No I don't own Naruto. Given the amount of property damage, I'd never be able to afford the insurance.

Chapter Twenty Five: Fun in the Sun!

Resting at the edge of the woods, Hinata enjoyed the gentle sea breeze. Months in the misty highlands of Bird Country, the lush plains of Vegetable Country and various forests across the land made the giant body of water a welcome change of pace. Growing up in Konoha, she had long since grown used to the presence of excessive vegetation. But watching the sunlight catch on the surf brought a smile to the girl's face. Maybe she could convince Naruto to go swimming together? She had to start being bold sometime, and Hana's teasing was beginning to make her nervous.

Hearing Tsunade-sensei clear her throat, the young Kunoichi cringed. After months of training with the woman, she was more than aware what that particular tone entailed. Looking at the sudden and vicious grin, Hinata gulped. "Alright Naruto and Hinata, I want you to drop your packs. We've only been traveling for a few hours, and I would hate to waste such a golden opportunity. Join me on the water for a new training exercise!" Sighing, Hinata followed the command and joined the energetic blondes on the water. Watching Naruto's antics she felt an eye twitch coming on. Was there any sort of training that made Naruto cringe? If she did not know better, she would think that he would jump off a cliff in the name of getting stronger!

Standing on the water with the ease of experience, Tsunade began directing them in a series of simple stretching exercises. Finishing up, the blonde got into a ready stance. "Alright, I think that it's time to properly evaluate how far you two have come. So I want you both to attack me with only Taijutsu and water walking until I say you can stop." Grinning darkly, the elder Kunoichi formed her fists, cracking every knuckle in the process. "Are you ready?"

Matching her smirk, Naruto-kun also got into position. "Are you sure about this, Baa-chan? I mean, between me and Hinata-chan that's a whole lot of awesome! Won't that be a bit much for you to handle?" While Hinata fought down a blush about her apparent awesomeness, she shuffled nervously on the water's surface. Tsunade-sensei was a strong Kunoichi, but her temper was scarier than anything her father was capable of. She really did not want to fight her teacher when the woman was angry. She had too much to do before she died!

Narrowing her eyes, Tsunade snorted. "Don't get cocky brat. I'll be the first to admit that you've come along farther than I thought so far, but there's still a lot of work to do! So far we've kept it down to one-on-one tutoring and conditioning. This is a chance to show how much your teamwork has improved. So impress me, or be prepared to kick the tree until you bleed!"

Frowning, Naruto-kun growled under his breath. "So that's how you want to play. Well then, we'll just have to kick your flabby butt! Come on Hinata-chan let's show Baa-chan what we can really do!" Sighing at the upcoming pain, Hinata formed her own aggressive stance. This was probably going to hurt, but the young Kunoichi could not let the blonde down. Launching herself at Tsunade-sama, Hinata firmed her determination. Win or lose, she would give it her all!

-----

As a genius of the Hyuga clan, Neji had always assumed that he understood how those around him worked. With his Byakugan, he could seek out both enemies and deception with equal vigor, being recognized as the most successful wielder of the kekkei genkai in generations. Therefore, the young man had certain expectations that he believed should be met. Although his belief in fate had been tempered after his battle with Uzumaki Naruto, Neji still sought out patterns in both behavior and lifestyle that allowed him to so accurately read the potential of ally and enemy alike. Yet, upon his departure from the Hyuga clan, many such assumptions and predictions had been rendered useless much to his growing irritation.

His first assumption was that he would be one of many Branch Members to leave the Hyuga Clan. After all, there was nothing really stopping them from approaching Jiraiya-sama for his counter-seal and it was only logical that others would seek freedom to the same degree. To his shock, none of the other Hyuga sought to discard their names or servitude. Instead, the strongest bought into the Elder's trap, fighting one another for position and power. The weaker members simply maintained the status quo, apparently content in their servitude.

Watching family who had previously held only hatred for the Main house strutting around after gaining their position left him feeling sick. Had the Branch House really chafed under their yoke, or where they simply dissatisfied that they were not the ones in control? He had always thought that the years of hardship and pain would make the lower house more respectful of the pain of others. Yet, once given the chance, they almost reveled in their efforts to destroy the competition for power. No matter the reason, this new brutality of the Hyuga left him feeling cold.

Another expectation had been the temporary status as Tenten's roommate. It had not been long before Team Gai had begun taking missions once again. Following his Sensei's belief in hard work, they had already completed nearly ten C-rank missions within the month. All were low level C-ranks, mostly confined to the village, but that was still a reasonable amount of money. With careful frugality, Neji thought he would be able to move out within another ten missions or so.

