Hello guys, I finally got the time to write a new chapter. :)

And there I thought the exam periode was over. He, he... It was not.
I hope you enjoy the new chapter. :)


Sakura and I sat in the tree tops, waiting for our victim to be led to his doom or in our case, wire mesh and kunai. Naruto and the runt were on their way back to us and pinky and I decided for me to use my senses and find Kakashi before he could find us. Perking my ears and trying to sniff them out, I stretched my neck to locate any of the team's males.
Around four to five minutes passed until a gust of wind finally carried their scents to me. All three of them were on a direct way towards our trap, their scents told be that two of them were sweating and kind of stressed out. The third was exhausted, too and had something in his scent that made me feel lucky to be the one sitting in the tree and not getting chased by our sensei.
This white-haired bastard had way too much fun playing the villain for our 'bonding time'.

"They will be here in no time now. Maybe 30 seconds.", I whispered to my female partner in crime. Kakashi wasn't able to hear us, but I was not reckless enough to test his skills.
My ears suddenly picked up noise and voices, even Sakura was able to hear them without trying. How were they this silent before?

"TEME! You did that on purpose!"
"Hn, of course I did. He threw a fire ball at us. You were too slow."
Both boys came near the clearing and their clothes were even more sliced up, ripped open and dirty than they were a few minutes ago. And… were there burn holes in Naruto's jacket?

"You didn't have to push my face into the ground!"
"You were too slo- Left!" They immediately ducked to said direction and a mix of senbon, kunai and shuriken flew past them.
"Oi, Kakashi-sensei. You are going to kill us, dattebayo!" Naruto yelled back and was completely stressed out. Just in that moment the Jonin threw another shuriken at the boys and when it missed them by the length of an arm, I suspected the man to be tired.
Wrong. Our sensei pulled his crutch to the side and we all could momentarily see the reflection of the sun on the wire tied to the shuriken. It circled the Genin and wrapped itself around them. Naruto and the runt were still leaning on their left feet from their latest dodging manoeuvre and didn't have the time to get out of the way.

With a thud they found themselves on the ground, just a few meters away from our trap.
"Shit", Sakura let out a nearly silent hiss and I had to agree with her.
The runt had his armed pinned to his sides and Naruto had one arm stuck at Uchiha's back. Fortunately, he was able to pull up one arm and used it to throw a kunai at Kakashi, who had to duck to the side. It did miss its target, but the blonde boy used the time our sensei needed to balance himself on the crutches to push himself and the runt up.
In a silent agreement they ran past the mark for our trap to capture the Jonin, just to 'accidentally' stumble on a stone. The Uchiha even had the decency to let out a fake yelp of surprise which sounded genuine.

Kakashi closed in on the boys and they used the time to have another fake argument and Sasuke wiggled more than necessary to 'hinder' Naruto at untying them.
"My, my. You can be difficult to catch when you actually work together." The man's amused voice interrupted the struggling Genin and just when Kakashi reached out to grab them, Sakura pulled a string and released our trap.

Naruto and Sasuke rolled away from the Copy-Ninja and made him stop in his movement. When he looked up it was too late and the kunai buried themselves into the ground.

Quickly Sakura and I jumped down and pushed them even deeper down. Kakashi sat on his behind, clearly taken by surprise and watched us while the boys freed themselves of the wire and the rope that held them together.
Sakura untied the leash from around my belly and her leg too and the kids high-fived and cheered.

"The scarecrow is trapped!" Naruto cheered loudly.
"Pink fox and orange depression for the win!" Sakura clapped her hands and jumped up and down.
"Hn!" Uchiha let out his universal statement but showed a smirk.
Naruto suddenly grabbed me around my middle and swung me up, down and around him in a circle. Hadn't I puked out my breakfast before, it would be in him for sure.
"Naruto-kun, you make her sick!" Sakura came to the rescue and cradled me in her arms. I felt too sick and dizzy to say anything and just let the girl have her way with me for now.

A low chuckle interrupted our small celebration and four pairs of eyes were directed on the trapped sensei.
"Great teamwork, pink fox and orange depression. You did well." Kakashi gave us his signature smile and when he pointed out that it was time for lunch, we helped him up and pulled the wire mesh off of him.
"Sakura-chan, Sasuke-kun, please go and get our lunch from Tazuna-san's house. It should be prepared by now." Kakashi send them away and I knew that it was time for me to explain some things.

