DISCLAIMER: I own nothing from the Naruto universe but I do have an imagination of my own.

Thinking (or flashbacks, etc.)

Emphasis

Biju, etc. speaking

Biju, etc. thinking

A/N: There's a lemon in here, but it's NOT what I guess is the tried and true stuff that I've read before, exactly. Naruto is a little awkward, so just keep that in mind.

Naruto wasn't sure what to think about the safehouse and the land it was on, or what was going on with Kakashi as he sat on an old flowered couch, reading yet another scroll.

Reading!

She thought they were coming here to do… something else! Gods, I am such a pervert, she realized distastefully as she closed her eyes and turned away from the silver-haired man, just as her stomach growled obnoxiously. "Kami," she said, disgusted with her loud body, "I'm sorry, but I'm - obviously," she said, putting her hand on her stomach, "getting hungry. I've still got a hotpot in the scroll, or if you'd rather, I can put together a barbecue with everything you have in the kitchen. I have the meat and stuff, so that won't be a problem."

Kakashi had looked up when her stomach growled, blushing, and pulled his mask up almost immediately to cover it. Naruto wasn't sure what he was reading but thought he might be researching a way to get her out of the mission she had to go on. Knowing the village charter's wording about dealing with Daimyo-issued missions after they'd been signed off by the Hokage, Naru was pretty sure he was out of luck on that, however.

She had seen him turning red several times in the hours that they'd been here. Naru hadn't had much to do aside from playing with her sealing journal, ignoring Kurama's almost constant whining, looking out the windows to see the various dogs, wolves, and other canines prowling around, and writing imaginative smut in the book that she was writing, (thanks, Jiraiya.) "Oh my gosh! Did you grab pages of Ero-sennin's manuscript?! I can't believe it: that's what you've been doing?!"

"What?! No," Kakashi said in a higher-than-normal voice. "Why would you even think that? I mean, I wish I had..."

"The blushing and hiding behind your mask. Hmm. No nosebleeds in an hour or so, though, so…"

"Naru-chan," Kakashi took a deep breath and tried to will away his burning cheeks at what he'd just read. His clan laws and customs had some pretty specific ideas on how to create and keep a "true mate" or make anyone else a Hatake. "What time is it?" He hadn't realized that the sun had gone down, and now that he'd stopped reading all of his crazy clan stuff for a moment, it was clear to him that he was hungry, too. Plus, he'd let his little wife linger without saying more than three or four words here in this cabin for hours. That wasn't cool.

"2140. What would you like for dinner?"

"I'm sorry, Naru: I didn't realize all this was going to take so long," he said as he looked at everything in front of and beside him.

"That's alright."

"You could at least tell her what you're doing, Boss. And I'll take that barbecue, Naruto," Pakkun said from the chair he was curled up on. One ninken after another began wagging their tails, so Naru agreed to at least feed them when Kakashi still didn't say anything else. Every now and then the man would look over what he'd just read with his Sharingan before shutting that eye and continuing to read the scrolls and books that the ninken kept bringing during the first couple of hours they were here. He'd been doing this since just after they got here and further secured the cabin.

"Is that alright with you, too, or do you want something else?" Naruto asked after unrolling her scroll.

Kakashi got up and stretched, feeling achy from sitting still and bending over the pages he'd been reading for so long. He walked into the kitchen and hugged the blonde from behind with a soft apology before sinking down into a nearby chair where he could watch her work. "Can I do anything?" He really didn't feel like it but did want to eat.

"With dinner? No, unless you seriously want to. But can I ask what's going on? Is there anything that I can do to help you?"

"You can stay still when I tell you to."

Naruto looked up at him and wondered why his ears were pink. "Alright, wait a minute. I can stay still, obviously," she was cut off when he flashed in front of her and just about kissed her brains out. "W-wow," she mumbled dumbly. She opened her eyes and found him sitting back in his chair again, looking smug. "You- you… naughty man! Getting a girl all riled up… what did I tell you about that? Damn pervert," She really didn't appreciate his sexy-sounding chuckles at her expense.

"Sexy-sounding chuckles?" Did I really just think that? I am such a nerd for him! "Dammit."

"You're a nerd, period. Make me a shadow clone. I want to show that Yokai who's boss."

