Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. All of you have probably noticed that the further the story progresses the less Guruko's personal perspective is seen. This is purposely done not because I'm losing the plot or my original idea but to show the widening scope of those who are beginning to see what's going on with Naruto. Guruko and Naruto are the main characters but I like the feel of how I'm doing this. Don't worry. After everything settles a little the plot will go back to a lot of Gur/Naruto stuff. My point in using Guruko was to gain an objective view from someone outside the normal cast who… 1) Could not do much to aide Naruto's plight 2) Was not an actually Oc but rather a never used before character of Kishimoto's creation. 3) An animal because I love cats and dogs and desperately wish Naruto had a pet. ^-^ P.S Huge fan of Bared Naked but seriously kills me that three shinobi are turned into cats in the least plausible and believable way possible. Love it just wish it was more… 'I can actually see that happening in the Naruto world.' You know? Chapter 14: Ino's brilliant prank Shikamaru Nara rubbed his forehead much in the same manner as a certain Chuunin instructor back in his academy days. Seven days. They had been trying to find and talk to Naruto for seven long days. The genius had come to a very rational and well thought out conclusion; everyone was conspiring against them. It was the only plausible explanation for how'd they'd missed the small genin at every turn. They'd gone to the training grounds where team 7 met early Tuesday only to find that the blonde never showed up and left a furious Sakura. They decided to wait till later after training before going to the ramen stand where Naruto was known to frequent. After that came up empty they'd been forced to ask around for an address to where Naruto lives. When their search came up unsuccessful they gave up for the night. Wednesday they finally caught someone who not only knew where Naruto lived, but also knew that Naruto would be at the academy the next day for a shinobi life lecture, Konohamaru. So they arrived at the academy on Thursday… but Naruto never showed up. It was almost funny to see Konohamaru spout a fit nearly as bad as Sakura's. It worried them though that Naruto hadn't showed up when he promised he would. Naruto didn't break promises without a really good reason. Friday they'd gone to his apartment only to find he wasn't home and then to the missions desk to discover he'd just finished a meeting with Tsunade. They then ran into Jeraiya who said he'd just talked to Naruto not but thirty minutes before hand and that the blonde was on his way home. They'd rushed off toward their friends home only to find Naruto had not gone home. It was at this point that the Nara was considering the idea that perhaps Naruto somehow knew they wanted to talk to him and had been purposely avoiding them all week. Chouji slumped onto the bench in front of the shady store they'd stopped in front of after they'd checked Naruto's apartment again. After which the duo preceded to turn in the wrong direction and got lost. "Troublesome." Shikamaru muttered as he peered up at the darkening sky. It was late Sunday and his mother would be expecting him home soon. Shikamaru sighed loudly and was about to sit down when someone bumped into him. Shikamaru stumbled back in surprise. A hand shot out and steadied him even as Chouji was standing. Shikamaru followed the arm to find a young boy, younger than himself at least, dressed in black pants and a long sleeved black shirt. A black bandana hid his hair, if he had any, and black bandages covered him beneath his eyes to just above his chin. "Sorry, sorry, I'm late for work!" The boy said as he made to hurry on his way. Shikamaru saw only the briefest flash of blue before the boy turned from him. Suddenly the boy stilled with a foot still in the air as if Shikamaru stopped him with one of his shadow jutsu. The boy lowered his foot to the ground and turned slightly, peering at him and Chouji as if they were circus attractions, before he came full circle. "What?" Chouji asked as the big teen looked down at himself. "What are clan brats doing in this neighborhood? Got lost?" The boy asked, Shikamaru noted with curiosity that there was no animosity when he asked, merely a tinge of confusion. Chouji sputtered indignantly. "Sort of," Shikamaru admitted with a sigh, "we were looking for a friend and lost our way." The boy nodded his head in thought. "Maybe if you tell me who your looking for I can help you out." The boy said. "We're looking for Naruto Uzumaki, have you heard of him?" Shikamaru asked. The boy stared at him, longer than was comfortable, before slowly nodding. "He lives in the Lamplighters apartment complex." The boy answered hesitantly. "We know that. He's not there. Do you know where he might be?" Shikamaru asked. "No idea. He should be in the Hokage's tower all day tomorrow though, said something about filing." The boy said with a shrug. The boy turned and began walking away. "Wait!" Shikamaru called out. The boy stilled in surprise. "What?" There was an unrecognizable edge to the boy's voice. "How do we get to the main market place from here?" Shikamaru asked. "So why exactly are you going to be working in the office this week?" Guruko asked in confusion. The dog walked beside Naruto along the side streets leading up to the Hokage tower. For some reason or another Naruto seemed to avoid the main street like the plague. Even though the main street was the easiest way to get to the Inuzuka compound Naruto had dragged them through a dozen side streets around the road to get to it instead. When questioned about the action Naruto just shrugged and said it was 'quieter.' The loudest genin walking down side streets because they were quieter? Guruko refrained from asking the blonde to elaborate; he had this strange feeling that it would only make his headache worse. "I'm going because Baa-chan wants to test how much filing can get done with the use of shadow clones. Your coming because you insisted on accompanying me all day long." Naruto explained calmly despite the fact that the dog had asked the same question three times that morning. After all 'calmly' didn't necessarily mean 'patiently.' The dog snorted as he looked up at Naruto with his eyes squinted. "Why have you been so quiet this weekend? Even when you had the flu you were talkative." Guruko asked. "I don't know. I've just been annoying you so I thought it would be better to give you a break before Kakashi gets here." Naruto replied absentmindedly. Guruko paused as his headache spiked and an image of the blonde in front of him came to mind, but this one was of Naruto standing subconsciously in front of the Inuzuka's main doors, arms gently squeezing him as a young women answered the door. Hana. "Hey I got a deal for you; if I totally embarrass myself or I'm doing something wrong and I don't know it pretend your having a horrible stomach ache so that we can go home, okay?" Guruko blinked as Naruto's voice drifted to his ears, but one look at the blonde beside him told the dog that Naruto hadn't spoken. Where had that come front? Guruko continued to walk, eyes wandering over to the blonde from time to time, and attempting to put down the newly risen headache. Why had it come back? He'd finally gotten rid of it sometime Saturday morning. A thought suddenly struck him along with a spike in pain. 'When did I start talking to Naruto?' The dog thought long and hard as they walked and yet he couldn't come up with an answer. Not only could he not remember when he started talking to the genin, but he couldn't remember why he'd started talking. The two made it to the tower without incident. Guruko watched Naruto knock on the door and smiled as a string of vial curses rang through the air from the newly risen Tsunade. It was early. Really early. Seven-o-clock early. Naruto smiled cheerfully. Naruto opened the door and Guruko took the liberty of prancing in first to see the grumpy Hokage. For some reason, despite the fact that Guruko was not an early riser, he'd not been bothered by having to get up so early. Guruko looked around and was confused when he didn't see Tsunade behind her desk. The dog's eye's wandered around the room and snickered when they landed on the haggard Hokage sitting up from the couch in the corner, hair sticking out from odd angles, clothes rumpled. "Morning Baa-chan!" Naruto called in a loud, cheerful voice. Tsuande rubbed her eye's with her right hand while rolling and messaging her shoulders with her left. Tsunade spoke in a hoarse whisper. "Brat. I've spent the last forty-eight hours performing emergency surgery on two newbie anbu brats who didn't think that an assassination target would have equally powerful guards. Lower. Your. Voice." "Right." Naruto chirped with a salute. Tsunade groaned as she stretched and yawned. She blinked a few times and gave her office a searching look before sweeping across the room and digging into her cabinet. The aging women pulled out a can sized bottle of sake before putting her lips to her mouth and making a shushing sound to the two. Guruko snickered. Naruto gave her an amused sigh of exasperation. "Alright Naruto," Tsuande