Saotome Naruto

Disclaimer : see what I said in the previous chapters.

Chapter 5: Relations

Naruto woke up in a small boat, Kakashi was unconscious next to him and Sakura was changing a wet cloth over his forehead.

"Naruto! You're awake!" She exclaimed.

"Hush up will you? We're not going by paddle for nothing you know?" The rowman asked the girl.

"I'm almost out of chakra and I think Kakashi-sensei is the same. You and Sasuke will have to protect Tasuna-san yourselves from this point on. I'm not much use right now anyway." He said. He was recovering fast but to say he'd be in fighting shape soon would be a stretch.

"You mean we'll have to fight those ninjas alone?" Sakura asked.

"Nah, I nailed the guy with no eye brows's lethargy tsubo, he'll be out for a week at least and need a guard, the one throwing needles was probably the strongest of the three and the medicinal expert from his weapon of choice." Naruto said with a proud smirk.

"I don't need to worry then!" Tasuna said.

"He's not dead yet. He's of the mist, he will be back." Sasuke said softly making Mr Tasuna shiver.

"If he does, we'll beat him again." Sakura was confident.

"No if about it. . ." It was Kakashi who had woken up. "As you all are right now, he'd tear you apart. Naruto was lucky to get that shot in the way he did." He struggled to say that with a straight face. Anyway he looked at the moves in his memory he had problems realising just how much charka Naruto had used. The Kage bunshin divides the user's charka evenly between the bodies giving them a limited lifespan. The number he had used, the transformation and the concentration he had used to stay afloat put him at least in the higher spheres of the chuunin level. To faint after such a display was only natural, many would now lay dead. He would recover within three days himself but Naruto would surely be up and about the next day. Meanwhile they were in a critical situation. Sasuke was good in a fight but if the one with the mask of the hunter showed up, he would surely be no match unless he could use the sharringan, Sakura was a physical liability sometimes but still a member of the team. Naruto would see to her training to bring her up to par but he really needed to train Sasuke the basic to summon the sharringan. His own had been grafted to ensure at least one in the village retained the ability somewhat and with his weak link with the Uchiha family he had been the obvious choice. That didn't mean he didn't know the basics, and if what he had seen during an instant during the battle was real then the Uchiha line would have a more worthy heir then Itachi.

"Naruto, I'll be taking over Sasuke's training in the morning. There is something only he can learn I will teach him." He said.

"Sharingan. . ." Sasuke whispered.

"Hai." Was the simple answer.

"Techincally he'sa your student but it only means I'll be working him to the ground in the afternoons." Naruto said with a predatory smile.

"If he can stand." The jounin muttered under his breath. "Try to take Sakura up to par, you'll probably be ready to start training tomorrow so and they won't risk an attack unless they can go all out after the last battle." He said louder

"I was planning on expanding on the amaguriken and control, Sakura's the best at that so we'll walk on water, without the weights at first and then with them on." He looked rather happy. "Sakura-chan, have you brought your swimming suit? If you didn't you'll have to go skinny dipping."

"Naruto no HENTAI!" She hit him off the boat and he landed in the water.

"You do realise you have to go get him Sakura?" Kakashi asked her. "Hope you have a swimming suit." He dead panned.

'I knew I should have taken it!' Inner Sakura was crying, she would be wet until she could change.

She removed her weights, thankful Naruto didn't have his and most of her outer clothings. Sasuke looked her way for a second and blushed in a rare show of human nature. Sakura blushed very deeply and had to refrain from hitting him, he wasn't a lecher like Naruto. She jumped into the water and rejoined her powerless teamate. She seized him and dragged him to the boat.

"I don't know if I should thank you or blame you Sakura-chan." He joked as she did so.

"Just apologise for what you said Naruto!" She hissed.

"okay, I was just joking around you know! You can have your underwear alright!" He was cut off when she plunged his head under the surface.

"You-you-you HENTAI!" she took him out and looked him in the eyes just as they were hauled into the boat by Sasuke. He was serious about his it seemed.

