And so we begin another chapter of Genesis of the Nindo! Ara! Congratulations to all those who weathered the storm, and made it hear. For those who are still floundering, swim back to shore and good luck on finding other fics. Seriously people. I get there would be some who wouldn't like the chapter, but when i have people sayin, "Oh you can't do that to Naruto! He's too good/ the main character/ a kid!"

Please. Are you serious.

For those who felt no such compunction or a heavy blow to your morals from this FICTIONAL story and have continued to read, congrats! Because shit's getting really fucking real and you will be here to witness it. Guys, i'm trying to prepare you for the blow that will be Shippuden. Remember watching Naruto? How you were all excited about the VotE battle and was like "Oh yeah! Shit just got real!"

And then you watched Shippuden and shit got REALLY real? Shippuden was like a bitch slap to the face with all the seriousness and feels. Well i don't want my version of Shippuden to be such a blow. So now i'm bringing in the darkness. Prepare yourselves. On that note.

A HINT FOR NEXT CHAPTER! If you wanna guess as to what will happen, go find Naruto's True Nindo and read chapter 46. Also, please prepare yourselve for the bullshit i'm going to wrap around it. Granted it will be researched bullshit, but bullshit nonetheless.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto does. Similarly, i do not own any songs english or japanese.


Chapter Twenty-Eight

It's just like Chess, Uzumaki Naruto


The morning is early— they think, there weren't any clocks around to truly verify— but they did not feel fresh and new. The last chapter had severely drained them, and about half of them were coming to terms with the hangovers their comfort drinks had left them with. Truly, they wanted to go back to sleep, but a sense of duty prevented them. Though they figured that time here was different than back home, they were anxious to keep their reading pace and change the future quickly. As in very soon.

As in someone pick up the damn book.

"I'm almost scared to." Kushina admits, slumping over to prop her head up with her hands, elbows on knees. Minato rubs her back comfortingly with an understanding expression.

Tsunade sighs explosively, head dropping back to the couch in her drowsiness. "I doubt I'll let Naruto do anything— at all— for at least a year. So I'm sure this chapter won't be so . . . explosive."

Kushina raises an eyebrow at the choice of description, but nods resolutely. Commanding herself to stop being a pansy ass little girl, she plucks up the book and opens it with a determined air to the new chapter.

The days, weeks after that mission to Shōdo was strange. Naruto felt almost like he was stuck in limbo, or hiatus . . . and he felt stuck in the quagmire of irritating memories and reactions that happened all of their own accord whenever he was near adult males. Nothing had actually happened, so why did his traitorous mind and body sometimes acts up, pretending like something did?

"Even a scare like that is enough to make you skittish. Nothing wrong with that." Rin murmurs, wishing Naruto could hear her.

It didn't help that Tsunade refused to give him missions outside the village that could not be completed in a day, assuming she was feeling very lax. Mostly he had office nin duties, or guard duties. What's worse, once Jiraiya had arrived back to Konoha very soon after he himself returned, the man stuck around. Every day. Not that he minded Jiraiya's company, but he knew why Jiraiya stuck around and honestly it grated on his nerves and his pride.

"How ungrateful." Jiraiya grumbles, but he can understand the boy's point.

He would never forget the look on the man's face when he first spotted a white-faced Kakashi, who realized they were in an open field with no people to use as meat shields. He would never forget the hysteria that overtook his usually calm brother when Jiraiya chased after him with Rasengans blazing, and toads bellowing for blood. Not even a raikiri scare on Kakashi's part would shake Jiraiya off his tail.

"Seriously?" Kakashi asked, glaring incredulously at Jiraiya.

"Well, some sort of punishment had to be exacted." Jiraiya shrugs.

"You idiot! Get back here and face my wrath like a man!" Jiraiya shouted, darting after Kakashi as they trashed the training grounds. When Naruto finally caught up to them, Jiraiya was laying right hooks liberally on the poor silver-haired jounin. It took profuse begging and pleading on Naruto's part to get Jiraiya to lay off and not break Kakashi's jaw.

Of course, after that nearly every adult shinobi he knew personally found out. Well, except for Asuma-oji, and he planned to keep it that way. If Jiraiya was hell on wheels, Iruka had been the Shinigami himself, and even Anko had stepped aside to watch the normally mild-mannered chuunin extract his pound of flesh from the quaking, shivering Hatake.

"Quaking?" Minato mouthed, looking at his grimacing student.

"Shivering?" Obito snorted.

"If you ever," Iruka hissed furiously, hands fisted into Kakashi's vest front. "Ever! Let something like that happen to Naruto again, I won't kill you Kakashi. Oh no, death would be too good for you. I'll scalp you, but make sure you don't die. Then I'll pour salt over the fresh scalp, rub it in— after that I'll break both arms and legs, and mutilate your face so badly you'll have to wear a full mask. Then, and only then, will I hear your pleas for death and if I feel I've had enough, perhaps I'll listen to your request. Got it?"

Kakashi whimpers as everyone around him mutters in obvious shock. "We got it."

Everyone did.

Surprisingly enough, Katsu was the only one to not give Kakashi any sort of grief over what occurred.

Kushina whistles. "Well color me surprised."

"That brat can have her good sides too." Kakashi mumbles, but the softness in his tone makes everyone grin.

And she was very strict about anyone giving Kakashi grief in her presence, which was probably why his brother hung around so much, along with Sakura and Sasuke. At least, Naruto figured, the prolonged contact left Kakashi incapable of wallowing in guilt as he would always immediately snap the older man out of it.

So now here Naruto was, panting as he lay on his back in a clearing, the hot noon sun beating down upon him. Jiraiya loomed overhead, shaking his head as he looked down at his student.

"Get up Naruto, let's try that again." Jiraiya grunts, pointing at Naruto.

Naruto glares at the Sannin, but does as told. "You still haven't explained what this is all about."

"What? I thought you'd be happy to get some training done?" Jiraiya asks.

"This isn't training this is a free-for-all on your poor student," Naruto takes a deep breath. Getting heated never solved much of anything, and he figured Jiraiya might be in the mood to actually take him to task on an attitude today. "If I could understand the meaning behind your sudden vigor for training, I'd be happy to oblige to you to a near coma."

"I see what you did there." Minato approves with a nod of acknowledgment.

Jiraiya snorts. "Since you're beating yourself up mentally, I thought you might appreciate your physical state compensating, so at least your poor mind can rest easily."

Naruto stiffens, understanding several things clearly. "Beat me until I'm so tired I'll spill everything? How old school."

"Hey if the system works, don't knock it." Jiraiya shrugs. Sitting down suddenly, he pats the ground in front of him. "Come on kid, you can't depend on Katsu to keep letting you use her as a human teddy bear. Eventually, you have to talk about your feelings. I know, it's not manly, but sacrifices must be made sometimes for the greater good."

"Can too!" Naruto pouts, before sighing and moving forward. He sinks down gracefully, legs crossing in one smooth motion.

"So . . . come on, tell Ero-sennin everything." Jiraiya insists, one hand on his knee, the other cupping his face as he slumps over lazily.

Naruto snorts, a spark of delight flashing in his eye. If Ero-sennin was calling himself Ero-sennin, then perhaps he should be more accommodating too.

Naruto sighs, looking around at the clearing. "I'm just . . . frustrated with myself. Nothing happened; I was spooked and perhaps a little molested—"

Kushina shivers. A little he says! Just a little?

"What a reckless child." Obito sighs.

"A little?" Jiraiya mumbles skeptically.

"—But in the end I was saved by my friends!" Naruto ignores Jiraiya's interruption. "And yet, sometimes when I'm approached too quickly or caught off guard by a guy, I just tense up. Which is really stupid because these guys I know wouldn't touch me, if only because no one wants to touch the demon."

"Because that's so much better." Kakashi mutters sarcastically.

"You know not too many shinobi think that way anymore." Jiraiya pointed out in mild reproach. Naruto waves away the chiding, looking impatient.

"That's not the point. I . . . I guess I'm just ashamed of myself." Naruto sighs.

"There's nothing to be ashamed of. Yes, it was a mistake to eat that food when you had no idea where it came from, and you should be less sympathetic to the romantic machinations of wierdos— but you've learned from your mistakes. Shinobi typically tend to trust only what they have made to eat, or something they know with good probability has not been tampered with. So, what? It's not like you could fight back, you were drugged." Jiraiya stresses the word, both a curse and an excuse.

Naruto shakes his head. "I felt weak. Couldn't I have done something? I just got caught and compromised so easily . . . all that training, and in the moment I needed it most I am just completely helpless. I hated it."

"Well of course you hated it, but it was a combination of drugs and admittedly shoddy seal work that caught you flat-footed." Tsunade amends.

"Can't win them all— just be lucky you had such great friends to help you." Rin advises.

Jiraiya sighs. "Well, unless you can become a medic-nin, then you might be able to purge yourself. As it stands however, I don't think you'll really have to worry about drugs or poison, as not many shinobi or even civilians are willing to risk overdoses and death just to keep you sleeping. Honestly, in all my years of spying and being an all-around badass shinobi, what happened to you is really a rarity." Well, the drugging at any rate.

Naruto is still thoughtful. "Fine, there's that then. But I just feel like, after this, I've been deemed a flight risk or something. Nade hasn't let me out of the village but twice since I've returned, and always well by Konoha."

"Excuse me for fretting in a very justified manner." Tsunade scoffs, completely unapologetic.

"She just worries about you." Jiraiya chuckles.

Naruto glares at him sternly, because this is not a laughing matter. "It makes me feel incompetent!"

"That's not the case and you know it." Jiraiya sighed. After a few moments of silence between them, Jiraiya got a certain expression on his face that had Naruto both curious and wary.

"What?" he asked in a resigned fashion, knowing he'd be forced along into the crazy plan of his sensei.

"Well, I just thought about what you said before. Being caught by surprise and all— you're just having a delayed reaction in recognizing friends from foe, and understandably so. What I propose is to teach you how to sense chakra signatures and judge friend from foe that way!" Jiraiya proclaimed.

"A very useful skill." Minato adds, smiling at his sensei. "That's a good plan, sensei."

Naruto tilted his head. "You mean like how I can sense onii-san?"

"Yes, and not quite. You sense Kakashi and him only, because you know the 'taste' of his chakra. Just like you can differentiate foods based on taste, you can tell Kakashi and other people who are close to you apart. However, I want you to go further, and feel the emotion in each chakra signature. If it fluctuates, if it's dark, if it's calm, etc. When you can tell friend from enemy by chakra signature to a satisfactory degree, then it will be way harder to sneak up on you." Jiraiya explains, grinning at his godson.

"Of course, such a method is not foolproof," Tsunade speaks up, looking at Jiraiya with a strange expression. "And I hope you explain that to him."

"Sure, after I've restored his sense of security." Jiraiya retorts.

Naruto takes this all in quietly, gaze moving from Jiraiya to a point just in front of his feet. He grins suddenly, and looks at Jiraiya with keen interest. "Sounds like fun Ero-sennin! When do we start?"

Jiraiya grins, and prompts Naruto to rise for their training. Then he promptly bashes Naruto back down.

"What the hell?!" Naruto wails, rubbing furiously at the bruised spot.

"You didn't think to get off so easily did you?" Jiraiya laughs.

Jiraiya harrumphs, glaring at the whimpering kid. "That was for being reckless. Honestly, eating room service! We're ninja, we don't do room service. And don't think I don't know about you fooling around with Genma and Kakashi. You're a chuunin, damn well act like it or I'll make sure you're demoted."

"But Ero-sennin . . . !" Naruto protested, about ready to blow a gasket.

"But nothing." Jiraiya cuts him off, then puts his foot down when Naruto still looks offended. "Naruto."

Naruto closes his mouth, stewing for a moment before he droops, all tension ebbing away. "Okay. I'm sorry; my actions were not befitting a Konoha Shinobi. I'm sorry I made you worry, Jiraiya-sensei."

Minato turns to Kakashi. "See that? That's how you properly scold Naruto; you just let him get away with too much."

