Yay! Another chapter! Anyways, onward. This chapter is much gloomier than the others, probably because of my mood, but it gets better at the end. After all, who wouldn't enjoy a romantic date, ne? Some good old narusaku fluff to cheer things up.

Naruto awoke to find an old man with long, white hair staring at him.

"Are you ready?"
"I packed up last night. Let me just freshen up and I'll be there."

Jiraiya nodded.

"Sakura, I understand you can't wait for Naruto to come, but that doesn't you have to go on guard duty... on all four entrances..."

Sakura sighed. "Fine, how about three?"

"You're not going on guard duty period. Got it? We need you at the hospital. I'll tell you when he arrives." Tsunade finished.

"Hey, Ero-senin! You're paying for lunch today."

"Nah... Tsunade'll pay."

"WHAT? I beat you fair and square! You're paying!"

"Me using no ninjutsu is fair to you?"

"You're a senin. I'm a genin. Deal with it."

"I don't think so. Besides, why does it matter? Tsunade'll play – she's hokage."

Naruto was red with rage. For once, Naruto beat him, and he doesn't even take the consequences. Pervert...

"Naruto's arriving today..." Iruka pointlessly stated out loud.

The jounins remained silent.

"He's been training with Jiraiya-sama for three years... I wonder how much he's changed." Neji said... "After all, he beat me three years ago... against all odds..."

"I wouldn't hold too high of an expectation for Naruto." Kakashi said. Kakashi knew it wouldn't be true... He knew the old carefree Naruto was long gone, and this new one may actually be serious... It was more of a personal want... He liked his team back then – they were cute; reacting to everything... But everyone and everything must grow.

They all looked at him.

"He'll have gotten stronger, that's for sure... But most likely, he would've been fooling around a lot as well... Hopefully --" He tried to convince himself that Naruto indeed hadn't changed...

"He hasn't become like Jiraiya? Yes, that's what I'm hoping as well." Tsunade now came in. "In any case, pervert or not, Naruto will be back on your team, and your team will be back on missions by tomorrow. I give you one day off, as Naruto is coming back after three years."

"Today must be a big day for you." Mrs.Haruno said.

Sakura sighed deeply. "Yeah..."

"Aren't you excited?"

"Of course, Mom..." Of course she was... But that wasn't it... Nervousness, a bit of shyness, also encompassed her mind.

"Come on, girl!" Ino yelled. "Naruto's gonna be here any minute!"

Chouji sighed.

"How troublesome..."

"I'm almost ready! Just hold on a sec!" And she was down. "Well, how does it look?"

Shikamaru fell off his chair.

Chouji choked on his chips.

Ino smiled. "Forehead girl, you may actually stand a chance..."

"I can smell Konoha ahead..." Naruto said.

"The only thing you can smell is ramen..." the older man retorted grumpily.

"What's the difference?"

Jiraiya shook his head.

"Identification?"

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow.

"Jiraiya-sama! Please, forgive me. And you?" the ninja said turning to Naruto.

Naruto, too, raised an eyebrow.

This time, the guard raised an eyebrow.

"Naruto Uzumaki..." he grumpily said. How come the eyebrow thing only works for him...

Naruto stood on top of the pillar, looking at his home for the first time in three years. Inhaling every scent, mentally recording every aspect of the view, and every detail of his long-missed home. Pleased with the results, he jumped back down. He smiled at Jiraiya once he landed.

Jiraiya, too, was unusually happy. "Good to be back... Got to go to the spa..." he mumbled the last part.

Unfortunately for Sakura and the others, Naruto was no where to be found. But, soon enough, they caught him red-handed at Ichiraku's with a mouth-full of ramen.

"Naruato?" Sakura said, jaw dropping.

"Saguwa-han!" he shouted happily and immediately ran to her. "Hey!" he said after swallowing.

