Do You Hate Me?
Title subject to change, rating PG13 to be on the safe side.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, I do own the plot of this story (for as far as there is one) and the extra characters I may or may not add.
Response to reviews at the bottom be sure to read the A/N's.
Chapter 5 – Naruto's Birthday Party?:
"Hokage-sama, you wished to see me?" Said a silver-haired Jounin.
Tsunade looked up from her paper work and gripped a pen tightly. "You're late Kakashi..." She growled ominously.
Kakashi chuckled beneath his partial face mask and closed his only visible eye that wasn't hidden by his head protector. "Sorry." He said and clapped his hands together in front of his face.
"Forget it. I bet you know what I wanted to talk to you about?" Tsunade said and sighed in frustration.
Kakashi, only smiling moments before, narrowed his visible eye slightly and coughed. "About Sasuke, yes?"
Rubbing her forehead with her index fingers in frustration, Tsunade nodded. "He's caused a lot of trouble as you very well know. The Genins I sent very nearly died. On top of that, Lee also went after them and he had just barely recovered from his operation. They only survived because the help I requested from the Sand arrived in time."
"So what do you want to do, Hokage-sama?" Kakashi asked.
"I'm really sorry I have to do this Kakashi." Tsunade said. "But Sasuke is hereby suspended from Shinobi duties until further notice. An armed guard will accompany him everywhere until he proves himself trustworthy again. I doubt that Sasuke will awake for several months but I've already ordered an ANBU squad to guard him just incase."
Kakashi sighed. "I'm sorry too. Is that all?"
"No it's not. I don't know if you've heard the rumors. But the Mikadzuki clan has been driven out of the Hidden Moon Village." Tsunade said.
"The Moon village still exists?" Kakashi asked with his visible eye widening in shock.
"Yes it still does. But the survivor didn't tell me what country they came from." Tsunade explained with a soft smile.
"Excuse me, survivor?" The silver-haired Jounin asked.
Tsunade's face grew grim. "Yes, apparently it wasn't enough to run them out of the village. They killed every member of the clan except one. And she came here yesterday asking for asylum. Because the Leaf does not have any treaties with the Hidden Moon I granted her request. Her name is Mikadzuki Kumiko and I'll be assigning her to your team in a week, which should give her time to explore the village."
"She's not another Sasuke is she?" Kakashi asked. "I don't know if I can handle that again."
"No she's not. At least not that I know of. I mean she was rather shell shocked as you can very well imagine. Kumiko seems more like Naruto than anything although without the loud mouthing and extreme hyperactivity."
"Oh no, I definitely can't handle that. A female version of Naruto?" Kakashi groaned and slapped his right hand over his visible eye.
Tsunade grinned evilly. "There's more. She'll be staying at your place until she can find a house."
"What?!" Kakashi exclaimed. "But that's not possi-"
Tsunade cut off Kakashi. "No buts. I gave her your address already. I also gave her some money for new clothes and other supplies she might need so you don't have to worry about that."
"But I..." Kakashi stammered.
"Dismissed!" Tsunade said forcefully and went back to her paperwork.
The silver-haired Jounin bowed respectfully. "Yes Hokage-sama." With that he walked out of Tsunade's office.
When Naruto spent the morning in the Sand siblings' house, things were interesting to put it mildly. He found out exactly why Kankuro had been thrown through a window yesterday. It turned out Temari liked to cook a good meal, the only problem was that when somebody would insult her cooking she would get extremely mad. And that was exactly the little snare Kankuro stumbled upon when he said that the eggs he wanted weren't completely hardboiled and that his rice was not sticky enough. Thankfully though, Kankuro had learned his lesson and under the glare of his sister holding a big wooden spatula he wisely kept his head low and his mouth shut.
