Picture Day Chapter 16: It Must Be a Blond Thing, a naruto fanfic

AN: It's been while. To save you all time, I answered reviews at the bottom. Sorry about the wait. There's also a note about the epilogue at the bottom. I'd appreciate it if you guys could read and respond to it, thanks!

I'll try to have the next chapter up Monday or Tuesday of next week, but no promises.

Also just to tell you this chapter has the b word that rhymes with witch in it several times. If this offends you, please don't read (or at least ignore the word).

This story is AU (Sasuke's still there) starting after about chapter 177 of the manga that means there will be spoilers if you haven't gotten that far. Information about the past five years will be told throughout the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

B regular stuff

B internal thoughts and such.

B flashbacks (sorry I forgot to put this in last chapter)

And now onto the story as I continue to torture Lee, make fun of Naruto, and threaten people. Enjoy!

Picture Day

The end of the week came and Tsunade, although suffering from a hangover, glowed as each of the senseis and their helpers announced that they had completed their tasks. Kakashi's smugness took the cake and seemed to be infuriating Kurenai.

"Well," Tsunade started happily. Jiraiya snorted at some unknown joke and was swiftly knocked out by the impassioned blond Hokage. "As I was saying, since you've all completed your task, I've decided that we'll hold the picture day next Friday. Missions have been a bit slow lately, so I'll hand most of them down to Chuunin who need experience. You and your teams have the next week off as well," she continued without missing a beat

"Wonderful Hokage-sama!" Gai exclaimed. "We must each use this virtuous gift well and spend this auspicious week with our youthful and-" Thanks to Tsunade's fist, Gai joined Jiraiya in la la land.

"Anyways, I hope you all enjoy yourselves. Use this time to relax so that everyone looks nice and rested in their pictures," Tsunade said happily; she was doing her best to ignore the gurgling sounds coming from the two unconscious men on the ground.

She smiled sweetly at the group, before glancing down at Jiraiya's twitching body and sighing. "You're dismissed," she said, reaching down and grabbing Jiraiya's collar. She walked to the door dragging him along and threw the Toad Sennin out. The others shook their heads in amusement, before grabbing Gai and walking through the door. "And Kakashi-kun," Tsunade said, as he walked past her. "They'd better look good," she said sweetly.

Kakashi smiled smugly at her and walked through the door. Tsunade was about to shut it when she heard the Copy Nin speak. "Hokage-sama, after they caught you, did you actually stop watching?" he asked.

Tsunade got the feeling he was laughing at her. "Of course I did. I'm not stupid enough to risk them catching me again," she added.

Kakashi merely chuckled and turned to walk away.

"What did we miss?" she asked suspiciously, while kicking Jiraiya to wake him up.

"Nothing," Kakashi replied innocently.

"Eh?" Jiraiya said, rubbing his sore head and trying to catch up on the conversation.

Kakashi merely waved his little orange book and walked away.

"That man is infuriating sometimes," Tsunade whispered, pulling Jiraiya back into her office.

XXXXXXXX

The rookies and Gai's team were all gathered at Ichiraku's celebrating their second week off in a row. This time Naruto and Sasuke were actually able to join them. Admittedly, neither boy seemed to be enjoying the current conversation. "I still don't understand why you ran from them for almost a week and then just gave up," Chouji said.

"We didn't just give up," Naruto responded indignantly.

"Yeah they just got distracted sparring and we caught them," Sakura said with a gleam in her eye. Lee coughed up his mouthful of Ramen and his eyes went slightly wild.

"Lee, what is wrong? This has been happening for two days now," TenTen said. Lee shook his head frantically and refused to look anyone in the face.

"So what's everyone wearing?" Ino asked.

"Yeah what was up with that whole coordination thing?" Kiba asked stupidly.

"Tsunade-baba wanted the team shots to look organized," Naruto responded. A moment later he mumbled, "Why do I even bother?" when everyone looked at him in shock. "She wanted to torture us," the blond appended.

"Oh," Kiba said, nodding in understanding. Sakura rolled her eyes at their behavior.

"So what's everyone wearing?" Ino repeated excitedly.

"We're not allowed to tell," Sakura said smiling.

"Eh?" Ino said.

"Kakashi-sensei's orders," the pink haired medic explained.

"As long as Naruto wears his pajama pants," TenTen said, teasing the blond. Naruto turned to glare at her, which saved him from noticing that Neji was glaring at him, which saved Neji from noticing that Sasuke was glaring at TenTen as well. Everyone else wasn't quite so distracted.

"Nothing particularly special," Hinata said.

"Same here," TenTen replied.

"Elaborate," Ino said.

"Shizune-san preferred to dress us up," TenTen began, "It was the only way to get Lee and Gai-sensei out of spandex."

"Thank you," Naruto whispered, causing the others to laugh out loud. Sakura glared at him lightly as she checked to make sure that her boyfriend hadn't heard their jokes. Lee was as oblivious as ever.

"They're wearing suits, although Lee and Gai-sensei both picked green ones. Luckily, it's a darker shade," TenTen continued.

"Please tell me she didn't put Neji in green," Ino said. Neji rolled his eyes and leaned back. It was more than obvious that the only participants in this conversation were female. I doubt they even remember we're here, he thought, turning to see that the other guys were just as bored as he was.

"Like I'd let that happen," TenTen responded, "besides Shizune happens to have very good taste. His suit is light gray."