started as she tipped the small bottle back and took a swig, "We've got a couple of things to talk about today before you start your qualification week. You will be working directly under Shizune and will report to her at all times." Guruko frowned as he listened, confusion marring his face. "Qualifications for what?" Guruko spoke up. Naruto fidgeted nervously and refused to look at the dog which immensely confused him. Tsunade too frowned. "Naruto, haven't you informed your team or Guruko?" Tsunade asked. Naruto shook his head. "Qualifications for what?" Guruko repeated. "If Naruto does well in this preliminary run for clone filing then I'll be keeping Naruto as a permanent part of the office staff. He will be removed from Kakashi's team with the exception of participating in the next Chuunin Exam. Of course this means we'll be missing Naruto for a while because of his trip with Jeriaya in a few short months, but I'd rather have all the qualification stuff done before he goes." Tsunade answered. Guruko's head spiked again only worse this time. An image of Naruto lying on the floor of the bathroom flashed through his head and disappeared again before he could grasp it. Words whispered in his pointed ears; "I'm sorry." "For what?" Guruko shook his head roughly and a whine escaped through his black rimmed lips. Why wouldn't his head stop hurting? What were the images he couldn't seem to remember? "Guruko?" Naruto's voice came again. Guruko laid down and whined. Was it really his voice or another vision? Hands reached out and gently messaged his head. The small fingers felt like a cool rush of water to his aching skull. The arms picked him up and held him to somebody's chest. "I'm sorry," Naruto whispered into his ears, "just don't try to remember." He knew. Guruko knew that was Naruto's real voice. Guruko whined as he was set down on a couch. He was only minimally aware that it was outside of the office that he was placed. "Shhhh, just go to sleep Guruko, Kakashi will be back soon and your headaches will go away. They won't ever bother you again." Naruto told him. Fingertips touched his forehead again and what felt like water rushed over him. The water enraptured him in a blissful and painless darkness that protected him, but for some reason he didn't want to go. Guruko fell asleep. Naruto walked back into the office where Tsunade stood with an eyebrow quirked. Naruto shrugged nonchalantly before explaining. "He's been having nasty headaches lately. Hana said they were caused by the operation needed for his leg and that they'll go away soon." The blonde easily lied as he sat back in one of the guest chairs. Tsunade nodded her head in understanding. There were a number of medications used on animals that had such side effects after an operation. "Shizune will fill you in on everything else when she gets here, but for now I would like to take a diagnosis for your heart." Tsunade gently prodded. "And I need you to remove your jacket and shirt. In depth diagnosis require skin contact with the area of concern." Naruto fiddled with the hem of his jacket as he let the words sink in. It was Tsunade, the women he saw as a big sister or even as a motherly figure, but it was still an immensely uncomfortable thought. The only time he'd been in any state of undress in the presence of a female was… Hesitantly he unzipped and shrugged out of his jacket before more carefully pulling his shirt over his head. Naruto looked away as the developing blush on his cheeks darkened. He didn't want to see her face when she looked at him because even if she wasn't Syne he knew that he would probably freak out. Naruto took a deep breath to steady his nerves as he stared down at the tiled floor. It was a completely different situation but the familiar rise of shame and helplessness came over him and he had to struggle to not let those emotions show on his face. He heard Tsunade's throat hitch as she took in his body and unintentionally flinched. 'What is she thinking?' Naruto wondered worriedly. His fingers tugged at the edge of the jacket laying on his lap and Naruto was forced to still them when warm fingers touched his stomach. Naruto felt the urge to spring back or push her away, but with hard won control managed to beat back the feeling. Tsunade's fingers traced his ribs, touching each one as if she were counting them, before finally resting on the area over his heart. A sudden warmth spread across his chest and Naruto guessed that she'd begun the diagnosis jutsu. The older and younger blonde stayed in that position for nearly fifteen minutes before the green chakra died down and disappeared. Tsunade let out a shaky breath as she removed her hands from Naruto's chest. "You can put your shirt back on Naruto." Tsunade informed him. Naruto nodded without looking at her and quickly slipped his shirt back on. With his chest covered Naruto finally found he could look in Tsunade's direction. The woman's face was stony and she appeared to be in deep thought. The silence that filled the room caused Naruto to fidget, his foot pressing down and heel lifting, hand unconsciously moving up to rub the back of his neck. Tsunade bit her lip and sighed heavily. "Naruto, did anything happen about two or three years ago?" Tsunade asked. Naruto jerked in surprise. His foot stopped moving. His hand fell to his side. Blue eyes simply widened before narrowing before his body stiffened. "No… nothing happened. Where did that come from? How could something that happened years ago be effecting my heart now?" Naruto asked, a touch of anger in his voice. Tsunade bit the tip of her thumb as she looked through her wide open windows. A cool breeze battered the glass pains on either side so that a rhythmic thumping noise reverberated through the office. "The diagnosis of your heart told me that the damage after your operation was nearly nonexistent. In the interrogation with Ibiki it was found that the doctor assumed that you wouldn't have been able to survive the horrible experience and would have died during surgery. Apparently the doctor back then thought that as long as no one found anything in the autopsy that no one would blame him. He obviously didn't expect you to survive or the Third to have one of his personal medics analyze the 'medication' given to you during the procedure." Tsunade sighed again and messaged her forehead. "The diagnosis revealed that for some reason your heart came under a great deal of stress about two or three years ago and that it has not let up. Whatever it is I can't find it, but it's like your heart is being squeezed by an outside source. It's been slowly widening the damaged area and if we hadn't caught it now you would have been in deep trouble in a year or so. Shizune was right when she said the chamber was damaged and needs to be opened up in order to repair it with medical sealing." Tsunade explained. To all this Naruto just nodded numbly. Doctor tried to kill him. Gotcha. Syne was accidentally killing him with the torture seal she'd placed over his heart. Right. Tsunade wanted to strap him down to a table and open up his heart again… Still adjusting to information. "I would like to get the operation underway this Saturday if possible. The sooner we take care of it the better. And that means no training until then. While the damage isn't particular dangerous at the moment any kind of antagonizing against it could cause the damage to widen. It's a miracle that Kabuto's attack didn't kill you, but thankfully he merely cut the chakra flow to your heart rather than attacked the actually organ. It will take a while for your heart to recover afterwards, even for you, I would expect a few weeks of bed rest." Tsunade explained softly. Tsunade wanted him to have an operation on his heart in five days… The small genin stood up abruptly, slammed out of the office, pushed his way into the closest bathroom to promptly empty his stomach. 