Naruto had the time of his life, having breakfast with other people which wasn't made by himself was oddly satisfying. He didn't even mind that he didn't get to have any ramen. He kept stealing glances at the two brothers and sister while they ate. Gaara, who was silent as always, was strangely comforting when he didn't radiate pure killer intent. The cowering Kankuro was just very amusing to watch and his sister, however strong and fierce she might be, was... Homely... Naruto couldn't put it in any other way. Every time he looked at Temari, with her apron tied around her front and then turning to glare at her black-haired brother every so often, he felt a flash of something. He didn't know what that something was; he had never felt it before. Shrugging, he put it out of his mind and savored the rest of his meal.
When they all emptied their plates Temari spoke up. "Naruto, have you visited your teammates yet?"
Naruto paled, because he had been so depressed lately he didn't even think about them. "N-no, I haven't yet."
"We will go today." Gaara said and stood up from his seat. "Thank you for the meal sister." This behavior change still surprised his two siblings sometimes but it made Temari very happy. At least Gaara would appreciate her cooking unlike someone else she knew.
"Yeah it was great!" Naruto shouted and grinned broadly.
Kankuro indistinctively muttered something which rewarded him with a hard whack on the head with the large wooden spatula. "What was that?!" Temari growled with a vein throbbing on her temple.
Her puppet-using brother shrunk into his seat. "It was great too..." He softly whimpered and clutched his hands on his head.
With their bellies full, the four cleaned up the table and walked out of the kitchen. They all left their weapons at home for today because they felt they wouldn't need it at the hospital anyway. Finally after a bit of stalling and grumbling from Kankuro they left the house and proceeded towards the Konoha hospital.
Sakura panted heavily. She was starting to think that training with Lee might have been a bad idea. The day before he gave her a long rundown on what he always did when he was training and it gave Sakura an all new respect for him. Apparently he always wore weights around his legs and arms. Now that wasn't really what surprised Sakura, it was the fact that Lee wore a thousand kilograms around both his legs and five hundred kilograms around his arms. (1) Even with that he did hundreds and hundreds of sit-ups, push-ups, kicked and punched a very large and heavy log a few thousand times and ran around the village a couple hundred times just for the thrill of it. Sakura blanched when she asked if she had to do the same and Lee said that she would eventually. Well not as much but still a lot.
Now Sakura did expect this more or less but Lee went too far when he suggested that she would have to wear the same one piece suit he did for maximum efficiency when working out. When he saw the death glare Sakura shot him he quickly abolished that idea. He did however demand that the dress had to go. For that reason Sakura had chosen a new set of clothes this morning when she walked towards the training field were she was supposed to meet Lee for this day's training exercise. She wore a black shirt with netting that showed her arms and the area above her bust and wrapped her hands and lower arms in bandages. Her black pants were tightly wrapped around her legs like the shorts she wore before. Since she had opted to let her pink hair grow longer again she was able to put it into a single braid with a black ribbon tied around the end. There was no use in using her head protector serving as a headband anymore as she allowed her bangs to frame her face thus she tied it around her waist just like Lee.
"Good morning Sakura-chan!" She heard someone shout when she approached the training field.
"Good morning Lee-kun." She said and yawned. Mornings definitely didn't agree with her.
Lee was about to make a remark about Sakura's attire but decided that he didn't want to push his luck too far. He had already been blessed enough to have training sessions with his dear Sakura. "Well Sakura-chan, why don't we do some warm-ups first? Let's run ten times around the field, ok?"
Sakura nodded and started jogging with Lee beside her. When she got in a comfortable rhythm she looked at the boy beside her. "Lee-kun. What will we do today?"
"Nothing too much Sakura-chan, it's better for you to start slow. I've got a present for you to get better more quickly though." Lee said.
The pink-haired girl was excited but didn't say anything anymore until they finished their laps. When they ran around the field for the tenth time, Lee led Sakura towards the bag he had dropped near the training logs. Opening the bag he pulled out two packages and gave them to Sakura.
"Wow, for me? Thank you so much Lee-kun!" Sakura said happily and hugged the now very embarrassed but happy black-haired boy.