"That is the perfect color for his eyes," Sakura cut in. Neji glared at Naruto when he snickered beside his teammate.

"Do they even realize we're still here?" Shikamaru questioned lazily.

"No," Neji responded. "They forgot the moment Ino mentioned clothing."

"Then why don't we leave," Naruto suggested.

"What are you wearing, TenTen-chan?" Hinata asked sweetly.

"Good idea," Chouji said, standing up.

The others followed and made it out the door, while TenTen described the gray skirt Shizune had chosen to match Neji's suit and the green mandarin collared blouse that would coordinate them with Gai-sensei and Lee.

"Sweet, sweet freedom," Naruto muttered, as the eight teens walked down the street. Lee was very cautious to remain as far away as possible from Naruto and Sasuke.

"Well now that we have it, what are we going to do with it?" Chouji asked.

"Let's not do anything," Shikamaru suggested.

XXXXXXXX

That's just what they were doing an hour later when the girls found them. Sakura snickered and pulled out a camera. Seeing eight of Konoha's most overworked shinobi doing nothing but cloud watching was quite a treat; a treat that Sakura would make sure the Hokage could immortalize for the whole town. After she had snapped the picture, she walked over and lay down next to Lee. Ino and Hinata walked over to their teammates, and TenTen sat down by Neji.

When the Hokage's aid found the group an hour later, he followed Tsunade's first order and took several pictures. How the Hokage knew exactly what angles he should take the pictures from, he honestly didn't know. After he took the last picture, he scanned over the group. The Hokage's apprentice had curled up next to the boy in green spandex; both appeared to be sleeping. At some point the elder Hyuuga had sat up and pulled his ex-teammate closer to him. The girl had fallen asleep, while the Hyuuga was lazily talking with Nara-san and Aburame-san.

The Inuzuka boy had fallen asleep as well. His teammate, the academy sensei, was sitting next to him playing with Akamaru and speaking with Chouji and Yamanaka-san. Naruto-san and Uchiha-san were speaking quietly about ten feet from the others. Is it just me or are they lying really close together? The aid thought; he shrugged it off figuring it had something to do with the whole best friend, rivalry thing they had going on. He took a deep breath and approached the group.

"Can we help you?" Neji asked, shifting. Unfortunately, his statement woke the others up as well.

"I apologize for interrupting you," the aid said, bowing slightly. "Uchiha-san," he continued, turning to Sasuke, "Godaime-sama would like to see you in her office."

Sasuke turned to look at the aid angrily. "Why?" he asked.

The aid looked at him in surprise. Uchiha-san normally follows the Godaime's instructions, unlike Naruto-san, he thought. "She did not tell me anything specific. The Godaime merely said that she would like to speak with you in her office."

The majority of the group, especially those that had been sleeping, were now glaring at the Hokage's poor aid. Sasuke ignored the aid and turned to Naruto. "You think I could get away with not going by claiming it was my week off?" he asked. The rest of the group snickered, but the aid looked at him in horror.

"Uchiha-san," the aid said a bit out of turn, "you cannot simply ignore the Hokage's request."

"Sure he can," Naruto responded for Sasuke. "Tell Tsunade that if she leaves Sasuke alone for the rest of the week, I'll reconsider taking over her position in time for her to enjoy her retirement," he added. Those that had heard his threat the day before chuckled.

"B-but," the aid stuttered. I can't say something like that to the Hokage, he thought panicking slightly.

"Look," Naruto said when the aid began to sweat. "Tell baa-chan," the aid's eyes widened, he had heard that Naruto-san used incredibly familiar terms for the Hokage but that was just insulting. "Fine, tell the Hokage, that she gave us the week off, and there is no way in hell I'm letting her ruin it for any of us," Naruto claimed. "It wouldn't be amenable of her," he added loftily.

"You're so adorable when you use big words and try to sound smart," TenTen snickered. Naruto glared at the annoying girl before giving up and lying back down.

The aid looked stricken by Naruto's message, and Sakura knew why. Tsunade would be furious if he said any of that. "Just tell Tsunade-sama that Sasuke-kun will speak with her when he has a free moment," Sakura said to the aid.

"No I won't," Sasuke muttered.

"Yes, you will," Sakura said forcefully, glancing at the aid from the corner of her eye.

"Fine," Sasuke said, "but I won't be free for the rest of the week," he added under his breath.

"Damn straight you won't," Naruto agreed.

"Go away," Sasuke said, turning to the aid that was still standing there.

"Of course, Uchiha-san," the aid said before hurrying away.

"I think you might have scared him," TenTen mused aloud.

"Serves him right," Kiba muttered, "that little brat ruined my nap."

"Then go back to sleep," Sakura said, curling up next to Lee again. Within ten minutes the group had returned to the peacefulness they had shared before the interruption.

XXXXXXXX

That night the sun set over Konoha and signaled the end of a peaceful day for the resting shinobi. Reluctantly they rose and prepared to go; well, most of them rose. Sakura refused to wake up, so Naruto easily convinced a blushing Lee to take her home. Similarly, Ino refused to wake up from her nap. "When did she fall asleep?" Shikamaru asked, as he stood up lazily and stretched.

"I don't remember," Chouji said.

"About an hour ago," Hinata supplied, helping Kiba to his feet.

"Which is when we were supposed to meet your father," Neji said, smirking at his cousin.

