Authors notes: Back at it again!

Alright first up, a new poll is up to vote for the last two spots in the harem. So feel free to head over and vote for the two girls you want to fill the last slots. After much consideration, I couldn't add everyone that was suggested. Sadly, one that I had decided to omit from the poll was Hinata, due to her popularity among fans and I wanted to give some of the other girls a fair shot. Since Hinata would easily overshadow everyone else in the polls. However, she will still remain close to our blonde hero.

So, in the last chapter we finally got to see how Naruto's fiances had grown over the years. From playful children to grown, deadly young women. Also got to see Kurama's and Naruto's conversation and the revelation that it was Kakashi himself who had a hand in Naruto's kidnapping. It will not be fun for him now that Kushina is aware of his part in it.

We also got to see a bit of Hiruzen's plans for the boy to break his will and turn his power towards his own home village in a power play to wipe out any competition to Konoha's superiority. Too bad for the old monkey, the seals are broken and Naruto is plotting against him as well as planning to escape the village.

Then we have Sakura who last we saw, was going to approach Ayame and her father about Naruto. What will she learn? And even more, how will it affect her outlook of the village as a whole?

And lastly, Kushina is now fully aware of Konoha's involvement with the kidnapping of her son, and is currently plotting to get him back. Usually she would no doubt march her army to Konoha and lay siege to it, but she is taking a more subtle approach and plans to hurt the village in ways beyond physical damage.

Review Corner

SelenetheNerd – Well, here you go! I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Thor94 – Naruto's departure will happen during the invasion, or rather immediately after. Though Kushina will not unleash her wrath on Konoha during the invasion, oh no. She has something much more diabolical planned for the village. Something that involves a little black book of dirty secrets.

Squall321 – All three perverts will be severely punished in some of the worst ways imaginable. I think you will love what I got in mind for Naruto to do to Jiraiya. Let's just say his inspiration for Icha Icha will be ruined for life.

YeagerMeister31 – Yup, Sakura has had time to reflect on her past actions and is aiming to correct them and make it up to the blonde. Kakashi is going to be screwed and not in the nice way when his punishment comes. As for Yugao, fear not, she is safe and is one of those that truly care for Naruto and was the main one to save him most of the time from the mobs. Though for the time being, she is in the dark about the Hokage's hand in it all.

Einjeru Hatake – Here is more, please enjoy.

Vigriff – Oh, I have some doozies planned for all three of the major culprits. Though between them all, I think Jiraiya is going to get it the worst with what I have planned.

Harem - Anko, Aqua, Kairi, Koyuki, Morgiana, Rory, Sakura, Xion

Be sure to vote for who will fill the last to slots. Once they are filled, no other girls will be added nor considered for a romantic relationship. Though some sisterly bonding could occur.

Remember Me

Chapter 3

Konoha, One Week Later

Sakura let out a sigh as she approached her teams usual training ground. It had been exactly one week since they had returned to the village from their first C-rank mission, that had turned into an A-rank, and throughout the entire week, she had been unable to even find Naruto at all. It was like he had completely disappeared into thin air. It was also concerning to her that her blonde team mate had not frequented the ramen stand either, which of course caused Ayame to worry as well.

During the pinkette's week long break, Sakura had begun to frequent the ramen stand more and more, somewhat breaking her diet after her initial visit to the stand the day they had returned to the village, however now she could understand why her blonde teammate loved the stuff. Though what she had learned from the ramen waitress when she inquired about Naruto still haunted her dreams at night, as Ayame had reluctantly explained a rather brief history about the blonde boy. The nights her and her father would find him bloodied and beaten in an alleyway, left to die.

How for every year, for the past six years on the boys birthday, her and her father would close down the shop and search the streets for the blonde. Each time dreading what condition they would find him in. To make matters worse, they had learned the hard way that they couldn't take him to the hospital due to a majority of the staff refusing to treat the boy, and those that did had used it as an excuse to inflict more pain on him. Thus, forcing the father and daughter duo to do what they could to treat his injuries in the back of their own stand.

