A/N: I would like to thank everyone that added this story to their favourites and follows as well as everyone that reviewed the last chapter.

"You have changed a lot, Naruto."

Shikamaru kept his eyes focused on the troublesome blond-haired girl, who sat on the couch with a book in one hand and had her legs sprawled on the table. The early morning sunshine enveloped her, almost making his former classmate and childhood friend looked like an angel. Not that she was an angel.

He could still vividly recall the days when his childhood friend would cause mayhem in their village. No one had been safe from her pranks except for Hinata. The Hyuga Heiress had always been excluded from the pranks except for whenever Naruto played a prank on everyone in their class. She used to do it so no one could pinpoint the blame on her. Shikamaru grimaced at the memory.

Shaking his head, he observed his classmate's eyes. They look different. As little kids, her eyes had always expressed her emotions. Happiness, sadness and even her rage would always shone through those blue eyes. But right now nothing shone through her eyes and that unnerved him if you asked him.

"It has been three years," Naruto pointed out. He nodded. There was some truth behind her words. Three years passed since his childhood friend went missing from Konoha. Sometimes he wondered how the girl was doing but most of the time he tried not to think about it. The girl had always been fun and interesting to hang out but he didn't feel like making friends with her. "People change."

But not to the level that you had. Shikamaru flickered his eyes to the novel in her hand before looking back at the blond-haired girl. Her tone was filled with so much coldness that he shivered. It would not surprise him if ice could come out from her tone. He flickered his eyes to the television screen that looked so much more advance than the television in his own home.

Since this is her apartment, Naruto must have been the one to buy it. The thought made him pause as his black eyes focused on his indifferent childhood friend. He had never been to the girl's apartment in Konoha but her clothes always made it seem like she never had enough money. But that television was better than any television they had in Konoha.

"But not to the extent you have changed," he finally said. "Three years ago, you would have pummel Ino for insulting you in that way."

Naruto did not react at all to his words. Her hands did not ball and her eyes did not fume with rage. The only hint of her emotion was the way her eyes turned even colder. The lack of reaction unnerved him. This was not the Naruto he grew up with. But no one seems to realize it. He grimaced as he recalled how he wanted to stop Ino before Naruto smack her.

The fact she kept her tone calm and even without giving a hint to a single emotion was something that unnerved him and Choji. They had never seen the blonde calm and cold. She always expressed herself in some way or form. Something definitely happened for his blond-haired childhood friend to be as cold as ice.

"I was less smart when it came to picking my fight."

Any other person would believe it meant Naruto was not going to start a fight with Ino but Shikamaru knew the whiskered girl. The girl was vindictive when she wanted to be. The prank she pulled on Ami was proof of that side of her. Those words implied Naruto had other plans for Ino and Shikamaru had to wonder why he had to be stuck between two troublesome women.

In Konoha, he sided with Ino because of the fact Ino would tell their parents that he did not stick up for her whenever Naruto pointed out the truth. His father would stay out of it but his mother had always been a different story. Think of the clan politics, Shikamaru! Ino is going to be your teammate and she is the daughter of your father's friend. He grimaced.

If it was not for the fact he did not want to deal with his mother's nagging, Shikamaru would stay out of it. Ino might be his teammate and childhood friend but Naruto was more interesting to be around. No constant talk about boys. She was always making some kind of plan for her pranks and always had a subtle way of adding him into the fun.

He might admit that some of her plans had come from him.

"How are you planning to teach us how to blend in?" Shikamaru asked. He needed to know how troublesome this training was going to be. There was a desire for him to prepare himself for what might happen between Ino and Naruto. For the sake of not messing up in this mission, he had to side with Naruto.

His desire to have a peaceful time of learning to blend in was going to go up in flames if Ino decided to taunt Naruto. The whiskered girl might not be a kunoichi. There was a huge possibility she was still the same Dead Last but she held the cards. One word from me and Jiraiya will send your ass back home. That was a threat and Shikamaru knew Naruto.

She took her threats seriously.

"Pay me 500,000 ryo and I will tell you."