As soon as the children were out of hearing range, Kakashi sat down at a tree and Naruto was still grinning widely, not knowing about the following conversation.
"Ne, ne, Sensei. You should have seen the look on your face! Or your eye, there isn't much more to see actually. But we all worked together and as a team we are invincible. Believe it!" Seeing the boy this excited made my heart soften like nothing else and I snuggled into his side when he finally sat down.

"Naruto-kun, we have to talk." Kakashi told the boy.
"Huh, did we do something wrong? You never said we couldn't team up." The Jonin raised his hands and tried to calm his student down.
"You did great, don't worry. This has something to do with Tenko-chan… and her chakra control."
The blonde stopped stroking my fur and looked down at me in question. I nodded and Naruto looked between the two of us while he tried to figure out where the problem laid. Kakashi elaborated.

"Tenko-chan wasn't able to control the Kyuubi's chakra when we started our mission and her sensei informed me that she was barely able to do the leaf exercise without having the chakra overwhelm her. I am sure she told you about her non-existent development when she came home in the evening. Strangely, now she can control it without trouble and nothing happens. Literarily speaking, because I use the term of control loosely, since she is still bad at it."
Naruto was given a couple of seconds to process the new information before Kakashi continued. I decided to ignore the less than indirect critique.

"This means something must have happened between her and the Kyuubi, since he denied her the usage of chakra for the last few months. Tenko-chan mentioned something when you were not present, so I wanted to talk about it."

"What did you tell him, Tenko?" Naruto's voice sounded strange to me. It was seriousness, a trait not often related to the young Uzumaki. He really seemed to get the importance of the situation, which surprised me a bit. But there was something else in his voice. It appeared every time the Kyuubi was mentioned and… was he peeved that I hadn't told him first? Maybe.

I sighed and sat straighter, before I quickly summarized my meeting and deal with the fox.

"Did you really just agree to protect Naruto and now are allowed to use his chakra?" Kakashi tried to dig deeper.
"Yes, he had a disadvantage in his position to not have many conditions. Of course, I like to be alive, too, but the fox can only do so much inside of Naruto. If there will ever be a lethal attack, he might be too late to do damage control and heal after it hit Naruto's body. He wants me to protect our lovable source of life to the degree where he can't." I playfully poked the boy in his side to lighten the mood, but ocean-blue eyes looked at me in anger.

"So what? You just agree to be cannon fodder and die!? You make a deal with a demon and didn't think twice! Or ask me?" His voice carried the same anger his body radiated. I snorted humourlessly.

"Like you are the one who always thinks before he acts. Also, I didn't really have a choice, you know? I want you to live, without any question, but if anything happens to you, it can also affect me. And the damn fox as well. The fox is dependent on your wellbeing, while I depend on yours to ensure the fox's health to ensure mine. I hate this damn loop. And I like being alive, thank you very much."
Naruto let out a frustrated and angry sound at my rumbling and pulled his hair. Kakashi took hold of the blonde's smaller hands and pulled them down.

"Calm down, Naruto. We can't change what already happened, but we can shape the future and choose what we do next." Sometimes this man could sound as wise as the Hokage himself and his words did affect the boy. "But I agree with you. Tenko, you should know better that to just make a deal with the fox demon and not tell us right away." Naruto nodded and bit his lower lip, stopping himself from saying whatever he wanted to a moment ago. I looked away, knowing that my decisions did hurt my friend. His fists were pressed against his thighs and trembled out of pure emotions.
Carefully, I sneaked myself into Naruto's lap and looked up at the kid. The anger in his eyes was gone and made room for many other emotions. Big tears rolled down his cheeks and he pulled me into a crushing embrace. Ouch. He really had a soul too kind for his own good.

"You were supposed to be the smart one from the two of us. Stupid fox!" He silently sobbed into my fur and I cringed a bit at the thought that his snot was mixing with his tears. I wasn't heartless enough to push the boy away, I could never do it.

"I can't l-let you do this, Tenko. I don't allow you to die for my actions! I-" His sobs interrupted him. "You are my friend and I will protect you." He pulled his face out off my fur and looked at me again with red and wet eyes. I forced myself to smile at him.

"I don't want to die, you know? Thanks to you I am just starting to live, but you are my little Uzumaki, so I have to keep an eye on you. But you better start to take care of yourself or I beat your ass." I tried to keep my smile steady, but judging the boy's reaction I did a shitty job.