With great reluctance, Ayame had recounted how they had found Naruto crucified, burned, poisoned, and severely mutilated. Though for some reason, within a day or two, he was always back to full health with his goofy smile and loud attitude, proclaiming he was going to be the Hokage and force everyone to acknowledge him.

'I wonder where he has been all week?' Sakura mentally asked herself.

'I don't know.' Inner Sakura sighed. 'Perhaps we should go to where he lives?'

'Good idea, Inner.' The pinkette mentally nodded, though frowned slightly when she realized she didn't know where Naruto lived. Only that it was somewhere in the Red Light District, which didn't really do much to reduce the search area.

On the other hand, she knew exactly where Sasuke lived, even though it wasn't hard due to the raven haired teen residing in his clan's compound still. Even further, she knew everywhere he would go, and at which times due to the last Uchiha falling into a standard routine each day. What the pinkette had not yet realized, was that throughout the entire week, she hadn't once sought out the source of her obsession, instead focusing solely on finding Naruto and hanging out with Ayame when her search would turn up nothing.

Of course she couldn't say her week was not entirely uneventful, as a few days ago she had an uncomfortable confrontation with the purple haired young woman who had greeted Naruto upon his return to the village.

Flashback no Jutsu

Sakura had let out another sigh as she had spent the last few hours wandering around the village in hopes of finding her blonde team mate. Turning up another fruitless search, she had opted to visit Ichiraku's again, in hopes the blonde would turn up there. Well, that was half of the reason. She had yet to admit it to herself, but she had immediately grown to love the ramen from the stand.

Not paying attention to anything in general, the pinkette rounded the corner before feeling a slight pain at the base of her neck before her world turned black. Vaguely feeling someone pick her up and carrying her off into some unknown direction to her.

Nearly half an hour later, did the young pinkette return to the world of the living, only to find herself tied to a tree out in the middle of the forest. Quickly snapping her eyes open, she frantically began to look around her surroundings in an attempt to get her bearings.

"Ah, you're finally awake." A feminine voice spoke up from just behind her, just enough that they remained out of sight.

"Where am I?" She asked, only to receive a sadistic giggle.

"You're in my personal playground, pinky." The voice replied, getting closer to her.

"Wha-what do you want?"

"I want to know why you've been looking for my Naruto-kun." The purple haired snake mistress stated, rounding the tree the girl was tied to and standing front of her. Playing with a kunai that she held in her hands.

"Wha-what?" Was the pinkette's intelligent response.

"I didn't stutter pinky." Anko retorted, narrowing her eyes towards her prisoner. "Why have you been looking for Naruto-kun? Aren't you suppose to be a fangirl for that duck ass emo?"

"I-I want to be his friend." The pinkette replied in a soft voice as she hung her head, ignoring the jab at Sasuke. Though loud enough for the snake mistress to hear, causing to narrow her eyes even more.

"And why the change of heart?" Anko inquired. "As I recall, you were a bitch towards him throughout the entire academy, and even after you were put on a team together. Don't know why the gaki had a crush on you, when he could of done so much better."

Sakura could only wince at her words, and the coldness in her voice, as well as a slight pain in her chest when the snake mistress told her that Naruto could have done better then her, in terms of girls to be interested in and have a crush on.

"He doesn't have a crush on me anymore." She all but whispered in sadness as a tears threatened to fall from her eyes. She didn't know why, but it hurt her to the core that she was no longer Sakura-chan to the blonde. Now, she was just simply Sakura.

"Good, may be hope for the gaki yet." Anko replied with no shame nor care if she hurt the pinkette's feelings. "But that still doesn't answer my question, why the sudden change of heart?"

"It was something he said to me during our mission." Sakura replied, lifting her head to look the snake mistress in the eye. "And I want to prove him wrong. I want to show him that there are others who care for him."

Silence hung between them as Anko stared back at the pink haired girl. She had already known all of this from her talk with Naruto when she had taken him aside to comfort him about taking his first life, all the while cursing Kakashi for not doing his job as the boys sensei. Something about the masked jonin had always rubbed her the wrong way. Though to hear the pinkette openly admit it without making any excuse truly surprised her.