The words hung in the air and the boy snapped his head at Naruto. Was she actually asking him to pay her money for her plans? She had to be kidding except Naruto was reading her book without a care in the world. There was not a single smile playing on her lips to tell him that she was playing with him.

She is absolutely serious. The knowledge made him thin his lips. Naruto had never been like this. She was not the type to demand payment for telling her plans. His childhood friend had always been so free when it came to spilling her plans. Not once had she ever hinted she was greedy for money.

"You are serious," he stated. Shikamaru waited for the poker face to fade and for the girl to offer him a smile before telling him that she was joking. But that did not happen. The blue-eyed girl flipped the page of her book, not bothering to tell him that she was kidding about the payment. All she did was shrug her shoulders.

He stared at her, waiting for her to say something. Maybe if he looked at her long enough then she would reconsider her demand. They needed to know what they signed themselves up for. It was bad enough he had to see the technology and realize how prehistoric they were compared to The Outside. It was already clear to him that they were never going to fit in with their lack of knowledge about the world around them.

"Do you honestly believe I'm going to tell you if you keep staring at me?" Naruto questioned. She flipped to the next page and let out a small yawn. Her blue eyes darted to him. "Or do you think I should tell you my plans because Choji and you used to hang out with me? We were skipping buddies…not best friends."

Shikamaru thinned his lips at her response. Skipping buddies. Was that how she saw their friendship? Judging from her tone, it seemed like the blonde had stopped considering him as a friend. It hurt in a strange way. Hanging out with her, Choji, Kiba and Hinata had been one of the better parts of their childhood.

Although it had never been fun when Ino forced Choji and him to pick a side.

"Naruto, we are friends."

The blonde did not react to his words in a way that he hoped she would react. Her shoulders did not relax at all by his comment and the only indication that she heard him was the fact that she closed her book. Naruto placed the book on the table and folded her arms against her chest. She only raised a single eyebrow at him like she did not believe his words.

Minutes passed as blue eyes continued to stare at him. What was going through her head? Shikamaru used to believe the blonde was easy to read. She always got frustrated when things never go her way. She was always so simple. A knucklehead was how they used to describe her. Deadlast was another one.

This was not the behavior of a Deadlast.

"I considered you as my friend," Naruto finally replied, clasping her hands together. A thin smile graced her lips and Shikamaru had the eerily sense that he was in trouble. "But when I think about it, I put the effort into our friendship. You and Choji never invested into our friendship when I think long and hard about it."

Her anger has changed from being a hot flaming rage into a cold, shimmering rage. The knowledge made his whole body numb. The blonde had never been upset with the lack of effort put between them. She always accepted whatever they were willing to give her. He stared at the blank-faced girl. This was a Naruto that he did not know how to handle.

This was someone that was even more of a puzzle than the Naruto he knew. If she is this calm then we are in huge trouble. That was now a confirmation. Her words hinted that even though they spent time together as kids, she was not going to let it affect their training. It meant if Ino messed things up then neither Choji and him were going to be excluded from whatever punishment she had in her mind.

"Naruto…"

"I'm going to take this job seriously if that is your concern," Naruto said dryly. She looked up at the ceiling before looking back at him with blank blue eyes. That was a concern but that was not what he was going to say to her. He wanted her to be reasonable with Choji and him. "My mentor put a huge burden on me since I don't have time for you guys. I do like to keep myself busy but I will get the job done."

It should be reassuring but it only made him knit his eyebrows together. Red flags waved in his mind at the way her tone sounded so impersonal. Was this really the Naruto they grew up with? She acted more like a shinobi than Ino. This was someone that could have been Rookie of the Year instead of Sasuke. He paused and looked at his classmate.

When I think about it, Naruto has always been sent out of class for even the smallest of things. The thought made him pause as his black eyes locked onto the girl. There had been no denying when it came to trap-making that it had been Naruto's expertise. Sasuke had never been as good as the girl in front of him.

Had Naruto been playing them the whole time?

"Aren't you curious to know what happened since you left?" Shikamaru asked. His black eyes inspected the girl, waiting for some kind of reaction from her. No reaction. Nothing to hint that maybe Naruto missed Konoha. It was like she was an ice statue, unmoving and too cold to stare at. It confused him.