You've grown... Indeed, Naruto was taller than Sakura now by two or three inches – he was 5' 7'' ("believe it!") and he was still growing... a bit. His muscles now clearly showed, and he stood in a more erect manner. His hair had grown... Grown a lot in fact! It easily went past his forehead protector, and it was still spiky, unruly, and wild, yet more respectful. As for his face, his blue eyes still radiated with the same passion that had been present before he left, if not more, and it was rare to see the smile ever leave his face; yup, he still smiled in that same, wide, clueless, foxy-grin manner. The whiskers on the side of his cheeks were visibly wider now, but still rather slender. As for his clothes, amazingly, they were a complete orange with traces of black! After three years you'd think he would've given up on orange... You've matured... And you're still the same Naruto I knew and loved from before... Sakura couldn't be happier with Naruto – he seemed to be a pure good to her; he had matured, and at the same time, he had kept his good qualities from his childhood.

Sakura... looked all right... Forget that, she looked amazing... Her body had grown and... matured in more than one way; her hair was now cut a bit shorter, but still retained its original pink-ness. She was wearing a dark red dress with contrasting white frills; all in all, it perfectly matched her hair, and caught everyone's eye... And they all knew the reason for why she wore this today – all except for Naruto. Naruto dismissed the 'Jiraiya thoughts', as they had come to be called, from his mind.

Irchiraku, of course, was thrilled. His tiny shop was jam packed, and orders were filling in like crazy. On top of that, some esteemed guests arrived.

Jiraiya, Tsunade and Kakashi now came.

"Well, well, now that we're all here..."

Kakashi wasn't allowed to finish.

"OBAA-SAN! WHAT'S UP?" Naruto ran and hugged Tsunade.

San... All except Jiraiya made a mental note of that; Naruto had become a bit more respective of his superiors, and, at the same time, he could be friendly.

Tsunade hugged Naruto, kissed him on the forehead, and then continued, "How are you, you little brat."

"I wouldn't be talking hag."

"What'd you say?"

"HAG!"

"TWERP!"

"Okay, okay, I give..."

When Tsunade finally released him from a painful nugie, Naruto sat back down.

"Yes. What a wonderful bonding moment." Kakashi said sarcastically. "Okay, you two. Firstly, I want Sakura to change into her fighting clothes." Kakashi saw the anger in Sakura's eyes, but kept a straight face. "As for Naruto... You're not going to be doing missions in that, are you?"

"Of course not! These are just for relaxing..." Naruto said.

Kakashi sighed. "Good. Well then, you change as well. Meet me at the training ground in thirty minutes. No more, no less."

"Hey, sensei. Should I wear my mission clothes or just my sparring gear."

Kakashi sighed. "Mission clothes."

"Oh, and sensei, where's --"

"GO!"

Sasuke... Naruto left to change, ignoring the thought. After all, they would do a mission, and Sasuke would have to show up sooner or later, right? It's not like he just ran away from Konoha and disappeared. He could always see him later; right now, it was more important to follow his sensei.

Naruto and Sakura left.

They all stared at Kakashi who was looking down.

"What am I going to tell him?"

The others sighed. "I'll tell him..." Tsunade said. "That way, all anger he has will be directed towards me, and not you, Kakashi... That way, your missions won't be hindered."

Naruto finished changing, packed up his stuff, and went back to his old apartment; he still had the keys, of course, and, unfortunately for him, no one else did... Meaning his room wasn't cleaned in three years. He found everything covered with dust, food rotting, some very stale. Deciding he would clean up later, he simply threw his stuff there and went to the training ground. On the way, he met Sakura, who was now also in her ninja gear.

Naruto was now fully in black. His suit was completely night black, and he wore a charcoal black headband, similar to those of an ANBU. All he needs is a mask, and he's an ANBU... Any kunai holster or shuriken pocket was not to be found. Strange... Sakura thought. Instead, on his back were two sleek blades.

"Hey Sakura-chan!"

"Hey Naruto..." The sadness was visible.

"What's wrong? You're not unhappy to see me, are you?" he joked.

Sakura smiled. "Of course not. I..."

"You're not used to seeing me in black?"

"Let's just go to the training ground."

"Righto. But where is Sasuke? He's nowhere to be found..." Naruto had actually searched for his scent all over Konoha, but none was found. He even did a chakra signature search, a sight search, and listened for Sasuke, but nothing showed up.

"Heh." Sakura said putting on a false happiness. "I'll save that for a surprise. I'll tell you after our first mission."

Naruto gulped. "He's a jounin, isn't he..."

