So got this chapter uploaded faster than I thought i would, turns out in quarantine you have MORE free time...huh who would've thought? Anyways heres the next installment and..

Ploytoid: why are you talking so slowly?

Because the last time you were around you changed my script, I called myself a big dumb to all of my adoring fans.

Ploytoid: can't adore you that much you ARE a big dummmmmbbbbb *falls through a hole that opened up beneath him*

*laughing over the lever* ah I do that all the time, but it never gets old. Anyways i don't have anyone here to do the disclaimer so I'll do it myself, but before I do a word from our sponsors over at Ra- *noise from off stage* what do you mean we don't have a sponsor? Dammit! Tell me what you thought, I have to go fix this, I don't own anything, Kishimoto does.

Chapter 17 - Team 7 is Who?

"Ah Naruto, what brings you here so early?" Ino was genuinely surprised to see the unruly blonde this early. It was only 7 in the morning, Ino had been asked by her father to do the early morning care of the shops flowers, which was the only reason she was up. They weren't supposed to be at the academy until nine for team announcements.

Looks like she made the right choice, as the sight before her had definitely got her curiosity. He had never come to her shop before, and he was hold what appeared to be a box of chocolates. Interesting, very interesting. On Naruto's side, he could count the amount of times he visited the Yamanaka shop on one hand. The chocolate had been bought early, with a bouquet he intended to go apologize to Hinata before class started.

Buuuuutt...he knew jack shit about flowers, there meanings, and which ones to buy when. Which was why he was hoping Inoichi or his wife would be working, he could ask them for advice on what to buy, because he really didn't want to tell Ino why he needed to buy flowers. Well it wasn't so much as he minded saying he was in a relationship with Hinata so much as telling Ino he was in a relationship with Hinata would most likely bring unnecessary trouble.

But if he wanted to say sorry then he'd have to deal with it. "Hello Ino" he said with an exasperated sigh "what a surprise to see you working so early."

"Hey what's that supposed to mean" she shouted with a tick mark on her forehead.

Naruto held up his hand "what I mean is I was expecting your mom or dad to be working, we have team selection after all I figured you would be getting as much sleep as possible."

"Hmpph" she crossed her arms "I'll have you know the Hokage has my father working on a very important mission right now, so he asked me to do the morning work. Besides i grew most of the flowers you see here." She finished with an over confident smile.

"Its scary to think what would happen if you put this much effort into you're training" Naruto mumbled

"What was that?"

"Nothing, nothing" he frantically waved his hands "anyways, I need your help, I know next to nothing about flowers."

"Ok Naruto" Ino said talking in a more business-like tone "what's the occasion? Why do you need to buy flowers?"

"As an apology, I was supposed to meet someone somewhere last night and couldn't make it."

Ino got a sly grin "ohh could you be referring to the Hyuga gala? My father and I were invited but he couldn't make it and I had to work at the shop."

"Maybe, maybe not" Naruto replied with an indifferent shrug, he wasn't going to make this easy for her.

"Well try this" she picked up a bouquet of white and yellow rose looking flowers "I think they would match Hinata's complexion very well."

Naruto grabbed them and gave Ino a sideways look "who said they were for Hina-chan?"

"Well it's obvious you two have a thing going on. Almost the entire class knows. It's like the worst best kept secret we share. Besides I caught you two holding hands at the sushi bar the other day. You two aren't as slick as you think."

"Fine you caught me, we're dating now how much for the flowers?" He asked in a fake snarky attitude.

"Well I was going to give you a discount but for the attitude they're on the house."

"Huh? Thanks but why?"

Ino grinned "because we might be on a team together, and we're not really friends you idiot. Which is my fault for mostly focusing on Sasuke but I don't know, seeing you go from dead last to tied for top male with Sasuke made me think I should take things more serious."

Naruto gave Ino a confused look. She was acting strange, up until know she had been normal Ino. More worried about her looks than her ninja career. This was completely new. Did she come back as well?

"Hey Ino, do you know a man named Tobi? Or a girl named Mirai?"