The blonde only offered him a shrug. "If you wish to tell me then tell me."

"Do you know Mizuki-sensei was murdered? They say he tried to steal a scroll from the Hokage Tower."

The information rung in the air and the only indication Shikamaru had of her feelings was her clenching her hands into a fist. Was it sadness? There had been no denying their teacher had always had a special interest with Naruto. It had been a creepy interest. Something he always warned Naruto about since Shikamaru knew Mizuki would never have any interest in the blonde for no reason.

But looking at the way her jaws clenched slightly, Shikamaru concluded it was anger. Is she angry with the killer? None of the shinobi had been willing to tell anyone of how Mizuki was killed. Most of the teams believed it had been the ANBU but none of the genin instructors would answer their theory.

"I know," Naruto answered with a shrug. There was a cruel glint to her eyes as if she found some amusement to his words. No. It was more like she knew something that he did not know. She is becoming more like a puzzle, the more I talk to her. Why was she not expressing herself loudly? Why was she not yelling in anger for what the murderer did to her favorite teacher? Something did not add up.

Was there a reason that she ran away?

"The Third Hokage is dead."

No tears escaped from Naruto's eyes nor did she frown or try to deny his announcement. She was purely indifferent. It was almost like she was pretending she did not have a close relationship with the previous Hokage. But he knew they had a close relationship. While everyone else would have gotten a reprimand for calling the Hokage with the rude title of Old Man, the Hokage accepted Naruto calling him this.

"Ero-Sennin told me."

Well that explained the lack of reaction.

"Kenshin died on a mission," he informed her. Naruto shrugged as if she did not care about the fact that their childhood classmate was dead and maybe she actually did not care. It had been no secret the boy had been one of the many people that bullied the girl. But you would think she would care a little bit. They grew up together.

"That is the life of a shinobi."

Why are you reacting even better than the actual shinobi? Shikamaru eyed the various novels on the shelf before landing on the board game on the table. Several pieces were lined up in a row, almost reminding him of Go but the board was smaller and the pieces looked different too. Judging from the peeled edges, he figured Naruto played the game a lot.

"Sasuke left Konoha to go to Orochimaru," Shikamaru continued on. It had been a shock for everyone when it happened. Sakura had been upset while Kenshin went with them to get Sasuke. It had been the best move at the time if you asked him. The pink-haired girl tried the peaceful method to convince Sasuke to stay and it had not worked.

He eyed the blonde and waited for her to react in some way or form. But Naruto only observed him. He could see the clogs in her mind working as if she was considering what to say. He doubt that even the blonde would have known that it was going to happen. The girl finally sighed as if she figured out the right thing to say.

"I'm not surprised Sasuke left," Naruto finally said. Shikamaru blinked and the whiskered girl removed her feet from the table, placing it back down on the ground. Her lips curled into a thin smile and she looked up at the ceiling. "Maybe three years ago, I would be surprised…but now I don't think anything can surprise me."

He would have continued the conversation but he could hear the grumble of Ino coming from Naruto's room. If Ino knows that Naruto knew what could cause Sasuke to leave…she would never stop bugging the girl. He grimaced and stared at the blond-haired girl. It would be a good idea for him to keep an eye on his childhood friend.

"Not that I'm not happy to go shopping but why are we doing this? I thought we are going to be learning how to blend in."

Naruto slipped her hands into her pockets as Ino eyed the various clothes in the shop with excited eyes. Shikamaru and Choji exchanged looks before looking at her like she was insane for bringing them here. Maybe she was insane. But she found that learning the technology and observing people started in a crowded place.

She ignored the leers coming from the various males, who were probably more focused on Ino than on her. I can't blame them since her clothes are really inappropriate here. Naruto grimaced. If she got Ino to buy some more ordinary clothes then it would come out from her bank account. Well it was not a huge problem for her when she thought about it.

It would be easy for her to just milk the money from Ino when she pointed out that nothing came free.

"Do you know all the name of the technology here? Do you have appropriate clothes?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow. Ino paused and scanned the shopping district as if she suddenly realized how different she looked from the other girls in the mall. The blonde looked pleased with the way the males gawked at her and Naruto rolled her eyes.