"I'm not tell-ing!" Sakura said in a sing song voice, skipping away.

"Sakura-chan! Please!" Naruto chased after her.

"Nope! You'll have to learn patience."

"Hmph..." Naruto crossed his arms.

"Hey, to make it up to you, how about I take to to Ichiraku's once training's over?"
Naruto smiled immediately.

"We'll make it a date." she smiled.

The smile dwindled away. Naruto's eyes showed a little sadness. Three years ago, Naruto left Sakura as little less than a friend. He still was unsure to open up to her fully. However, he had to know about Sasuke...

"Okay, Sakura-chan..."

Naruto... I'm so sorry for lying to you... "No problem." she said smiling.

"Jiraiya."

"...Hai."

"I... I need a full report of Naruto's progress." She said. "We can --"

"All taken care of." And he stacked a three-foot high pile of papers. "One foot per area – gen, tai, and ninjtusu." And he began walking out.

"I can't understand why you're angry."

Jiraiya stopped. Turning, he revealed a tearing face. "Yeah..." he choked out. "You never could..." (A/N: Yes, I am building a JiraiyaXTsunade fic as well. That means twice the fluff!)

Tsunade was shocked. In all her years, which were, admittedly, numerous, she had never seen Jiraiya cry. Not on missions, not when Orochimaru left, not when their Sensei died... Not even when his family was massacred by the kyuubi. Jiraiya always was impervious to disasters. He was insensitive! Right? Yes... Yes, he was isensitive. There couldn't possibly be any more to that pervert... So then... Why was he crying now? Was there something she had drastically missed all these years? No... There couldn't be...

"All right. You guys have trained for three years... Looks like I'll have to test out your abilities, neh?" Kakashi said looking mildly interested. It seemed his wants were met; Naruto was still as immature as ever, but his clothes showed he had some skill.

Jiraiya came now and said, "Naruto, you better not --"

"I won't... Senei," he said in a now hushed tone. "Is this about Baa-san?"

Jiraiya nodded, still not revealing anything, and went to Kakashi. "I came to give you this. The latest edition."

It was as though Kakashi's eye popped out of his head. He placed the money in Jiraiya's hand and smiled.

"Pleasure doin' business with you." Jiraiya said and went off.

"All right. Now that that's over, let's go back to training." he said. "I was planning to give you the bell test again, but... I think I have something much better." Kakashi's eye seemed to have an evil glint.

It doesn't matter what you give us. I'm with Naruto; I know I'll win. I trust my team mate completely...

"I will be a mediator. Sakura versus Naruto."

Sakura felt like choking her sensei. How could she? Well, a test was a test, after all.

"Only there's a twist. We will be going to the training ground known as Twin Base, or else as Training Ground 66. You each will be assigned a base. In it, there is a package. Your job is to get the other's package by whatever means necessary, while maintaining yours at your base. On top of that, three jounins will be watching your test."

"Three? Why?"

"Because they're seeing how strong I've become." Surprisingly, it was Naruto who said this. "I was wondering how you managed to reserve such a famous training ground for three people including yourself." Mainly, this is seeing how much of the kyuubi I've merged with... The village leaders feel insecure... Then, why would they put me up against Sakura-chan? Wouldn't they want someone more challenging... Unless... Three jounin... Wouldn't Baa-san herself be able to judge... So, they'll intervene. He looked at Kakashi with a sense of betrayal, but Kakashi merely looked down in shame.

So, he's figured it out... "Exactly." I'm sorry, Naruto... I have orders... I had no choice.

"Ready as we'll ever be..." Sakura said.

"So, who are the jounins?" Naruto asked.

"Anko – a proctor from one of your Chuunin Exams, me, and Neji."

Naruto didn't reveal any emotions. Why? Because he couldn't. Inside, chakra was filling up within him. Another section of him had just merged to the kyuubi. The final outcome was between two choices: 1) he would merge partially; would have control over half the kyuubi's chakra, and acute senses 2) during the final merging part, the erratic chakra would even more unstable and break the seal; thus, resulting in another kyuubi attack. In any case, when Naruto finally regained control of himself, he checked his condition. The effects increased every time. He had never felt so alive in his life. "Let's go." Anger was surging through him. Four on one was fair? All right... To be fair, he had expected this. Jiraiya had warned him: 'Politics and power would both be against him.'

