A/N: Sincere apologies for the lack of updates- it's been a month, and I have a good reason- I've been working (hard) for a month. I'm very grateful to have a job, especially a part-time that (in theory...) pays my bills. However, it's physically MUCH more demanding than I'm used to, and frankly, I just haven't had the energy to sit up and write for the last few weeks. However... I did this same thing last year (it's a temporary job), and I got used to it fairly quickly. Hopefully I'll be able to get at least back to a bi-weekly update schedule, or better, a weekly as I had been doing- and caught up, too.

I have some story-related A/N to do, but it's gonna have to wait till after, since there are chapter spoilers. :)

Enjoy!

Chap. 38 Lessons from the Past

Naruto heaved a sigh of relief. He wasn't sure if the seals he'd (barely) been able to lift from Sakura and Ino's weapon pouches would work, but was very grateful they had. They, like the small seal inside of him that, for the most part, kept the Kyuubi at bay, only had one kanji written on them, 'seal'.

However, his many years under the tutelage of Jiraiya had taught him much. While he was no seal-master like his father had been, Naruto could safely say (at least, he had been told as much by the aforementioned Sannin, so it may require a pinch of salt) that he was roughly on the level of his old sensei's old master, Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Which is to say, pretty damned good with seals... just not in the top .01%.

That education had led him to be almost sure that the seals would at least function in a similar fashion to their intended purpose.

Of course, Naruto hadn't even known they would have them. He hadn't been told that the two girls and Sasuke had ever even been given the slips of paper by Jiraiya before they'd left on their mission to Kaminari no Kuni. It had taken Sasuke agreeing with his half-sincere request to see the seal, and an entire night's research and analysis, to figure out what they were for.

At first, when he'd figured it out, he'd been angry. Hurt, even.

Then rationality set in, and Naruto was, instead, grateful once more for his father-figure's insight and ability to plan ahead. Because the seals would, should they become necessary, save countless lives.
If the Fox had ever gained real, total control, or even temporary control, simply placing them on his head would, in conjunction with his mother-figures' crystal necklace and his own Uzumaki blood, immediately siphon off the malevolent chakra of the Tailed Beast, rendering him effectively powerless until it, and he, were able to recover naturally.

Sakura and Ino didn't have Uzumaki blood or a unique crystalline jewel to help protect them, but then again, they didn't have the source of the Fox's chakra inside them, either. Once the seals had been placed (and Naruto vowed to thank Temari for a fifth time for her help in distracting the girls long enough to lift the seals and then place them), the two kunoich had immeidately attempted to rip them off, but the Kyuubi's influence and chakra faded quickly enough that before their limbs had reached the papers, they had collapsed to the forest floor, all-but unconscious.

That had been two days ago.

Still, despite the rational part of Naruto's mind knowing that it was too late for Gaara, Naruto was feeling much better about their whole situation simply because Ino and Sakura were showing signs of waking.

"Hey, Temari... thanks again for your help the other day."

The tall blonde grunted as she walked into the small cave, squinting in the darkness, just as he was against the light outside. "How many times are you gonna thank me for that? I just did what I had to do," the finally said as she deposited several kunai-speared and already cleaned fish in the collapsible pot she carried, followed closely by a few herbs, some pepper, and her entire canteen of water.

As she set it on their small fire, Naruto shrugged, glancing over at his girls as he did, "As many times as I can. I couldn't have done that without your help, not without really hurting them."

As she had every other time he'd expressed his gratitude, Temari blushed and turned away.

But by the time the fish were done and the sun was setting, the two hadn't yet woken. Ino seemed to have settled into a restless slumber, since she was mumbling to herself. That she was often using the words 'mother' and 'baby' made Naruto a little uncomfortable, since he was reasonably sure she was talking about, well, herself and Naruto's possible future children.

Sakura, however, had taken a more restful position, one he recognized as her usual sleeping pose, curled up on her side- whichever side was facing him.

That thought brought a soft grin to his whiskered face.