What he had not foreseen was the reaction of Tenten's landlord to his presence. The recent invasion, coupled with rumors of several significant accounts being frozen had severely weakened the village economy. It had only really begun to get bad once the mandated recovery surplus from the Fire Lord for redevelopment had run out. Suddenly, shop keepers were forced to inflate their prices on goods just to break even. For the first time since the wars, civilians were out of work, with funds needed to maintain their standard of living appropriated for the security and stability of the ninja forces. Therefore, many businesses that focused on ninja gear were forced to boost their prices, since the ninja where the only ones consistently bringing in money.

As a result once the landlord had discovered that Tenten was effectively subletting space for him to stay in, her rent was raised significantly. Although he had offered to leave and camp out in the woods, Gai-sensei had rejected his plan. Apparently squatting was against the ninja conduct rules due to the difficulty of locating personnel during a crisis. He had then offered to once again put the young man up in his own apartment. Seeing his disturbed appearance, Tenten had graciously vetoed his moving plans, much to Neji's relief. However, in the end Neji was forced to contribute significant portions of his mission pay to offset the difference and could not save enough funds to gain proper independence.

Of course, thoughts of Tenten led him to the final surprise since gaining his emancipation. Having worked for a long period of time with the girl, Neji had expected living with his teammate to simply be a closer version of their camping trips. However, setting a watch and cleaning out a fire pit was nothing like coordinating with a proper roommate. Tenten has insisted upon a clear division of labor, throwing Neji into the deep end. As a warrior of the Hyuga Clan, he had simply trained and protected the village. But as a clan-less Genin of Konoha, Neji had to take out the garbage, clean the floors, and any other number of menial labors previously beneath his station. It was a shocking experience.

Looking over the overpriced produce, Neji sighed. He had drawn cooking duty for the evening, and was just getting into the idea of food shopping. Haggling down prices instead of using a clan discount was a jarring experience, and the price gouging was outrageous! He did not even need his doujutsu to see that this was highway robbery. Trials like this made him wonder if freedom was all it was cracked up to be.

-----

Watching her fellow blonde throw another punch, Tsunade jumped lightly to the side. Undeterred, the laughing Chunin simply bounced off the water behind her to launch a kick. Feeling the shift in the air currents, she allowed her control to slip, dipping beneath the surface slightly before flinging her opponent into the air with a careful finger flick. Landing roughly on the surf, Naruto somehow maintained the control to treat the water's surface as solid, before getting up to go again. Observing yet another example of the younger ninja's stamina, Tsunade sighed. Even as a Sannin, she would never want to get into a war of attrition with someone who could spar all out for six hours straight. "All right, that's enough. Let's go join the others on the beach." Breathing deeply, the younger ninja was quick to agree.

Looking at the prone figures lying prone on the sand, the Hokage winced. Hinata had managed to work on the exercise for nearly two hours before being forced to rest. Undeterred, she had Shizune take the younger girl's place. However, even with her superior control, the medic had quite a bit less experience working with Naruto cooperatively. Between the lost energy to compensate and the constant miss-coordination, her first apprentice was forced to halt after only an hour. Frustrated that the kid still was not even breathing hard, Tsunade had ordered Hana to try. However, without her canine partners, the Inuzuka's effectiveness was significantly decreased, and she barely maintained her progress for thirty minutes. Therefore, it had only her and Naruto on the surface of the water for nearly half of the exercise, and she was beginning to feel it before him. That was downright scary.

Stretching out a bit, she turned to the most recovered of her companions. "Alright Hinata, I want you to set up a fire pit while I get some fresh water. We don't need someone catching a cold after getting soaked all day. Naruto, why don't you clean up in that stream we passed earlier? You've been working the longest, and could probably use it the most." Grinning, the young boy rushed to follow her commands, which she honestly could not blame. After all, even if he had stayed on the surface of the water, the salt in the air was bound to get uncomfortable after a while.

Once everyone had cleaned up, settled in front of the fire, and begun to eat, Tsunade decided that it was time to talk. "I bet you're all curious about that little demonstration out there? After all, we're tired, hungry, and just spent hours moving at high speed before getting here. Why would such a spar be a good idea?" Noting the curious looks that everyone sported, she grinned. At least they had waited for the practice to be finished before asking.