Reaching there, Naruto fixed his uniform. It was three o' clock in the evening. He had forty-eight hours to defeat three jounins and the former love of his life. Life really hated him, didn't it... On the other hand, his power had nearly just doubled. By the look of it, he wouldn't get his next piece of kyuubi for a long time. Probably two years.

"YOU WHAT?" Jiraiya roared at the Council. "THREE JOUNIN ANBU MEMBERS AGAINST HIM?"

"Worried he won't survive, Jiraiya?" Danzo smiled.

"Yes..." Jiraiya lied. No, Naruto would survive... The question is, would the others. If he unleashed the kyuubi chakra upon them... It would turn gruesome... In fact, Naruto may even be in danger. He secretly summoned a frog.

Naruto got a note in his hand. Nodding, he let the frog poof away. Opening it, he read, Use it... Don't kill anyone... And don't lose control.

"All right. This training ground is merely a one mile radius. It is up to you to find the other's base. You will arrive at your own by activation of a seal. Both packages are boxes. 5 cube inches, 5 pounds."

"That's incredibly heavy for something so small." Naruto commented.

"Oh, and... It would do you well if you didn't open them. Also, Naruto. If you pass this, Hokage-sama said it is legal for you her to promote you to jounin."

Naruto nodded. "Got it." After all... If I can beat three jounins I should be...

Now, Haruno Sakura wasn't a genius, but she wasn't stupid. Something was up. Why Jounin? Just for beating her, a chuunin? And what was with the three jounins watching over. There was some catch she wasn't understanding here. And why Naruto? Why wouldn't she get promoted if she passed... In any case, apparently, the odds were in her favor. Otherwise, her sensei wouldn't have said about the promotion. Nevertheless, Sakura kept quiet. There was something about Naruto she wasn't being informed about...

At four o' clock the test began. Arriving at his base, Naruto quickly found the package. The base was rather large – it was a hut, to be exact. It had two rooms, one kitchen, one bedroom, and a small bathroom in a corner. The package was placed squarely in the middle. As for the base itself, it was precariously perched on a large tree branch. Quickly, Naruto set up traps all over the tree using seals Jiraiya taught him. Then, he made shadow clones and began searching. By the time he got to the actual part of searching, it was night – just what he wanted. His clothes were a pure black, and there was no moon outside. Even if there was, the trees would've blocked the light.

Naruto had the advantage, as he had the acute senses. In fact, over the three years, his senses' abilities had doubled. He soon sniffed out Sakura – she was exactly in the center. As for the jounins, Kakashi was at the far end in front of him, Neji was south of him, and Anko was already at his base. Naruto himself was on top of Sakura's base, hanging... from a small vine. He loved stealth missions more than anything else. Of course, people would see him, right before they were killed. Or in this case, captured. Sakura left the base, carrying her load with her.

His plan was already set into action. Being the Hokage's assistent for three years meant she was a young Tsunade. Meaning she was aggressive. And because she was only a Chuunin, she didn't know complex night time/stealth strategies... And she would play right into his hands. And she was – she was headed right towards Naruto's base. One of Naruto's clones silently followed her there.

If I know Naruto, he'll be as aggressive as ever... So I'll catch him off guard by going to his base first. Sorry, Naruto, but you aren't going to be Jounin any time soon.

Upon finally finding Naruto's base, Sakura looked around for traps. Finding one, she bent over to disable it – big mistake. In fact, all the 'traps' Naruto hid were in fact well hidden – to make it look as if it was a real trap – but all were decoys. Four clones used a silencing jutsu on her, knocked her unconscious, tied her unconscious, and bagged her. But Sakura wasn't done yet. She had in fact put jutsus on herself. As soon as the clones put a bag over her, a seal automatically activated, making all of them poof away as well.

Thus, Naruto himself had to come over and put a tranquilizer (with temporary effects lasting 48 hours) and bag her. Taking her package, Naruto made a fake of both his and hers. Taking the fake ones, he put them in his pocket. As for the real ones, he put them inside a case, surrounded by traps located in his base.