"I swear, brat, it's all true. Every damned day for the first two months you were gone, all Shizune and I had to do to figure out where you were was find the closest village in the direction she faced as she slept."

Naruto snorted. Tsunade was not prone to hyperbole, but that story was a bit far-fetched. Sakura wasn't some psychic, who could read minds and tell where people were when they were far off. She was... Sakura. Powerful, sure. Smart, definitely. Cute... well... his seventeen-year-old self was more than ready to admit that, but still... how could he tell her, show her, when he could barely admit it to Jiraiya? Had only admitted it to himself a few months before their return?
"Come on, Kaa-chan, get real. Nobody believes stuff like that in this day and age! Next, you'll be telling me we're 'made for each other'. That we've been-" Here, he blushed uncontrollably at the idea, but forged on anyway, hoping that, late as it was, Tsunade was too far into her drink to remember the conversation anyway- " 'soul-mates' since birth or something, that we're made for each other."

The older woman smiled wistfully into her sake saucer for a few minutes in silence, then glanced out the dark window, her face turning redder all the while to match his own.

As it did, Naruto's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. "You didn't... tell me you haven't been thinking something so... so silly this whole time."

At once, her chocolate eyes were riveted on his in a powerful glare. She hissed, "Don't you ever think the idea of 'soul-mates' and 'true love' is silly, brat! You should be so lucky as to have Sakura really fall for you!"

He back-pedalled as well as he could while sitting at the cabin's kitchen table and whispered, "No, no! That' s not- I didn't mean it like- uh... no... I... I like Sakura. A lot. I know... I know anyone would be lucky to be with her. It's just... true love's fine. But destiny? I don't buy it. There's no such thing as destiny, or fate, or any of that crap. I make my own fate."

In later years, Naruto would be amazed at the first, and probably only, time he would ever 'win' an argument with Tsunade, because she had not been able to deny that point. Still, she had gone on (and this is how Naruto knew she was drunk, rather than just faking it as she had done so often when he and Sakura had been children) about how she just hoped that the two would end up together, and wasn't it just so romantic? Both orphans, raised by the same people, but separated for ten years, only to be reunited, and then to find love with each other...

As Tsunade had continued to wax poetic, Naruto was very glad he'd elected to nurse just one saucer, because he could distinctly hear the scratching of a certain pen a floor above them. Doubtless, Jiraiya would be using similar lines in the next installment... unless he convinced Naruto to write that one, too. There was no way he would use such sappy lines. Not even Sakura could convince him of that!

(O)(O)(O)

In a nondescript apartment in the former capitol (and still largest city) of Hi no Kuni, a tanned, scarred man frowned, tossed a half-smoked cigarette out the open third-story window (and promptly ignored the man below whining about the ash and singes in his hair). "So they're absolutely insisting we trust them anyway? Man... why can't things ever be easy?"

"Damn it, why won't you listen to me? I don't even know where this... this stubborn insolence comes from! Your mother was so well behaved! How can you abandon us, abandon everything you've learned, and worse, take all the things you know to play hero rather than being a hero? Have we taught you nothing? Were we too lenient? Too strict? I don't understand this at all!"

In his arrogance, the younger of the two men- both ninja- scowled at the older, believing, as most of the younger generation do, that the older can't possibly have any idea what it's like to be them, to live their lives, to walk their shoes. "Stuff it, old man! I made my decision, and you can't stop me. You haven't got the stones or the skill anymore. I don't think even Minato could stop me! But I can't stay here any more, I need to go. I'm already late. I'll see you around, old man!"

And just like that, ignoring his indignant father's calls to see reason, to return, or at the very least to write, he'd gone. For twelve years, he hadn't returned, hadn't sent a reply to any of the many (he still kept them all) letters he'd gotten since- all two of them, one each from his father, and one from his brother. At the time, he had ignored both, though he'd eventually replied to Konohamaru's letter with an invitation to visit.

