The old monk was humming to himself as he swept up the old shrine. It was a tiny out of the way structure that only the locals ever visited. The sort of place where nothing ever happened. Like a thousand other local shrines that were spread throughout Fire country.

"Excuse me."

The old monk stopped to see a young man standing at the entrance. The fellow had spiky blonde hair and the strangest set of scars on his face. He knew immediately he wasn't a local. It seemed today he was going to enjoy a visit by one of those rare travelers who occasionally passed through.

"Yes? How may I help you young man?" His dress was quite odd. He had on a green jacket, white shirt, bright orange tie, and khaki pants. It looked like some type of school uniform, but not one he'd ever seen before.

"Could you perform a wedding for me?"

"A wedding?" The old monk was quite surprised. In the forty plus years he'd been the caretaker of this shrine he had never married anyone who had not lived within twenty miles of it. Travelers occasionally stopped to make an offering to appeal to kami for good fortune. But an actual wedding? "Well certainly I can perform one."

"Would it be legal throughout Fire country?"

The old monk shook his head and laughed. "It would be legal everywhere, not much point in marrying someone otherwise is there?"

The blonde smirked a bit. "I suppose not. Can you marry me and my fiancé right now?"

He nodded and put the broom aside, this was turning out to be a very interesting day. "Certainly, where is she?"

"Moka-chan," the stranger called out and motioned.

The monk gasped to see the woman who came up beside him. He hardly noticed that she was dressed in a similar uniform or that she had long darkish silver hair. No, what took him by surprise was her red eyes and fangs as well as the sense of power coming off her.

"Hello," she said pleasantly.

"Ah, hello," the monk replied a bit nervously.

Seeing the reaction the blonde tried to smile reassuringly. "Ah, she'd from a clan with a really unusual kekkei genkai," he explained.

"Right!" Moka said. "Because I'm a ninja."

"I see," the monk said slowly. "Please forgive my reaction; I have never seen a ninja before."

Moka grinned at him. "No problem, I'm used to it."

"So how much would it cost?" The young man asked.

"There is no charge, however if you wish to leave a donation afterwards that would be appreciated."

The monk went back into his small office to retrieve the necessary documents. As he watched the young couple fill them out he learned the groom's name was Uzumaki Naruto while the bride's was Akashiya Moka.

"Are you certain you want to marry right now? You don't have any family with you."

Naruto shook his head. "I'm an orphan. She has family but they're a long way from here and she's not that close to any of them."

"Well, I like my mother and my younger sister," Moka said. "But it would be difficult to reach them."

"I see," the monk said. "Still, marriage is a serious commitment and one that should not be taken lightly, you are both young. Are you certain you want to marry right now?"

Smiling Naruto took a hold of his fiancé's hand. "We have no doubts at all about wanting to marry, and there's a reason why it needs to be now."

"Ah, I think I understand." The monk glanced at Moka's belly, she wasn't showing. "Very well then."

XXXXXXXXXX

The ceremony itself was simple and brief. It was completed in less than fifteen minutes. The young couple exchanged vows and pledged their commitment to one another. At the completion of it they sealed their new union with a kiss.

"Thank you for helping us," Naruto said.

The monk nodded, it had been a pleasant and memorable diversion to an otherwise boring day. "I was very happy to do so. May kami bless your union and grant you long life and happiness."

"And children!" Moka added, causing Naruto to look just a little pale. Moka winked at him. "Eventually."

"Anyway, here is a token of our appreciation." Naruto pulled out a cloth sack and handed it to the monk.

The monk accepted it warily. It seemed rather full. "Ah, yes, you are both welcome." He was curious what might be in the sack, but it would be rude to ask or check while they were standing in front of him. Whatever it was, it was a donation after all. He waited for the two of them to leave before carefully opening the sack to see what was inside.

XXXXXXXXXX

They had only gone about twenty yards when they heard a piercing scream come from the shrine behind them.

"Naruto-kun," she asked. "What was in that sack?"

"You remember those bandits we dealt with on our little vacation?" She nodded. "I gave him all the cash I took from them. I never bothered to count it all but there's probably about two million ryu or so."

Moka lifted a single eyebrow. "You gave him that much just for performing our wedding ceremony?"

He shrugged. "It's only money, and what I really treasure is right here beside me." He gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

"You're sweet," she said. "By the way, you remember when one of my personalities told you that if you ever abandoned me or slept with another woman I would hunt you down and kill you?"

"Yeah, that would be sort of hard to forget."

She gave him a kiss and looked at him tenderly. "It still applies."

"Heh, good to know."

"So, are we off to Konoha now, husband?" She took real pleasure in adding that last word.

"No wife," he looked at her. "Let's go to the nearest town. I need to get some new clothes. And I think we should get a hotel suite. It'll be short, but let's have a honeymoon."

She laughed at him fondly. "And how are we going to pay for this since you gave away all our money?"

"Not all of it," he held out a gamachan that was near bursting.

Together the new couple headed off.

XXXXXXXXXX

At that same moment…

"What do you mean you don't know where he is?!" Jiraiya screamed.

The Headmaster nodded toward the blackened ruins of the academy. "As you can see for yourself I was forced to close the school and send the students home. Besides which I have expelled Naruto and instituted a ban on ninja attending this institution in the future. You may inform your Hokage I will have no further dealings with him."

"I don't think you need to worry about that." Jiraiya shook his head. The moment he'd received word that there had been an attack on Naruto he'd come as soon as transport could be arranged. He had never thought to arrive and find Naruto just gone. "You're sure he was unhurt?"

The Headmaster nodded. "He was uninjured, though the same cannot be said of a great many others. When I agreed to your Hokage's request he never mentioned this possibility."

"The whole reason he was sent here in the first place was in the hope that our enemies would never be able to find him. Can you at least give me some hint of where he might be now?"

"He was given a bus assignment to return him to the same location where he was originally picked up. The city of Tokyo I believe. However he did not leave by bus."

"I thought it was impossible to get here except on one of those crazy things."

"I and certain others have the ability to travel across dimensions. He left with one such person."

"Who?"

"He left with the help of his girlfriend Moka."

Jiraiya recalled the red eyed beauty from his last visit. He had sensed her power but never suspected she could do such a thing. They had gotten the news that Naruto had reached the four tailed state only a couple days earlier. Then had come the shocking information that he had been attacked by enemy ninja. And now he was just simply gone.

"Do you have any idea where he might be now?"

"None," the Headmaster said tranquilly. "He is no longer my concern."

"Great, just great," Jiraiya muttered. "I need to get back immediately."

The Headmaster nodded. "Certainly, and with your return I will have nothing more to do with you or any other ninja."

He watched Jiraiya enter the bus that would return him. He had not told him of Naruto's rosary. Just as he had honored the Hokage's request he had honored Naruto's as well. He understood what the likely consequences would be. But had decided not to involve himself any further.

Whatever happened between Naruto and his fellow ninja would be of their own doing.

XXXXXXXXXX

The following morning a black fire momentarily appeared on the roof top of an old apartment building. When it blinked out there was a blonde haired figure in a black ninja outfit and a woman in a bright yellow sun dress.

Naruto took a long moment to look out upon the village he had not seen in eight long years. How I long to see this place burn.

With a cruel smile he called out. "I'm home."