"I seem to have lost my watch; how irresponsible of me," she stated, hiding a grin.

"Just carry her," Shikamaru said to Chouji, shrugging, "We're all supposed to meet at her house anyway, although we may have missed dinner."

"Neh, they wouldn't have eaten without us," Chouji said, picking up his slumbering teammate.

"You two heading in?" TenTen asked Naruto and Sasuke.

"Not yet, baa-chan will probably have Ero-Sennin and Kakashi-sensei ready to pounce on us the moment we get back into town," Naruto said shrugging.

"See you tomorrow then," Kiba said walking away. Akamaru bounded over and said a slobbery goodbye to the two boys before following Kiba home.

Once the others had disappeared, Naruto plopped back down and sighed. "So why do you think she wanted to see you?" he asked.

"Don't know," Sasuke replied. "Will she really send Jiraiya-sama after you," he asked smirking.

"She will if the messenger told her what I said the first time. That old hag is desperate to retire. The council won't let her gamble while she's still in office, 'said it wasn't proper conduct," Naruto answered, chuckling.

"Yo!" Kakashi said, interrupting the two as he poofed in accidentally landing on Naruto. Naruto shoved his sensei off and glared at him until Kakashi nervously scratched the back of his head and turned to Sasuke. "Hokage-sama wants to see you," he said, taking a step away from both boys.

"Like I told the aid, it's my week off," Sasuke retorted, sitting down next to Naruto and looking up at Kakashi impishly. Kakashi was appalled by the childish behavior of his students. He looked down at them both and was prepared to begin lecturing, when Naruto looked up at him with watery blue eyes. "Kakashi-sensei," Naruto started. Kakashi glared down at the blond, but couldn't look away.

He also wasn't able to say no, which is why he found himself back in the Hokage's office twenty minutes later without either of his former students. He looked at the Hokage nervously and scratched the back of his head as the tick on Tsunade's forehead grew larger. "Where is he?" she finally growled out.

"They didn't want to come," Kakashi stated.

"I don't care what they want," Tsunade said, throwing her hands up, "Why didn't you make him come?"

Kakashi looked at her for a moment before turning away. "Naruto used his puppy dog eyes," he admitted ashamedly.

"Oh," Tsunade said, "never mind then. I'll try again tomorrow."

Kakashi fought the urge to snicker, apparently Iruka really was the only one not to fall for Naruto's puppy dog eyes.

XXXXXXXX

"Stop worrying," Shikaku said to his wife and her friends as they glanced out the window for the eleventh time in less than twenty minutes. He had been counting.

"We'll stop worrying when they get here," his wife, Yoshino, replied.

"It's their week off," Chouza said, "they probably lost track of time with their friends."

"Speaking of their friends," Yamanaka Yuki said, like her daughter Yuki was quite the gossip. "I hear Sakura might settle down with that nice boy: Maito Gai's student. Now if only Ino would take her example," she added.

"Do you mean Rock Lee?" Yura asked. Her son Chouji had told her all about that nice boy. "I hear his students simply love him. He'll make a good a father," she added.

"I just wish Shikamaru would stop hanging around that hussy from Suna," Yoshino said.

"You wouldn't be saying if that if he was engaged to her," Shikaku muttered. Chouza and Inoichi chuckled, hoping that their wives hadn't overheard.

"There they are," Inoichi said, pointing to the figures walking down the street.

"Is something wrong with Ino?" Yura asked, as the group drew closer.

"She's probably just asleep," Inoichi replied.

His wife glared at him and hurried to open the door for the three teens. "What's wrong?" she asked as they walked in.

"Too troublesome," Shikamaru muttered. "She fell asleep," he hurriedly added, when his mother and Yuki glared at him.

"What were you doing that caused her fall asleep?" Yuki asked him suspiciously.

"Nothing," Shikamaru replied honestly.

"Nothing?" his mother asked. "Just like you were doing nothing when that nice Mitarashi woman had to ask Naruto-san to threaten you."

"No," Shikamaru replied.

"We were just relaxing," Ino said waking up.

Shikamaru looked at her suspiciously before saying, "You were awake the whole time, weren't you?"

"Would I do that to you?" Ino asked innocently, ignoring the snickers of her mother and her friends.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered before being smacked over the head by Ino.

"By the way," Ino intoned happily. "You owe us money!"

"Why?" Shikamaru asked.

"Are you blind?" she asked, "Did you not see how they were acting today?"

"That was proof of nothing," Shikamaru stated.

"They were practically lying on top of each other, and I swear Sasuke had to stop himself from draping his arm around him," Ino said patronizingly.

"That's normal for them," Shikamaru stated, baffling the adults even more.

"Sasuke was glaring at TenTen when she made fun of Naruto," Chouji said a bit meekly.

"He always glares when people insult Naruto, which happens all the time," Shikamaru countered.

"Yeah, but Naruto normally hits him for it," Ino stated, smiling impishly.

"Naruto was too busy glaring at TenTen himself," Shikamaru countered a bit desperately.

"Oh, just admit they're dating," Ino said stubbornly.

"Who's dating?" her mother asked excitedly.

"Naruto and Sasuke," Ino said offhandedly, before slapping her hand over her mouth. She turned to look at the awestruck adults nervously.

"None of you are to repeat that," Chouji stated.

"Figures," Yuki muttered, "it's always the handsome ones."