That, of course, had led to disaster... or averted it, depending on how you looked at it. Because no sooner had his brother, along with his wife, arrived than news had come that Konoha was under attack by an unknown, but extremely dangerous force.

The next messenger, barely a day later, had relayed his information while Asuma had been pleading to be released from the Guardians to go to Konoha's aid.

The message had been simple- Sarutobi Hiruzen was dead. Konohagakure was all-but destroyed, it's civilian population decimated, it's ninja forces scattered.

Doubtless people would return in time, because reports filtered in over the next few days that said both of his father's non-traitorous students had survived. The Will of Fire lived on in him, if nowhere else.

Only they hadn't. Before people could start rebuilding from the Nine-Tailed Fox's attack, they had been overwhelmed by army after army. Even the Capitol had been beseiged within days, and despite the efforts of all twelve of the Guardians, the Daimyo had been killed along with most of his family two weeks after Konoha had fallen. Only luck- and, if he were honest, no inconsiderable amount of skill- had allowed Asuma, Zenzi, and Fuudo to spirit away Zankako and Tenna, and not before he'd had to witness the aftermath and more than he'd desired of the deed involve the gang-rape of the older Yoshiyuki.

Zenzi had died days later, killed by an Oto hunter-killer team, having stayed behind to allow the Daimyo's family members to escape. Fuudo had simply gone missing on a recon mission. Rumor had it he'd been killed by one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. Asuma privately believed it, no matter how far-fetched it sounded, because despite his dislike of the Aburame, it would have taken a ninja of the Swordsmen's caliber to bring him down, especially to utterly erase any trace of his body. Not even a single insect had ever been found.

And then Konohamaru had been born, days before his brother had been mugged and killed by bandits. His mother lasted long enough to ween the young boy before hanging herself. It had been Tenna who'd found his sister-in-law.

That had been the first night she'd allowed him to touch her, allowed any man to get close to her.

It was also the first and last time he'd seen her cry, because she and Lina had formed a fast friendship. Lina had kept her mostly sane after what she'd been through when the Palace was lost. Asuma had his first real lesson in humility in those days, knowing that he would never have been able to help the shattered woman.

It was a testament to his sister-in-law's own strength that Tenna had allowed herself to find love again, just as it was a testament to his own stubborn nature that he'd fought that love for six years before giving in, while she continued to heal from her emotional wounds.

"I think I get it now, old man," the man muttered, turning away from the kunoichi who'd delivered the news.

"Asuma?" she questioned, but said nothing else. Instead, she stepped into the room and shut the door quietly before coming to stand beside him at the window.

He was silent for several minutes before he answered, "I'll have to go. Even if the old hag told us to stay away, we can't just abandon Konoha. I've done that once before when they really needed me, and I'm... I'm not doing it again. I can't fail again. I can't... I can't speak for everyone, though."

The kunoichi smiled sadly, leaned up on her toes to kiss his stubbly cheek, and whispered, "You do, though. There's nothing for us here, there hasn't been for eighteen years. My father told me to flee into the wilds that night, remember? To protect the line? I can't do that any more, but Zankako can. Konohamaru can carry on your line... or you could find another woman."

Asuma snorted, offering a lopsided smile as he pulled her closer, "Screw that. Raising two brats was plenty. I'm cool with not having any of them myself. You're all I need if that's the case."

The door slammed open before Tenna could reply. "Yeah, well, fuck you, old man! Who needs you? I'll go to this Ootori place just to spite ya!"

Asuma didn't need to turn to know that, behind his fifteen-year-old nephew was Tenna's nephew as well, standing silently as she often did, watching everything, just as Fuudo had taught her. "Yo, Kono, Zan. You two up for the trip?"

Konohamaru immediately froze mid-gesture and pulled his hand back to glare at his uncle, "What the hell? I thought you said we weren't going?"

Tenna snorted right alongside her lover, "Fooled ya?"

Zankako rolled her eyes at Konohamaru's indignant rant, but otherwise didn't allow herself to react aside from stating quite calmly that she'd get her things packed immediately.

