Author Notes:

Dark and Alive Minato, Minato fans beware.

Alive Kushina.

Darker Naruto.

Original Characters x Established Characters

Not sure what everyone's big beef is with a background coupling but it's not going to change, might as well stop reading now. Same goes with the OC's, they are not going anywhere so if that is really such an issue for you then just stop reading here, it doesn't bother me.

Chapter 12: The Time Before the Chunin Exams

AN: Just giving you all a heads up before you read the chapter this is more of a set up chapter for the Chunin Exams start. I look forward to reading your complaints.

With Darious and Shizune...

As the two walked down the street towards the restaurant district of the village, Shizune snaked her arms around Darious' right arm. The man smiled as he looked at her, "Where would you like to go tonight Shizune-chan?"

The black haired medic smiled then laid her head down on his shoulder. He assumed that meant that she didn't really care exactly where they went to eat. He remembered overhearing Asuma speak of a nice restaurant that Kushina liked to eat at so he would try there first. When they approached the restaurant she looked at the sign, "'The Silver Swan' huh? Are you going all out to impress me Dar-kun?"

Giving her a slick smile the man met her eyes then winked at her, "I always want to impress you Shizune-chan."

A red blush appeared on her face as she looked at him. She was happy that even after all that time apart he wanted to impress her. Though now he was able to do it much better since they weren't so young and could actually get into the nicer places, well they could at least pay for their meals now. Darious opened the door for her and she walked in first turning the heads of the men. That was when her date came in and put his arm around her showing that she was spoken for. She smiled as she looked at him, "So possessive Dar-kun."

Smirking at the comment Darious continued to look ahead and spoke to the hostess that was smiling at them, "Table for two please."

The young lady nodded her head then led them to a small booth in the back. As they sat there they talked about all the things that they have done in their time apart. Darious smiled, "Sounds like you have had some interesting adventures Shizune-chan, that is a bit unexpected from Tsunade-sama."

The black haired medic just gave him a soft and kind smile, knowing the mans dislike of her master, "She isn't as bad as you think Dar-kun, sure she may not be as fun as Jiraiya-sama and going to his brothels."

There was a bit of venom his her voice as she said the last part, this time it was his turn to give the soft smile. Darious looked at her, "I never went with him Shizune-chan, Kiro did a few times but only when he was a curious young teen. We both find them to be a bit despicable, it is something that we disapprove of that Jiraiya-sensei won't seem to stop doing."

Smiling at that Shizune was glad to know that he thought that way, she didn't cherish the idea that he had spent a lot of time in those places. She looked at him then they ordered their food for the evening. Shizune smiled at him some more, "Tonight has been very enjoyable so far Dar-kun."

Said man smiled back at her, "I am glad you are enjoying yourself Shizune-chan. What else would you like to do this evening?"

The black haired woman just smiled at him some more, getting a very red blush on her face as she got more bold with the man, "You said you would make me yours again, so I think that we should do that."

Darious blushed at this then nodded his head at her, it's not like he would deny the opportunity to be with the woman. He was definitely able to feel the spark again, though to be fair he never lost it with her. He had hoped that she was able to as well, that was the whole point of this evening, and clearly she did. They smiled then finished their food before going back to the Uzumaki compound and retiring to Darious' bedroom for the evening, though no one had to ask where either of them were.

With Kiro and Hana...

Kiro stood there as Hana ordered what she wanted from a small street vendor that she claimed had the best food. When she finished ordering he ordered some as well and paid for the food. Hana looked at him, "I could have paid for my own food you know."

The Ookami survivor looked at her then gave a smile, "I know Hana but I thought that this was suppose to be like a date. If it is then I should pay your share tonight."

The Inuzuka Heiress looked at him, "I said it was us getting dinner, not a date."

The man stopped and looked at her before nodding his head and slowly getting back into step with her, "Apologies then... I misunderstood your intentions with what tonight meant."

The change in his demeanor didn't go unnoticed by the Inuzuka Heiress, "Did you want it to be a date Kiro?"

Said man looked at her with a small, sad smile, "Of course I did but it's okay if it's not, I don't want you doing anything that you are not comfortable with."

Hana just continued to look at him, "Would you like to cancel the rest of the evening then Kiro?"