"I agree, first Kakashi and Genma; now Naruto and Sasuke. What a pity," Yoshino admitted.

"Always the handsome ones," Inoichi said wryly. His wife and the other three women all nodded somberly. "Then what do we qualify as?" he asked.

"Roguishly handsome?" Ino suggested. Inoichi rolled his eyes at his daughter's comment but didn't pursue the topic as they sat down for dinner.

When the group had finished eating their rather later dinner, Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji found themselves outside once more relaxing. "So what are you both doing for the next several days?" Chouji asked.

"I was going to try and skip town," Shikamaru said.

"Poor Shika-chan," Ino simpered, pinching his cheek. "Not enough time to make it to Suna, satisfy Temari, and make it back?" she asked cheekily. Shikamaru glared weakly at her before shrugging and turning away. After several more minutes, Ino stood and dusted off her skirt. "I'm going to get something to drink; do either of you want anything?" she asked. Both boys shook their heads negatively, so Ino turned and walked in side.

"So troublesome," Shikamaru muttered, as Ino walked away.

"How can you possibly find anything to complain about now?" Chouji asked, looking appalled by his friend's behavior.

"Ino is always troublesome, she's a woman and therefore troublesome," he explained. Chouji chuckled and turned away. This is going to be an interesting week, he thought.

XXXXXXXX

Interesting was definitely the word to describe the upcoming week. Although the first day of their vacation had passed in relative silence, the sound level of the next morning set the tone for the rest of the week. "SHE WHAT?" Naruto shouted, waking up the few late sleepers in Konoha.

Sasuke blinked twice and tried to figure out what he could have possibly said to set off the blond. After several minutes, he still couldn't come up with anything so he repeated his earlier statement. "I said I spoke with Tsunade-sama this morning. She's promoting me to head of the ANBU department," he said.

"That scheming, slippery, duplicitous bitch," Naruto growled out.

"Duplicitous?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto was red with rage when he turned to glare at his new boyfriend. "Shut up," he hissed, before storming out leaving behind a very dazed and confused Uchiha heir. As he watched Naruto stalk away, he thought back to that morning and tried to figure out what had just happened.

XXXXXXXX

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun!" Kakashi said, from Sasuke's window ledge.

Sasuke stared at him for a moment thanking what ever deity had made sure he had dressed in the bathroom that morning. "What?" Sasuke finally growled.

"Tsunade-sama wants to see you," Kakashi said happily.

"I was informed of that yesterday," Sasuke said, walking towards his dresser to find his forehead protector. "I didn't meet with her yesterday because it was my week off. It is still my week off, so I'm not going to meet with her today," he told Kakashi.

Thank Kami Sasuke doesn't use the puppy dog eyesKakashi thought. "Yes well, I'd recommend you do meet with her today. You'll probably like what she has to tell you," Kakashi said coyly, as he pulled out his favorite orange book.

Sasuke looked at him suspiciously for a moment before shrugging. "Fine, but she better not waste any of my time," he said as he walked out.

Half an hour later, he was greeted by what should have been a suspiciously happy Hokage. Unfortunately, Sasuke was nowhere near as good at reading his Hokage as he was at reading Naruto, so he was unaware that the wicked grin on her face meant anything dangerous. "Good morning, Sasuke-kun," Tsunade said. Her cheerful tone would have immediately set off warning bells for the majority of her subordinates, but Sasuke had more important things on his mind. "Thank you for agreeing to meet with me so early. I apologize for taking up your vacation time, but this really can't wait very long," she explained.

The only sign that Sasuke was paying attention was the slight lift of an eyebrow. Tsunade took this as a good sign and continued. "Makoto-san is retiring," she stated.

Sasuke looked up at her in confusion. "When?" he asked. This was the first he had heard of the man's plan. He hadn't expected the head of the ANBU department to retire this early.

"He handed in his notice a week and a half ago, which gives him another few days on the job. We talked it over yesterday for some time. Our unanimous decision was to pass on his position to you," she said, watching him.

"Okay," Sasuke said, not very sure how to reply.

"Do you accept?" Tsunade asked. Sasuke really should have been more suspicious of the glint in her eye.

"Umm…" Sasuke muttered a bit taken back by the sudden proposal. "Can I have some time to think about it?" he asked.

Tsunade looked a bit disappointed by the boy's reluctance, but she covered it well. "You can have some time. But I'd really like an answer by the end of the week. That will give me time to look through other candidates should you choose to turn it down," she said.

Sasuke nodded shortly and walked out.

An hour later, he ran into Naruto. Five minutes later the blond left in a rage.

XXXXXXXX

"Tsunade, I can't believe you," Naruto shouted, storming into the Hokage's office. The various shinobi throughout Hokage Tower grimaced as visions of confrontations danced through their little-who-heads. The four shinobi in Tsunade's office looked up at the intruder; one of them wasn't quite as surprised by the irate blond as the others. In fact she seemed to be enjoying his anger.

"Is there a problem, Naruto-kun?" Tsunade inquired innocently, taking a seat behind her desk.

"You're promoting Sasuke to head of ANBU, how could you?" he shouted furiously.

"But Naruto-kun, I was under the impression that you were after my job. Why are you angry that Sasuke is receiving the promotion he was after? It isn't like it directly affects you," she said, inspecting her nails.

