It had been a few days since Team 7 arrived at Nami no Kuni and they were pleasantly unaware of everything around them, minus their sensei of course.
He was sitting in front of his three genin in the upstairs of Tsunami's home. "What'd you call us up here for, sensei?" Sakura asked.
"Well, I believe that there are some other people, shinobi most likely, on this island." The cyclops said with an eye smile.
The two female genin seemed surprised. "Why do you think that sensei?" Ino asked. An irk mark formed on the jounin's head.
'Maybe if you'd pay attention and not fawn over Sasuke then you'd see as well.' He thought to himself.
"We haven't ran into a single one of Gato's men since we've been here and the bridge has been progressing nicely. Add in the fact that mansion burnt down a few days ago and you've got solid evidence."
Sasuke held his hands under his chin. "So, how many?" The sensei tapped his finger on his chin. "There could be as many as 4 and a minimum of 1. There's no way we could tell unless we found the bodies and that's if they're killed differently."
The raven haired Uchiha grunted, "How are we supposed to find them?" Kakashi shook his head. "We aren't. They aren't messing with us so we don't mess with them. The way I see it, they did our job for us."
The man stood up and cracked his back. "All we have to do is protect Tazuna until the bridge is done and we can go home." He said, walking out of the room.
*A few weeks later*
Team 7 waved at the citizens of Nani no Kuni as they walked down the now completed bridge. "I wonder where Tsunami-San is." Sakura said, looking at the crowd.
"She's a busy woman, Sakura-Chan." Kakashi said, his normal eye smile in place.
*North side of the island*
Team Zabuza stood in front of Tsunami near the reeded up canal where the boat was. "Thank you all for taking care of Gato and protecting my family." Tsunami said, her bow deep.
"Our pleasure. Now, I've been ordered to give you these." Zabuza headed two scrolls to the woman.
"Inside those is about 2/5ths of Gato's money, just open them to release the money. Mizukage-Sama would like you to take that money and build up your village.
When you're done building your village back up, you have to sign a contract with Kirigakure for trade.
If you don't, then we'll have to come back and kill your family." With that, Team Zabuza departed, leaving Tsunami standing there with two scrolls of money and a frightened face.
*Kiri, a few hours later*
Yagura was going through some paperwork whenever Team Zabuza popped in. "Ah, good to see you three. I take it the mission went well?" Zabuza nodded at his village leader. "Yes, we gave Tsunami the money as ordered and here's the rest." The man set down two scrolls.
"No complications then? A standard protection and assassination mission?" The two genin shook their heads at him. "No, we ran into the Demon Brothers while in Nami no Kuni. We got their heads in some scrolls so that we can turn them in for the bounties." Amaya said, earning a nod from the Kage.
"Very well. Zabuza should take you to the Bounty Office. I'll let you three rest for a few days before another mission comes." The three shinobi bowed at their Kage and left the room. Once outside, Zabuza spoke.
"The bounty office is just south of ANBU headquarters. Yes, I know you know where it is. ANBU masks don't turn purple by themselves." Naruto smirked at his sensei who slatted at him. "You two go get those bounties. I'm gonna go take the brunt of Mei-chan's assault."
The genin saluted him comically, "Good man. Thank you for your sacrifice." Zabuza returned the salute and shunshined home, leaving the two genin alone. They began walking to the bounty office when Naruto reached into one of his armor pouches.
Out came a pack of cigarettes, and he put one in his mouth. "Do you mind?" He asked his female partner who lit up her finger with a small flame. Naruto lit his cigarette and thanked Amaya.
"You're lucky I know Kyuubi will protect your lungs." She said before Naruto waved her off. After spewing out a cloud, Naruto increased the thickness of it and formed a heart with it. "You know hearts aren't shaped that way, right?"
The redhead tripped and stared at her. She stuck out her tongue and walked into a convenience store. Naruto put his cigarette out and followed her in. He caught up with her in the back and watched as she grabbed some pocky.
"Could you get me some chocolate?" He asked, getting a nod. They got up to the counter and set their stuff down. "435 Kudasai, and a Zippo." Naruto said, getting a nod from the clerk. After grabbing the stuff and ringing it up, he spoke.