Ino looked confused "no I don't Naruto. Should I?"

Naruto shook his head, 'new timeline different Ino I guess.'

"Nah just asking, anyways thanks but you know as well as I do that you're going to be teamed up with Choji and Shikamaru."

"I don't know about that, between the two of us" she looked around and started whispering "my father assumed that's what would happen but he came home last night upset saying something about the teams being messed up."

Naruto had a sweat drop on his forehead, why was she whispering? The flower shop was empty. And why was she being so friendly all of sudden? He didn't mind it but it was just coming out of nowhere. "Well then maybe we will be on a team, but I need to get going to Hinata's" he started running out the door "see ya Ino."

Ino watched him leave with a sigh "bye Naruto-kun" she said quietly to herself, returning to her work.

In the Hokage's office

"Hello Hiruzen" Danzo sat across from the Hokage, sipping on a small glass of Sake.

"Hello Danzo, I assume you're already aware of the team placements for the graduates" Hiruzen asked.

Danzo nodded before sitting down and placing his folder on Hiruzen's desk. "Yes I have."

Hiruzen raised an eyebrow "is that all you have to say? I figured you would disagree with Naruto's team."

"I am not so foolish as to dismiss Hashirama's Will of Fire belief so easily. It is what gave him the strength to beat the feared Madara Uchiha and led Tobimara-sama to pick you instead of me. Having him on the same team with the Hyuga Heiress will undoubtedly help him get stronger for now. Later on however such bonds will only serve to weaken him. Should something happen to her he will be devastated and vulnerable. I am more interested in his other teammate. Why?"

Hiruzen chuckled "that would be a secret Danzo."

Danzo shrugged "fair enough Hiruzen. As for the rest it certainly has unique battlefield applications. What made you change up tradition?"

"You know as well as I do that tradition is just another word for routine. And routine is predictable, predictability gets ninja killed."

Danzo nodded sagely "to true Hiruzen. I'm glad to see we agree on something. As for why I'm here, sometime ago you asked me to get an update on Iwa through my ROOT ninja." He tapped the folder "this was all I could acquire. It would seem that the veterans have a deep rooted hatred for Konoha, most likely caring scars from the last war. But the younger generation seem indifferent."

Sarutobi flipped the folder open and was surprised to see a bunch of medical profiles of several different ninja. He looked at Danzo, his face asking an obvious question. "If you recall one of my spies was a medical ninja in Iwa's biggest hospital. I had her take a look at all medical records she could find to see if Iwa had any hidden Gekke Genkai or strong ninja we didn't know about. That is what she was able to dig up."

Danzo chuckled "speaking of dig" he pulled out a scroll and channelled chakra into it. Out popped several rolled up maps. "My construction worker was able to get basic maps of the tunnel systems in the mountains surrounding Iwa. Though he did die passing this along to my ninja at the border. So this is all the info we have on Iwa construction for now."

Hiruzen scanned over the maps quickly, finding one big flaw. "Danzo you should already know these maps are from the last great war. They're outdated."

Danzo nodded "yes, some of these maps are probably useless, but something is better than nothing."

Hirzuen rolled the map up and sealed them back into their scroll, placing it in his desk. "I'll think of a use for this, thank you that will be all Danzo."

Danzo nodded and disappeared in a swirl of leaves. Hiruzen coughed into his hands for a minute before straightening his robes. "Alright Takemi-san bring them in."

And in walked three jonin, One woman two men. "Hello Asuma, Kakashi, Kurenai.

"Clack"... "clack"... "clack"...

Hinata wearily opened her eyes and yawned. Some kind of tapping noise had woken her up from a very comfortable sleep. She looked towards the source and just managed to catch sight of a pebble bouncing off of her window. "Clack" she got up quickly, only one person would be doing that.

Scratching her head she opened her window, caught another thrown rock and then threw it back towards a smiling Naruto, who had flowers? A bunch of white and yellow roses and a heart shaped container which her stomach was hoping had chocolate. "Good morning Naruto-kun, why?" She gestured towards him and the small pile of rocks at his feet.