At that he didn't even have a small smile, "Do you? I mean if you don't want to be here then I would rather you not be, I am not for the idea of you doing something that you don't want to do."

The Inuzuka just stared at him, "You didn't answer my question."

He looked at her, "I don't want it to end if it doesn't need to, whether it is a date or not I still enjoy being around you. As I said though, I don't want you doing anything that you don't want to. If you would prefer to leave then okay..."

Looking at him, watching his body language for any signs of deception she asked, "So it's what I want then?"

The man nodded his head at her, not seeming to be any signs that he was lying to her she then started to walk again, "Let's go somewhere private to talk Kiro."

Nodding his head, Kiro then followed after her as she led him into a small park that didn't seem to have many people there. He stood there looking around, taking in the scenery as she looked at him, "I don't understand you, from what I have seen you obviously want to be something with me but you do whatever I want. Most men do what they want whether or not it coincides with what the woman wants."

Kiro looked at her then gave a small smile, "I was taught that I should always be respectful towards woman by my senpai. Yes, I do want to be something with you, I find you to be very attractive while your scent drives me absolutely insane. I think that you are sweet even though you guard yourself from others. I also know you're not comfortable with the whole 'me being your mate thing'. That is something that we need to talk about eventually as well."

Nodding her head she then waved for him to start that conversation as well. Kiro looked at her then sighed, "Like I said I don't want you to date me because of the fact that your mother said we are suppose to be mates. I don't want you doing it because we are apparently destined to be together. I want you to do it because you want to be with me, that reason alone is the only reason I will accept. If that isn't the case then we should just stop here. I can keep myself away from you no matter how strong your scent gets. Eventually I will be called away from Konohagakure anyways, at that point it would become a non-issue."

Hana looked at him, "Called away from Konohagakure? Then you would be coming back at some point right?"

The brown haired man looked at her, "Only if there was something to come back for. I was not born here and I am not a ninja for Konohagakure. With your rejection I will probably not return to this place, well that is as long as my responsibilities here have been handled. I think that my senpai will remain to be with Shizune-san though, so I will be on my own again..."

A sad look once again came to his face but Hana wasn't sure what it was from this time, last time was an easy guess. Whether it was from him saying her rejection or being on his own again she wasn't sure, those were the only two options that made any sense to her though. Hana stared at him, "My rejection?"

Kiro stared right back at her, "Since you're not on board for the mate thing, said tonight wasn't a date as well as when we first meant told me to stay away I have come to figure that we will not happen. That is at least how it is seemingly going between us. Again, I do want something between us, but only if you want something with me as well."

As the brown haired woman looked at him for a moment before she looked forward, "I haven't decided either way Kiro. Why is it that you seem to hate the idea of being on your own again?"

Said man's shoulders tensed at the question. She looked over at him to see that he wasn't comfortable with the question. She wanted to see if he would be willing to share something so personal with her. Kiro looked at her, "Have you ever been alone Hana? Truly alone?"

She shook her head no making him stare at her, "I have, before I had my senpai and even that pervert sensei. I was alone, I had no one and I had nothing. When I got them I was like you and very guarded but I opened up eventually and now I have bonds with them. To lose them would be hard but I know that my senpai is happy with Shizune-san. I don't want him to lose her again and Jiraiya-sensei is extremely unreliable. I will have no one again just like when I lost everyone in my family."

The man sighed as he looked at the small lake then looked over at Hana, "It will be okay though, I will know that Darious-senpai is happy which is more important to me. He has been a different man since we came into contact with Shizune-san, it has been a bit odd to see but anyone can see how happy he is now."

Hana looked at him a bit then smiled a bit as she looked forward, "There is the chance that you will have something to come back for Kiro."

Said man looked at her with a small smile, "Only time can tell though I suppose."

The Inuzuka Heiress nodded then looked up, "I should probably get home before my mother gets the wrong idea about all of this."

Kiro nodded his head at her, "Allow me to escort you home."

Hana looked at him, that self sufficient and determined look returning, "I can take care of myself."

The Ookami survivor smiled, "I am well aware of this but if you will let me for my own peace of mind, I would greatly appreciate it."

