Chapter 3
The day after Naruto's birthday party, he woke up early to avoid Kushina's wrath, fearing that she would be coming after him and Konohamaru after what happened yesterday. He was up before 7 AM, even though it's a Saturday. He had Konohamaru sleeping on a mattress on the floor in his room, but didn't wake him up as he would be used as the scapegoat. Naruto would leave him here so that Kushina could take out her anger on him. It would only do Konohamaru good, getting beaten up every now and then, it just builds character. Before heading out, he took a shower, using the bathroom upstairs where both he and his parents had their bedrooms. After a quick shower, he pulled the shower curtains to the side as he stepped out of the shower, when the door suddenly opened.
He heard a gasp before he saw his mom standing at the door, staring at him with wide eyes. Naruto quickly placed his hands in front of his crotch, covering himself up to the best of his ability.
"Mom!?" Naruto whined.
"W-what?" Kushina stuttered, her cheeks had gotten redder than her hair. She didn't move as she was seemingly standing frozen at the door, staring at him. She bit her lip while her eyes were glued to him.
"Get out!" Naruto yelled.
Kushina turned around and got out of the bathroom in a hurry and closed the door behind her, then yelled "Lock the door next time ttebane!"
Naruto frowned as he grabbed a towel before returning to his room to get dressed. He then went down to the kitchen, wanting to get some breakfast before he headed out to train. Kushina was sitting at the kitchen table, blushing slightly as she appeared to be lost in her own thoughts. When Naruto entered she turned to look at him. First she stared into his eyes, then her eyes went further down, before going back to his eyes again "G-Good morning" Kushina stuttered out uncharacteristically.
Naruto frowned as he wondered if she had just stared at his groin again for just a second. He decided not to mention it, thinking it would just get weird. If he never mentioned anything about her walking in on him in the bathroom, she would probably forget about it. Or at least not bring up what she saw, which Naruto figured is the reason for her odd behavior. That would be Naruto's abnormally large penis. She had not seen him naked since he was a little kid, the current size of it must have shocked her.
"Morning mom" Naruto said casually as he went over to the kitchen table and grabbed two sandwiches that Kushina had prepared for him and the others. "I'm gonna gonna head out to train for a bit" Naruto said as he then walked out of the kitchen.
"What about Konohamaru-kun, shouldn't you bring him with you?" Kushina asked.
"I left him here as a peace offering to you" Naruto said before running out of the door to their backyard, hearing Kushina's evil laugh from the kitchen.
Naruto then took his time as he walked out to his training spot, while he ate his sandwiches. He was thinking about something he saw and heard yesterday, something that happened a lot more often than Naruto liked. It was the former Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen's very inappropriate invitations, which he made to pretty much every single woman at his birthday party. Including his mom. Naruto had heard Hiruzen make lewd invitations to his mom a lot of times in the past. That's the main reason why Naruto are always pretty brutal whenever he pranks him. Naruto was starting to get tired of it now though. If Hiruzen didn't get the message that Kushina and the other women weren't interested, Naruto would make sure he gets the message for them. After scheming for a while about what he would do to the former Hokage, he found Kurenai sitting on the grass at his usual training spot, with her head resting on her knees, appearing a bit sad.
"Good morning, Kurenai-san" Naruto greeted.
"Good morning" Kurenai said in rather dejected tone, not sounding like her usual confident self at all.
"Something wrong?" Naruto asked.
Kurenai nodded while frowning, he then saw her wipe away a tear from her cheek before saying "Hatake Kakashi-san, was the one that Hokage-sama put in charge of my jounin test, he failed me saying I didn't have what it takes to be a jounin.".
Naruto frowned when he heard that, he had never been a big fan of Hatake Kakashi. That man used to be a student of Naruto's father, along with two other people, Obito and Rin. Obito and Rin died at a young age, both while out on missions during war times. Naruto never learned how they died other than that. His parents never told him the details, especially not about Rin since what happened to her is a very sad, dark and depressing story.
What Naruto didn't like about Kakashi was how he wallowed in self pity, living in the past rather than looking to better the future. He was also kind of a jackass, always expecting his family to help him out and ask for favors the few times he needed it, but he didn't even show up to their birthday parties and things like that. Naruto can't even remember the last time Kakashi visited them, it must have been more than five years ago by now.
"He had me climb steep mountains without using my feet, for over twenty four hours. I can't do that, that is not the kind of ninja I am." Kurenai continued as Naruto sighed "Yes, you fight using genjutsu right?".