Here comes the hard part – the Jounins... Strangely, they were advancing very slowly, one by one, in fact. So that's it? They're trying to tire me out? No, there has to be something more. They now I have more stamina than they do... Individually... That's it. I can't last 48 hours fighting Jounins... I barely beat Neji in the Chuunin Exam... But now, I have all this chakra which I can control perfectly. Fine... They'll expect me to run, but I'll take them on...

The first one is... His eyes widened. Kakashi-sensei... All his anger redoubled now. Yes, Konoha was corrupt. Yes, people were plotting against him... But his own sensei. He didn't care if his sensei didn't have a choice... How could he? Anger flared. He used a jutsu on himself which took away his scent, made him invisible, and made him soundless – literally a living ghost. He couldn't attack in this form, but he didn't need to. He had shadow clones galore. And so he fought Kakashi – each shadow clone to it's fullest potential. Sometimes he would gang up, ten at once. Kakashi finished up all his shadow clones in about three hours. One thousand shadow clones in three hours... My, my... Well, guess I'll have to make more! Naruto smiled. He hadn't even begun to use his chakra to his fullest potential. But he didn't have to. Revealing himself to a tried out Kakashi who could barely use taijutsu, he said, "I can't believe you, too, would betray me... I just never thought you of all people would."

Neji a heard a scream. "RASENGAN!" Frowning, he thought, Strange name for a jutsu... It was no doubt the voice of his target. Who is this person anyways... Neji thought. He still hadn't been informed, only that he was to kill this person at all costs.

Kakashi kneed Naruto in the stomach, but he dodged using some sort of taijutsu. That style is very familiar. "Oh, Kira-chan wanted me to give you this."

Kakashi's eyes widened. Kira... "How d --"

Naruto used body flicker to go behind him and punched him on the head, knocking him unconscious. Using the same tranquilizer, he bagged Kakashi as well. Can't believe sensei... No... Hatake... Can't believe Hatake dodged rasengan. Hatake had some serious explaining to do when he regained consciousness.

Neji kept his byakungan activated the whole time. There... He saw Sakura and Kakashi's bodies. He beat Hatake-san? Who is this person... Not sensing any other chakra signature, he went in. But in truth, Naruto hiding in that very one degree weakness of the byakungan. When Neji turned, he saw. Naruto jumped and landed in front of him. "So, they asked you to kill me, too, eh...

"Uzumaki-san... You're my target...?"

"He's taken out Hatake Kakashi..." Tsunade smirked. "As well as Sakura. He has both packages in his control..."

Danzo remained emotionless. "Nevertheless, he has much more to go... And it is three o' clock in the morning. He has a little more than a day left..."

Jiraiya knocked down the tree. Damn it... Fuck... How dare they try and harm his prized pupil... He was taking Naruto to the caves... Yes... There he could hone his skills in peace. And while he was gone... Danzo would be the first to go... Not only did he manage to strip Tsunade of her Hokage powers for two more months, but it was perfectly legal... He growled menacingly.
Neji was horrified... "Why would they want to... Ah... I see."

"So you know about the kyuubi..."

"Naturally, from the exam..."

"So... Are you going to fight me?"

"They... Ordered me to try... Well... I've tried..."

Naruto smiled. "Hey... Thanks Neji."

Neji smiled. "However..."

Naruto gulped. That was never a good sign.

"I'm curious to see how much you've progressed. All I ask for is a mere sparring session."

Naruto shrugged. "All right. Let's go."

They exchanged a couple blows, but then Naruto admitted he was too tired to continue.

"Very well."

Naruto sighed. Thank God. He really didn't think he could've beaten Neji. He seemed to be getting more and more lucky – Kakashi tripped because he mentioned Kira. Neji decides not to fight him... Man, he was getting lucky. But he had one more Jounin to go. True, Naruto had plenty of energy left, but that Anko lady gave him the creeps. Plus, he had heard from Jiraiya previously that she was Orochimaru's prize pupil, as Yondaime had been Jiraiya's. That was not good news. He wasn't sure if he was Jounin level yet. He sparred with Jiraiya, but Jiraiya always pummeled him to a pulp. Then again, Jiraiya was Senin. And now, Naruto wasn't getting pummeled as much. There were no longer any broken bones, just mere bruises. Yes, he was catching up. But was he good enough to beat an ANBU officer? Doubts plagued him.