"I need to see your shinobi licence." Naruto reached in his pouch and showed it. The clerk nodded and gave the price. After paying, the two left and Amaya started munching on her pocky.
Naruto pulled out his half of a cigarette and lit it with his new lighter. "Do you remember how much the bounties were?" The Uzumaki asked. "150,000 ryo each, 320 for both together." She recited, remembering her sensei's words.
"What do you want to do with the money?" Naruto asked, placing his hands on his neck and looking in the sky. "We should invest 75% in a local business and we could use the rest on whatever we want." The Nara suggested.
"Something practical would be nice, like masks in case we encounter Konoha nin again. A date would also be good." Amaya turned her head to the male and humfed. "That took you long enough." She commented.
"Yeah yeah, I was waiting for a good moment. Anyways, what's the plan after we get the money?" Amaya tapped on her chin for a moment. "I don't know but we'll figure it out when we get there." She pointed at the sign saying Bounty Office on it. Naruto put out his cigarette for good before following Amaya.
They walked in and were met with a scarred up man. "What can I do for you two kids today?" He asked. Naruto pulled out the scrolls and set them on the counter. "The Demon Brothers, we just want our payment."
The man smirked and opened both scrolls. "Yep, that's those ugly bastards. 320,000 ryo." The man put the heads into a freezer behind the counter and grabbed some money. He counted it on the counter before giving it to the kids.
"Thank you for your business. Have a nice day you two." The genin waved at him as they left. "Okami's then home. After that, it's whatever you have planned." Amaya said, stepping onto the street.
They walked their way to Okami's and entered the shop. Once inside, they walked up to the counter to meet the man. Okami was a 6 foot tall dark skinned retired ANBU who was quite nice despite his past.
"Ah, Naruto-kun and Amaya-chan, what can I do for you two today?" The man asked. "We recently ran into some former classmates from Konoha on a mission and we realized we need something to hide our identities." Naruto answered.
The man nodded and walked behind the counter over to the right side of the shop, where the masks were. "Well considering you were former classmates, you'd need a full face mask to cover it all. I'd suggest a replica of an ANBU mask but classmates would notice things like voice and hair color so a modified one would be best.
How about this, I make you two ANBU replicas with some seals to help hide your identities." Naruto whistled and looked at the man. "How much? We got about 100,000 ryo." Amaya asked.
Okami tapped his chin for a bit before answering. "95,000 for both." The two genin nodded and Naruto handed over the money. "Okami, could we invest in your business?" Amaya asked, getting a chuckle from the man.
"Yeah sure, how much?" Amaya pulled out 160,000 and set it down. "160,000, what's the percentage of sales?" Okami smirked at the girl. "10% of sales every two months." Amaya held out her hand and they shook on it.
After walking out, the two genin began their way to the home. "Could you make sure that we don't walk in on them?" Amaya asked. Naruto shivered and activated his sensory field. "They're in the kitchen chopping up something. Ah ewwww, they just kissed." The redhead gagged a little before turning off his field.
Amaya just shook her head at him as they walked home. It only took them a few minutes before they walked into the house. After going to their rooms and getting out of their shinobi uniform, they went into the kitchen.
Mei quickly scooped them both into a hug, much to their dismay. "I missed you two." She pulled back and looked at them both. "Naruto-kun, why do you smell like smoke?" The female asked. "Uh because I can turn into it?"
Her glare showed she didn't find it comical. "I controlled some cigarette smoke from a guy walking past. I was just practicing my control." It was then that she caught something gleaming in his pocket.
Reaching in, she pulled out the lighter. "And what is this?" Naruto chuckled nervously. "A lighter, I've been trying to see if an explosive made into smoke is still explosive. I needed something to light it without chakra."
Mei's glare softened and she let go of him. "If you say so, but remember that lying to me is a bad idea." The woman said, walking back to her cutting board. Amaya looked at Naruto who was sweating at that point.
She made a gesture to which Naruto nodded. "You'll never guess what Naruto-kun did today." Amaya said, getting up on one of the stools. "Lemme guess, he did something perverted?" Zabuza asked.
"Nope, he finally asked me on a date." Mei's movements were fast as she went to go hug the two again and tease them. That didn't work since Naruto turned to smoke and Amaya sunk into her shadow.