Opening the packages, Sakura discovered what seemed to be a pair of wristbands and a pair of bands that were supposed to go around her ankles. She looked puzzled for a moment but then beamed at Lee. "They're for using weights aren't they?" She said and put the bands on.
Lee nodded excitedly. "Yes, Gai-sensei gave them to me so I could get stronger. We'll use the same method for you, that way your stamina will increase a lot!" He then pulled out a couple of metal bars. "These bars weigh ten kilograms each. Since I've been using heavier ones you can use the older ones I still have lying around in my house." Lee then inserted two bars into the wrist and ankle bands.
Sakura was touched. Not only did Lee sacrifice his own personal time to train her, he even gave her a gift! If she didn't have these new weights dragging her down she would have hugged him again. The pink-haired girl then contented with a softly whispered thank you.
Giving her the nice guy pose, Lee promised her that he would make her the strongest Kunoichi in Konoha. He then gave her a list he had made up the evening before with a list of various work-out sessions. Thanks to his years of Shinobi training though he managed to dodge the flurry of punches that were sent his way by a very angry Sakura. He didn't understand why she was so angry, two hundred sit-ups and push-ups wasn't that much was it?
A soft chiming of a bell could be heard when Shikamaru opened the door to the shop he wanted to pass by before he went to visit his best friend in the hospital. He looked around and sniffed the air, inhaling the mix of fragrances the hundreds of flowers created. Rows and rows of different kinds of flowers were stacked next to each other making the store look more like a peaceful meadow then anything. 'Ugh, why am I here anyways. Way too many damn flowers to choose from. Which one should I pick? I should've just gotten a crappy bouquet at the hospital.' Shikamaru thought and walked over to the counter, carefully avoiding a couple of buckets filled with water which were placed on the floor.
When he finally reached his destination he tapped lazily on the brass bell that stood on top of the counter. "Hey, anyone here?"
"Hang on; I'll be there in a minute!" A girl's voice sounded in a room in the back. After a short while the girl appeared carrying a big plant in front of her face and dumped it on the floor near the boy with the spiky ponytail. "Welcome to the Yamanaka flower shop! How can I... Oh it's you." the girl said disgruntled. "What do you want?"
Shikamaru looked at the girl in front of him. She was dressed today in a snug blue dress with the kanji for the boar zodiac sign on the back and had her usual bandages covering her arms and upper legs. She tied her head protector around her waist and had stylish brown boots covering her feet. The blonde was well on her way to grow her long pony tail back after she cut it of a couple months earlier. "Yeah, hi yourself, Ino. I wanted to buy some flowers. You know, for Chouji." Said Shikamaru and put his hands in the pockets of his pants.
Ino nodded. "Ok, what kind of flowers would you like?"
"I dunno, it's all way too troublesome. What kind of flowers is fitting for a hospital patient anyway?" The boy grunted.
"Hmmm." Frowning for a moment, the girl tapped her lips with an index finger. "Well you're best friends with Chouji so yellow daisies and a couple sunflowers would do the trick. Yellow is the color of friendship and loyalty and the daisy's and sunflowers represent freshness and rejuvenation, kind of like the sun dawning after a troubled night."
"Alright, I'll take those then. Make it a big bunch y'know." Shikamaru said. Even though he normally didn't care much about what colors meant and stuff like that he decided to take Ino's advice this time.
The blonde girl nodded and began arranging the flowers in a large bouquet. After she was done and handed it to Shikamaru, he gave her the money to pay for it. Turning around before he stepped out of the door he looked at the girl. "Say uh, not that I care or something but have you visited that Sasuke yet?"
To his surprise, Ino scowled. "No, and I probably won't either. Sakura can have him."
"Finally got over him huh?" The black-haired boy said disbelievingly.
"He betrayed the leaf, I don't forgive people like that." Ino said angrily.
He mentally slapped himself for going to ask this and he didn't really know why he did but he did anyway. He blinked his eyes slowly and sighed. "So, you want to go visit Chouji with me? He'll probably appreciate it. Not that he's awake or anything though."