Naruto continued to cut up meat and vegetables and put them on the little grill as she pouted over big-snout putting his two ryo in again. "I'm not letting you run around on Hatake grounds when Kakashi was so worried about my safety inside a shadow clone, which is still me! And no! You cannot take one over right now, period! Maybe another time after I've monitored you doing it. I don't even think it would work since the seal is still on, though."

"That half-breed was being disrespectful. He needs to be put in his place."

"Kurama, shut up! You are driving me crazy here!" Honestly, the damn fox was really just past her max limit with his insistence that there were Yokai and Hanyou running around. "Those things are from storybooks, anyway. You can't expect me to believe that Kakashi is from some lineage where canines and humans, ya know… did it. I mean, that's gross."

"Storybooks! What do you think a civilian from a different village would think about you and me?! A pathetically short female with the magnificent Kyuubi no Kitsune in her belly: the same 'demon' that's so huge and mighty, he can shatter mountains with a flick of his tail?"

"They'd think I was awesome - and don't call me short! Now go to sleep."

"You brat kit! You don't tell me what to do!" Kurama didn't appreciate the way the kit looked at him dismissively before turning around and returning to the man that he was fairly sure was a mutt, pure and simple. How low my containers have fallen… I will get out of here and put that Yokai in his place, Naruto.

"I can't tell you what I've been studying until after… let's just say later," Kakashi said as he ate a bite of meat. "This is really good. How do you feel about…. No, I can't ask you that either!"

"I'm not pushing, Kakashi. I trust you," Naruto grinned between bites, before sighing tiredly. "I'm just bored and the fox is being really naggy today." Oh Gods, Kurama really is exhausting me, for me to admit that.

Kakashi straightened up immediately, which made Naru slump in her seat and pout. "What is he saying?"

She was about to tell him how Kurama had been going off about the supposed spirits and weird things that were lurking on his land but didn't want to seem disrespectful if any of that was true. Look what you've made me think, you baka fox!

"Well, he… Alright, I'm just going to tell you," some of it, '' Naruto thought to herself, "he wants me to make a shadow clone so that he can take it over and boss some animals and stuff around. He says he's got worshippers here, too, but don't worry about that: he thinks we all should be his worshippers." Kakashi looked a little pale but snorted at the end of what she'd said, so that was about as good of a reaction as she could hope for, for now.

"Does he talk a lot?" Kakashi finally asked.

"Yes and no. He mostly sleeps like the lazy ass he is, but occasionally gives me good ideas or tortures me mercilessly. Either way."

"I am never helping you again."

"What did I say about going to sleep?! Go away!" Whether in her mindscape or not, Naruto was really put out with the big man-tailed-thing right now after hearing his shit all day. "He also helps me - I mean, I think he was the one that got me away from Zabuza and Haku by reverse-summoning me to Mt. Myoboku."

"How could he do that, Naruto? You need to be careful with him."

Naruto wiped her mouth with a cloth napkin and sat back in her seat, regarding her husband carefully. "Look. The Kyuubi and I have an arrangement, I guess you could say. We're after that masked man that took control of him and killed my parents and thus everyone else he was forced to attack. When my father - when Tou-san appeared in my seal after… a thing that happened, I saw it. I SAW the masked man attack us from my father's eyes. I saw and felt everything that happened somehow, and everything my father felt, too, Kakashi! He was after the Kyuubi, and I am positive that man still is." She took a rather angry bite of the squash she made, wishing it was ramen. "Tou-san was positive, too. Together, we're going to burn that asshole. He's never getting his hands on him."

Kakashi watched as his aggravated little wife got up and began washing the dishes. He moved behind her and put his arms around her after finishing his dinner. "I can't imagine what that was like. I lived through the Kyuubi attack, but I didn't see… what you saw." He couldn't imagine watching her parents actually being killed or even speak of it, or ask her if that's what she really meant. What was supposed to be a romantic night - as much as he knew about that stuff, anyway - wasn't turning out the way he had hoped.

"Yeah," she turned around in his arms and laid her head on his chest, making him feel a little better as she hugged him. "Hey! Did Ero-sennin tell you about putting the Hiraishin seal on your palm? He said that Tou-san found that when he marked a place or person like that, it was much easier for him to use the jutsu back when he was first getting used to it."

Leave it to Naru to change topics to something more positive. He brushed his thumb over her cheek and really liked the needy little sound she made as she leaned into his hand, but he still had some pages to finish. Dammit!

