Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. But man… It would be so BADASS if I did…

This story is inspired by a series of 'Bitch Kyuubi' deviation artworks done by an Artist named 'Croaky.' I really liked the artwork and it inspired me to write this fic. I'd encourage you to check it out. There is a link to it in my profile.

ALTERNATE UNIVERSE

How this for updating soon? Heh, I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 6:

"Take a deep breath… hold it… Now let it out slowly."

Naruto did as he was told and exhaled the lung full of air he was holding.

"I don't see the point of this whole breathing thing? How is this going to help me?" Naruto asked irritably.

Sighing, Kyu opened her eyes to look at her son. Both were in the middle of forest clearing, sitting in front of each other in a meditative pose.

"Because you half Fox demon. As you get older, your powers are going to grow stronger now that they have emerged." Kyu explained calmly. "The point of this exercise is to make sure you are calm in both mind and body."

"But why? When I was on the bridge back in wave country, my demon power's activated when I was pissed off to high hell. Shouldn't I be figuring out how to get myself angry?"

"NO!" Kyu nearly screamed. "That is absolutely the worst way to summon that strength!"

Naruto nearly fell back from her outburst.

After Kyu originally revealed herself to be his mother, both she and Naruto had tried to spend more time together. But, there of course was an awkward tension between them now.

It was obviously different now that Naruto no longer saw her as just a random stranger he had met at the academy. She was now his mother. A mother he had never met until just a month ago.

How does one act in a situation like that? How do you treat a woman who suddenly turns out to be a mother you never knew? How do you act, when you've never had anybody who even came close to fitting that role?

Naruto of course had found it difficult at first. He didn't even know if should call her mother or not. It took nearly a week before he finally got up the nerve to call her 'mom.'

It still sounded awkward to the both of them, but Naruto refused to stop calling her that, even when she told him he could just call her Kyu if he felt more comfortable with it.

But to Naruto, that would be a complete step back from what he wanted. No matter how strange the situation seemed or how uncomfortable it might be around her at times, he absolutely refused to give up anything he had finally gained in the last month.

So, partly as a way to spend more quality time with her son, and so they could feel each other out, Kyu had begun to take her son out into the forest so they could practice on getting him to summon his demon fox side at will. This in itself was gravely important since his demon side had finally surfaced after twelve years. It was important they bring it under control.

"The point of this exercise is to make sure you NEVER summon your power through anger." Kyu explained sternly. "What do you think you could do with that power if you were enraged?"

"I uh… I hadn't thought of that." Naruto answered, not meeting her gaze.

"It's alright." Kyu replied calmly. "All of this must be very difficult for you to accept, but you must learn control. If you can summon your demon side in complete calm, you'll have all of that power without the haze of anger to cloud your judgment."

"I think I understand." Naruto nodded. "If I can summon my uh, 'demon side' I can use all of that power that I had at the bridge without doing something stupid with it."

Kyu smiled at her son's reiteration. He had a way of interpreting things that seemed very familiar to her.

"Yes, but not entirely. Do you remember that Chakra from when you transformed?"

"Yeah." Naruto nodded. "It was red and kinda reminded me of fire."

"That isn't your chakra." Kyu explained. "You have a naturally high amount of chakra on your own, stemming from both me and your father. That red chakra is the chakra of a pure demon fox."

"I-it is?" Naruto gaped.

"Yes. You're half demon fox, you can naturally summon chakra from the seal.

"Wait… you mean…" Naruto began.

"Yes. You have all of that Chakra stored in you from twelve years ago. With practice you should be able to summon it at will. But it's not naturally apart of your transformation." Kyu explained.

"So what does my transformation look like?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Let's find out." Kyu smiled, closing her eyes. Naruto followed her action and closed his.

"Focus your thoughts on transforming, you don't need to focus on what actually transforms itself, simply WILL yourself to transform." Kyu spoke softly.

'Focus… Transform…' Naruto scrunched his face in concentration as he tried to force his body to change. 'come on… Change…'

Luckily for Naruto, nobody saw the expression on his face. If they had, they might have thought the boy to be terribly constipated.

"Don't try so hard, you'll pull a muscle." Kyu laughed softly. "You need to relax. You're not making your body change. You're using your WILL to do it."

'Will… Okay, will…' Naruto thought, as he relaxed himself and tried again. 'I will change. I WIILL change… I am changing… I AM changing!' Naruto chanted in his mind.