Suddenly, he realized the sun came up... In fact, it was the afternoon. He had been so busy reviewing his fights with Orochimaru, for any hints of jutsus, that he'd forgotten. Obviously, there would be summoning. But that was the only real clue he had. Curse Seal was out of the picture, as otherwise she wouldn't be in Konoha, rather in Orochimaru's grasp. It was a blind fight. She wouldn't go easy on him; Kakashi didn't even use on Chidori. Neji didn't want to harm him. She wouldn't hold back.

"So, you're my target." she said. "You... I see. The blond fuzzball did survive. Not only that, but you were tutored by that pervert."

"It's Jiraiya-Sensei."

"Well, what do you know. It... The kid has manners."

Somehow, she couldn't bring herself to complete the sentence using 'it.' What made her different from those countless other villagers? What... Why did she hesitate. Perhaps he could use that as a weakness.

"Why not call me 'it.' After all, I'm just a monster, aren't I?"

She didn't say anything.

"Why do you even care? I've been beaten tons of times. I've lived in an orphanage with but a bread slice to eat for an entire day. So why not? I'm unnatural... I'm a mon --"

"STOP!" She was gripping her ANBU suit. "I liked you better loud, kid... With that determination... With some honor."

Good. She fell into my trap. Emotional instability. All right. Now I might have a chance...

"You had a way of inspiration, kid... I can't believe you gave that up for pessimism..."

Naruto couldn't... He couldn't bring himself to that below the belt. "All right!... God... I was... I was acting. I knew I couldn't beat you, so I was using the emotional jazz to get you out of whack."

Anko smirked. "And I wasn't? Kid, you fell for it head first. I'm an ANBU. What'd you think? Now listen up."
Naruto's eyes widened.

"I don't want to kill you. But my orders tell me to. However, I will fight you. Just until unconsciousness. So, I want a fair fight from you. Give me your best. After all, didn't you say you were going to become Hokage? So, come on." There was something about that kid that she loved... Something that made her curious about him. Something that excited her.

Naruto smiled. This is what he had been training for. Jounin... All right. After this, just two steps away from Hokage – Jounin to ANBU, and then ANBU to Hokage. Taking a deep breath, he took his fighting stance.

"Sakura. You woke up." Kakashi smiled.

"Ugh... Where are we?"

"At Naruto's base. We're tied up, but we can't move for another day."

"What's going on?"

"Well, the Council wants to see how dangerous Naruto is... After all, he's been training unmonitored with a Sanin. Anyways, so they put him up against three jounin. Naturally, I didn't want him to get hurt. So I volunteered to be one of the people. I would go easy on him, making his job that much easier. They picked the others. Tsunade-sama had to pull some strings before they'd let me go. I'm guessing they were expecting I'd go easy on him. So, they picked the other two. Neji... And Anko-san. I'm guessing Neji refused to fight... But Anko-san would be a problem. She was trained by Orochimaru... And, she's a lot stronger than I am..."

Sakura got the same feeling. "You're not telling me everything, are you?"

Kakashi shrugged. "All I can."

"Damn, it's already four o' clock in the evening... The demon boy has twenty-four more hours... This shouldn't be taking this long." Danzo muttered.

"So, kid, how long will you be running?" Anko muttered. An hour later, she muttered, "Gotcha."

Naruto shrugged. All right, by now she must be tired. I've got much more energy than she's got. But I'm not taking any chances. And Naruto disappeared again. But she found him a minute later. How is she tracking me... All right, running's out of the picture. I'm going to lose energy fast than she will.

"So, are you going to attack or not?" Naruto questioned.

"All right, you want me to attack, fine. TRIPPLE CANNON SNAKE SEAL!" Snakes covered the ground and began attacking him. They were about five to seven feet long. Naruto guessed they were babies. That's it? That's her big attack? Either that or it's a dis --

Three towering snakes now crashed through the trees. Naruto gulped. "All right, my turn. Summoning no jutsu!"

The snakes rushed towards him, but a giant pipe stopped all three of them. "Say, kid, three against one? Ain't this a bit unfair?" Gama-bunta said in a gruff voice.

