Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.

Notes: I think that I am going to start writing in favor of smaller but more frequent chapters. It shouldn't change the story, just how often you get updates. (I'll try not to go below a thousand words.) On that note, I am hoping that it keeps me writing more regularly, and thus I should provide more content overall that way. It's a win for everyone! So on with the story!

Chapter 14

Naruto and Sakura left the noodle stand in a daze. "I wonder where Jiraya got off to?" Naruto asked rhetorically.

Sakura was still blotting her clothes with a napkin from the soup that she had coughed all over them. "Why? I'm more concerned with what the hell is going on around here."

"Exactly! Jiraya may be a perverted old man, but he'll tell me the truth if I ask him straight out."

"That's not a bad idea. Everyone I know has been talking around the situation, like it's some kind of taboo topic."

"Right so who better to tell me the truth than someone who doesn't care?" Naruto grinned at Sakura knowing he had won some points for being intelligent.

Sakura smiled back nervously. "Actually, that's not a bad idea, but I bet Kakashi would be even easier to get the information out of."

Naruto squinted and bobbed his head up and down in agreement. "Alright, let's each go after one of them, and see if we can't find out what we want to know."

"Ok I'll meet back up with you in a little bit. We'll trade information then."

"Sounds like a plan." Naruto turned to follow after Jiraya but stopped. "Sakura-chan?"

"Yeah?" She began to ask when Naruto wrapped his arms around her and pulled their faces together. Sakura was not expecting Naruto's beef ramen flavored mouth to invade her own. Though after she realized what was going on, she calmed down and started to return the favor.

"Hey Sakura." He was still holding her in his arms as he spoke. "I don't know what's going on, but I know that we'll get through whatever is thrown our way. We just have to try right?"

Sakura was impressed by the, albeit corny, nobility that Naruto was trying convey. She nodded in agreement. "I know."

"Good! Now we should get going before things get any weirder today." When Naruto said the words, he couldn't help but feel that he had jinxed the situation, and doomed this day to be one of the oddest in his life. He tried to shake off the feeling, but it didn't help.

"Ok, we'll meet back here in thirty."

"Good idea… Might hit up Teuchi for some more noodles after this."

Sakura rolled her eyes when she turned around and tried to stay focused on figuring out where Kakashi might be. "Hmm, Kakashi… I don't think he's on a mission today, he must be at one of his typical reading spots." She thought to herself along the way.

Kakashi was at the armory in fact, and things were not going the way that he wanted. "I just need some new kunai, I'm not looking to replace all of my gear."

The man behind the counter was being stubborn, after all it was his job to make sure shinobi didn't get more equipment than they were allotted. Which always made him a pain to deal with, but today was different. "I don't care Kakashi, if you want equipment, you're going to have submit all you're old official gear." He ducked behind the counter and began rummaging around. "I'm sorry it's the Hokage's orders, but the official battle-dress-uniform of the village was changed."

"Changed? Changed to what?" Kakashi didn't like the feeling of this.

"TO PERFECTION!" Gai screamed out when he slammed the door open.

Naruto had only made it a few blocks when a half crazed woman began screeching at him. "NARUTO! How could you!?" Naruto turned to see who it was, but didn't recognized her. She was about forty, and looked familiar, as if she looked like someone he knew. But for the life of him he couldn't tell who it was. It was especially difficult to recognize Sakura's mother Mebuki, due to the fact that Naruto had both never seen her before, and because she was roaring in her rage. "You think you can just do whatever you want with my daughter and get away with it?" Naruto stopped and pointed to himself as if it were a question who she was talking to. "OF COURSE I MEAN YOU!" The enraged woman ran up breathing heavily in his face.

Naruto looked around cautiously. "Ok. Umm… Lady, I don't know what you're talking about."

Her rage grew all the more as she believed Naruto was trying to brush her off with his response. "I'm talking about YOU and my DAUGHTER! You are never going to see her again! Do you hear me?"

Naruto stood there confused. "Ok well, I don't know what you're talking about there crazy, but I've got something else going on with a very beautiful girl. So if I never see your daughter again, that's cool by me."

Mebuki seethed. "I kill you… You cheating bastard!" She swung at him.

Naruto easily deflected her strikes, and when she finally connected with his face he disappeared into a puff of smoke, and log fell to the ground. He smiled at the smoothness of the jutsu. "I wonder what she was talking about?" He thought to himself.

"This just keeps getting better and better!" Kurama laughed all the harder as the events went on.

"That's not really helping… Seriously… Kurama… Would you please help me out? I don't want to mess things up with Sakura, and she is obviously involved in this whole mess somehow."

The great fox folded his arms, and thought for a second. "I'll make you a deal… I don't think you've done any damage you can't fix yet. And if you're about to do something that you couldn't make up for, I'll warn you. But I am having quite a bit of fun with this. So would you let me ride this out a little bit longer?"

"I'm not going to botch things with Sakura?" Naruto asked uneasily.

"Nah she'll understand… I mean you're in for some pain, and this might take a while to fix, but you'll do it. And besides Jiraya's going to spill the beans anyway just as soon as you catch up to him."

"Speak of the devil." Naruto had just spotted the old pervert sitting down in a teashop writing furiously. He made his way inside, and sat down across from him. Jiraya hadn't even noticed he was too busy scribbling perverted things into his little book to pay any attention to Naruto. "Jiraya?"

"Yeah more tea please! This is great stuff!" He was excited as he said the words.

"No Jiraya! It's me Naruto." He raised his hand to get the old perverts attention.

Jiraya finally looked up from the pages. "HIGH-FIVE!" He smacked Naruto's hand painfully again. "It's good you're here, I have a question that's very important for my book. Does the carpet match the drapes? You know-" He winked at Naruto. "Pink?"

"What? Why would you ask me that?" Naruto had heard the expression before, and he knew things were going to get awkward.