After a moment of this, Naruto suddenly felt something. Opening his eyes in surprised, a sudden surge of strength and energy surged through the blonde's boy's body.

"Wha…" Naruto gasped as he looked down at his hands. Every muscle in his body felt… Incredible! He felt as if he could rip boulders out of the earth! Jump clear over high trees… Run faster than the wind could blow…

It was amazing!

After the initial shock died down, Naruto flexed his now claw like hands, and amazed as his body seemed to adapt to the new sensation of strength and settle out.

"Wow…" Naruto mumbled. "M-mom… I did it!"

Looking up to see his mother, Naruto was surprised to see that she had changed as well. Her red eyes appeared to more animal like now, her normal human ears were replace with those of a fox's and behind her nine fluffy red tails swayed gently behind her. She smiled proudly at her son.

"Wonderful Naruto, you've done very well." Kyu smiled happily, elongated fangs visible in her grinning mouth.

"Wha…" Naruto looked on at his mother in awe.

"Yes… This is the first time you've seen me in this form isn't it?" Kyu touched one of her fox years gently. "This is the bridge between my human form and my full fox form."

"So… Do that mean you can transform into a huge demon fox?" Naruto still had a look of awestruck.

"Well… I could. As I am now, I don't have enough strength to materialize into that form. A human form is all I can manage right now." Kyu explained.

"How long will it take for your strength to return?" Naruto asked.

"It returns to me everyday." Kyu answered. "But slowly."

"I see…"

Kyu smiled as her son looked thoughtful.

Crack.

Blinking, Kyu turned her head sharply to catch a glimpse of a figure hide itself behind a nearby tree.

"What was that?" Naruto asked curiously. Turning his head around to look in the direction of the noise.

"Just a mouse." Kyu said, waving it off. "You know, it's getting late now. Maybe you should go get something to eat. I bet that Iruka is getting himself some ramen right now."

Upon hearing the word ramen, Naruto's stomach immediately growled.

"Heh… That sounds like a good idea!" The blonde said as got to his feet. "Are you coming too?"

"No." Kyu shook her head. "I think I'll stay here for a little bit. You go on ahead."

"Okay!" Naruto was about to dash off, when suddenly Kyu grabbed his wrist. "Huh?"

Pulling a small mirror out of her obi, Kyu faced the mirror towards Naruto. "I don't think you should go out looking like that."

Looking into the mirror, Naruto gasped in surprised a he looked at himself. His eyes were just like his mothers, red and animalistic. Aside from his clawed hands, Naruto's whiskers marks had widened, looking rough and animalistic, but were still black, unlike the red color they had been on the bridge in Wave Country.

"COOL!" Naruto said excitedly. "I look so awesome!"

"Heh, I'm glad you like it, but I don't think it's going to go over well with the rest of the villagers." Kyu smiled.

"Oh yeah… Ah! How do I change back!" Naruto panicked.

"The same way you changed the first time." Kyu explained calmly.

"Oh, right…" Closing his eyes, Naruto began to focus. 'Change back… change back…'

When he opened his eyes again. Naruto found that his appearance had returned to normal again.

"Alright! I can't wait to start practicing this when I get home!" Naruto grinned happily.

"Just be careful Naruto." Kyu warned. "Now go get something to eat. You'll need your strength."

"Right. See you later… Uh, mom." Naruto replied somewhat awkwardly before running off.

Smiling to herself, Kyu let out a deep sigh. The Redheaded woman waited a woman until her son was out of sight.

"You can come out now. I know that you're there." The redhead called out, seemingly to no one in particular.

There was a small squeak from behind a tree, and ever so slowly, a small girl emerged, poking her index fingers together nervously.

"My, my… Somebody's seen quite a lot hasn't she?" Kyu had a feral grin on, the find a predator has when it's captured it's prey.

"I uh… I-I'm sorry… I d-didn't mean to- to-" The girl mumbled.

"Didn't mean to spy?" Kyu interrupted, the girl seemed to shrink into herself.

As the girl stepped forward, Kyu could get a good look at the girl now. She was short, maybe the same height as Naruto, if just an inch shorter. She had short black hair; she wore a large white jacket which the girl seemed to shrink herself into. Her face was fairly nice, not too pretty, but fairly cute, her most striking feature being her pearly white eyes. Where had Kyu seen eyes like that before?