Naruto started to cry again but thankfully refrained from rubbing his snot into in my fur.
Kakashi was clearly uncomfortable with the situation and he scratched his neck, before he hesitantly rubbed the blonde's back in small circles.
This did surprise the Jonin as much as it did Naruto and me and we all looked at each other for a moment, before I started laughing at this strange situation, we were in. This socially awkward elite ninja of Konoha tried to comfort the demon's vessel and looked like he needed to be comforted after trying his social skills with a kid. Naruto gave us a wry smile and Kakashi pulled out his Icha Icha 'novel' to give the boy some time to gather himself and get himself out of the awkward situation.

"Hokage-sama won't be impressed though." Kakashi's comment interrupted the lightened atmosphere, but Naruto gave me a huge grin.
"Jiji will understand it, when we get back! He always says that our shinobi look after each other and we all have Konoha's will of fire. You just want to protect your teammate." Out of Naruto's mouth it sounded so simple and right what I did, but deep inside of me I knew it wasn't.
Just for now I wanted to believe it and I gave both shinobi a smile.

Kakashi lowered his book and to me his expression stated that he didn't really believe in an easy solution either. Still he decided to not voice his opinion for Naruto's sake. Sometimes I was surprised how considering and accepting the man had proved himself to be. Not only did he seem okay with Naruto around him (and actually understanding that he was not the Kyuubi), but he had also decided to help me with my problems since he knew of my existence.
He and Pakkun brought me to the Hokage for help, he hadn't just tried to kill me when I became visible and transformed (I had seen the man tense and draw his weapons, though), his ninken came and visit me when I was not Kakashi's responsibility. The Copy-Nin had bought me my chewing-friendly teddy, he accepted me as part of his Genin team and even another student and he wanted me to see and be part of today's Team 7.

Suddenly the man pulled me out of my memories when he said: "I will go talk to Hokage-sama with you. Just so you know that you are not alone. This doesn't mean you won't get punished or that I just let you off the hook, but you left the village for Naruto. Maa, you guys will cause my hair to get gray before I turn 35."
"Of course, I come with you, too! Believe it!" Naruto declared loudly, not having listened to the rest of Kakashi's opinion and I was sure my heart grew two times its size by their words.

I was not alone. I didn't have to explain my actions without any support and maybe I could be safe from the bastard Danzo. It was an unrealistic hope, that I knew, but hope none the less and it was better than fear. I was fine with pushing my worries back until we would reach Konoha.

.

When the runt and his fangirl came back, I was able to hear her talk and shower the Uchiha with compliments and praises. Mentally groaning, I rolled my eyes.
The runt reached the clearing with an annoyed expression on his face that told me 'Of course I am better than you all. You (Sakura) are just stating the obvious.' And Sakura just stopped rambling when she noticed Naruto's slightly red eyes.
She knitted her brow's, but since nobody said anything, she let it slide. Yep, our team still had a long way to go, but they were kinder that a month ago. Also, I didn't know why, but it felt as if we actually took a small step into the right direction as a team.

Lunch was pleasant and we even had a nice conversation. Sakura didn't focus completely on the runt (thanks to Kakashi, actually). The Uchiha took part with a few well timed hn's and Naruto recovered from our previous topic. Kakashi stopped them from time to time before Naruto and Uchiha started to argue over stupid stuff and pinky only punched Naruto twice.
Still not liking this, I allowed it, because she'd hit only half-heartedly and after remembering my short argument with her about not knowing the team and their dynamics. She was lucky that Naruto was a knucklehead, his skull was sturdy like a rock and he had his stupid crush on her.

The whole afternoon we went back to tree walking. I wouldn't have minded it too much after our nice and long break, hadn't the pink-haired girl taken over the task to correct me and give me a lecture about chakra theory every time I fell back to the ground. Let me tell you, I fell down too often to give the girl a chance to breath between her suggestions and quotations from school.
The value of patience was something I could not afford after two whole hours and I finally snapped.

"Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up! I can't hear it anymore! 'Chakra control this', 'chakra control that', 'take Sasuke-kun for an example'." Aping her repeated phrases. "Do you have something else in your head than memorized theories and your great Uchiha boy? Just leave me alone already!"

The girl huffed and puffed at my shouting and her head got red in anger.
"I wouldn't have the need to tell you all those things, were you any better at it! You are just repeating your mistakes and even Naruto got it by now! And when we had to run from Sensei, you were just useless!" She was right. The girl was god-damn right, but I didn't want to hear it right now.

"Well, I just started controlling chakra and three days ago I couldn't do the stupid leaf exercise. So give me a break!" I barked back at her and our argument attracted our male teammates.