Some things never change with her. She would not be pleased with the way the males gawked at her. Then again, Naruto never really liked having the attention of boys when it came to her appearance. Hibari was probably a different story. He did not look at the other girls in that way, which made her feel special.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered under his breath. His black eyes inspected the people around them, lingering on the outfits of the males and females before looking at her orange leather jacket. A sigh escaped his lips. "Ino, can you just do whatever Naruto tells us what to do without asking? She is the one in charge of our training."

"Yeah, Naruto has been living here longer," Choji commented.

The blue-eyed girl flickered her eyes at the two males. Shikamaru observed her as if trying to figure out her reaction to Choji's words. She only shrugged her shoulders. Was she touched? Nope. His words were logical and she was still a little bit upset. Even though Hibari calmed her down, she vividly recalled all her childhood memories.

She sighed. I don't know how I can be forgiving when I was kid. Naruto flickered her eyes at the various people who were parting ways for her and Team Ten. There were certain things she could understand but the more she recalled her childhood, she might blame Shikamaru and Choji for not being proper friends to her.

"Uzumaki-san!"

All three members of Team 10 stopped in their steps while Naruto clicked her heels together before twisting her head around. I only know one boy with such high-pitch tone. A sigh escaped her lips as blue eyes met the nervous brown eyes of Tsuna and the curious black eyes of Reborn. Both males had their eyes fixated on her childhood classmates.

She could see the weariness in Tsuna's eyes when he caught sight of Ino's clothes. It screams weirdo. The thought made her want to pinch her nose. When she suggested the girl to wear some of her old clothes, the blonde threw a huge fit. You have a terrible sense of fashion! The girl should have been pleased that she even offered to lend her some old clothes.

"What brings you here, Sawada?" Naruto asked. There was no need for her to ask Reborn for being here. The toddler always followed the brown-haired teen as he was always watching them through the tree. She darted her eyes to her childhood classmates, who kept flickering their eyes between her and Tsuna.

Tsuna offered her a nervous smile as his brown eyes fixated on the three other teens. Scary. That was what Naruto understood from the way her brown-haired schoolmate kept trembling from Ino's eyes. She could not blame the boy. With the way, Ino kept narrowing her eyes at them and glaring at her…well anyone else would tremble.

"Fuuta and I-pin wanted to play in the indoor playground," Tsuna finally explained. Naruto nodded. I'm guessing Lambo is still stuck with the mind of a 15-year-old. The thought made her press her lips into a thin line. While it had been interesting to talk to the Future Lambo, she would rather have the Lambo of this time.

"So you got stuck babysitting with them?" Naruto asked. Tsuna slumped his shoulders and bobbed his head. If it was not for the fact I'm stuck dealing with these three, I would have offered to take over for some money. She sighed as Reborn fixated his eyes between her, Shikamaru and Choji. A frown played on his lips and the blonde could only wonder what went through the toddler's mind.

It was always hard for her to read the toddler's mind. He was a chaotic toddler who liked causing trouble for Tsuna and his friends, but what did he plan to do with Shikamaru and Choji? Even if those two did make her upset with the lack of effort they put into their friendship, she was not going to get them involved with Tsuna.

If it helped with their mission then she would accept it.

"So who are your…friends?" Tsuna asked. The hesitance in his voice told the blonde that he was uncertain of whether the four of them were friends or not. Naruto thinned her lips as her eyes darted to the three shinobi. Should she claim them as friends? Choji and Shikamaru were her childhood friends but Ino had never been her friend.

Reborn flickered his eyes between her and the members of Team Ten. Curiosity burned through his eyes alongside with suspicion and Naruto thinned her lips. She should keep those three away from Reborn. He is going to question them about my past. The thought made her grimace and she rubbed the back of her neck.

"Sawada and Reborn meet my childhood classmate Choji, Shikamaru and Ino," Naruto said. She pointed at the three teens and the blonde felt her lips twitched into amusement when Tsuna tried to keep his eyes focused on Ino's face. I'm really going to get Ino a change of clothes. She grimaced. "Ino, Shikamaru and Choji meet Sawada Tsunayoshi and his tutor Reborn."