"What's you're name?" Kyu asked the girl as she rose to her feet.

"H-hyuga H-hinata." The girl stammered. Her eyes firmly planted on Kyu's feet, not daring to go an inch higher.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you." The redhead commanded.

Gulping nervously, Hinata slowly brought her pearl white eyes up to look into Kyu's red animal ones.

"I know you've been spying on us for a while now." Kyu explained, as she stared sternly at the girl. "I also know you haven't told anyone about this."

Hinata brought her head back down in a mixture of embarrassment and shame.

"I want to know why." Kyu reached out with her finger, and titled Hinata's head back up to look at her.

"I… Uh… I-I-I…" The girl stuttered near uncontrollably.

"I'm not going to let you go until you tell me." Kyu stated firmly. Gulping, Hinata shifted her view away from Kyu as best she could.

"I-I was… I was watching Naruto-Kun… Just watching him." The small girl admitted, her face burning brightly with a deep blush.

Blinking, Kyu looked at the girl again. The nervous poking of her fingers… the incredibly red blush on her cheeks…

"Oh." The fox woman said as she let go of the poor girl. Suddenly understanding what was going on. "Ooooooh…"

Face flushed in embarrassment, the poor Hyuga girl couldn't bear the embarrassment any further and tried to make her escape.

But Kyu was too quick and snatched the girl's hood before she could get away.

"GURK!" Hinata choked as her feet went flying forward causing her to hit the hard ground on her back, with a loud thump.

"Oh… Sorry dear. Are you alright?" Kyu asked as she bent down to examine the coughing girl.

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to c-cause trouble!" Hinita exclaimed rapidly as she brought herself to a sitting position.

"You just like to watch Naruto?" Kyu smirked. Hinata's face burned red again and her head bowed down in embarrassment.

"Aw, you have a crush on him!" The redhead's smirked turned into a genuine smile as she looked at the embarrassed girl.

"Um…" Hinata couldn't find words to explain herself.

"You said your name was Hyuga Hinata, right?" Kyu asked, helping the girl to her feat.

"Um, yes." Hinita nodded.

"I guess it's only fair that I introduce myself as well. My name is Kyu."

"N-naruto called you his mother." Hinata said nervously.

"Because I am." Kyu replied.

"O-oh…" If it was possible, Hinata looked even more frightened of the redhead now.

"Do you like my son?" Kyu asked.

"I uh…" Hinata stuttered. She REALLY didn't want to have this conversation, especially not with Naruto's MOTHER. "Yes." She finally mumbled out.

"How long has this been going on?" Kyu asked.

For the next half hour, Kyu prodded Hinata with questions and eventually got the whole story out of her, VERY much to Hinata dismay.

"So then why don't you just tell him that you like him?" Kyu asked curiously.

Hinita shrunk back into her coat again.

"I- I can't… He'd… He'd never like me… I mean… he has Sakura on his team! She's so much prettier than I am." Hinata explained crestfallen.

Kyu was saddened to hear the shy girls self doubt and wished she could do something about it. Naruto had little to no friends… And this girl seemed to be in a similar situation…

Then an idea struck the fox woman. Smiling briefly to herself before turning to Hinata.

"Hinata, I'd like to help you." Kyu smiled warmly at the girl.

"W-what?" Hinata looked up in surprise at the redheaded woman.

"Here, listen carefully to what I have to say…"

"Here we are." Kyu stated as the two of them arrived in front of a familiar ramen stand. "Do you remember what to do?"

Without a word, Hinata nodded, her hands fidgeting nervously.

"Well, then go." Kyu said, prodding Hinata forward.

The Fox woman watched in amusement as Hinata slowly walked into the ramen stand and took up the seat next to Naruto.

'I used to love doing this sort of thing.' Kyu thought amusedly, thinking back to all the little romantic incidents she had instigated over hundreds of years. 'He doesn't have to fall in love with her… Just give him a friend please!'

"H-hi N-naruto-kun." Hinata stuttered, as she sat next to Naruto.

The blonde ninja blinked and turned to face the shy girl, slurping up the last of his noodles in the process.

"Oh, hey…" Naruto paused for a moment to think… 'uuh… Um… What's her name again? … Oh! That's right. "How are you doing… Hinata!"

"G-good." Hinata smiled shyly. "How are you?"