Grabbing a grilling fish, the master medic took a bite before answering. "Well, here's the thing. Jiraiya's little introduction letter for Hana had a bit more information than I mentioned. Apparently, a lot of villages have heard about our group, and are mobilizing some sort of response. That means that we're going to have to be much more careful from now on. Most of our training has focused upon personal tutoring and specialization. However, now that the perspective enemy list has gone up so badly, we're going to have to work together."

Frowning, Naruto nodded his acceptance. "Teamwork can overcome the strongest opponent right? If the enemy is stronger, then you have to work together better. The only way to stay safe is to rely upon your comrades and have them rely upon you. At least, that's the sort of thing that Kakashi-sensei usually said." The resulting silence from his proclamation felt a little awkward, but the words made sense, despite the original source.

Coughing to break the building tension, Tsunade smirked at her subordinates. "Well, now that we're clear on the subject, I believe that some teamwork exercises are in order. Therefore, every morning for the next few days, we're going to do this all over again. So let's get to bed and get ready for another busy day!" Noting the pained expressions on Hana, Shizune, and Hinata's faces Tsunade held back a cackle of glee. That was one of the best perks of being a Sensei!

-----

Trudging towards the training grounds, Tenten stifled a sigh. The last couple of weeks had been both enlightening and irritating in any number of ways. As an orphan, she had been forced to work and live alone for most of her life. Her time in the orphanage was brief, and even when she had been surrounded by so many others, the young Kunoichi had kept to herself. She was too much of a tomboy for the little girls and too brash for the civilian boys. Her team was the closest thing she had to a family, and she cherished every moment, no matter how embarrassing it could become. But nothing in her life had prepared her for life as Neji's roommate!

Honestly, she had not expected much of a shock. The boy was one of the few people she spent most of the day with anyways, so what were a few more hours? Heck, even some of the admiration she had for the guy had leaked into her dreams, giving her some very interesting fantasies involving a hot tub, loin cloths and chocolate sauce. Hey, she was a growing girl, and with all that talk of the flames of youth, she had to find some way of coping. Visually undressing her male teammates was just a simple little vice. It was not her fault that Gai-sensei mandated such tight uniforms. Heck, if even one of those little dreams had come through, then the issues with the landlord would not have bothered her at all!

No, the thing that was so irritating was the sheer ineptness that Neji demonstrated outside of the battlefield! The Hyuga had limited his scope to encompass only fighting and the standard ninja skills. The idea of even cleaning his messes seemed to be seen as too demeaning or degrading. Now that he was expected to perform chores or manage his own life gave the boy this constantly bewildered look that would be hilarious if it did not make her want to scream. If he was such a genius, then why the hell was the trash schedule so beyond his ability to understand? It was enough to make her want to rip her hair out!

Teeth gritting at the memory, Tenten resisted the urge to start playing with a kunai. The difficulty with the rent and adjusting to standard life she could deal with, but the shower was the last straw! He had spent nearly an hour in there just this morning, trying to get his hair in order! Not only did that take away all the hot water, it was driving her utility bills through the roof! His little explanations concerning the Hyuga private baths where nearly enough to have her bite rocks and spit sand. He was going to adjust to normal living, or she would start stabbing him repeatedly.

Trying to get her temper under control, the young woman sighed deeply. A lot of this really was not Neji's fault. He had been trained exclusively as a tool of the Main House Hyuga, and any function outside of that role was beyond his understanding. As his teammate, she would insure that he would be fully trained in the standards of normal life, no matter what effort was required! In the meantime, she would start her training, vent appropriately, and proceed home where her new roommate should have a nice dinner waiting for her. That could not be too far beyond him, right? I mean, how hard could it be to follow a recipe? Ignoring the first stirrings of ice across her spine, Tenten began to throw at the targets.

-----

Trudging down the road, Tsunade smiled at the signs of civilization. After nearly a week of nonstop teamwork exercises, the Sannin felt that they would be able to adjust to one another's fighting styles. Unfortunately, just as they were about to make some real progress, Shizune had pointed out that their supplies had begun to run low. Checking a map, she was thankful to discover that there was a trading port not to far too the south, so the group had packed their camp and proceeded to head out. Honestly, after weeks in the wild training, the chance to get a drink and kick up her heals was very attractive to the weary blonde.

Looking over her fellow ninja, she suppressed a wince. The only one that still looked halfway energetic was Naruto. Everyone else was clearly tired, cranky, and worn to the bone. Taking their pace into account, it was no wonder that even Hinata-chan's little smile was a bit forced. Given the potential threats, they really should not stay in a particular place for too long, but she had no problem with a minor vacation. They could afford a couple of days off in town, before heading out to the next location in-land. Honestly, her apprentices would get better control practice on the interior rivers than the ocean anyways.