Naruto grinned "my way of saying sorry for yesterday night, not making it to your banquet. These" he held up the items in his hands "are the best I can do until I start making money."

Hinata yawned "go to the door Naruto-kun, i'll be there to unlock it in a second." Naruto nodded and went around the house. Hinata quickly put her jacket on, as she exited a side branch member outside her door bowed.

"Hinata-sama."

"Good morning, do you know if my father is awake?"

"Yes, Hinata-sama he left earlier to deal with some business at the other end of the compound."

"Thank you, send word that Naruto will be having breakfast in the house, I don't want him to walk in and be surprised."

The man bowed again "yes Hinata-sama, I'll get the message to him." He turned and began walking, Hinata following him to the kitchen.

As she turned she called out over her shoulder "also let Naruto-kun in on your way out, thank you!"

She reached into her fridge and brought some milk. Always needed milk when you're eating chocolate. She heard her blond boy come in through the door. "Over here Naruto-kun, through the door on your left." She had wondered why he didn't show last night, even been a little hurt. But she was a big girl, and knew this village wasn't friendly to Naruto. She couldn't be mad at him without hearing why first.

Naruto walked up and kissed Hinata on top of her head, she blushed slightly still not used to such open displays of affection. Even though they were alone at the moment, her heart raced at the thought of being caught. "So Naruto-kun, what happened last night?"

Naruto placed the flowers in an open vase, sat down and started staring at the table. He was trying to figure out how to word whatever he was going to say. If Hinata didn't know any better she'd have thought he was trying to stare a hole into the table. "I don't know how to start this so I apologize in advance, Jezebel is back in town."

Hinata gagged on the piece of chocolate she had just chewed and froze. Her hands were starting to shake, she could still feel the lightning coursing through her body. "Keep going Naruto-kun." Three words, but she barely got them out.

"The brunette with the Mizukage I mentioned? That's her, she's going by Rozu now figured that out when a clone of mine escorted them to their hotel. I don't know what happened to her in Kiri but now she's all but abandoned her mission to kill me. She changed her target to Alistair."

"Her partner?" Hinata was confused, weren't they supposed to be working together?

"Yeah, I don't know why, but according to her, they have some sort of history together in their past lives."

Hinata narrowed her eyes, she knew that look on Naruto's face, something about this situation was bothering him deeply. "What's wrong Naruto-kun?"

"Oh it's just the look on her face when she told me all she wanted to do was kill Alistair...it reminded me of Sasuke, when he was after Itachi. Part of me wants to...save her i guess? Show her revenge isn't worth it? It's messed up and doesn't make sense I know but still.."

Hinata sighed and hugged Naruto from behind, one of her hands playing with his hair "no Naruto it does make sense. You want to save everyone, it's just who you are. You can't help it."

She heard footsteps and quickly stepped back as Hiashi walked into the room. "Good morning Daughter, Naruto."

Naruto stood up and bowed slightly "good morning Hiashi-sama."

Hiashi quickly noted the new flowers and open container of Hinata's favorite chocolate (dark raspberry) and deduced what was going on. "Hinata missed you at the banquet yesterday."

"Yes sir, I was helping the Mizukage find her way back to her hotel room."

"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow "well so long as you apologized I guess" he walked over to Hinata "don't be late to school, it starts in just under an hour."

"Yes father" he patted her on the head before walking out of the kitchen.

Naruto looked towards Hinatab"that went better than I was expecting."

"Yeah with the Mizukage in town, many of the elders have been pushing him to try and make some good relations with her for future business."

Naruto glanced at the clock on the wall "come on Hinata, we better start making our way to the Academy." He held out his hand and Hinata gladly accepted it. As they walked out and got nearer to the compound gate, Hinata could feel Naruto's grip start to lessen, he was going to let go. With a sudden burst of courage, Hinata gripped his hand tighter.