With a quick flick of her wrist, the snake mistress shot the kunai she was playing with towards the pink haired girl, causing the poor girl to gasp in horror before the kunai embedded itself into the tree just to the side of her, effectively cutting the ropes that bound her. Freeing her in the process. Though Sakura didn't have much time to enjoy the freedom as Anko was quickly upon her with another kunai in hand, pressed firmly against the pinkette's throat.

"Maybe there is hope for you yet, but mark my words pinky." The snake mistress hissed. "Naruto-kun is someone extremely precious to me, and if I hear of you hurting him in any way, consequences be damned, they will never find your body. Understand?"

Sakura did the only thing she could do, and silently nod.

"Good, now get out of here." Anko ordered, placing her kunai back into her holster. "Exit is that way."

Sakura didn't need to be told and quickly took off in the direction the snake mistress had pointed towards. Not wanting to risk the snake mistresses wrath or ire.

Flashback no Jutsu Dispel

The pinkette still shuddered at her run in with the snake mistress, knowing full well that the purple haired woman would make good on her threat. Shaking herself from her inner musings, Sakura took the chance to look up as she entered the training ground, and to her surprise found Naruto leaning back against one of the three large posts, reading what appeared to be a scroll of some kind. For some unknown reason to her, she felt happy, and almost excited to see him again.

"Good morning, Naruto." The pinkette greeted a bit timidly, as a small part of her was nervous, having not seen him in a week.

At first, the blonde didn't reply, causing the pinkette to frown before he rolled up the scroll he had been reading and turned to meet her.

"Morning, Sakura." He greeted in return, though she still winced at the lack of -chan at the end of her name.

'We've always wanted him to leave us alone and stop pestering us for dates, and now that he has it just feels like something is missing.' Inner commented in a depressed tone.

'I know, brings a whole new meaning to the phrase 'be careful what you wish for,' doesn't it?'

"Um, I haven't seen you all week." She tentatively commented, earning a raised eye brow from the blonde.

"I've been busy." Was all Naruto responded with, though it wasn't a lie.

Kurama had set to work on the blondes training right away, focusing on Fuinjutsu, knowing a particular seal that would give the boy some freedom to move around without worrying about the old monkey spying on him, as both knew the Hokage had kept watch over the boy through that crystal ball the old man kept in his office. Fortunately, the fox knew the one weakness the crystal ball had.

It focused solely on a single chakra signature.

In Naruto's case, it was the foxes. So Kurama had come up with an ingenious idea to throw off the old monkey. A simple combination between a blood clone, and a chakra seal. It had taken a bit of trial and error for the blonde to get it down right, with the right mixture of chakra into the blood to form a fully functional and sentient copy of himself that was far more durable then a standard shadow clone. That being done, the kyuubi had then pushed a large amount of his chakra into the blood clone to ensure the crystal ball would focus on the clone and not his actual vessel.

Lastly, Naruto had placed the seal on himself, once he had perfected it. Which had a sort of chakra dampening effect, making it near impossible for sensor's to focus in on his chakra signature unless he released far too much of it within a sensor's range. Fortunately, that was no issue during his later training towards the end of the week, as Naruto had secluded himself in the Forest of Death. Though he mentally shuddered when Anko would eventually find out that he had been training in her playground without her.

"I see." Was all Sakura replied with as she sat down on the other side of the post, awaiting the final two members of their team. Though she already knew Kakashi was going to be late again, as he always was.

As silence hung between the two, Naruto had once again pulled out the scroll and began reading over it once more. It wasn't anything special, just a scroll about improved chakra control exercises and other things he could do to increase the control over his massive chakra reserve. As well as a few jutsu's that he could add to his arsenal.

Normally, he wouldn't have been able to gain access to such a scroll, as the library, just like countless other businesses within the village would refuse him access. Despite it being illegal to refuse a Konoha Shinobi service. However, a simple henge had solved that issue, and with his blood clone wandering around, it had been easy to fool the librarian and various other shops. Allowing the blonde to get what he required and to actually have some actual home cooked meals. Not that he didn't like ramen, hell, he loved the stuff; but for the first time in seven years, he was able to enjoy a dish of an old recipe his mother would make them, thanks to Kurama's help of reciting the recipe to him.