Naruto hugged the giant toad. "I thought I was done for."

"You are. After this fight, I'm gonna pound you for summoning me just to take care of some snakes. Ugh... Never did like em."

Naruto resumed to fighting Anko. Now, a hundred Naruto's appeared.

Anko frowned. He made shadow clones without a seal or hand signs. He's mastered the jutsu. All right, well then I'll just have to take care of all of them! She chuckled.

No way... She can't be... Is she really that reckless? But she can't have that much energy left?

Anko was individually fighting every single one, no seals, no jutsus. Just plain taijutsu. And the scary part was... She was winning. There were now only twenty Naruto left.

The last of the snakes landed on Naruto before poofing away.

"And then there was one." Anko smiled venomously.

"You're so reckless."

"Last time I checked so were you."

Shit... Now what... I got eighteen hours.

"Double snake fang." she whispered. A gust of chakra flew out of her hands, but Naruto jumped up and dodged. But the chakra kept following him.

"Oh... Fuck..." Naruto matched chakra with chakra. The chakra soon disappated.

"You should learn to pay attention, kid." Anko came up from behind him and punched him, but Naruto merely poofed away. "Shadow clone? There was one I missed... All right. Poison clone no jutsu." Three purple Ankos now appeared.

Naruto jumped in front and sliced them with a kunai, but they merely turned to a semi-liquid form. Returning to a solid shape, they wrapped themselves around him, pinning him down. Slowly, Naruto's skin began turning purple. "What... The hell?"

"These are poison clones. I can poison you just by touch. It's now in your blood stream." she said, signaling them to let go. "In about five hours, it should take effect."

"Seems kind of pointless if it's after five hours." Naruto said getting up.

"Yes, but the effect is more than worth it."

"Well then, I'll have to stop you in less than five hours."

Anko laughed out loud. "The effects are permanent. Unless you find a way to make me undo the seal, there's no way you can stop it."

"What are the effects?"

Anko was panted slightly. Damn, that jutsu took a lot out of me. Ah, well. Back to the fight! She mentally said happily. "It permanently transfers all your chakra to me... Like a leech, draining it out of you, slowly but surely. And when you run out of chakra, it'll begin to feed on your physical being. First you won't feel anything, then eye sight. Slowly you'll rot until you're nothing but a body. Merely living. You'll wish you could die."

Naruto's eyes flared. Damn this lady is insane? What the fuck... I've got to make her stop.

Anko smiled maliciously. I've got him now...

"ANKO!" Tsunade screamed into the microphone.

Anko disappeared. "Chill, hag." she spoke into the walkie-talkie. "The effects aren't permanent, and I'll stop it before it goes that far. But he doesn't have to know that." She said.

"How long do the effects last?"

"I'm guessing about two to three weeks is all."

"TWO TO THREE FUCKING WEEKS! I said moderation..." Tsunade said.

Anko could feel the anger radiating from Tsunade. "Hey, I didn't use the permanent jutsu, right? So chill!" Anko heard a mutter which went along the lines of, 'Fuckingbitchcan'tfuckingnotfuckingbefuckingmoderatefuckingalwaysfuckingrash." Anko gulped. She would have a long and probably painful talk with Tsunade after this, wouldn't she... Ah, well. At least it'll be fun torturing this kid for a while.

All right. Now to find that kid... Where could he be? Anko began searching. Finally, she found him.

"There you are."

What the... Naruto was covered in blood all over, and purple goo lay on the ground. He bled himself until the poison went out? "And you call me rash..."

"You are. I'm just more."

Of course, with kyuubi helping me heal, it shouldn't be too much. Jiraiya-sensei, this is going too far... I'm going to use it. Hopefully it'll work this time. Naruto still hadn't even gotten it to work once yet... He gulped.It was now or never. Naruto througha kunai at her.

Where does the kid get all these weapons from? She thought dodging.

Suddenly, a yellow flash appeared. It... It worked... IT WORKED! Naruto connected an Odamma Rasengan to Anko's back. She was knocked out immediately. Naruto sat down, dead tired. All his chakra was completely used up, but he did it. Taking Sakura's package along with his, he walked out of the forest...

"Congratulations." Jiraiya said.