"I'm okay. I was kinda hoping to run into Iruka-sensei, but I couldn't find him. It's weird. I've hardly seen him lately and when I do he's always got this weird goofy grin on his face for some reason…"

"O-oh." Hinata nodded. "S-so you just finished eating?"

"Yeah, I guess I'll head out now…"

"W-where to?" Hinata asked hurriedly. She had gone to all the trouble of building up the courage to do this now, she couldn't just let it end now.

"Well uh…" Naruto paused to think about whether or not he should tell her. Then he looked at her suspiciously. "Why do you want to know?"

Hinata shrank a little bit under his suspicious look.

"I-I… was just curious… A-about you." Hinata stuttered, blushing furiously.

Naruto blinked, and then grinned widely.

"Heh, really? I must be really interesting huh?" The blonde asked with soaring pride.

"Y-yeah." Hinata admitted, smiling faintly when she saw how Naruto had gotten so excited.

"Weeeeell… I guess I can show you!" Naruto grinned.

After the blonde slapped down several bills on the counter, he grabbed a hold of Hinata's hand much to her surprise, lead her outside to into the slowly setting sun.

A block away, Kyu smiled as she watch the two of them run off.

Hinata panted slightly as she tried to keep up with the excited blonde. They had been running for several minutes now, climbing up a steep rocky slope.

As they continued on their hike, Hinata's mind drifted briefly back to an earlier conversation with Kyu.

"You know… The Autumn Festival is coming up soon." Kyu smirked. Hinata stumbled slightly as they walked back into Konoha.

"Uh, yes… it is." Hinata nodded.

"Maybe you should ask him to the festival." The Redhead suggested.

"W-what?" Hinata looked shocked. "I-I couldn't… I mean… He would never…"

"Why wouldn't he?" Kyu asked.

Hinatat paused… She knew the Fox Lady wouldn't approve of her answer… 'I'm not good enough.' She thought.

"See? You don't have a reason." Kyu smiled. "Just ask him. I'm almost positive he'd say yes."

"Y-you are?" Hinata didn't sound like she believed the older woman.

"Don't know until you try." Kyu shrugged, a knowing smirk adoring her face.

'Sigh… I wish I could ask him…' Hinata thought as the blonde ninja continued to drag her up a steep climb.

When they finally reached their destination, Hinata was surprised to find that they were standing directly on top of the Hokage Monument.

"W-why are we here?" Hinata looked puzzled. As the shy girl scanned the area, she took note of the fact that the sun had finished setting and the stars were now starting to come out.

"This is a secret place I like to come to sometimes." Naruto explained as he walked toward the edge of the cliff side, standing directly on top of the First Hokage's stone head.

"Really? Why?" Hinata asked.

"Because…" Naruto grinned broadly. "I can do this!"

"RAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The boy yelled at the top of his lungs, causing Hinata to jump back in surprise.

"N-naruto!" Hinata looked at the blonde in surprise, a faint echo of Naruto's yell drifting around.

"Isn't it awesome? You can be as loud as you want! And when you're up here, It's like your yelling to the whole village!" The blonde explained excitedly.

"R-really?" Hinata craned her head to peer over the edge slightly.

"Yeah! Come on over here!" Naruto beckoned Hinata to his side. Hesitantly, the girl complied, standing next to the blonde on the edge of the First's head.

"Come on Hinata! Give it a shot! It's fun."

"N-no… I-I couldn't." Hinata shook her head, her face red with embarrassment.

"Sure you can! Come on Hinata, you're always so quiet! Just take a deep breath and give a good shot!" The blonde beamed at her.

"I… Uh… Well, okay." Hinata finally gave in; taking the same spot Naruto had just a moment ago.

She took a deep breath and looked over the edge, seeing just how REALLY far down it was.

"You can do it Hinata! Just let it out." Naruto encouraged.

Hinata took another deep breath.

"IIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" The pale faced girl screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Ha! That was great!" Naruto laughed.

"W-wow…" Hinata breathed. "That…. That felt good."

"I know… I love doing that." Naruto nodded. "But there's one thing I like to do even more."

"What's that?" Hinata asked curiously as she watched the blonde take his original spot on the stone head. "You know how it feels like you can call out to the whole world from here?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, I like to do this A LOT!" Naruto inhaled deeply and then shouted: "HEEEEY! MY NAME IS UZUMAKI NARUTO! AND I'M GONNA BE THE NEXT HOKAGE!"

Hinata watched in awe at his performance.