"No, he didn't say anything about it. I didn't know that you'd even spoken to him about that." Kakashi frowned, suddenly considering something that he hadn't worried about since Naru first insisted that he add the Hiraishin to his repertoire of jutsus. "What does Jiraiya-sama think about me learning sensei's jutsu?"

"He thinks it's great! He doesn't want the Hiraishin to just die, ya know. It's not a kinjutsu, but Ero-sennin feared it could be marked as one. I told you not to worry about it," Naru replied, then kissed his palm before going back to the dishes. Kakashi sighed and put his head on top of hers. This is so nice, she thought blissfully.

"Maa, I promise to cook and clean up tomorrow. Hush, woman!" Kakashi added at hearing her begin to argue his point. "I have to get back to what I was doing." A wicked little thought came into his mind. "Do you think you could help me put the Hiraishin marker on my hand? Your calligraphy is so good; it would really help." And it'll give me an excuse...

Naruto wondered what he was up to, but thinking about it again, she easily agreed. She knew that Kakashi could copy things perfectly thanks to his Sharingan, but maybe it was more difficult when he used his non-dominant hand to write something down even if he could see it clearly in his mind. Or eye. Whatever.

They spent the next half-hour deciding where exactly to place the seal markers before she finally laid the calligraphy down, from the tip of his middle finger on his right hand, all the way down into his palm. "You have really large hands and super long fingers," she remarked as she drew the final kanji on the top of his palm. It would activate all at once when he used it to engage the jutsu or place it on someone, and they both agreed that when he currently grabbed anyone in combat, he always got his first two fingers on them, at least.

Kakashi stared at the chakra-infused ink on his hand and pulsed his chakra through it; Naruto curled up beside him. The kanji and symbols flashed almost blue for a second then receded completely. "Success?"

"Success," Naru agreed happily. "I can't wait to see you try it out!"

Kakashi hummed in agreement then pretended to have an epiphany. "Why don't you go get ready for bed, then later I'll put the seal on you. It's so late and I still have a little to do here."

"Okay," she sighed in disappointment. She was fine with him putting that tag on her, especially with the horrible mission she had that was coming up, but had been hoping for more to happen tonight. At least she got a kiss before she got up to go take a shower.

Naru rolled out their two bedrolls on an old mattress that looked clean enough, but she wasn't taking any chances. The feathered pillows were nice, though, and had been sealed away before she pulled them out of the scroll they'd been in after Kakashi gave them to her along with some other stuff when they first arrived. They smelled like lavender with a hint of dogs. Just after getting under the covers, she was surprised when Kakashi went into the little bathroom and turned on the shower, meaning that he was getting ready for bed, too. She quickly jumped up and changed out of her frog pajamas and into a little satin number she was hoping would do the trick.

It was only after getting back into bed and trying to come up with a seductive pose that she began panicking. She didn't know what the hell she was doing!

Kakashi stepped out of the shower after doing the minimum required for the "ritual cleanse." What he'd learned earlier stated that he ideally should have waded in a Hatake land's stream and done all kinds of bullshit for an hour, but the water this time of year was cold, it was already dark outside, and this place had always given him the heebie-jeebies. Plus, he wasn't going to flog himself: that was just stupid.

He didn't mind the little Shisa that guarded the cabin when he was here, or even the foxes that had suddenly surrounded the place this time - although that was a little freaky considering what Naruto had said earlier, and just Naruto's relation to a rather monstrously large fox that he now knew he'd heard her call a pervert before - but that sending-off wolf they met upon arriving had pissed him off from the moment he and Naru had first arrived.

He remembered that particular black wolf threatening him when he was here with his father once when he was extremely young. He thought his father might have given the wolf a piece of his mind, but distinctly remembered his father telling him that they had to respect all of the... things here, although Kakashi knew that's not the way his father would have put it.

Didn't mean the things weren't creepy, though, it only meant that he needed to keep his mouth shut about them.

He'd already seen a Hoko with a particularly ugly human-like face checking them out. He was glad that Naruto had been in the bedroom when he shooed the creature off. He was sure that damn Nue that lived here was crawling around close-by, too. He'd learned early on that those things could change their attitudes and size in a heartbeat, and were damn frightening when they wanted to be.

Obviously, his clan had a very different relationship to canines than the Inuzuka had, and Kakashi's relationship to ninken or canines had always been different from that of what was long ago your average Hatake. He didn't actively worship anything, especially not a canine from either here or any distant land, and didn't want his ninken worshipping him, either. Kami, no! He had an affinity to dogs in particular, most likely because his mother was half-Inuzuka.