Kakashi snorts, "Oh sure. Jiraiya is so stern with him; he'd never be run around by Naruto." The he coughs, something suspiciously like 'guitar' and 'jutsu' coming out at the same time.

Jiraiya stares at him for a few minutes, face blank and neutral. When Naruto widens his eyes pathetically, Jiraiya snorts, letting a smile break the mask. "Alright brat, now let's get to work. Just for being so mature, I'll regale you with tales from the royal court of Fire!"

It is a few weeks after, when Naruto stands in front of Tsunade, whose brow furrows over her his request for a mission.

She sighs, reluctant to let him go far, but all too aware that what she was doing was essentially showing favoritism. Something no Kage should ever do, regardless of the relationship. "It's just that most of the missions are in different lands and take up quite a bit of time, I have no one to partner you with."

"Nade, you have to let me back out there sometime." Naruto speaks quietly.

"Not anytime soon." Kushina whispers defiantly, fully approving of Tsunade's tactics. Whoever wanted to whine and cry favoritism, Tsunade should really give them something to whine about.

Tsunade looks at him, eyes steady and intense. "There is one mission . . . to deal with a group of bandits. You're mission is to run them out of here. They're about twenty miles southwest of Konoha, a rather large group of about ten bandits. It's a simple A-rank . . . can you handle this yourself?"

Naruto resists the urge to snort, and the much larger urge to celebrate. "Of course, Hokage-sama." He murmurs with restraint and dignity, bowing.

Tsunade looks at him sharply, and then nods currently. "Then I want this done by lunch tomorrow. Dismissed!"

Naruto turns and walks out carefully, closing the door to the Hokage's office behind him quietly. He looks around; making sure no one is in the hall to see him. When he's sure the coast is clear, he smiles wide enough to split his face in two and jumps up and down.

"Yes, yes, yes!" he hisses, punching the air in victory. With a jaunty step and a merry whistle, Naruto heads straight out to do his mission.

"My, he's very excited to get this mission." Rin chuckles.

"I can understand that!" Obito laughs. "It's like house arrest, only you're kind enough to make it village-wide."

Naruto jogs over to Iruka's apartment, where he'd been staying for the past week.

"What's wrong with the house?" Kushina asks, frowning.

Grabbing his gear, he hightails it over to the teahouse Katsu works in, letting her know he'd be gone for a mission.

"Oh, so they finally let you out huh?" Katsu teases, pushing back a flyaway strand of hair as she navigates the heavy traffic of the early dinner hour. "Well great! Just in time, since the paint is now completely dry in the house, and I'm anticipating the arrival of our new furniture soon."

Naruto chuckles sheepishly. "Yeah, sorry again I . . ."

Katsu throws him a disbelieving look a bark of laughter escaping her. "Trust me; no one could have anticipated just what all that paint would do to you. I don't think I've ever seen Shikamaru laugh that hard."

Kakashi and Kushina realize at the exact same time. "Oh!" they realize softly, then look at each other with soft snorts of amusement.

"Want to share with the rest of the class?" Obito asks, crossing his arms.

"Well, with heightened senses, anything with fumes as intense as paint, especially if they painted the whole house, can really mess with your sense of smell. For me, I just get really woozy and a little lightheaded." Kakashi explains.

"A faint high sensation for me." Kushina adds.

". . . I couldn't help it! I was high, what do you want from me?" Naruto grumbles.

Giggling at the memory of a glazed over, high as a kite Naruto who was trying gamely to flirt with a tree, Katsu couldn't help but smile. Who would have thought paint fumes were Naruto's weakness? So much for a superior nose! "Right, well, come home safely okay?" she presses, suddenly looking anxious.

"That's a whole other level of high." Minato snorts.

Naruto smiles warmly, pressing a soft kiss to her temple. "Of course I will!" he promises, and with a short wave, he leaps off, traversing rooftops to get to Konoha's Gate.

Waving at the guards on duty, Naruto runs through the gates, and immediately flies into the trees.

Ah, the smell of bark and freshly turned earth, Kyuubi sighs. About time.

Right? Naruto agrees, eyes nearly glowing with the feel of the forest around him. Southwest, eh? It takes Naruto only three hours to arrive at the camp of the bandits. Crouching high in the branches of a tree, Naruto feeds the tiniest amount of chakra to his eyes, memorizing the details of the camp.

Sighing, he flies through familiar hand seals, and whispers, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu."

From a tiny cloud of smoke, pops out the tiny forms of Geroro and his brother Gamaro. "Been a while, Naruto-san! Eh?" Geroro greets jovially, a small webbed hand waving wildly.

"Eh? So this is that Naruto." Gamaro mutters, craning his wide head back to look at the brightly colored human.

Naruto smiles. "Ah, so Geroro is taking his brother on a mission? What a good aniki."

"What do you need Naruto-san?" Geroro asks.

"Over there is a bandit camp— I'd like you and Gamaro to scope it out, check for any hostages and such. Also, if you could confirm that there are only ten bandits, I'd be much obliged." Naruto lists off quietly, looking at them.

"Toads can be stealthy?" Rin asks, skeptical.

"I never summoned the toads when we did missions?" Minato asks, looking confused.

"Yeah, but not for recon." Rin points out.

"Well, suffice it to say that toads are actually rather good at stealth." Jiraiya leaves it at that with a smile.

Gamara salutes him in a comically over exaggerated fashion, squeaking, "Yes sir!"

Naruto nods, grinning. "Good! One more thing, place this—" he hands them one if his daggers— "in a safe place, make sure it won't be found. Now, off you go!"

The two mint green toads hop away, down the tree and heading for the camp. Naruto sends out three shadow clones to take watch at the same distance he was from the camp, around the perimeter. Just in case.

"Excellent, always set up extra measures." Kakashi and Minato say at the exact same time. As the others laugh at their twin moment, they share an amused glance.

A few minutes later, the toads are back with their reports. "Naruto-san!" Geroro pipes up. "There are, as you said before, ten bandits but they are all rather large and seem to have some experience. Some are even training as they wait, so it won't be the regular thugs. Also, there is one hostage— a kid— maybe a couple years older than you in the central tent. It's large and crimson, belongs to the head bandit."

Naruto nods thoughtfully, chewing over the information. "Excellent work Geroro, Gamaro. You guys can go back home now, and tell Gamakichi and his brother I said hello."

Smiling happily at a job well done, Gamaro and Geroro leave in a puff of smoke. Naruto thinks about his next course of action. He glances up into the canopy, spying darkening sky through the tree boughs. He bites his lip.

Well, attacking now while they're training is definitely stupid. Due to the presence of the hostage, he would have to be Naruto's first priority. It might be better to wait until night, when they'd be sleeping and he'd only have to worry about a couple of guards. He was second to only jounin in stealth, this he was sure of . . . hell, he'd better be with all those pranks!

With this plan in mind, Naruto settles into the tree, and waits the few extra hours for the natural cloak of night. His clones pop one by one, ad he assimilates the information given— the bandits were all, as Geroro said, quite large and had a glint of hunger and steely resolve in their eyes. These were the most troublesome types of opponents— those with actual goals and a deep rooted resolve, as opposed to the usual treasure hunters out for glory and a good time. He'd have to be extra careful, but he'd known this to be an A-rank walking into this right?

The darkness steals over the land, and the only illumination is provided by the campfire the bandits set up. Naruto listens in carefully, hearing their laughter and jeers, the stories of previous conquests and future marks. Naruto waits, if a little impatiently, chewing reluctantly on his own ration bar. Alas, if only he'd stopped by Ichiraku's before coming here!

The fire is eventually put out, and three men separate from the group to guard the camp as the others settle into their tents.

Naruto takes in a deep breath. Showtime.

With nary a whisper, two clones pop up beside him. As silently as they arrive, they leave to melt into the shadows. They would be watchmen, and when the time came, extras to help drive out the bandits. Naruto pulls up his hood, covering his bright locks as he creeps forward, subconscious mindful of the twigs and rocks that could upset the mission.

Minato sighs, a hand raking through his own golden mop. "Yes, that certainly is important. Blonde isn't easy to hide, even at night."

"Red is even worse, let me tell you. I understand your pain." Kushina sympathizes, patting Minato's back.

"Hey, you think you two have it bad? Try hiding silver hair, or worse—" Kakashi points to a solemnly nodding Jiraiya. "White. We've got starlight on our heads, man."

When he creeps up to the tree line, he whispers, "Kawarimi no jutsu."

The barest puff of disturbed air. Naruto is in the training camp, crouched behind a pile of the bandits' spoils. Naruto smiles, mentally praising the small Geroro and Gamaro. He sheathes the dagger in his seal, looking around swiftly before rising up to see over the pile he's hidden behind.

"Clap for ingenuity," Obito invites with a sophisticated air, he and Rin clapping politely. The others follow their lead for a few seconds, before laughing and returning to the book.

He cocks his head to the side, hearing the deep breaths of the sleeping bandits, the scuffs and grunts of the pacing guards. Now, where was the central tent again . . . ? He runs through his memories, and those of the clones as he gains his bearings.

Naruto shrugs, and slips around the pile as he makes his way through the camp. He makes no sound, and to anyone else's eye he might just be the inkiest shadow in the night. Which was just dandy for the blonde in question.

"Around here . . . past the pile of whatever-it-is . . . and hello, big red tent." Naruto mutters. He steps back and thinks for a moment. Just how would he go about this? Gah, he should have paid more attention when Kakashi was telling him about his first time clearing out bandits— but Jiraiya's story involved a hooker, a suiton jutsu and a teapot had been way more interesting!

"Oh sure, when you put it like that then anyone would be interested." Kakashi mutters scathingly. Looking at Jiraiya he growls, "Stop trying to take him from me!"

"I'm his godfather!" Jiraiya protests. "I'm not taking anything. Stop being jealous brat."

Naruto frowned, but then he smiled in realization and delight.

He performs the hand seals taught to him a mere month ago by Genma. "Doton: underground Fish Projection." He murmurs, and then he is sinking into the ground. It's a rather strange sensation to travel underground, your chakra moving you. It's also rather uncomfortable, though that might be the fact that Doton is not his affinity, primary or secondary. Nevertheless, he stomachs the momentary discomfort and slowly rises up inside the tent.

"Very good sochi!" Kushina grins, clapping her hands delightedly.

Right in front of the Head Bandit.

Oops. Close call . . . Naruto realizes, and so as he rises up he shifts back a few inches. The head of this whole operation is a huge man, with one arm the size of both of Naruto's legs. Naruto shifts back a little more, keeping a wary eye on the bandit. Eventually he looks around the tent, seeing the man's bags and weapons discarded to the side. And, looking straight at him with calculating eyes, the hostage.

Naruto and the boy stare at each other, neither blinking for a while as they observe the other. Like Geroro said, this boy was a couple years older than him, appearing to be fifteen. But the thing that stood out was just how polished the boy looked. Fair skin without blemish or scar, silky black hair that Naruto could smell honeysuckle from, and those keen amethyst eyes that seemed to judge your worth with merely a glance.

"Royalty of some kind? Perhaps he strayed away from his guards." Minato suggests quietly.

Naruto then takes a second look at those eyes, and has to work hard to keep any element of shock or surprise off his facial features, and out of his eyes. Those weren't two amethyst eyes . . . one was amethyst and another was a blue so deep it looked purple. And he knew of only one person with eyes like that . . . Could it really be . . . ?

"Does he know him personally?" Rin wonders.

Kakashi shakes his head. "If that were the case, the boy would have reacted. No, this is a case of profiling, not exactly knowing."

Naruto grins, hand reaching for his hitai-ate to display the symbol of Konoha. The boy nods, still assessing Naruto. Naruto shuffles forward and cuts the bindings on the boy's wrists and ankles with smooth motions, no sounds coming from either of them. Naruto gently grabs the boy's right wrist and gives a small squeeze, and he stares into the boy's eyes asking for some trust. The boy just smirks wryly and waves his other hand in a careless manner. With a grin, Naruto repeats the jutsu that got him in here, keeping a firm grip on the hostage. Once out of the tent, it is easy for Naruto to make his way back to his lookout tree.

