Jiraiya merrily strolled through the corridor of the Hokage Tower and flashed a lecherous grin at the pretty receptionist. The cute brunette gave an exasperated sigh at the action, but Jiraiya saw the corners of her lips turn up as he rounded the corner. He entered the Hokage's office without knocking and found his sensei doing paperwork, "Hey old man, if you keep looking that hard at the paper what little eyesight you have left will disappear."

Sarutobi chuckled instead of responding and finished signing the document before pulling out an ornate pipe that Jiraiya had given him years earlier. It was dark green and about two feet long with a thin, slightly curving stem and was dotted with tiny glass toads in a lighter shade of green. The man then pulled out an ashtray that was covered with slugs and gently tapped the pipe on it three times before spinning it upright. A secret compartment popped open and the Sandaime pulled out a satchel shaped like a snake that curled around the inside of the ashtray. The set was a gift from Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru that was given to him after they were promoted to chunin.

Jiraiya cocked his eyebrow as the Hokage packed the pipe, "Getting out the good stuff today sensei, I hope you're sharing."

"You're possibly the richest man in the elemental nations and still the biggest mooch I know." Replied Sarutobi without looking up.

"That's a shame, I guess Kakashi gets to be the first to get a sneak peak before next book comes out."

The sennin grinned triumphantly when the man began grumbling under his breath. Once the Hokage was ready he finally acknowledged Jiraiya as he lit the pipe and erratically tapped his finger on the end, just below a yellow spotted toad. "You've been gone longer than expected. Did something come up?"

Jiraiya took the pipe and smiled, it had been such a long since the shinobi had seen it. He examined it fondly before he drew circles around his favorite toad, a Gamabunta lookalike and breathed in the smoke, "Well you know what it's like being famous. Nothing ever gets done on schedule. I actually stumbled upon some bandits attacking a girl, of course being the chivalrous gentleman that I am forced me to intervene and save her. I actually dropped her off at the hospital before coming here."

The Sandaime nodded as he took the pipe back and ashed it before putting it away. "Well that's the world we live in, it's a harsh reality. But did you finalize Naruto's training trip?"

Grinning widely the sage gave his teacher a thumbs up, "Of course, he'll be a real powerhouse when he comes back. Worldly too… and probably a ladies man if I rub off on him at all."

The floor groaned as the Hokage stood and pushed his chair away from the desk, "That's good, if there's anything else I need to know you can put it in a report. I have to make an appearance at the academy and now that Konohamaru is attending I can embarrass him."

Jiraiya threw the window open and hopped on the ledge before giving the Hokage a wide smile, "That's fine, I told the girl I'd check in on her and see what she wanted to do after getting a clean bill of health. See ya Sarutobi-sensei, don't go to hard on the kid."

Jiraiya leisurely hopped over the rooftops faster than most shinobi could follow before leaping into a window near the top of the hospital, and once inside the sage was confronted by fierce honey brown that were drilling holes in his head. Hoping to not get hit he started explaining what he could, "Sorry Hime, but this needed to be done discreetly and I trust you. Just wait a minute and you'll know what's going on."

Tsunade just sighed and sat in the chair, knowing there was nothing she could do but listen to the perv. It was only a couple minutes later when the Hokage entered followed by Kakashi, whose lone eye glanced around the room as he tried to figure out what was going on. After motioning everybody to take a seat Sarutobi asked, "So what is this about Jiraiya? What's so important that you had to enter through my door?"

Giving the Hokage a lopsided grin Jiraiya said, "Well you get the best stuff around…" Seeing his humor wasn't appreciated by the other four occupants in the room the hermit coughed and got serious, "Right, well this is Kin and I found her near the border of Ta no Kuni and Yu no Kuni, actually it was a couple miles on the Ta no Kuni side. She was an Otogakure kunoichi who was pregnant and running for her life."

Kakashi and Tsunade glanced questioningly at Kin who had her head down, but Sarutobi had all the information and his eyes widened, "You don't mean?"

Jiraiya nodded, "That's what I expect. I didn't want to make her too uncomfortable so I didn't really pry, but that is what all the pieces point to."

"What's this all about, I know Orochimaru has his hands in Oto somehow, but what does her having pregnant have to do with anything?" Asked Kakashi with none of his usual apathy.

Kin tried to make herself as small as possible in the presence of all these legends, but she could feel their intense stares so looked down at the ground timidly and explained. "I don't know much of the details, nobody really knows any details of any plans, but Orochimaru-sa, Orochimaru got his hands on Uchiha DNA and attempted to inseminate several kunoichi. I was one of them but they thought the baby was a stillborn so I slipped under the radar. Apparently only one kunoichi did conceive, that they knew about, and I heard rumors there was a seal put on her and the baby was leaching her life force while in the womb... she would die after giving birth." The brunette's eyes hardened while remembering the feeling of betrayal when she first heard the rumor. "I didn't want that to happen to me so I ran."

The three men's eyes shot open in shock, but Tsunade wasn't paying attention so didn't see them shushing Kin. The medic narrowed hers while giving the pregnant girl's belly another scan, "I'm not surprised they said it was stillborn, I'm having trouble getting a clear picture myself. But as far as I can tell you're five months pregnant and the mother of a healthy Uchiha baby."

The medic's eyes shot open as she finished the scan, but before she could say what she discovered the door swung open and Naruto and Sakura fell to the ground in a heap. The blonde shot up like a rocket, but before he could say anything Kakashi had his hands over the boy's mouth.

Naruto finished changing out of the hospital robe and threw on his regular clothes. The blonde had been cooped up in the hospital for two days on Tsunade's orders to see if the fox's chakra had any negative effects on his body, but the hyperactive boy couldn't stand it anymore so broke the chakra suppression seal they put on after his first escape attempt and sent a clone to get clothes. He slipped on the new flak jacket they gave him and picked up his saber.

After getting removed from the stretcher the medics said his sword was glowing red in the sheath, but whenever they tried to grab it orange chakra would shoot out and stop them. Naruto didn't have that problem, but the shinobi still knew something was fundamentally different about the blade when he picked it up. It had some semblance of sentience before, but it was more like a tic in the back of Naruto's mind, or sometimes the blonde would a strange flash of inspiration on ways to use the sword or an ability it had. Now though he could… feel it in his thoughts. The blade was happy now, satisfied.

Deciding that nothing more could be gained by keeping it in the sheath Naruto pulled the weapon out and gasped at the metamorphosis. The handle was still the plain black, but the metal no longer glowed pure white. The chakra saber was a metallic red that shone brightly in the artificial light and seemed to give of some of its own, but the edges were a deep black that seemed to be completely absent of light. It was a strange contradiction, "What the hell? How did this happen?"