Stop thinking, Hatake, he scolded himself before closing his eyes and expelling chakra from all over his body. Slowly going through the hand signs that he'd read about, his lips curved up in a smirk as he thought about seducing his wife. Quickly. Before leaving the bathroom, he forced himself to put on pajama pants, telling himself in what could be his last moments of sanity, according to the scrolls, that he didn't want to scare Naruto. Perverted little cutie or not, she lacked experience other than what the two of them together - which wasn't enough - had done before. That only made him more possessive of her and he was going to claim her tonight.

"Are you ready for bed?" Naru asked as she bit her lip when Kakashi entered the room. She looked him up and down and nearly groaned; he wasn't wearing one of those undershirts he sported so often to bed. Kami, he's so fine! Realizing that she was holding his Makeout Paradise book, (looking for inspiration/what to do in general,) she accidentally threw it at him as she panicked again.

"Careful with the book, hime," he said in an especially low voice after grabbing it mid-air.

Naruto could've sworn that she heard him growl, but maybe that was some kind of animal outside. Or maybe he was pissed about her throwing the book! Kakashi walked around the bed, and Naruto would've admired the way his pale skin and silver hair glowed in the moon and candlelight if her heart hadn't been beating so fast. She closed her eyes as she tried to clear her mind from her racing thoughts, and opened them to find him crawling toward her like a jungle cat.

"More like a wolf."

"Go and stay away; I'm serious, Kurama!"

"Tch. Fine."

"If you wanted to re-enact one of the scenes in the book, you could've just said so, Nah-rue-toe," he said with a smirk as he leaned closer to her face. He dragged a leg between hers and his little wife whimpered before her eyes shot open and redness covered her cheeks. He jerked the covers off that were between them without otherwise moving as he smiled down on his pretty little wife. "You're beautiful. I love it when you blush like that," he said as he lowered himself down on her, kissing one cheek softly before nipping along her jawline to kiss the other one. He gave it a long lick and heard her squeak. "Cute." He claimed her lips and hummed in approval when her arms tentatively reached around him. She opened her mouth more for him and he took the opportunity to thoroughly dominate the kiss.

It wasn't like the way she normally fought with him. Jealousy suddenly surged in his veins and he cut off the kiss. "Who the hell taught you to kiss this way?"

Naruto's eyes widened. He was genuinely pissed off; she could feel it! "I - I already told you, ya know. Don't make me say it again," she nearly whined but jumped - well as much as her body could, considering she had a big man hovering over her - when he bit her neck. "Hey!" She rubbed the spot he bit.

"Tell me now," Kakashi said darkly. Naruto could've sworn his grey eye flashed, and his Sharingan definitely spun around once.

"My clones. I practiced with my clones," the words were out of her mouth before she could even think. Naru covered her mouth before gasping. "Did you genjutsu me?!" She only got a smirk in reply before Kakashi was devouring her mouth again. She forgot all about it until sometime later when Kakashi teased that they'd be doing all sorts of things with clones if that's what she liked.

Naru moaned as she felt Kakashi shift and push his erection into her core. Her legs, as if they were programmed to do so, came up and began to wrap around him. She got her brain to engage for a second and lowered her feet to the bed, allowing her knees to remain up around her husband as he repeatedly ground into her. She moved against him and suddenly a kunai had ripped her pretty little nighty in half down the front. "Hey!"

"Shhhhh," he hissed. I only want to hear you moaning my name," he murmured as his mouth trailed down her neck. "Fuck, you've got really big titties."

Naruto gawked at his language: her head feeling like it would pop off, she was so embarrassed. "Sorry," she muttered without her own permission. Her head was spinning, along with what felt like all kinds of other things in her body as Kakashi did sinful things to her apparently too-large breasts with his hand on one side, and his mouth on the other. He looked up at her with a frown on his face after a few minutes - which by that point, she was losing her mind.

"Did you say sorry?!" Kakashi asked huskily.

"Huh? What?" Naru stuttered as she dragged her nails through Kakashi's silky, thick hair. She really wanted to push him back down where he was before so he'd get back to it. "Sorry, I'm in horny jail," she said accidentally and prayed that this was all a genjutsu - or at least what they were saying was. Apparently, she had pushed his head back to her nipple and was arching so that he'd do what he was doing harder. He complied pretty quickly.