"I wasn't expecting a rescue so soon." The boy speaks once Naruto has finished checking around. The smooth, slightly husky voice is faintly amused and casual. Naruto looks at him with a grin.

"He wasn't expecting someone to know he was gone so soon, it might be." Minato mentions critically. Kushina shakes her head at her lover's lightning quick mind, picking up things with one or two clues it'd take most others a few more clues to get.

"Sensei, quit it! One of these days you might just spoil a chapter." Rin reprimands, quelling her giggles at Minato's wide-eyed angel pout as best as she could.

"This isn't a sanctioned rescue. I had no idea who the hostage was, still have no idea frankly. Though, you do seem familiar." Naruto admits breezily. "Enough of that now, I've got a job to do. Would you mind waiting here please?"

"Take your time." The boy nods, reclining against the tree with a sigh. Naruto creates a kage bushin, the boy looking on with interest as the clone takes guard a few feet from him.

Smiling at the boy, Naruto goes back out to the tree line. Seemingly without a care, Naruto lobs an explosive tag straight into the heart of the camp.

KABOOM!

"Now, now what if those bandits had some shinobi skills?" Jiraiya huffed. "It might not have been information added in the briefing, and most of the times theres' holes in your information anyway."

"Something that will come with more experience, he's only been a chuunin for a scant few months really. At most four or five." Tsunade reflects.

Immediately the screams and shouts of confused and angered men fill the air, along with the rustling and clanking that accompanies suddenly trying to mobilize while rubbing the sleep out of your eyes. As one, three more tags are hurled from the kage bushin around the area, this time on the edges of the camp. They go off with an explosive bang, and this time with an extra. Naruto had created these to not only explode, but to flash for a brief period, blinding any opponents he used it against. So now, the bandits were half-blinded, singed, and all around in terrible shape.

"Well that's as good a neutralizer as any. If even they could use jutsu or something, they're pretty scattered and dazed right about now." Rin observes.

Over the din, a single roar sounds. "Who dares to take us on?!" It was the head bandit who roared this, spinning around futilely as he tried to manhandle his men back into some semblance of order.

Naruto gives him a hint: Three men are struck by kunai, though not killing them it would indeed slow them down with the pain of the hits.

"Ninjas!" one bandit cries frantically. "Let's get out of here!"

"No!" the leader snarls, bashing the man who said this with the pommel of his sword. "We stand and—"

"Katon: Grand Fireball Jutsu!" The shout comes from one voice, but in three different directions. Immediately the air overhead is suddenly airspace for flames, three fireballs that clash and form a spectacular mushroom cloud of flame that frightens the bandits. With screams of terror, the men forget whatever it is their leader is trying to say, and rush off. Eventually, only the leader is left standing in the camp, badly burnt from the flames that caught at his large frame.

"You bastard!" he howls. "Come out and face me like a man! I'll cut you down you—" His threat is left hanging as Naruto delivers a punishing chakra-enhanced chop to the back of his neck, his impressive speed allowing him to get the drop on the man.

"Now then, what to do with him?" Naruto mutters, nudging the limp form with his foot.

"Well he is wanted in Hi no Kuni." Naruto turns as he sees the boy he saved walk up, arms crossed loosely as he too stares at the man. "I suppose it'll be chump change compared to nabbing a missing-nin but . . ."

"You're giving out information quite readily friend." Naruto chuckles, figuring that if he could indeed get some reward money for this then he had better take the man back to Konoha. Binding the man with ninja wire, and placing a sleeping tag on his forehead, Naruto summons a toad large enough to carry the man.

"Gamamaru!" Naruto greets. "Would you mind carrying this guy as I travel back to Konoha?"

Gamamaru nodded in reply, grabbing the man and slinging him across his back, applying chakra to keep the man sticking there. Naruto, knowing that Gamamaru was just a stoic type, nodded happily and then turned to his hostage.

"You're showing some interesting tricks friend." The boy noted with a spark of curiosity in his mismatched eyes.

Naruto smirks. "What's the harm in showing a civilian a few tricks?"

The boy's smirk seems to sharpen, and something passes over his eyes. "I admit, there seems to be nothing wrong with that."

"Playing a game with a boy he's barely met?" Kushina clucked her tongue.

"They must have clicked automatically." Rin giggles. "It's good to have friends like that."

"Who says they're going to be friends?" Tsunade frowns. "To take everyone you see as a friend is naïve. However, having contacts is essential, and this could prove to be beneficial of the boy is related to a high-ranking officer or even the immediate Royal Family."

"So it would seem. Now, I'm going to hightail it back to Konoha. Would you be opposed to me carrying you?" Naruto asks, only to be polite. No way was he going to slow down for some prideful brat.

Said prideful brat seem to realize his train of thought, since the smirk widened. "Not at all. I hope it won't be too much trouble."

"Not at all." Naruto answers with a shake if his head. He walks forward and turns around, only tensing (only slightly) up when the boy's hands brush his stomach as they wrap around him.

Take it easy . . . Kyuubi cautions, but it is not a dire caution. Kyuubi knows his limits.

"Good to have him looking out for you." Kushina whispers.

I know. Naruto replies.

Once the boy— Naruto shakes his head. "Forgive me, my manners were absent until just now. What shall I call you?"

"Call him? But he might not give you his name?" Obito asks, confused.

Jiraiya smirks. "Exactly."

"You could call me Ryuu." The boy offers with a soft chuckle. Naruto nods and, adjusting his grip to make sure, Naruto sets off into the tree tops with Gamamaru hopping below him. It was three hours to get there, and so it took three hours to get back, and Naruto was glad to be done with the mission in time to return home. The skeleton crew was, for once, alert and rather perky so they're way was paved. The only snag was Ryuu himself and the bandit on his toad's back.

"Uzumaki-san, who is this?" The guard asked. None of them noticed the flicker that passed through Ryuu's eyes when he heard the surname.

"Ryuu knows Naruto too." Minato murmurs.

"Ah! Well, he's the hostage I saved. I'd appreciate it if you guys could let him in, and I'll speak with the Hokage about his stay here in the morning until we can arrange something for him to go home." Naruto answered simply.

"And . . . him?" The other guard poked the sleeping form of the bandit with a pen.

"Extra income, I'm hoping." Naruto replied promptly.

The guards nodded. "Ah, I see. Then we'll just . . ." with a wave of the first guard's hand, an ANBU appeared and took the body from the toad, nodding curtly to Naruto and then vanishing just as abruptly as he came.

Now what to do about Ryuu? The guards looked at each other, deliberating. Security had tightened rather strictly since the Suna and Oto invasion, but Naruto was hoping his clout could let it pass just this once.

"I'll be keeping an eye on him. As of now, from the moment he steps into the village he is my responsibility." Naruto vowed.

The guards deliberated for a moment longer. "Alright Uzumaki-san, just be sure to let the Hokage know in the morning since she's retired for the night. Good evening then."

"Good evening." Naruto replied with a smile, and then led Ryuu into Konoha.

"You'll be staying with me tonight. And, if you wish, for the rest of your stay here in Konoha." Naruto informed Ryuu, looking up at the taller boy to gauge his reaction.

Ryuu looks down at him, an eyebrow raised. "That's generous of you."

Naruto smirks. "You think so? I wonder how you'll enjoy staying at my home."

"I'm sure it will be a pleasant stay indeed." Ryuu insisted diplomatically.

Naruto just smirked and led the boy to his house. The lights were, predictably, off and the house silent. Naruto guided Ryuu to the second floor, opening the door of the guest bedroom. "This is the guest bedroom, and in the morning you can take a bath. This used to be my room, so there should be some new clothes in the back drawers that I never bothered with. You can change into them." Naruto pointed out the things he spoke of.

Ryuu nodded, stepping into the room. He turned to Naruto, and showed his first sign of vulnerability— a look of gratitude. "I appreciate this Uzumaki-san."

Naruto smirked; knowing full well that show of "vulnerability" was just that. A show. "Pleasant dreams, Ryuu-san."

When the door closes, Naruto moves to his room. Opening the door, he sees the lump in the right side of the bed that is his best friend, nestled amongst the sheets and sleeping peacefully. A sigh releases the tension in his body, and with quick movements he changes into pajamas, deciding to also take a bath in the morning. He slips into bed, sighing blissfully as the cloud-soft sheets soothe him, the relatively cool air a joy in the warm spring of Konoha.

With a grin, quick hands dart forward and fingers press softly into the belly of the sleeping girl next to him. She jerks awake with a squeak, blinking rapidly then glaring at him. "Damn it you—" A palm silences her, and she glares gold fire at Naruto.

The blonde in question merely grins. "I just wanted to let you know that there's a guest in the house, and should he make the slightest threatening motion you are to maim him, and then leave his fate to me."

Katsu rolls her eyes at the dramatics, but assents with a nod, licking Naruto's palm. The palm is quickly retracted and the boy gives her a dirty look, which she returns unrepentantly. "Ok, so I'll be careful. Now goodnight." She stresses the word, almost makes it a growl.

Sunlight, bright and warm hits Naruto's eyes directly in the morning. Blinking rapidly, he turns away from the window and rubs his eyes, a small groan escaping him. Sighing, he looks at the clock on his nightstand. Brow furrowing at the late morning hour, he rises up and starts to get ready for his day. A quick shower and a chance to brush his teeth has Naruto feeling like a remarkable human being, and his appetite makes itself known with a sleepy growl once his nose catches a whiff of the strawberry pancakes— ah, sweet, juicy strawberries, he rejoices— Katsu is cooking up in the kitchen.

Jogging down the steps, he bounces into the kitchen with a smile. "Morning everyone!"

"Morning!" Katsu chirps back, sliding scrambled eggs onto a plate heaped with a stack of pancakes and French toast. Grinning, she hands him the plate and he nearly cries from the delicious smell.

"Oh sweet food . . . !" Naruto sings, turning to sit at the kitchen table.

"A better morning now, Uzumaki-san?" Ryuu chuckles, also enjoying his own plate. "I can't say I blame you. This food is scrumptious." He sends a wink to Katsu, who just grins— don't think I don't see that blush hime!

"Would you look at this?" Obito complains, shaking his head. "He takes this kid into his home— his kingdom. And the ungrateful brat is flirting with his girl! Kids these days, honestly!"

"Oh?" Naruto feigns amazement, smiling wickedly. "You were so cautious last night; don't think a little girl could poison you Ryuu-sama?" he only uses the fake name as a way to show Ryuu could keep a little faith in him, and by the slight curl at the corner of the older boy's lips, he knew it too.

Ryuu blinks in surprise, but then laughs. "So I was right all along. You know who I am, Uzumaki Naruto— I must say, I'm surprised."

"What's to be surprised about? Is it so strange to know about royalty? If anyone's surprised, it should be me. How do you know a mere soldier like me?" Naruto countered, spearing a piece of pancake on his fork. He shuffles over to give Katsu room when she sits down to eat, automatically making some clones for clean-up.

"Aww, good boy." Tsunade and Kushina coo, smiling proudly.

Ryuu grins— Naruto notices that he hasn't once seen a true smile from this boy, only secrets and careful mannerisms. He approves. "Your reputation precedes you."

"Only to those who know of it." Naruto corrects. "Koyuki just couldn't help herself huh?"

"Koyuki . . . so you are on first-name terms with the Daimyou of Yuki no Kuni?" Ryuu asks, chewing on a piece of fruit. He doesn't ask how Naruto knew he had even met the actress-turned ruler, because that was all part of the young blonde's mystique he was sure.

"Somehow, I feel like they get along really well." Kushina thinks aloud.

"Of course, we are friends after all." Naruto laughs.

A strange expression comes upon Ryuu's face then. "Friends? Well, from what I remember it's not so unbelievable." He murmurs.

Katsu and Naruto exchange looks, wondering what the look on Ryuu's face was before. "Anyway, Ryuu-san, will you be informing the Hokage of your identity? Or would you prefer a more anonymous vacation?" Katsu asks.