As if to answer his question the memory of the first night he unsheathed the blade popped into the teen's head and his eye widened as he realized what happened, the chakra saber had answered his question.

After the weapon had nearly burned his skin after picking it up the first time it used the chakra stored to heal him and immediately began pulling in the ambient chakra in the air around him to refill its store. Even when chakra isn't being used it circulates through the system and trace amounts leak out of the tenketsu. The blade is able to catch these small amounts and filter them into white chakra over time. When Naruto pushed out heaps of Kyuubi's chakra the potent energy overloaded the filter and the sword absorbed pure demonic chakra.

The chunin tried to call on the white chakra that was usually stored in the saber, but his stomach heated up and when he lifted the black spandex his seal was visible as the sword began leaking out Kyuubi's chakra. Naruto shut down the connection and quickly shoved the sword in its sheathe before the potent killing intent set off any alarms. After hastily forming a string from the hospital ties the shinobi used it to anchor the blade before quickly sneaking out. Normally the rounds wouldn't come for another hour or so but if the Kyuubi's chakra leaked out they'd come running.

Because of Naruto's many escape attempts over the years they placed him in an area of the hospital that was extremely isolated and had few exits into the village. All windows in this section overlooked a courtyard, however there were several in the stairwell he could squeeze out of. Before the Jinchuuriki attained sweet freedom he heard Tsunade's voice coming from a nearby room, but she was whispering so he couldn't make out any details. Knowing that hushed voices meant juicy information Naruto tried to creep closer, but froze when he heard somebody calling his name.

The blonde stiffly turned his neck and sighed in relief when he saw Sakura running towards him wearing a hospital robe, "Did they let you out Naruto?"

"Shhh." The blonde quickly silenced his teammate before pointing at the door, "I heard Tsunade-baachan whispering in that room. Whatever it is I know it's gotta be good."

Sakura looked hesitantly at the door while chewing on her lower lip, "I don't know Naruto. If they're whispering it's for a reason, and doctor's appointments are supposed to be confidential."

The girl was about to continue but her teammate had ignored her and was already sneaking to the door so she just palmed her face and followed, knowing she'd be guilty by association anyways. The kunoichi was glad she did too because the first thing they heard was "Uchiha baby," just before the door fell open.

Sakura looked around embarrassedly while Naruto hopped to his feet in an outrage, but Kakashi moved at what was thought to be an impossible speed when he proved to be faster than the blonde's mouth and restrained the chunin. The Sandaime mumbled under his breath before speaking up, "You have a nose for trouble my boy. Now I'm going to tell Kakashi to let you go and you will NOT open your mouth."

Naruto dumbly nodded his head, surprised by the authority in the gentle voice he'd grown so accustomed to. "Good, now what you just heard cannot be repeated to anyone." Tsunade closed the door and the Hokage gave a grateful nod as the jounin let his student go, "Yes Kin is pregnant with an Uchiha child and it is Sasuke's. However for her safety, the safety of the child, and the safety of the village we cannot let that information be spread outside of this room."

After calming himself down Naruto stared determinedly at Sarutobi, "I want to help take care of it, Sasuke was my teammate."

"Me too." Said Sakura as she stood up and faced the girl in the room, slightly curious about her identity, "It's the least we can do."

Kakashi and Jiraiya looked out the window awkwardly because they knew what was coming next and the old man gave a weary sigh, "I'm afraid that's impossible Naruto because you have a large target on your back. I doubt people would be able to figure the child's lineage if you had a relationship with it, but any interaction with you would put the infant under intense scrutiny. I don't like it, but it will be best for Kin and Sasuke's baby if it lives anonymously."

"Because that really worked out well for me." Replied the blonde bitterly.

Hiruzen's face softened as he quietly said, "Naruto-"

"No." Interrupted the blonde, "It's not fair. You can't do that to another kid."

"Enough." Harshly responded the Hokage, "I am the leader of this village and I will not have my decisions questioned by a chunin with less than a year in the field, especially when that chunin is a child and largely ignorant to the ways of the world. If becoming the Hokage is really your dream then it's best you learn that not every decision makes you happy. You're life was undoubtedly hard, but it's one life stacked against tens of thousands as cold as that sounds. We can play what if games all you want but you are alive right now, healthy, a promising shinobi, and a bright young man with amazing friends and limitless opportunity ahead of you. It may have been hard getting here, but are you unhappy now?" Sarutobi paused and continued in a more composed manner, "Your ultimate goal as a shinobi and Hokage should be protecting the village not sleeping peacefully or making everyone happy, even those closest to you. It is a life of hardships and sacrifice, I'm sorry Naruto I really am."

Naruto grit his teeth and turned away from the old man, "Fine."

Kin felt slightly guilty and tried to calm everyone down, "Umm, I don't really know the whole story but if that's what the Hokage thinks is best than it's okay. I never knew Sasuke but apparently he was important to you two so if you'd like, you could name the baby."

Tsunade smirked as Naruto forgot his anger and started jumping in excitement, "Really. Can we name the baby Sasuke if it's a boy?"

Sakura whapped Naruto across the back of his head and the boy grabbed the lump in pain, "Don't be insensitive. You can't name a child after the father if they'll never get a chance to meet." The pinkette looked at the Hokage and asked, "Umm, do you know Sasuke's mother's name Hokage-sama?"

The old man smiled gently at the genin, "Yes I do, it's Mikoto Sakura-chan."

Naruto's blue eye widened to impossibly large proportions and watered, "That's so beautiful. Can we name it that, please Saaaakuuuuraaaa-chaaan?"

"I like it." Said Sakura as she smiled, "What about you Kaka-sensei, you should have a say too."

The jounin eye-smiled at Sakura, "Mikoto sounds fine for a girl, but if you don't mind I'd like to suggest a name for the boy. See, I've always been partial to Obito."

It didn't seem possible, but Naruto's eye got even wider as tears and snot streamed down his face, "That's a great name Kaka-sensei."

All in all Sakura thought it was a little goofy, but she could tell it was important to her sensei so nodded, "Alright it's settled, Mikoto for a girl and Obito for a boy."

Tsunade coughed into her hand and everybody looked at her, "Now that we have everything settled can I finish what I was saying before the brat and his girlfriend barged in?"

Seeing that nobody was interrupting she continued, "Like I was saying, even I was having trouble performing the ultrasound so it wasn't a surprise that they failed." A wide smile flashed across the blonde's face, "You see, I wasn't looking for it at first so I was having trouble getting a good outline of anything, but then... well let's just say it's a good thing you picked two names out."

Everyone, sans Naruto's, eyes shot open as Kin stuttered, "Y-you don't mean?"

Suddenly the chunin's eye shot open like everyone else, "You mean she's having a freak monster baby that's two people in one."

