"So only three people here knows how to row the boat…the Mother, the Father, and the Master." Naruto frowned thoughtfully. "You know, maybe they should all just swim. The distance between the islands isn't THAT far…"

The blonde woman rolled her eyes, and then took out a paintbrush and drew shark fins on the water.

"Hey, how did sharks get there?" complained the boy.

"Their hibernation period is over," said the gambler simply.

"So that means they can't swim…" Naruto inspected the drawing again.

"Two minutes and forty seconds left."

"How about if they fly?" said the boy excitedly. "You know, they could use those coconut palm leaves to simulate wings and—"

"They have no time to build one," said the woman, cocking an eyebrow.

"How come? The only have to cut the leaves from the tree—"
"There are NO coconut trees there!"

"How about apples?"

"None either!"

"I thought it was an island, not a desert?"

"Shut up! No flying! Use the boat!" snapped the lady, who was slowly losing her patience. "Two minutes and twenty seconds…"

"How about if they ride on the dragon?"

"NO FLYING!!!"

"Alright, then the dragon will swim."

"The dragon does not know how to swim." She sighed exasperatedly. "Just the boat, okaaaay?"

"How about if we let the dragon pull the boat?" Naruto placed the green peg over the orange peg. "The Master will ride the dragon, and Mother will ride on the boat beside her daughter. The other daughter would sit on her lap. The father and the sons could ride with the Master—"

"The sharks will eat the dragon."

"Maybe the sharks aren't carnivorous…"

"DAMN! I SAID THE DRAGON IS NOT IN THE OPTIONS! ONLY THE BOAT, THE BOAT!!!" The woman placed her hand on her aching temple. "One minute and fifty one seconds to go."

"But the storm will come soon," rationalized Naruto, scratching his cheek. "They don't have the right to have options…they're gonna die, you know."

"Son, listen here. We have rules in this game, ok? Stick to it." She checked her time piece. "One and a half minute to go."

"You're the one who keep on making up new rules. You never said ANYTHING about carnivorous sharks when you laid down the rules awhile ago. Stick to YOUR rules!" Groaning, Naruto went back to checking the game. "How about if they just make an SOS? Then some planes might pass over them and rescue them!"

"Grrr…"

"Or maybe they could do those high jumps thingie. They get a long rod and do those Olympic stunts to cross the ocean…"

"GRR…"

The lad tipped his chin. "Or maybe the sister has a cellphone! She could text 911 and have a rescue team sent there!"

"GAAAAH!!!" The woman got up, face an intense marriage of annoyance and frustration. "Alright, ALRIGHT! I'll get the medicine! You won already!!!"

Naruto blinked as the woman grouchily threw him packets of crushed herbal powder. "Gee, you don't have to be so cross. I won fair and square, right?"

"This is not a good day…" sighed the blonde, shaking her head in agony.

……………………..

Chapter Twenty-Five

I quote from one of the reviews:

One word: CRAP.

For reaching 24 chapters and coming up with that one word review, my thank you. At least you were able to read it until the twenty-fourth chapter ehehe.

Message time!

Fireblazie: Oks lng yun! Hindi ko lang kc matranslate yung omake kc mawawala yung essence ng ibang statements (katulad ng kapal-muks he he). Pasensya ka na! Di bale, exercise mo na lang ang mga Tagalog ko kumbaga. Tsaka buti nakasecure kau ng copy ng Mano Po 2? Parents mo ba ay fluent pa ng Tagalog?

Trickmaster: Yes, it is Tagalog, though I don't recommend that you ask your grandparents to translate…they might just have a heart attack or something :p The omake is brimming with Tagalog profanities. So does that mean you have a blood of Filipino or something?

Mariel4000: Gomen nasai! I thought you could speak in Tagalog! Gomeeen! Actually, what I said to you the chapter before was "Wow, you didn't start and end your review with 'Yay!' (your trademark review!)" He he

Reba: Oh dear, you don't speak Tagalog too? Eeeh?! Never mind [sweatdrop]. But I remember you said you were Filipino so I still heart you all the same! Pinoys ROCK!

Joekool: Thanks for reading!

Ms-aya-chan: Yesssh! Sarap nga maging Pinoy! Wag lang pumasok ang pulitika natin, ang sarap-sarap maging Pilipino!