"Sakura-chan don't be too strict with Tenko. She just started learning about-"
"Shut it, Naruto." Sakura silenced the boy, then turned back to me. "What kind of summon are you if you can't even use chakra? You should have earned the title 'dead-last'. Not Naruto."
Ouch, now that did hurt and the truth behind her words made it even worse. Finally, Kakashi saw the need to stop our squabble.

"Alright, this is enough, you two. Maybe we all should have a talk…"
This made all of us look up to our sensei. HE wanted us to have a 'talk'? He did, forcing us to sit down in a small circle and positioning himself between Sakura and me. 'Isn't one talk per day enough?'

"I think you should know one or two things, seeing that it affects your teamwork." He quickly looked at all our faces once before he continued.
"Now, this little fox here is a summon, so much is clear. I also told you about her inability to go back into the summons dimension and that she needed Naruto's chakra for regeneration. Remember?" He waited for everyone to nod. "What we haven't told you is that Tenko-chan came to us in need of help. She had trouble with her chakra and Naruto was the only one compatible with her own. Since she needed foreign chakra for stabilization, her body had some trouble to adapt. That's why she isn't good at controlling chakra and learning to use it with us."
So many half-truths in one little story made me question everything I ever heard out of that man's mouth. I had trouble figuring out why he actually told the kids part of those information. They weren't classified per se, but I had thought of them as sensible data. Kakashi really had to wish for our teamwork if he was sharing fact about my circumstances.

Pinky and the runt were taken aback at those news and Sakura bit her lower lip, looking to the ground, thinking hard.
"I am sorry, I didn't know." She said with a sheepish voice. I just mumbled something in the context of 'it's alright', but nobody should expect me to hug her and be friends. Her words were mean!
'Maybe that's my pride speaking. I know she didn't mean ill with her suggestion, but god damn it I don't want to!'
I decided to be petty for the night and then make up with her after breakfast.

The next morning

Sakura stretched her arms and legs, shaking off the stiffness from the night and yawned shamelessly. However she behaved right now, Naruto would always be worse. A quick glare around the room the girl noticed that her team was still sleeping soundly. Naruto was spread over his futon and the ground again and Kakashi never shifted in his sleep. Getting up as silently as she could, Sakura tiptoed to the door, passing Sasuke.
He was looking like a young god, sleeping with relaxed features, his hair framed his beautiful face and everything about him just looked perfect.

'Take that, Ino-pig. Shannaro!' Sakura celebrated inside her head but finally left the room. She wanted to get ready for the day and help Inari's mother prepare breakfast. After all, they stayed there to their hosts expense. Not that Sakura would want to pay them.
And Sasuke-kun could see what a great wife she would be, when he saw her serve him breakfast.

Her daydreaming was disrupted by the small brat, when he left his room. Still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Inari looked around, searching for something. Sakura raised an eyebrow and wanted to go to the bathroom to change her outfit, when she heard the sleepy voice of the child.

"Have you seen Tenko-chan? She wasn't here when I woke up."
Last night Tenko let the boy convince her to sleep in his room after he was sad the whole evening. He had liked the fox since he pulled her out of the water and brought her home with him, planning to keep her.
Sakura didn't know why exactly the boy had been sad last night, but she discovered that the fox was weak to tears. Or just small children.

"No, I didn't. Wasn't she sleeping in your room? Then you should know." The boy shook his head.

"I think she took a walk when I was sleeping. I heard her get out my window, but she's still gone."

Sakura had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. Great, now the fox was missing, too. This was the first and last time Naruto was allowed to decide on a mission!

"She'll come back." Sakura offered some reassurance and went into the bath to get ready for the day. Why would Tenko leave the house in the middle of the night and not come back? She knew very well, that Naruto would throw a fit when he got worried. Groaning, Sakura decided to go and look for the summon and prevent more chaos from happening.
Kakashi-sensei had told them to work on their teamwork and try to include the fox after all. Maybe her sensei will praise her for searching the fifth part of their team.

Being in a better mood Sakura left the house and took a walk towards the village. Most people were still asleep, just a few fishermen prepared their boats and fixed the fishing nets at the small harbour. One of the old men recognised Sakura and waved her to him.

"Good morning, young lady. Are you in need for something?" Sakura smiled at the polite man.

"Good morning. I am searching for a friend (chough) of mine. The fox that followed us around for the last few days. She hasn't come home this morning. Have you seen her?"
The old man scratched his grey beard and let out a stretched 'hmm'. Then he shrugged his shoulders.

"I am sorry, miss… Oi, Sho. SHO!" another old man appeared in a boat a few meters down the shore.