Ryuu smiles politely at Katsu. Still not a true smile. "I see no reason why the Hokage must inform the populace about me. So long as she knows, I see no reason why I must be hassled here."

"Then, would you like to head to the Hokage Tower after this? Oh, but your clothes . . ." Naruto frowns. Ryuu was taller than him; he has nothing for the boy to wear.

"It's alright. I have a sealing scroll on me with some clothes that the bandits never managed to find." Ryuu assures, smirking at the impressed look that comes to Naruto's face.

"It's not . . . impossible to find royals who have some knowledge— both theoretical and practical— of chakra." Minato supplies, upon seeing the creased faces of his students.

"It's just, not all that common." Jiraiya adds, nodding to himself in agreement.

"You can use storage seals?" Naruto asks.

"I have access to my chakra, my tutor thought it beneficial to know. So, one of the Guardians under my uncle's employ taught me. He also showed me how to create the seals, as they're quite useful."

"Indeed." Naruto murmurs, hiding his grin by taking a large bite of his breakfast. How intriguing!

"Crap, look at the time!" Katsu yelps, jumping up. Putting her dish in the sink and thanking the clone washing up with a kiss on the cheek— ignoring the original's cry of, "Where's my thanks?!"— She scurries out of the kitchen with a hasty goodbye thrown over her shoulder.

Ryuu blinks. "If she's getting to school, she's more than a little late."

"No, she's going to work. She attends school, in a strange way . . . anyway; let's head over to the Hokage Tower now." Naruto sighs, throwing a dirty look at the goofy grin on the face of the clone Katsu kissed.

Minato and Kushina snort in laughter, imagining the pout their son is sporting. "She still kissed you, musuko." Minato laughs.

Ryuu, noticing the interaction, points out, "Well he is you."

"Doesn't count, since I'll only get the memory. The ghost of the real thing!" Naruto sniffs.

Ryuu just shakes his head as the two leave the house, Naruto locking up behind him. The walk to the Hokage Tower is spent by quietly pointing out some of the attributes of the fair village, and it was something indeed to see the almost shocked expression on Ryuu's face at the Hokage Monument. Naruto is also quite grateful Ryuu does not make a fuss, or even seem to pay attention to, the stares that the two garner. Aside from Katsu, Ryuu is probably the first non-shinobi person they've seen Naruto walk with, and for those who are still on the fence about him it does mean something.

They arrive to the Hokage Tower and make their way up, greeting various ninja who are familiar with Naruto in his office stints. The door to Tsunade's office is open, with a few jounin trailing out after a meeting.

"Yo, onii-san!" Naruto chirps, greeting the silver-haired shinobi with a wide smile.

"Yo, Naruto." Kakashi greets lazily, sparing a brief glance at the boy and his companion before returning to his book, this one green but still part of the Icha Icha series. "Who's your friend?"

"This is Ryuu. Ryuu this is my old sensei and older brother by heart, Kakashi." Naruto introduces.

Ryuu bows. "It is an honor to meet a shinobi of your caliber, Kakashi-san."

Obito coughs, hiding a strained cackle. "Of your caliber, he says . . ."

Kakashi glaring, socks the boy in his shoulder, grinning at the howl of pain.

Kakashi eye smiles. "Well, no need to be formal. Nice to meet a friend of Naruto's as well, Ryuu. Naruto, I'll see you around." With a wave, and a swirl of leaves, Kakashi has gone.

"Naruto? Come in, we've got to talk about your mission anyway." Tsunade calls from inside the office and both boys walk inside. Immediately, Tsunade's eyes lock on Ryuu. She seems to gaze straight through him, but after a moment or two she looks back to Naruto.

"Let's hear the report then." Tsunade prompts with a graceful wave of her hand.

So Naruto gives his report with clear details but succinct enough to not bore anyone. Tsunade has to hide a smile behind her hand— her little godson gets better and better every time she sees him.

"Aww, softie!" Kushina teases with a grin.

"Well, that bandit does indeed have a ransom, though the money will take about a week to come. And now, I will hear your story Masahiro-san." Tsunade motions Ryuu forward, and meets his cool gaze with ease.

This child . . . from what whispers float down from the Royal Court, he is something special indeed. A very shrewd, clever boy— but he's still decades too early to try and hide things from me with that stony gaze. Tsunade allows a light smirk to stretch her lips, as she waits for him to speak.

"I was heading to the countryside of Hi no Kuni, hoping to observe the crops of this year and go over some figures. However, I was besieged by a group of bandits and my two guards killed, and then taken hostage. Though, I am confident they had no idea who I am and only suspected I was of a . . . well-off family." He pauses to smirk. "Well, I was rescued by Uzumaki-san and I stayed the night at his residence. I was treated kindly and given a wonderful breakfast."

Tsunade nods. "To be expected of Naruto. Now, where do you see this story ending Masahiro-san?"

"Please, I'd prefer just Masahiro . . . I'm far too inexperienced to be given such respects by true royalty." Masahiro denies with a short bow.

"Still breaking hearts young and old you cougar you?" Jiraiya snorts.

"I'll break your face if you don't shut up." Tsunade snaps.

"And you're far too shrewd to think I'd fall for such pandering kid." Tsunade quips back, chuckling at the light of surprise that enters Masahiro's eyes. "Masahiro, what do you wish to do?" she presses.

"I . . . I must report my safety in Konoha to the castle." Masahiro answers formally.

Naruto wonders what he's hiding, but Tsunade catches the hidden message. To the castle, not to his family.

"Typical Royal Family drama." Jiraiya and Tsunade sigh.

"Well, I'll send out a hawk to the capital immediately." Tsunade decides promptly, and hides a smirk at the dimming light in Masahiro's eyes. "However that won't be for some time. My hawks are all tied up until tomorrow, and it'll take a couple days for the hawk to get there. Until then, you are to stay here under the guard of Chuunin Uzumaki Naruto since you two are already so familiar. Here is an allowance for your stay, use it as you see fit."

"You are such a soft-hearted woman to my son." Minato snorts.

"I can't help it I suppose." Tsunade excuse in a low voice, smile faint.

Masahiro and Naruto both twitch, working hard to keep the surprises off their faces. Not so skillfully of course, under Tsunade's experienced eyes.

"That would be agreeable Hokage-sama," Masahiro accepts formally grabbing the bag of money, before turning to Naruto. "If that is fine with you Uzumaki-san?"

"There is no problem with the arrangement." Naruto accepts with a smile.

"Then, enjoy your stay here in Konohagakure no Sato." Tsunade dismisses them casually, and both boys bow to her in respect before turning to leave. Naruto hangs back though, and as Masahiro opens the door, Naruto turns on a dime and lunges toward the desk, leaning over and ignoring the sting of the desk edge in his gut to give Tsunade a smacking kiss on her cheek.

"Ugh, again!" Kushina cries. "That's it, I'm giving him extra kisses just to make up for all this."

"And I'm giving him extra lessons in how to retain his manhood." Jiraiya grumbles under his breath. "Extra kisses, honestly."

Tsunade squeaks in surprise, jerking her head away on contact though a silly smile spreads across her face. "Shoo!" she hisses, swatting at him though he's already laughing his way out of the office.

Masahiro looks at Naruto from the corner of his blue eye, watching the younger boy with interest. "You seem to have a friendly relationship with the leaders of both Yuki and Konoha." He notes, suppressing the urge to add a sly comment. This boy could be useful, but he had no reason to be close to him.

Immediately the tone shifts. "What sort of idiot thinks they can just use this kid?" Obito asks, shaking his head.

"Well it was said he's shrewd . . . but inexperience could lead him to bite off more than he can chew." Minato ponders, eyes narrowed and thoughtful.

"Tsunade is my grandmother and my big sister all rolled into one." Naruto laughs freely. "I can count on my hand the number of people I'd admit hold my heart, and sad to say, that battle princess has it."

Cue "aww"ing from the audience. Yes, even you.

"Interesting," Masahiro hums.

Naruto, out the corner of his own bright blue eye, is also analyzing the older boy. "Some important figure you must be, huh? Isn't gathering agriculture data for officers looking to raise ranks though?"

Masahiro allows a crooked smile to light his face. "I believe in starting from the bottom, no matter how high up you are."

"He's shrewd, but he seems to have a decent grasp of honor." Rin points out.

Naruto raised a brow. "A nice work ethic. Come on— if you're staying here for a few days then you need clothes."

Naruto guides the boy through the shopping district of Konoha, hiding a smirk at the cautious stares he receives and his confusion therein— he doesn't know about his dubious reputation and therefore believes they're just taken aback by his eyes. Mismatched eyes are the last thing that would phase a citizen of Konoha of course.

"You should get a shirt with the Konoha emblem, as a nice souvenir of your time here." Naruto suggests with a grin.

Masahiro raises an eyebrow. "Such trinkets are not really my style."

"More like a personal shinobi right?" Obito rags.

Naruto teases, "Perhaps a tanto then? Or some chakra metal weapons?"

After a few hours Naruto suggests they head back home for dinner, for it's his turn to cook tonight.

Naruto cooks udon and makes a fresh salad, while Masahiro asks some questions.

"It's rather strange you and Katsu live here by yourself . . . is there no guardian appointed to you?" he asks innocently.

"Well," Naruto pauses as he stirs the noodles. "When I received this headband I was looked upon as an adult so there would be no guardian for me. As for Katsu, well . . . the Sandaime Hokage saw fit to let us be as we were responsible enough."

"That sounds . . . interesting. Not quite so lonely with you two?" Masahiro asks.

"We had Nami-baba . . . Katsu's grandmother up until just about age ten, so we could stand on our own two feet thanks to her." Naruto answers vaguely.

"Thinking about it now . . . how Nami-san was young when she had Katsuro, and she died when Katsu was ten— Nami-san died rather early didn't she?" Kushina asked.

"I think the term early is subjective. Perhaps she could have had another ten years or so in her, but . . . well, as it happens she died naturally." Tsunade shrugs.

Katsu comes home after a few minutes of light conversation, and dinner is undertaken.

"Oh, I almost forgot to mention!" Katsu remembers suddenly, placing her chopsticks down. "Listen— the new furniture is coming in tomorrow, and I've hired a genin team to help move the furniture. Most of the clothes are already packed away into boxes and I'll finish up the rest later. Naruto, will you help too?"

"Oh jeez, the furniture from like two chapters ago?" Kakashi chuckles.

"Hence the new paint job around the house . . . she doesn't do things half way." Minato chuckles.

"Well, duh!" Naruto scoffs. "Ah, but this must be an inconvenience to you Masahiro-san, I'm sorry."

"Not at all, as a matter of fact I'd be glad to help." Masahiro quirks the corners of his lips, meeting the challenging glint in Naruto's eyes.

After a cup of after-dinner tea and slices of the cake she'd made at work, they bid each other goodnight.

As all three go to sleep, they each have their own ideas and goals in mind.

Masahiro has taken a direct interest in young Uzumaki Naruto, and is confident that boy will be of use to him and his goals for the future. With the connections Naruto had, and the charisma and charm that seemed to ooze from the boy for anyone receptive to it, he would be a most helpful stepping stone indeed. He'd have to work around Naruto's non-expendable state, which might damper his plans . . . but it was simply another roadblock— small really, in comparison to the giant chessboard he was playing on.

"Oh, real flattering." Rin scoffs.

"An interesting boy indeed . . . if Naruto wasn't on to you about your lies." Obito points out confidently.

Naruto had taken a keen liking to Masahiro, despite the boy's calculating eyes and the masks that no doubt hid a shrewd and rather merciless mind.

"Oh for fuck's sake Naruto!" Obito snaps.

He could practically smell the ambition and desire to prove something coming from the boy, and he was even more interested because of it. Now if he could just get the boy off idea of trying to use him as a tool, and see him as a friend, then all would be right and good! For Masahiro. He'd hate to have to scar the boy . . . mentally or physically.