This time Tsunade smashed Naruto's head into the wall, "Don't be a jackass. When that happen it's called Siamese twins and that's not happening to Kin." The slug summoner calmed down, "She's having regular twins moron."

Naruto popped up like nothing happened and began running around the room and freaking out. Kin just deadpanned at the frantic boy, "Is he having the twins or am I?"

The Hokage chuckled as he placed a calming hand on Naruto's shoulder, "Now that we have everything settled why don't you two get going. You were both getting released today if I saw the schedule correctly."

Tsunade nodded and ushered them to the door, but before she got there Jiraiya said, "Oh Naruto remember I mentioned something about having a semblance of an idea that we might possibly go on a training trip for a couple of years… well we leave at the end of the week."

Naruto couldn't answer before the door was slammed in their faces courtesy of Tsunade. Once they were sure the coast was clear the Sandaime spoke up, "This may work to our advantage. You said she was five months pregnant, well Jiraiya I want you and Tsunade to come to my office in forty minutes and report that Kin is seven months pregnant. One of the ANBU currently on guard duty has been linked to Ne so Danzo will find out quickly, and if my hunch is correct won't let an opportunity like this pass him by. We'll hide her in one of the Senju safehouses outside of Konoha let it leak that she's giving birth a few days before the fake one and leave crumbs that point to a location. Tsunade you'll henge as a pregnant Kin while a clone of you and Shizune fake the procedure and allow a decoy clone baby to be captured. Kakashi will head up an ANBU tracking and capture squad that will follow the thief and we'll spring our trap once Danzo is sighted and his identity confirmed.

He looked over at the silver haired man, "Will we have enough evidence by then."

The jounin nodded, "Yes, every day we are finding new contacts and discovering how deep Danzo's claws go. We should be ready to move in a month if necessary."

The Hokage nodded, "I know that we can't draw this investigation out too long lest our target catches on, but if we rush and miss something it will only come back to haunt us. Be as thorough as possible Kakashi." After finishing the Hokage disappeared in a puff of smoke, revealing he was a shadow clone.

The Sandaime paused mid-sentence as he was addressing Konohamaru's class and Iruka asked, "Are you okay Hokage-sama?"

The old man smiled kindly at the instructor, "Yes I'm fine Iruka. You see I had some broccoli earlier and it always gives me gas." The class started laughing as Konohamaru sank into his seat, but the boy turned into a puddle out of embarrassment when his grandfather continued, "If you ever see Konohamaru eating it watch out, that happens runs in the family."

Naruto and Sakura walked in silence, partly because the blonde was in shock at the two bombshells that were just dropped, but the other reason became apparent when the pinkette shoved him into a vacant room and locked the door. The Jinchuuriki had several dreams that started like this and a blush dusted his whiskered cheeks, but from the look on the kunoichi's face that was the last thing on her mind.

"It's kind of ridiculous that I had to resort to this to get you to talk to me." Said the girl in an accusing voice.

Naruto winced and rubbed the back of his head, "Umm Sakura-."

"Why did you say that we would talk and then just blow it off like I'm not important?"

"It's not like that Sakura-chan, you're really important to me… it's just not the easiest thing to talk about."

The girl just sat on the empty bed next to the window and looked into the courtyard, "I know-"

"No you don't." Interrupted the blonde, "That's why it's hard to talk about it."

The kunoichi's jade eye's softened and her tone became less harsh, "You're right, but I used to ignore you and treat you terribly, and now that we're friends I just. I just noticed that I hardly know anything about you even though you never stop talking."

Despite the situation Naruto couldn't keep the smile from his face, "That never bothered me Sakura-chan. Just the fact that you noticed me and said my name made me happy."

"But that's terrible." Replied Sakura emotionally, "The fact that I yelled and hit you was enough to make you happy is awful. Please Naruto, I'm not trying to judge you… Why can't you tell me?"

Naruto's blue eye was fixed on the white tiles that made up the floor, "When I said we would talk I didn't think it would be a big deal, but it is."

"It's just, you would always run around smiling and make it look like you didn't care so I always thought your life was perfect as a kid, but there's no way all those smiles were real."

The chunin was surprised at how heated Sakura's voice had become and when the boy looked up he was shocked to see tears in her eyes, "They weren't, it was easier to deflect things with smiles. But a lot of them were real. Iruka-sensei came around after a little, and Hokage-jiji was there, and the Ichirakus. Sometimes Chouji, Shikamaru, and Kiba would play with me." Now Naruto looked out at the clear sky, "Maybe the Hokage was right, my life wasn't easy but it wasn't all bad either."

Sakura didn't appear to be satisfied with that snippet, "Then why is it so hard to tell me?"

Naruto looked down and grimaced as the good memories faded away and the harder times flashed through his memory like a slideshow. He knew that it wouldn't hurt his friendship with Sakura if they talked, he'd make sure to gloss over some his weaker moments and she seemed genuinely interested.

Naruto just couldn't bring himself to do it. Something inside the teen held him back so he remained silent and Sakura whispered, "Do you not trust me?"

The chunin was desperate for any out so he jumped on it, "It's not that Sakura, but we've really only just become close and it's not easy to-"

The girl exploded out of the room as soon as she heard her name and Naruto didn't chase after her, even though he was willing his body to follow. The blonde eventually walked out ten minutes later and dragged himself to Ichiraku Ramen to try and cheer up, but even that wasn't enough to lift the distraught boy's mood.

Naruto left the stand feeling down and wanted to be alone so he walked aimlessly through the village. The blonde walked around in a stupor until he heard someone repeatedly calling his name. He turned to acknowledge the speaker and to his surprise it was Ino. She was quickly running towards him, sliding through the crowd with practiced ease, while waving, "Naruto hold up."

The boy stopped and waited for his fellow blonde. When she finally caught up the kunoichi took a couple of seconds to catch her breath before inhaling deeply and rapidly chattering, "Oh my god I just heard from Asuma who overheard Kakashi and Jiraiya saying you were leaving on a training trip for a couple years so I got Chouji to tell his parents to book his restaurant and we're having a going away party."

Naruto stared incredulously at the girl who somehow managed to say all that without a pause or breath, "Umm thanks?"

Ino smiled and managed to talk like a normal person, "Sorry, so I called Sakura and left a message, then I invited team Gai and my team obviously, but I couldn't find team eight anywhere and found out they were one of the teams transferred to Suna. You can obviously invite anybody else but I figured those were the big ones."

The chunin smiled gratefully at his fellow blonde, "Actually can you invite Iruka-sensei too, I'll take care of the rest."

Ino nodded and took off while waving, "Okay, it's tomorrow night and it starts at eight. You'd better be grateful because we skipped out on team practice to get this organized."

Naruto returned the wave and walked back towards his apartment feeling just a little better.