"Alright, let me close up shop and tell my mom. I'll be out in a minute." The blonde girl said and walked towards the backroom.
Hyuga Neji always considered his patience to be like an iceberg. It had a cool and uncaring exterior but hidden underneath the dark water was another huge untapped mass of it. However the last few days it was slowly but surely being whittled away to a mere ice cube. Rigorous training sessions and life threatening battles he could deal with. Even spending some time with that shy and stuttering Hinata he could deal with. But he couldn't deal with being forced to lie still on a bed for another three whole days with a roommate who unconsciously had made it a life's purpose to snore loudly at random intervals just to annoy him! He wasn't allowed to do anything except read the scrolls and books TenTen brought him and stare out the windows of the room and listen to Akimichi Chouji's snores. There was only so much boredom and annoyance the number one rookie Genin in Konoha could bear. He was therefore extremely relieved when he heard a familiar voice shouting and hearing it come closer and closer until the boy who was shouting stepped in his room with three other people. Of course he would never admit that.
"Neji! How are ya! What happened to you, huh? Huh?" The boy yelled loudly.
Neji smiled slightly and shook his head a bit. "Hello Naruto. What brings you here?" He purposely ignored Naruto's questions as he had no intention of reliving his fight with that six armed spider freak.
"Ah you know, visiting you and Chouji with these three." Naruto said and pointed at Gaara, Temari and Kankuro.
"I... See..." Neji said softly.
"So uh, how are you feeling? And what's up with Chouji?" The blonde boy asked.
"I'm well, I've been restricted to this bed for three more days. Chouji will probably be sleeping for a little while longer. He completely expended his chakra reserves so he needs to recover." The young man with pure aquamarine eyes said.
"Whoah! Damn! Where'd all his fat go?!" Naruto yelled.
"Shut up damn you!" Temari hissed and whacked Naruto on the back of his head which caused Kankuro to snicker. "We're in a hospital, keep your voice down!"
"Stop hitting me you fan-using hag!" Naruto whined and rubbed his head.
Sensing an all-out Naruto bashing, Neji quickly answered the blonde boy's question. "The Akimichi clan relies on its fat reserves for its clans techniques. When he fought Jiroubou he swallowed several pills which burnt off his fat in exchange for a boost in Chakra."
"Jiroubou... That's the big guy with the red hair right?" Naruto asked and rubbed his head again because he received another whack to the head.
"Yeah." Another person answered and entered the room.
"Eeeeeeeeeek! What's that sand guy doing here, Shikamaru?!" The girl accompanying him shrieked. 'That sand guy' meaning Gaara, who merely gazed stonily at the girl who was close to hyperventilating in fear.
"Relax Ino. Gaara is on our side." Shikamaru said lazily and walked over to Chouji's bed. "Hey Chouji, I know you can't hear me, but I brought you some flowers. Ino said they had some special meaning to them but I can't be bothered to remember it." With that he put the large assortment in a vase that was already half filled with water on Chouji's bedside cabinet. Chouji didn't react other than give a rather loud snore and mumble a bit in his sleep before falling silent again.
Ino who had walked up to Shikamaru to stand next to him looked down at Chouji. "Wow! I never knew Chouji was this handsome!"
"Pfff, don't get used to it. He needs his fat for his techniques so he'll be back to normal soon enough after he wakes up again."
Naruto, being the impatient boy he was, soon started getting uncomfortable in the silence that followed. "Hey you guys, let's go back I want to decorate my room!"
Shikamaru and Ino both raised their eyebrows at that but only Ino was up to questioning Naruto about it. "Your room?"
"Yeah, yeah! I'm living with these three now!" Naruto said happily and grinned like the little maniac he was. "Well let's go guys!" The blonde boy said and he and the three Sand siblings walked out the room leaving behind three shocked people.
"Oh wait, I'll join you later. I've got to ask them something." Temari said and walked back leaving the three boys to walk back to their house.