'Fuck me…' Shizune kept a close eye on the green faced genin while instructing him on the finer arts of where everything was and what needed to be done first. Naruto would shake his head in understanding or ask a question for clarification once in a while. By time nine o clock rolled around there were ten clones sitting studiously on any handy space, pens filling out papers, and eyes scanning dreary propositions and reports. Shizune was quick to find that Naruto rarely made a mistake. She'd patiently gone through any errors with him of which he would give a sheepish apology before correcting them. Apparently the Sadaime had used his paperwork as a means to teach Naruto how to read and write rather than children's books or blank paper. The Third would have Naruto copy anything the man was working on and then have Naruto read it to him and question him about what he read. Due to these circumstances Naruto knew much more about the politics and workings of Konoha than most Chuunin. Shizune was ecstatic when twelve o clock came around and nearly a weeks worth of paperwork sat finished with the more important documents waiting for Tsunade to look over in a separate pile. It was around this time that Izumo came into the room with a pile of documents from the downstairs mission room. The man waved merrily to the small blonde who at first seemed surprised, but returned his wave with an enthusiastic grin. Before any of the three could say a word a loud boom came from the room below. "I have once more tromped my energetic students in a race! Even though I am the winner I think it is more than obvious that my beloved students deserve a wonderful meal on my tab! Do you not agree?" Gai's loud and exuberant voice filled the room. Izumo snickered while Shizune wore a look of bemusement. Naruto just grimaced. "We'll it appears Gai's team is back from their C-rank mission to the Land of Bears. It was just my luck that I managed to miss him in order to bring up these papers huh?" Izumo stated with a grin. "Nothing to do with seeing Anko high tailing it out of the room screaming about running for our lives." Izumo whispered the last part to Naruto, giving the kid a wink. Naruto snickered. Following the advise of the kid from the night before Shikamaru almost screamed out in triumph when he and Chouji caught sight of Naruto. Naruto was finishing up putting a stack of papers in their appropriate places in a tall, gray filing cabinet. Despite the urge to raise his voice born of hours or frustration and annoyance he managed to squash it nastily beneath a rock and walk up to the blonde quietly. It was late afternoon and they'd just gotten back from a series of D-rank missions assigned to them for the day. Shikamaru tapped the blonde on the shoulder who hurriedly stood up and smiled. "Hey Shikamaru, Chouji, what's up?" Naruto asked cheerily. Shikamaru tilted his head. Why did it almost seem like Naruto had been expecting them? Shikamaru felt Chouji stiffen beside him as the big boned teen scrutinized their old classmate. Shikamaru wondered what it was that Chouji was seeing that he couldn't. He saw the dark rings under the boy's eyes but with his large orange jacket it was difficult to tell that the blonde had lost weight. Chouji was far better trained than he was to see health problems and discerning a person's size through clothing. It was kinda scary seeing his blonde friend looking so sick and casual at the same time. Like he was used to it. It was with a nauseous realization that he probably was. How could he not have noticed in the academy? Chouji moved in first, concern shining in his eyes. "Hey Naruto." Chouji greeted, offering the blonde some of his chips. "No thanks Chouji, I'm good." Naruto replied. "We wanted to talk to you." Shikamaru said, cutting strait to the point. "Oh… well I'm afraid your gonna have to hurry cause I've only got about a minute or so of chakra left." Naruto said sheepishly. "Huh?" Chouji asked in confusion. Shikamaru scowled angrily. "You're a clone!" Shikamaru demanded in frustration. "Yeah, I'm already on my way home with Guruko and Shizune-san. Boss just got me to stay to finish up this little bit." The Naruto clone explained. "Can you give Naruto a message for us?" Chouji asked. Shikamaru was about to tell Chouji that the clone was about to disappear and couldn't do such a thing because clones can't communicate with it's creator when the clone interrupted him. "Sure, what is it?" The clone asked. Shikamaru sighed in exasperation. Apparently Naruto, a famed clone user, didn't even know that simple fact. It was just like the dead last of the academy to forget a rule of his own style. "We need to talk to Naruto. Can you tell him to meet us at the old park we use to play at around five tomorrow?" Chouji asked. The clone visibly frowned, but nodded. "Alright." The clone said. "The clone doesn't have time to give the message to Naruto, Chouji. Clones can't communicate with their creator." Shikamaru butted in. The clone frowned again. "Boss always remembers what…" The clone's body dissipated into smoke. "This is far beyond troublesome." Shikamaru muttered despairingly. Chouji laughed. Ino Yamanaka giggled quietly to herself as she made her way done the main street market of Konoha's shopping district Tuesday afternoon. There was a slight swagger in her walk and a perk in her step. What she had planned had been long coming; a prank on the prank master of the rookie twelve. Let it be known far and wide what a great sense of humor she has! She was NOT high strung and she COULD take a joke unlike what Shikamaru and Chouji said. She was fun and unpredictable and would not bore any boyfriend she had like Shikamaru had claimed. And she was NOT simply pulling this prank because of their comments… their remarks didn't bother her one bit. … Maybe a little. She had considered for a time pranking Shikamaru or Chouji, maybe even Asuma or one of her parents, but the idea of pranking Naruto had gotten stuck in her head a while ago and just wouldn't let its claws go. Naruto had pranked her once. It had been when they'd been in the last year of their academy and the humiliation had been unbearable. She and Sakura had, had a fight during their lunch break in front of the whole class, and Naruto apparently hadn't approved. Ino had commented (screamed) that pink hair was the stupidest color anyone could have and that she would never be caught dead with such a grotesque color on her head. She'd felt guilty about it afterwards because Sakura had teared up a bit and stomped away after the remark (scream) that somehow the whole class heard and laughed about. She didn't have the slightest clue about how he did it, but somehow Naruto snuck pink hair dye into her shampoo, ironically the same shade as Sakura's. She'd been forced to go to school with the mess of pink hair by her father, adding salt to her wounded pride by snickering the entire time. The other students had laughed all day long after she arrived to class, Sakura especially. She knew it was Naruto because the other blonde placed a letter in her mail box that very night that her father gave her explaining a simple and effective way to rinse the dye out. Add baking soda to her regular (undyed) shampoo. He'd even apologized, but mentioned he thought she deserved it. Since she herself thought she deserved it she never bothered to yell at him for the act. Now though she found the other blonde to be the perfect target. Naruto had a great sense of humor so she knew he wouldn't get mad at her. He himself had pulled a prank on her before. He was friends with Shikamaru and Chouji so the prank would definitely be heard by them without her having to brag about it. Best of all though was that he was Sakura and Sasuke's teammate. Sakura would never in a million years pull a prank on anyone; she was just too much the goody too shoes to do such a thing. Guys like a girl with a sense of humor, at least that's what the magazines told her, so the act would definitely up her chances of getting a date with Sasuke. Sasuke, as Naruto's teammate, would definitely know about the prank because teammates always know those type of things about one another. Knowing Naruto and Sasuke were best friends/ rivals like her and Sakura the two would definitely get into an argument. Sasuke would take the opportunity to make fun of Naruto for falling for the prank and if she played her cards right she would be there to receive her rightful praise for initiating it. The plan was perfect. She even had the whole prank planned out. She'd noticed a while ago that the first Tuesday of every month Naruto went to this one particular shop five shops on the opposite side from her own family flower shop at exactly five minutes after twelve. It was a civilian's shop that sold odds and ends, everyday supplies, and Ino didn't really know much of why Naruto went there only that he did. It surprised Ino actually, that someone that was such a klutz and a troublemaker performed such an act as consecutively being on time. Ino leaped to the roof of the shop opposite of the General store and eagerly awaited Naruto's arrival, already going over how she planned to gloat about it all. That's when she saw the oh so familiar head of pink hair walking down the street. Ino's smile got absolutely wicked. The platinum blonde leaped off the building, startling the poor genin out of her wits, before ushering the girl to the roof. "Ino, what in the world is this about?" Sakura asked in a huff. "Hush, you'll see in a few minutes." Ino said with a wink. Sakura gave her a half-hearted glare in reply. That's when Ino spotted the sunflower dose of blonde walking slowly down the streets with a dog at his heels. The hideous abomination of orange clothing painting a neon sign around the boy. Ino smirked widely. 'Right on time.' She noted happily. Sakura also noticed her teammate walking down the street, though to Ino's surprise she didn't try to gain the boy's attention, which the mindwalker had been prepared to stop, but rather looked away. 