When the blonde opened his apartment door he was greeted with a surprise. Shizune was wearing the jounin uniform and checking over some tightly bound packs. She looked up from her work and gave the boy a smile, "Oh, hello Naruto-kun."

"Hey nee-chan. What's with the getup?" Questioned the chunin.

The medic closed the bags up while answering, "Tsunade-sama and I are going on an A rank mission with a Nara and Yamanaka to study a rare flower. It only blooms for one month a year in a small area, and because of the limited supply and beauty of the plant it is highly sought after as a sign of devotion and love. Unfortunately that now means wealthy nobles hire shinobi to find them and we end up fighting to the death. We've recently discovered that the flower has several medicinal benefits so we're going to procure some while studying the flora, fauna, and climate of the area to find out why it only blooms there during that short time period because all documented attempts to grow it elsewhere have failed."

Tsunade walked out of their room, also wearing the jounin uniform, with her hair in a single ponytail. She stopped and gave her fellow blonde a pointed look while Shizune's back was turned, "That's right, so we won't be back before you leave." She walked up to Naruto and ruffled his hair, "And unfortunately we're running late because Jiraiya's a lazy ass and didn't want to do the paperwork at the hospital so we have to get going."

She leaned down and gave him a kiss on the forehead before grabbing one of the backpacks, "See you in a couple years brat, hopefully you'll manage to grow some."

Naruto stopped blushing and yelled back good-naturedly, "I'll definitely grow baa-chan, but you can't get any younger."

Much to the surprise of the other occupants of the room Tsunade just opened the door and smiled, "Don't worry, you'll get yours Naruto. Every. Little. Bit."

The slug summoner chuckled ominously and walked out the door while Shizune gave the teen a hug, "Take care of yourself Naruto, I can't wait to hear all about your adventures."

The brunette walked to the door as the Jinchuuriki gave her his foxy grin and a thumbs up, "You bet Nee-chan, take care of Baa-chan for me. Don't let her forget, SHE'S AN OLD HAG."

"YOU"LL GET YOURS GAKI."

Shizune sweatdropped as she walked out the door, "Goodbye Naruto-kun."

As soon as the front door closed the bathroom door opened and Tayuya walked out before flopping on the couch, "Oh my God yes, a month without that psychopath Shizune. She seems nice on the outside but she's a sadist I tell you."

Naruto chuckled as he sat on the couch next to her, "I think you may be over exaggerating a just little bit."

"And you're not a dipshit." Quickly responded the redhead.

The Uzumaki's blue eye widened as he remembered the mission, "Oh yeah Tayuya, I fought somebody that had a bow belt like you used to."

She cocked her head in interest, "Oh, one of my old teammates. Was it the fatass, or maybe that pussy Sakon?"

"I don't know. He wasn't fat, and definitely wasn't a pussy. He was pale with white hair, he had two little red dots over his eyes, and he could use bones. It was the guy Baa-chan healed at the base where we captured you."

During Naruto's description of the shinobi Tayuya's eyes gradually got wider before she started poking him, "Are you a ghost then? There's no way you fought Kimimaro and are still breathing."

The chunin pinched himself before smiling, "Nope, I'm definitely still alive… although he's not."

The redhead shot up in surprise and grabbed the blonde before shaking him violently, "There's no way you hurt, let alone kill Kimimaro. He could fight me and my three teammates at the same time and it wouldn't even be close. I don't believe that some little asslicker could kill a juggernaut like Kimimaro."

Naruto huffed indignantly, "I don't see what the big deal was. Sure he could use his bones as weapons, and make them harder than diamonds, and take hits that would kill a regular shinobi without blinking, and he's really fast and graceful, and has a lot of different maneuvers, and can transform into a dinosaur… okay I see what you mean now. But I hit him with a huge rasengan and he got smashed really far into the mountain and didn't come back up."

Tayuya dropped Naruto onto the couch before taking her seat again, "There must have been no point in him continuing the fight then. I've seen tons of rock fall on the freak and he came out like it was nothing. I just don't believe it."

The kunoichi disappeared into Tsunade's room before emerging with a pack full of shinobi equipment and holding her flute while standing in a taunting pose, "I'll need to test this out myself, let's go to the training field."

Naruto hopped to his feet and checked his pack before giving her a cocky grin, "Better be careful Tayuya-chan, I've been cooped up for two days so I might be too much for you to handle."

The former Oto kunoichi collapsed in the shade of a large oak tree, breathing heavily because of exhaustion, "That was almost an hour and you're still not even sweating much."

The chunin gave her a cheeky grin in response, "I told you Tayuya-chan, I'm just awesome like that."

She lazily threw her flute at the blonde and he sidestepped neatly and caught the improvised missile while she stuck her tongue out at him, "Whatever, I've just never had anyone dodge my genjutsu before."

Naruto pointed to his spinning sharingan to answer her question, "After I couldn't get out of the first genjutsu I brought this out and I was able to see the chakra lacing the sound waves. It was actually pretty awesome."

He covered the doujutsu before handing Tayuya back her flute and she dropped it to the ground by her head, "Yeah, well the flute is designed to funnel chakra through some seals into the sound generated in the chamber. It gives you a medium to start the genjutsu and make it harder to break out from." She grumbled and turned her head sharply, "That is if they can't cheat and see the sound waves."

The blonde ignored the jab at his eye and leaned back to watch the clouds, "So can you use other instruments? Like, what if you used a trumpet?"

That threw the redhead for a loop because she never really considered it and as far as she knew nobody else in Otogakure had either. The kunoichi was never really the best student under their sensei, Harumi, so she didn't know the fine details of how sound based jutsu worked, but she did know that they all revolved around high frequency or high pitch sounds. What would happen if she tried something that had a low frequency? "I don't know… that's a good question. It's surprising coming from you."

"Hey."

She ignored the boy's protest while giving her flute a closer inspection. She'd have to get the Hokage to send it out for study on how the fuuinjutsu aspect worked. In the meantime Tayuya would have to learn to play some other instruments. "Whatever, I'm hungry. Let's head back."

Naruto groaned and stood up, "Alright, hey Tayuya-chan, I guess some people are throwing me a going away party before I leave tomorrow. I was thinking you should come and meet some of my other friends."

"Sounds like fun shithead."

"Did you get us lost dumbass? I knew I shouldn't have come, this is gonna be stupid anyway." Tayuya and Naruto had been walking for nearly half an hour. The blonde knew the general location the restaurant was in, but he wasn't that familiar with the district because there was generally no reason for him to be in the district.

Fortunately a sign came into view with a rather rotund individual cut from wood behind, "See Tayuya-chan, you just got to have a little faith."

"That's why we passed the same sushi stand three times." Grumbled the redhead.

