Sorry for the long delay!  I was uh… saving an entire litter of kittens from angry buffalos!  Er.. ok that sounded like Kakashi lol.

On with the show!

Disclaimer : I don't own any part of the Naruto story.

"So what do you think?"  Sakura asked, twirling around in a flowered skirt she was trying on.  Naruto did his best to seem interested, but to him, it seemed like this shopping trip was for Sakura, and not for Hinata.  Noting his attention drifting obviously for the thousandth time, the pink haired girl put her hands on her hips and glared ominously at Naruto.  His gaze lazily drifted up to meet her own, and he came back to reality with a start.  If looks could kill, Naruto likely would have been dead, embalmed, and long since buried by now.  

"Sakura-chan, this is really boring, isn't there something girls like BESIDES clothes?" he whined.  Sakura gave him another cutting glare at his use of the –chan suffix, despite his promise, but brushed it aside as force of habit.  He noted her look and flinched, expecting another bump added to his already impressive collection on his head.

"Yeah, but you don't really even know her.  Clothes are fairly safe, and she can at least return them if they don't fit" she huffed, closing the dressing room door behind her.  Naruto closed his eyes and scratched his chin contemplatively.  The logic somewhat defied him, but then again, Sakura WAS a girl, she probably knew better than he did.  After all, if it were him, he would be absolutely ecstatic over a new set of kunais or a new jutsu scroll or something.  He shrugged, he never understood girls, so why should the situation change now?  As he waited impatiently for Sakura to come out modeling the next garment, a loud noise caught his attention from behind.

[WHACK]

"Ok, ok, you can try on another one" a retreating Shikamaru said, rubbing his now reddened cheek.  The blonde girl in front of him had her hands on her hips and a slightly evil smirk on her face.   She carefully bounced her pigtails with one of her hands, drawing attention to the odd assortment of hair pieces stuck in haphazardly.   It was obvious from the sheer number of them that she had been searching for some time. 

"How troublesome", Shikamaru mumbled, resting his chin on his hand.  He wasn't entirely sure how he had gotten himself into this annoying situation, but he certainly wasn't going to defy the dangerous kunoichi.  Ever since the time he saw her summon Daikaimaitachi and his executioner whirl, he was somewhat awed by her power.  All the girls he had known previously were naggy and loud, and few had any respectable power.  He didn't particularly mind being bossed around all the time by girls, seeing as how it was simpler to do as told than to argue, so he learned to deal with it.  For some reason when Temari bossed him around, he respected it.  Perhaps it was because she had the steel to back it up, or maybe there was something else.  Any woman that garnered more terror than his mother was a force to be reckoned with.  He kind of understood what his father saw in his mother, but even still, the 'beautiful smile that inspires fear' was something that he didn't care to love, at least not at this time in his life.  He remembered back to when the sand-nins returned with the wounded leaf-nins, and were assigned positions in the Konoha military as recompense for the treaty being broken.  Ino, despite her harsh nature, was in tears at the thought of Chouji being wounded.  She had heard of their return, and was one of the first to meet them at the gates.  He smiled remembering Ino's reaction to the newly-trim Akamichi.  For weeks Chouji did his best to avoid the newly formed fan club in his honor, but to no avail.  Apparently, he was quite a hottie in the girls' eyes after losing so much weight.  He ate almost constantly, trying to pack back on the pounds to keep the girls off of him, but it seemed like Nature was out to get him.  His metabolism had picked up to the point where he was seemingly stuck being the object of all the women's attention. 

Almost on cue, the Akamichi boy burst into the clothing store where Naruto and Shikamaru were enduring their chosen torture.  He was breathing heavily and was red in the face, obviously from running for some time.  "Shikamaru, you gotta hide me!  Please! Help!" he gasped.  Using his enormous intellect, Shikamaru thought up a quick plan.  Temari was occupied at the moment, grinning at herself in the mirror, and didn't notice Shikamaru cramming Chouji into the nearest open dressing room stall.  With a flourish, he grabbed about 20 different new hair items, and began nudging Temari, who was now very annoyed, out of the line of sight.  He frantically began poking them into her hairline, despite her protestations and numerous obscene remarks.

"Skika-kun, have you seen Chouji?" a voice behind him falsely purred.  He cautiously turned around, attempting to adopt his usual 'how troublesome' face, and shrugged at Ino, who was fluttering her eyelashes coyly.  Temari by this time was absolutely incensed, steam visibly coming from her ears.  "Mission: success!" Shikamaru smirked inwardly, letting himself be pushed out of the way by the angry Temari. 

"Ino, are you attempting to cut in on MY shopping trip with MY Shika-kun?" she hissed.  Shikamaru inwardly winced at the thought of being anyone's 'my', but it was worth it to save poor hapless Chouji from Ino's aggression. 