Asuma was strangely quiet for the rest of the day, so much so that Tenna was actually getting a bit worried about the Sarutobi.

However, the half-regretful half-proud smile on his face as he fell asleep beside her reassured her, almost as much as his whispered, "I get it now, gramps."

(O)(O)(O)

Sasuke thought he must be cursed. No sooner had he resolved to avoid his fiancée- so she would only have to fake affection for him rarely- than Itachi informed him that despite the younger brother's earlier betrothal, the older would be the first married, by a long six days.

That, by itself, wouldn't have affected Sasuke much. But the results of that announcement, once he'd told their largely-estranged parents (and what words more accurately defined his and his parents' relationship? They'd thought him dead, he'd thought them, as his brother had once said, traitors. And now they were once again allies, but Itachi had made it clear he wanted as little to do with their whole Clan- barring a few, like Oibito- as possible. Naturally, Sasuke had followed suite), more than doubled the number of errands Sasuke had to run on a daily basis.

There were fittings, messages run back and forth, color approvals, tastings, flavor arrangements to check and sign off on, and on, and... well, he was spending a lot of time around Hinata, lately.

And to her credit, the young woman was indeed the perfect fiancée in public. In the rare few moments they were alone, though, she made it immanently clear that her displeasure with him continued.

There was never anything truly overt, it was all relatively small gestures like jerking her hand violently out of his light grasp, sliding an inch or twenty down the bench away from him, or otherwise expressing general loathing for the young man's continued existence.

They were at the site Itachi and Tsunami (or more accurately, Mikoto, Itachi's mother, and Tazuna) had chosen for the older couple's wedding, and had just finished laying out the general plan for those who would be taking part in the ceremony itself.

Hi no Kuni had always favored a fairly simple style of wedding, but one that was steeped in ancient traditions as well, where every small, almost microscopic, movement had meaning and import. Of course, that only meant that everything had to be perfect. There wouldn't be just one rehearsal... but at least ten.

And of course, since they were getting married next week, and he was Itachi's brother, Sasuke would have to attend... and therefore, Hinata would be attending as his date.

The worst part was, Sasuke thought, that barring that one simple misunderstanding, he and Hinata would doubtless get along pretty well. They wanted the same things... an at least caring, if not loving, family. Children (though Sasuke shuddered at the thought of diapers, he would not let his brother beat him in that regard- he'd raised Sasuke himself from an infant alone, and the younger sibling would have to do the same- and convince Hinata to pop out more heirs, too, while he was at it), security, peace, happiness... the same things they'd have (probably) had if Konoha had never fallen.

But, for the moment, he could pretend his life wasn't falling to pieces, right?

After all, there were still others around. Itachi and Tsunami, the former still blushing whenever she took his hand. Tazuna, Mikoto, and Fugaku all stood some distance away on the opposite side of the clearing were Konoha's memorial Cenotaph had once stood. Several others, including an aged priest from the former Temple of Fire, talked in groups both large and small around the area, so, as usual, Hinata was the perfect woman.

Graceful, kind, loving, supportive.

So what if, when they were gone, she would jerk away once more, stare at him coldly, and then stalk off without a word?
For now, he could pretend she actually cared. That the warmth bleeding from her small, soft hands into his was genuine, that she wasn't actually attempting to crush his fingers.
That the loving smile she was gracing him with was real, genuine, and not something that made him think, just for a moment, that instead of teeth she had a mouth full of razor-sharp daggers.

That instead of wanting to get him alone for a little 'private time', or even just talking, she seemed to want everyone to leave them alone so she could sink those blades into his throat and drink his very life-blood...

Sasuke shuddered. It wasn't crazy of him to almost think that was kind of, in a strange sort of way... hot, right? I mean... he wasn't interested in blood-drinking, of course not. He was no emo.

But to get to that point, she'd have to kiss his neck, first, right? And for that she'd have to be very close, practically pressing herself against him...