Naruto glared fiercely at the blond Hokage and growled. "You devious old hag," he growled out. "I can't believe you would do this," he said, calming down enough to look a bit hurt by Tsunade's actions.

Tsunade was torn between actually feeling bad and laughing maniacally due to the success of her plan. "Really Naruto, you should be happy for Sasuke-kun. It's not everyday that a seventeen year old is deemed capable of heading the ANBU division," she said, praying Naruto wouldn't use his puppy dog eyes.

"You know perfectly well why I'm pissed off at you," Naruto hissed.

"Now really Naruto," Tsunade began, before she was cut off.

"You are being deliberately antagonistic," he said.

"Deliberately antagonistic?" Tsunade repeated. "Where did you learn those words?" she asked chuckling.

Naruto growled at the infuriating blond. "From you, you old hag," he hissed, before turning and storming out of her office.

Tsunade waited until the younger blond had slammed her door, before breaking down into peals of laughter. If Naruto intended to torture her, she was just paying it right back.

Jiraiya had remained silent throughout the entire scene and now looked to Tsunade in confusion. "So why is it a big deal?" he asked.

Tsunade looked at him smiling widely. Shizune and Iruka glanced up from their work and shook their heads at the Hokage. "Have you ever actually read through the rule book?" Tsunade asked, trying to stop her laughter and failing miserably.

"Of course not," Jiraiya said, "but neither has the brat."

"Yes he has," Iruka said. "I made him study it after he was promoted to Jounin," he explained.

"Exactly," Tsunade said proudly.

"It's not really fair of you to take advantage of that rule," Iruka said, looking at Tsunade in disappointment.

"Now Iruka-kun," she said turning to the young man. "I want you and Shizune to be very careful when you separate the teams. I want Naruto and Sakura to have excellent teams," she explained.

"You know Tsunade-sama, even if he does resign from ANBU, which will happen if Sasuke takes the promotion, he might choose not to take a team just to piss you off," Iruka suggested.

Tsunade's grin faulted slightly at the small flaw in her plan. "Nonsense," she said straightening her shirt and recovering. "He'd get bored as a regular Jounin," she said, more to reassure herself than anyone else. Iruka shook his head and went back to studying the class lists.

Shizune glanced up just long enough to remind the Hokage that she had work to do before returning back to her own work.

XXXXXXXX

Naruto disappeared for the rest of the day much to the concern of his friends. The next day Sasuke managed to catch him as he left his apartment. "What the hell was up with the disappearing act?" he asked, as he fell into step beside his boyfriend.

"Nothing," Naruto muttered, avoiding Sasuke's gaze.

"Yeah right, what the hell did I say that pissed you off? All I told you was that I was offered a promotion," Sasuke explained.

"A promotion that no one expected to happen for another year, Makoto-san was supposed to officially retire at that point. How do you explain the fact that he's resigning early?" Naruto said, still staring at his feet.

Sasuke looked at him in confusion. "What are you saying?" he finally asked.

"It's nothing Sasuke," Naruto muttered, trying to shake off the other boy. He really didn't want to be around others at the moment.

"Even if it is a bit early, why are you so upset about it? You weren't after the job, right?" he asked.

"No, I wasn't. It really is nothing Sasuke," Naruto said.

"Nothing doesn't cause you to blow up at me and then storm into the Hokage's office," Sasuke stated.

Naruto stopped and sighed. "Look, Tsunade's just starting to get on my nerves," he said.

"That still doesn't make sense," Sasuke said.

"Are you accepting the promotion?" Naruto asked.

"Hell yeah," Sasuke replied. "It may have been a shock to get it this early, but there isn't a chance I'm turning it down."

"Then don't worry about it," Naruto mumbled.

"What was that about?" Sakura asked sidling up next to Sasuke, as Naruto walked away.

"Is there a reason it would be a problem for me to be promoted?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" Sakura inquired.

"Yesterday morning I told him that Tsunade offered me Makoto-san's job. He's been like this ever since then," he replied.

Sakura bit her lip and looked at Sasuke nervously. "Are you taking the job?" she asked. Sasuke nodded not taking his eyes off of Naruto's retreating figure. "Go give your answer to Tsunade," Sakura said. Sasuke turned to look at her in confusion so she went on, "Look it isn't actually a problem; Tsunade is just being a little mean." Sasuke gazed at her in confusion for a moment, before shrugging and turning away.

When he walked off, Sakura bit her lip and followed carefully. She was sure he knew what she was doing, but she figured Sasuke would ignore her if she seemed to be trying to be stealthy.

Sasuke knocked on the door to Tsunade's office and was quickly admitted entrance. "What can I do for you?" Tsunade asked, not bothering to look up from her work.

"I accept the job," he said, immediately catching her attention.

"Excellent!" Tsunade shouted, jumping up from her desk. The twinkle in her eye immediately put Sasuke on guard as he remembered Sakura's words.

"Why exactly would this bother Naruto?" he asked, looking at her cautiously.

Tsunade's grin didn't fade a bit as she turned to him. "Oh, he's just being a baby. Probably upset you gained your promotion before him," she explained, waving off his concern.

"If that were true, he would have dropped out of ANBU and taken a Genin team when you first started bothering him a year ago," Sasuke replied.

Tsunade simply smiled and sat back down behind her desk. After being ignored for several minutes, Sasuke gave up and left.

XXXXXXXX

"Did you give her your answer?" Sakura asked when she found Sasuke later that day eating lunch.