Kurenai nodded "And my hand to hand combat and my weapon usage is not bad either. My lack of stamina would only really affect me if I fought someone for hours, but every single technique I know, genjutsu, hand to hand combat, weaponry, all of it, is designed to take out my opponent fast. Not to drag out the fight"
Naruto frowned as he sat down in front of her "If you want, I can talk to Kakashi-san. Maybe he can give you a second chance?"
Kurenai shook her head "It's okay, it's not all bad. The Hokage, your father, disagrees with him. He told me he wants me to become a jounin since he thinks I would become a great jounin teacher.".
Naruto breathed out in relief "Good, because I hate Kakashi-san, I would like to avoid him to the best of my ability".
Kurenai chuckled "You're not the only one who thinks that".
"Did dad pass you then?" Naruto asked.
Kurenai shook her head again "No, not yet. He is giving me a second chance though. I'm going to be in charge of a team of three jounin. I will lead them for several high ranked missions. If I do a good enough job, he is going to make me a jounin" she said, still looking a bit sad.
"That's great, isn't it?" Naruto said being unsure due to how dejected she looked.
"It is, but that would mean that I could be out of the village for several months" Kurenai said while pouting. She didn't want to be away from Naruto for that long, especially not now when she had just started setting her "evil plan", to make him hers, in motion.
Naruto was a bit confused on why she seemed unhappy about that. Shouldn't she be happy that his dad gave her another chance?
"I don't understand, isn't that what being a ninja is about? To go on cool missions like that and fight strong opponents? I would love to do something like that, I can't wait to graduate" Naruto said with a confident smirk.
"Yes, but it would mean that I won't be able to see you" Kurenai said, then her eyes widened as she realized what she had just said.
"Huh?" Naruto uttered, with a confusion expression.
"And Asuma-san" a flushed Kurenai added after some thought. "You, since I think we have become such good friends and Asuma-san because he is my boyfriend".
Naruto scratched the back of his head, wondering what she meant by good friends. Sure she had been out here a lot, but it wasn't like they were hanging out other than that. He didn't want to be rude so he just ignored it, as he responded "Oh yeah, I forgot about Asuma-san. The two of you have been together for like a year now right?".
Kurenai chuckled "He is easy to overlook, isn't he?" she said, smiling for the first time this morning.
Naruto tilted his head in question, not knowing what to respond to that. Kurenai had to force herself not to squeal in delight when he did that. She thought he was so damn cute.
Kurenai cleared her throat "Yes, it's been a little over a year now".
Naruto smiled "I'm happy for you guys, are you getting married soon?".
Kurenai could barely keep herself from frowning when she heard that, she tried really hard but that just gained her a tic mark on her forehead, making her look even more upset. With a very forced smile, she said "Not any time soon, no".
"Okay.." Naruto didn't know what else to say. She was acting a bit strange today. He was even more confused by her actions when she moved over to him and put her arms around him, hugging him tightly.
"I'm leaving today, in about an hour. I don't know when I will be back" She said, smiling to herself as she rested her head on Naruto's shoulder.
"I see, good luck on your mission, Kurenai-san" Naruto said, awkwardly hugging her back. He wasn't nervous or embarrassed at all due to Kurenai hugging him, which might be a normal reaction to your crush hugging you. He was just wondering, since when did they start hugging?
After a minute of the two of them hugging, well mostly Kurenai hugging Naruto, Naruto said "Uh, Kurenai-san?".
"I might be gone for months, please let me hold you a little longer" Kurenai whispered. She wouldn't let go just yet as she didn't want to stop hugging him. She didn't want to leave Konoha for all those missions. Couldn't she at least be allowed to bring him with her? She thought with a sad sigh. Kurenai let go of him, but still sat next to him. She then leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. She then stood up. "That's for being such an awesome friend" Kurenai said with an eye wink, then walked off with an extra sway in her hip, knowing that Naruto was staring at her, most likely with a shocked expression. She was right about that as Naruto was wondering "What the hell is up with her?".