'Did they get into a fight or something?' Ino idly wondered before mentally shrugging. They silently watched as Naruto peered around somewhat cautiously before entering the store. Ino raised a brow at that. The girl turned when she felt a light tugging on her shirt. "Ino what are we doing here?" Sakura demanded. Ino sighed in exasperation, Sakura always hated being left out of the loop in anything, the girl could be annoyingly persistent. "We're here to prank Naruto." Ino answered shortly. "Now be quiet." She added. "Ino… I don't think that's a good idea. Naruto hasn't… he hasn't been acting right lately. I don't think you should prank him right now." Sakura whispered. "I mean… He's been off ever since we started watching Kakashi's dog's, I think you should wait." Ino stared at Sakura incredulously. "Do you know how long it took me to plan this out? Besides a good prank should cheer Naruto right up!" Ino said triumphantly. "Now be quiet, he'll be out in a few minutes, Naruto never stays long." Sakura tilted her head in curiosity, wonderingly how Ino knew this and she didn't, but decided to stay silent. The dog came out first. Naruto followed soon after with a single brown bag in his arms and an envelope clutched in his right hand against the crinkling front. Behind him the old women who owned the store followed suit as she did every month and stood in the doorway. Now was Ino's chance. She flipped rapidly through the seals and paused in the last one, throwing her hands forward, aiming for the old women. She whispered the words of her jutsu out quietly but clearly. "Mind destruction jutsu!" Naruto glanced at Guruko again as they continued walking down the street. The dog wasn't reacting to the glares that Naruto got from all around them. He hadn't reacted in days past either, that was good, it meant the extra money he'd been forced to give the greedy money sucker was worth it. A simple mental touch that 'suggested' that any 'extra' attention Naruto received wasn't important. It was sort of like a genjutsu only stronger. It had been the second part of the memory erase so that the remaining time Guruko spent with him would be noted as mundane and boring. Naruto gave a mental sigh of relief. Naruto had been putting Guruko to sleep each night with the deep slumber jutsu his grandfather figure had taught him before heading out to the bar the last few nights. The simple solution caused him to slap his forehead and ask himself why he hadn't done it in the first place. Ah… the wonders of foresight. Guruko couldn't question what he didn't know about after all. One thing that bothered him though was that the dog was complaining about headaches, which could only mean one thing, the dog's subconscious was fighting hard against the memory seal placed on him. The Yamanaka had warned him that if someone's mind was strong enough they would be able to break the memory seal, but that required the subconscious to fight fully against the conscious mind, which rarely occurred. Naruto hadn't even considered that Guruko would be strong willed enough to fight against it so the headaches were an alarming development. The best he could hope for right now would be to get Guruko to Kakashi or at least out of his hands as soon as possible. If Guruko was separated from him then there was a chance that the subconscious fighting would fade. At the moment though they were on their way to Naruto's next paycheck. The young genin was using his lunch hour from the office to take care of this business so he had plenty of time to drag the stuff from this trip to his apartment before his time was up. He was paid once a month for the shipping work he did each weekend, the first Tuesday of each month, just as Tora-san closed up for lunch. It was an unfortunate coincidence that she possessed the same name as the damnable cat the wife of the fire daimyo kept with her at all time. When the thing referred to as a cat wasn't dragging genin across the city and through the forests like chickens with their heads cut off. Tora-san preferred to perform the financial business right before lunch so Naruto made sure to arrive no later than five minutes after she closes her shop to get it. She was even nice enough to allow him to buy a bag of supplies while no other customers were in her store. The old women said she had nothing against him it was just she didn't want any of her customers turning away because he was in there. It was hard for a widowed woman of her age to run a shop by herself in the first place and if she attempted to show a defiance of the people's opinion she would starve. Naruto understood. Not only did she run her business by herself, but she also organized the shipping job for the merchandise that made it's way into her shop as well as the surrounding shops. If anyone found out that she gave him a job AND allowed him to shop in her store despite the brief time she would lose a lot of customers. He'd seen it happen to Teichu and Ayame. It was the reason he ate in the back of the shop many a times where no one could see him with Ayame. Naruto looked around cautiously as he approached the shop, making sure that there wasn't anyone glancing in his directly, before slipping into the shop. Naruto sighed in pleasure as the warm air of the shop hit his face. It had been getting chillier and chillier as the month wore on, pretty soon he'd need to get out his scarf and gloves. "What are we doing here again?" Guruko asked in a bored tone. Naruto absentmindedly bent his hand down and scratched behind the big dogs ears. The dog immediately leaned into the familiar touch, a deep growl of pleasure seeping through his lips, and the irritation evaporated. It was nice, Naruto would admit, to know the dog's weakness. Guruko lazily tilted his head up towards Naruto with half lidded eyes. "That is evil." The dog declared before once more leaning into the touch. Naruto smiled. Despite the fact that Guruko now thought he was a brainless buffoon that loved the color orange they once and a while had a moment of kinship still. "You know you love my evilness." Naruto replied as his fingers gently tugged loose a few stray hairs that had fallen into the nook of the dogs soft pink inner ear. Naruto had noticed that the dog had continuously stopped on the way here to try and scratch the inside part of his ears, unsuccessfully, and it must have been driving him insane. Naruto then carefully scratched the spot where the hairs had been. Guruko shuddered and his fur ruffled up before relaxing. "Thank you." Guruko said stiffly to which Naruto smiled with sad amusement. The dog was attempting to be dignified. His Guruko had stopped trying to be dignified around him after he'd come home the one night from Syne's. Cuddling up next to someone all night would ruin anyone's dignity. "Give me a minute Naruto!" Called an elderly voice from the back of the shop. Naruto didn't bother replying. It was the unfortunately fact that unless you were directly in front of the women speaking in a raised voice she could not hear a word you said. Naruto instead started to pick through the store and see what items he really needed for the month. Toilet paper. Soap. Tooth paste. He didn't really need salt so he skipped over that. Bandages. Antiseptic. Laundry detergent. He could go without sugar. Naruto's hand paused over the tea. He had enough bags for one cup each morning for the next two weeks, but if he had one cup every other morning he could stretch it to a month. Tea wasn't a necessity, after all, more like a luxury. He past it up. Light bulbs. Dish soap. Needle. Thread. Tomato Soup… He didn't really need soup, he had plenty of rice and ramen to last him a while, he put it back reluctantly. "Have everything you need Naruto?" Asked Tora as she waddled from the back room. Naruto nodded as he placed his chose items on the counter where the register resided. She handed him his check and he handed her the amount for the supplies. She sifted through it in the blink of an eye, amount already counted, years of experience aiding her where her hearing failed. "Right as always my boy, taxes and all, always the thrifty shopper you are." The old women murmured to herself as she dispersed the money into their respective places in the register. Guruko snorted from his place on the floor, head on folded front paws. "Naruto, a thrifty buyer? That's a surprise." The dog said in amusement. Naruto flinched at the insult, but put on an indignant look like he would in front of most people. "And what's that suppose to mean?" Naruto demanded loudly. Tora blinked and looked taken aback. "It just means that I think you spend your money wisely." Replied Tora owlishly. Naruto blushed scarlet as he realized Tora hadn't heard Guruko's fairly quiet remark. "Sorry Tora-san, I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to one of Kakashi's dogs. He's got quite the mouth on him." Naruto replied sheepishly, his hand rubbing the back of his neck nervously. Down below Guruko snickered in amusement. The women blinked and nodded slowly, not quite understanding, but having heard enough of Kakashi's famous dog's to know it to be true. "Well, I would like to get to my wonderful lemon chicken, so scooch on outta here youngen!" Tora said with hands on hips. "And for goodness sake eat more! You look like a bag o bones could beat your little ass in meatless competition." She declared, poking the boy's chest. Guruko snickered as Naruto gave them both an exasperated sigh. The old woman followed him out the door as she always did before suddenly stiffening up directly in the doorframe. "Naruto, wait." She cried loudly. Several people looked their way as Naruto turned. The blonde barely caught sight of the widowed women pulling hard on a wire beside the door before something slammed into him from all sides. Naruto freaked. He