"Clothes get heavy in the water and you'll be lucky not to be drenched at the end of training, the less you wear, the better." He was actually logical in his explications and was thus sparred another swim in the river. The row man looked paranoid now, they were in mortal danger and his passengers were making lots of noise.

Naruto glared at Sasuke when he caught him looking at Sakura who was putting her clothes back on. The black haired ninja averted his gaze instantly. Human emotions were a weakness he didn't need.

The rest of the way was uneventful as the boat docked right in front of Tasuna's home itself. Sakura and Sasuke dragged Kakashi and Naruto to the house so they could rest. They were greeted by Tsunami, Tasuna's daughter.

"Father, you came back!" She sounded exstatic to have her father back. She looked at Kakashi, barely able to stand and went in search for a futon.

"Bring another one please, another of our friends is in the same predicament." Sakura asked when she saw their hostess with the mattress. Naruto could barely move at this moment but he still grinned.

"Don't worry Sakura-chan! I'll be good as new tomorrow." He tried to sound energetic but failed miserably since he had used the little charka he had regenerated during his unwanted swim.

"Just rest you baka." She said. Worry was seeping through her voice.

"ZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. . ." He was snoring loudly now. She sweat-dropped and dragged him to the bedroll where she unceremoniously dropped him. He seized her arm and dragged her down with him and hugged her to his chest.

"Naruto!" She exclaimed as she tried to free herself from his grasp. She ended up closer then ever to him with her limbs spread eagle. His strong arms circling her and holding her tight.

"Who are you?" A kid was crouching next to them.

"Inari, please be polite, they were the ones who got me here in one piece. The boy is just a bit tired and he's strong enough to hold her there." Tasuna explained to his great son who just looked sarcastic.

"They should leave before Gatou kills them." He commented.

"Hey kid." Naruto released Sakura from his arms as he woke up. He looked into his eyes and saw the same thing he had seen in his eyes when he had been younger. "I don't know what the hell happened to ya to make you so sarcastic but Gatou is small fry for me! I'm Saotome Naruto and I'll be Hokage one day!" He exclaimed. Sakura hit him over the head for his earlier forwardness and Inari commented.

"Until then you're in bed and getting beaten up by a girl." He went to the stairs. "Heros don't exist in real life. I'm going to look at the sea from my room." He said. Sakura looked ready to follow the brat but Naruto held her back.

"I know it's annoying but the kid just needs to be shown that heroes do exist. Something happened to him when he was young and he just closed himself. Not the brightest move but normal for a kid." Naruto said.

Sakura looked at him stupefied at how deep his reflection was.

"How did you. . ." She was about to ask when he cut her.

"Were the same, him, me. I can see it in his eyes." He had a frown plastered on his face as he stated this. Sasuke looked at the floor, reliving in his mind the end of his own family by the hands of his brother. He got up and went up the stairs only to hear the muffled cries of Inari crying over his father.

The next day. Naruto was back to his energetic self and he escorted Tasuna with Sakura as Kakashi went with Sasuke to the forest for their training.

"Why are you two not going with your teacher and the black haired kid?" Tasuna asked.

"Kakashi is actually teaching him advanced stuff we wouldn't get." Sakura said.

"Bloodline ability, we wouldn't be able to do it even if we were trained in it our whole life." Naruto commented. "We'll work on control until mid day and then we'll start on techniques and even katas if we're lucky." He said with an enthusiastic smile plastered on his face. "We're going to work on higher control and then your endurance."

"This isn't good. You want to kill me." She said. "Anyway, since you're working on a bridge and he wants me to learn to walk on water we're going to stay close." She finally answered the bridge builder.

The bridge came into view and Naruto removed his clothing one piece after another.

"My father's the expert but I guess you're going to have to remove your clothes like I told you. It guaranteed you'll get a dunk or two today." He stated as he removed his pants. She stared once again at his muscular body and had too shake herself out of her daydream. Her love for Sasuke didn't restrict her from looking at others right? She turned her back to him and quickly stripped to her underwear. Her mind went back to her mother and her recommendations. She felt too close for comfort in such a state of undress.