The Hokage was shaken from her musings when Naruto cleared his throat. Turning, she was almost shocked by how nervous the kid looked. It was actually rather adorable. "Hey, Baa-chan? Is there any chance that I could get some of my money now? This is the first time that we've been in a normal town, and I kind of need to get a few things." Looking over his tattered clothes, Tsunade suppressed another wince. Yeah, they could all probably use some new gear. Besides their times hidden in various royal chambers, the group had been mostly living off the land. Right now it almost looked like they were attacked by animals.

Then noticing his subtle glances at Hinata, the elder blond smirked. He did owe the girl a date, did he not? Of course, nothing in this sleepy little place really constituted a date, but some practice might help him out a bit. "I'll tell you what. Why don't you take Hinata-chan along to help you pick out some new supplies? Then you can take a break and grab a bite to eat. The rest of us will gather information on the locals and find out if there's anything that we need to worry about. How does that sound?" Seeing his face light up, she hid a smirk. Of course, since they were technically in enemy territory until proven otherwise, she would have to arrange some backup. At the very least to catch embarrassing stories she could use on the two later.

Calling Shizune over, she explained that Naruto needed access to his funds to restock. Hearing about the little practice date, the smiling brunette could not open the storage scroll fast enough. Watching that pile of cash, Tsunade almost lunged out of habit. If not for the presence of the Hokage Emergency Slush fund that she had unofficially taken, she just might of anyways. "Now this is your money kid but save as much as you can. Who knows when you'll get access to this much again?" Baring his official inheritance, but that issue should not come up for a while. Nodding, Naruto carefully grabbed a stack of bills, before allowing Shizune to reseal the funds.

Crossing a hill, they took a moment to admire the scenery. The little costal hub barely even constituted the designation of country. However, with its financial independence from shipping and strong tourist industry during the summer months, it was just nice enough to stay in without worrying about the quality of the food or lodging. Taking a deep breath, Tsunade smiled. "Ah, just look at that. Sea Country is just as relaxed as I remember." Happy at the sight of civilization, the group headed down to some well deserved rest and relaxation.

-----

Carrying the bags of produce, Neji maintained his calm even while mentally swearing the whole way home. Without the Hyuga clan discount, the inflated prices for produce had taken a toll on the food budget. Although he had tried to argue the rates down a bit, he simply lacked the skills required to properly identify problems that would constitute a discount. In fact the only times he had ever gone shopping before was with Hinata-sama, usually when she was practicing a particularly difficult special dish for her traditional marriage training. Of course that was the one field where the girl seemed to excel, and with her mild demeanor and position she rarely had to debate with a single stall owner.

Still, it was not a total disaster. Despite the recent economic downturn, some of the dry food stores where more than willing to offer special rates for a normal ninja. Most of their supplies lasted months, so they were not as concerned with the issue of restocking. He would have to make a note to mention it to Tenten when it was her turn to shop. If they were not careful, ninja ration bars would be the only thing on the menu in the field or at home.

Starting up the stairs, Neji sighed. Managing a proper food budget was much more complicated that he expected. Not only did you have to remember what was already available in the pantry, but he had to plan out day's worth of meals in advance. That by itself was not too bad, but when you took into account the different calculations for freshness versus price with the occasional mission thrown in, ninja shopping was practically a test of infiltration. Of course since his team focused more on direct combat, he was less than prepared for such a challenge. He could only hope that they would be able to use all the ingredients without anything spoiling due to a long term assignment. After all, there was a reason most of the upper level ninja limited themselves to takeout and the like.

Upon entering the apartment, he moved directly towards the kitchen. He had wasted more than anticipated trying to find the best deals, and Tenten had made a certain number of threats if there was no meal waiting for her when she returned. While he was confident that the Kunoichi was kidding, Neji knew that he could simply not risk it. Avoiding the use of his kekkei genkai through long held habits, Neji looked around before opening the produce bag. However, instead of food, the first thing he removed was a simple cook book obtained from the library. He would never live it down if someone else saw his level of paranoia concerning his first culinary experience.

After all, he was the number one rookie of his graduating class was he not? If someone like Tenten, Hinata-sama, or even Naruto could live on their own and manage their own meals for years, then Neji had no doubts of his success. Between the mind that derived the nature of the Kaiten through observation to his meticulous observation of the slightest detail, how hard could cooking really be? Opening the first page, the Genin began to decode its pages with all possible speed. He would prove that he could survive without the Hyuga, even if it resulted in some indigestion!