dropped his bag and his check to the ground and staggered to the side only to hit something that shoved him forward again and to the ground. Something was covering his eyes and his whole body. The small genin blindly whipped the goopy stuff from his eyes and tried to open them. A blur of colors came to his sight. He could also hear a large amount of people laughing. Probably at him. Naruto tried to calm down. He felt the goopy stuff in his hands. Paint. He was covered in paint. No big deal. Just paint. After coming to that realization he more calmly than before wiped the paint on his hands on the ground in front of him and then removed the paint that surrounded his eyes. When he thought that they were relatively safe he opened them. He really wished he hadn't. There was a large crowd of villagers and some shinobi around him in a tight circle that were pointing and jeering at him. He looked down at himself. He was covered from head to toe in bright pink paint that he immediately recognized as house paint. It wouldn't come off no matter how many washes he put his clothes through. Naruto took several deep breaths as he looked around, trying to find the supplies he bought, trying to find his check, but most of all trying to find a way out. Off behind the crowd he heard a dog growling and an old women he recognized as Tora shouting something. Naruto gingerly stood up and tried to shake off some of the paint. The laughing was so loud that it felt almost like a physical attack against his ears. Suddenly a large banner opened up and slid down the wall of the shop in front of them. Naruto stiffened. NO MORE NEON ORANGE, PINK IS THE NEW IN! The laughter got louder. "I hope an enemy nin finds you an easy target. Let this be a reminder for what you are and what you deserve." "Seriously Uzumaki? You couldn't have picked anything more stupider looking than that!" "Dude, you look like a fucking clown!" "That's Naruto for you, always trying to outdo himself in the retard meter." "Uzumaki you need to take being a shinobi more seriously or else you'll get yourself killed." "Not like anyone would miss him." Naruto hugged himself as he stood there, in the middle of a tidal wave of bodies, fingers curling tightly around his upper arms until they were white. He desperately wanted the ground to rip open and take him down, deep, deep down under the earth. His heart fell into his stomach as his limbs began to feel like Jell-O. Had the merchant done this? Since he hadn't died yet from missions did he decide to try something else? Did someone else know about what happened with the merchant and his clothes and now they were playing off of it? Did Guruko tell someone even after the dog promised him he wouldn't? That's when Ino and Sakura pushed through the crowd. Ino was laughing so hard that she was holding her sides. Sakura was behind her, attempting very hard not to laugh, but failing miserably. Naruto suddenly felt extremely cold. "Look Naruto! Now you can get some better clothes! Like something that Sasuke wears or well pretty much anything would look better." Ino proclaimed loudly through fits of laughter. "And…hehe… I personally think that pink is way better on you than orange." Ino continued as she wiped away a tear from her eye. "And… hehehe… maybe you'll get lucky and Sasuke will want to help you." Ino finished. Naruto backed up, the goop still dripping off of him. He blankly looked around, barely noting the pieces of balloons that were spread in the midst of the paint. One of the men who'd been laughing clapped Ino on the shoulder. Naruto flinched horribly when he recognized him as the same man who twisted and broke his arm in the streets for trying to steal from him all those years ago. "That was great kid," the Chuunin said as he calmed his laughter, "but I don't think you got the right color." Ino straitened and tilted her head in confusion. The man smirked. He riffled through the grocery bag in his arm and pulled out a tomato. "I think red is far more appropriate." The man stated darkly. Sakura stopped laughing and Ino stiffened as they both gazed at the man in stunned silence. Before either girl could say or do anything the man threw the tomato. The vegetable slammed painfully into the side of Nartuo's head and the juice splattered all over the place. Naruto staggered back, not having expected the blow, before looking at Ino and Sakura with hurt and betrayal in his eyes. The two girls just continued to stare in horror as the prank escalated into something that Ino had never expected nor wanted. It was suppose to be a joke. Naruto was suppose to laugh with her and say that pink was better than orange. It was suppose to be a pun off of his own prank! It wasn't suppose to be mean. The crowd wasn't suppose to take such blatant mirth out of it. They weren't suppose to insult Naruto at all. Ino hadn't expected anyone to laugh along with her and Sakura and certainly not in such a horrible way. They weren't suppose to throw anything at him. This wasn't what she wanted at all. The crowd continued to murmur loudly. "It seems even children his own age can't stand him." "Can you blame them?" "I wouldn't want to go near the wretch." "He had it coming." "Look at him, disgusting!" "Don't go any closer!" "I say we take an example from that man and…" The people started shouting even harsher insults and threats at the small blonde before a ferocious snarl cut through the air. Guruko had pushed through the crowd and now stood growling fiercely at the people surrounding them. Many of the villagers stepped back fearfully. Kakashi's dog's weren't known for being threatening at all so the rows of razor sharp teeth that glistened at the crowd from the normally friendly wolf like dog frightened them. A large man in the back who'd been shouting since the start of the incident took the moment to push through the crowd and stand next to the boy. He towered above the rest of the group and glared venomously around him. He was a shinobe, obviously an Akimichi, with dirty blonde hair pulled tightly into a ponytail in the back with his head protector slung around his neck. "You people should be ashamed of yourselves." He hissed out angrily. Guruko growled loudly in agreement. The crowd of people just began shouting again, but louder and angrier this time. There was no more laughter from the original prank. Ino and Sakura felt a chill run down their spine as they felt the wave of hatred fill the air. Tora finally made it to the center where she gently tugged Naruto's frozen form behind the Akimichi who silently made a barrier between himself and the jinchuuriki. Ino and Sakura tried to get to Naruto as well, but they were pushed aside by the suddenly angry crowd. A shadow came down from the rooftops and landed beside the Akimichi. "I will take Naruto-kun to Iruka-san." Ebisu said softly to the large Akimichi beside him. The man nodded in appreciation. Ebisu was an elite jounin who had the chakra and skill to shushin two or three people out of the crowd. "Come Naruto-kun, I'm getting you out of here." The Jounin said softly. Ebisu gently, but firmly took a hold of the blank eyed Naruto before his body flickered and disappeared. An angry and confused dog soon after following suit. Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon raced through the halls of the academy to their class. It was almost useless seeing as it was early afternoon and school was half over, but it honestly wasn't their fault this time! Sure they were practicing making traps, but it was for ninja stuff not a prank. If Udon hadn't accidentally set off their newly completed pra… trap then they wouldn't have spent all those hours stuck in a tree with their legs tied together and shoulders attached through a particularly nasty type of glue used for bridge work. It didn't help at all that Konohamaru and Udon had been stuck facing each other in the embarrassing position of cheek to cheek (and at one point in their struggles lip to lip). Both of them were incredibly thankful that Moegi had been stuck tied to Konohamaru's back, facing the sky, and silently swore never to mention to anyone. Ever. They had come to the conclusion that it wasn't a very nice prank and wouldn't do it to any one else. The three of them learned that lesson well when they'd shaved one of their female academy teacher's heads while she was napping. Naruto had been furious with them. Naruto sat them down after their third day of detention and explained that there were certain rules to pranking. The very first rule was that you never perform a prank that can't be undone. He had told them that shaving a person's head, especially a woman that loved her hair like their sensei, wasn't funny but cruel. He explained that it would probably take the women a couple years to regrow her hair and that it would probably deeply hurt her pride to go out in public. They could have permanently done damage that they would never be able to make up for. While it seemed like a simme harmless prank it was actually a pretty nasty one. The three of them had been rather ashamed of themselves after that and apologized, this time meaningfully, to their sensei for their actions. Naruto then went on to explain that pranking random people at random time's was also wrong. Their