Though he knew he would have to make it up to Ayame for not coming by the ramen stand all week. No doubt worrying about him, with their past experiences of him being hunted down and attacked. This of course caused him to frown slightly. The blonde didn't like it when those who he held close were worried or in pain.

'We should stop by after training today.' Kurama put in, sensing the thoughts his container had. 'You know that girl sees you as a little brother.'

'Yeah.' The blonde mentally agreed.

Another half hour passed between them in silence while Naruto continued to read from his scroll. Meanwhile, Sakura would still glances at the blonde, curious as to what the scroll was about. However, before she could vocalize her question, the blonde quickly rolled the scroll up and stuffed it into one of his pouches, before leaning back against the post.

'What was that….'

She never got to finish her thought as Sasuke entered the training field. Smiling, she wished the raven haired teen a good morning, only for the last Uchiha to merely scoff at her, prompting her to frown at his dismissal of her.

Meanwhile, the Uchiha continued to not so silently complain about how the librarian had come over to his compound this morning and began pestering him about a scroll he had supposedly borrowed that needed to be returned by the end of the week. The pinkette had picked up on his grumbling and cast a side ways glance towards her blonde team mate in suspicion.

'You don't think that Naruto-kun henged into Sasuke to get that scroll?' The pinkette mentally inquired.

'I think he did. He's been reading it all morning, and as soon as Sasuke arrived he put it away.' Inner commented before seemingly pondering something else. 'What if this wasn't the first time Naruto-kun henged into Sasuke?'

'What do you mean?'

'Think back to shortly after we passed the bell test, that moment on the park bench. Didn't Sasuke seem out of character then?'

Sakura thought on that for a few seconds. The more she thought about one of her most precious memories with the raven haired boy, the more it began to change as she began to imagine Naruto sitting in Sasuke's place. Her eyes widening in realization.

'It wasn't Sasuke at all, it was Naruto-kun henged as Sasuke.' She replied to her inner self, whom merely mentally nodded in agreement.

"You know teme, it's considered polite to at least return a greeting." Naruto spoke up, breaking Sakura from her thoughts. "Or didn't your mother never teach you any manners?"

"At least I had a mother, dobe." The Uchiha retorted with a smug look on his face, taking a stab at the blonde being an orphan, as it was well known that the boys parents were killed during the Kyuubi attack fourteen years ago.

Sakura on the other hand frowned at the boys taunt, causing her to want to chastise her crush of being such a jerk to try and use Naruto's lack of parents as a taunt, though stopped herself when she saw the blonde merely smirk in response, as if he knew something they didn't. However, one thought shot through her mind.

'Wait, was I really going to defend Naruto-kun from what Sasuke said?' She asked herself, before her eyes widened in surprise. It appeared that her week long search for her blonde team mate had acted as a sort of detox for her in regards to her obsession with the Uchiha. Allowing her to finally compare the two boys on her team with a clear mind.

'We were.' Inner replied, not commenting on her outer self referring to the blonde with the -kun suffix and the lack of said suffix to the Uchiha's name for the past few minutes, since Sasuke had arrived to the training grounds. Though before both Sakura's could continue their mental conversation, Naruto broke them out of their thoughts.

"Really, that old taunt? I guess it is true about the great Uchiha clan." The blonde stated with a lazy sigh. "Can't create anything new, always have to steal it from somewhere else."

This of course caused the raven haired teen to seethe in anger, as the blonde in front of him had dared insult him and his clan.

"You're just jealous of my Sharingan's power." Sasuke defiantly stated.

"Yeah, yeah." The blonde scoffed before proceeding to flip off the Uchiha, which only served to infuriate the raven haired boy even further. "Copy this with your pink eye."

Despite herself, Sakura couldn't help but giggle to herself at Naruto's comeback, though had managed to cover it in a cough to not attract the attention of her two team mates. However, before things could escalate further, a poof of smoke erupted from the top of one of the training posts, revealing the masked jonin reading his trade mark orange book.

"Well, I see my lovely genin are lively this morning." Kakashi commented in his usual lazy tone as he casually put away his book.