"Let's get into the water." He walked to the surface and advanced until he would have had about waist deep. He remained on the surface however. He then explained to her the basic principle of the exercise. Sakura made the rat seal and gathered charka to her feet. She put her foot on the surface but she had used too much charka to do so. Upon touching the water, her energy reacted to the liquid and clung to it like a magnet. However, Sakura couldn't move at all for a second, she released her control to lower the quantity of chakra. She sank a bit and, with the Rat seal still in place, she tried to adjust the exact dose.

'Pops was right, Sakura get those things even better then Sasuke. His Taijutsu and Ninjutsu are better then hers but her control and genjutsu are better then his. My own control seems better but I'm still leaking too much Chakra. She very well be the best on our team for the technic side." Naruto thought. 'When she gets the hang of this, I'll teach it to her. Dad told me to teach the amaguriken and not make them drop dead but if she can learn the dual taijutsu style of the Saotome Ryu. . .Even just the basics and then we're in business here. The advanced part will be hard but still possible.'

Sakura was already standing on the water but it was quite harder to advance. Depending on the shallowness of the water, she had to adjust the flow of charka to her limbs to remain standing and stable. Her exercise continued until she lost her concentration and fell face first into the water. She sputtered a bit but took back the rat seal and concentrated once again. Naruto simply sank into the water hoping it was cold enough for him. A wet Sakura in her undies, even if they weren't becoming transparent with water, was just too much for his adolescent mind. They continued the exercise in silence until Sakura could walk halfway to Naruto without sinking. They then went to diner.

"I wonder what Kakashi sensei is teaching Sasuke-kun." Sakura asked.

Naruto shrugged and simply took a another scoop of his ramen.

"Who knows, he's responsible for his training officially so whatever he can I guess." Naruto said between bites.

Sasuke and Kakashi were seated in the lotus, face to face. Sasuke was in a meditative state while Kakashi explained to him the use of the sharingan.

"Under normal circumstances, you would have learned in the heat of the action but we can't take that chance right now Sasuke. There are exercises you can do to focus the power of the sharingan. I know them but they're useless to me." He then explained the charka focus in the inner eye and the pupils. He was surprised when Sasuke opened his eyes and both were invested with the fan of the sharingan.

'He's truly a genius. With a lot of training he may be able to actually beat Itachi' Kakashi thought as he coached him. Sasuke was very near the awakening of his latent powers and all he really needed was a fierce battle. Something Kakashi was unable to give him with his present situation.

"Sasuke, you can join Naruto and Sakura for the rest of the day." Kakashi said as he got up. Sasuke got out of his meditative state and lost the red pupils. He turned towards the forest to rejoin with the others.

"Be careful, we don't want anyone to be attacked." Kakashi warned him. Sasuke answered with a grunt.

'So. . .those are the secrets of the sharingan. If that kid truly is an Uchiha then we need to get rid of him fast.' A figure in the shadows thought. It looked at the direction taken by the gennin and then at the jounin retreating on his crutch. There was no real doubt that taking on Kakashi would be foolish even in his weakened state however, the unawake Sasuke would do quite well. He blurred into the foliage in hot pursuit and barely dodged a kunai thrown at him.

"Get out. I know you're there." Sasuke called. "You're sloppier then Naruto." Wich was the truth since Naruto would have given him a hard time. He was a trickster and was quite adept at running away and hiding.

"You're comparing me to that blondie?" he called before he landed from his perch after throwing a shuriken at his adversary. Sasuke move his head to the side dodging the throwing star quickly. Kohaku was standing tall, at 17 years old he was 6 feet high and could easily weild Zabusa's sword if he wanted to but he was proefficient with his own weapons. A pair of katanas which he drew from their sheaths. "I feel insulted."

He dashed forward, trying to get a slash across Sasuke who dodged once again, first by crouching the beheading slash and then by rolling to the side avoiding the blow destined to cut him in half. He had to resort to blocking the third blow with his forearm using the weights as protection but was rewarded with a jolt of electricity.