Her legs had also turned semi-traitorous and were now working to push his pants down. She realized what she was doing for a second and froze, but Kakashi reached down and hooked her knees back up against him, one and then the other. Her feet were at it again and she froze again as she felt his asscheeks - like the real skin - with her feet and something else that was firm and hard against her... Holy shit! When did I lose my panties?!

"So fucking wet for me, baby."

Naruto felt her face turn bright red again at his comment. "Sorry." She shook her head in frustration. I am so fucking un-sexy! If there's a picture of an antonym for sexy in the dictionary, I bet my face is there, smiling like a dork!"

Kakashi glanced up at his wife's face and tsked when he saw her eyes screwed shut. "What did I say I wanted to hear? What I only want to hear?" Her eyes popped open and she started to apologize again, but then shut up and nodded, her face bright red. He slid a finger down her folds and saw her shudder. "I want to hear it: moan for me"

Naruto let out the breath she was holding and did just that. "Oh god, Kakashi!"

"Good gods you're so fucking tight," Kakashi exclaimed. He looked back up her body and decided he could almost die happy right then and there. Then he saw her throat and glared. He was positive that he had marked her up good, and now the few slight bruises that were even left were fading. He went after them again, finding a particular spot that seemed to drive his lover crazy. He slid a finger back in and began circling her clit with his thumb. Bringing her to orgasm - her first, he inwardly cheered - then slid in another finger. This was going to be agonizingly slow going. "Fuck you're tight!"

Naruto was still trying to figure out what happened as she tried to concentrate on breathing again. (Part of her hadn't believed that women could have orgasms. Jiraiya had once admitted that he had to write all those scenes for the horny inexperienced guys that wanted to believe they could totally rock someone's world. Plus she lived in the Red-Light District in her past life, and many of the women there were clearly actresses.) She didn't think of any of that at this time, though. Her world had been rocked, indeed, and Naruto could hardly think at all.

"Kah- Kah- kashi," she moaned, barely aware of how she was grinding against his hand. She nearly screamed when another wave of intense pleasure washed over her but bit her lip as pain from being stretched so much began to hit. I swear to God if he fists me, I'm punching his lights out!

"Open your eyes, beautiful," he said demandingly. "You want me, right?"

She did; she nodded, then looked down and holy fuck. There was no way that thing was going to fit! "Kash?" she whimpered breathlessly as she watched him, mesmerized by his ripped body and the way his hand was moving his weeping member up and down her core, using the juices from her overwhelming arousal to coat himself. Oh god, I read about this, but nothing... No, nothing would've prepared her for the utterly amazing sight of her supposedly aloof, unbothered by anything husband coming undone as he gazed down on her with that look on his face. One eye was dark and full of lust, the other red and glowing. "You have to be the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," and with that out of her mouth, she nearly shrieked.

"It's alright. It's alright," Kakashi was hovering over her, licking away tears that had escaped without her wanting them to. "Don't move," he groaned before glancing up at the ceiling and gritting his teeth. He was covered with a sheen of sweat as Naru held onto him for dear life. He bent down and kissed her, tenderly at first, then with more need.

Holy shit. As the pain stopped, something equally or more pleasurable began to hit her and she wanted more of it. She groaned as she moved against him, no longer feeling any shame as she only wanted to chase that feeling.

"I said, don't... Fuck!" A stream of curses exited Kakashi's mouth before he opened his mouth wide over hers, biting and licking everything he could reach. The noises, her fucking incredible body, the way her legs were so strong and trapping him where he was - it was all driving him insane! He leaned back and began thrusting into his wife - his WIFE - more slowly as he forced himself to pull almost completely out of her before thrusting back in, again and again. It was obvious she really didn't want to allow it, though. "I'm in charge here," he said as she pulled him into her again with her strong legs. He pulled all the way out of her.

"Fuck you," she snarled. She screamed when he bit the shit out of her for that. That's when the near-fight began. At least a fight for dominance.

Kakashi got somewhere when he applied lightning chakra to his fingertips and ran them all over her, in some gorgeous places that were just for him and him alone, longer than others. She turned to putty, but it wasn't long before she had tried to flip him over. He couldn't have that.

By now he was going all out, and could barely think straight. He pulled her hair back and demanded that she concede and call him her Alpha. Expecting another fight from the little vixen, he looked down on her only to see big blue eyes staring lovingly back up at him.