"Behave yourself, Sasuke-kun!" Hinata hissed under her breath.

He jumped, looked over at her, and felt an uncomfortable tightness in his trousers.

Oh, Kami, no... no no NO NO NO! Not that!

But it surely was. He was sporting a partial erection, and in the unseasonably warm weather, the bulge was quite noticeable. Of course, her eyes missed nothing, it seemed, especially not a fault of his- whether it was his fault or not.

But her anger at his 'reaction' did not help, where it might have for many, because, rather unfortunately (at least at that moment), Sasuke thought Hinata was even prettier when she was fuming.

"I swear to Kami, Sasuke-kun, if you don't control yourself, and stop staring lustfully at other women while we are planning our wedding, I will castrate you the moment I find out I'm pregnant with an heir!"

Unfortunately for them both, Hinata, like Sasuke, was apparently rapidly approaching her limit. The quiet hiss before had gone, replaced by a low growl, which increased in pitch and volume until just above average. That, for Hinata, may as well have been a full-on yell. It certainly attracted the attention of several people, including both of their fathers and Itachi, though she didn't seem to notice.

"I- I wasn't staring at-"

Then Sasuke's eyes focused at the spot he had, most certainly, been staring off into the distance toward. Tsunami, his brother's (admittedly beautiful, for an older woman) betrothed. But she hadn't caused that reaction... didn't Hinata get it? Were her all-seeing eyes so easily confused? How could she not see that it was her that caused the reaction? Or did the thought of being with him, when he was such a... a... a pervert disgust her so much? Was that the true cause of her disgust?

"That's it," she suddenly said coldly, pulling away, "the wedding's off. Stay away from me."

It wasn't just a few people watching them, now, Sasuke noted, but like Hinata, his limit had just been reached. "No," he replied forcefully, grabbing- not gently- her upper arm before she could escape his reach. Immediately, the Uchiha noted one of the Hyuuga Elder twins, and Hinata's cousin, start heading their way, murder in their eyes. However, the other twin stopped them both with a quiet word that Sasuke couldn't hear past the pounding in his ears. "No, I think we're going to discuss this rationally, like adults. And unlike every other time we've 'talked', I'm going to say my piece, damn it!"

The subtle dig- while perfectly true, as far as it went- incensed Hinata further. Without a coherent reply, his only warning the hiss of a cornered viper, the heiress' open palm slapped across his cheek hard enough to whip him completely in a circle.

Through the spinning in his head, Sasuke noted to himself, Ninja or not, she's definitely had chakra-training. That was some hit.

Much to (most) of the crowd's secret delight, though, Sasuke had not been trained by Itachi to be weak. He reacted purely on instinct. When he stood up again a half-heartbeat later, his eyes were blazing red, three tomoe- one more, he would later learn, in his right eye than he'd had before this fight- whirled in each.

Hinata was, again despite being a 'civilian', still the first heiress of a very powerful and wealthy family. She had been trained to defend herself, and came from a proud line of strong warriors. She put up a very good fight, and her father, who often considered her too weak to be a skilled fighter (which is why he had chosen to have her focus on courtly and ettiquette skills rather than becoming a ninja like her younger sister and cousin were doing), was quietly impressed.

However, Sasuke was nothing close to being a slouch himself. In fact, Fugaku learned a very valuable lesson that day by watching the ensuing fight- that Itachi was indeed far stronger, and a better teacher, than himself- and he'd passed at least one of those traits on to the younger son.

The entire fight was a blur of motion that only the more experienced ninja caught, and Hinata would never be able to recall clearly later, which lasted a total of seven seconds.

By the time it stopped, Hinata had Sasuke's wrist in her mouth and was biting down hard, while the other half of his body was hanging limply, many of the muscles and tendons pulverized by Hinata's largely-untrained but still potent Jyuuken strikes.
However, despite those handicaps, the Sharingan had carried the day, because Hinata had been paralyzed by one single well-placed strike to her solar plexus.