-----

Stepping out of the store, Naruto resisted the urge to pout. While the shopping district was rather nice, years of independent living had conditioned him to seek out the best deal he could find. Discovering his trademarked outfit for half off was one of the high points of his shopping career, even though the shopkeeper had attempted to rescind the discount at the register. Unfortunately, the most reasonable of the available clothing stores had a distinct lack of orange. Any pieces that had the color, Hinata had vetoed due to lack of durability or proper room for him to grow. Between all his extra physical conditioning and controlled dieting, Naruto had begun a small growth spurt, and many things simply would not fit him anymore.

Mindful of this, Hinata had gone into a flurry of shopping to replace all his worn out materials. It was not ideal since Sea Country did not have a proper ninja village, and most of the choices lacked the special armor or hidden pockets that ninja wear usually had. Nevertheless, the normally shy girl ignored Naruto's grumbling and used him as a human doll. In what seemed like hours later, she had managed to get him nearly ten different outfits of reasonable quality and enough material to make some of the sneakier modifications herself. When questioned, she claimed that sewing was a part of her official training, despite her station. Although the black, blue and red outfits did look pretty nice, he was going to miss his signature look.

Remembering just how much money he had, the blonde had offered to replace some of Hinata's gear as well. As much as he appreciated some of the more strategic battle damages the girl's clothing had suffered, he knew that most females enjoyed looking nice. Therefore, since Hinata was being so helpful, it only seemed right to treat her a bit. While his reasoning made her blush, his fellow apprentice was quick to take advantage of the situation. Another four hours passed before everything was chosen, tried on, and ready to ring out. The price made him wince, but in all honesty it was just a drop in the ocean of his current finances. Besides, what else was he going to use the money on right now? After leaving the store, Naruto took out a storage scroll to hide their purchases. After all, there was no reason to lug all that stuff around if they could help it, was there?

Mindful of Tsunade's warning, both Chunin decided to try and keep a low profile. Naruto changed out of his ninja gear, only holding onto a couple of kunai and some wire. With his new jutsu, available weapons would not be an issue for a while. Changing into a pair of heavy black pants, his normal sandals, and a dark blue t-shirt with blue bandana to cover his hair, the young ninja looked like a completely different person. Hinata was even more careful, purchasing a sun hat to cover her hair and sun glasses to cover up the Byakugan, to go along with her new white sundress. When Naruto had first seen her in such a form fitting outfit, her slightly longer hair drifting in the breeze, he suddenly felt a little shaky. Gathering his courage, he offered an arm, and soon they were simply two civilians out enjoying the nice day.

However, walking along like a couple made him very nervous. They could not do what they normally did, which was talk about ninja techniques and how their training was going, without ruining their attempts of blending in. Naruto had lived, breathed and thought of nothing other than ninjas and their lifestyle for over a decade. Once you took that away, there did not seem to be anything else to speak about. He tried to simply enjoy the feeling of Hinata on his arm, which was pleasant, but Naruto was not the sort to simply enjoy the silence. Surprisingly, it was Hinata who started things off, idly mentioning how the flowers in the market looked nice.

He was not sure how it happened, but Naruto began to simply be his energetic self. This was not his best behavior to catch Sakura's attention, nor was it empty bravado to impress his peers. Naruto just tried to value what she was talking about, and respond in kind. Flowers led to plants which the blonde actually enjoyed quite a bit. Small animals tended to avoid him or lash out just like people. But plants only cared about you as much as you tended them. He was not a very good gardener, but he tried as best as he could. Unfortunately, with no one willing to take care of them during his missions, he had been forced to plant them in the wild. In return, Hinata expanded upon the private gardens of the Hyuga that she enjoyed when she was younger. Her descriptions and surprising passion on the subject made him grin. Of course, her habit of pressing flowers was a little morbid in his opinion, but such is life.

Before they knew it, the sun was high and their stomachs where grumbling. Heading towards the restaurant district, Naruto was disheartened at the selection of ramen stands. Much to Hinata's apparent surprise, he directed them to a takoyaki stand instead. When she questioned his choice, Naruto began explaining the details and intricacies of what they would get in such a substandard stand. Over the course of three orders of octopus balls and a pot of tea, the young Chunin regaled her with every detail that was wrong with the stands. These included such things as the type of noodles to the smell of the broth. With Hana's sensory training, he knew better than to even set foot in such a low class place. Smiling, Hinata simply allowed him to control the flow of conversation while sipping her tea. At the end of his little tirade, she patted his hand and stated his knowledge was most impressive. The feeling of being humored brought a pout to his face, causing the girl to giggle.