"Whatever you say, my Alpha," she said breathlessly and began kissing his shoulders, before putting her head back and moaning when her next orgasm hit.

Kakashi felt her walls convulsing around him and only managed two more thrusts. He got so pissed at seeing those marks fade from her beautiful neck that he bit down into her shoulder and sent lightning into it, too.

He'd bit her more than a dozen times, so as Naruto began to come back to herself, she bit him back, hard. Then everything turned white.

"Dumbass."

"What? Get out of here, you! I don't want to..."

"Oh, I know what you want to do and what you did! You called him your Alpha. His vulgar dog chakra is invading my space!"

"It is not! Were you watching?" Naruto shrieked in outrage.

"Kami, you're loud. What else do I have to do, Naruto? Watching you mate with your wolf-man and calling him... that," Kurama said, his expression twisting with a degree of distaste that she'd never seen before. "You are the Apex Predator. Make him call you that!"

"No! That's embarrassing, 'ttebayo! Go to sleep!"

"You're the one that's asleep, idiot!"

Naruto woke up with a start. Kami, that guy's a nightmare. She realized that she was on her side, pressed against Kakashi, chest to chest, but felt a presence behind her.

"Ah - ah - ah. It's alright, calm down," Kakashi said soothingly as he kissed her tenderly. "That's just my clone. I'm putting that marker on you, so don't move, alright? You said you wouldn't..." He kissed her again and again - sweet little kisses. "Didn't you, hime?"

Naru was going to nod her head but thought better of it. Plus the lightning chakra his clone began using again was making her a little ditzy. More than normal. "Yes. But Kakashi, I don't want to use clones yet. I mean, we have a long time to be together if ya want to and maybe it'd be better if we wait until things, like if they get boring or something..."

"Whatever you want." He lifted her hair up to his nose and breathed it in. "You're pretty kinky to even think of that, my cute little pervert." He smiled at seeing her blush again. "I don't know - I might get jealous of my clone. No one's taking you but me."

"Yeah," Naruto agreed shyly, slowly moving her arm around him further.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah," she said again, before looking up at him and smiling goofily. She did have muscle aches or something like that in places she didn't even know she could really feel at all, but it wasn't too bad. The "pain" was more tired and tingly than anything. "You're pretty awesome, ya know?"

He nodded at his little wife with a self-satisfied look on his face again, making her gently swat him in the back with the hand she'd wrapped around his waist.

"Hey. That doesn't feel like the Hiraishin marker at all." She missed the warning look Kakashi gave his clone as it moved back to writing Kanji on her neck. "Am I wrong?"

"Hmm... we'll see." Not wanting her to get testy, Kakashi concentrated his chakra into his fingertips again and ran them over her neck and the one bite mark closer to her shoulder that didn't seem to be fading. She sighed and curled into him more, making his clone pause what he was doing and frown at him. He was bad, he knew, for wanting that big bad hickey to always stay visible like it was now, but seeing all of the rest of his marks fade so fast was such a downer. "Go to sleep, hime." She didn't even see his Sharingan activate as she lost consciousness.

Naru woke up hours later, feeling refreshed, frisky, and almost fully able to walk again. It wasn't until after she got out of the shower with him after another round when he dried her off that she saw it in the mirror: she had a giant-ass diamond on her back in the form of the Hatake crest. "You branded me!"

"No - now Naruto, well, yes I did," he dodged a punch that was sent at him. "Sort of, stop!"

"What the hell?! You said it was the Hiraishin marker you were putting on me," Naru said as she took another swing at him, aiming miserably because she was in tears. He grabbed her arms and jumped on top of her, pinning her to the bed underneath him.

"Listen to me! It's not actually a brand; it's a seal," Kakashi said, he wondered if the betrayal that he felt was due to the new bond between them - one that he doubted she was even aware of - or if it was just from the look in his almost-mate's eyes. Either way, it made him feel terrible.

"A seal?! How is that any better?!"

"Naruto," he called, catching her attention by calling her by her entire odd name, "this seal isn't complete but will protect you, and if you could look at the back of your neck, you'd see that I put the Hiraishin seal on you, too." He should have known that she'd signlessly pop out two shadow clones who hauled his ass off of her. She was sometimes too strong for either of their own good.

"It's there, Boss," Clone 1 said after turning over her original and picking up her long, damp hair. Clone 2 was fully dressed, somehow, and holding a kunai up to guard the original from Kakashi. Clone 1 only had bandages and panties on, which was also odd. "What do we do with this guy?" Naruto started to cry. Actually cry - and not because of physical pain or feely stuff!