Naruto knowing her intentions glanced over to her "are you sure Hinata? They're only rumors at the moment, but the second it becomes public knowledge we're dating you'll be targeted as well."

Hinata nodded "they don't matter Naruto-kun. I'm not afraid of them, I'm allowed to fight back."

"Alright" Naruto pulled Hinata close, so they were almost walking shoulder to shoulder, though because of a steady diet and workout routine Naruto had grown a fair bit taller than her, so her head reached his shoulders. Nothing else was said as the two walked silently, and Hinata braved the confused and disgusted looks.

"Are you sure that is wise Hokage-sama? I thought it was tradition for us to choose our teams." Kakashi asked, watching the students filter in through Hiruzen's crystal ball.

"Yes I am sure Kakashi, the only thing decided for you was that Sasuke be your student. I hope you teach your teams well." He said the last part to the other ninja in the room. Kurenai nodded, her team would be rather...unique to put it lightly. She had no idea how she was going to make it work, but she'd find a way. Asuma on the other hand was smiling. His team would be badass, he was going to make sure of it.

Kakashi seemed to be the only one with a problem with Hiruzen's decision. "If I may Hokage-sama, i was hoping to test and train Naruto myself along with Sasuke. They seem to be friends, so I was hoping by putting them together they would push each other to be stronger."

"I know why you want Naruto, Kakashi. And while that would be poetic, Kiba does that job far better. They spar on almost a daily basis. Kiba pushes Sasuke further in a single day than Naruto did in their entire time in the academy."

"Might I ask about my team? I'm curious as to why you broke up the Ina-Shika-Cho for the first time in ages." Asuma spoke for the first time.

"I had the idea of making your team a tactical team Asuma, not meant for any one role but able to fill as many as possible in any given situation, and while we're on the topic Kurenai your team is made with recon and espionage in mind. How you mold them into that will be up to you."

"Hey" Kakashi said looking into the glass closer and drawing everyone's attention to a certain couple walking into the classroom holding hands "is it too late to change your mind now, Hokage-sama?"

"It's about damn time" exclaimed Kiba, gathering everyone's attention to Naruto and Hinata as they entered "for Kami sake you two made it obvious enough." Kiba walked over and placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder grinning "and when he disappoints you Hinata don't be afraid to talk to me ok?"

Naruto leaned in "Kiba I don't smell like a wet dog, I'm already better than you."

Hinata giggled as Kiba fake flinched backwards "ouch Naruto, really know how to hit someone where it hurts." Ino now approached and punched Kiba in the arm "hey what was that for?"

"Don't listen to him Hinata, he's talking with his ego, but congrats and just so you know" she leaned in and whispered to Hinata "I totally called it when you two started eating lunch together."

"So Naruto" *munch munch munch* why'd you finally stop chasing Sakura?" Take a guess who asked that question.

Naruto grabbed the back of his head "well for one she doesn't hit me unless we're sparring."

Sakura looked away with a huff "well it's only because you were so annoying about it, idiot. But you know..congrats I guess."

Naruto got a sly smile as he saw a particular brooding emo staring out the window "so Sasuke when are you going to man up and get yourself a lady? A man I don't judge?"

"When one of them finally becomes a decent ninja worth dating."

Kiba walked over and clapped Sasuke on his arm "now don't be like that Sasuke, there are hundreds of ladies in Konoha and almost all of them want to get in your pants."

"Most of them just want to get with the Last Uchiha in the Leaf, not me. When one of them changes that fact I'll consider it until then I only have one goal." He went back to staring out the window, absent mindedly petting Hanrana and Naruto sighed, Sasuke was doing better at being social but he still hadn't given up on that. Guess he could only hope for so much.

"Wow dude, mood killer much?" Kiba sat beside Sasuke and Akamaru hopped onto the table, he started sniffing Hanrana but one quick swat from her wing and he was in Kiba's lap.

Naruto and Hinata went to their seats in the back and as they passed Shikamaru he lifted his head up and said "you keep getting more troublesome by the day Naruto. You know my mom heard you went from dead last to top of your class? She's been making dad train me extra hard because of that."