idol told them that you have to have the right timing because otherwise you could seriously hurt someone without meaning to. Their sensei could have been having a bad day in which case the harmless prank could turn into a nasty event to add on to other events that might have lead up to something worse. A prank should be performed on a person who has been having a normal day if at all possible. They also needed to be careful about who they pranked. If you wanted to prank someone you had to make sure that they had a good sense of humor. At this Naruto had admitted he'd pranked many people without a good sense of humor, but in those cases they had done something bad to him first. They'd asked for him to explain, but he'd laughed it off and refused to answer. That was how their big brother figure was, he could talk all day, but he never talked about himself. The Konohamaru corps found their big brother figure to be amazingly cool and mysterious. All they really knew about Naruto's past was that he was an orphan that had been close to Konohamaru's grandfather, the third Hokage, before he passed away a few months before. Konohamaru had told Moegi and Udon about how his grandfather had once said that Naruto was someone that he held a great deal of respect for. That had brought up a great deal of curiosity and interest. His grandfather, a Kage, greatly respected a genin? The troublemaker of Konoha? They had to know what it was about Naruto that could do that. Many a times the three of them had come up with theories all the way from Naruto being a secret anbu captain to being a refugee from another country all the way to having some super cool blood line limit he kept secret because it was dangerous. When they'd barrage the blonde with their many theories he'd laughed uproariously for quite a while. They'd pouted and Naruto had shook his head and relented. He admitted that while he wasn't a refugee his mother had been. When they'd demanded he tell them the story Naruto had smiled wickedly and said maybe another day. Needless to say the three had been angry and pouted for quite a while before Naruto dragged them to the ramen stand for dinner. They grudgingly forgave him. The three cautiously turned onto the hall of their classroom before stopping dead in their tracks. Moegi, who'd been distracted by a rather pretty butterfly in the window to her left, accidentally bumped into Udon's back who fell forward into Konohamaru. They both fell to the floor with eyes still trained on the figure who hadn't even twitched at their arrival. Naruto sat at the small bench outside of Iruka's room covered in half dried pink paint and some kind of red goo down the side of his face. Their big brother sat staring blankly at the floor with his hands lifelessly in his lap. Konohamaru pulled himself off the floor and carefully walked up to Naruto. Naruto didn't even notice him. "Aniki?" Konohamaru asked quietly. Naruto looked up and Konohamaru watched as recognition flooded the older boy's eyes. Naruto threw a grin across his face and squinted his eyes so that the three wouldn't be able to read him. "Oh, hayo Konohamaru, Moegi, Udon. What's up?" Naruto asked in a raised voice. Konohamaru glanced at his best friends. He'd told them about what he'd seen last week and about what Naruto said about being sick. They'd been just as worried about the blonde as him. Moegi gingerly walked over, sitting beside the blonde, not caring in the least when pink droplets smeared across the side of her shirt. "What happened Naruto Nee-san?" Moegi asked softly. Naruto shrugged and attempted to wipe some of the paint off of his hands only to succeed in moving the half dried goop around. "It's just… it's nothing. It's just been a lousy couple of weeks is all. It wasn't a big deal at all. I just wasn't expecting the prank and…" Naruto trailed off, giving a weak smile. Moegi pulled out a square cloth from one of her pockets and wiped most of the paint from his face. "Who pranked you?" Udon asked as Konohamaru swiped a clump of the paint off and sniffed. The scarf wearing child grimaced as he recognized the strong odor of house paint. Konohamaru was well aware that Naruto didn't have the money to replace his clothes so whoever did this was a real asshole. Naruto shrugged again. "Ino and Sakura. They probably don't know anything about how to pull a decent prank so it's okay. I know they didn't mean for it to…go the way it did." Naruto explained half-heartedly, a hollow laugh echoing sadly in the hallway. The three flinched when the pink haired girls name came up. In their experience she was a quick tempered female who was loyal to a fault to Uchiha Sasuke and disliked Naruto for some reason or another. They briefly remembered Ino as Sakura's best friend, but Naruto had been hesitant to suggest it for reasons unknown to the trio. His other teammate, Sasuke Uchiha, was a bit of a mixture of feelings for the trio. Moegi would admit that the Uchiha was 'cute' and 'cool' but Naruto was extremely nice and always willing to help her with any of her problems so the blonde earned far more respect in her eyes than the Uchiha prodigy. Udon and Konohamaru thought that the Uchiha was cool but that Naruto was cooler. Plus they'd all seen how the fan encrusted boy treated Naruto and they didn't like it. The Uchiha and Naruto were suppose to be friends, but they didn't act like friends, at least not like Udon, Moegi and Konohamaru did. Moegi used up the last clean corner of her small cloth and pulled it away from Naruto who smiled at her gratefully. "Thank you," Naruto told her sincerely. She'd managed to clean off all of his face. Konohamaru scrutinized Naruto's face and noticed to his chagrin that his big brother hadn't gained any of the weight back that he'd lost while he was sick. It really upset him and it made him wonder if Naruto had lied to him about getting better in the first place. Was Naruto still sick? Why was he up and about if he was still sick? Unfortunately he wasn't allowed to contemplate the thought further because Ebisu and Iruka came out of the classroom. Ebisu promptly finished his missions report on the simple B rank that was clearly below the level in which his status as elite jounin entailed that he'd just completed and planned to spend the rest of the day in his bed. Not because the mission was difficult for him. Not at all. Clearly he could handle something so simple. He was merely wisely choosing to rejuvenate his chakra supply rather than rashly spend it in a bar celebrating a completed mission like the other jounin did. Yes that was it. So when he heard the angry shouts of some villagers that appeared to be about to engage in an uncivilized fight he did NOT moan in despair at having to perform his rightful duties of securing the safety of the involved individuals. Nor did he mentally debate whether to 'fuck it all and go to bed.' And he most certainly did not consider using a simple water jutsu to 'cool off the idiotic imbeciles too stupid to know when he wanted to go to bed.' These events did not occur. Luckily for the man there was no Yamanaka in the vicinity to disprove Ebisu's momentary state of denial. His eyes scanned the crowd and widened in disgusted horror. A crowd of grown adults were harassing the young Jinchuuriki with what Ebisu could only describe as a mob like intelligence. Naruto was covered from head to toe in paint and staring at a large poster directly beneath Ebisu. The crowd was jeering at the thirteen year old as if he were a criminal. Ebisu felt his anger rise. It was true that he'd felt animosity towards the jinchuuriki in the past, but even at his peek of hatred he'd never say the things he was hearing to the boy. After taking the boy on for chakra training at the beginning of his month preparation for the finals Ebisu came to the realization of how utterly wrong he'd been about the boy. Now, standing above the crowd and watching Naruto's blank eyed expression, he felt a rage fill him. This wasn't right. Not at all. He had to visibly force himself to not punch the man that threw the tomato and quickly shueshened (Again, sp?) to the ground beside the large Akimichi. The Chuunin who would dare attack a fellow shinobe had been dully noted in his mind's memory. The man would pay later. Ebisu felt disgusted with himself as a horrible thought struck him. "Honored grandson! If you lower yourself to consort with creatures of this sort you will descend to his level!" "If I'm such a horrible ninja then why is it that sometimes I've done even better than Sasuke or Sakura!" "That's because you have reserves that are hardly even human!" A year ago he had taunted Naruto in a similar fashion and he'd even gave quite the nasty remark during his training. "I will take Naruto-kun to Iruka-san." Ebisu said in a commanding, but quiet voice. He nodded to the Akimichi, a silent show of respect being acknowledged between them as he looked toward Naruto. Naruto was a mess. Yes, Iruka was definitely the only person right for caring for the boy at the moment. Iruka was the only shinobe outside the Third Hokage that showed his absolute and full support of Naruto. "Come Naruto-kun, I'm getting you out of here." The elite jounin murmured to the small blonde. Ebisu tugged on Naruto's