The rest of the week passed by quickly enough. Sakura dragged her bruised, battered and let's not forget tired body to training every day with Lee. She was slowly getting used to the rigorous training routine but it would be a long time before she would wake up without any muscle aches. She had tried to beat up Lee for his idiotic behavior and grueling method of training but after the second day she just gave up, Sakura had to focus on the exercises or she would drop dead there and then out of pure exhaustion. As always when Sakura was about to give up, Lee would encourage her or bore her with long winded speeches Maito Gai, Lee's sensei, had given him, more than anything Sakura would redouble her efforts just to shut him up. So the training was a bit unorthodox, but it worked so she couldn't really complain.
Naruto on the other hand was slowly getting used to his new surroundings. After living on his own for so long it was a bit odd to be living with three other people. And even though they lived in a very large house with way too much space it always seemed a bit crowded when Temari and Kankuro had their daily sibling fights. Well it was more like Kankuro screwing up one way or the other and Temari screaming insults at him or whacking him on the head with whatever was available, be it the much feared spatula, a chair or her trusty oversized fan.
When Naruto left the hospital after he had visited Chouji and Neji he had purposely ignored Sasuke. He couldn't deal with seeing him and he would probably have to see Sakura sobbing all over him as well. Naruto rarely held a long grudge aside from his rivalry with Sasuke but even though he was over his silly crush he was still very angry with her. So he decided that he would focus all his efforts on giving the house his very own personal touch. Thankfully, Gaara and Temari were with him when they picked the paint colors and furniture so it didn't get out of hand. The last thing they wanted was that horrible orange that Naruto was so fond of all over the house. Kankuro didn't care at all and would have focused on tinkering with his puppets if it wasn't for his sister dragging him by the ears and forcing him to help with carrying the various pieces of furniture in the house and help with painting.
It took nearly a whole week but they got the job done, Shinobi speed was useful in more ways than one it seemed. They fixed up the paintjob on the outside with the same shades of brown that it originally had and fixed up the outlying gardens, which was sped up considerably thanks to the puppets Kankuro employed. His puppets apparently weren't only suited for destruction and mayhem, they were also very useful in removing weeds and the like.
While Kankuro worked his magic outside, Gaara used his sand to place the various pieces of furniture in different rooms to the directions of his sister, which changed just about every minute since she couldn't make up her mind. In the end, Gaara had enough and refused to move the furniture anymore and walked outside to probably take out his frustration on helpless little bunnies. Naruto however was given the task of painting all the walls a creamy white. With all the practice he had from his D-rank missions he did a good job and was allowed to paint his own room in the color he wished.
When they were all finished only a bit of clean-up was left to do and Gaara used his very useful control of the sand to sand-polish the floor while the rest dumped out the empty paint-buckets and other junk in the big container that stood behind the back of the house. Finally when they all had finished cleaned the pieces of furniture and swept up the dust from the floor they allowed themselves a cool drink before turning in for the night.
They dragged themselves up the staircase to the first floor and from there they went their separate ways to their respective bedrooms and Naruto allowed himself to fully appreciate his own bedroom. He had opted for a small bedroom much like he had before, he didn't really know why but it just seemed more comfy to him. A futon was laid out in a corner and a closet and a desk lined the wall. A couple of scrolls with techniques and posters were pinned to the now light blue painted walls and a single large window let in the pale moonlight that would shine on Naruto's face when he lay on his futon. All in all he was very pleased with his room. Taking off his clothes, Naruto fell asleep the instant lied down and his head hit the pillow.
When Naruto awoke the following morning, his muscles only slightly groaning in protest due to the previous day's activities, he felt very happy. Maybe it was because he was waking up in the room he had decorated instead of in a dusty room like the rest of the past week. But then realization hit him like a bag of bricks on top of his head, it was his birthday. He was finally thirteen, one year closer to accomplishing his dream of becoming the next Hokage. Dressing quickly he ran downstairs and burst through the kitchen door. He probably should not have expected it but it still slightly hurt when there was no one there. Naruto was about to run through the entire house to look for the three siblings when he saw a note lying on the kitchen table.
