AN: Hey guys! How's it been? Here's a brand new chapter that's very late. It took me forever to decide what to do with it.

- Figured a little filler wouldn't hurt... Especially not on a Naruto fic. Lol. Seriously though, I was going to do something else but it started to look silly so I scraped it. Decided it needed a look at the emotional impact of the situation this far.

- Let me know what you think about it.

- UNTIL NEXT TIME!

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Ino Yamanaka, daughter of one of the hidden leaf's greatest intelligence operatives, was currently at a loss. That loss was centered around the class clown, one Naruto Uzumaki. The hyperactive blond had (in the last few months) been doing better in class, seemingly completely forgotten about Sakura, and (according to forehead herself) had a girlfriend, the rest of the academy day blurred by as she tried to figure it out. None of this made sense.

At least it didn't until she started using her daddy's teachings and looked at the bigger picture... Naruto's grades started improving about the time Iwa and Konoha decided to start the ground work for an alliance. So... putting two and two together, this girl must be an Iwa nin!... Well not a full ninja (as she most likely was around their age group). As a side note, that also meant that Iwa was possibly looking to sending transfer students or something. There was one problem in this chain of logic that Ino could think of (massive assumptions aside).

'Even if Iwa is going to start sending transfer students as a sign of good faith... This girl must've been here a while before anything...'

Her line of thought was stopped when the root of the problem walked in and took his usual (recently changed) seat in the front row. The fact that he was on time for the beginning of the day would've been surprising had she not had more important things to worry about. Now was her chance to get answers, not just as gossip queen, but also as a training intel gatherer. She pulled out a make mirror and decided on upping the charm (never did she think it'd be for Naruto of all people) and was immediately in front of him with her elbows on his desk, chin in her hands, and an inviting look on her face. With the confidence of having his attention she launched her question.

"So... Naruto, I heard you got your a girlfriend..."

Unfortunately, she never had him. Right now, the blond boy was both confused and afraid. He was leaning back and had his arms up defensively. Ino (who had never talked to him before) was suddenly interested in his personal life. He had no idea what was happening. The other day Kuro-chan said that big bro was planning something for his birthday and now he was being interrogated by Ino. He must've been frozen in fear too long because Ino went from from super (creepily) friendly to totally angry (which actually caused him to calm down a bit) and grabbed his collar and demand answers (slightly pissed her charm didn't work). Both were unaware of the fact that the entire class was listening in (whispering here and there).

"Dammit Naruto! I know you're hanging out with an Iwa girl! Who is this girlfriend of yours!?"

Naruto managed to pry himself free as she yelled. As usual, he spoke his thoughts out loud (and was a little slow on the uptake).

" Girlfriend? Who said I have... Wait, Iwa girl.. girlfriend,.. girl.. friend... Oh! You must be talking about Kuro-chan! Yeah, she's great."

Everyone stood still... Class started in a few minutes. With the other students silent, it left the floor open for the class troublemaker.

"Did you know that she's the granddaughter of the Tsuchikage? And she's also looking to be the next kage of her village, just like me!"

Just as Ino was about to launch her next question Iruka decided to walk in and start class. What was unusual about this was the Iwa girl he had with him.

"Today, we have a guest who for a few days. Class, meet Kurotsuchi, a student from Iwa... "

Before anyone could be surprised, Naruto yelled loud enough to get everyone's attention (more so for content and context. Not volume).

"KURO-CHAN!"

Then he ran to her with his arms out and she did something super suprising. She accepted his hug without hesitation.

"How's it going Stupid?"

He let her go and made a sound of annoyance before switching to accusations and pouting. The casualness of their interaction furthering the state of deep shock to the student body (aside from a select few).

"Do you have to call me that!? You do it just annoy me, don't?"

She crossed her arms with a smug smirk on her face.

"Of course I do. Making you miserable is my life's best work."

That's when the teacher finally got over his surpruise and decided to interrupt and try to start class. Well, As much as he could with catatonic students.

"Naruto! Back to your seat!..."

Composing himself fully as Naruto did as instructed and walked back to his place, Iruka continued from where he was interrupted (not that anyone was in the right mind to listen). After motioning for Kurotsuchi to stand beside him, he continued.

"... As I was saying, this is Kurotsuchi. She is currently studying in Iwa to be a nin. She's in this class for the next few days. In time this academy will select a few students to do the same in her village. Would you like to say a few words?"

The whole class was now listening with more attention than they ever had before in their lives. The girl adopted a confident stance and spoke (a large gin that felt a little too familiar).

"Hi everyone! My name is Kurotsuchi. I'm that idiot's best friend, and I will be Tsuchikage one day. So don't you forget it!"

As she went to take her seat (next to Naruto of course), a few people in the room had distinctly different reactions than most.

Iruka started the lesson with a few things running around in the back of his mind. He could tell that the two were close and it warmed him a little. Despite his initial trepidation, Naruto had become something of a little brother to him over the years. To see him genuinely happy was something always nice. Of all the potential complicated things to come out of the recent and fragile peace talks, Naruto had found a genuine friend. A positive consequence if he ever saw one. Plus, the fact they both had dreams of becoming the Kage of their respective villages was amusing. If they ever actually achieved it, then the future of the alliance was already looking bright.

' Here's to hoping they stay friends for a long time.'

Sakura sat next to Shikamaru and Choji, unfazed. Having seen the two a few days ago and accepting the absurdity of people had made it easy to take. The fact she publicly associated herself with Naruto was a little surprising but, hey, she was from a different village. Shikamaru just really hadn't cared about it. Naruto's personal life was his business. Who was he to question it when made a friend with a foreign girl? That sounded way to troublesome to think about, so he best not. Choji had been a little surprised at first but quickly found himself happy for the boy. He knew Naruto had a hard time making real friends. Sure, he and Shikamaru had accepted him and hung out from time to time but this looked different. She actively wanted to hangout with him and that was nice.

'Good for him.'

Sasuke and Hinata sat in the back as usual. Sasuke thought about the information he had just learned. Naruto had become a good friend of the Tsuchikage's granddaughter in such a short time. He didn't know what to think about this. Perhaps further observation was needed. Hinata couldn't help but glance at the two every once in a while. It was obvious that they got along super well. Kurotsuchi had publicly stood by Naruto. Something Hinata herself hadn't been able to do. She needed more information.

'Mission's not over.'

For everyone else, the day had started off so surreal that they couldn't think much.

The walk home had Naruto thinking. He got to spend the whole day with Kuro-chan and it was awesome. He'd only known her for a few days but they were fast to get along. She wanted to be Kage, He wanted to be Kage. He liked to train, she liked to train. She even admitted ramen was awesome. But what would happen if everyone found out and made her hate him like they did? What if-

A hand was in his face and Kuro-chan was talking to him.

"You okay there, stupid? You looked kinda spaced out."

"Sorry, just thinking about things."

She raised and eyebrow.

"I didn't know you could think."

And like that his worries were gone. They argued the whole way back to the apartment and found Deidara a sleep on the couch. They decided to draw all over his face. Needless to say that he was not pleased when he woke up. The scream could be heard from Ichiraku Ramen. Two kids and a waitress shared a good laugh.

'Just enjoy it while you can.'