Ino blinked and snapped her head at Reborn while Shikamaru and Choji only stared at the toddler. All three of them looked at the black-haired toddler with wide eyes before looking at her with raised eyes. Only the Nara heir sighed. He probably knows that it is troublesome for me to lie about this. She really had no idea of what she would gain if she lied to them.

"So how do you know the Dead Last?" Ino asked. Naruto felt her eyebrows twitched. ¥90,000. That was the price she was going to add into the cost of training these three shinobi to blend in. If Jiraiya complained later, she would point out that she had been insulted right in front of her classmate and his tutor.

Shikamaru flickered his eyes at her and the blonde thinned her lips into a very thin smile. Tsuna gulped and darted his eyes at her before curling his lips into a frown. Those brown eyes shone with understanding. It made her grimace. She did not want him to look at her like that. I will charge him even more after this. She nodded.

"What do you mean by Dead Last?" Tsuna finally asked. His tone was quiet as his brown eyes fixated on the four of them. Naruto took a deep breath and looked at Ino. The girl blinked and then paled as if she suddenly realized what her big mouth had just said to her classmates. Shikamaru pinched his nose while Choji grimaced.

Naruto looked at Ino. "Yes, Barbie…what does that mean?"

The pale blond-haired girl flinched at her tone while the sun-kissed haired girl stared at her former classmate. If she can think of a reasonable excuse then I can think of the timeframe for them. If the Yamanaka heiress could think of a reasonable excuse then the time frame would be four months. If she could not think of an excuse then it would have to be longer.

Five minutes passed and all three teens struggled to think of a reasonable excuse without giving away that she was a terrible student.

"It means I used to suck at school and got the lowest position during the exam period," Naruto finally answered. She pinched her nose as her eyes fixated on Ino and the other members of Team Ten. "Dead Last was my Dame-Tsuna title."

Tsuna blinked at her words while Reborn eyed her as if he was surprised by her words. She would not have to explain the title if it was not for Ino's big mouth. I am going to have to increase the time frame for the three of them. Jiraiya was not going to be pleased with this, and she certainly was not pleased with her decision.

But if the three of them could not think of a logical lie then she could only worry about the future.

"What do you think of Team 10?"

Naruto looked at Jiraiya as the white-haired man flipped through his notebook. Was he seriously going to ask her opinion? Judging from the lack of smile on his face, it seemed like it. She grimaced and looked down at her cooked dinner. It took her six hours to explain everything to Team 10 and even then the blonde doubt they understood everything.

She rubbed the sides of her head and darted her eyes to Haku. The brown-haired boy sat in the corner of the room, flipping through his new textbooks. It would have been better if he came but he seemed like he needed some sleep. Naruto exhaled and leaned against her chair as she deeply considered of how to answer his question.

"They have a lot of work that needs to be done," Naruto admitted. Jiraiya did not look surprised nor did he ask her of why she would make such a claim. It was good if you asked her. She would rather not tell her mentor of what happened in the mall with Team 10. Instead she would rather focus on the work that needed to be done before she start her second year of Middle School.

The Toad Sannin stroke his chin and put down his pen. His eyebrows knitted together as if he was in deep thought and the blonde wondered what was going through his mind. She could never tell when the Toad Sannin did not show any emotions in his eyes. The fact he did not even look at her told her that he really was in deep thought.

"How long do you think you need to train them?"

"10 months," she replied without a second thought. Her godfather jerked his head at her words and she waited for him to protest. It is not like I'm happy about this. The words were just on the tip of her tongue but the blonde swallowed it down. There was no need for her to state the obvious to him. ¥7,000,000 should have told him about the level of her anger.

Jiraiya flickered his eyes to the closed rooms and then back to her. Naruto tilted her head. She was not able to read his mind, so he better vocalized whatever question running through his mind. If he did not do it in the next couple of minutes then she was going to go to her room and sleeping off the nightmare that it had been her day.