"To the hyperactive brat,
Temari, Gaara and me gotta go to the Hokage's office this morning and we'll probably be there till late afternoon. Temari says that there's some food in the fridge for ya. I don't know what and I don't really care either. Gaara says you gotta go train so you'd better not be here yet when we get home but you have to be home at 7 pm.
Kankuro.
PS: If you touch either Kuroari or Karasu (2) I swear to whatever gods are up there, I'm going to make you suffer horribly before I end your miserable little life."
Naruto couldn't help but feel sad about them not knowing it was his birthday but he shrugged it off. If he could survive twelve years without someone giving him a gift aside from Iruka-sensei then he could make it through another one. 'Why does Gaara want me to train?' Naruto asked himself. 'Uh oh, he doesn't want to fight me again does he...?' Facing that rather frightening prospect, Naruto quickly ran out of the house and headed to the outlying forest.
He wasn't tired per se. Being the stamina freak he is, Naruto still had plenty to give when he staggered through the heavy oak doors that barred the front entrance. He had given it his all and practiced trying to summon the Rasengan quicker and with one hand, aside from a few burns on his hands that were healed quickly thanks to Kyuubi he didn't hurt himself much. Probably he would get an earful about destroying those trees back in the forest in the morning though. Cracking his neck, Naruto took of his jacket and dropped it carelessly down on the floor in the hallway, ignoring point blank the coat rack Temari had painstakingly picked out just a few days ago. He was going to go to the living room and relax on the couch for a few minutes before heading to the kitchen and make himself some instant ramen.
'Are they back already?' Naruto wondered as he thought he heard a slight shuffling in the living room. Not wasting any more thoughts on it, he pushed the door open and stepped inside.
"SURPRISE!!!"
Several people popped out from behind different pieces of furniture when Naruto switched on the light and yelled while some of them set off a few party crackers which sprayed confetti all over the place.
"Wha?" Said Naruto in a muffled tone as he was swept up in a tight hug which squeezed his face between two rather well developed breasts.
"Happy birthday Naruto-kun!" Yelled the woman.
Naruto finally extracted himself from the woman's grip and stared around in a numb disbelief. "What are you doing here Oh-ba-chan? What are all these people doing here?"
"I found out that it was your birthday today, Naruto." Said Temari as she walked up to stand next to the blonde boy. "I asked some of your friends if they wanted to come. We figured you never had a birthday party before so we finalized the plans in the Hokage's office this afternoon."
"Yeah, this is all way too troublesome," said Shikamaru which earned him a glare from Ino who stood next to him.
"You're turning way too old bro." Konohamaru chided and his two gang members nodded their approval of their leader's assessment.
Naruto couldn't believe it, he was in shock. He only woke up when Kiba walked up to him and clapped him hard on the back and his dog, Akamaru barking as if to ask Naruto what was wrong. "I'm... I'm sorry, it's just..." Naruto sniffed and tears started falling down his cheeks.
"God, we go through all this trouble and the kid starts crying?" Kankuro yelled.
"Shut up, he knew only loneliness before." Gaara said softly and stared unblinkingly at his rude brother.
"No he's right." Naruto sniffed again and wiped his tears away. "Thanks, really. I'm grateful, I shouldn't cry. Let's party!"
"Hold on there birthday boy, you have to open your presents first." Tsunade said and dropped a large package in front of him wrapped in nondescript brown wrapping paper.
Naruto stared at it disbelievingly for a moment then tore the paper off eagerly and revealed a big wooden box. Opening it he found an assortment of new clothes. Among the many items of clothing he found a very nice black jacket with more than enough pockets for weapons and scrolls and a pair of heavy army boots.