"Yes," Sasuke stated.

"And nothing I tell you will make you take that back, right?" she asked nervously.

"What?" Sasuke asked, turning to look at her.

"Look if Naruto didn't say anything to you, it meant he didn't want you to turn down the promotion. He's probably wants to handle it himself," Sakura explained.

"What?" Sasuke asked again.

"Do you promise?" Sakura asked, sitting down next to him.

When Sasuke finally decided that she wasn't going to explain further until he promised, he nodded in acceptance of her condition. "Okay, there is a little known rule. My guess is that only about ten people even still know about it, unfortunately Tsunade is one of those people. Naruto and I do as well," she began.

"What's the rule?" Sasuke asked, as dread began to descend on him.

Sakura bit her lip once more before leaning in and whispering to him. Once she had finished, Sasuke's eyes grew wide and he stared at Sakura for a moment. She grew frightened when his eyes narrowed again and he stormed off. She followed nervously wondering who was going to become the target of her teammate's fury.

She found out when she realized with dread that Sasuke was heading towards the mission room. Tsunade always helped hand out the lower mission assignments at this time of day. She quickly sped up and reached Sasuke's side just as he reached the door.

Inside the mission room, Tsunade looked up when she saw the door open and then quickly shut. "Sasuke you'll regret doing anything rash," she heard Sakura say. The others in the room looked around in confusion, but Iruka looked up at her and smiled. She smiled back smugly before turning to face the door. She could still hear Sakura pleading with Sasuke to reconsider.

The pink haired girl's pleading failed, and Sasuke stormed into the mission room while Sakura followed meekly. Much to the surprise of the lower level shinobi, Sasuke stormed right up to the Hokage and leaned down so that they were eye to eye. "You have no shame, do you?" he asked.

Tsunade smirked at him, completely disregarding everyone else. "When you're born with a chest like this, you learn not to have shame," she said, winking at him.

"You weren't born with a chest like that, you flat-chested bitch," Jiraiya snorted from his spot against the wall. Tsunade glared at him and tried to remember when he had come in before Sasuke recalled her attention.

"Do you really think tormenting him is going to get him to take over your job any sooner?" Sasuke asked.

"No, but it amuses the hell out of me," Tsunade answered.

"How he could have been stupid enough to believe that you would be a good Hokage, I will never know," Sasuke stated, standing back up.

Tsunade glared at him for a moment before smirking. "Well if I hadn't taken the job, you'd be talking to Jiraiya right now," she said.

Sasuke glared at her. "He was right. You are just a scheming, slippery, duplicitous bitch," Sasuke growled turning to go.

Tsunade looked at him in shock for a moment. The rest of the room was trying to decide why one of the best ANBU captains had just exploded at their Hokage. "He called me that?" Tsunade muttered in confusion. Maybe this game just went a little too far, she thought.

Sasuke was at the door when Tsunade came out of her thoughts. She smirked once deciding she could at least get the last laugh in this conversation. "I was right," she said, catching Sasuke's attention. "You really do need to get laid."

Sasuke glared at her and would have lunged if Iruka hadn't quickly appeared in front of him. Iruka pulled Sasuke out of the room, trying to calm him down. Sakura turned to Tsunade in disbelief. "You just had to make it worse," she said. Tsunade smirked at her weakly. It wouldn't do to let anyone know that she was beginning to regret it.

"Lee-sensei," a young Genin asked, catching the attention of everyone in the room. Tsunade's eyes widened when she realized that two Genin rookie teams were waiting for their assignments. "What did the Hokage mean, 'you really do need to get laid'?" the young girl asked, looking at her sensei in confusion. Sakura turned to look at her stunned boyfriend and tried not to laugh. The poor man still hadn't fully recovered. Tsunade's comment must have sent him over the edge. She quickly walked over and led him out of the room beckoning for his team to follow.

"What did she mean?" Lee's student asked again, when they were outside.

"She just meant that he needed to relieve some stress," Sakura answered. "Why don't you all take the day off," she added, shooing them off.

XXXXXXXX

That night Sasuke finally managed to track down Naruto. The blond was sitting atop the academy, the same place he had gone when Lee had accidentally insulted him. "Why didn't you tell me?" Sasuke asked.

"It's not a big deal," Naruto mumbled in reply.

This time it was Sasuke's turn to yell. "What do you mean, 'it's not a big deal'?" he shouted angrily.

"It's not; I just have to figure out a way around it," Naruto replied, grinning weakly.

"You're not angry at her, are you?" Sasuke said in disbelief.

"Not really, I'm actually shocked she managed to figure it out so quickly and then put together a plan," Naruto said.

Sasuke shook his head. It must be a blond thing, he thought. "Then why have you been avoiding everyone for two days?" he asked.

"Well, yesterday I really was pissed off," Naruto explained.

"And today?" Sasuke asked wryly.

"I've been trying to figure out a way to get back at her," he replied.

"Come up with anything yet?" Sakura asked, tackling Naruto from behind. Both boys looked shocked at her appearance. "What?" she asked innocently.

Naruto shook his head at her. "I figure I'll do what I always do," he said.

"Improvise?" Sakura asked.

"The unexpected," Naruto corrected. Improvise just doesn't have the right ring to it, he thought.

XXXXXXXX

Two days before picture day, Naruto strolled into the academy. He easily slipped through the halls unnoticed before knocking on the door to Hinata's classroom.