Katsu just hoped the stupidity of the two boys would not in any way impede the process of putting in the new furniture, or even worse damage anything. It would be difficult indeed to explain the sudden decline in sanity of Konoha's best Chuunin and a noble of Fire.

At the exact hour of six o'clock Naruto was awoken abruptly by a splash of icy water to the face.

"Wh— Whoa, I— what?!" Naruto sputters, gasping from the icy chill.

"I've been trying to wake you up for ten minutes now!" Katsu huffs, unapologetic as she holds the now empty glass of water and taps the fingers of the other hand on a cocked hip. "Wake up now, the team will arrive here in thirty minutes and I'll have breakfast up by then."

"What about Masahiro? Is he going to get water to the face?" Naruto demands, glaring even colder than the water that soaks his shirt front.

"He would have, had he not woken up by himself." Katsu replies smugly, and then strides out of the room. "Kakashi is coming over to, I asked him to when he stopped to my work place for lunch yesterday."

Naruto grumbles mutinously, grabbing clothes and stomping into the bathroom. After an extra-long shower in hot water just to make up for the morning, he walks down to the kitchen calmly.

"Good morning, Uzumaki-san." Masahiro greets with a tired grin, hiding a yawn behind his hand almost delicately.

"Good morning, Masahiro-san." Naruto greets back.

"Morning to you too sunshine." Katsu giggles.

"Woman. Give me food." Naruto demands, glaring at the orange-haired half-pint.

"Notice, not his best friend anymore . . . the orange-haired half-pint." Kushina sniggers.

"I'd call you a tomato-top twig too if you threw water in my face." Minato warns her playfully.

"There, there now— once everyone is here we can eat and you'll feel better." Katsu soothes, managing to snag a whiskered cheek before he pulls back and gently bats her hand away.

So he and Masahiro are forced to sit there, in that kitchen, as she makes heaps of food (already he has an idea of which team she's hired, and he was hoping some time would pass before he saw Shikamaru after the Paint Incident) and does not. Let. Them. Touch it.

"Oh, the torture." Obito bemoans in mock sympathy.

"Yoohoo, anyone call in a team of capable genin?" Ino's singsong voice breaks the tension.

"Oh sweet kami, yes! Yes we can eat!" Naruto rejoices, springing up and bounding to the door. He opens the door, and faces Team Ten, complete with smokestack sensei.

"Yo, Naruto." Asuma greets.

"Hurry up and get in here so we can eat already." Naruto urges, grabbing the man's arm and dragging him in. A nearly dead on his feet Shikamaru stumbles in, awakening with the smell of food and Chouji is already chipper. Ino saunters in like she owns the place, calling loudly for Katsu.

"In here Ino-san!" Katsu calls. "We can't eat until Kakashi gets here, I promised him he'd get some pancakes this time."

"Denied!" Kakashi deadpans.

"What?!" Naruto groans, nearly doubling over.

"Hey there, don't look so upset. Kakashi is here to save the day!" That lazy yet cheerful drawl is a welcome sound. Naruto jerks up to see Kakashi smirking at him from behind his ever present little book, Sasuke and Sakura behind him.

"Oh, this is a surprise!" Naruto smiles at his friends, moving aside to let them in. He turns to retreat to the kitchen and claim his breakfast when a fast-moving purple blur nearly bowls him over. Jumping at the contact, he forces himself to relax when he realizes the blur is female, and his friend.

Rin muffles a snarl. Stupid Hashimoto!

She isn't the only one cursing that name.

"Eh?" he grunts, hands coming up to the shoulders of Ino, looking at her strangely.

"Naruto," she whispers excitedly. "Who is that gorgeous guy in your kitchen?"

Naruto smirks at Ino, peeling her off of him. "He is out of your league."

"No, seriously he's not being mean," Rin jokes. "He is so not one of us."

"You still don't say that though!" Kushina huffs.

Ino scoffs, and wishes for a brief moment her hair was long again so she could flip it for added effect. "Excuse me?"

Naruto pouts poking her in the side as he moves to the kitchen. "How dare you ask about another man Dolly. What would Shikamaru think? Nay, Chouji-kun?! Ara!"

Ino turns deathly furious, prepared to add physical violence to her scolding when they are interrupted. "Will you two come on?! We have to hurry and eat, because the furniture is coming in three hours!" Katsu shouts in exasperation.

"Three hours— hime what the hell?! We only have three hours to get all the furniture out of here! Some of this stuff still has to be cleared out!" Naruto argues, stomping into the kitchen.

"Well things would have gone a lot faster if you weren't tripping over colors every time you took a whiff of paint!" Katsu accuses, daring him to comeback.

Naruto starts to retort, then thinks about it. Amidst the snickers he wisely keeps his mouth occupied with food, growls rolling from his throat every time he took a breath.

"Forget everyone else son, pick and choose your battles." Minato mutters under his breath, grinning when his girlfriend gives him a suspicious glance.

Breakfast was eaten quickly but gratefully. Once the last plate had been sponged clean of syrup then Kakashi and Naruto were tasked with cleaning the dishes whilst Katsu ordered everyone else to their posts.

"Ino, Sakura you two are the only ones here besides me with organizational skills to be of any use," Katsu explains, ignoring the disgruntled looks from the other males.

"Nitpicking women." Kakashi and Obito snort.

"Sloppy, lazy men!" Rin and Kushina bite back.

"So in addition to clearing out the last of the books and other things off shelves and placing them in boxes, you'll be overseeing the boys. Make sure they're not slacking!"

"Oh, you've come to the right girls." Ino assures, chuckling darkly.

Katsu rounds on Asuma, Chouji, Shikamaru, and Sasuke. "You four!" they snap to attention, gulping nervously. "Asuma and Chouji, start pulling out the living room furniture! Shikamaru and Sasuke, go upstairs and start dismantling and bringing down the beds. After wards whoever is free get cracking on the dressers and such. Now, move out people!"

As the others scurry about, carrying out the orders given to them, Masahiro hides his amusement and approaches. "Kuroshio-san, what can I help with?"

Katsu blinks in surprise. "It's not necessary for you to help Masahiro-san, you're our guest!"

Masahiro smiles gently— plastic, it crosses Katsu's mind briefly as she inwardly frowns at the fake expression— and says, "Nonsense, I can't just laze about. I suppose I'll just help you with what you are doing."

Katsu looks at him for a moment and then nods. "If that is your wish. I'm moving all the boxes to the back porch— let's start with the ones upstairs."

So Katsu and Masahiro work steadily, with little conversation but no stifling silences. Katsu will stop briefly to hand out more orders, or to boss around Naruto and his clones, while Masahiro chuckles at the sight.

Then, Masahiro starts the subtleties.

"Kuroshio-san, I must admit I find you very interesting." Masahiro speaks suddenly.

Katsu tilts her head, gently depositing her box on the back porch and then straightening up. "I'm sure I don't know what I could have done to warrant such interest Masahiro-san." They return into the house, to grab the last boxes upstairs.

"Well, you're quite comfortable with all these shinobi; even feel confident enough to try roughing around with them. From what I've observed, most civilians don't try and get too close with shinobi— or even samurai." Masahiro confesses, grabbing some more boxes and then walking down the stairs with them.

"Trying to get her under your thumb too Masahiro?" Rin muses with a frown.

Katsu snorts. "Oh that? That's nothing special. They're no different from you and me I believe. I don't know about other hidden villages, but Konoha shinobi don't lord their strength or superior chakra over civilians."

Masahiro grins, chuckling. "Yes, that is indeed a beautiful thing. Of course, the threat of execution is indeed a powerful stopper as well on any such thoughts."

Katsu giggles. "Well, you'd be right there!"

As the two laugh and chat away, they don't notice a pair of sly eyes glancing at them. Kakashi and Asuma look at each other, then Naruto, and grin.

"Oi, Naruto . . . Masahiro's a friendly guy?" Asuma asks, grinning.

Naruto flicks his gaze toward Masahiro and Katsu— both jounin delight at the slight narrowing of his eyes before they return to normal— and then to Asuma. "Yeah, he's cool."

"Yeah?" Kakashi drawls. "Katsu seems to be taking a liking to him."

Naruto glares at Kakashi, unimpressed. "Yes, she holds certain esteem for men who don't incur a bad impression the first time around."

Kakashi realizes where Naruto is going with this and gives the slyly smirking boy a flat look, ignoring Asuma's choked sniggers. Naruto snorts, turning away, yet even so . . . he chances one last glance at Masahiro, seeing a sly curl of the boy's lips.

Naruto resists the urge to glare, having heard their conversation. Masahiro had better not try and manipulate Katsu.

He is taken out of his thoughts by a thump on the back. Wide eyes turn to a smirking Sasuke. "Last one to put the furniture on the pile pays for lunch next week?"

"It seems Sasuke and Naruto have become good friends." Tsunade murmurs with a pleased smile.

"I get the feeling that's a Naruto only privilege." Obito chuckles.

Naruto grins. "You are so on Uchiha."

Masahiro watches Naruto glance at them one last time before moving around the house to the front yard, and seizes the chance.

"Still . . . I bet it was easier to acclimate to their world having someone close to you being a shinobi yes?" Masahiro points out, stretching to his full height. Crouching so much could really wear one out.

"We're getting to the main point now." Kakashi sighs.

"No . . ." Kushina denies slowly. "Something tells me there's more going on here."

Katsu thinks about this, before nodding in agreement. "Yes I suppose so. Naruto was always eager to share what he learned, and I was there helping him study most of the time."

"Only the theory though . . . it would have been too much to ask to learn some interesting jutsu or how to fight like ninja do!" Masahiro jokes.

Katsu keeps her smile up, but mentally she is wondering where Masahiro is going with this . . . what he's trying to say. "Well if I wanted all that I should have joined the Academy myself."

"True, and then we wouldn't even be having this conversation." Masahiro nods in agreement. "No, you had your reasons for not going in right? Not that I'm asking for them, that would be rude."

"Well I did have my own reasons." Katsu murmurs, and now she is wary. She felt like Masahiro had suddenly lunged forward into her guard, and was now easing away to give her a false sense of security. But she as on guard now.

"Good, keep on guard." Minato murmurs.

"Uzumaki-san is a remarkable ninja— I could tell that even just by his ways in the mission where he rescued me." Masahiro adds in casually.

Well, there was no harming in boasting a little about her best friend was there? "Of course! Naruto has great will power, and he's strong . . . he's one of the top chuunin, I'd bet."

"That's a bet even I could win." Tsunade laughs.

Masahiro hums in thought, nodding. "Tsunade-sama said as much too. I'm well aware that climbing ranks here in the shinobi world is far different than in the Royal Court." He smirks mirthlessly. "For the right price, or the right bloodline, the doors are wide open to you."

"Well I could count a few shinobi who wish the system worked that way." Kushina snorts.

"So long as our Hokage's are all of a decent mind, that won't be happening." Jiraiya says with a smirk.

"Well, no system is without faults." Katsu replies diplomatically, smiling in satisfaction when the last box is taken out. "Done!"

Masahiro smiles. "Kuroshio-san, you're a very positive person, I'm sure that's what helped Uzumaki-san during his trials."

"What's he trying now? He totally switched from Naruto to her." Obito remarks quizzically.

Katsu blushes in surprise. Where was this coming from? "Well, I don't know about that . . ."

"Truly," Masahiro insists, grinning. "I can only hope you remain positive and your friendship with Uzumaki-san stays true."

"What do you mean?" Katsu asks quietly, eyes hard. She didn't know what his angle was, but calling her bond with Naruto into question was a major taboo in her books.

"In ours too." Rin growls.

"Is he trying to shake her? Because the only thing that will accomplish is a trip to the emergency room courtesy of Naruto." Kakashi scoffs.

"Well, shinobi and civilian life is just so different." Masahiro explains. "I imagine he can't tell you everything about his work— not only for official protocol and such, but because sometimes the darkest sides of humanity are the things we desperately wish to shield our loved ones from."

"Naruto knows he can talk to me about anything, and I wouldn't push him to talk if he didn't wish to." Katsu refutes, hoping to end the conversation.