Naruto ignored the complaining and led them into the homely buffet. The tables and chairs were made from the same hearty wood as the floor and spread out around the perimeter of the room. In the center was a massive table, nearly twelve feet long and four feet wide, with inserts for different platters of food spread down its length on both sides. As soon as the door closed behind the duo Ino bounded towards them with a smile on her face, "And the guest of honor arrives last, I didn't know you of all people would be fashionably late Naruto." The gossip's smile turned mischievous, "Are you two?" Ino held up her pinky and swirled it around.

They blushed and Naruto just changed the subject, "This is Tayuya, she came to the village with Tsunade and Shizune."

The sociable girl smiled and took the redhead's hand, "Nice to meet you, c'mon I'll introduce you to Tenten. She'll love hearing about Tsunade, she's a huge fangirl."

Tayuya let herself get dragged across the floor, "She's just an old drunk, there's nothing great about her."

Naruto looked around the room to see who else was here. Team Gai and Team Ten were here with his team. Yuugao, Kakashi, Gai, and Asuma were spread across the room and Iruka was catching up with some of his old students. Seeing that his sensei was alone, oblivious to the world with his face buried in Icha Icha, Naruto strolled across the room while waving to some people and eventually ended up next to the silver haired jounin, "Hey Kaka-sensei, I haven't seen you in awhile."

The man lowered his fancy gold and white book and eye smiled at the teen, "Hey Naruto, it has been awhile. But as shinobi advance in rank they tend to branch out and work where there skills are needed. Still I'm glad to know you missed little old me."

"Well I kinda did, I guess. But I got a lot stronger. I can't wait to show you." Said Naruto, "I bet you couldn't poke m-"

The blonde didn't even see his sensei's hand move as it covered his mouth for the second time in as many days, "Now, now, Naruto. Don't want people thinking we're too close… like Gai and Lee." Naruto shivered and Kakashi continued like nothing happened, "Besides I think you still have a ways to go before you can give me a workout."

Naruto leaned his head back and gave his sensei a determined look, "Well just wait till I get back, then we'll see whose stronger."

His statement wasn't taken that seriously because as soon as it was made the copy ninja ruffled Naruto's hair, "First you should focus on growing tall enough so we can look eye to eye, literally. Have you been eating your vegetables?"

"Geez sensei you're always trying to embarrass me." Said the boy as he pushed his teacher's hand off his head and mussed up his hair.

Kakashi chuckled good naturedly, "It's my right as your teacher Naruto. Still I'm not your only one, this is quite the opportunity you have here. Not many people get the chance to train with a shinobi of Jiraiya-sama's caliber, let alone get his exclusive attention."

"He's just a dirty pervert." Complained the boy.

Kakashi was quick to add, "And a literary genius, perhaps the greatest author of our time. But that's a different discussion, I really just dropped by to say hello and goodbye. My plate is quite full right now and I can't waste time fooling around with Gai." He raised his new book to his face and started to walk to the door, but turned around before he got too far away, "But I am looking forward to seeing how strong you are when you return Naruto."

The blonde raised his fist and declared, "Just wait Kaka-sensei, I'll get payback for the genin exam."

The jounin just acknowledged his student by raising his empty hand as he strolled away. Naruto started forward to mingle with the crowd, but before the blonde could go three steps a hand clamped over his shoulder, "Still trying to get away from me Naruto. I thought we left those days behind us."

A wide smile broke across the boy's face as soon as he heard the voice and turned around with an excited, "Iruka-sensei. Do you want an asskicking before I go on my trip?"

The chunin instructor laughed heartily, "You may be a hotshot rookie that got promoted in his first year, but I have valuable experience in the field." The ponytailed shinobi then coughed into his hand, "I would accept your challenge but I have a class to teach, and with Konohamaru in it I need all the energy I can get."

"That sounds like an excuse to me sensei. I think you know your 'years of experience' were mostly behind a desk." The blonde impudently retorted.

"But chasing little hellions like you around every day is the equivalent of an ongoing A rank mission." Was Iruka's speedy, almost rehearsed, comeback. "Still I'm proud of how strong you've gotten. I always knew you'd be a terror someday, but if somebody told me you'd improve this quickly after you graduated I would've laughed in their face."

Naruto deadpanned at the backhanded compliment, "Thanks sensei… I think."

The man clapped the younger chunin on the back, "See, you wouldn't have picked that up a couple months ago either."

Naruto deflated momentarily, "I feel so loved."

Yuugao cut his moment of self-pity short when she strolled up to the bantering duo, "Sorry to interrupt your moping but I have an early mission tomorrow. Have fun on the training trip Naruto, don't forget to practice your kenjutsu."

Naruto smiled at the purple haired beauty, "Of course not Yuugao-sensei. You better pick up some new tricks or I'll be teaching you some things when I come back."

The woman returned his smile and gave his whiskered cheek a little pinch, "How about we teach each other some moves you cheeky bastard?"

Iruka cuffed the back of Naruto's head and the boy grabbed the spot while letting out a hiss, "What have I told you about being polite to women?"

"Stop trying to look cool sensei, she has a boyfriend."

Iruka grabbed the collar of Naruto's vest but the boy substituted himself with a chair, "Dammit Naruto. I miss the days when you couldn't do that."

Yuugao's laughter broke them up and she squatted down to give the blonde a hug, "See you when you get back Naruto."

With that she walked away. Iruka was preparing to ambush the boy while his guard was down, but the kitchen doors swung open and the plump Akimichi servers wheeled out the carts. Somehow, in the midst of all the aroma's Naruto still got a whiff of a familiar one and almost cried tears of joy when he saw Ayame wheel out a steaming pot of ramen. The blonde practically skipped to the table, but he ran into a rather wide, and incredibly spongy barrier that left the boy on his backside. The wall began to turn revealing a drooling Chouji, "Oh hey Naruto, great party right?"

The shinobi's blue eye watched the lone pot of ramen while he answered, "It's pretty good so far."

"And it just got better!" Exclaimed the chubby teen.

Shikamaru took a step forward revealing he was on the other side of the human meat wall, "Take it easy Chouji. You don't want to go to the hospital for overeating… again."

"You worry too much Shikamaru. It's training so I have to push my limits." Said Chouji as he eyed the spread.

Everything was set up and a triangle was rung and Chouji burst into motion. Naruto made sure to beat him to the ramen pot though, "Hey nee-chan."

Ayame opened the lid and giggled as Naruto deeply inhaled the aroma, "Hello Naruto-kun. That Yamanaka in your grade came into Ichiraku after you left and said that you were getting a going away party for the trip you were talking about, and she said it needed ramen to be complete."