"Pretty cool huh?" Naruto grinned.

"Y-yeah…"

"Now you do it!" Naruto smiled as he pulled Hinata in front of him.

"What? N-no! I couldn't… I don't know what to say…" Hinata blushed.

"Say what's on your mind! Tell them all who you are and what you want! It feels great!"

"I…" Hinata paused and then looked down upon the great whole of Konoha. "…Okay."

"Yeah! Alright Hinata!" Naruto cheered. Hinata smiled and took a deep breath.

"M-my name… M-MY NAME IS HYUGA HINATA!" The girl shouted. "AND I WILL BECOME A STRONG NINJA! NO MATTER WHAT, I WON'T GIVE UP!"

"Yeah! Go Hinata!" Naruto Cheered.

"A-AND I'M NOT GOING TO LET ANYONE TELL ME I'M NOT GOOD ENOUGH!"

Hinata was on a role now; This felt so great! She couldn't stop herself if she wanted to now.

"AND I WILL GO THE AUTUMN FESTIVAL WITH NARUTO-KUN!"

"Yeah!" Naruto yelled. "… Wait, what?"

Hinata instantly froze…Oh no… She hadn't done that… Please, please… she really hadn't done that…

"Uh… I… Um…" Hinata stammered.

"D-did you say just say… you wanted to go to the autumn festival… W-with me?" The blonde looked at Hinata in confused surprise.

"Um… Well…" Hinata sighed, she had already gone this far… "Y-yes. I do."

"Wow… Really?" Naruto looked awe struck at the thought that there was somebody who actually wanted to the Festival… WITH HIM!

"I-I know you might not want to go…" Hinata looked downcast.

"What? Why wouldn't I?" Naruto looked confused.

"Wha… I mean… Y-you'd go with me?" Hinata spirit began to soar.

"Heck yeah!" Naruto grinned. "I've never gone to the Autumn festival before! This is going to be great!"

"I um…" Hinata was speechless.

"You know something Hinata?" Naruto asked, grinning at her happily.

"W-what?"

"I first… I thought you were just a dark, plain weirdo." Naruto's grin didn't falter. But Hinata looked some-what disconcerted. "But now… I definitely know you're totally awesome!"

Hinata's face burned bright red with that complement. "T-thanks…"

Hinata had never felt this good in a long time. With all of her difficulties as a ninja, her team mates, and her family… Having the person you admire most tell you, you were totally awesome… That's one heck of a pick-me-up.

"Hey Hinata?" Naruto caught her attention again, and she looked to see the blonde scratching his head in embarrassment. "Just… uh, what exactly do you wear to an Autumn Festival?"

Hinata giggled.

"Well…" She began…

Well, that's the end of the regular part of our chapter. Now on to what many people consider to be the… uh, better part of this fic…. I guess…

IRUKA THE AMAZING CHUUNIN SIDE STORY!

"Wow… I have to say… You're looking really lovely tonight." Iruka smiled brightly as he held out a seat for his date. Grinning, Anko took the offered seat and wait for Iruka to take the seat across from her.

"Aw, Iruka, you sweet talker you." Anko winked at him. "Thanks, it took me forever to get my hair fixed up right."

The two ninjas were currently sitting in the middle of a somewhat fancy looking restaurant. Their table was near a window which gave them an excellent view of the setting sun.

"Well it looks really nice." Iruka said as he took in Anko's form. For their date, Anko had let her hair down, which fell down just above her shoulder blades. She wore a long black dress, with a lengthy slit down the side to reveal her legs.

"Well, you're looking pretty sharp there yourself." Anko smirked. Indeed, Iruka was dressed in a crisp brown suite and tie. His hair was the same, only he had taken his head protector off.

"Thanks, I was afraid I wouldn't have time to get ready for this. I had to stay late after school to give Konohamaru detention." Iruka sighed.

"Heh, kids giving you trouble?" Anko laughed.

"Well, mostly him really. I swear, he's like a shorter brown haired version of Naruto. Heh… I know it may sound strange, but… Well… Having him in my class is actually kind of a relief really."

"A relief?" One of Anko's eyebrows quirked up as she looked at him.

"Yeah, I know it's weird, but after all the time I've spent with Naruto… I guess I've just grown accustom to his loud, overly energetic, boisterous personality and the little jokes and pranks he plays…"

"That's a little odd."

"Well..." Iruka scratched his head, "I guess I just naturally feel more at ease with loud, boisterous and obnoxious people."