She sighed then nodded, though he could tell that it was begrudgingly. Both walked to the Inuzuka compound in a relatively comfortable silence. When they arrived he smiled at her, "Thank you Hana, I will see you the next time you want to see me."

Said woman nodded then stuck out her hand to shake Kiros' hand. He looked at her hand then grabbed it before pulling it forward a bit and kissing it. He looked up at her reddening cheeks with a smile, "Until then Ms. Inuzuka."

With that he disappeared, leaving her standing there, a bit shocked with a blush on her face. When she turned though she sighed as she saw her mother standing in the doorway with a large smile, oh there would be teasing.

With Kushina and Naruko...

It had been a few weeks since Naruko had managed to get Naruto to pop her cherry. Her biggest issue was that it had been extremely hard to get anything from him since then. He had caved one time to sex again but she had gotten him to go down on her a few times, though always with the stipulation that she returned the favor. She stood there as they were coming to the close of her personal training session with Kushina. She had hoped Kushina would be able to convince Naruto to train with her but there had been no success on that front. Kushina seemed to be smiling a lot during this session though, "Naruko, due to how much you have improved as my student, I have a surprise for you."

The blond teen girl looked at her with a rose eyebrow, "What is it Kushina-sensei?"

Kushina looked over at the back door as it opened and the other blond teen walked out. He looked annoyed, really annoyed as he sighed at the situation. He came and stood next to Kushina while having a far off look on his face. Naruko looked at Naruto with hopeful eyes, though the look was clearly not reciprocated, "REALLY!?"

The red head nodded her head, "Naruto has finally agreed to help with your training, isn't that what you wanted?"

Nodding her head quickly the girl had an ecstatic look on her face, "More then you know Kushina-sensei!"

That made it so that the other blond let out a long sigh. Kushina looked at Naruto, "Why did you agree finally Naruto?"

Said teen looked at her, "My other three senseis said that it is a good way to blow off steam since most of my training with them is more mental right now. I have to understand what I am learning before proceeding and it makes me agitated."

His mother smiled then nodded, "Go ahead and stretch then we will begin a workout with you two against me. I will get us all some water really quick."

When Kushina went into the house Naruko came over by him with a smile, "Agitated huh? Could have come to me to blow off steam."

With the end of the sentence she winked at him making him sigh, "Not now Naruko."

She got closer, "After training we will though right?"

Naruto shook his head no though, he was seeing that he wasn't as strong willed as he hoped. She had done much better than he expected with studying him, he had come to realize that she wasn't someone to underestimate anymore. She knew how to twist his words and use her body to lure him in, that much had become extremely clear to him. When he gave into his lust it was impossible to stop thanks to his furry prisoner inside of him as well, a factor he didn't know he had to be concerned about before. He looked over at her finally then sighed, "Maybe."

She gave him a purr, "I'll even ride you today Naruto-kun."

That didn't help his resolve as the mental image popped into his head. He was now fairly sure that when his mother went to have dinner with Asuma they would end up somewhere with her riding him to release. When Kushina came back out they quickly went into a 2 verse 1 spar. Naruko was able to do better than Naruto expected. There was even one point in the fight that she took a hit to protect him when his mother came at him from his blind spot.

Eventually Kushina did leave and just as Naruto predicted, his resolve caved and the two blonds found a secluded spot to fuck. As Naruto laid there with another blond cuddling into his side he let out a silent sigh, 'When she finds out the truth she will hate me for this... I don't know why I care about that but for some reason I do. Is this what having romantic feelings for someone is like?'

Naruko on the other hand was in heaven. She just finished a hard, rough but passionate session with Naruto in whatever situation they were. The thing that was making it so perfect was that they were cuddling as well as he was absentmindedly running his hand up and down her bare side. She had a small smile from this, 'A couple more months and I think that this could turn into something real, something that we can be public with. I don't really care if Father will disapprove, Mother and Kushina-sensei would be okay with it since we would be happy. Just a couple more months Naruto-kun.'

With that she closed her eyes to get a few hours of sleep before she left the residence so that no one knew their secret. Naruto didn't get any sleep, more of just trying to figure out everything going on in his mind; Minato, his mother, his bloodline and whatever he was in with Naruko.