Patricia: Natutuwa po ako at nasiyahan kayo sa omake. Kaso, wag ka masyado tatawa mag-isa kasi baka akalain ng mga kasambahay mo eh…iba na yan! [yuk yuk]

Kaguara: You were asking whether NejiTen was hinted as a couple in the canon? Or InoShika? Sasusaku? Never mind, I'll answer them all anyway Ü. NejiTen=no. InoShika=sort-of. Sasusaku=almost there… Gawd, those shonen animes…why can't they think of doing canon couples??? [pauses] that are NOT yaoi???

On the love potion…er…I won't give away anything. [smiles] YET.

WormKaizer = Yesh, Neji is weird when he's nice. Love sucks like that he he. I would just do my best not to go overboard with his new personality. And thank you for agreeing to be the resident fan artist of the site! Arigatou!

TimeShifter16 = Thank you for reading! Oh, and is Legend of Zelda a PS2 game or something? Sounds familiar…

Xoni Newcomer: Hi pal! Long time no see! And uh…you're starting to make Neji – THE Hyuuga Neji—nervous. His balls fed to the sharks eh? Lol! Poor Neji…and poor Neji Junior too…xD

Kawaii Yoshi = Wow, thanks for reading the omake! And if you're not sure about some of the scenes, email me and I'll explain. I'm really glad that you tried to read a language you're not too fluent with. [pinoy pride glows]

Jiri: The status of my site: Info page 99% complete (thanks to you! He he. The remaining 1% is the Manga078 scene -.-;;); Media page is 90% ok; Sitey is done, and Interactive is 97% done. I'm just waiting for the phone company to hook my pc up the net, then Himitsu Desu is ready to ROCK AND ROLL!

Takari-san: My account was frozen because I uploaded the Chicharong Flower in English category. Wrong daw yun. Gusto yata nila, sa Portuguese ko ilagay ang fic -.-. Anong magagawa ko, alang Tagalog??? Tsaka may English din yun…slight. He he, di bale tapos na rin naman.

White Witch: Na-miss nya ako…wahahahahaah!!! Thank yooouuu! What a warm welcome! Tats ako! Tsaka dun sa suggestion mo…actually, nilagay ko lang dito yung unang two chapters para malaman ng mga Pinoy readers ng TFTP yung fic, tapos gagawa ako ng mailing list, para straight to your inboxes delivered yung stories. Ayaw ko na uli mafrozen ang account. Daig ko pa ang na-hell week sa Chaos! Misyah! Hi mo ko kay Mama mo! At haliparot ka, PINAGNANASAAN MO NGA SI SHINO!!!! Cyeeeet…. [hugs her] Welcome to the pro-life, anti-insecticide Flowing Admiration For Aburame Shino Fan Club! (a.k.a. FAFA Shino Fan Club)

Buta-chan: Woweee, hanep da ESP natin, sistah! Yap, 17 po ako. Nope, nde ako college stude. Masyado ako kasing loyal sa daycare center ko, kaya 11 years na akong nagpre-prep. Kidding aside, yesh, nasa college na po ako (I sound like a college student? He he, sabihin ko nga yan sa maldita kong little sis na highschooler para igalang naman ako nang bahagya!). One sem sa Information Technology, one sem sa AB Masscom, one sem sa Education. Kau po?

On with the story!

…………………….

Tenten finished inspecting Hinata. She smiled at the maid and at Naruto, who was watching curiously. "She's fine. Her heartbeat sounds ok. The colors on her face are back." Her eyes crinkled teasingly. "In fact, they're more colorful now."

"E-Eh?!" Hinata touched her face panickedly, eyes wide.

"Really?" Naruto looked relieved and happy at the same time. He turned to her and studied her face with his intent gaze, making the girl blush some more helplessly. "Hmm…you're right. She looks healthier now." He patted her flushed cheeks gently. "You look much better now, Hinata!"

The girl was near her freak out point. "A-Ah…er…"

The mage laughed, and then crossed her arms. "But where the heck is Kabuto-sensei? Why wasn't he here last night, looking after Hinata?"

Neji perked up from his position in the doorway. "He's not here?"

"Nope," shrugged the sorceress, slightly puzzled by his sudden interest in the ongoing conversation. She watched as the earl left the room, not bothering to excuse his sudden departure. "Earl Hyuuga Neji, the paragon of etiquette." She offered them an apologetic smile. "Get well quickly, Hinata. I'm sure the Lady Sakura would be very glad to see you so healthy again!"