Naruto then began training, completely forgetting about what happened this morning in the bathroom, or his plans to attack Hiruzen, as all he could think of was what happened with Kurenai. He wondered if it meant something. The girls he knew sure liked to kiss him a lot. He had lost count on how many times Anko has kissed his cheek and his neck. Ino has also given him many kisses on the cheek, especially back when they were younger. She would always run off afterwards, saying Naruto had to marry her when they get older. Not to mention how many times women have kissed him on the cheek as a greeting, or just to tease him, such as his friends mothers, Ayame, girls at school and even a few female teachers. Maybe he was just overthinking it. That's probably what all girls do with their friends. Naruto settled on that conclusion, oblivious as he is. Not knowing about how all the girls and women in the village were in love with him or simply just lusted for him.
After going home at lunch time to eat lunch, Naruto headed over to Konohamaru's place. He had armed himself. He is armed with every single tool a ninja would need if you were to go out on a mission. Naruto was not going to leave that place until he has made sure that Hiruzen stops asking his mom to have sex with him. He is so tired of it. Especially since his mom is the last person who would do something like that when she is already married. Some other married women in this village who are less loyal and less prudish might, but not her. She is probably the last person in Konoha who would accept a random sex invitation like that.
It's enough that she already has a bunch of perverted men leering at her wherever she goes, even though she never gives them a reason to do so. She always dresses very conservatively, such as with her usual green housewife dress. She is such a gentle soul in Naruto's mind, and she doesn't deserve having perverts like Hiruzen after her every time he gets a chance. Naruto is also very protective of his mom. He usually beats up those perverts who leer at her when she just walks down a road in the village or something.
After knocking on the door to Konohamaru and Hiruzen's home at the Sarutobi clan compound, Hiruzen opened it. Hiruzen glanced at Naruto and said "You going out to fight in a war or something, brat?".
Naruto nodded "If it comes to that".
Hiruzen chuckled "Are you here to see Konohamaru?".
"Yes, is he here?".
Hiruzen nodded "Yeah, he is resting on the couch. He came home from your place earlier, beaten black and blue".
Naruto sweat dropped, his mom must have forgot to mention that she had gotten her revenge, when they ate lunch earlier.
"He probably deserved it" Naruto said, as he stepped inside.
"I don't doubt that" Hiruzen said with a chuckle.
Naruto then walked in to their living room to find Konohamaru laying on the couch, muttering to herself "Stupid old hag! I'm gonna prank you even more now kore!".
Naruto laughed "That's the spirit, Kon!".
Konohamaru turned around to face him "Hey boss!" he said happily as he jumped up on his feet "Aren't you training?".
Naruto glanced behind him, seeing that Hiruzen had walked passed them as he had gone out to the backyard, he leaned down and whispered to Konohamaru "I'm gonna kick that old man's ass. I need your help to do it".
Konohamaru grinned "Sure, what do you want me to do?".
"Just distract him a little, I'll do the rest" Naruto said.
Naruto then watched as Konohamaru walked out to their backyard, where Hiruzen sat, smoking his pipe. A few seconds later, Hiruzen started yelling after Konohamaru had smacked the pipe away from his hands "What's wrong with you brat? Get lost!"
"Shut up old man, you disgusting dirty old man!" Konohamaru yelled back.
Naruto, who had placed a certain seal on Konohamaru when he walked up to whisper to him earlier, used his fathers signature technique, "The Flying Thunder God Technique", to teleport himself out to them. In a flash of yellow, Naruto appeared and kicked Hiruzen in the head. Shocking Konohamaru who had not even been able to see him move. Hiruzen didn't know that Naruto was capable of using that technique, not knowing that Naruto had learned it during the two years that he trained with Minato.
Hiruzen held his cheek where Naruto had kicked him "Naruto!" he said in angry tone "That's too much for a prank, don't you think?"
"Go somewhere else Konohamaru" Naruto said as he channeled a rasengan in his right hand.
Konohamaru saluted him "Roger, boss!" he said before running into the house, then out the front door. Not wanting to be around since his grandpa seemed really angry and Naruto was acting scary.
Hiruzen got up "First that technique and now the rasengan. Minato sure has taught you some dangerous techniques, boy".
"My mom and Ero-sennin taught me a few things as well. I plan to use all of them to kick your ass today, old man" Naruto said, glaring at the former hokage.
With raised eyebrows Hiruzen said "And what reason do you have to attack an old man like myself?".
A shadow clone appeared behind Hiruzen, grabbing him from behind as to keep him place. The real one yelled "I want you to stop bothering my mom and Anko-chan with your disgusting sexual invitations!".
"Okay" Hiruzen said with a chuckle.
Naruto almost did a spit take "Okay?" he asked.
"Okay, I'll stop"
"Really, just like that? I don't have to beat you half to death?" Naruto asked.