Naruto grinned "sorry Shika, but you need the training, your brain will only get you so far."

"Whatever" he mumbled and went back to his nap.

Naruto stared out at his classmates. All of them were so...different compared to when they originally graduated from the Academy. Some more than others but there was definitely an improvement and while Naruto didn't want to sound egotistical he liked to think he had something to do with it.

Outside the classroom Iruka was gathering his thoughts while Mizuki idly tossed a kunai into the air. "So Iruka, ready to say good bye to this class? It'll be awhile before we have this many promising students in one classroom you know?"

"Don't say that, every class has the same potential for greatness this one does."

Mizuki sighed and planted the kunai firmly in the table he was sitting at "of course you'd say that and of course they do but that doesn't answer my question."

"Well I've graduated several classes now, but it never gets any easier, you understand right? This will be the first graduates you send off into the world."

"Yeah" he stood up, "it will be a bother if I learned any of them got hurt out in the field or Kami forbid die."

"Well Mizuki the best advice I can give you is to trust them and their sensie's. We've done everything we can on our end now it's up to them to go further and achieve their full potential." He stacked his folders together "now lets go, we have work to do."

Iruka walked through the door and couldn't help but remember four years ago when these kids (Minus Naruto) first started the Academy and most of them barley knew how to hold a kunai, let alone use it properly. "Hello everyone" nobody bothered looking at him, he cleared his throat "ahem...HELLO EVERYONE" His head grew to comically large proportions and the class grew quiet.

"It fills my heart with pride too see each and everyone of you wearing your headbands proudly and I am proud to say congratulations on becoming a gennin. As you all know we devide you all into three man cells with one jonin sensie. I'll call out what team you're in and who your sensie will be. They will be coming here themselves to get you. Give them all the respect you give me because they're going to be in charge of you for the foreseeable future."

Naruto felt a little anxiety, things weren't too terribly different from his past, but was it different enough to change the team formations? "Now Teams one through six and team nine are still in rotation so starting with team seven, Sasuke Uchiha" Naruto new that much "Sakura Haruno" Sakura let out a happy squeal and gave Ino a peace sign "Kiba Inuzuka, your Instructor is Kakashi Hatake."

...

...

'Ok, ok. I assumed as much, i got that part right. But damn...I need to make sure i get the Wave mission now..wait, with the civil war being over will Gato even be able to get into a seat of power?

"Team Eight: Naruto Uzumaki" he had Kurenai-sensie? Damn. "Hinata Hyuga" at least he had that much "Ino Yamanaka, your instructor will be Kurenai Yui" What? Ino, Choji, Shikamaru, Hinata and Naruto bolted up right and started looking at one another. Why, was probably the question in everyone's mind at the moment.

That only left "Shikamaru Nara, Shino Aburame and Choji Akamitchi, you will be Team Ten and your instructor will be Asuma Sarutobi. They will be arriving here shortly, so please be patient and if anyone has any questions Mizuki and I will be in the faculty office."

Iruka walked out with Mizuki leaving the kids by themselves. "Ino's dad wasn't kidding about teams being messed." Naruto muttered to himself.

"What was that Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked.

"I said Hina-chan this is all messed up. What do we do?"

Ino walked over to the couple "so I guess we're a team now?"

"Yeah I guess" Naruto responded "I was shocked they dismantled the Ino-Shika-Cho though, sorry I guess you were expecting to be paired with Shikamaru and Choji?"

"Yeah" Ino said somewhat dejectedly "our families have had use training all year under that assumption."

"Well if it helps Ino-san, I look forward to working with you."

Ino gave a weak smile "thanks Hinata, I'm sorry if I sounded disappointed, I don't mind being on a team with you and Naruto."

Naruto gave a thumbs up and stood up "I'll be right back Hina-chan, Ino." He walked over to the brooding emo where Sakura had joined him and Kiba.

Kiba grinned "hey Naruto, nice work on getting on the same team as your girlfriend, and you got Ino too. Your team is nothing but babes!...auck!"