The maid nodded quickly. "D-Dakedo…where is the Lady Sakura?"

"She was looking for Tsunade-sama," the mage informed, deciding not to say the entire truth. Knowing the personality of Neji's cousin, she might just fret when she learns that the court lady left the kingdom again just to obtain her medicine. "Don't worry, Lady Sakura will be back today."

"Y-Yes…but I am so worried… what if…what if the Mist attacks again? Or another kingdom perhaps?" asked Hinata apprehensively.

Now the sorceress decided that she did the right thing. She raised a thumbs-up towards her. "It won't happen again, or all hell will break loose. The Prince Uchiha was already incensed by the first incident, enough for him to formally declare a war against Mist."

"D-Demo—" The rest of her words were cut by Naruto's palm covering her mouth. He chuckled. "Ne, Hinata, you must trust Tenten's words. For now, you will forget all worries. You will relax, ok?" He removed his hand, waving a peace sign. "He he, gomen for doing that. When you are flustered, you never run out of apologies…unnecessary apologies."

The mage sighed audibly. "Oi, Uzumaki Naruto, you may have an excuse when you slept here last night, but don't think you can do it again in the future. Unless you are willing to give your name to her…"

"Why should I?" asked Naruto, looking clueless.

The maid looked stunned.

"I mean, I think she likes her name…" He turned to her. "Would you like to be called 'Naruto' too?"

Hinata sweatdropped.

Tenten scowled. Men. They were either hopelessly dense or hopelessly full of themselves, with Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke as the prime models. On the other hand, asshole Hyuuga Neji was a little of both.

Charming.

She started towards the door. "Don't tire Hinata out too much."

"Aye, aye, Sir…Ma'am…er…"

"May the holy ghost be with you, Uzumaki," she said, rolling her eyes.

As soon as the door closed, Naruto leaned his head back on his propped arms, groaning. "Gah…making such a big deal out of sleeping here…as if I didn't sleep here before…" he grumbled, remembering how he refused Hinata's offer to sleep beside him back when he was in his frog form.

"P-Pardon?" Hinata's heart nearly halted.

The lad quickly realized his folly. "A-Ah…I mean…er…" He laughed sheepishly. "I-I was cleaning your room when you and Sakura-chan were in the Mist kingdom. B-Because I was so tired, I fell asleep…"

If the maid detected uncertainty in what he said, she didn't bring it up anymore. One thing stuck in her mind though.

"S-Sakura…chan…"The affectionate suffix barely escaped her throat.

He blinked. "Er…I know, I know. She told me to refer to her as 'Lady Sakura', but man, I tried it so many times before, and still I couldn't say it in such a straight face." He grinned boyishly. "I mean, can you call the person you like '-sama' or '-san' without stuttering?"

Her grip on her blanket tightened. "N-No…"

He seemed to notice the sudden gloom on her face. "Hey, are you alright? D-Does a part of your body hurt?" He quickly sat down beside her and inspected her. He placed his palm on her forehead. "H-Hinata?"

She tried to smile. "A-Ah…p-please don't worry. I-I'm just…hungry…" That was the first thing that came to her mind, even though it was the last thing she was feeling now.

"Hungry?" Naruto's eyes lit up. "Alright, let's eat!" He snapped his fingers. "I know this place that Sir Kakashi and I used to dine in before. You'll love the ramen! Really good!" He went to her closet and ran his hand across the hangers. "Coat…coat…"

"W-What are you doing?" she asked, eyes wide.

He grinned when he found what he was looking for, He took out the winter coat, a pair of mittens, a scarf, and a wool cap. "We're going out on a date!"

"E-EH?!"

.

.

.

Tsunade smiled. "Two minutes, Lady Haruno."

Sakura looked closely at the puzzle, using the best of her logic and court-renowned rationality. In a matter of minutes, she had tried to apply all her learned lessons in Math and Science, but to no avail. Proportions, probability, geometry, and even physics, but they weren't even able to help her a little.

"One and forty seconds."

No, she had no choice but to rely on her common sense.

The pressure of the Bacchi Odds and Evens crowd, the thought of what was at stake here, and even her sudden instinct that something very wrong happened to her beloved Sasuke, was starting to disorient her composure.

She shook her head vehemently. "Calm down, Sakura. If you let panic get the best of you, it's not just you who would lose…even Hinata would lose, much more than you could, in fact."