"Can you decrease the time frame?" He asked. His black eyes pleaded for her to think of a way for the three teens to learn even more quickly about this part of the world. I guess I can ask Hibari to help enroll them into Namimori Middle School. She leaned against the chair and allowed her lips to curl into a small frown.

Shikamaru and Choji were not going to be a problem in Middle School but Ino was a problem. If she takes one look at Hibari, she will be after him. It was not like she was worried about her childhood classmate attracting her ally, but Naruto would not like have to deal with the boy grumbling about the girl.

"They will have to go to Middle School and have a part-time job," Naruto finally answered. Jiraiya stroke his chin and looked like he was deeply considering her suggestion. It was the quickest way if you asked her. They would be interacting with civilian kids their own age and learning what was considered normal in this part of the world.

She hummed and nodded her head. A part-time job dealing with cashier would be even more beneficial for them. They will learn how to interact with different people and learn about the various countries. Naruto sighed. Choji would do well with her part-time job but she was uncertain of where Shikamaru could work.

Ino was easy but the lazy ass was a whole different story.

"How do you plan to enroll them into the Middle School without any paperwork?" Jiraiya asked. The blonde allowed her lips to curl into a tiny smile and her mentor eyed her with suspicion. It is not like we make it obvious when we are out in public. She knew if her mentor knew of her relationship with Hibari then he was going to be demanding she had supervision.

She would rather not have her mentor observed her relationship with Hibari. It was not like the boy was going to use her in the way her mentor feared. There was a trust between them. Compared to most of the people in her life, Naruto trusted Hibari to respect her wishes. Besides, he never tried anything with her.

"I have my ways," Naruto admitted.

Jiraiya thinned his lips. "Is it Hibari?"

"Is there anyone else that I know who can get the Principal to accept three new students without questioning us?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. The man frowned, not looking one bit pleased by her question. What exactly was her mentor problem with her ally? Was it because Hibari attacked him for trying to sneak a peek on one of the girls in the bathhouse? She figured it had to be the reason. "By the way, I need ¥190,000."

Her mentor snapped his head at her words, gawking at her demand. Naruto shrugged. ¥100,000 for getting the three of them into Middle School and ¥90,000 for the insult Ino gave me. Of course, she was never going to tell Jiraiya about the reasons for the ¥90,000 or he would send Team 10 back and she wanted to get as much money as she could get.

"Why?" He finally asked her. "I'm paying you ¥7,000,000 to train them."

Naruto nodded. "Yes but the ¥190,000 is my consultation fee."

Jiraiya stared at her like she was insane for now including fees to something like this. She raised a single eyebrow. I have no problem giving up the money and walking away without training them. The twitch on her godfather's eyebrows told her that the man knew she had no problems of letting him deal with Team 10 by himself.

"I have to wonder where you get this greediness from."

Society was the answer to his question but she was never going to tell him this.

(Next day)

He seems busy.

Naruto let out a tiny sigh as she took a seat on Hibari's table. Her ally had his back hunched up as he read through several paperwork, not once did he look up from his paperwork. Not that she expected him to look away from his work. When he was really focused on his work, it took a lot for her ally to look away from his work.

Another quiet sigh escaped from her lips and her ally finally looked away from his work. His grey eyes did not widen at the sight of her sitting on his desk, telling her that he had noticed her coming in. She quirked her lips into a small smile when the boy raised a single eyebrow at her. What brings you here? That was what she understood from his raised eyebrow.

"Can't I visit you for no reason, Skylark?" Naruto asked. Grey eyes glinted with amusement at her question and the blonde blinked when the older male stood up from his seat. She bit back a shriek when Hibari placed his hand around her waist, carrying her away from the table and dropping her on his lap.

This position is uncomfortable. She took a deep breath and moved her body around until her legs dangled over the chair handle. Hibari eyed her legs before looking at her with raised eyebrow. As much as she wanted to think of pleasure, Naruto knew that she had to focus on the task at hand even if Hibari was stroking her back.

"My Little Fox, it is still the Holiday," Hibari said. You never come to school when there is a holiday. Those words were not said but she could hear it from his tone.A sigh escaped her lips and she felt her heart raced against her chest as the male continued to stroke her arms. It was comfortable. She could feel her whole body relaxing even though goosebumps formed on her arms. It felt nice for him to touch her arms like this. It made her want to lean forward.