"Now that you've become a year older I thought it was about time you started dressing a bit better and stop wearing that horrible orange stuff of yours." Tsunade said happily. Although Naruto bristled a bit at the mention of 'horrible orange stuff' he appreciated the gift all the same. "Thanks Oh-ba-chan, it's a great gift" he said and hugged the older woman.
"Hey there are still some others y'know." Shikamaru said in a lazy voice.
"Well give it to him already!" Ino hissed and poked the black-haired boy in the back impatiently.
Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah." And stuffed a large and flat looking present in Naruto's hands. "Maybe when you learn how to play we can play a game together or something. He muttered and turned about face with his hands stuffed in his pockets.
"That's from the both of us, happy birthday Naruto." Ino said brightly with a smile and followed her former teammate.
Again the wrapping paper didn't last long and it revealed a Go board, on the two sides were two closed spaces which held the black and white Go pieces. Naruto didn't really know how to play the game but he guessed he would learn soon enough.
Konohamaru and his group handed him a large bag filled with candy which he almost immediately handed back when he saw the craving look in their eyes. Kiba gave him a slightly more useful gift which was a small box which housed an assortment of Kunai and Shurikens. "Shino wanted to come as well but he had something to do. Dunno what though." He explained.
Hinata shyly approached Naruto with a furious blush on her face and nearly dropped the small present she gave him when she squeaked and ran because Naruto accidentally brushed hands with her. It turned out it were several small containers with the medicinal cream Hinata had given him during the Chuunin exam some time ago.
"Hey Naruto what did you do?" Two grown men said as they walked up to the blue eyed boy.
"Iruka-sensei! Ero-sennin! You guys are here as well?" Shouted Naruto, clearly pleased his favorite teachers had shown up.
"Wouldn't miss it for the world kiddo." Jiraiya said and dumped a small bundle of what appeared to be books in Naruto's hands. "Uh, you might want to wait with opening that up until you're alone." He continued with a sly wink.
"Happy birthday Naruto. Lee told me to tell you he couldn't make it but to go to him tomorrow for your present. He'll wait for you in the morning at training field four. I visited Neji at the hospital and it turns out Chouji has woken up already. They both send their congratulations as well." Iruka said and scratched his nose. "And uhm, I'm really sorry but I don't have a present for you I'm afraid but I'll take you to the Ichiraku Ramen Bar as much as you want."
"You're on Iruka-sensei!" Naruto said and grinned evilly which caused Iruka to wonder slightly what he had gotten himself into.
"Yo!" A voice suddenly said.
"You're late!" A couple voices yelled immediately including Tsunade, Temari and Ino.
"Hehe, sorry but I saw a child falling down and scraping his knee, unfortunately he was unable to talk out of shock so I had to look around town for his mother."
"Liar!" Was the immediate reply from a trio of angry women.
Kakashi scratched his head nervously and fixed his lazy eye on Naruto. "Here Naruto." And flipped a scroll over to the boy. "Don't open that yet, it's a technique I developed for you. If you want I could train it with you later. Also I have a surprise for you and Sakura tomorrow. So meet me on the bridge at one in the afternoon." With that he joined the others who had situated themselves on chairs and couches in the living room around the table with an assortment of snacks on it.
The whole evening was spent in laughter and games. Naruto even dragged Shikamaru to a corner to try and teach him how to play Go. Sadly, Naruto wasn't exactly known for his quick uptake of things so in the end an exasperated Shikamaru told Naruto he would give him a book on rules and basic play mechanics later.
For Naruto the evening passed all too quickly. It seemed that in no time at all that the party was over when Tsunade finally stood up and announced that everyone should go home and go to bed. Grumbling slightly the party dispersed and they all said goodnight to Naruto and the three Sand-nins as they left. The blonde boy still seemed on a high of happiness and thanked the three siblings for doing this for him. Kankuro grumbled and Gaara just nodded silently and started to clean up with Naruto and Temari.
When they were finished the siblings walked back out in the hallway to go up the stairs and Naruto decided to stand outside on the patio for a bit and look at the sky. His spiky hair waved slightly in a soft breeze as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath to inhale the cool night air.