She filled up the teen's bowl and he quickly devoured the contents and held it up for seconds, "Yeah, Ino-chan's not that bad, sometimes at least." He inhaled the second serving of Ramen before continuing, "This was actually a really good idea."

"I know." Agreed the brunette, "I can't believe you'll be gone for three years."

Naruto sighed, but his despair only lasted as long as it took for the next refill, "It's going to be torture for me too Ayame-neechan. Three years without Ichiraku Ramen, I don't know how I'll survive."

The girl laughed as Naruto devoured his latest helping, "Well you'd better hurry back. We might not survive for long without our number one customer and then you'll never get our ramen." Naruto's eye widened in horror, but before panic set in Ayame reassured him, "I was kidding Naruto. We've always done good business, especially with the shinobi."

Naruto sighed in relief, "That's good. I almost couldn't eat another bite because I was so worried."

"That would be tragic."

Naruto turned around to see the owner of the dull voice while saying, "Oi, that would be worst than death."

The Hyuuga gave the chunin a small nod, "It is good to see you Naruto"

"You too Neji."

Before the blonde could continue Lee smashed into the ground next to him, "Yosh, it is my other eternal rival. I have heard that you are going on a three year training trip, but don't think this means you will pull ahead of me. I shall harness all the energy generated by my youthful flames to train as much as possible and surpass you."

Naruto didn't really know what to say so he settled on nothing. Seconds after Lee finished another green blur landed next to Naruto, "Alright Lee, your springtime of youth is at its peak. We must take advantage of this and begin training immediately. Naruto-kun is already a worthy foe and will train incredibly hard as well. The only way a genius of hard work like yourself can win is to work harder."

Fires sprouted in Lee's charcoal eyes, "You're right Gai-sensei. Naruto-kun comes from a prestigious clan, is the son of the Yondaime, and trains hard. If I want to keep up I'll have to train twice, no three times as hard as he does."

Gai put his left hand on his hip while pointing to the door, "That's the spirit Lee. Let that youthful passion overwhelm you and drive you to new heights. Now, EXPLODE!"

The green duo seemed to vanish and the doors blew off their hinges because of the sonic boom they created. Naruto smiled at the fact Lee didn't mention the Kyuubi as an advantage before turning around to get a refill. However he found Chouji dumping the contents of the pot straight into his mouth with no pause in sight. "Oi the ramen. Stop hogging it fa-."

Naruto found he couldn't control his body and lifted is hands to his mouth before he could finish the sentence. The boy could move again shortly after and turned his head to see Shikamaru shaking his. Chouji was staring at the blonde like a raging bull so he stepped away cautiously while silently thanking Shikamaru. Don't want to drop the F-bomb in a restaurant full of Akimichi clansmen.

He finally caught a glimpse of Sakura and wanted to go talk to her, but his body wouldn't respond to his commands. The chunin thought it was Shikamaru again but he looked down to see no shadow connected to his. For some reason he just couldn't make his body move unless it was in the direction of the table, away from the pinkette.

Naruto just filled a plate with food other than Ramen and made sure to at least say hello to everyone else at the party. Near the end of his rounds Tayuya came over and appeared to be trying to frown, "I got roped into going to that ditzy blonde's for the night so I'll see you tomorrow."

The chunin finished what was left on his plate and stood, "Alright, I'm feeling a little tired myself. You think after doing nothing for two days I'd be ready to go."

"The last thing you are is normal shithead." Said Tayuya, "Well, catch you later."

Tayuya headed back to the girls and Naruto got up to leave. After thanking the Akimichi family for hosting the party he headed out into the crisp night air and took to the rooftops. It only took him a couple of minutes to get back to the apartment where he found his most perverted sensei devouring some of the food Shizune left them, "What are you doing Ero-sennin?"

The man belched, spraying rice and meat chunks all over the table, before answering, "You didn't expect me to pay for a hotel and food when I can stay here and eat for free. And to top it off I don't need to worry about Tsunade castrating me in my sleep because she's on a mission."

Naruto just stared blankly at the leech, "Considering you have more money than God…"

The blonde trailed off and Jiraiya pushed himself away from the table, leaving his droppings and dishes. "Ah, but I have more money than God because I don't spend it." Lectured the man sagely.

Unfortunately his pupil was looking over the village and ignoring him. The sennin was considering taking on that Oto kunoichi more and more, but his contemplation was cut short when Naruto turned around and spoke up, "Hey Ero-sennin, can we leave tomorrow?"

Jiraiya scratched his cheek, "Well I had everything set up to leave this weekend so you could have some time with your friends. But if you can't wait to bask in my glorious presence we can leave tomorrow morning, bright and early." The hermit twisted his torso and made for the door, "Well Gaki, if we're hitting the road I'm going to take advantage of Konoha's fine cathouses because it'll be awhile, don't want to have any regrets or anything."

Naruto just nodded and headed towards his room, "Alright, I'm going to pack."

The sage gave his student's back a concerned stare before walking out the door and closing the portal.

Naruto paid the exit no heed and began sealing all his clothes, shinobi equipment, and camping supplies by himself to try and numb his mind. He was becoming pretty proficient at drawing seals and could do basic storage seals with his eye closed so the aspiring fuuinjutsu master finished quickly, even without the use of his clones. The chunin stepped out into the living room to put his pack by the door just as it opened and Tayuya stepped in saying, "Thank God, I somehow managed to get away."

She walked past Naruto into the girls' room while the blonde smiled, "So you're not going back?"

The kunoichi poked her head out, "No, I just need some stuff for the sleepover. Did anyone come by?"

The blonde gave her a strange look as she went back into the room, "Yeah, Ero-sennin was here earlier. We talked and well… we're leaving tomorrow."

A red and navy streak came out of the room and Tayuya stopped in front of the blonde, holding her own pack, "What?"

Naruto gestured to the pack by the door, "Tomorrow morning we're hitting the road. So unless you're coming back really early I won't see you until I get back from the trip."

The redhead looked around the apartment before closing the blinds and giving the room one last lookover to check for surveillance devices. Once she was sure they weren't being spied on or observed she walked towards Naruto and wrapped the blonde in a hug, "I'm going to miss you."

"I'll miss you too."

"If you tell anyone about this they'll never find a body."

Naruto smiled as Tayuya let go and left without another word before heading off to bed.

Sakura sprinted out of her house before taking to the rooftops towards Naruto's apartment. She left the party shortly after he did and was going to talk to him then, but the teen chickened out and decided to go home instead of reporting her failure at the sleepover.

Last night Ino and Tenten made her realize that her and Naruto were both in the wrong and she wanted to apologize. The blonde shouldn't have avoided her and the subject when they were together true, but she shouldn't have tried to force him to open up when it was clearly hard for him to do so. He did somewhat in the hospital and the kunoichi was sure the rest would've come with time. Instead Sakura acted the same as she did in the academy and ignored any of Naruto's thoughts and feelings on the matter, only seeing things from her point of view.