Hinata fought the urge to glare at the interruption at the door. She had thought that after last week she wouldn't have any more problems. Reluctantly, she glanced up from her lecture and said, "Come in."

"Hi!" Naruto said, bounding in.

From what she had heard about the past several days, Naruto's behavior was a bit off. "Yes, Naruto-kun," she replied.

"Got any good ones this year?" he asked, looking at her class appraisingly.

Hinata looked at him in surprise. "And why do you want to know?" she responded in confusion.

"Sakura's considering taking on a team; just wanted to know if I should suggest she go through with it," he explained.

Hinata glanced at her class, before winking at the many soon to be Genin, "Tell her she'll enjoy this batch."

Naruto nodded and looked over the class once more, before winking and poofing out of the room, a moment later Hinata's class was interrupted again.

"Did I hear Naruto in here?" Iruka asked, looking around in confusion.

"He just left," Hinata replied.

"Ah," Iruka said, smiling and turning to go.

"Umm… Iruka-sensei," Kana said nervously, looking back and forth between her own sensei and the Academy's headmaster.

"Yes," Iruka said, looking down towards her.

"Is he really going to become Hokage?" she asked.

"In a few years," Iruka replied.

"But that…that man that was in here last week said that he isn't very smart and that pink haired woman said he was really weird," she protested.

"Ah, well I'll admit that when I taught Naruto he wasn't the smartest of the group. However, he has worked very hard ever since he became a Genin. He's worked not only to become stronger, but to become a better shinobi in general. Part of that training was to make sure he was smarter as well," Iruka explained.

"So he isn't stupid or weird?" one of the boys asked.

"He certainly isn't stupid, although he does seem to have trouble convincing others of that fact," Iruka replied.

"But he isn't really weird, right?" Kana asked.

"Ah, well he is a bit odd, at times," Iruka said nervously.

Hinata bit her lip to stop herself from giggling. "But if you remember what Sakura said, that hasn't stopped anyone from being a good Hokage," she supplied for Iruka.

"So what was he doing in here?" Iruka asked.

"Asking up on my students; he wanted to know if he should recommend that Sakura take a team," Hinata said, preparing to restart her lecture.

"Well that's odd," Iruka mumbled.

"What is?" Hinata asked.

Iruka looked up at her and shook his head. "It's nothing," he replied, smiling secretively.

He was about to leave when Hinata asked, "Do you by any chance know what happened earlier this week? Sasuke and Sakura seem to know, but none of the rest of us can figure it out."

"Ah, he and Tsunade-sama accidentally took a joke too far," Iruka replied, "Don't worry; everything will turn out alright."

Hinata looked at him skeptically but shrugged and turned back to her class. "Well then, shall we continue today's lecture on Yondaime's defeat of the Kyuubi?" she asked, not noticing the slight flinch on Iruka's face as quickly left the room.

XXXXXXXX

That night, a much happier Naruto met up with his teammates and Lee. "You know Kakashi-sensei still has something planned for us, right?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, I think Tsunade-baba told him we need to cut our hair," Naruto replied.

"How did you know that?" Sasuke asked.

"Umm…Genma may have mentioned it to me," Naruto replied bashfully.

"Naruto…please tell me you didn't threaten Genma again?" Sakura asked.

"I didn't," Naruto replied, grinning nervously. Sakura looked at him for further explanation so he continued nervously. "Well I didn't use any new threats," he claimed. "Although I did come rather close to carrying out the one," he added, smirking at the memory.

"You do know that he just got thrown into the middle of this by Tsunade-sama and Kakashi-sensei, right?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah, so?" he asked.

"You need to apologize," Sakura stated.

"I need to apologize?" Naruto said in disbelief.

"Sakura is right," Lee put in, "Genma-san is unfortunate in his position for the past two weeks. It is unfair that you take out your frustrations with others on him."

"But it's so easy," Naruto muttered.

"Naruto," Sakura stated sternly.

"Fine, we'll make it up to him," Naruto finally agreed reluctantly.

"What do you mean 'we'? You're the one who's been threatening him," Sasuke countered.

"Yeah, but he probably won't let me near him unless you guys are there," Naruto said, smiling wickedly.

"What exactly did you do to him?" Sakura asked, before Lee caught her attention.

"Genma-san is right over there with Kakashi-san," he said, pointing to the other side of the street.

Sakura smiled and pulled Lee across the street; Naruto and Sasuke followed a bit more slowly. "Hello Genma!" Sakura said, walking up to the older Jounin.

Genma glanced at the pink haired young woman and three young men behind her suspiciously. "Now what am I being blamed for?" he asked exasperatedly.

Naruto chuckled nervously and walked over to the other Jounin. He glared once at Kakashi before draping an arm over Genma's shoulder and leading the older man over to the others. "We just wanted to apologize for the all the shit you've been put through over the last few weeks," he said.

"Is that so?" Genma asked skeptically. Kakashi watched the whole scene in confusion.

"Yeah, I apologize for threatening you and then trying to actually carry out those threats," Naruto said. "I shouldn't have been so quick to blame you for everything," he added.

Genma was trying to figure out how many times Naruto had had to be hit over the head to act as he was. Kakashi was trying to keep his jaw from dropping off. Naruto's apologizing for threatening Genma a few times. I had to chase those two brats around the village for six days and receive threats from Tsunade-sama, he thought furiously.