"How does it feel to get hit by thunder. Those blades are a little family heirloom. They use the electrical energy of raiken no jutsu to actually shock the opponent. Had you been cut you would be dead." He was actually gloating but Sasuke got back on his feet and nimbly kicked the weapon out of his adversary's hands. The second sword was blocked in much the same way as the first but this time it was a freezing arm that made Sasuke recoil. His left arm was burnt while his right one was frozen solid. He concentrated his charka into his arm to make the numbness go away as he dodged the follow up swing aimed for his neck.

"If I even graze your neck it's the end." He proclaimed as he used both of his hands to weild the weapon. Sasuke caught sight of the other weapon and smiled. He broke into a sprint and seized the hilt. He wasn't prepared for the jolt of lightning that hit him.

"How. . ." He asked as he fell to his knees.

"Do you really think I let my weapons for anyone to use? I'm not that stupid." He said. Sasuke once again struggled to his feet. His vision wasn't clear enough for him to see more then a blurr running towards him.

'It can't end like this.' He thought as the cold eyes of his brother made their way into his mind as he closed his own eyes. 'I am not weak. I will show him. I will avenge my family and kill him with my bare hands.' He opened his eyes again and the world had completely changed to his perspective. The world was going in slow motion and he understood what had just happened. He grinned as he dodged the blows destined to kill him easily and looked his nemesis in the eyes.

"Sharingan." That single word, spoken by Sasuke made his adversary shudder. Those unsettling red eyes were now analysing his every moves and Kohaku knew every techniques would be copied and thrown at him immediately. He opted for the safer option and quickly sheathed his swords and used a teleportation technique to get away before Sasuke could actually attack him. The Uchiha descendant made the same seal as his enemy and teleported to Tazuna's house. His sensei was the mission leader and he had to report to him.

Zabusa was resting at the moment. His faithful team of gennin, who had passed the exam to be chunin long ago, had followed him in his desertion. The mist contry was still in turmoil and rumors of a new kage were surfacing even in this tiny country. His goal of evincing the tyranny was achieved, even if he had just been a catalyst it was enough to satisfy him. as long as a rehabilitation order wasn't put into effect he was still on the run but from what he had been told the leader of kuri no kuni was one of his old comrades who had shared his views. Haku had saved the old man from death at his hands and was now ordering Sonja to get the herbs they needed. The boy was the leading type and the other two listened to him most of the time.

"How could that boy hit those points." He asked his second who smiled.

"He was extraordinarly fast. He seemed to be the leader of the team and also the most powerful in terms of charka. He acted as dead and bid his time. Then he actually created enough kage bunshin to defend the target, his team mates and fool us with henge no jutsu. He then switched to high level taijutsu and hit two of your tenketsu which plunged you in a lethargy. If it wasn't for his brutal style I would have deemed him a Hyuga from konoha but he's just too violent for that." Haku always was the better analyser of the group. His innate innocence helped him in that department. Zabuza knew a bit more then his old disciple and thought of a similar encounter years before. It was one of the few failures he had encountered and he was glad to still have his life afterwards. The fighting styles were similar in both brutality and finesse.

"Saotome. . .He must be his son. . ." He poundered a few seconds. "Haku. When we battle them again. Don't do anything that could provoke that boy unless I have Kakashi finished. He's too much for you and the others. 'He could be too much for me. . .' He thought. Haku nodded and looked at the door where Kohaku appeared.

"I know the secret of the sharingan." He announced with a smirk.

Naruto and Sakura were now about to start training again. Sakura was getting better and better and could now slowly walk on the surface of the water. When she could dash on it she would be ready to start the katas he wanted her to learn.

"Naruto. . .How come you fainted after the last battle. I mean you're a stamina freak. It's just not possible to put you down." She said. His control over Chakra looked better then her own yet he leaked it in large quantity.