"Dammit, you two are gonna have to come out sooner or later for dinner." Naruto's smoke form solidified a little bit so he could talk. "No we don't, the date is tonight." Mei held up her hand with a victorious smirk.
"But you have to return to sleep." She said, getting a curse from the smoky boy. "Then you'll have to harass us then." His smoke drifted upstairs.
*A little while later*
Naruto and Amaya sat on top of a roof. They were wearing casual clothes, both in jeans and a hoodie. They'd finished dinner a little while before and now they were just delaying Mei's eventual teasing.
"Can you give me a cigarette?" Amaya asked, getting a look from the smoking Naruto. It was obvious he wasn't going to so she took the one from his mouth. After taking a puff, she gave it back.
"Since when did you smoke?" Naruto asked. "Tou-san used to smoke all the time and I would try to sneak a cigarette from him because I thought it was cool. My mother caught me and made me smoke a pack as a punishment. It might've hurt my lungs for a bit but after a while my dad gave me a special medicine to decrease the effects of it. I grew a taste for the things instead of avoiding them."
Naruto nodded. "You know, after all these years I still don't know who my Tou-san was. Every file about my mother was completely classified." The boy said, passing the smoke back and forth.
"I thought you found out already." She said, getting a shake of the head. "Well, I guess it's my duty to tell you then. Coming from my Tou-san, yours was the Yondaime Hokage. It makes sense because the Yondaime was supposed to be one of the most honorable men and he wouldn't seal the fox into anyone's kid."
Naruto took a giant puff, finishing the cigarette. "Well, thanks for telling me." Amaya looked at him expectantly. "Do I get a reward?" She asked. The redhead across from her shook his head comically before leaning over.
He placed a small kiss on her cheek before retreating. "So uh, does this make us a thing?" Naruto asked, rubbing the back of his neck. Amaya shook her head in amusement. 'I swear he's a genius by shinobi standards but he's denser than a rock.' She said to herself.
"Well usually there should be a second and third date but there's an exception considering you've already seen me in my underwear." Naruto started chuckling nervously while a little blood came out his nose.
Amaya used her jacket to swipe it away and shook her head. "Would you like to stay out here or go face Mei's teasing?" Naruto grunted and formed his sword. "I'd like to see how Ashina-jiji is, we haven't seen him in a while."
Amaya sweatdropped. "It's only been like 3 weeks, hardly a month." Naruto waved her off and motioned for her to take the fire sword out. The girl reached into her shadow and took it out before handing it to the blonde.
Naruto grabbed the sword and pulled her closer. Making sure that he was making contact with both swords, he grabbed Amaya's hand and pulled them into the sword dimension.
*Inside the dimension*
Once inside, they found Ashina pacing up and down the throne room. "Hey Ashina-jiji." Naruto waved. The former clan head was over to the two in a matter of seconds. "Thank Kami you got here." The man's voice was urgent.
"What is it?" Naruto asked, the urgency passing to him. "The seal holding together this dimension is deteriorating." He pointed at a corner missing from the room, showing a black void. "It seems that bringing you in here and allowing the Kyuubi's chakra to come in is slowly killing the seal.
The damage is irreversible and it's getting worse." The man ran a hand through his hair. "As my last living descendant, you must learn a few things to become the new Uzumaki clan head and we have no time for you to learn.
Luckily, there is a jutsu that will allow you to learn all of it without a teacher but it's considered a kinjutsu." Before Naruto could say anything, Amaya did. "Explain the kinjutsu." The clan head idly smiled at her demand before answering.
"It transfers all the knowledge that an Uzumaki clan head needs such as Fuinjutsu, Kinjutsu, and a few clan secret jutsu. However, it does it over years and years by implanting a piece of knowledge every day.
It's considered a kinjutsu because the brain could fail to release the information overtime and cause an overload, killing whoever it's used on." The two genin didn't know what to do. On one hand, it would be useful but was it worth dying for?
"Do it, I can act as a regulator so he doesn't die." Kyuubi said, slightly scaring them. "Is the seal loose enough to allow for that?" The ancient beast nodded at the old man. "Alright, take off your shirt and bite down on it, this is gonna hurt like hell."