She banged furiously on the door and a sleepy looking Tayuya answered, "Oh it's you. We missed you at the sleepover."

Sakura looked over the redhead's shoulder, "Well I kinda chickened out and I didn't want to hear it from you guys."

The former Oto-nin just stuck her pinky finger into her ear and rubbed it around, "I don't really care, but you definitely should've come here last night because Jiraiya moved up their departure date and they left this morning."

It was like somebody punched Sakura and knocked the wind out of her as a rush of emotions hit the girl. Sadness, anger, guilt, regret, disappointment, and a myriad she couldn't identify in the jumble. Tayuya opened the door and led the younger girl in as she deflated. The pinkette sat on the couch and fought her tears, "But it's not fair."

Tayuya snorted as she got two cups down from the cupboard and put some water on to boil, "Life hardly is, but the world isn't ending. You're both alive and you'll get your chance when he comes back. In the meantime you better whip into shape because somebody might snatch him up."

Sakura stiffened and prepared for a verbal spat, but found she couldn't gather the necessary energy. The former Oto-nin looked worriedly at her and sat down next to the distraught girl without saying a word while awkwardly wrapping an arm around the pinkette's shoulder. Sakura felt so confused, she didn't know what to do and just leaned into the older girl, grateful for the offered support.

Naruto adjusted the straps on his back as Jiraiya led him down a dirt road and looked back in the direction of Konoha for what seemed like the hundredth time in the last five minutes, though the village was no longer visible and hadn't been for a long time. "We can go back if you want too. There's nowhere I need to be until next week."

The blonde turned around and was surprised to see his sensei hadn't taken his eyes off the road the whole time but knew he was glancing back, "No that's fine. It'll be good to get away for awhile, even after the announcement people don't look at me like a person."

Jiraiya's laughter boomed through the wilderness, "Take it from someone who was normal once kid, it's way overrated. I have so much more fun being awesome." The man's voice took a more serious turn, "Besides it's not negative anymore. You're a symbol to the people, a sign of strength and greatness to the village and the world. You give the villagers hope and a feeling of security, so man up and accept it, be classy."

Naruto snorted, "Classy? You're just a perv ero-sennin."

Jiraiya stopped and sat on a fallen tree near the side of the road, "Correction, I'm a super pervert, and that's only around people I'm close to. If we had a working relationship I'd be acting a lot different right now." Naruto sat next to the man and the sage placed a comforting hand on his apprentice's shoulder, "I can understand you feeling negative about it now since people look at you like that because of Minato, but you're his legacy so it's expected. Eventually the people will look like that because of your strength." He stood up and struck a gallant pose, or what he thought was one anyways, "And that will be because of the great Jiraiya-sama's training, and since we have some time let's get started now."

Naruto hopped off the tree in excitement, "Alright, now you're talking Ero-sennin. Are you going to teach me a new jutsu?"

In response Jiraiya wagged his finger in front of Naruto's face, "Hold on a second now, I appreciate the enthusiasm and energy but first we need to polish you up if you want to be a decent shinobi. If it wasn't for the sharingan you'd be hopeless at genjutsu, and without it you have no defense against them so we'll start there." The sage bit his thumb and performed the ritual for summoning, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Mr. Gamariki"

When the smoke cleared a light green toad, that looked more like a frog, with yellow, lightning like markings, purple eyes, and despite being called mister the amphibian wore a scarlet bow on his back, pink blush on his cheeks, and had orange lipstick on. When he spoke it was in an incredibly comical voice, almost like a tube trying to pass off for a flute, "Oh you must be the new summoner Naruto-chan. Come give Mr. Gamariki a kiss."

One solid red eye, and one sickly yellow snapped open in an underground base. Malevolent black chakra rose from the small form, fouling up the air, but the boy ignored it and laughed innocently as he sat up. There was no inherent malice in any of his actions, despite the evil feeling of the chakra, as he swung his arms around in circles before gingerly placing his foot on the stool then jumping off. Ranmaru ran around the room in excitement while hooting in joy. The boy stopped however when the door slid open revealing Orochimaru, Kabuto, and Kimimaro.

The snake summoner stepped forward and his slit pupils roamed over the transformed boy curiously, "I take it everything is to your liking?"

Ranmaru brought his hands together and bowed ninety degrees at the waist, "Yes Orochimaru-sama. Thank you for healing me."

The nuke-nin just chuckled and patted the boy on the head, paying no heed to the malevolent chakra, "Kukuku, no need for thanks dear boy. I just gave you the seal, the rest was your doing. Now would you like to see what the mark looks like when active?"

The boy nodded and Kabuto handed him a simple sheet of glass. The left side of Ranmaru's body was completely normal, but the right side appeared to have black flames running over it. His right eye was a putrid yellow, and he could see the pupil, "I, I feel great, better than I've ever felt in my whole life. It's like I could fight an army right now."

The serpentine man motioned Kimimaro forward and said, "I'm glad you are enjoying yourself, but it's best not to overdo it the first time using the seal. Try to find where the power is emanating from and will it back there."

It took the boy nearly a minute, but the flame like markings receded and the malevolent aura faded. However as soon as the mark stopped Ranmaru began to collapse. Fortunately Kimimaro was prepared and caught the child before gently placing him on the bed and soothing the upset boy. "Don't worry, that's to be expected after never using your muscles. The seal may have been what allowed you to do that now, but in time you will be able to do all that and more without it, because Orochimaru-sama has allowed me to train you.

Ranmaru's red eyes lit up with joy, "Really?"

Kimimaro nodded and Orochimaru opened the door, "I'll leave you two alone to discuss the schedule."

Satisfied Ranmaru would willingly serve his cause the snakelike shinobi signaled Kabuto to follow as he walked through the dimly lit halls, "Send a small amount of money and supplies to the Fuuma, just enough to reaffirm their loyalty. And also tell them to pull out of the base and begin strengthening themselves. That experiment is a failure, even if it looked so promising."

The medic bowed and disappeared while Orochimaru continued walking and the man let his fertile mind plan the next moves in the chess game. It was almost time to pay the 'Daimyo' a visit.

AN: The new sword-Let me begin by saying although the sword absorbing Kyuubi's chakra will be a boon it's not all positive, in fact one negative was already hinted at, though not overtly. Also I hope the transformation was believable. There has never been anything really saying this in canon but I think demonic chakra is a catalyst for mutation, look at Sora's beast arm and the traits most Jinchuuriki gain. So the transformative properties affected the sword. The way I look at it I can't make the blade any more absurd then Samehada, although I don't even want it to get close to that. There is really only going to be one over the top thing power that comes from the new mutation, but he won't be able to merge with the sword or become it. I don't even know where the idea came from, but I think everyone will like it.