Upon leaving the stand, Hinata once again on his arm, Naruto felt pretty good. He had new clothing, had managed to open up more to his friend, and had even gotten some practice for a proper date! After so much time training and running, the Chunin had not appreciated just how stressed out he was becoming. A chance to unwind a bit was just what the doctor had ordered, and he would do his best to follow through with this prescription. In fact the day was almost perfect, until a shout shattered their peace. "Get out of here you FREAK!" Tensing, Naruto quickly picked up what was going on.

Near the end of the street was a poorer section of shops and buildings, dominated by a large fish market. A small crowd of punks, none more than sixteen years old, had cornered a thin figure in front of one of the shabbiest stalls. From what he could see, it was a thin girl, partially covered by bandages. Lessons slammed into his head noted that she did not seem to be in pain from the wounds, and only looked slightly malnourished. One of the small gang had knocked a bag of food from her hands while the others loomed threateningly. Motioning for Hinata to follow, the suddenly angry blonde started stalking towards the disturbance.

The tallest and bulkiest of the punks loomed over the figure, cracking his knuckles. "I don't know how you came back, but we don't want you here! You're nothing but bad luck, and should just disappear." None of the villagers moved to help, and the girl stayed down, apparently resigned to her fate. However, before another punch could be thrown Naruto had grabbed his arm in a dangerously firm grip.

"Why don't you guys leave the poor girl alone? All she's trying to do is buy some food!" The larger punk tried to glare at his interference, but the young Chunin would have none of that. He released a small amount of killing intent into his glare, freezing the kid on the spot. These guys might be tough for civilians, but even without his weapons or headband, Naruto was a ninja through and through. One look in his eyes, and the punk could not leave fast enough.

Turning to the girl, the knucklehead smiled as Hinata helped gather the spilled groceries. Leaning forward, Naruto offered his brightest smile. "Hi, are you ok Miss? Do you need any help? One of our friends is a healer, and could probably take a look at your injuries." Looking at his extended hand, the quiet girl stood up, took her bag from Hinata and walked away. Normally, Naruto would have gone after her with a vengeance. However, he had seen that look before and knew it would not do any good. "Come on Hinata-chan; let's go find Baa-chan." Suddenly gloomy, the two Chunin trudged back to the hotel in silence, grasping each other's hand for mutual support.

-----

Staring at the stove, Neji nodded in determination. He had taken exquisite care to memorize every step of the dish, and had made a point of preparing the individual ingredients before even starting the range. This was not the most advanced dish available in the book, but he believed that it was more than adequate for his purposes. At the very least, it should be better than the standard ration bar. Putting the pot of water down, he turned on the burner. He still had one or two small steps of preparation to do and he wanted to make absolutely sure everything was in place.

At first there was no problem. His careful planning had paid off, and he managed to start a basic broth without issue. Confident in his success, the Genin allowed his attention to drift a bit. Why, with all of his preparation there was no way this could be less than perfection! It should be noted that, while a former disciple of fate, Neji was completely unaware of its cousin Murphy. As he was about to learn, anything that could go wrong, was about to go wrong in spades.

The first problem was noted halfway through the preparation of the sauce. Taking a sip, the young ninja nearly gagged at the taste. Looking over the recipe carefully, he winced at a previously unnoticed smudge. Instead of adding a quarter teaspoon of salt, he had managed to at four tablespoons. The difference was so severe that he knew Tenten would kill him for putting it on the table. Something had to be done at once!

Thinking that adding more water might cut the taste down a bit, Neji was quick to add some. Unfortunately, in his haste some spilled onto the burner causing the fire to flare up, nearly causing him to knock the pot over. However, he would not be thwarted so easily! As a ninja of Konoha, this dish WOULD be cooked no matter what! Taking a deep breath, he took another taste only to frown. Now the flavor was too weak, but he did not dare add any more salt. He was running out of time and needed to finish before Tenten came back. His pride would allow nothing less!

Remembering a suggestion from the book, he grabbed a couple of vegetables and proceeded to chop them after a quick rinse. The extra flavor of the chopped vegetables should enrich the broth, while offsetting any additional salt. He would have to do some extra shopping later, it would be worth it to get tonight s dinner on the table! In his determined state, Neji neglected to moderate his strength as much as he normally did. As a result, the cheep kitchen knife chipped, before slicing his finger.