"That's. . .I don't really know. Doing things like water walking and tree climbing comes easy to me but when I use a technique I leak a part of the energy I summon wether I want to or not. It's like I have way too much for me to handle." He explained. "Kage bunshin is what really made me faint. It evenly divides the charka within my body and creates another body. Each time it's like I lose half my strength but gain an ally. When it disappears, I gain back a part of it's strength but not all of it." He was enouncing the theory behind the technique like a scholar. "I wouldn't teach it to you or Sasuke because. . .well it usually kills you if you can't do it." He looked gravely at the ground and got up.

"Naruto. . ."She trailled off.

"Let's get back to training anyway. My dad said it was probably because of puberty or something. Thanks for the concern Sakura-chan." He said as he turned towards the water. He reached the exact same spot he had used for her to reach and turned to her with his goofy smile in place.

When Sasuke had appeared in a swirl of leafs, Kakashi was quite sure it was an attack but when he saw the red pupils still active, one with one fan and another with two, he sighted in relief.

"It seems you learned the sharingan faster then I thought. You know it's basic abilities and how to activate it. It's in your blood. There are other uses for them but not until you gain the three branched eyes. The four branched lets you see the field of battle better while it's the two branched sharingan which lets you copy techniques." Kakashi repeated the basic use of his pupils. There were more uses but Sasuke was a genius and would learn them by observation or instinct. "You van resume your training with Naruto if you like." He said. Sasuke actually looked at him.

"I'd rather continue with you until we get back to Konoha." He said. Kakashi smiled slightly under his mask.

"I suppose that could be possible arranged with Naruto as long as you practice the Amaguriken I guess." Kakashi was quite happy with this development. He was one of the few ninjas with practical knowledge of the sharingan and Sasuke the last one with the genes so it was logical for him to ask guidance for a time. "We'll start right away."

Sakura was exhausted. Naruto could be as much a slave driver as his father. Once she could walk normally on the water, he had started her on a basic taijutsu kata as he started a weird one which made no sense to her. As though it was missing something.

Back in konohagure, Hikari was talking with her husband about Naruto.

"He took off with some of your scrools again Ranma." She was scolding.

"I know, they are kata scrools. Nothing major but I wanted him to take them they were obvious anyway." He had a lopsided grin plastered on his face.

"We have to talk Ranma." That simple sentence was the start of a panic attack within any male and Ranma was no exception. He just had a better time hiding it then many others. "It's about Naruto. . ." That calmed his fears mostly at least.

"What's up with the boy? He was doing great when he left." He said, still dense in many ways even after years of parental and marital life.

"He's starting to ask himself where he came from." She said, a frown upon her features.

"I'm going to see the Hokage about that. . .He's the only one I know who could tell him all about his origins." He looked serious. "I have a mission anyway, some Yakuza to get rid of." He said. Hikari nodded at him as he got up from his seat. He called the children, hugged them and left after he kissed his wife. He stepped towards the mission center and the Hokage's office.

Later that night, Naruto was carrying Sakura back to Tazuna's place. She had progressed rapidly and was about ready to start learning some jutsu with her level of control. He grinned to himself as he knew the rest of the week would be spent working on ameliorating her weak areas. Control was always a given with her and all she needed was body strength and endurance to support this control before she could start learning jutsus. Her Genjutsu would have to be learned from Kakashi of maybe his mother would help. He and his father could only conteract a jutsu most of the time in this cathegory. Ranma and Naruto had no ability whatsoever in the use of genjutsu. Countering, no problem, using, impossible. His mother was something else though and his sister was already learning while Ryoma wasn't ready yet. Thinking about his mother made him release a sigh.

"What's up kid?" Tazuna asked him.

"Just thinking about my parents." Naruto answered with a look of sadness.

"Homesick huh?" The old man said as he took a swing of his bottle.

"Not the Saotomes. . .my real parents. I'm asking myself what they were like at the moment. . .Why am I telling you this anyway? I'm turning into something of a sissy!" He exclaimed his smile returning. It was forced though and Tazuna saw right through it.

The rest of the way was silent and Sakura poundered over what she had just eared. Naruto wasn't originally a Saotome. She knew that but she didn't know it affected him that much. He was always seen with a large carefree smile on his face or a confident look. Was it just all a facade or a mask to hide his true feelings.