Part one is done people and part two is coming up. Chapter four is edited and five should be up someday so check that out if you want. If you haven't yet noticed not many characters will be fighting like they did in canon, although their will be similarities. Ex. Shikamaru will still be a lazy genius and try to take down his opponents with the least amount of work possible and his skill will be based on shadows, just different than canon. I will try to explain any changes based on what physics are apparent in the Narutoverse and real life. Let me know what you think.

Also a warning now. This story is not oh my god love at first sight I can never date anyone else now (Unless I get an obscene amount of reviews and messages against it). There will be relationships and not all of them will succeed, they're teenagers despite the profession. Romance is not a theme of the story so they won't get much attention, but they won't appear out of nowhere. I'll try to show some interaction or that spark that started it and mention them in the story, but the plot doesn't hinge on most pairings. Anyways because of this I am open to secondary pairings if you the readers have a suggestion. I have a pairings list somewhere that I kind of had planned out, but it was never important, except for a couple that won't change, so if you really want to see something let me know. Also enjoy my first Omake, I wrote it to get my creative juices flowing after the unintentional hiatus and forgot about it. I guess saying team eight went to Suna reminded me that I had it tucked away.

Omake- Shino gets a fanclub

Team eight, sans Kurenai, was one of the first leaf squads to enter the massive sandstone gates of Sunagakure as part of the shinobi exchange. The two genin and chuunin took in the sights of the village once more before Shino, their de facto team captain, led Kiba, Hinata, and Akamaru to one of the hotel the shinobi would temporarily stay until they constructed the barracks. Once Kiba entered the plain hotel room he whooped and exclaimed, "Alright guys this is the life. No parents to tell us what to do and the only thing we have to worry about are the missions. I'm gonna go buy some Sake and get drunk first. Me and Akamaru aren't cleaning our room the whole time we're here right boy."

Shino pushed his slipping sunglasses up his nose causing the sunlight to glint off of them as Akamaru barked his agreement, "That is both disgusting and irresponsible Kiba, because tomorrow we have an assembly where we will meet the Kazekage and other important figures of Sunagakure no Sato, and giving them the wrong impression would be unbeneficial to Konoha. Also we are guests here and leaving your room unclean will result in negative feelings being fostered, which would affect the teamwork of inter-village squads, and that could lead to many shinobi deaths, because of that the relationship between our villages would become strained, and that could possibly lead to a conflict."

Shino turned his attention to his two teammates, confident that they were listening to his wise and logical words with rapt attention, he was their captain after all, but Hinata was quietly scolding Kiba and neither was listening to him in the slightest. The bug-user sighed, "I'm going out for a walk."

Hinata and Kiba stopped their discussion and turned to look at the chuunin as the dog user asked, "Did you say something buddy?"

Shino sulked through the streets of Suna while scrutinizing every area that unique desert insects could dwell. It was acceptable to mope every once in awhile, but you should at least try to be productive when doing so. This was the first lesson taught to all Aburame clan members and Shino made sure to follow it. The clan heir was so caught up in the search that he didn't notice his boisterous teammate until Kiba clapped a hand on his shoulder, "Hey buddy, it got boring at the hotel so me and Akamaru sniffed you out."

"… Kiba that sounded wrong."

"Whatever floats your boat man."

The two walked in silence and noticed that the crowd separated in front of them leaving an alley to walk through. The reason became apparent when Sabaku no Gaara walked through wearing a tan colored flak jacket over his regular robes. Kiba froze in fear but Shino didn't even notice because he spotted an ideal hiding spot for an assassin bug. The silent boy kept walking until he found his way blocked by Suna's Jinchuuriki. The two stared at each other with stoic faces until Shino slightly inclined his head and greeted the boy with an emotionless, "Gaara-san."

The redhead quirked an eyebrow at the Konoha chuunin and responded with a, "Shino-san," that was equally detached. The two looked at each other in silence for what seemed like an eternity to the villagers, then the youngest son of their Kazekage asked, "Would you like to spar? I would like to fight a fellow competitor from the chuunin exam finals, especially one who also received a promotion."

"Of course, it is important to train with comrades because that will foster a tighter bond and improve teamwork." Responded Shino.

The two walked through the Suna crowd, oblivious stares following them while Shino expounded upon the logic of training together to strengthen the alliance between their villages. Nobody moved or said anything for the next several minutes until a high-pitched squeal broke the silence, "Kyaaa! Shino-kun is so cooool!"

"I know, did you see the way he stared down Gaara, THE Gaara, and greeted him like he was his neighbor?"

"I know. He's so brave, handsome too."

"And I know that he's really kind, polite, and gentle under that emotionless mask."

Kiba just gaped at the squealing schoolgirls before a sly smile formed on his face. He approached the nearest group of gushing thirteen year olds in what he thought was a suave manner, "You know Shino is my teammate and best friend. I could set us up on a double date if you wanted."

The blonde girl closest to him scrunched up her face in disgust, "My eyes are up here you pig. No self-respecting girl would ever go out with a pervert who stinks like wet dog. She sighed and her eyes glazed over before she continued, "Besides Shino-kun would never stare at a maiden's breasts while talking to her, he's too stoic and polite."

Kiba sputtered for several seconds, "Are you kidding me? Where are you getting all of this? The guy wears sunglasses, for all you know the only thing he might look at are boobs."

Shino and Gaara walked through the streets of Suna and the crowd once again parted for their Jinchuuriki. The two shinobi quickly came to the intersection where they would have to separate and stopped to say farewell. Gaara inclined his head towards the Aburame, "Thank you for the spar, it was quite… entertaining."

Shino muttered, "No problem" and started towards the hotel with stares following his every step until a group of girls started squealing "Did you see that? Shino-sama sparred with Gaara and not only is he alive, but Gaara said he enjoyed it."

A random girl agreed, "Yeah, he must be amazingly strong. It doesn't even look like he's injured. Hey, we should follow him and see where he's staying."

"Good idea, we'll follow him and you spread the word about Shino-sama."

"Hell no bitch, I'm following Shino-sama."

"Yeah right, a slut like you would try to jump him and then they'd go to a different hotel."

As the two started a catfight between the small horde of teens a different group of girls trailed behind Shino. The shinobi was completely aware that he was being followed, but to be frank he didn't give two shits about it because his body was one big bruise. Gaara trapped all his bugs inside a sphere of sand at the beginning of the fight then made a flyswatter out of his gourd that he used to smack the bug user around the training field until he grew bored. It wasn't the first time, and it definitely wouldn't be the last, that Shino thanked his parents for getting him a trench coat.

-Operaman Bye Bye