Masahiro was only getting started. "I'm sure that is very much appreciated Kuroshio-san. Like I said, you're a very positive person, and interesting too. However, can that energy bridge the gap that might pop up between you two?" he points out quietly. "Uzumaki-san is strong, and will continue to grow strong . . . my sympathies are with you Kuroshio-san make no doubt about that."

"Your sympathies are bullshit and totally unappreciated." Rin snarls lowly.

" . . . Why?" Katsu whispers, suddenly feeling unsure about what she perceived to be Masahiro's true intent in this conversation. She had just believed he was trying to fish for Naruto's weak spots, but . . .

"You're not wrong Katsu," Minato murmurs. "You are Naruto's weak spot."

"It's a terrible thing, to be left behind by the people we love." Masahiro answers.

He could have struck her, and she wouldn't be any more shocked. Somehow those words were blows, opening up a hollow feeling inside her. "He wouldn't, Naruto's not like that!" She responds quickly, and then curses herself. The quick way she reacted, it would let Masahiro know he hit a nerve. A nerve she herself hadn't even realized was there, and yet this boy had picked up on it with accuracy.

"That's a low blow, Naruto would never leave her behind!" Obito cries out.

"We know that," Tsunade corrects. "Reading their training together and all they've been though. But, it is a legitimate concern. Typically, most relationships between shinobi and civilians fall through simply because of the inferiority complex that happens to spring up on the civilian side. It's too hard for some, to adjust to our level of secrecy or our ways of doing things. Isn't it true that to most civilians, shinobi are kind of crazy? They'll just never know what it is we do, what we do with every breath we take."

"Of course not, Uzumaki-san is an honorable man. Still, while he goes higher . . . can the role of support really be all that he needs?" Masahiro presses, keen eyes picking up on every twitch and hitch of breath.

"Now that's uncalled for. What a shinobi needs most is someone who will listen and not judge, not condemn or probe. That's a piece of mind no amount of gold can buy." Minato shakes his head.

Katsu takes a deep breath and closes her eyes. When she opens them, her glare is blistering, and it seems to sizzle along Masahiro's nerves and not in a good way.

That was enough.

"You've tripped yourself up Masahiro," she hisses. "You pressed in way too deep, and now I know your game. Thinking you can weaken me, and get Naruto involved because I'll just automatically go crying to him? Whatever weak-willed little trollops you deal with in the Royal Court, that's over there. Here in Konoha? The women are a little tougher. I made a promise to Naruto to always be here for him as his best friend no matter what."

"Just as a friend?" Masahiro presses with a sly smirk.

Katsu bristles at his audacity. "Whatever! Naruto can do better than anyone in this village— which is so not the point here! The point is that you're questioning Naruto's character and if you ever do it again I'll leave you a few teeth short got it?"

Tsunade snorts, laughing. "Oh please. She can't have deluded herself into thinking Naruto would ever fall for someone other than her?"

"It just seems to be an inherent trait in girls, that there's always someone better for the people they like." Rin murmurs.

As Katsu storms away, she can feel the calculated gaze of Masahiro on her back, but she doesn't pay any attention to it. Right now she had to think about how she wanted to organize the living room furniture, and the bedroom furniture . . .

She sniffs, scrunching her nose against the feeling of tears. She would not cry.

"Don't honey," Kushina softens. "There's nothing to cry about, just a jaded little boy trying to find new toys to play with. You were the victor there."

"Katsu?" She turns to see Kakashi looking at her impassively. "The furniture is here."

"Oh, great!" she enthuses, hiding her uneasiness with a grin. "Come on lazy bones, let's get to work."

Kakashi doesn't react, but instead falls into step behind her. Katsu knows he knows something is wrong with her, but hopefully his laid back attitude will come in handy for today.

Kakashi nods. "True, I doubt I'll pry unless you come to me first."

So they worked steadily throughout the day, under the intense scrutiny of the lady of the house, who made no secret of her desire to disembowel anyone who scratched her new furniture. Whatever tension lingered between Masahiro and Katsu was soon overcome by the whip-like voice of the latter as she set everyone to work.

"Come on guys, a little bit more and I'll make you all lunch!" Katsu cheers.

Well, the work was done quickly.

That night, Katsu oh so carefully moved onto the new mattress of her new bed, and shivered at the delicious smell of new furniture. "Ah, if only obaa-chan could see us now!" she sighed, flopping back onto the mattress and grasping the sheets in quivering fists.

"Good thing she can't— she'd beat me for still sleeping with you like we were little kids." Naruto mumbles under his breath, though Katsu still catches it and sends him a grin.

"Well . . . this should last us at least another ten years." Katsu muses thoughtfully. "Then . . . I'll try another land!"

"Might I suggest Waterfall? The quality of the wood there is fantastic." Obito deadpans, making an 'ok' sign with his hand.

"You're too spoiled." Naruto snaps playfully, shoving her to the side so he could move onto the bed.

Katsu chuckles, hugging a pillow to her body.

"Katsu . . ."

"Yeah?" she mutters, slipping under the sheets.

"Why were you crying?" Naruto asks as he turns off the lamp and eases back into bed.

"Crying?" Katsu blinks. He must have smelled tears . . . ? Biting her lip, she thinks about what she could tell him. Not a lie, surely— he knew when she lied. "I . . . was just a little overexcited. I wasn't crying. It was just tears."

"Sure and the funny thing is she actually believes it." Minato snorts, looking away from his girlfriend, who scowls at his attitude.

Naruto presses his lips together, but doesn't question it. She wasn't lying to him— outright at least, he could tell. "Oh . . . because I could have sworn it had something to do with Masahiro."

Katsu curls up a little, a pout forming before she smoothed her face out. Naruto's night vision was quite good, he'd be able to see any expression of guilt or hurt. "He just . . . unknowingly pressed a nerve. I felt . . . a little hurt."

"Unknowingly huh?" Naruto murmurs, closing his eyes so she wouldn't, by chance, see his anger. "Well if it was unknowing I guess I can let him off with just a broken finger."

"As if!" Katsu laughs quietly. "Good night, Ru."

"Night, Hime."

"Someone's gonna get it, and we know who~" Rin and Obito sing.

It's raining.

It's pouring.

And Naruto was stuck with Masahiro. No missions, no office duties, and he certainly did not feel like training in this weather.

"It might not be enjoyable, but you won't always get nice weather to do missions in." Minato chides gently.

The two are in the living room, Katsu having left in the early morning while the clouds were still heavily pregnant, yet not ready to burst. Well, a few hours later . . . they had burst. And Naruto was beginning to wonder about the possibility of flooding.

"The rain is beautiful, is it not Uzumaki-san?" Naruto's gaze flickers over to an almost pensive Masahiro, who reclines on a wicker chair by the window and gazes out at the downpour outside.

"Depending on one's mood." Naruto allows. He wasn't quite as open as he had been before with Masahiro . . . he could sense the older boy's determination to have a soldier underfoot before he left. Originally he had wanted to break Masahiro of that notion but . . . after seeing the red eyes of his precious person, he wasn't quite so sure anymore.

"Damn right." Obito snorts.

"Back at home . . . I would play a game during long rainy afternoons with my father, back when he was still alive." Masahiro murmurs, nostalgia thick in his tone.

Though Naruto raised a brow at the sudden parting of information from the boy, he wasn't too optimistic. Masahiro was just throwing out a tidbit— baiting him. When you suddenly made yourself vulnerable, made yourself just as human as your target, it was a little easier to gain their trust.

It was what he would do, after all.

"Geez, sochi, I just want to keep imagining you as a boy with a heart of gold." Kushina sighs. "You're just as cold as your father."

"Hey!" Minato protests.

"Mm, my grandfather and uncle would also indulge me." Naruto agrees. "We'd play shougi."

"Shougi, eh?" Masahiro chuckles. "Yes that was the first game I was introduced to. However, later on . . . I was shown the game of chess."

"Chess? I don't believe I've heard of it." Naruto confesses.

"Neither have I." Kakashi murmurs, looking at his sensei.

"Well it's a very rare game here in the Elemental Nations. It's fairly new, came around about fifty years ago." Minato informs.

"It's a game of strategy much like shougi . . . it's not very commonly played in these lands but somehow it made its way to the Fire Country Court. It's a board with a white and black checkerboard pattern, and different pieces. There's . . . the rook, the knight, the pawns . . ." Masahiro quietly explains.

Well . . . a game would be a nice ice breaker.

Naruto cocks his head to the side in thought. "Well the pieces are foreign but I think I know the board you're talking about. I think it was up in the attic." Naruto moves abruptly, jogging up the stairs and leaving Masahiro's sight.

He takes the stairs quickly, and then walks down the hall to the end. Gathering chakra, his hand forms a seal and he crouches down, placing his palm on the floor. As a seal glows on the hallway floor, so does a seal glow on the ceiling above him, more symbols glowing around it.

"That is a very good idea." Jiraiya interrupts here, looking emphatic as he shares a nod with Minato. "If you can, seals are a great way to protect your home. A better bet than traps."

"Even better than a Sharingan?" Obito jokes.

"I'm not touching that with a ten-foot pole." Jiraiya jokes back.

Well, if it hadn't been for Kakashi-nii's paranoia I might not have bothered with this— but he is right about securing your home. Naruto admits ruefully.

By the work of the seal, a door opens and out comes a ladder to the attic. He ascends the attic steps and blinks in the darkness, adjusting his eyes to an acceptable level of night vision. Grinning, he walks through the attic, trying to remember exactly where he saw the old game set. He remembered helping clean the attic with Nami-baba and Katsu, and how the old woman had smiled rather bittersweet before placing the box set away.

And it should be . . . right . . . here! Naruto grabs the box he's looking for and drags it to him, opening up the musty flaps. His nose crinkles slightly at the smell but he rifles through the box anyway. His hands hit a solid tin, long and wide and he pulls it up with a noise of victory in the back of his throat. Opening it, he grins when he sees the checkerboard pattern Masahiro had spoken about.

Masahiro looks up as quick footsteps sound above his head. He turns his head when they come closer, and sees a smiling Naruto come down the steps holding a large, thin tin.

"I think this might be your game." Naruto informs quietly, standing in front of him.

Masahiro looks at the boy, then smirks. "Well how about a game then? Could we play outside— just under the porch awning?"

Naruto considers this, looking outside. The winds blew north . . . so they wouldn't get hit with any rain. "That sounds fine. I'll grab a little table for us to play with."

"I'll grab some refreshments and we can go outside then." Masahiro offers. With a nod, both boys break away to get what they said, and go outside. Immediately the temperature change hits them. It's not a cold rain . . . but there is simultaneously humidity and a cool sort of whisper of a breeze that tingles along the nerves. The smell of the rain invites them to take deep breaths of the fresh scent. They set up the table and the drinks, and then Masahiro sets up the chess set.

"My, this is old!" he exclaims softly. "But it's made of real wood . . . it feels almost silky to the touch."

"I take that to be a good thing then." Naruto comments loftily.

Masahiro nods. "Ah— let's begin instructing you then Uzumaki-san. I have no doubt you'll be a quick study . . ."

Masahiro explains the finer points of the game to Naruto, taking care to be specific with the abilities and limits of each piece. Naruto wonders if Masahiro realizes he puts a very subtle, almost imperceptible, emphasis on the knight and king pieces. In his opinion, the piece of the Queen was far more handy— whilst the King could only move one place per turn, and the knight could only move diagonally, the Queen could move back and forth and side to side however many spaces she pleased.

"Yes, it does seem cooler doesn't it?" Kushina's comment would almost be offhand if not for her smug grin. A tactful silence is maintained by the men.

Naruto points this out to Masahiro.

It is then that he is treated to the boy's first genuine smile of the whole stay— small and a little reluctant, but a real smile without pretenses or abominable plasticity. "Yes . . . a smart woman can have the reign of the entire board if she is careful. Precisely why I'm so wary of the Queen . . . especially with such a weak King. But at least I'm the one in control."

"Oh— it's fine if the Queen is under your thumb, so you can control where all that power goes." Rin snorts.