He was promptly smashed on the head by Sakura, cracking the wooden bench slightly. "Hmph.. a dog will be a dog I suppose."

"I don't mind Sakura, but I did want to give you some advice about your sensie, Hatake."

That got Sasuke's attention, he finally looked over to Naruto. "You know Hatake?"

"I'm surprised you don't Sasuke, he is the famous Copy Cat Ninja of the Leaf. I'll let you all figure out what that means, but what I wanted to tell you was that he's notorious for being at least two hours late for everything."

"Wait so we're supposed to wait here two whole hours?"

"That's bullshit"

Sasuke sat silent for a moment "you know where we can find him, can't you Naruto?"

"I have an idea of where he might be, he is seen frequently around the stone memorial. That's where you can find him."

Sasuke stood up "thank you Naruto, come on you two, if he's going to make me wait then I'll just go to him myself."

"Yeah" cheered Kiba hopping over his desk Akamaru right behind him.

"I guess" sighed Sakura, following Kiba.

Sasuke nodded to Naruto before exiting the door. And just as Sasuke left, a beared man wearing a sash around his belt walked in, catching everyone elses attention. "Team Eight, I'm Asuma Sarutobi let's go." Shino, Choji, and Shikamaru walked out leaving Naruto left with his new team.

Ten minutes later

"So Naruto" said Ino between the bites of her sandwich "do you know anything about Kurenai-sensie?"

"Well" he replied eating his own bento "not much unfortunately, I know she is considered Konoha's genjutsu mistress. Genjutsu is her specialty, some put her on the same level as some Uchiha when it comes to it."

In the back of his mind he also said to himself 'also she's got a psychotic best friend who loves sadism a bit to much.'

"Wow, she sounds powerful then, I wonder what she's- what the…. Ahh"

Ino screamed as Naruto flashed over her, his sword cutting a slice through a tentacle of wood that had risen from the floor and was about to swipe at her.

"What is that?" She got up and Hinata looked closer at it.

"No time" said Naruto "look" several bulges had appeared in the wooden floor. Popping out of the woodwork (quite literally) more wooden tentacles came this time whipping at all three of the children.

Naruto made an impressive display of cutting through any whips that got to close, Hinata using her gentlefist style to tale down any that Naruto missed and Ino was using a pair of kunai to defend herself. "What is happening?" She shouted when they had a small breather.

"I don't know" responded Naruto, using the flat side of his blade to block a strike that sent him to the back of the classroom. He bounced against the wall before flipping off of it and over a set of wooden vines, slicing them as he landed. The only wooden style user he knew was Yamoto-sensie. But the only person brazen enough to do this in Konoha at the moment was Danzo and his root program.

But why was he attacking Ino and Hinata? Danzo preferred things to be as quiet as possible. If he was truly trying to capture Naruto he'd need to kill Ino and Hinata to leave no witnesses, but if he killed them there would be an uproar. To much noise for that. These vines weren't letting up either. He cut one two more popped up.

"Really kit is it that easy to trick you? Don't you recognize a genjutsu when you see one."

'This is a genjutsu? But how, and when was it cast? It makes since if Kurenai is testing us, but wouldn't Hinata recognize this?"

"Well did she ever tell you how Kuernai tested the original Team Eight?"

'Come to think of it no. But it doesn't matter Kurama, these vines aren't giving me enough to time to dispel the genjutsu.' He looked over to Hinata who was jumping from desk to desk, her byakugan wasn't activated and this early she still needed to weave hand signs to use it.

"Well kit, if you don't have any time, you have the means to make some."

'What is that supposed to mean furball?"

"Oh for Kami's sake do I have to write out everything? Use your shadow clones to buy yourself enough time to dispel this technique."

"Oh right thanks Kurama I owe you one.' Narutu backflipped and made a cross sign "Kagebunshin no jutsu!" Two clones appeared on either side of Naruto wielding their blades. They defended Naruto long enough for him to make the tiger sign.