"One minute left…"

Her hands laid primly on her lap began to shake in tension. She forced her gaze towards the pegs. The game wasn't over until the last second of the three minutes run out. Until now, she still had a fighting chance.

"The last peg that would go to the island would be the dragon, because it cannot be left alone in the island full of people without its master." That was her lead. She had unconsciously set aside the orange peg from the rest. Now her eyes were on it again, and suddenly something sparked in her mind.

.

.

.

Hinata gazed at Naruto, who was kneeling down in front of her, securing the buttons of her winter coat. He was whistling happily, and she couldn't help but wish that she had the same power as those ramen bowls to make him grin this way. Oh, how she would have loved that.

His hand reached for her scarf next. He placed it around her neck and fastened a knot. "Hinata?"

"H-Hai?" she stammered. She had been too transfixed with his endearing boyish face to notice that the scarf knotting was done and that he was just looking up at her.

"Why did you…why did you let that bastard Neji hurt you?" he asked, his voice steady, but in it was quiet anger and disbelief.

She looked down. "B-Because…because I know that my family caused him so much pain…and I wanted…I wanted to lessen that pain…"

"It wasn't your fault, Hinata," he protested.

"But I know it in his eyes, that it is my suffering that matters. It is me who he wants to suffer," she said quietly. "If my pain will make him free…"

"You shouldn't have let him!" he said. "Are you always like that? It's good to care for others, why not? But not to the point that you encourage them to abuse you!"

"N-Naruto-kun…" She clasped her hands together. "I…I…"

"When Neji Yeti told me what happened, did you know that I nearly committed homicide?" He vaguely remembered doing the first thing his instinct dictated—he packed a power punch on the earl's face. If Hyuuga Neji anticipated his move, he didn't do anything to avoid his attack. He accepted the sense-shattering punch acquiescently. Had it not been for his desire to get her medicine at once, he would have beaten the living daylights out of the earl.

"I'm sorry…I had been always weak…" she whispered, forcing the shakiness out of her voice.

"Iie! You are not weak!" He gazed at her intently. "Listen to me, Hinata. You didn't run away when your mistress was in danger. You saved her life. You saved my life too when that air pressure guy attacked us. You sacrificed yourself to make that bastard Neji realize his folly. All those things…they require considerable courage…courage is not derived from strong physical or combat skills, but from the heart alone." He pointed to his chest. "This delicate organ within us…is really the strongest part of each person in actuality. And I think your heart is incredible." He smiled. "You are a strong person too, Hinata. But you have to remember that strength is not infinite. You should realize when kindness had crossed over to masochism."

She couldn't believe that she was hearing this words from him. All her life, people had pointed out that she was pathetic, not sizing up to the power that a main family heiress of the most powerful clan in Leaf kingdom must possess. It was only this boy who didn't even know her that long, who spoke to her as if she was not a disappointment. It was only he who said that she was strong.

And brave.

And a lot more things she didn't know she was, or she was afraid to acknowledge.

"O-Oh no…damn…y-you're not going to…c-cry…are you?" Now Naruto looked panicked, especially when he saw those tears tracing their salty path on her cheeks. "A-Ah, I didn't really mean to raise my voice on you…a-ah…Hinata, I'm sorry! P-Please…"

She shook her head, unable to stop her tears. She was crying alright, but she was crying tears of joy. Because in even a little way, she felt he cared for her, even if not the way she would have dreamed of.

At this moment, she would rather be believed than loved. And he believed in her strength whole-heartedly.

He checked his pockets, but realized that he was the last person to have one. He took off his jacket and pulled his shirt off. This was what he offered to her. "H-Here. Blow your nose here."

She looked at his black shirt, eyes shaking.

"G-Gah! Oh no, this is the shirt I used in training! And I wasn't able to change since then!" Naruto embarrassedly took his shirt back. "Damn! Sorry, sorry!"

"I-It's alright...I-I'm alright, Naruto-kun," she stammered at last, unable to suppress the smile he prompted with his prior statement. "I-I'm crying because I'm happy…so happy, that's all." She smiled shyly. "T-Thank you, Naruto-kun…"

"Happy? Crying?" He looked confused. "And what are you thanking for?"

She could only nod wordlessly.

"Well, alright." He took her hand and placed the mittens. "I'm sure the ramen is just the thing to chase those blues away!"

Her eyes softened. No, Naruto-kun. Having you near me is enough.