Naruto followed the instructions and even got Amaya to hold his hand as he sat on the floor. Ashina made some foreign hand seals and placed both hands on Naruto's head. "Get ready." The man warned. A few moments passed before Naruto felt his head begin to throb.
The throb turned to a searing pain that moved through his entire body. He started seizing and was quickly coated in Kyuubi's chakra, which Amaya was surprisingly not burnt by. A few more minutes passed and Naruto stood.
He groaned and plopped back onto the ground. "He absorbed maybe 10% initially, the rest is gonna be put on a schedule." Kyuubi said, earning a nod from the older Uzumaki. Suddenly, the roof of the room came off and floated into the void.
"It seems that we have little time." Ashina commented. He moved to grab Naruto's shoulders and stared him in the eyes. "Can you hear me?" A nod was his answer. "Good, I want you to know that you're going to make a good clan head someday and I'll miss training with you. Goodbye."
The old man prepared to push them out of the dimension as Amaya spoke. "I guess you should know that he and I are a couple now." A smile graced the man's face. "It took long enough."
*Real World*
Amaya woke up with Naruto's body laid out across hers, the boy being unconscious. She put the swords into her shadow before picking the boy up. With one walk through the shadow hallway, she was in the boy's room.
After trying to get him off her back, she realized he wouldn't let go. "I swear if you're awake and doing this on purpose." The ravenette said while slipping off their shoes. After getting into the bed, Naruto's arms around her neck shifted to around her waist.
Deciding to make a move before Naruto could pull her close, she turned around. Now facing him, she was pulled into his chest and laid comfortably like that. Inside Naruto's mind, Kyuubi spoke.
"Smooth kid, real smooth."
*The next morning, Yagura's office*
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen along with Umi and Mangetsu stood in front of Yagura. "It is time to exit our isolation. We will make our appearance at Konoha's chunin exams with all three new genin teams and you seven as well as the respective sensei.
Every genin will have to use a Katana so we can show Kumo that we're still superior in Kenjutsu. I've already commissioned Okami to make a Katana for each genin to use, they will have chakra converters from non elemental to Futon."
The jounin all nodded and smoke spoke. "How long do we have?" Mangetsu asked, already thinking of ways to train his genin. "3 weeks until we have to set out to Konoha." The Kage answered.
"Would it be possible to ask one of the swordsmen for assistance in teaching kenjutsu?" Umi asked, she wasn't very good at kenjutsu, being a nintai specialist and all. "Hm, yes. In fact, for the next 3 weeks all the swordsmen will tutor the genin in anything that is needed." Umi looked happy at that.
"What about Naruto-chan and Amaya-chan?" Mei asked. "They must hide their identities when we get into Konoha. Whenever I spoke to Okami a few hours ago, he said that they both ordered some masks to hide their identities from Konoha nin so that works.
They already have a way to hide their chakra signature considering they got out of Konoha so they have nothing to worry about." The redhead nodded at him. "You will all start training the genin this afternoon at your training grounds. Umi-san, just follow Mangetsu to the grounds."
With that, he dismissed the jounin. Mei and Zabuza walked down to the street instead of using shunshin. "You wanna surprise the kids with breakfast? We could lure them into a trap of teasing if you'd like." Zabuza asked, getting a wide smile from his fiance.
"You're a genius Zabuza-kun."
After grabbing breakfast and shunshining to their home, they set all the food up in the kitchen and quietly moved to each room. Zabuza saw that Amaya's door was open and the room was empty so he told Mei.
The redhead opened Naruto's door and found it empty as well. "Where the hell did they go?" Mei wondered aloud. "Maybe they didn't come home last night to avoid the teasing." Zabuza suggested before seeing two sets of sandals.
"Ohohoho, it seems they slept together again last night." It was then that they heard something move on the roof. Walking out of the room and into their own, they saw the window was open. Going out and onto the roof, they saw the kid's heads over the lip of the roof.
After stepping over it, they found Amaya sitting between Naruto legs as they idly watched the sunset. That wasn't all however. They were passing a cigarette between each other.
"JUST WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO DOING?!" Mei shouted.