"What?" he yelled back.

"Have you seen the small fox that's always with the ninjas?"

"Whaaat?" Sho yelled again. Maybe his ears weren't the best.

"HAVE YOU SEEN THE FOX?" the man next to Sakura suddenly demonstrated his voice's full volume.

"I don't have your toolbox, silly old man." Sho just yelled back again. The old man and Sakura both gave themselves a face-palm.

"I am sorry, young lady, but neither of us is of any help. I wish you good luck and a nice day, though." Sakura gave a light bow and left for the other end of the harbour.

After walking down the shore for a few minutes and enjoying the view of the sun kissing the sea, Sakura ended up at the small landing stage belonging to Tazuna's property. To her displeasure, the girl didn't see the red fur of the summon.

"Where is she?" Sakura sighed and just before turning around, a wave rocked the boat and Sakura could see something red inside of it. 'Finally.' she thought and quickly ran the short distance.

"Oi, Tenko-chan. Why did you leave the hou-" Stopping mid-sentence, the Genin saw that, what she thought to be the red fur of their teammate, was in face not, but short hair belonging to a young woman. She was curled up in the old boat and Sakura noticed the strange clothes she was wearing. It looked like a red, short dress or kimono of some sort. Obviously not the best choice for a night at the beach.
Her hair was short and wild, masking her face and she let out regular breaths. She was sleeping.
Maybe she had seen the fox walking away from the house?

Unsure what to do, the pink haired girl carefully touched the woman's shoulder and shook her lightly.

"Excuse me, ma'am. Are you alright?" Sakura asked politely. Maybe the woman was homeless.

Grumbling, the body stirred and a hand made a shooing motion for Sakura to get her hand off. 'Not a morning person.'

"Ah, sorry… Uh, excuse me? I am terribly sorry, but have you seen a fox?" Sakura blushed a bit. Disturbing someone when they were sleeping and keeping them awake was rude, but maybe she could help Sakura.

"What are you talkin' 'bout? You blind?" The woman grunted tiredly and startled the Genin.
What the… rude! Sakura puffed her cheeks to keep her temper at check, but it was in vain.

"Excuse you?! You don't have to be rude just because I asked a question." Who did this bitch think she was?! The daimon's wife?

"And I asked if you were blind, fangirl. I am h-e-r-e!" the red head snarled annoyed and sat herself up, turning around.
Sakura's eyes grew big, seeing the face of a young woman with brown eyes and canine teeth. 'What?' was the only thought Sakura could produce. When the woman stood up in the boat, she looked Sakura dead in the eyes, but instead of snapping at the Genin like Sakura thought she would, the woman's eyes lost their annoyance and anger. Surprise washed over her features and she leaned over the boat to look into the water, to see her reflection.
Sakura witnessed how the red-haired woman stared at herself for quite some time before she touched her face with her hand, her gaze never leaving the wafer's surface.

"Shit…" she got back up and climbed out of the boat, grabbing Sakura's wrist and dragging her towards Tazuna's house.
"Sakura, we have to get to Kakashi, he needs to help me. Fuck, don't I have enough trouble already?"

Finally Sakura's mind caught up and she started pulling back, trying to get her wrist out of the tight grip.
"Let go, you are hurting me!" she cried and lashed out. The woman ducked under her arm and quickly let go of the girl.

"Sorry, I hadn't notice. Didn't want to hurt you." she mumbled and now started pushing the girl from behind.

"Leave me alone! Who are you anyway? And how do you know Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura had a theory, who this was, but she wasn't sure. There had to be limits, even for a summon.

"Kami fucking damn it, fangirl. It's me, Tenko! Are you really that slow up in your head? I guessed you'd have a big brain behind that huge forehead." The woman rudely knocked against Sakura's forehead.

Before Sakura could snap back at her, they reached the house and 'Tenko' pushed them into the kitchen where everybody was eating breakfast.

'Great, so much to showing off to Sasuke-kun' Sakura thought and pouted.

"Sakura-chaaan! You are back and y-" Naruto chocked on his rice, talking with a full mouth, as he saw Tenko, now in a human form.

"Naruto, swallow before you talk. I swear I'll write 'died to a grain of rice' on your tombstone." the summon barked annoyed. She was taking the news of her transformation as good as Sakura and Naruto did, not too well.

"Maa, seems like it happened again, right, Tenko-chan?", was Kakashi's only reply, but Sakura could hear the stressed tone in his voice and she asked herself, if this was a problem she didn't know about.
Everybody else was silent.


Have a great day!