"YOUR Shika-kun?" Ino retorted, "I think he would deeply resent that, if you would ever give him a chance to protest!"  Temari stood steel jawed in front of Ino, unused to insult matches with anyone.  Kankurou wasn't known for his intellect, and Gaara rarely spoke at all.  She pursed her lips in annoyance, subconsciously trying to buy herself a few more moments to think of a good comeback.  Ino nodded, signifying her victory and began forming the seals for her family's signature technique.  "Fine, if I can't get you to tell me where he is, I'll just make you call him!" she grinning winningly.  Shikamaru curled his lip in annoyance.  This would most definitely be troublesome.  "shintenshin no jutsu!" Ino said, in a half whisper.   As her body crumpled to the ground, realization struck Temari as to what was happening.  With a smile Ino/Shikamaru began walking forward, and put his hand to his mouth to call Chouji's name, but was a moment too late.  Temari pulled out a small fan out of her kunai pouch and swung it in a wide arc.  "KAIMAITACHI NO JUTSU!"  she shouted, as a blast of wind forced Ino's consciousness back into her own body.  The blast was a bit too much, and Shikamaru sweat dropped as the gust blew Naruto out of his seat, knocked Sakura on top of him, and completely destroyed the changing stalls.  Chouji sat huddled in the corner, arms covering his head defensively.  He fearfully opened one eye, as he saw Ino regain control of her body and look at him, with a glimmer in her eye.  Shikamaru gaped as Ino glomped the poor defenseless boy.  "Oh CHOUJI!  I found you!" she sighed.  Chouji's eye began twitching neurotically, his mind wearing thin from running from the girl constantly.

"NOOO", Chouji shouted knocking her off of him.  He formed the seals for his doublesize no jutsu, and went into meat tank mode.  He rolled for the door, but missed his target, and smashed through the wall.  Disoriented, he continued blasting through the storefront, completely obliterating everything in his path.  The shop owner ran around in a panic, trying to stop the juggernaught that threatened to demolish his store.  Naruto jumped to his feet, and tried to run, only to be knocked into a rack of clothing.  He struggled to his feet, totally entangled in a vast assortment of girl's dresses and shirts, tried to claw his way for the door, but kept getting pulled back by some garment tying him to the clothing rack.  Shikamaru ran past, grabbing Naruto by the nape of the neck, with Temari, Ino, and Sakura in tow.  He dragged the entire group out of a hole in the wall, and flopped down onto the ground, next to the panicked store owner, who was running in a circle waving his arms frantically.  They all sweat dropped when the entire building collapsed, with Chouji on top of the rubble, swaying dizzily.  Naruto, taking this chance to escape from the disaster, crawled away from the store, mustering as much sneakiness as he could, attempting to prevent himself from being implicated in the disaster.

As he arrived back at his apartment, he noticed that his things were gone, with the key carefully placed on the doormat.  He let himself in, and flopped down on the badly damaged carpet, and pulled the remaining article of clothing from himself.  He was very frustrated, as he had spent the entire day shopping, and didn't even get the gift that he was supposed to.  He sighed as he looked down at the summer dress on his lap, and looked at the design on it.  It was a modest one piece summer dress, with a sunrise emblazoned on one side, and the stylistically drawn rays of sunshine cast across the front.  He brightened suddenly as an idea popped into his head.  He scrambled into the kitchen and opened the bottom cupboard, and pulled out an old decaying dictionary.  He had kept it carefully hidden for many years, after all, what would his peers think if they found out he had a DICTIONARY?  It was definitely an item on the 'not cool' list.  He took the dictionary to the living area, and sat down next to the dress, flipping through the pages.  He got to his destination, stopping a few times to remember the kanji, and put his finger on the word 'hinata'.  He read the definition, and then triumphantly slammed the book closed, grabbed the skirt, and raced out the front door, leaving the decrepit dictionary behind.  He made his way down to the clothing shop, where work crews were already beginning to rebuild the demolished building, and found the store owner, who was overseeing the project.  He walked up to the old man and asked "Um hi… how much is this?  I was in your store earlier, when it collapsed."  The man creased his eyebrows at Naruto and looked at him thoughtfully. 

"I'm getting out of the clothing business, you children are too much of a hassle" the old man whistled.   "You can keep the dress; consider it a gift, even though I don't know why a boy such as yourself would want it."  He looked at Naruto from under a raised eyebrow, as Naruto bowed quickly a few times, and ran toward the Hyuuga manor.  "Kids these days." The old man huffed. "I really should stop being so nice to them."

Naruto ran up the expansive stairs at the Hyuuga manor, stuffing the dress in his coat as the door slipped open dramatically in front of him.  A servant stood waiting, arms outstretched.  "Welcome, Naruto-san.  I have been instructed to show you to your new living space." She said, turning around on a heel and walking slowly into the depths of the manor.  Naruto followed her closely, huddled at her shirttails, as they descended into the busy inner halls of the manor.  Preparations were being made for the young mistress's birthday celebration, and all seemed preoccupied with the tasks at hand.  He received odd looks from the servants who noticed him, and he attempted to be cordial, grinning at them through a forced plastic smile, and giving a halfhearted wave or two along the way.  They exited the main hall, and walked across a narrow wooden causeway, surrounded by a pond with a bubbling fountain in the middle.  Giant goldfish swam lazily in the clear depths, nibbling on the occasional foodstuff they would find on the surface.  Around the pond were dozens of carefully sculpted bonsai trees, and several blooming cherry trees.  The petals danced slowly to the water's surface, where they would softly break the calm surface of the water.  Tiger lilies and Lotus flowers grew in carefully tended patches in tiny peninsulas along the edges, with several neatly trimmed bushes secluding the area.  Naruto gasped at the stunning garden, as he walked slowly through it.  On a grass spot on an island, connected to the edge with a series of flat rocks, two older men played a game of Go on a stunningly crafted kaya Goban.  The light clack of the stones was the only thing breaking the absolute placidness of the scene.