.

.

.

"Ten more seconds, Lady Haruno." But the gambler woman was smiling already. She knew that she had already won.

Sakura shut her eyes tight. And by the defeated look on the girl's face, Lee knew it.

She didn't make it.

"Five…four…three.." The men counted behind them.

"Please, please, Tsunade-sama!" she cried. "Please give me another chance!" She forgot her court poise and bent down low before the startled lady gambler. "Just heal my friend and I'd be willing to do ANYTHING you want!"

The woman sighed, and then shrugged. "Alright, do the first move, and I'll give you my medical advice."

"Eh?" Sakura's eyes widened.

"Take it or leave it."

"Y-Yes, I-I'd do it!" The court lady took the green and orange peg. "First, the Master takes the Dragon to the other island, and then leaves it there. He rows back and fetches a sister…it could also be the brother. Anyway, since Mother and Father are together, they won't eat each other's children." She moved the pink peg with the green peg towards the island, and then took the orange peg, leaving the pink peg on the other island. "Now we set aside the Master and the Dragon." She looked up hopefully at the lady gambler. "R-Right?"

Tsunade smiled slowly.

.

.

.

"Father, for the last time, it was all a slip of a tongue, okay?" Ino exasperatedly rolled her eyes. "Shikamaru can come back to the palace anytime, but you having to ORDER him just to back? That's too much!" She watched as her father signed the decree. "Daddy!!!"

"Would you rather have your name signed on this one?"

"DADDY!!!"

"Ok, Ok, Daddy knows when to stop." But he didn't stop the signature of the decree. It was now a legal decree—he was ordering Nara Shikamaru to return to the Leaf Palace.

"Daddy, you can't force him to work when he had already resigned as your political strategist!" she protested.

"Had he resigned from being your butler?" asked the earl.

She paused.

"Had he?"

She remembered when she called him 'Lady Ino'. Her eyes fell. What she couldn't accept though was the sadness overwhelming her again. She turned her back on him. "Alright, I don't care! Get him back! Do what you want!" She left the room and shut the door with a bang.

The Earl Yamanaka could only smile at his daughter. "Dang…she's grown up. Now I hope she would mature."

.

.

.

Kakashi sighed as he watched Haku pull the wounded Zabusa away. In exchange for the Mist earl's freedom, Haku revealed the identity of the other spy in the Leaf kingdom.

The Sound nin, Yakushi Kabuto.

He started to tread the path towards the cave Haku said was where the Sound nin often goes. He knew that it was not an easy choice when he decided to let Zabusa go, but he knew that apprehending the spy was more important now. He had always trusted his gut instinct, and something was telling him that his presence was badly needed there.

.

.

.

"Alright, Leaf Court Lady. You got that part right." Tsunade shrugged. "Be thankful that I'm in a good mood, or I wouldn't have let you get away with that."

"Now will you show us the solution?" asked one of the kibitzers.

The lady gambler smiled. "The Lady Haruno had made the first step so I would continue from there." She took the Mother peg and the other pink peg. "Mother will take Sister to the other island, since Father wouldn't eat his sons. She would leave her daughter there, and then row back alone." Her hand touched the red peg. "She then gets Father, and together they go back to the island. Father leaves her there with her daughters, and he rows back alone. He gets the Brother peg, takes him to the island with his family, and swaps him with Mother. Both would row back to the left island, where Father would swap her with Brother. Mother stays in the island and he takes the boy there. He then goes back and fetches her, and both would go to that island."

"Wait," said Lee, who was looking at the puzzle intently. "When Father takes the boy there, he would eat the sisters, right?"

Tsunade paused, and then reviewed her map. She sweatdropped when she recognized her mistake. "Aaah…"

The whole crowd erupted into boisterous laughter. "SUCKER!!!"

Sakura sweatdropped. Now she understood why they called Tsunade-sama so.

"Oh, so Tsunade-hime still can't solve that puzzle, eh?"

She saw the blonde woman's eyes widen. When she looked at the doorway, she found a white-haired man smirking at the lady gambler.

"Shut the hell up, Frog Face," she hissed.

Everyone watched as the Frog and the Princess looked at each other: one smirking, one rolling her eyes exasperatedly.

……………………..

to be continued

For the Pinoys who want to read the next chapter of Chicharong Flower, leave your email addy and I would be sending you the stories straight to your inboxes. For the meantime, ja mata!