Sasuke, ignoring his own pain for the moment, felt terribly guilty he'd just hit his wife, even though she'd hit him several times before he'd been pushed that far. He didn't want her to pass out, though, so he'd have to distract her from the pain... but how?

As Hinata's cousin pushed past her father and uncle to either rescue her or destroy Sasuke (likely both, given his current condition), the Uchiha made a desperate decision.

He pulled his bleeding hand from her mouth, and ignoring his blood dripping from her snarling lips, leaned in to kiss her.

It worked, of course. The shock of the action immediately made her forget that she was having difficulty breathing, causing said breathing to resume instinctively.

On the other hand, perhaps he shouldn't have tried to slip her the tongue... because she almost bit it off.

When he'd finally wrested his bleeding and swollen appendage from between Hinata's teeth, he roared, "Damn it, woman! What the hell is wrong with you? I'm trying to tell you I don't hate you! I never did! Will you just shut up and listen, for once?"

Hinata's cousin- Neji? -stopped mid-step a few paces away in surprise.

Did this... this Uchiha cur really just refer to Hinata-sama as 'woman'? And... and did he really just tell her to shut up?

That was it... the Uchiha had to die. Every last one.

But before Neji could put his new plan into action, Hinata surprised him further still. "You shut up! I know all about your type! You act nice in front of the girl's father, make them both think you're a great, shy guy who'd never do anything to hurt 'his little princess', and then, as soon as she starts to think she might have some hint at real romance in a world of political arrangements, you dump her for every floozy that walks by your path!"

The cautious, nervous onlookers fell even more silent at this declaration.

One, however, who looked suspiciously like- but was not- Hinata's father turned a little red. Maybe letting her read all of his wife's romance novels had not been a good idea after all?

But Sasuke, more amazingly still, had his defense ready to launch before she'd even finished speaking. "I'm not Date Irobe, Hinata! I'm Uchiha Sasuke! That's just a story! I'm real, I'm right in front of you, and... and... fuck, Hinata! I was raised by him," he pointed at his brother angrily, "in a cave! I'm sorry I don't know how to deal with someone as gorgeous as you, but I don't. Damn it all, I didn't turn away because I hated you, I turned away because I didn't want to embarrass either of us with what you- you do to me!"

As Sasuke froze mid-rant, mid-breath, even, the crowd finally noticed what had started this argument in the first place- because Hinata's proximity (and possibly, just maybe, his blood in her mouth- but he wasn't emo, damn it) and anger had caused his 'reaction' to get worse, not better.

There were several snickers.

More than a few chuckles.

Quite a lot of laughter.

In fact, in the entire park, only three people didn't at least sport a smile- and that included the ancient monk.

Itachi. And honestly, aside from Tsunami, what got him to smile, anyway?

Sasuke himself. But who could blame him? He was sporting a very visible erection while having a public argument with his fiancée. Doubtless, this story would be told at bars for generations. He could only hope the 'embellishments' were... favorable to him.

And Hinata.

A few short minutes ago, she would probably have been the first to laugh at his discomfort, embarrassment, frustration, and pain.

But her Byakugan had, due to their fight, been active, and she had seen the truth of his words.

Had she really been so blind?

Had this all been her fault, her misreading his reaction and jumping to the wrong conclusion because of it?

Hinata turned to Neji, just a few feet away, but his eyes when they met hers were just as confused, just as lost.

Uncle Hizashi was backing away, averting his eyes from everyone and red in the face. The books, she thought. Maybe not all the blame lay with her.

Her father, like Neji, looked practically paralyzed. His face showed more honest expression that she could remember in her entire life, and apparently all packed into this one moment. But there was no help there.

She had one more hope, one last, desperate gamble for input...

Beside her father and a step back was a young teenage girl with dark brown hair and the same white eyes as their father. The younger sister's mouth was moving, and with Byakugan active, it was a very simple matter to read her lips.

"Kiss him, you idiot!"