"Uhm, Naruto?" A soft female voice said behind the blond boy.
Naruto swiveled around to look at the person who addressed him. "Ah, Temari. What's up?"
Temari clasped her hands behind her back and looked down, shuffling her feet slightly. "Well I never got to thank you for what you for Gaara, and uhm, for me and Kankuro." Temari looked up slightly to peer intently into Naruto's eyes, sky blues meeting emerald greens, and took a step closer to the blond boy.
Naruto was slightly unnerved by the intensity with which Temari looked at him and spoke up nervously. "Oh, well uhm that's alright. I mean to say, uh... It was my..." He tried to say more but was cut off as Temari took another step closer and slight bowed down so they were face to face. Startled, Naruto tried to take a small step back but was unable to do so as the most wonderful thing happened. This pretty, no this beautiful girl, cupped Naruto's face to tilt it slightly upwards and then pushed her lips softly on those of the now speechless boy.
Time seemed to stand still as fireworks exploded inside Naruto's head. Never had he suspected that this would happen. Never did he suspect that it could feel this good. He softly whimpered when Temari pulled back after what seemed like ages of bliss. She looked at the blond boy with a flustered expression and a slight blush on her cheeks which was mirrored on Naruto's face as well.
"Well, I-I'd better go up to my room now. T-thanks again Naruto-kun." With that the girl ran out back through the living room and into the hallway and finally hurrying up the stairs towards her bedroom.
Naruto still stood outside under the stars, his mouth hanging open like a fish on dry land. He slowly lifted his hand and put his fingers on his lips, lips that just moments ago experienced the best thing that he had ever felt. In his daze he allowed himself a small smile to curve the corners of his mouth and walked up the stairs towards his own room. 'Temari...chan' was Naruto's final thought before he dropped on his futon and dreamt about a very beautiful blonde girl with an almond shaped face, sparkling emerald green eyes and very soft silky lips.
(1): I don't really know about the weights, I just thought a ton was about enough and I added the arm weights just for kicks. :P
(2): If you don't already know, Kuroari and Karasu are the two puppets Kankuro uses for his unique techniques.
A/N: Hah! Well there it is ladies and gents. This is a pretty hefty chapter don't you think? I don't think the next one will be this long because I just seemed to keep adding scenes in this one and didn't stop. I haven't received word from my beta yet so I checked this one over myself again after I stepped away for a few hours. Hopefully you've had fun reading this.
What will happen from here on out I wonder. How will Naruto and Temari act the next morning? What is the technique in that scroll Kakashi gave to Naruto? And who exactly is that mysterious girl and why did her clan get slaughtered? Find out next time :)
And now, onto the review response!
Moonlight's Shadow: Yeah, it seems Naruto has more people caring about him then he thought. Sakura won't be as good as Lee but she'll be pretty powerful if she keeps this training up. Thanks for the review!
Kisu: Squee...? Hehe, yeah Shikamaru is a lazy bum but I love the dude all the same. Thanks for the review!
Licht Sieger: Oh I thought you meant my story not the manga. Well we don't know eh? We'll see what mister Kishimoto comes up with.
Gopu: Thanks!
cloud: Well your wish has been granted. And don't worry about Gaara, he's still a badass dude but he's trying to express himself a bit more emotionally now.
hyper yo yo boy: Well I hope you didn't get bored with this chapter it just started to lead a life of its own. Thanks for the review!
refused: Well it certainly looks like it's happening now eh? Thanks for the review!
Anime Lance: Thanks, here it is!
Author Blitz: I do? Thanks but I don't keep you guys waiting for that long am I? Anyway I try to update as soon as I can. :)
panuru4u: Well I guess it's not now but don't worry it will be. I'm just a sucker for fluff and all that but there will certainly be some battles in the future.
Thanks for all the reviews I really appreciate them! Oh and if you haven't reread the first three chapter yet you should since they were revised.