'I love them a lot but. . .it's not the same thing. . .' Sakura swore she eared him talk to himself but even through her half closed eyelids she could see his mouth firmly shut.

'What the hell is going on?' She asked herself.

Back at Konohagure. The Haruno couple was quietly at home eating supper. No conversation, not a sound, not even a word was spoken through the meal but either deep comprehension between the two made them anticipate the others thoughts or it was a very practiced drill of synchronisation. Mrs Haruno's right arm shuddered a bit and she spoke to her husband.

"It's started." She said with finality.

"I was expecting it. She's 16 afterall. You know what your father told us when it happened. First love are always the last ones for your family." He said and sighed afterwards. "We have to go see Saotome-san to tell him what happened." He said.

"It could be that Uchiha." She told him. He shook his head and looked down.

"It's most certainly Naruto. Uchiha is a cruch. He's just catchy to the eye. Naruto, while not as. . .dashing, has certain qualities she's going to look for instinctively. You know it better then I do. It's your family's hidden blood-limit" He didn't look overjoyed at the fact that his daughter was actually going through this kind of thing. He had hoped she wouldn't be affected by her mother's bloodline and be more normal but it seemed she had just started the process without knowing it. He took his phone and dialled the Saotome's number. There was serious business to be done before they returned. He just hoped it didn't turn into a jutsu wedding. (The equivalent of a shotgun wedding)

Everyone was around the table and eating their fill. Or at least tried to. Sakura was mostly left alone by Naruto while Sasuke attacked her and defended against the blonde. She ate at a more dignified pace but still managed to swipe some food from Naruto, not bothering to attack Sasuke since He had his hands full with Naruto. Once the meal was over. Sasuke simply stepped outside and once again exercised himself in front of the fire. He was getting faster and faster with each attempt but still burnt his hands. Naruto looked at him with an half smile. Sasuke was the impatient kind, just like himself most of the time, when it came to getting stronger. The Uchiha heir was wearing his weighed bracers and his special vest as he practiced. Naruto wasn't worried unless sakura tried something like that. Sasuke was lither then himself, built naturally for speed and skill while Naruto was strength, power and endurance. Sakura was lithe and intelligent. However Sasuke was building his strength and power where Naruto had been drilled on skill and speed for a long time. Sakura only needed a better physical condition to actually be on the same level as the two. Her control was perfect while his was lacking since his battle over the forbidden scroll. Back there something had flipped within him and his previously finely tuned control was running amok. The control exercises didn't help, meditation was. . .something Naruto considered as nap time and running out of chakra didn't help but did hurt like hell. After a little workout he was actually tired and they had barely started. Kakashi didn't look quite better then himself at the moment.

"Kakashi-sensei, stay put alright." Sakura chided their teacher as she worked a balm she could make with herbs she had taken from Konohagure. She sighed and whipped a bit of sweat from her forehead. "I'll need to get some herbs tomorrow I'll have to miss morning practice Naruto." She told her sempai.

"I could go for you." He offered but she looked at him plainly. "Do you know what you're looking for?" She asked.

"Umm. . .nope." He scratched the back of his head like Ranma always did. The gesture made Sakura actually think him rather cute. "Sorry. . ." He said sheepishly.

That single word did it. Something inside of her broke and she launched herself at him. Naruto got ready for the shock of his life and was well served. Lips touched lips and the world started spinning for the young gennin. Never had he been kissed by someone like that before. His mother and siblings did give him peeks on the cheek but this was too much for his mind to take on all at once, even if it was a very simple action and as such he found himself in autopilot, acting by instinct.

Instinct is a very hormonal being and a teenager is already a being of hormones so to say that he reacted to the kiss would be an understatement. Sakura had just realised what she had done and the look of surprise on his face as she pulled back that Naruto tackled her and kissed her vigorously. The being of hormones, whether he would admit it or not was also full of complexes, especially an attention seeking complex which resulted in a need for human contact and recognition, as such the action of kissing was deemed necessary to the being and the idea or even the concept of stopping was as foreign as a gaijin for Naruto at that moment.