shirt gently, but firmly, and pulled the boy closer to him. The man let out a breath as he concentrated the little amount of chakra he had left and before the crowd disappeared in a swirl of leaves. Ebisu thought it was strange, as they entered the academy, that Naruto would allow him to lead him like he was. Normally the blonde would have been furious to be led by the hand like a child. Ebisu carefully navigated the halls till they were just outside Iruka's classroom and reluctantly told the boy to wait outside the room for him. Naruto just nodded his head and plopped down on the bench without a word. Ebisu frowned at the action, but decided it was best to not question it. As quietly as possible Ebisu entered the classroom, he needn't have bothered at subtlety though, the children were loud enough to have covered a stampede of elephants. The moment upon his entrance Iruka glanced in his direction and signaled that he would be with him in a moment. It took all but two minutes to have every one of the hord of eight year olds to be quieted and busily working on whatever assignment Iruka saw fit to deign them with. The young Chuunin made his way over with a slightly weary air. There was little doubt in Ebisu's mind that the man's weary approach came from whatever Naruto told the man about him. At that thought the man winced. Still the man had a smile and an open body language to convey a willingness to listen despite past events. It was this same openness and easy forgiveness that most likely attracted Naruto's attention and respect in the first place. For that Ebisu respected the young man despite his rank as a Chuunin. "Forgive the commotion before Ebisu-san. I was teaching the children how to set up basic traps in every day, plain jane settings, without them being seen. Not very successful but good enough for first attempts." Iruka said sheepishly as he scratched the back of his neck nervously. 'So that's were he gets it from.' Ebisu thought in amusement as an image of Naruto performing that same nervous gesture came to mind. "I'm sorry to bother you while in the middle of class, but there has been an incident that needs your immediate attention." Ebisu stated while stifling a yawn. The adrenalin rush from earlier was gone and the Jounin was having a hard time preventing his head from dipping to the side. Damn his unswerving sense of duty. "What type of incident would need the help of an academy teacher?" Iruka asked in alarm. Ebisu grimaced. He hated giving bad news to people, it just wasn't in his forte, he did not possess an ability to be empathetic. He could be sympathetic but trying to see a situation from a different person's view and understand what they were going through was not in his arsenal of mental skills. One of the reasons he was a private tutor rather than an academy instructor. "Naruto was targeted by a rather distasteful prank but it was not that, that was the problem, rather the reaction that the witnesses of the prank performed. The crowd took the opportunity unwittingly supplied by Sakura-san and Ino-san to threaten Naruto. One them even had the gull to throw something at the boy." Ebisu explained quietly. Iruka was looking pale as he continued to talk. "Naruto is safe, outside this classroom actually, but I thought it would be best if you kept an eye on him today. It's been years since so many people showed such blatant anger so publicly. I will watch your class for the rest of the day." Ebisu finished briskly. Iruka nodded thankfully and the two men headed to the door. Ebisu watched as Iruka stiffened at the sight of the small blonde. The man doubted he even noticed his three late students standing around the boy. Naruto shrugged in response to Iruka's frozen form and tried to slap a grin on his face but it turned into another grimace. "Oh Naruto." Iruka said softly. The young Chuunin wrapped his right arm around Naruto's shoulders, not hesitating in the least despite the paint, and began to lead Naruto down the hall. Ebisu watched them go silently and admittedly in awe of the way the two seemed to communicate without saying much. Konohamaru didn't seem so keen to allow his sensei and big brother figure to go so easily. "Is Naruto still sick?" Konohamaru demanded loudly. The boy's voice carried its way into the classroom causing curious eight-year-old ears to listen in. Naruto flinched horribly at the loud question and turned to glare at the younger boy. Konohamaru stepped back a bit in surprise at the icy glower directed his way, but ultimately held his ground in determination. "Sick?" Iruka questioned worriedly as he glanced down at Naruto. Ebisu also turned to take a closer look at the boy. Now that he was looking Ebisu noticed with chagrin that the boy did appear to be thinner than before and his face, that he could now see had been cleared of paint, seemed rather pale. Was that why Naruto had allowed him to lead him so easily? Because he was ill? The small blonde's glare seemed to intensify as his and Iruka's gaze continued to scrutinize him. "I told you already Konohamaru, I came down with a bad flu, but now I'm better. I'm not sick anymore." Naruto said angrily. Ebisu noted with more than a little confusion that the anger seemed to be laced with fear. Fear of what? Konohamaru crossed his arms in rebellious defiance and glared back fiercely. "That's what you said nearly a week ago Aniki, but from what I see you don't look no better to me." Konohamaru declared in a childish huff. Ebisu would admit only to himself that he was slightly impressed with his student's evident dismissal of his idols own words. Another part of him noted that he would have to work on his young students use of vocabulary. It was not appropriate for the honorable grandson to be speaking in such an uneducated fashion. Naruto scowled. "I'm fine." Konohamaru stomped his foot. "Are not!" Iruka coughed to gain everyone's attention. "Alright! Naruto, your staying at my house tonight, no arguments. Konohamaru, Moegi, Udon… detention with me tomorrow afternoon after classes." "What?" Konohamaru cried out indignantly. Ebisu took his chance to usher the children into the class room with a nod in Iruka's direction. Iruka in turn smiled warmly before tugging Naruto away in the direction of his home. Naruto followed tiredly behind him, not in the mood to fight or argue, till he walked beside him. As they entered onto the front road Naruto leaned against Iruka's shoulder. The man once more put his arm around Naruto's much smaller shoulder with a worried frown creasing his features. When one of Kakashi's dog's leaped from a roof and padded along beside them Iruka spared the animal barely a glance before his attention drifted back to Naruto. The medium sized wolf spoke not a word as he followed the two humans. "Lady Tsunade, there's a young genin here to see you, Sasuke Uchiha." Shizune announced in a clipped tone. Tsunade raised a brow at her assistant, but nodded in acceptance, she'd question the young woman later. Shizune used the same tone of voice and nature when she interacted with her newly made apprentice Sakura. In walked the famed prodigy of Hatake Kakashi of the infamous Sharingan. The boy was tightly holding his shoulder where, if she wasn't wrong, lay the curse seal placed there by her rouge teammate. The raven-haired youth had a look of resigned determination, like he was walking to his own execution, and wished to see it through with pride. The arrogant smirk he normally wore had been temporarily subdued for some reason. Both her eyebrows rose. The Uchiha sat down roughly in one of her two guest chairs, a worn look stretched across his face, pride the only thing keeping him from moaning in pain. Tsunade gingerly picked up her freshly made cup of tea and calculatingly looked over the rim toward the boy. "Hm," she murmured softly, "I don't recall inviting you to sit in a chair boy, so please tell me why it is that your ass is in one of my seats." It wasn't a question, more of a demand, much to the prodigy's immense surprise. The Uchiha blinked, then sputtered indignantly, thought about it and proceeded to swiftly stand without a word. He remembered some of Sakura's yammering and two of those things were the Hokage's strength and temper. Tsunade nodded her head in approval. The boy was smart after all. "Alright, good, now you may have a seat boy." Tsunade said with a wave of her hand. This time the Uchiha blinked for several seconds before looking at her incredulously with an almost angry aura. "Well I don't have all day to listen to your useless whining so sit down." Tsunade said far more harshly. Awe, she forgot how much fun it was to scare little genin could be. The boy scrambled to the seat he'd been in only moments before. "So what request do you have for me? I've already gotten requests from both of your teammates." Tsunade said idly. The Uchiha in front of her tilted his head ever so slightly, which caused all of his bangs to fall to one side of his face, and both eyebrows raised. "I know that Sakura asked you to be her mentor, but what did Naruto ask you for?" Sasuke asked before wincing, Tsuande couldn't tell if it was due to the curse seal or the mention of Naruto's name. Tsunade tapped her fingers as she debated the merit of saying