"Really?" There was definitely a dangerous look in Anko's eye now. "You seem pretty at ease right now…"

"B-but of course, it's nice to get away from that a-and enjoy the company of a beautiful, interesting, and most of all MATURE woman." Iruka stammered out quickly. Instantly Anko's suspicious look disappeared, replace with a pleased smile.

"Heh, well sometimes it's good to get away from all those loud and obnoxious kids every now and then." Anko shrugged.

"Well, I guess." Iruka chuckled, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"Yep… HEY WAITER! WHAT'S TAKING YOU SO LONG!" Anko shouted at one of the food servers who was attending to other costumers on the other side of the restaurant.

'Yeah…' Iruka thought sarcastically. 'I got away from all the yelling and obnoxiousness.'

"Y-yes Ma'am?" The waiter replied nervously.

"'Bout time." Anko muttered. "I'm gonna have the chicken. How about you?"

"Oh, Um, I think I'll have the shrimp Ramen." Iruka replied as he handed the waiter his menu.

"Ramen? You can get that anywhere." The black haired woman pointed out.

"What can I say?" Iruka shrugged. "I like it."

"Well, that' fine I guess." Anko shrugged. "People tell me I have an unhealthy obsession with Dangos."

"Heh, I heard…" Iruka chuckled.

For a short while, the two sat in relative silence, unsure of a topic of conversation to chose. Finally, Anko decided to ask something that had been on her mind for a while now.

"Hey Iruka?"

"Hm?" The Chuunin looked up from the spoon he was inspecting to catch her eye.

"You and that Fo-… Um, Uzumaki kid are pretty close aren't you?" Anko asked.

"Yeah. Heh, You can't help but love the little guy. He's good kid… Uh, despite what he did to the Hokage monument…"

"Heh, actually I'm impressed! That took some serious guts! It was pretty funny seeing swirl marks on the fourths cheeks!" Anko laughed.

"Yeah… Well he got his punishment for that." Iruka Chuckled. "But… I guess part of why were so close is… He reminds me a lot of myself."

"You?" Anko looked surprised.

"Yeah." Iruka scratched the back of his head. "We were both class clowns when we were in the academy."

"YOU were a class clown?" Anko looked surprised, but amused as well. "I can't believe it!"

"Well… Both naruto and I did it for the same reason's too." Iruka admitted.

"You did?" The black clad woman looked somewhat puzzled.

"Well… Neither of us had any family after the Kyuubi attack… When I was in the academy… I just wanted someone to acknowledge me… By being a goofball… I was sort of getting the attention I was looking for."

"And Naruto did the same thing." Anko nodded understandingly. "He never had any family to begin with… and him being… Uh, who he is… It must have been in more difficult."

"Yeah, it was. All those pranks, everything he'd done… he really just wanted somebody to pay attention to him. To care about him."

Anko looked away sadly. She had never really given much thought to the little blonde ninja before. She really didn't have anything against the kid really, but she had never made any effort to be nice to the boy either.

"It kinda makes me wish I'd done more for the kid." Anko looked at the window sadly. "It couldn't have been easy."

"Yeah… But he's doing better now." Iruka smiled, trying to lighten the situation up again. "You'd be amazed if you saw him, he's got a will stronger than anything I've ever seen. He'll be dead and buried in the ground before he ever gives up on anything."

"You really love working with those kids don't you?" Anko smiled.

"Yeah… Originally, it was just supposed to be temporary until I could get enough experience to try for Jounin." Iruka explained.

"You were going to go for Jounin?" Anko looked somewhat surprised.

"Yeah… But I grew too attached to the academy, and if I became a Jounin, I wouldn't be able to teach there anymore." Iruka shrugged. "I don't have any regrets. I like job."

"That's nice." Anko nodded. "Sometimes I've thought about taking up a Jounin instructor job."

"Really?" Iruka eyebrow's perked.

"Yeah, but I'd probably end up screwing whatever kids I get up ROYALLY. Better to play it safe and stick to good 'ol Jounin missions." Anko laughed.

"Heh… I guess." Iruka chuckled nervously.

"Heeey… name is Uzuzmaki Nar… And I'm… Hokage." Iruka blinked… That sounded just like Naruto…But it was very faint…

"Did you just hear something?" Iruka as, looking around the restaurant for blonde hair. His eye occasionally going towards the window to look at the now darkened village.