"You could've just told me, ya know," she said miserably.

"I couldn't. Can you send them away? They're not... you, and I want to explain."

Naruto dispelled her clones who were insisting that they were Naruto, only that she was the boss and something else about them being cooler than her. "Go on: show me. Please, but don't touch me," the remaining and real Naru said.

Kakashi steeled himself before making a clone to ensure that she didn't run away from him. Naruto rolled her eyes dramatically and curled up under the covers, holding a pillow over her like a shield. The real Kakashi brought back a bunch of the scrolls he'd been holding. He handed them to her and tried to curl up next to her. Her sadness and feelings of being misled were really getting to him and he just wanted to hold her.

Naruto wasn't sure what was going on, but she could swear that she felt that he wanted something but she wasn't going to... "Fine," she grumbled, making an annoyed expression even as Kakashi nearly jumped on her as he cuddled her up close to him. This Kakashi was going to take some getting used to, although she figured he might only be acting like this now, and would CERTAINLY go back to being his stoic self when they were with other people.

She wasn't completely right by a long shot.

Naruto looked at the design Kakashi said was a seal, and didn't get it at all. It looked just like his clan crest - and there was certainly no reason the damn thing had to take up her entire back! "Do you have one of these?"

Kakashi nodded and pointed to his head. "I do. It's under my hair." He put his head down and pulled at his hair so that she could check it out.

"It's so small," she frowned after barely finding it. "Why the hell does mine take up my whole back?!"

Kakashi looked around guiltily. "I wanted everyone to see?"

"What?!" she squawked.

"Just finish it," his clone said lazily. The clone had grabbed Kakashi's Makeout Paradise and rolled his eyes when Kakashi glared at him and began to read as he sat on the edge of the bed.

"You'll allow me to finish it now?"

Naruto wanted to say no but felt an overwhelming pressure telling her to let him do it. "It won't hurt me? YOU won't hurt me?"

"No. We're nearly mated now and I don't want us to have any secrets. I won't hurt you. Ever," he promised.

"Well, I want that, too, but I've got a secret I have to keep from you," Naru admitted, thinking of her previous life. It was also weird being called "mated." Maybe it was a dog thing, although it's not like she went around using language like she was going to be laying eggs like a toad or something, so she didn't really get it.

"Is it classified?"

"Yes," she lied. Well, it would be classified if anyone other than Jiraiya or Shika knew about it, but no one else did. And that's how it was going to stay!

Kakashi knew that she lied immediately, but supposed he could live with one secret from his little wife. He certainly didn't plan to start telling her about his past sexual encounters or about most of his missions. She was too pure for that.

Out of nowhere, Naruto felt jealous, but it was gone as soon as she felt it. Weird. Giving up against her husband's bizarreness, she rolled over on her back and tried to cover her butt. Kakashi pulled the covers away and sat on her and began applying chakra to the seals his clone had outlined the night before. "Your ass makes a good stool. It's squishy." Naruto slapped herself in the face and began grumbling about his lack of filter, but something vital occurred to him. "Oh fuck! We didn't use a condom! But you're on birth control, right? All kunoichi…"

"I'm a jinchuuriki, babe. Medicines, poisons, anesthetics, and birth control won't generally work on me." Naruto withheld an evil chuckle, deciding to allow him to worry about it since he marked her the way he did. "ANYWAY, you said we're nearly mated. What does that mean?" She heard him grumbling behind her as she felt the prickling of lightning chakra deeply entering her skin, distinctly hearing something about "blondes," "vixen," and "pain in my ass."

"Maa, I need you to sign one of my summoning scrolls," Kakashi eventually said. He flicked her in the ass with his chakra when she abruptly moved to face him.

"I can't - well… Maybe? But I have to ask the toads."

"That's fine. We'll take whichever scroll you want with us."

"What are you doing here again, Naruto? And why did you bring a Ningen?"

"Maa, Naruto wants to sign the wolf contract," Kakashi said with one arm slung around her, the blonde tucked neatly against him. His other hand was in his Jonin vest pocket; the large summoning scroll slung over his back.

Naruto wished her husband would keep his mouth shut and yelped when he pinched her. "Ano, it's not that I necessarily want to summon anyone other than toads, 'Bunta, it's just that, well..."