Hiruzen shook his head "It's not like anyone else ever had the balls to tell me to stop, except the women in question of course. But they might just be playing hard to get, you never know with women".
Naruto dispelled his clone and canceled out the rasengan in his hand "So you won't bother my mom or Anko-chan anymore?".
Hiruzen nodded calmly "Like I told you, I will stop, you have my word on that".
"Good" Naruto said smiling "But if you don't keep your promise, I won't be asking questions next time. I'll come here with the intent to hurt you badly".
Hiruzen laughed "Hahaha, I don't doubt you for a second, boy. You will probably succeed doing that as well with how strong you have gotten, and how old I'm getting..".
"If we have come to an understanding, then I will take my leave" Naruto said as he stepped towards the door.
Hiruzen held him back, by holding his shoulder with a very hard grip "Not so fast. While I will keep my word to you since I respect what you just did. I can't let you leave without showing you why I was the hokage and is not someone people normally threaten like that"
Naruto jumped back, further down the backyard and struck a fighting pose "I'm always ready for a fight, old man!".
Hiruzen smiled at first, then his expression hardened before he with very impressive speed, jumped straight at Naruto
Three hours later, Naruto was laying on his back in the same backyard. He was holding his head that hurt so badly after all the hits to it. He had several open wounds, none of which cut very deep though. Next to him was Konohamaru, kicking Hiruzen who was also laying down, nursing all his wounds. The battle had ended in a draw after a very impressive and even fight. Naruto figured the old man must have gone easy on him, no he knew that he had gone easy on him. There were many times during that fight that Hiruzen could have knocked him out. While admitting that he likely lost the battle, Naruto did have a few moments where he could have ended it as well. If he went in full force, he might have even killed that old man.
"Take that old man!" Konohamaru said, kicking the side of his stomach.
"Damnit brat, can't you see that I'm hurt here?" Hiruzen yelled.
"Let him be, Kon" Naruto ordered.
"Yes, boss!" Konohamaru said with a salute before going over to Naruto. He sat down next to him "Are you okay boss? You're bleeding.".
"What about me?" Hiruzen muttered depressingly, nursing one of his bloody wounds.
Naruto sat up and said "Don't worry, wounds like these will heal in a few minutes".
"Eh? It will take at least a few days, boss" Konohamaru said shaking his head "Maybe you have never gotten hurt before".
"Of course I have gotten hurt. I spar against my parents and Ero-sennin regularly. I just heal faster than other people. Call it a trait of the Uzumaki clan" Naruto said.
Hiruzen got up, and walked passed them "That was a nice spar, well done Naruto".
Naruto frowned as he stared at him as he kept walking towards the house "Do we have an understanding?" Naruto asked.
"I told you already, you have my word. But in return, please do come over here more often. I found this fight to be amusing. I'd like to spar against you again once you have had a little more time to train. I haven't been this excited about a spar in years" Hiruzen said, as he grabbed his pipe and put it in his mouth. He grinned as he smoked his pipe, looking genuinely happy.
"You got a deal old man!" Naruto said with a grin of his own. He didn't mind putting that old man in his place every now and then, if that meant that he would stop bothering his mom.
Naruto then went back to his own backyard. He washed his bloodied clothes at Jiraiya's house since he didn't want to give Kushina a reason to worry. He then went back to training like usual.
The rest of October then passed. So did November, December, January, February and half of March. Naruto's days were mostly filled with training, laughing at Konohamaru's constant "pranks" on Kushina, Sakura and other girls in school, hanging out with Anko and running away from Ino, Sakura and Hinata. On Sundays he and the pervert trio continued their search for reference material and doing other stupid things. Every now and then Jiraiya actually trained them as well.
Everything was normal in Naruto's life, just like it had been. At least before Kurenai started appearing at his training spot almost two years ago. He hadn't seen her since that day, the day she left for her first mission, that served as her jounin test. Naruto knew that she hadn't been home yet, except to rest for a night before going on another mission. Anko is his source of information on that as she keeps whining about not being able to see her friend.
Today was a Saturday. Naruto had spent the morning training with Konohamaru who had stayed at his place last night. He hadn't trained with Konohamaru for while, other than on Sundays, so he let him join him today, after he had begged to train with him for months. He and his two friends, Udon and Moegi, who also refers to Naruto as "Boss", had really started to annoy Naruto. They are always coming over to his place, asking him to either train them or play ninja with them.