Ino had had better days before. She was bound by the vines and hanging upside down, just able to keep her skirt from falling.

Hinata was barely managing to avoid the same fate. But suddenly both of their visions went black. When color finally came back into their view they were sitting back on the ground around their food, and Ino noticed that only half of her lunch had been eaten.

She turned and saw the confused look in Hinata's eye "hey what just happened?"

"Easy" said Naruto hopping to his feet "our new sensie is a master of Genjutsu, look at the chalk board" when they had been eating it was blank but now it had words written on it.

Ino walked up and began reading it.

"Team Eight my name is Kurenai Yuhi, if you're reading this than congratulations you passed my first test and broke my Tsuru Sakushi (whipping vine) genjutsu. Your next task is to find me, and I'll give you one hint: the snakes favorite snack. The time right now is 1 P.M. you have until 3 P.M. to find me. If you don't I am sending you back to the academy no questions asked. Good luck."

Naruto sweatdropped, he didn't remember Hinata ever saying Kurenai had a sadistic side. 'The snakes favorite snack? Is she talking about Anko and her dango addiction?'

"What the hell is this bullshit?" Ino stomped over to the board and threw a piece of chalk at it "so first she attacks us and then sends us on a wild goose chase? The snakes favorite snack, what like a rat? Does she expect us to look at pet shops for" she looked at the clock "and hour and a half!? We were under her genjutsu for thirty minutes?"

Hinata got close to Naruto and whispered "this was nothing like my original test. All we had to do was spar with her until she thought we were strong enough to be genin."

"Hmmm..new timeline new Kurenai maybe? Ino" he called out "don't worry about the riddle I think I know the answer to it."

"What is that supposed to mean Naruto? You know which pet store we have to go to?"

"Well that's the thing I believe the snakes favorite snack is dango not rats." Naruto chuckled at Ino's confused looks. "I'll explain on the way." He opened the door and the ladies walked away, around the corner Mizuki and Iruka popped out their heads.

Iruka slid down the wall with a sigh "thank Kami they broke out of her genjutsu."

Mizuki slid down besides him "you're telling me. It was hard not to break them out of it myself. I wish we would have had more warning than her just saying 'hey im doing this thing don't interfere."

"Kurenai Yuhi is one of four women in Konoha known as the Ice queens of the Leaf. Four women many men have tried to get with but have gotten turned down. These Kunoichi prefer their jobs over their love life."

"Ok?" Ino asked confused "what does that have to do with her riddle?"

"Well Ino-san" Ino was surprised to hear Hinata speak up, she didn't think Hinata would be interested in this sort of gossip. "One of the other Ice Queens is Anko Miterashi, a former pupil of the traitor Orochimaru."

"So this Anko women is the snake mentioned in the riddle then?"

Naruto grinned, Ino wasn't as dumb as she appeared to be "that's right Ino, and Anko Miterashi is known for her love of dango."

"So we need to find the dango shop she likes? Ok that's easier to manage but do you know how many dango shops there are in Konoha?"

Naruto laughed out loud, they passed the school gate. "I feel like this is cheating." Hinata knew what he meant, there was a dango shop no to far from the road that lead to the forest of death, Anko's preferred hideaway.

"What do you mean Naruto?"

"Right sorry it's this way. I've seen Anko come in and out of one shop in particular."

An hour later

"Alright I'm pretty sure it's this one you guys" Naruto said confidently.

"You've said that about the last three stores we checked" Ino answered with an exasperated sigh.

"Well it's not my fault Anko frequents every dango shop in Konoha." They entered and immediately got met with resistance.

"What are you doing here brat?" This was said by a waiter behind a wooden podium right past the door. "We won't serve you or your delinquent friends. Now get lost."

"Wait" said Ino "we just need to know if Kurenai Yui is here, we're supposed to be here students meeting her here?"

The man sneered "yeah right, why would a distinguished shinobi of Konoha want to teach the likes of you?"

"Hey'" shouted Ino indignantly "what's your problem? What did we ever do to you?"