"Thanks. Finally, it worked." Naruto replied, still cleaning his house. Opening his closet, he threw away the short, orange jumpsuits and replaced them with his black mission uniform. Then, he hung his Jounin outfit along with his Chuunin vest.

"I mean on becoming Jounin."

"Oh." Naruto turned red. "Er, thanks. I didn't think the council would turn against me so quickly though..." Naruto continued.

"Yeah, it was definitely unexpected. But we can talk about that later. For now, the important thing is to party. After all, everyone's gonna be there tomorrow." Jiraiya said, smiling.

"Yeah, you're right. I still can't believe it though. Finally Jounin."

"Say, weren't you going to see that Sakura girl?"

"OH CRAP! I completely forgot!" And he ran out.

"You've done a good job... Once again." Tsunade said rather formally.

"Thank you." Jiraiya returned the unfamiliar politeness.

"But that last jutsu... What was it?"

"It was Yondaime-sama's yellow flash jutsu."

Tsunade laughed. "No, really, what was it?"

Same answer.

"Kami-sama..." Tsunade breathed.

"Jiraiya." Danzo now walked in. "By orders of the Council, you are under arrest."

"Sakura-chan!" He met her at the training ground.

"Naruto! You're late as usual, I see. Let's hope you don't become like Kakashi-sensei."

"Well, with you as my team mate, I doubt it'll happen."

She laughed.

"Let's go."

"All right."

They had a wonderful dinner that night. The two of them, together, after three years. Naruto felt for the first time in a while, that he understood her. She laughed to all his jokes, shared stories, and talked about everything and anything. Unfortunately for them, it began raining.

"Aw man..."

"Naruto, I had a wonderful time tonight." She left the money on the counter. "But, I better run if I don't want to get wet."

Damn it... He hated the rain... The f-ing rain could go f itself up its f-in ass... Damn rain...

"I have an umbrella you could borrow. You could return it to me on our next mission."

"Then you'd get wet. I have a better idea." and she seductively snuggled into him. "We'll share!" she smiled.

"But, Sakura-chan, it's a really small umbrella, and --"

"Then we better get close together, huh." she giggled.

Naruto couldn't say anything... He had never been this close with any girl before... Not even Kira! But... it felt good!

They walked together slowly, in the rain, silently, enjoying each other's scent. Naruto's sense of smell was extremely acute, and his nose was reacting like crazy! He thought he would go insane... Her scent was intoxicatingly wonderful. Gently, he grabbed her closer to him, enjoying the feeling of her in his arms.

She didn't mind... Hell, she loved it! Before they knew it, they had reached her house. Damn it... We should've taken the long way...

"Well, we're here Sakura-chan..."

"Thanks for walking me back, Naru-kun." she said giggling and kissed him on the cheek.

It was as though he had met God. Lightning went through Naruto... Naruto's sense of touch, too, was acute, and her lips were so soft against his cheek. Naruto was at a loss for words... He loved it! "I li – No prob – Any ti – Um... Uh... Er... I... Well, bye..." he said, finally recovering.

She smiled and said, "Bye."

Naruto walked off in a trance, replaying the image in his mind, memorizing every scent, every touch, every emotion that went through his mind when those soft lips caressed him. Man, he loved the rain! Why the hell didn't it rain more often? Looking at his umbrella, he frowned. I need to get a smaller umbrella... Going home, he had the best dream ever that night... Well, the dream was after he cleaned up his house and found the way to his bed. He couldn't eve see the floor it was so messy. He replayed his date in his head, and found it to his liking. Despite the fact that he hadn't slept in two days, it was nice. With Sakura, he didn't have to talk about his kyuubi issues, he could forget about the Council constantly trying to get him killed, and he didn't have to worry about fighting in his ninja life. She was his little outlet of peace and alone-time. She was his small space of freedom in a world of corruption and ate. Naruto hoped he could run away to that sanctuary more often. That night he had some very satisfying dreams...

Well, there ends the NaruSaku moment. Next chapter, more fluff! Jiraiya finds out the truth in the outcome of Naruto's being and is forced to do something rash. Tsunade finally finds the truth about Jiriaya and what he's been hiding all these years... Mysteries unraveled ahead! Hope you enjoyed this chapter.