AN: apparently, if you upload more than one chapter in a time span of 24 hours, the "updated" section of the story will not update. Like, it will show the "updated" time of the previous update,and consequently, my story did not go up in the "sort by update" section and that just sucks, since I had tried something new in chapter 6, and it did not reach out to people. Well, anyways, lets continue with the new chapter.

X-X

"A Jashin cultist, you say?" The hokage asked.

"Yeah." Asuma replied, way too casual for talking to his leader.

"I suppose he is dead, then?" The hokage replied, uncaring.

"Well, Naruto did cut his head off. But, he is still alive." Ino chimed in.

The Hokage raised an eyebrow, and before he could ask for it, Asuma summoned a scroll and released its contents.

"You blasted creature, I swear by Jashin-sama, I will kill all of you, slowly and painfully and sacrifice your sorry asses in the worst possible manner." You can, of course, guess who said this.

Adapting to the situation quickly, the ANBU guards quickly put a sock in the mouth of the speaking head.

Looking at the flabbergasted expression on the hokage's face, Asuma said, "He just would not die."

"I can certainly see that." the hokage said. Then, looking towards the ANBU, he said, "Take him to Ibiki, please." The ANBU followed the orders wordlessly and disappeared with the head in hand.

"No injuries, then?" The hokage asked, coming back to the topic.

"Nothing major, no." Asuma replied.

"That is quite an accomplishment. Since Hidan is a known missing ninja, this mission will be ranked up to A rank, and you all will be paid accordingly." The hokage said, seemingly proud.

X-X

Naruto was happy. With the money from the A-rank mission, and the money that he had been saving up, he could finally buy a small house with a nice garden now.

"Say, Naruto, will you mind joining us for a family dinner tomorrow night?" Ino asked, breaking him out of his thoughts.

"Family dinner?" Naruto questioned.

"Yeah, Shikamaru's, Choji's and my family usually meet up once a month, since our fathers were a team and all." Ino said.

Naruto did not know who Choji was, but he did not really care.

"Why me, though? I don't think your families would like that very much." Naruto said, dismissing the idea.

"My father certainly would not mind." Shikamaru said, a touch of boredom, like always, attached to his voice.

"See? my parents would not mind either, and Choji's parents are very good too." Ino chimed in.

"I suppose I can, then." He really did not want to go, but had no excuses. And maybe, he could feel like a part of a family for once.

X-X

"Channel your chakra through this." Asuma told the three of them.

Team ten was currently in the training ground ten, and Asuma was pointing three sheet of papers towards them. Following what he said, the three genin took one sheet of paper each and channeled their chakra through it.

Shikamaru's paper turned into dust and then burnt off. Ino's paper sogged and turned into dust. And Naruto's paper Split in two and turned into dust.

"What was that?" Ino, the voice of the team, asked.

"Interesting." Asuma murmurred, ignoring Ino for now.

"Stop talking to yourself." Ino huffed.

"This was a chakra paper. It represents your chakra nature. And, what happened here is quite unique." He said, obliging Ino.

"Unique how?" She questioned again.

"Well firstly, all three of you have more than one chakra nature, that's pretty rare in itself. But, to top that, you all have one common element, the earth, that is, and one unique element. Fire for Shikamaru, water for Ino and wind for Naruto." He said

"Earth is a very good defensive element, and I can teach you some earth jutsu too. Fire and wind are my specialties, so we have that covered too. And for Ino, I will have to look up for a good water user, as water is contradicting to my fire nature." he finished.

"Well, we can explore your unique natures later on. For now, you have to turn these leaves into dust with your chakra alone." he said, pointing towards the trees.

X-X

Their routine for today was the same too. Chakra nature transformation in the morning, and D-ranks till the evening. They had completed an upwards of 200 D-rank missions. But that was not the point right now, the point was that he was heading towards the Yamanaka clan district for the dinner he had agreed too. He had not changed his clothes, since his kimono doubled as casual wear too, but he had tied his hair in a pony tail to do something different for once. Walking towards the Yamanaka district, he was feeling very nervous.

"Reason for your visit?" The blonde guard asked.

"I was invited for a dinner." Naruto replied, but he doubted the guys would let him in.

"By Ino Yamanaka?" He questioned.

"Yes." Naruto replied.

The guy looked at the list in his hands, and surprisingly, let him in.

X-X

Yeah, if he had any doubts before, he had none now. Ino was rich. The district in itself just shouted "Dignity." But, the clan head's house was massive, he was sure that their hall room alone was as big as his apartment.

"hey, Naruto. Over here." Ino called him from the top of the stairs, calling him towards her.

Naruto obliged and started to climb the stairs, when he reached there, Ino was not alone. There was a lady standing with her, maybe her mom. They look really similar, Naruto thought.

"This is my mom!" Ino introduced, confirming his suspicion.

"Hello, dear. My name is Miko, who might you be?" Now named Miko asked.

"I am Uzumaki Naruto, ma'am." He said.

"Now now, none of that, you can call me Miko." She said, raising her hand to ruffle Naruto's hair.

Naruto was not used to being petted. He was not used to being touched, really. So, when the lady tried to ruffle his hair, he stiffened, and a purple chain shot out of his back on its own, seemingly leering at Miko's hand threateningly. Miko did see this, but ignored it and continued to ruffle his hair. Realizing that the woman meant no harm to its master, the chain retreated, but did not disappear, staying there like a loyal guard dog.

"Why don't you head to Ino's room? Shikamaru is waiting there too." Miko said.

"Y-yes, ma'am. I am sorry." Naruto said.

"Its alright, and did I not ask you to call me Miko?" She asked.

"Yes, Miko- san. I will take your leave then." Naruto said, and Miko just giggled.

X-X

Naruto did not know what he was feeling, but the head pat was really warm. He wondered if Miko- san would mind doing it again. And maybe, if he will be good, she will even hug him, like he had seen mothers do to their children. Ah, well. He was overthinking again.

X-X

The dinner was great, but uneventful. He had just sat there, eating and listening to how families behaved with each other. He had enjoyed his dinner for the first time. He wondered if that was what having a family felt like. Also, Miko- san had ruffled his hair again while he was leaving, and to him, that was the most important part of the night. She was really warm. Now, the only thing that could make his night any better was a warm sleep, but he was not gonna get it. So, he supposed he should be happy with what he had.

X-X

AN: that's for chapter 7. Since a few of you asked for another mission, I will do one in the next chapter. I am very confused regarding the mission to wave. If team7 consisting of Sasuke, Sakura and Choji went for it, they would certainly die. So, i am wondering if I should give the whole mission to team 10, let team 7 go alone and die or give team 10 a completely different mission and pull something out of my ass to save team 7.