"My problem? Listen lady, I already told you to beat it….so sorry enjoy your day" so busy was he focusing on the three children in front of him, he didn't bother to look at the hooded figures that walked past, he simply opened the door and let them in with a bow.

When he looked up the children were walking away, if he bothered to follow them, he would have seen them pop out of existence the moment they got around the corner.

Once they where past him, Ino dropped her hood. "Naruto, what was THAT? and how did you know he was going to say such awful things?"

Naruto chuckled sadly "i might have played one too many pranks on this place in the past, got a semi permanent ban here, but hey Kurenai-Sensie doesn't know that, so I can't be angry with her."

Hinata passed a glare over her shoulders, that man hated Naruto. In the future even after the pain attack he followed a group that's sole purpose was to take Naruto down. She would deal with him before he became a problem.

"Ah there she is" Naruto pointed.

"That's Kurenai-Sensie? She's so pretty."

Kurenai wasn't looking at the three yet, more focused on the dango in front of her. Her black hair fell just enough to frame her face.

Naruto walked over and Kurenaj looked up with a start, but grinned none the less. "Well, well, well, I wasn't expecting you lot for another twenty minutes. Congrats on beating my expectations. I am curious though what path did you take to learn I was here?"

Naruto smiled and grabbed the back of his head "please Kurenai-sensie, like I wouldn't know who Anko Miterashi is."

Ino didn't miss the emphasis he placed on the word I. Nor the sour look in Kurenai's eyes when he said that. "Fair enough, please all of you sit. I have food coming so hope you're hungry."

Naruto pulled his hood over his face as he sat down, nearer to the wall, Hinata beside him and Ino sat beside Kurenai. 'Right the patrons here might not enjoy Naruto's company. Though his cloak does a good job of hiding his features.

"Right" she said clapping her hands "let me start this, you've officially passed my test, congratulations you three, you are now my students. The Hokage has decided this team to be advanced recon and espionage, so it's up to me to make sure you guys learn how to fill that role. And for that to start we need to know each other a little better."

She paused as a waiter came by with three separate plates of dango sticks and placed them on the table. "Thank you, anyways lets get to know each other first. I'll begin by saying I am considered the Genjutsu Mistresses of Konoha. That genjutsu I cast on you was a gennin level one. But I have used it to effectively shut down an entire team of Jonin. I like my training and my friends, but dislike bullies. How about you Naruto?"

"Hmmm...my name is Naruto Uzumaki I've recently started using a sword so I hope to learn how to wield it properly, i like ramen and frogs and my dream one day is to become the Hokage."

"I'm Ino Yamanaka, I like working at my parents flower shop, as well as growing my own personal garden. And I want to um.. she looked down slightly embarrassed "I want to learn how to create poison from the flowers i grow." She seemed to be embarrassed by that fact.

"Not a bad goal Ino, I have a friend who can point you in the right direction. And last but not least.." she looked at Hinata.

"I am Hinata Hyuga, i like many things, most of which or small and fluffy. My dream is to one day abolish the caged bird seal from my clan entirely."

Kurenai nodded, grabbing her chin. "A worthy goal indeed Hinata." Kurenai stood up, "alrighty then, starting tomorrow we will meet at training ground eleven no later than eight in the morning, understood?"

"Hai Kurenai-sensie" the three responded.

"Good, see you tomorrow then."

Ploytoid: ok that was a pretty decent chapter, you know ok compared to my stories and...hey this is normally the part where you stop me.

*slumped over a bottle of Vodquila* man I don't even care any more, you do you.

Ploytoid: yikes, you okay buddy? *picks up the bottle and turns it over to reveal its empty*

Man I don't have a sponsor, I never had a sponsor. What the hell have I been doing here then? Huh? HUH?

Ploytoid: right I need to fix this, maybe if you all share some encouraging word to author here it...might help? Maybe? I don't know *ducks a theown bottle* ah hell now he's throwing things...IM GONNA NEED SOME HELP IN HERE!