, I'm not going to hurt you or anything."

Naruto seemed confused at his response and aimed to retort but Hayato beat him to the punch, "I admit I was a bit angry at what happened to Miu and Kenchi. However, I also realize that I can't protect Miu from everything in this world nor can she continue this path without being harmed, the same with Kenichi. If I were to come to their aide and fight all their battles for them, then they'd never grow as martial artists and instead become reliant on me."

His tone was wise, containing obvious years of experience and wisdom. It actually reminded Naruto a lot of how Sol talked when he was serious. Kinda of actually made the blond miss the eccentric Capoeria Master.

"Though…"

Naruto's eyes quickly widened as apparently Hayato wasn't done talking, "I don't get it, what else could he have to say?"

Hayato's tone had shifted from wise to serious again though he had an odd smirk on his face, "I had another reason for not trying to attack you." The old Elder took a long sip of his tea, quickly finishing it off before placing it back and looking at Naruto with a serious face.

"I've been meaning to ask you, hows Sol doing these days?"

(Ninth Fist End)

That's right folks, I'm ending it on a cliffhanger. Don't like it well too bad, cause I enjoy it. Anyway so yeah turns out Hayato knows Sol, in a big way that will be revealed in the future. Also a bit more romantic development, I know some parts are a little cliché but cut me a break I'm not perfect at this thing so ease up on any bashing. Note that this is kind of a two part chapter with Naruto at Ryozanpaku, basically encompassing the Epsiode of the series where Renka shows up. Felt it would be better to divide it into two chapters rather than one long one. Though there will be good things to come and I hope you've enjoyed this chapter so far. Expect more in the future. Also check out my other stories including my new comedy story When Tobi Watches TV. For those of you who've read When Sasori Gets Bored well heres the sequel you've been asking for. Check it out.

Things to Address, you know the drill stuff I know you'll ask about and I have to explain.

Hermit not Leaving Ragnarock: Okay for those of you who've watched the series up to this point you know Hermit leaves the group after the fight with Kenichi. Here however, I felt it would be better if he stuck around for a bit cause well one of the main reasons he left was cause he didn't have any real reason to stay. However, with Naruto he feels he at least has an ally he can confide in and also realizes that if he leaves now it'll be more trouble for the kid.

Naruto Living at Gekirin: Simple reason I thought it would be a good time to do this and well what better development then have the two live together right. Beyond that Naruto left Hermit's place cause he knows Loki may try to pull something and it would probably be better if Naruto lived some place else that Loki doesn't know about. Believe Me Naruto is actually very skilled at being Stealthy and has kept his life at Gekirin secret from everyone. Also Loki doesn't strike me as the type of person to spy on the other fists, mostly because he wouldn't want to waste his spy network. Plus he's on thin ice with Odin so yeah not a good time to pull anything.

The Date Incident: Okay, I know Naruto's smarter in this fic but come on, if a girl walked up to you and said something like that well, what would you think. After all it seems kind of likely plus I figured it would be a good joke. Is it a perfect Joke no, but I felt it would be a good element to throw in.

Masters figuring Naruto out: I don't think I have to explain this cause really would you expect anything less. I mean these guys may suck at a lot of things but Sensing hostile threats or being able to pick up on things like a persons eyes and the intent they hold well you get the idea. Naruto may be a good ninja but even he Kaksshi or the Hokage couldn't keep a secret from these people, plain and simple.

Elder's Relation to Sol: You'll have to wait for that one

The Fox Appearing and the Seal: Okay first off, I felt adding the fox would be good since he hasn't been around. The main reason for that is the seal on him makes it hard for the fox to directly talk with him, only appear occasionally, kind of like having a lousy cell phone reception. As for the seal, well people have been bugging me constantly of whether or not Naruto will get his chakra back. As it stands I don't know, might happen, might not I'm not sure. However, I added this so people know it's a possibility and give some fans some hope. Not saying it will happen just saying it might.

The Romance: Okay, if anyone has any sort of problem with any of the romance in this story all I can say is I HAVE NO EXPERIECNE AT THIS STUFF. Sorry but I want to make it clear this is the first Romance story I have written and it's a little tricky. I can't promise it will be a perfect romance between the two and there may be some lame moments in the story. All I can promise is I will try my best to give you a good story. That's all I can do.

Okay, now before I go

- Omake –

Title: Off the List

Ukita, Takeda and the others stared down at Loki, currently hiding his face in embarrassment at having his goggles stolen.

Miu looked at the blue haired fist in confusion, "I don't get why Loki's covering his face, he's actually pretty good looking from what I can tell."

Ukita frowned at that notion though Takeda quickly entered the fray, "Yeah, actually Loki on the list of the Top Five most attractive guys in Ragnarock."

Ukita smirked at the mention of the infamous list the girls in Ragnarock made, "Yeah I'm on the list along with Takeda and Hermit."

"Actually Ukita there's something you should know."

The tall sunglasses wearing Judo user looked down to find Number Twenty standing not far away.

She quickly pulled out a laptop and opened the screen so Ukita could get a good look at it. After about a minute of staring he wordlessly walked over to a nearby tree and started sulking.

Takeda looked at his friend curiously, "Yo Ukita what's the problem man."

The Judo user pointed towards Number 20's computer who quickly started explaining, "Sorry but we've been meaning to tell you guys that Ukita lost his spot on the list after Fenrir joined."

Ukita's sulking increased tenfold while Takeda looked surprised before turning his attention to the mask covered fist, "How can you even tell what he looks like. You can't even see his face?"

Number Twenty quickly heated up at the mention, "What can we say, we like the mysterious type."

After that moment, Ukita's selfesteem took a huge nosedive which wouldn't recover until he eventually got a girlfriend. Of course this was after he tried to look mysterious by wearing a sky mask to school and then getting arrested for being mistaken for a burglar.

-End-

Well that's all I have for today. So check out my other stories and look forward to more updates in the future. Till Next Time, Agurra out.