Damn it, she thought, what have I gotten myself into now?

But she did it.

It took only a moment for Sasuke to ignore- definitely not revel in, because only emos do that, and he was not an emo- the blood in her mouth, instead focusing in the sweetness of her lips beyond that, how soft they were... how her hands tightly gripped his- "What the hell?"

After he jerked back, Hinata whispered, "Sorry, Sasuke-kun... I might be a bit naughty. Do you think the priest will forgive me?"

Sasuke blushed even deeper.

A moment later, before the scandalized (read: gossip-happy) crowd could truly begin their fervent analysis of the last several minutes, Sasuke had ignored Neji, winked at his brother- just once- and scooped up Hinata bridal-style before vanishing over the treetops at a pace none of the attendees (save, perhaps, his brother, who he hoped would instead be running interference) could match with his girl, who had just started giggling. "Sasuke-kun," she asked between giggles (and he loved the way it sounded when she said his name like that), "how long have you been reading Icha-Icha?"

Sasuke smiled; he could never, ever tell. Itachi would kill him if he let their mutual secret slip!

A/N2: So... You like the Sasuke/Hinata? This scene has been, for me, the climax of their particular plot... though we'll see more, for them as a couple (and for Hinata as a character) this is about it. Sasuke still has more growth and action to go through, though, as one of the main four characters.

What about the introduction of THREE characters, two of whom are fan-favorites? I know I, for one, really like both Asuma and Konohamaru- and I like this verison of them quite a lot, too. Expect more in future, because it won't be long before they reach Ootori.

And of course, 'the main group' right now... yes, I skipped over (or glossed over) the combat. I may be covering it in a flashback, but I don't see it as a particularly important scene anyway- the important part is what's going on while the girls are asleep, both in their heads and outside in the real world. The spoiler part I mentioned in the first AN: I had originally intended to go back to them at the end of this chapter (with Sakura waking up and starting to talk to Naruto about his mother), but I think I'm going to actually save that for next chapter. There's two reasons: This is getting a bit long (8 pages is more than I usually do by about 3), and it'll let me move up a major relationship plot-point... as in, something major for the main relationship- the NaruSakuIno one. An event that was going to come at the end of this arc (or early in the third and final) will happen next chapter or the one after, instead, several chapters early.

If there's any questions, comments, or concerns you guys have, feel free to let me know- I read every review, and appreciate every one a great deal! And of course, to those I can (ie, if you're signed in... hint hint...) I always reply back personally as well, so review!

Glossary:

Something that could possibly have fit in the previous few chapters, but doesn't really deserve it's own entry:

Kyuubi Chakra: For those who've seen it, think back to the Sora/Fire Temple filler arc in the anime. The stuff affecting the girls is basically like what Sora had- it is in fact the Kyuubi's chakra. But while Sora had some of it placed in him from after the Fox got sealed, the girls had it directly from the Fox itself- untainted, undiluted, unfaded. They're both more and less powerful because of it, and it's influence is greater on them because of that as well.

SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER BELOW!

… for those that haven't guessed, yes, they will be able to use the Fox's chakra, much like Sora did, though they do not have a self-regenerating supply of it like Naruto does (or like Sora apparently did). Once it's gone, it's gone. Otherwise, it functions almost identically to how Sora's does.

One thing of note, though- it influences them differently. The Fox doesn't give half a damn about the girls, it only wants to use them to get to Naruto. So, because it is aware of the relationship between the three, it sought to seduce him using their bodies- not because it wants to. This isn't a Fem!Kyuubi/Naruto story by any means. In this fic, Kyuubi is an 'it', a demonic entity of chakra and malevolent sentience. "Kurama" is all well and good for canon (though I think most of the Bijuu's names are a bit silly, the one most ragged on- Son Goku- is actually a famous historical/legendary figure in Japanese history, so I like it), but this Kyuubi is evil. No ifs, ands, or buts.

… though it's butt does have nine tails to make it unique.

That is all.