"We're mated. Well almost. She has to sign the scroll," Kakashi said with an eye smile.

"Oh for fuck's sake," Gamabunta complained.

"I'd probably be more comfortable signing his fox contract, but worried that would be like super ironic or something. You know, because of the Kyuubi."

"Duh," the Toad Chief concluded. "I still think you're better suited for the fox contract, Naruto. That fox of yours is a pain in the ass and won't work with us, anyway."

"I brought that scroll, too," Kakashi added quite cheekily.

"If anyone in the village sees a fox tailing me, they're going to assassinate me right on the spot, 'ttebayo."

"So just don't use them in the village. You're supposed to partner with us, anyway," Gamabunta advised as he puffed on what looked like Gamakichi's pipe. "Just use the foxes to message your dog man."

"Woof," Kakashi added unhelpfully. The large toad rolled his eyes.

"Alright. It probably would make Ku-yuubi feel better. He hasn't been speaking to me since... well, you know," Naru blushed pink and turned away from both of them. She then waved giddily at Ma and Pa who were fast approaching

"Lucky you, then."

"Tell that amphibian to fuck off."

"He just said to fuck off." Bunta roared with laughter. "I guess let's do this, then." She watched as Kakashi opened the big scroll that was very much like the one she signed both recently and a lifetime ago. There were several Hatake names on it, and a few others at the beginning, including a couple of Senju. He signed it first and summoned a small firefox that was super cute, then she signed it and summoned an almost purple fox that was the size of a horse. "Oops - I mean, it's a pleasure to meet you!" Naruto bowed deeply to the big blue and purple fox who was looking at her and the area around them as if they all stank. "I'm U-" Kakashi pinched her on the ass, really hard this time. She glared back at him and started over. "My name is Hatake Naruto and I'd like to be your summoner, but I'm already a summoner of the toads, 'ttebayo."

"Tch. I hadn't been summoned to the human realm for nearly a century, and see that this remains the case. What is your relationship to the Kyuubi no Kitsune, Uzumaki?" the fox asked sharply, its brow lifting up as the new potential summoner kit turned various colors and looked at the Inuzuka-Hatake hybrid like she was going to pass out. "Leave us," she said to Kakashi and the toads.

Naruto waited until the others were a good distance away, and waited a little longer after hearing the toads whining about her being mated to a dog person and bringing a mega-fox to their homeworld.

"Lady Kitsune, I am indeed half-Uzumaki by birth, but Hatake by marriage - and the rest of all that stuff he did," Naru glared over at Kakashi and missed the amusement that crossed the big fox's face. "I am the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, but he is so much more to me than my tenant," she said warmly as she placed her tan hand over her seal with a smile. "He is my best friend and partner, and we are in our second life together." Naru bowed again.

"Tell her my name to make her believe you. I want to get the hell out of here."

"His name is Kurama." She saw the surprise that overtook the fox's cute large features. It had big violet eyes that were so pretty!

"Very well, no test for you then. Pity, I would've loved to chase you around, eating your little friends here on the mountain."

"Don't say that," Naru hissed. She looked around to make sure that none of the toads heard.

The fox let out a deep yip of what sounded like laughter. "My kind don't eat toads, sweetheart. We much prefer humans," she joked.

Hopefully, it was a joke, Naruto thought.

"Tell that asshole Kurama hello for me then." And with that, she was gone, leaving only a large puff of smoke.

"Insolence," Kurama grumbled. "Just wait until I tell Inari-sama."

"Are you related to the fox summons, Kurama?"

"Of course not! You know who my siblings are; who my father is! I have run into these lesser beings, though, and can tolerate their presence - normally."

"Oh Kami, Kurama! Would that lady fox be a good girlfriend for you?! She's really pretty! Crap: I didn't even get her name!"

"Just because you're full of dopamine and dog germs doesn't mean you can sass me, Naruto."

"Yare, yare."

"So is it all done? No test or anything?" Kakashi asked as he moseyed up.

"No. You?"

"Nah. They're a family summon. You know what this means, right?" Kakashi wiggled his eyebrows at her suggestively and whistled rudely at the toads, asking them to send him and his mate back exactly where they came from.

"Gladly, you Ningen Ass-brat! We're going to be discussing this, Naruto!" Gamabunta yelled, and before they knew it, they were back in Kakashi's bedroom hideout. He immediately dove on top of her, ripping more of her clothes off with a kunai while she squealed and scolded him.