Sakura never even had a chance to say a word when Naruto jumped on her. His body was pressing against hers and their lips were mashed together. It wasn't how she had envisioned her first kiss. She had wanted it to be with Sasuke and romantic but this was spontaneous, unexpected but yet it was also perfect. Sakura recoiled at the thought of perfection and jumped away from Naruto. The blonde ninja looked dazed and dissoriented. He looked at Sakura and shook his confusion.

"I-I-I never. . .Naruto I-I didn't. . ."

"I understand Sakura. . .I'm sorry." Naruto turned to the door and walked towards the edge of the water. He looked dejected and quite depressed. Sakura ran to her room, separated from the other's and cried herself to sleep just as the inner Sakura talked into her mind. 'I can't believe I did that! I just kissed Naruto and . . . I liked it . . .' Sakura then thought to herself. 'I shouldn't have left him he must feel awful . . .' She fell into slumber with this very thought.

Naruto was looking at the water from his position when someone walked behind him.

"Something bothering you?" The person asked him.

"Yeah but I don't want to talk about it." He answered. He knew who was behind him but wouldn't say anything about his identity.

"It's a girl right?" The voice asked. "They're mysterious creatures eh?"

"One minute they're kissing you and the next they say something stupid you can't understand." Naruto said.

"So it's a girl! I knew it." The smirk was audible in the voice and Naruto was almost tempted to turn around and scowl. "Sakura only needs time, she always had this idea about Sasuke so it's only natural she's reluctant. Give her time." The voice adviced.

"Thanks, worst case scenario she'll hate me!" Naruto exclaimed.

"No, worst case scenario you end up married when you get back to Konohagure." The voice said and just as it said this, the presence dissapeared.

"Thanks." Naruto got up and turned to the house and vanished inside. A shadow inside a tree looked down towards the house.

"Good night Naruto."

Back in Konohagure.

"I hope you have reasons good enough to pull me out of an S class mission Haruno-san." Ranma was sitting in front of Sakura's parents across a ceremonial tea table.

"It is Saotome-san. You see, my familly has a distinctive bloodlin ability." Ranma looked at Mrs Haruno interrested. Most of these abilities were easily copiable with the use of well controled ki or enough skill and training. "The women of my familly can, when they get old enough, read the thoughts of one and only one person. . ."

"Their lovers I'd wager." Ranma had encountered few real unaytainable abilities but this was one of them. If they were willing to tell him about it though. . .It meant Naruto and Sakura were. . . "You think Naruto and Sakura are. . ."

"More then think, we know about it. Even if the connection is only with my husband, I still feel my daughter a bit. The thug of attraction towards one of the two and reciprocal feelings is quite distinctive. It's possible they'll need to start living together when they come back or even a wedding." Mrs. Haruno was serious as she said this and looked at the equally sullen Saotomes.

"If I didn't know Sasuke I'd be a bit sceptical about this." Ranma deadpanned.

"Yes, that boy is made out of steel." Hikari, next to her husband remarked. "Naruto however. . .I know for a fact he at least has some sort of crush for your daughter."

"We were thinking that an engagement would be an acceptable proposition in this present situation." Mr Haruno suggested.

"This. . .complicates several things. Naruto may be under our care but an engagement isn't up to us. We were about to ask the third to tell him about his family." Hikari objected. "And reinstate him in his original clan, he's the last member you know."

Both Haruno's looked down a bit and nodded.

"If they really are bounding, they'll do the natural thing." Ranma stated and thoroughly scared the Harunos.

"If they do I hope you know a good priest because they'll be having kids in no time." Ranma didn't ear who said this as he hit his head repetitively on the table. Such messes had been better left in Nerima or his youth before his marriage an soon after. It should NOT affect Naruto.

End of chapter.

You thought it was Ranma talking to Naruto eh? Cliffhanger time, who is this shadow, what is his role and his goals in life and most importantly, what the heck is it doing telling Naruto how to get girls? Shadows don't have girlfriends.