Naruto tactfully holds his silence, and merely invites the boy to start playing with a smile.

Masahiro points out that as Naruto is only a novice, he should have the white side and therefore can have the first move as that side dictates. Which isn't exactly an advantage (which they both know).

There is a quiet thoughtfulness that falls over them. Broken only by the quiet clacks and shuffles of their pieces as they move across the board; the hum of thoughtfulness or the quiet sip of iced tea. The rather heavy rainfall that patters along the roof and drips from gutters and along posts is their background music.

"You are, as I thought, a quick study Uzumaki-san." Masahiro points out, breaking the stillness with an almost audible snap.

Naruto smirks mirthlessly. "You only flatter me to make my imminent defeat gentle."

"This whole chapter has been like a game of chess." Minato chuckles. "And I think a defeat is imminent . . . on the other side."

"You won't lose so easily yet, and even so I'd like to have another round if you'd permit it." Masahiro counters in amusement.

"As you wish." Naruto acquiesces.

More moves. A drum of fingers in impatient thought. The almost audible lighting of a bulb over heads.

"This is fun." Masahiro murmurs.

Naruto glances up. "Surely you get better intellectual stimulation from your colleagues?"

"Scholars and nobility they may be— but that's only on paper, and it doesn't account for much let me assure you." Masahiro mutters almost scathingly, and Naruto laughs quietly.

"Does it bother you? To have no equal there?" Naruto asks curiously.

"No it makes things easier for me when I need things to be done. With the right attitude and turn of phrase, business can be conducted in a relatively smooth manner." Masahiro murmurs almost absentmindedly.

Masahiro was most certainly not absent of mind or wit.

"And you Uzumaki-san? I can't imagine there is an equal to you among your peers?" Masahiro asks in kind.

Naruto exhales sharply, and Masahiro detects a faint tremble in his shoulders as if from laughter. "I have more than my fair share of equals, and more superiors than I'd like to admit. I feel almost intimidated but I know it's a lacking on my part."

"In all honesty if you were to just run wild with Kyuubi's chakra there would be no equals." Kushina mutters in thought. She can hear a faint snort of amusement somewhere in the back of her mind, and acknowledges it with a tentative smile.

"A lacking not entirely your fault, but entirely fixable by your own means." Masahiro whispers.

"It's fun holding the cards in your hands. Or rather, having all the pieces on your side." Naruto whispers back.

A common ground— a truce?

"I overheard something interesting yesterday Uzumaki-san," Masahiro comments nonchalantly. "You seem to balk at a position of leadership?"

"Only The position of leadership." Naruto counters calmly.

They were getting to the matter at hand, it seems.

"Why? It seems we had similar ideas about being underfoot, and yet you wouldn't wish to hold all the cards in your hand?" Masahiro presses.

"Because nine times out of ten it is better to work behind-the-scenes than to be the one in the spotlight. Then you have to keep up appearances. And what must be done has to be done, with no bother about appearances to anyone else but yourself." Naruto's answer almost makes no sense, if anyone were to be listening in.

"Yeah, I don't get it." Obito confesses, Rin and Kushina nodding too. Even Tsunade looks tentative, as if she might know but is not sure.

Masahiro understands perfectly. And he must tread ever more carefully.

"You would be a puppet master?" Masahiro questions. He had no use for a thinking tool. Perhaps he was mistaken to consider trying to use Uzumaki Naruto— the boy was crafty, on his way to being shrewd. To have such talent bloom under him would be a boon, but it could also result in a curse most dire for him.

"Why is it so difficult to assimilate the word 'friend' into your vocabulary?" Rin sighs.

"I would be a friend." Naruto refutes pleasantly.

Ball's in your court Masahiro.

Masahiro paused his move, eyes flicking up to bore into matching sapphire pools. "Being friends with a major political head? That could get . . . rocky."

"It could be. If I was a radical, or that person was. However, compromises are just fine." Naruto reminds him.

Masahiro smirks. "Compromises . . . it still feels like a loss somehow."

Coincidentally, Naruto has just lost his game. Naruto grins wryly. "Doesn't it?"

Another foundation laid down. They reset the board, Naruto goes first again.

"Could I ask something personal?" Naruto asks, starting to weary from this delicate dance.

Masahiro eyes him. "I suppose you could."

"You said you used to play this with your father. The way you said it though— I assume your father passed long ago?" Naruto asks carefully, gauging the boy's reaction.

Masahiro nods slowly. "I was nine when he passed. I was then taken in by my uncle and his wife— they have no children of their own."

"An act of kindness?" Naruto asks.

Masahiro smirks coldly. "As far as I can figure."

"Are they also unequal?"

Masahiro opens his mouth as if to spout something off reflexively, but then closes it. He takes a slow breath in and out. "They are good people. I strive to be better. Does that make them unequal? I don't know, but they are the past generation."

"The new generation always tries to outdo the former." Naruto murmurs.

"You also have someone to outdo?" Masahiro asks curiously, detecting a knowing tone in her voice.

Naruto grins. "Yes." Ooh, how I'd love to make tou-chan's Hiraishin look like a basic shunshin!

Minato grins widely, mood elevated. "I'd love to see that too." He says truthfully.

"I wouldn't. That's not even cool— no one needs to be that fast." Kakashi deadpans.

Naruto brings the conversation back to Masahiro. "You thought about your answer. You must care for them— then again, they are family."

"Family . . . a subjective term for me." Masahiro dismisses.

"You'll have to forgive me then. I find family to be very important." Naruto laughs.

"Even if your own family is subjective?" Masahiro probe slyly.

My, how sharp these pieces seemed all of a sudden. Naruto took care to have a firm grip, lest he accidentally shove them down Masahiro's throat.

How deliciously violent! Kyuubi snickered.

You've been quiet all this time, don't stop now. Naruto snorts, pushing back the voice of the chuckling demon.

"I don't really think any of my family was chosen . . . we just are. Therefore, it's not quite so subjective." Naruto answers.

"You can choose your friends but you can't choose your family?" Rin quotes and chuckles.

Masahiro chuckles. "What a romantic notion."

"I'm in love with loving people, perhaps." Naruto chuckles.

Something about the lofty comment must touch a nerve in Masahiro, since the smirk becomes sharp.

"Such a thing is almost sinister! Take care not to get your heart broken; it would hurt your family. Such a thing reminds me of what Kuroshio-san was saying— that you were of great character, and great will power. Is love perhaps the one thing that weakens your will?"

Challenge accepted.

"Shit just got real." Obito whispered to his seatmates, face set in deadpan seriousness.

"I find love to strengthen my resolve and will, actually." Naruto corrects smugly, smirking at Masahiro. "Usually all my enemies were those without love, or a twisted ideal of loving themselves or power. They thought all the cards were in their hands, until they suddenly weren't."

The whole room 'ooh's. They knew what just went down.

Perhaps I came on a little too strong there, Naruto muses. Masahiro's smirk has suddenly dulled to a thin, sharp smile.

"Interesting. You seem so sure of your bonds and connections." Masahiro murmurs.

"Because I like to believe there's good in people. Don't you?" Naruto counters.

"I like to believe they have a good purpose." Masahiro states.

"Even better if that purpose is serving you well." Naruto snorts. When did they stop playing the game?

"I simply do whatever it takes to get ahead Uzumaki-san. I was under the impression that a shinobi did that too. Harden their hearts and use whatever and whoever available?" Masahiro points out.

Naruto glares. "I'm not your average shinobi."

"Hell yeah!" Kushina and Obito whoop.

"Clearly." Masahiro's clipped reply. "After all the work done to get you where you are . . ."

"I'm sure the people who had a hand in my development are quite happy with how I turned out." Naruto restrains himself from growling, giving his tone a bit of a strained sound.

"We didn't have anything to do with it, and we're quite happy." Rin chirps, getting nods of agreement.

Masahiro smirks, and allows his veneer of calm to slip in lieu of a sharper hit. "Kuroshio-san, being a naïve civilian, most certainly doesn't count."

"Oh shit, it's about to go down." Kakashi sighs in mock disappointment.

The growl that rips through the air is most definitely inhuman, and Naruto is shocked to realize about three seconds later, as he and Masahiro are rolling around in the mud, that it came from him.

He pins the boy underneath him and raises up, fists curling in the boy's collar. Grinning madly, Naruto rears a fist back and snarls, "I've been just waiting for her name to come out your mouth bastard. Don't think I don't know it was you who upset her yesterday!"

He peppers his words with punches. "Nobody— makes— my girl— cry!" he growls, grinning at the guttural sounds coming from Masahiro.

"Yeah, baby!" Obito hoots. "Get him!"

"He's a Fire Country Royal, put him down! I can't protect you from a Daimyo's decree!" Tsuande cries.

Masahiro glares at him, face nearly plastered with mud and bits of grass. While Naruto is rearing back for another punch, Masahiro makes use of the taijutsu knowledge taught to him by his shinobi guards and manages to loosen Naruto's hold on him enough for him to buck and flip them over. Now Naruto is the one getting smothered in mud as he and Masahiro tussle.

Naruto's breath whooshes out from him after a good hit from Masahiro, and he snarls, knocking the boy off. They tussle for minutes, gaining and losing ground both to the opponent and to the rain that turns the terrain into sludge. They both get up quickly, slipping in mud along the way, and tackle each other.

Straight into a puddle of mud.

"Oh— gah!" Naruto gags, but he doesn't have time for much else because Masahiro is on a mission, and he tries to strangle the blonde. Naruto coughs, but manages to dislodge the hands and flips them over. He takes hold of Masahiro's front and starts to tattoo the back of his head into the ground.

Rin suddenly pauses, head tilted in thought. Hmm . . . handsome boys mud wrestling?

"You—little— bast—" Masahiro's epithet was never finished, as Naruto twisted him around and started to grind his face into the mud.

"Can't hear you!" Naruto cackles. "Speak up!"

Masahiro's leg comes up and knocks into the back of Naruto's head, stunning the boy briefly and making him tilt— and tilting in slippery mud like that means Naruto fell over face first into the puddle.

Masahiro's head springs up with a gasp, deeply inhaling and spitting out mud. Naruto gets up a bit more slowly, trying to come to terms with the mud pie on his face.

Remembering their opponents, both boys whip around, the fast motions making them slip again, and forcing them to waste a couple minutes navigating out of the puddle— not of mud— they'd rolled into.

They stand up shakily, breathing rather heavily after the exertion of extracting themselves from the mud that could have doubled for quicksand.

"You! I . . ." Masahiro trails off, the finger that had lifted in accusation now drifting down as he takes a good look at Naruto. Covered head to toe in mud, the stuff dripping off him in either goop or rivulets from the torrential downpour, the boy certainly made quite the sight.

Naruto, knowing why Masahiro trailed off snorted and gestured to the other, ignoring the mud that comes flying off his arm as a result. "You are no better."

Mashiro follows the remark and looks down at himself, blinking rapidly. His fine linens . . . the silk! His expensive and rich dies!

All ruined by mud.

When was the last time he played in mud? He wondered. He didn't recall ever doing so.

"Oh you missed out." Kushina laughs.

"You used to play . . . ?" Minato shakes his head. "No I believe that."

"You have no childhood if you didn't once play in mud or puddles." Obito insists strongly.

When was the last time he had really played?

That . . . Masahiro looks up at Naruto, who is now standing at ease, with both hands on hips and looking himself over with disgusted fascination. Naruto looks up and he catches the boy's eyes.

They stare.

Masahiro's twitching lips means he breaks first. "I've never gotten dirty playing before. This is all your fault."

Naruto barks a laugh. "My fault? Whatever! You look much better with the mud on anyway."

They stare, now both have twitching lips, biting down to restrain smiles. They are unsuccessful. Masahiro grins . . . and then he laughs . . . he tries to stop but he slaps his knees and doubles over laughing.

Naruto follows suit in seconds flat.

Under the rain that has lightened but still falls heavily, two boys succumb to deep laughter, heads thrown back to cleanse dirt off their skin, bodies warmed by their own humor and high spirits.