"And I apologize for trying to bring you into the middle of things to often," Sakura said just as genuinely.

I wonder if Tsunade-sama finally took these kids out drinking, Genma wondered.

"We decided we'd take you out to dinner," Sasuke explained, beckoning for Naruto and Genma to keep walking. As Naruto continued to lead Genma down the road, Sasuke fell into step beside him and Sakura and Lee brought up the rear. Kakashi was left standing where he had been the whole time watching the scene in shock. "Oi, Kakashi-sensei," Sasuke yelled before they rounded the bend. "You're coming too," he said, turning around and grinning uncharacteristically.

Kakashi snapped out of his stupor and walked toward the group. He stopped dead in his tracks when he heard Sakura declare, "Damn straight he's coming too. He's paying."

"You just want me around to finance your dates," he said pouting, not that any of the others could tell.

"Isn't that what a sensei does?" Sakura asked innocently. Kakashi made the mistake of glancing at Naruto only to find the blonde's puppy dog eyes on full blast. He quickly caught up to the group, but the rest of the evening he could be heard grumbling about 'stupid blonds' and 'mean, ignorant students'.

XXXXXXXX

Ino watched in amusement as Team 7, Genma, and Lee walked by on their way to dinner. A small smirk formed on her face when she heard Kakashi say "dates"; she'd have to tell TenTen, Hinata, and the others tomorrow.

When the group disappeared, she returned to her previous pursuit: studying herself in the mirror. She was quite pleased by the results of shopping with Anko; not only did the woman have great taste, but the style differences between the two also helped Ino find something she normally wouldn't have looked at: specifically, the color brown. Luckily, Ino had been compliant when Anko pointed out that both Chouji and Shikamaru would look better in subdued earthy colors. She had agreed to wear the brown mini skirt on the condition that her shirt be her favorite color: purple.

The halter top that Anko had picked out certainly fit the criteria. Unfortunately it was almost hidden under the brown jacket that Anko had insisted she buy. The boots that matched hadn't taken much convincing. Chouji and Shikamaru had both been talked into buying brown pants that matched her skirt. Chouji had bought a dark purple t-shirt, while Shikamaru hadn't agreed to anything that had color in it; his long sleeved shirt was black. Ino smirked into the mirror one last time before changing out of her outfit and getting ready for bed. The upcoming picture day was shaping up to be pure chaos.

AN: I know the descriptions were a bit boring, but I didn't want to lump them all together next chapter. Now the only one you're waiting for is Team 7's, and Team 8's I suppose. If it makes you feel any better, I don't know what they're wearing yet either. Honestly, I originally considered having Teams 8, 10, and Gai accidentally wear the same thing because they all shopped at the same store. Then when picture day arrived they'd all be standing there while Team 7 looked awesome and laughed at them. I ditched that idea, so now I actually need to use creativity.

Also I don't know if the names I used for Team 10's parents. I've seen several different ones, but these were on a site I've been using lately so I figured I'd use them this time. I had to make up the names for Chouji and Ino's mothers.

I realize that some of Naruto's actions in this chapter might confuse some people, so I'm just going to explain a few things. Naruto is in no way against becoming Hokage; that is still his dream. However, he is only seventeen and quite frankly enjoying the torture Tsunade is going through as he continues to draw it out. The reason he gets so angry at her (I'm not sure how clear it was) is because he hates being forced into things, which is also one of the reasons he spent a week running away from Kakashi and Sakura.

Also, I'm having a bit of writer's block. I have most of the outfits planned, but I can't figure out what to put Hinata, Kiba, and Shino in. Any suggestions would really be appreciated and will receive credit and possibly a preview if I have time. Thanks!

Once again, thanks to all of you who reviewed.

Shodaime Ramenkage sorry you aren't a big fan of yaoi, but I'm glad you found a way around it. Also if there was anything I can clear up for you feel free to ask. Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well!

Dual Rasengan,wolvesm0on, krn-kimbap, Ly Mizukage hehe, glad you enjoyed it!

Night-Owl123,insanechildfanfic, Only Secret, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Once again, sorry this chapter was late.

Alana-StarSugarCat,starry096 thanks! As for what they are going to wear; I just recently came up with a devious plot, so you'll just have to wait and see. Enjoy!

Goingcommando I'm glad you enjoyed it and like their characterizations. I'll admit Sakura occasionally annoys me, but I really don't see any reason (especially in light of the recent chapters, like you mentioned) to portray her so childishly, like a lot of people do.

Harukakanata,Kazumi Tachikawa sorry you aren't a big fan of that pairing. Honestly the small scene in last chapter is about as graphic as it's going to get, if that makes you feel any better about the fic. Hopefully the story will keep you entertained enough that you can ignore that aspect of their relationship.

Azamiko you can never have too many exclamation points! Okay so you can, but that's beside the point. I hope this chapter is worthy of exclamation points as well!

kuroi-hagane thanks you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed it enough, and I think it's awesome that you put me in your C2! Hopefully this continues to entertain you and keep you healthy and vitaminized. Okay so that's totally not a word, but you get what I mean, right?

Okay, so last chapter I mentioned that I might write an epilogue. The thing is I've got another story going, and I'm preparing to put up at least two others. If you guys don't really want an epilogue I've got other things I can spend the time on. If you want it, do me a favor and respond to tell me you do.