He would play with them at least once every week, but that wasn't enough for them. They wanted to either train or play much more than that. It's gotten so bad that Naruto has even thought about changing training spots so that he could hide from them. It's the main reason he trained out here to begin with, to be alone and not be bothered by others when he tries to focus on his training. He didn't want to do that just yet though, since he kinda hoped that Kurenai would come back soon. He missed having her around. If he changed spots, Kurenai might not be able to find him.
Just twenty minutes ago, Naruto had sent Konohamaru to get them both lunch. Knowing that his mom surely had something prepared for them. He returned just now, holding a basket filled with sandwiches and snacks. Naruto raised an eyebrow due to how weird he seemed to act. He looked like he was lost in thought, in his own little world, while blushing slightly.
"Hey, stop acting weird" Naruto said as he grabbed the basket. Naruto sat down and began eating the sandwiches, while watching Konohamaru who just sat there, still seemingly out of it.
"Did something happen?" Naruto asked.
"No" Konohamaru said quickly, looking a bit nervous "Nothing happened, boss".
"Good" Naruto said with a raised eyebrow, he then handed Konohamaru a sandwich "Eat, you won't be able to train on an empty stomach".
Konohamaru nodded as he accepted the sandwich and took a bite off it. As he ate, he once again appeared to get lost in his thoughts, while blushing slightly. Naruto nursed his forehead in annoyance. "That little pervert must be thinking about doing something perverted to Sakura, I don't understand why he likes her so much" Naruto thought as he shook his head. Naruto's thoughts were interrupted by a very cheerful yell off "Hey Naruto-kun, look who is finally back!"
He turned around to see Anko and Kurenai coming towards them, both smiling at him. Anko ran up to Naruto and sat next to him, leaning her head on his shoulder "Training with your annoying little friend?" she asked.
Naruto nodded "Yep".
Konohamaru hissed at Anko "Go away Anko-nee, no girls are allowed here!".
"What was that!?" Anko said in a threatening manner as she walked over to Konohamaru. Konohamaru gulped "I was joking, please don't hurt me Anko-nee!".
"How else will you learn!?" Anko yelled before she launched a couple of snake summons at him. They were completely harmless but Konohamaru didn't need to know that. Naruto laughed as he saw Anko and her snakes chase a screaming Konohamaru around. Happy to see that Konohamaru had returned to normal. While that was going, Kurenai sat down next to Naruto. She just sat there, watching them together with him, both chuckled at their antics. Those two always got in a fight somehow.
"Are you done with those missions?" Naruto asked.
"Yes, everything went well" Kurenai said smiling as she stared straight at Naruto, into his eyes. Naruto grinned "Does that mean my father is going to promote you?".
Kurenai nodded as she kept staring at him, smiling at him in a way that Naruto thought made her look very pretty.
"I'm a jounin now" she said excitedly.
Naruto rested his arms behind his head, showing her his signature toothy grin "Congratulations dattebayo!".
Kurenai took a glance at Anko who was currently sitting on a screaming Konohamaru's back, pulling his arms backwards in a way that seemed to really hurt. "Let me go, you old hag!".
"I'll break your arms you little brat!"
Kurenai then focused on Naruto again "Would you like to celebrate my promotion with me, Naruto-kun?" she asked.
"Sure, why not? When and where?" Naruto asked casually.
"How about tonight, we can meet up at Ichiraku's at eight?" Kurenai said, feeling as if she had butterflies in her stomach.
Naruto nodded "That works. Teuchi and Ayame will probably be delighted to get a lot of customers!" he said cheerfully, thinking that Kurenai would invite at least Anko and Asuma to celebrate with them as well. Kurenai had no such plans though. That's why she is telling Naruto about the "celebration" when Anko isn't paying attention. She is going to take this chance to go out alone with him, to have a date with him. Kurenai is not going to waste another second now. She was going to make Naruto hers, starting tonight.
"See you tonight" Kurenai told Naruto with a playful smile, she then managed to get Anko away from Konohamaru and soon after that, the two of them left. Letting Konohamaru and Naruto continue their training. They continued to train until 7 PM, which was when Naruto headed home to get ready for Kurenai's celebration. When he arrived at Ichiraku's at 8, he saw Kurenai standing there, waving at him, while wearing a very sexy dress. Inside the ramen shop stood a very angry looking Ayame, who glared at Kurenai and a smirking Teuchi.