"What are we going to work on today, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked, looking up at the masked jonin.

Kakashi was silent for a moment as he took in his three students before him. He could see that Sasuke was about ready to attack Naruto for what the blonde had taunted the last Uchiha with. Though the masked jonin was surprised to see that Naruto did not rise to the bait and instead had flipped it around on Sasuke. Which was slightly concerning, causing the jonin to frown slightly.

'Normally Naruto would have lashed out at Sasuke, but instead he remained calm and had managed to get under Sasuke's skin.' He thought to himself, before turning his attention back to the rest of Team 7.

"Today we will be working on individual exercises." Kakashi stated with an eye smile as he produced three scrolls. "Naruto, I want you to practice the leaf cutting exercise. Sakura, with your precise chakra control, I want you to focus on medical ninjutsu's."

Naruto said nothing as he took the scroll that was offered to him. Mentally scoffing at how badly the silver haired man hid his agenda. Sure, if he was still under the effects of the seals, the blonde would have ate it up that this was actual training. Now though, he saw it for exactly what it was. Stunting his growth to keep him from growing too strong, in case he needed to be put down.

'Guess I better struggle all day with this, just so he doesn't get suspicious.' The blonde thought to himself, earning a mental nod from the large fox.

"What about me?" Sasuke demanded, looking to the masked jonin.

"I have some jutsu's for you to work on." Kakashi replied with an eye smile. "So you will come with me. Sakura, Naruto stay here and work on your own exercises."

"Hai Kakashi-sensei." Both replied.

Kakashi watched as Naruto made his way over to the tree line at the edge of the training field and began to gather leaves required for his exercise, while Sakura stayed near the training posts. Satisfied that the two had begun with their respective scrolls, the masked jonin lead the last Uchiha to the very far end of the training field, well away from the other two.

'Can't wait to stick it to that bastard.' Naruto thought to himself, imagining various ways to punish the silver haired bastard. One of which included the same technique the man had used on the boy during the bell test.

Berugakure

The sound of steel clashing against steel echoed across the massive training field as the two combatants repeatedly traded blows with one another at blinding speeds. Which was surprising considering the size of the blade the smaller of the two wielded effortlessly.

"Very good Xion-chan." The red haired woman complimented her training partner. "It seems you truly are worthy to wield Kubikiribocho."

"Thank you, Kushina-sensei." The black haired teen panted, though didn't relax her stance.

"You never did tell me how you came across it." Kushina reminded as she charged forward with her own blade, bringing it down hard on the larger blade, causing the black hair girl to grunt under the blow.

After blocking the blow, Xion pivoted the blade and deflected the rest of the energy off to the left, giving her an opening to counter the red haired woman. Seeing the opening, the black haired girl charged forward only to suddenly halt her attack as her instincts told her to jump back. Wisely listening to them, she narrowly avoided a second attack from the red haired woman, whom had shifted her blade into a reverse grip position, using the momentum of the deflection to spin her around in the air. Skillfully, Xion landed a good six feet away from where she once was, her massive blade poised in a defensive position.

"Very good, Xion-chan, very good." Kushina praised as she moved into a relaxed stance, causing the black haired girl to frown, seeing that their training session was coming to an end.

"I can still go on, Kushina-sensei." Xion protested, not wanting to stop training. She had to get stronger, to bring Naruto back home. However, her body betrayed her as it gave out, causing her to fall to one knee.

"Xion-chan." Kushina sighed as she walked over to the downed teen and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "No one wants my sochi back more then me, believe me. But it won't do you or him any good if your body is broken because you don't know when to stop and allow your body to heal."

Xion could only look down at the ground, tears forming in her eyes as she reflected on her soon to be mother in laws words. Nodding in understanding as she raised her head to meet the red haired woman's eyes.

"By this time next month, Naruto-kun will be back home where he belongs, and we will have a large celebration for his return." Kushina smiled, bringing the black haired teen into a hug, calming her down before the girls emotions got too out of control. "We will continue training in two days. In the meantime, rest and allow your body to recover."

"Ha-hai, Kushina-sensei." Xion panted, rubbing away the tears that had stained her cheeks.