"Hear what?" Anko looked at him confused.

"I could have sworn I just heard Naruto…"

"Nope, didn't hear a thing." The black haired woman shrugged.

"Weird…" Iruka scratched his head.

"Your dinner is served." The waiter announced as he returned with several dished in his hands.

"Thank you." Iruka smiled as a bowl of shrimp ramen was placed in front of him.

"… become a strong ninja… what, I won't give..." There it was again! Another faint voice… But this one sounded more feminine…

"Did you hear that?" Iruka turned to look at Anko.

"Yeah I did!" Anko nodded. Iruka was relieved that he wasn't just hearing things. "That waiter was totally hitting on me! Right in the middle of our date too!"

Iruka sweat dropped.

"The nerve…" Anko muttered. "Well, he's not getting a tip."

"Um, right." Iruka nodded…

" …Go to the Autumn Festival with…" Iruka looked around, where was that coming from!

"Go to the Autumn Festival?" Anko gasped. "Oh Iruka! I was wonderingif you were going to ask!"

"Huh?" Iruka stared at his date. 'THAT she heard?'

"Hmmm… I'm gonna have to get a new kimono…" Anko thought out loud. 'And maybe some new lingerie too…'

"Well, I heh, guess I forgot about the festival…" Iruka admitted nervously.

"Heh… I haven't been to that thing in years!" Anko looked excited. "I was kinda banned from going when I was fifteen because I spiked every single drink at the festival."

"That was you!" Iruka looked shocked. He remembered that year. He had been really thirsty and had drunken a lot… When he had woken up he was naked, tied up, covered in body paint, and on top of the Hokage's monument.

He hadn't dared attend the festival since…

"Yeah… In fact… I never told anyone this… But when I was there, there was this one guy there that was so drunk… I dragged him up to the Hokage's monument, stripped him naked-"

"Tied him up and left him there" Iruka finished for her, his left eye twitching slightly.

"Yeah! How did you kno-" Anko froze. "Uh oh…"

Iruka's eye continued to twitch.

"Oh come on… We were young… I mean… You can't blame me for something that happened almost ten years ago right?..." Iruka just stared at her lamely.

Iruka sighed. "I've never been good at holding grudges anyways…"

"Great!" Anko smiled. "I wonder what kind of changes they've made to the festival…"

So for the rest of their date, everything went by without incident. By the end, Iruka had his wallet out to pay the bill.

"Oh no Iruka, I'll take care of this." Anko winked.

"But-" Iruka was about to protest but Anko cut him off.

"Nah, you've done plenty already. Besides… Think of this as pay back for the festival." The black haired woman winked.

"Well…" Iruka didn't look quite sure.

"You just wait outside; I'll take care of everything." Anko assured him as she nudged him out the door.

Sighing, Iruka did as he was told and waiting outside the door of the building.

'Well, that was kind of nice of her I guess.' Iruka thought. 'Heh, she really isn't your traditional girl is she? That's actually pretty nice…'

A few minutes later, Iruka was supsired to see Anko burst out of the door in a panic. Grabbing him by his jacket, the kuniochi yanked him away in a mad run.

"What the heck happened?" Iruka exclaimed.

"Well, when you left….(huff) I forgot that I didn't have enough money in (huff) my purse." Anko explained. "So I (huff) tried to flirt my way out of it!"

"What!" Iruka exclaimed, now on his own feat again and running after her.

"That didn't go quite(huff) as well as I'd (huff) hoped!" Anko explained. "So I dashed!"

"Why didn't (huff) you get me to (huff) pay!" Iruka exclaimed.

"And (huff) suffer the embarrassment!" Anko looked appalled at the thought.

"And this (huff) is better?" Iruka gasped out. They'd run quite a distance now.

"Of course (huff) not!" Anko grinned wildly. "This is fun!"

"Of (huff) course…" If Iruka hadn't already been sweating, he probably would have had a sweat drop then.

The two of them had run for about another five minutes before ending up in front of Anko's apartment building. From there, the black clad woman, dragged an out of breath Chuunin up to her apartment room.

'Well… There are definitely worse ends to a night.' Iruka reasoned, unable to keep the smile off his face.

Well that's the end of this chapter. I hope everything was to all of your enjoyment. After the little Festival story… Which might not take up too much of the next chapter. It'll be on to everyone's favorite part. The Chuunin examine!