Swearing, he ran over to the sink, washing out the wound before grabbing a bandage from the first aid kit. However, in his haste to deal with the cut, Neji neglected to turn down the stove. By the time he had finished, the pot had proceeded to boil over across the stove top. Seeing the sudden smoke, the young novice chef grabbed a towel to grab the pot off the heat. That was the perfect opportunity for the towel to catch on fire, injuring him further. Grabbing for the stove control, he managed to turn off the range before throwing the towel into the sink. That of course was the perfect time for the fire alarm to start blaring.

-----

In one of the shadier alleys of Sea Country, two figures were discussing recent events. Pushing his dark glasses up in irritation, the taller man glared at his partner. "Alright Misumi, what's the big deal? That little fish brat has done nothing to alert the local authorities since her release months ago, so why are you suddenly so frantic? It's not like you." Although they could not really stand one another, the life of a missing ninja was fraught with peril and death. Konoha had been sniffing around for them ever since the invasion and neither wanted to be put in front of Ibiki for his true specialty. Thus, when Kabuto had contacted them with this assignment, they could not move fast enough. Still, it was irritating to have to play babysitter to some stupid prototype.

Smirking, Misumi chuckled darkly. "You'll never guess who the kid ran into while trying to pick up food this afternoon." Licking his lips, the slighter Genin relaxed against a wall. "There was another incident with a bunch of stupid civilians, and low and behold the fox kid comes to the rescue. I barely recognized him without that orange monstrosity but those whiskers never lie. He had the pint sized Hyuga with him on a quaint little date. You know what that means for us."

Grinning savagely, Yoroi slammed his fist next to the more flexible ninja, breaking the stone. "It means that we have a shot of getting Orochimaru-sama's favor again! Our intelligence states that those punks are traveling with Tsunade and the bounty on their heads is huge! We could finally get out of this dinky little country and get some real action!" His violence did not bother Misumi, despite his apparent target. Each needed the other to survive, and doing anything to threaten that was just as bad a putting a kunai to their own throats.

Crossing his arms, Misumi sighed. "It does open all sorts of opportunities, does it not? However we need to be careful. Tsunade is a Sannin while the brat is a Jinchuuriki. Who knows what sorts of tricks he's managed to learn lately? Word is that somehow that idiot learned the Rasengan. He should not be taken lightly. Besides, if we take them down, only to threaten our operation here, you know Kabuto would take it out of our hides."

Snorting, Yoroi folded his arms in disgust. "You and I both know that Orochimaru-sama doesn't care about that idiot Amachi. He just lets the bastard play around because he finds it amusing." Rubbing his chin, the ninja growled. "Still, there are some sensitive experiments running that Orochimaru-sama would hate to lose. What do you think we should do about this?"

Patting his shoulder, the leaner ninja was all smiles. "Oh, I think that they'll come to us. After all, everyone who paid attention in the village knew that Naruto could not help but try to rescue those in danger. Once the rumors about the Demon Islands reach him, I bet the whole group comes running. At the very least, the milder ones will perk Tsunade's interest. Once they come for us, we'll outnumber them and have home field advantage. Then Amachi's little pet can wash them out to sea before dragging their corpses back for study. What do you think?"

Looking up, Yoroi bit his lip. "It's a little simple, but what the hell." Heading towards the coast, they made their way back to base. An operation like this was going to be tricky, but they had a reasonable chance of success. With their allies and abilities, the sea was their playground. If the Konoha were dead or captured, Orochimaru-sama would be pleased either way!

-----

Climbing the stairs Tenten allowed herself to relax after a long and satisfying day at the target range. After throwing most of her arsenal at nearly ninety percent accuracy with her recent practice modifications, she felt satisfied at her current rate of progress. Now, instead of coming home to a ration bar or instant meal, there was going to be a proper hot dinner waiting to eat. Smirking at Neji's reaction to her casual handling of her weapons, the young Kunoichi wondered how much more she could get away with before he called her on it. Perhaps she could convince him to lose the shirt during service or something. Before she could properly zone out to the resulting mental image, the smell or smoke reached her nose. Something was wrong.

Rushing into the apartment, she followed her nose into the kitchen and had to fight back a grimace. The room was filled with black smoke, coming from her stove and a spilled bottle of cooking wine. Neji was running around like a madman covered in soot, blood, and various foodstuffs. Honestly, the image would be hilarious if she was not the one responsible for the apartment. Grabbing a fire extinguisher, she proceeded to coat the kitchen and hapless cook with fire retarding foam. The end result looked like something out of Snow Country, if not for the horrible odor and blinking ninja genius.