"Naruto-san, you have many preparations to do before the party, I suggest we move on." The servant said, a kind smile etched into her features.  Naruto dumbly nodded, mouth hanging open, and continued to follow the woman up a path to a second building, took a sharp right, and stopped at a wide painted paper door.  "This is your living space, I hope you find it to be most restful." She smiled, turning around sharply.  Naruto was about to open his chamber doors, when he remembered the dress. He unzipped his jacket, and pulled it out, checking it quickly to make sure it didn't get dirty on its way here.  He poked the woman on the arm gently before she could walk away.  The servant looked over her shoulder, and turned back around, giving Naruto and odd look.  "Yes?" she asked.

"Um… this is for Hinata" he said, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.  The servant took it from him carefully, nodding to him in affirmation. 

"It is lovely, I'm sure Hinata-sama will love it." She smiled, turning around and walking away.  Naruto looked pleased with himself, and opened the door to his new room.  His eyes were met with a scene that he didn't dare believe could possibly be real.  In front of him lay the most immaculate and expensive looking room he had ever seen.  His jaw fell open as he looked at the flooring, which was made out of perfectly varnished maple tiles, with a gigantic oriental rug padding the middle of the room.  In the middle was an oak end table, with smoked glass inlaid into the top surface.  On the walls were several expensive looking paintings, and several other carefully crafted wall hangings.  Naruto's eyes followed the wall down to a large cushy futon, black with soft silky blankets on it.  Next to the bed were all of his boxes of things, and the doorway to the bathroom.  He stumbled over to the bed, still in awe of his surroundings, and kneeled onto the futon cautiously.  The great soft depths sucked him into the middle, where he was totally engulfed in comfortable blankets.  He struggled for a moment to free himself, but he gave up, as sleep overcame him from the long day.  His thoughts drifted to Sakura, and Hinata, and the wonderful fortune he had in living at the Hyuuga manor.  His thoughts finally came to Kyuubi.  The fox may have been destructive, but good things seemed to be coming from the events surrounding his recent discovery of his relation to him.  His mind came to rest on the blazing crimson eyes of the fox, as sleep overtook him.

"Naruto…"

"Naruto, can you hear me?"

Naruto shook his head at the intrusion and looked up to find himself in front of Kyuubi's gate once again.  He stood up and walked a couple of steps toward the seal.

"Yeah, what do you want?" he asked impatiently, "I was having a nice nap."

Kyuubi approached the gate, and looked down at its paws, clicking his claws on the cold stone floor.  "Naruto… Naruto I have a request."  Naruto looked at him with his head cocked.  Usually the roles were reversed, with Naruto asking the fox for assistance.  This was an interesting change of events.  Kyuubi continued, "After all these years… I would like to see some of the outside events… to be able to experience my nephew's life."  Naruto began backing away, waving his hands in front of him.

"No way no way, I don't care if you're my uncle or not, there's no WAY I'm just gonna release you!" he shouted.  Kyuubi looked at Naruto pleadingly.

"I don't want to be released; I just want to be able to see through your eyes!  Please Naruto; it's so dark and lonely in here." Kyuubi asked, doing his best to sound as pathetic as possible, hoping to garner some sympathy from his host.  Naruto looked at him suspiciously.  "All you have to do is place this" he said, slipping a small piece of paper with a few kanji on it, "on the door below the seal.  The seal will still be intact, and all I will be able to do is be able to see through your eyes."  Naruto looked into the demon fox's pleading eyes, and had a small hint of sympathy for the lonely creature.  He knew how awful it was being totally alone; he couldn't even imagine what it must be like to be alone, and to not be able to make contact with anyone, or anything.  He leaned down and picked up the scrap of paper, and looked up at the Fuujin seal on the gate above him.  He looked down at the paper one last time, then closed his eyes, and slapped it into the spot just below the Fuujin seal on the gate.  Kyuubi's eyes closed and he slowly placed his head on his paws.  Naruto felt like something was latching into the middle of his mind, as pain flashed through his skull.  He awoke in his futon with a start, and felt a burning sensation on his stomach.  He looked down at his belly and saw the 3rd sentinel seal slowly fade and a new smaller seal form just behind the 4th part.  He closed his eyes as another wave of fire went through is throbbing head.  Gradually the pain passed, and he stared up at the ceiling of his room.  What was it that he had just done anyway?  His question was soon answered.

"Naruto, can you hear me?"  He heard a voice say, seemingly from the middle of his mind. 

Hope you guys liked it, please read and review, etc. 

Next time…  well I'm not going to give any spoilers, you guys will see ;) It's about to get weird in a hurry lol.