anything to the boy in front of her. On one hand it was really none of the Uchiha's business, but on the other she wanted to know why Naruto suddenly wanted out of team 7 and why he hadn't said anything to his team. "Tell me Uchiha, how has your team been lately?" Tsunade asked rather than answer. The Uchiha winced again. Tsunade tipped her teacup back and took a long gulp of the hot liquid, mentally trying to conjure the sweet jasmine into harsh vodka, instead all she got was a slightly burnt tongue. "That bad huh?" Tsunade muttered with a sigh. The boy sighed through his nose as he spoke. "That's actually part of the reason why I'm here today." The Uchiha began in a crisp yet weary tone. "Kakashi placed a suppression seal on me over Orochimaru's curse seal, but it's not working. It's been hurting a lot more recently and… its been affecting my thinking. If I feel mad then there's a stinging pain from the seal and I'm absolutely furious. If I feel sad then the pain comes and I'm suddenly overwhelmed by despair. If I'm thinking about something then I feel a twinge and what I was thinking about becomes… darker… twisted." The Uchiha trailed off into silence, looking at his Hokage with an almost desperate need for help. Tsunade stared into her cup. Her hands gently swished the cooling tea back and forth as her thoughts tumbled in a similar fashion. She really didn't know much about the boy in front of her, only that Naruto was willing to die in order to bring her back home, back home to heal him and their sensei. She also knew that Sakura had a rather large crush on the boy. Luckily she'd learned how to tune out such rants with a miracle ability called 'selective hearing.' It was often used by the elderly shinobe, such as her own sensei, and mistakenly labeled as 'going deaf.' It left her in the unfortunate position of having no clue as to any of the many facts Sakura would have informed her about if she'd been listening. No doubt Sakura held a biased opinion, but she'd been a kunoichi of the highest degree for a long time and would have been able to pull out the grain of truth no matter how deeply intertwined with fiction it was. She gently swished her cup once again before placing it on the table. The boy that she'd unconsciously adopted as a grandson told her that Sasuke was a talented shinobe and a good person. The girl that she'd taken on as her apprentice for the sheer amount of skill in chakra control and a evident good heart looked up to him and had a crush on him. 'Sasuke Uchiha huh?' Tsunade cleared her throat. "The seal placed on you to control the curse seal relies solely on your will. The only way that the curse seal would be able to influence your thoughts would be if you wanted the power that it offers whether it be conscious or subconscious. The only way that the suppression seal can effectively work is if you whole heartedly want to suppress it and all that it represents." Tsunade stated matter o factly. Sasuke visibly flinched and looked away guiltily. Tsunade nodded to herself, silently wishing that a nice bottle of sake was within her grasp, unfortunately her loathsome and nosy know-it-all assistant had decided that alcohol in the office was a bad thing. 'Shizune's such a fun sucker.' Tsunade thought dismally. "So you consciously wanted the power. What made you come to me for help then?" Tsuande asked. It was just her luck that her wretched ex-teammate would leave her with a mess. The Uchiha… no Sasuke still refused to look at her. He preferred to look out the window, keeping her in his sight from the corner of his right eye, his fists clenched white at his side. "Something happened nearly a week ago that made me realize that my thoughts are being manipulated. It scared me to death and made me angry at the same time. I don't want anyone or anything to make decisions for me or force me into something. What happened… it forced me to think rationally… clearly." Sasuke tried to explain. "It made me see a lot of the things I've been doing and saying recently without the anger and hatred clouding everything." The last of the words were said so quietly that Tsunade had to strain in order to hear the boy. Tsunade peered at the dark haired little genin in front of her with the tinest bit of respect. Perhaps her ex-teammate hadn't been quite so right about the last Uchiha of Konoha after all and some of Naruto and Sakura's respect for the boy held some foundation to it. She considered the situation as the last few drops of cooling hot tea slid from side to side. There was one option that she could offer the Uchiha, but if the boy wasn't strong enough, if his will wasn't absolutely set… Tsunade spoke softly but her voice was so crisp and clear there was no mistaking anything she said. "I would like to propose an idea to you Sasuke. Two people have gone through with a particular ritual to completely seal away a curse seal given to them by Orochimaru that entails some high risks." Sasuke's eye's narrowed. "I'll do it." Tsunade smirked. "Your arrogance is just as large as your predecessors. There are no percentages of risk for this Sasuke, simply a reading of the soul, the success completely depends on you. In this ritual you will either walk away with your life and freedom or be devoured by the seal till ashes remain where your body once was. Live or die depends completely on you." In the wake of her words Sasuke simply sat there quietly. Tsunade gave the boy a sad rueful smile, her voice just as cheerful and stern as when he walked in the office. "Still eager to jump into this?" Naruto pulled the towl through his hair as he stepped out of Iruka's shower. The air was full of steam as the blonde had taken advandtage of the hot water nearly burning his skin. He was more relaxed in Iruka's home than he ever was in his own home or with his team. His muscles, which seemed to have been stuck in a permanent tense state, finally relaxed under the showers ministrations. When he got dressed in a pair of Iruka's rookie Chuunin clothes he found Guruko and his old sensei waiting for him on the couch in the living room. Pulling the far too long sleeves up his arm and trying not to trip on the too long pant legs Naruto stumbled across the living room. He settled into the spot beside Iruka and leaned against him without a word. In response Iruka carefully picked up two mugs of hot cocoa from the coffee table and placed one in Naruto's hands. Iruka knew exactly how to handle a melancholy Naruto. Warmth and Companionship. A hot shower, something warm to drink and a familiar person to just be with. No words are required. The simple act of being beside one another in safety was good enough for the blonde to feel better. Iruka wasn't quite sure what to make of the animal beside him, but somehow the dog seemed just as confused and worried as himself. So the academy teacher simply shrugged at the dog's presence. Guruko seemed to relax Naruto and that was good enough for him. Naruto held the warm chocolet liquid comfortably and took a sip of it contentedly. He could always just get up a little extra early tomorrow to work it off. Naruto brought his legs up on the couch and fully leaned his head against Iruka's arm. Guruko moved from Iruka's side to Naruto's, snuggling as close as he could, and burying his face under the pillow at the edge of the couch. "You want to talk about it?" Iruka asked quietly. "No." Naruto said firmly. Iruka nodded in understanding. Naruto took another sip before leaning forward and setting the mug down again. As he withdrew back into the comfort of the couch he laid his head down on his knees so that he was looking at Iruka. "Iruka sensei, what are you doing Saturday?" Naruto asked. "Just grading papers, why?" Iruka asked, also putting down his mug. "There's something important that I'm doing Saturday and… can you come with me?" Naruto asked softly. Naruto glanced quickly at the dog beside him, eyes nervous, and shoulders tensed uncertainly. Iruka frowned. Naruto sounded scared and that quite frankly spooked him. Naruto wasn't scared of anything. He was the student who jumped off the cliff first to jump into the water below on a field trip. He was the one who stood up to six older boys bullying him and won in the fight that followed merely because he could take the hits they threw at him. He was the child who by passed several Chuunin squads to hang suspended on a rope over a nearly thousand foot drop to paint the most prized monument in Konogakuru. Naruto was someone who faced a Chuunin in battle and won before he even graduated from the academy. Naruto was not frightened easily. "What is it that you need to do Saturday Naruto?" Iruka asked. "An operation." Naruto mumbled. "I'm sorry… what?" Iruka asked confused. "I need to get an operation." Naruto stated louder. Guruko's head shot out from under the pillow. Iruka stiffened up and stared at his younger brother figure. "An operation for what?" Iruka asked worriedly. "…" "Naruto?" Guruko prodded gently.
"For my heart." Naruto finally answered.
"Explain." Iruka demanded calmly.
Naruto spent the rest of the afternoon curled up by Iruka's side quietly telling his father figure everything concerning his heart.
A dog silently watched and listened and pondered as his headache got worse.