Looking down on Neji, Tenten did not know what to think. All she did was trust the kid to make dinner. She herself had cooked her own meals since she left the orphanage as a prospective ninja student. Yet this guy, someone she admired as among the strongest of their generation, did not even seem capable of boiling water without setting himself on fire. It was mind blowing. "Alright Neji, why is my kitchen on fire? I mean, what the hell did you try to make that caused all of this?"

Wiping some of the foam out of his hair, Neji sighed. "Everything seemed to be working when I started out. But then I added too much salt and it tasted horrible. So then I attempted to adjust the recipe, yet nothing seemed to go right. I think that my hair caught on fire after the second attempt to disconnect the fire alarm." Despite the trashed room, ruined dinner and obliteratedappearance, Neji still managed to deliver his report in a clipped tone while eyeing her weapons holster. Seeing this, Tenten could only laugh.

Going over to the closet, she grabbed a mop. "Ok Neji, here's what we're going to do. We are going to clean this mess up, salvage what we can, and each grab a short shower. You should probably cut off your hair later, but I'm too tired to deal with that right now. Then, you are going to take me to get some food and we are going to come back here and fall asleep. Are we clear?" Nodding, Neji grabbed the mop with a resigned sigh.

"Oh, and Neji?" Looking up, he seemed shocked at the fire in her eyes. Well tough shit, this mess was coming out of her security deposit. "I am never letting you cook unsupervised in this place until I think you are ready, say around when you turn thirty. Are we crystal?" Gulping, Neji nodded while getting to work on the mess. Realizing that she just asked Neji to move in with her semi-permanently Tenten could only laugh and join in. He was so going topless for the next month after this!

-----

Authors Notes

...and done!

I will admit that I was not really happy with this chapter. I tried to polish it over and over again, but nothing seemed to work. One of the goals I set for myself is stretching my abilities in any number of ways. Unfortunately, the comedy didn't seem to flow any better than this, despite my best efforts. However, after some hesitation, I decided that everyone had waited long enough. So please don t be too rough on me -_-;;;

Thanks again for the reviews, and I am sorry that I didn't directly reply as much as I wanted to. Things just went kind of nuts this week. (Coupled with my discovery of a new series Fairy Tail, which was very distracting) However, I do appreciate all the well wishing, and always enjoyed reading your responses. Now on to my favorite questions!

Firstly, the reason that Chouza didn't simply explain the night of the Scroll Incident. Claiming it was an isolated incident would not explain WHY he had always told Chouji to avoid Naruto as a child. As someone who was looked down upon by his peers, Chouji is rather sensitive to on the topic, and would see through any misdirection fairly quickly. Besides, Chouza didn't want to damage his relationship with his son further by attempting a direct lie he would probably have to live up to later.

Although, let me take this opportunity to admit I was shocked at how many people liked my attempt to write a moody Chouji. Honestly, I wasn't expecting it to go so well, and am glad you liked it. I still don't plan on using him that much, but it's nice to know the option is there if I so choose.

Secondly, I'm sorry about mixing up my kunai techniques. It was an honest mistake and I ll keep an eye out for it in the future. -_-;;;

Thirdly, I do plan to showcase some trouble for the civilians later on. As shown here, things are beginning to go downhill in the village, but like all good momentum, it takes time to build up.

Fourthly, the reason Naruto got the scent trick to quickly was that he was already doing something like it subconsciously. Once his full range of senses was unsealed, he was forced to regulate his sense of smell unless he liked the smell of garbage a half a mile away. Since it has been demonstrated that a master of these techniques CAN smell something miles away, I don t think having the ability to judge scents from such a limited distance to be anything that impressive. It will only get better with practice.

Fifthly, the clone issue is a little more complex than Tsunade knows, but she's playing it safe. In fact, Naruto can slowly adapt the memories of the Shadow Clone, as long as we re not talking about a thousand at once. However, by pausing between dispersals and integrating the memories, he can accelerate his training. She's just not going to give him too many chances to use that particular technique, fearing the potential brain damage. However, who knows what the future could hold?

Oh and just for fun, I tried to make a little pun with the title of this chapter. I wonder how many people will catch it. (heh)

Now, on to the next chapter! The past can be a dark and depressing place. But in the end, all you need is someone willing to understand. Stay tuned!