"Anyone else notice that the entire time he was wrestling with Masahiro, he never flinched or anything?" Rin points out with a smile.

Kushina smiles, elated as she looks at Minato's own growing smile. "Yeah . . . it's pretty wonderful."

Who knows how long after, the howls die down to chuckles, and then they are just breathing deeply to alleviate belly aches from deep laughter, smiles still stretching their faces until it almost hurts.

Naruto sighs. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have attacked you, it was rude."

Masahiro laughs gustily. "I think I needed that. But . . . I am sorry as well."

Naruto grins. "So . . . we friends now?"

"Either I have you arrested and tried on the grounds of attacking nobility or we become friends . . ." Masahiro mused. "Well . . . I guess we can be friends."

"And we have another convert to the Uzumaki way!" Obito declares, clapping up a storm.

"Oh you're so kind." Naruto snorted.

"Great," Katsu's voice coming from behind them startles them so badly they jump. "So now you can hose off and then come inside."

Naruto turns, grinning at the tangerine-haired girl tapping her foot impatiently on the porch. "When did you get here?"

"Around the time you guys rolled into a puddle of mud." Katsu answers with a roll of her eyes. "So I set up a pot of soup inside. Which you will not get until I can ensure no mud will track through my house after you two."

Masahiro and Naruto snort, looking at each other. "You know . . . this is really all her fault we got messy in the first place." Masahiro recounts thoughtfully.

"How so?" Kushina asks, scrunching up her nose.

"How so?" Katsu scoffs.

"Women. The source of all men's problems." Naruto sighed, shaking his head.

"What?" all the women growl.

"Oh Naruto, I thought we were past these slip-ups." Jiraiya bemoans.

"I guess someone doesn't want to eat or sleep inside the house. Fine by me." Katsu shrugs, feeling mildly annoyed by now.

Naruto grins. "Come on— don't be like that!"

Katsu stops, about to turn around and taunt Naruto when she suddenly feels weighted down by strangely warm-cold arms. Realizing what this means, she squeals in disgust.

"Ew, Naruto!" she complains. "You're wet— and cold! Agh, now I've got mud on me!"

"Might as well join us then." Naruto answers, swinging her around. Ignoring her screeched protests and the blows raining down on him, he leaps off the porch . . .

Straight into a puddle.

"Agh!" she shrieks, when Naruto promptly dumps her into said puddle. Gingerly lifting herself up, shivering from the unexpected hit of cold, she glares at the two cackling boys. Her entire body trembles from her fury.

"Someone's gonna get it~" Rin and Kushina sing.

"Run, my son." Minato whispers under his breath so low only he could hear.

"You . . ." she hisses between grit teeth.

Naruto starts to feel nervous. He hasn't seen her this mad in a long time. "Uh, I . . ."

"You are both dead! You hear me— dead!" she screams, and launches herself at them, bringing them all down with sprays of water and mud in the air.

Which explains why, thirty minutes later when Shizune and Iruka comes by for a visit, they see three cackling mud-caked bodies flitting and darting around the backyard— pushing and shoving each other into puddles of water that rinse off only some of the mud to show who they are, and then promptly dump themselves in kamikaze attacks on the others back into the mud.

"Naruto and Katsu get out of that mud now!" Iruka harps, a vein pulsing dangerously in his forehead.

The two kids promptly yelp and immediately begin trying to scrabble back up to the porch. "Yes Iruka-sensei." They mumble sedately.

"Masahiro-san, you too." Shizune sighs, and watches the older boy grin in apology as he plods after the others.

After hosing them off very thoroughly, the bedraggled trio is whisked upstairs into the bathrooms to get hot baths, and then they troop downstairs to accept the bowls of soup and blankets by the fireplace.

"Honestly, what were you thinking . . ." Iruka sighs aggravated, shaking his head. "You could get sick!"

"Well, not me at least." Naruto mumbles under his breath, grinning innocently when Iruka casts a suspicious glare his way.

Then comes the fourth day.

Masahiro waits outside the village gates with Naruto and Tsunade, waiting for his escorts to arrive. He sighs almost wistfully, tugging lightly at the strap of his messenger bag that carries the things he's gotten from Konoha.

"I hope you enjoyed your stay here in Konoha Masahiro?" Tsunade ventured.

Masahiro smiled genuinely. "It was a most interesting vacation. I hope to perhaps come here again one day."

Naruto grins sunnily. "Sure! It'll be great having you again."

"Right, and perhaps things will be easier once they're planned." Tsunade comments dryly.

"I couldn't agree more Tsunade-sama." A voice from off the side of the road in the forest makes them all look over.

"Oh? I thought you were going to retire Tohru." Tsunade comments.

"Tohru . . ." Jiraiya frowns. "Do we know this guy?"

"There's more than one Tohru I'm sure. We'll never know . . . yet." Tsunade replies.

A man with close cropped brown hair and narrow black eyes steps out from the trees. He wears attire almost similar to that of a monk, though the sleeves are ripped off from his shirt. "Well, I will this year." He amends with a faint grin.

Tohru turns to Masahiro and bows. "Masahiro-sama, your carriage awaits a few towns away— for now, I shall escort you."

"That will be fine Tohru." Masahiro dips his head in acknowledgment. "Has everything gone to rot since I've been gone?"

Tohru looks up, pressed lips hiding a grin. "We've had a few close calls but nothing unsalvageable. Your uncle has been most worried though, and Madam Shijimi's harpings have confused him terribly."

Naruto furrows his eyebrows. Madam Shijimi . . . doesn't she own Tora? That's the Fire Daimyou's wife . . . his eyes widen, and he turns to Masahiro who smirks at him.

Naruto smirks back. So your uncle is the Fire Daimyou . . . a well off family indeed.

"Whoa!" Obito's and Rin's gasp isn't the only exclamation of surprise.

"Another royal friend." Minato snickers. "Ah, I can't wait to send Naruto off on these missions and get back the treaties! My single greatest act as Hokage— having a kid."

"You're the only Kage who can boast procreating as the best thing you've ever done for your village." Jiraiya snorts.

Tohru turns again to Tsunade and bows. "Thank you for your swift recovery of Masahiro-sama. Whatever balance has been accrued will be swiftly returned to you."

Tsunade waves away the words. "Sure, sure."

Masahiro turns to Naruto, holding out a hand. "This is farewell for now, Naruto."

Naruto shakes his hand, smiling. "Yeah. Don't forget to write Masahiro— and don't forget the shorthand I gave you." Naruto smirks at Masahiro's widened eyes.

"Oh, that's nice; he gave him one of the little seal scrolls he invented. It'll make talking much easier between the two." Kushina smiles.

Masahiro's smile is mysterious. "I won't. And uh . . . just a head's up. You might want to discuss with Kuroshio-san why she thinks you could do better than someone from Konoha."

Naruto balks, then sighs, growling. "I can't believe she's still stuck on that. Right. Thanks."

"So they've had this conversation before?" Kushina chuckles.

They break away, but before Masahiro leaves with Tora he turns to Naruto. "Tell Kuroshio-san I said bye? It's a shame she couldn't take off to see me go."

Naruto laughs, scratching the back of his head. "Yeah— I was totally surprised when she just zipped out of there." He takes a disgruntled appearance. "Apparently, her boss sent her off on a week-long trip to get something or other from another town."

"Probably with no genin team again." Minato snorts.

Which wasn't exactly a lie.

"Well I can see where this is going." Kushina mutters.

Katsu was sent off by her boss on a trip. Only, the old woman gave her a week— she didn't necessarily need a week. In fact, it only took her a day to get the tea ingredients her boss needed and return.

She just didn't go home for a week.

Why? Well . . .

Katsu settled her pack down once she'd found a suitable clearing. She was about ten miles outside of Konoha, and it had taken her a while to hike here. Screwing open a bottle of water, she took quick gulps and finished the bottle. Looking around, she sighed as she thought about what she was going to do.

Masahiro's words had struck a chord in her. Even though he had apologized sincerely, those words still stuck with her. Logically, she knew that as a civilian the role of support for Naruto was really the best that she could do. This wasn't a game, where she could just run into a battle and think to help Naruto with the power of will and love. No, Naruto was on a whole other level— she couldn't fight beside him.

"While that's true, in no way does that make what Masahiro said right about you." Tsunade argues.

"What, she's just going to train there for a week? That's not exactly viable." Kakashi points out, brow furrowing at the strange actions.

But that didn't mean she would just wait around for him like some regular old housewife. Offer him warm food and a shoulder to cry on? Katsu snorted— he could go to a brothel for that, or even the Blackout. No, her role had always been to help Naruto— unobtrusively, from the shadows. For years, she had been by his side for some of his biggest breakthroughs. And she was selfish enough to admit that she wanted to be there for all the rest, regardless of what capacity she would hold in his life later on.

Minato snorts. "Everyone knows you two are going to get together. And it isn't selfish to want to be by someone's side."

"I don't think it's that simple." Kushina mused. "This is as much about her pride as it is about Naruto."

Thus leading her to her current decision. She wasn't stupid enough to hope that through training and dedication, she'd become a monster like Naruto. That wasn't even her thing anyway. No, but she would need to stand her ground, to be able to anchor herself without anyone's help to weather the coming storm. Akatsuki . . . Orochimaru . . . she wouldn't dream of trying to defeat these guys. But she'd rather gut herself than be a damsel in distress. She wasn't some pansy ass toddler, she was a woman damn it!

"Whoa!" everyone muttered.

"I know I can't have been the only one to see Kushina in that." Minato voiced.

"Aw, isn't it great?" Kushina cheered.

"No!" they all shut her down quickly.

So: her current choice. To get a summon.

"Ooh, no— please, don't. You might die." Jiraiya pleads.

"This sounds like a recipe for a cluster fuck." Obito notes.

Why as this important? Not only was there a significance in having a summon, but what all having a summon would require from her. You had to have a good level of chakra to even being to summon anything serious . . . and summons, or at least what she gleaned from seeing the toads and slugs, wouldn't take just anybody. It would create a need to improve herself to such dramatic heights.

If she could get a summon, that would be confirmation she could be something more than just the role of support. She could prove Masahiro and her own insecurities wrong. Masahiro had been the first person to shake her like that— it made her realize that if she continued with Naruto down this path, there would be others who'd try to capitalize on this weakness.

"Yes, but you really don't have to go this far." Minato groans.

So she would give them something to think about! She could do something else than just wait around with a handkerchief or whatever the hell damsels in distress did. She'd have to ask Sakura and Ino later on.

"Burn!" Kushina laughs.

"So not a laughing matter right now." Kakashi mutters.

IF she lived.

Kushina got serious then. "You better live— I won't forgive you for dying and leaving my son to be alone again!"

"Well, here goes nothing." Katsu sighs. She takes a deep breath, and blows it out gustily.

Guts, fighting spirit! Come on, don't be a little girl I am so gonna kick ass! Katsu reminds herself firmly.

"Back out— you can still back out!" Jiraiya pleads.

She gathers her chakra, as much as she can. She doesn't hesitate as she bites her thumb, drawing blood. She carefully, yet firmly goes through the hand seals she's seen Naruto do what seems like a hundred times now.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

A plume of smoke.

Katsu is no longer in the clearing.

"Well shit." Kakashi sighs.

"Oh I can't wait for when she pops up again." Minato chuckles nervously.

Tsunade sighs, opting not to say anything about the matter. "Well, how's about lunch? Then we can get to another chapter. I'll cook."

"Great, then I'll help." Kushina giggles, scurrying after Tsunade into the kitchen.


Well why don't you review and let me know how you feel?

I know you guys wanted to see the full blown fight between Jiraiya nd Kakashi, or even hear about how Kakashi and Zabuza tortured Hashimoto, but there was too much to go through in this chapter to bother. Now, if i get enough PMs, perhaps i might be persuaded to make a "Genesis of the Ninda: Outtakes and Omakes" fic of things you wish could have been in the fic, or htings you wished had been more explained or fleshed out. MAYBE. Cuz im a busy girl.

Love,

Bloody Mad~3