She did just that.

"I have a favor to ask of you," Naruto admitted. Another sigh escaped from her lips and the blonde rested her head against his shoulders. It was nice to be held like this if you asked her. With the way he stroke her arms and neck, it felt like she was being protected in a sense. Not that she wanted to be protected.

The stroke stopped and the blonde looked away from Hibari's shoulder. Grey eyes inspected her as if he was trying to figure out what type of favor she would ask for him. Clean ups were the usual favor that she would ask him. But clean ups would never make her come here as he came to learn when she asked for Haku to be enrolled in Namimori High School.

"What does My Prey want?" Hibari asked. He resumed his strokes and the blond-haired girl allowed her hands to wander up to his shoulders. She could practically feel the knots on his shoulders and without a second thought the blonde pressed her fingers against it. A quiet groan came out of the boy's lips and Naruto felt her lips curled into a wide smile.

It was nice to know that she could bring this side of Hibari.

"I need you to enroll my guests into Namimori Middle School," Naruto admitted. She stopped pressing against the knots and looked at Hibari. Grey eyes locked onto her as if asking her if she was okay with having those three shinobi in the school. She was going to be fine. It would be easy for Ino to ignore her and Shikamaru and Choji would understand that they could not hang around her.

They were never going to learn anything if they spent all their time with her.

"Why?" Hibari asked. Why do you want to enroll them? She could feel that was the question coming from the boy's tone and Naruto paused. How should she explain it to him? She never exactly told him that she had training to become a kunoichi. It was not something that she wanted to tell him until maybe a few more months into their relationship.

Maybe around her birthday.

"Jiraiya wants me to speed things up with my work," Naruto admitted. Another sigh escaped from her lips and Hibari tilted her head up. Those grey eyes locked onto her as if asking her if she was still stress about the work. The whiskered girl shook her head. It was not like the first time she had been stressed about work.

This was something that she could handle and judging from the slight smirk on Hibari's face, he knew it. The black-haired teen removed his hand away from her arms and looked to her eyes before looking down to her neck. She kept her own eyes focused on Hibari's face, waiting for her partner to decide whether to accept her request or not.

"I will do it," Hibari replied as he tilted her head to the side. Her whole body shivered as his spicy scented breath caress her ears. "But I want something in return."

Her blue eyes darted to his pants, moving up to his chest before landing on grey eyes that flashed with both amusement and intense desire. If he asked her for more then she had to deny it. She really liked him. She trusted him and god she could never deny that she was attracted to him. But it would be too soon if you asked her.

The kisses on her lips and neck were enough for her.

"My prey, I won't demand for that," Hibari muttered as he pressed a hot kiss against her neck. She gulped and allowed a little gasp to come out from her lips from the sudden kiss. Her hand crept up to his hair and the blonde could feel his smirk forming against her neck. A whimper escaped when he licked and bit her neck. "I want 35% of the price that you told the Toad and for you to come over my house in the weekend."

That sounds r-reasonable. She nodded her head and slumped her shoulders when the boy removed his lips from her neck. It was always terrible when he did this to her. She always wanted more from him but this was something that she could accept. Grey eyes looked down on her and the blonde could see the intense emotions in his eyes.

The smile on her lips widened and Naruto allowed herself to peck a kiss against his thin lips. This was nice if you asked her. The relationship between them was comfortable and maybe they were physical. But she liked it this way. It made her understand why people seek so much comfort through touch.

Crash.

"W-What is happening?"

It seemed like Kusakabe found out.

A/N: So Kusakabe found out and Naruto had a rather long conversation with Shikamaru. For those that figure out that Kusakabe would be the first one to find out then congratulation. Here are the next couple of questions:

Question 1: What do you think of the conversation between Shikamaru and Naruto

Question 2: Do you think Naruto is right to stop openly acknowledging that Shikamaru and Choji are her friends?

Question 3: Why do you think Naruto is not surprised that Sasuke left?

Please review and tell me of your thoughts.