"Now, you never did tell me how you came to wield Kubikiribocho."

"Well, it was when we were leaving Wave Country." Xion began.

Flashback no Jutsu

Having bid their farewells to Tsunami and her family, the five girls had set off towards the docks to secure a boat back to their home village. Eager to tell Kushina the news that they had finally found where Naruto was and get him back. As they made their way across the small village, returning greetings to the various villagers, Xion had suddenly stopped and looked off in what appeared to be a random direction.

"You okay, Xion-chan?" Kairi asked, seeing her friend and future sister-wife stop.

Not saying anything, the short haired girl took off in the direction she had been staring in, prompting the others to follow after her. Not understanding why their friend had suddenly taken off without a word. After only a handful of minutes running, they found their answer as Xion had stopped in front of two fresh graves. One of which had a broken mask, and the other a massive sword impaled into the ground.

"Naruto-kun dug these." Aqua stated as she approached the two graves, causing a wave of sadness to wash over the girls, followed by further spite towards the masked jonin that was supposed to be their beloved sensei.

"That bastard Hatake didn't even want to honor a fallen enemy." Morgiana spat the mans name in disgust, as a similar feeling was felt amongst the others, having learned that the masked jonin had refused to help bury the two deceased foes, and had repeatedly gave his disapproval towards Naruto for doing so.

"The mask must have belonged to Haku-san." Kairi stated as she knelt before the grave, offering a silent prayer to the fallen boy.

"And this must have been Zabuza's." Rory commented as she looked at the grave in front of the massive blade.

Xion however, remained silent as she stood before Zabuza's grave. Her eyes on the large sword that marked his gravestone. Folding her hands together, she bowed her head in respect to the fallen swordsmen before slowly reaching out and grabbing hold of the handle of the massive blade. She had expected it to be heavy, considering it's size. But to her surprise, it was as light as a feather, allowing her to swing it effortlessly.

The rest of the girls watched as their short black haired girl lifted the blade out of the ground and gave it a few good swings before holding it with both hands to admire it's beauty.

"It looks like Kubikiribocho has recognized you as it's new wielder, Xion-chan." Aqua commented.

With their soon to be mother in law an acclaimed swords-woman herself, the five girls were well versed in the tales of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist and the importance of their sentient blades, and how said blades chose it's new wielder.

"I understand." Xion said with a smile on her face as she spoke to the blade, before turning and looking towards the other girls. "Kubikiribocho has acknowledge me as it's wielder, so that I can protect those dear to me."

Securing the large blade to her back, Xion turned around once more and offered a final prayer of respect towards the swordsman before turning and walking away with the rest of the girls. Set on returning home to give the Berukage the news about her son.

Flashback no Jutsu Dispel

"And that is what happened." Xion finished her tale while stroking the blade with her hand. "I promised Kubikiribocho that I would use him to bring back Naruto-kun and protect our family and village."

"A bond with a legendary sword is an extraordinary thing, and I know you will do us proud, Xion-chan." Kushina smiled. "Now head home and rest up."

"Hai, Kushina-sensei." The black haired girl bowed before departing the training field.

Konoha, Hours Later

It had been a long and boring six hours of training for the young blonde as he continue to fake struggling with the leaf cutting exercise. Though it seemed that the bastard of a sensei was pleased with his lack of progress, despite his words of disappointment in Naruto.

"Well, I must say all of you did well today." Kakashi gave his usual eye smile. "Be sure to meet back here tomorrow at 7am."

Not waiting for a reply, the masked jonin disappeared into another poof of smoke leaving the three genin along. Letting out a small sigh, the blonde genin stood up from where he was sitting, though still acting as if he was exhausted from the training exercises he was doing. Knowing full well Kakashi liked to 'disappear' only to spy on them from a distance.

"Um, Naruto-ku…. Naruto." Sakura called out, catching his attention as he raised an eyebrow in regards to her slip up. Even Sasuke had shot the pinkette a confused look, as the emo was expecting her to pester him for a date once more.

"What is it, Sakura?" The blonde inquired, a little curious at his pink haired team mates sudden focus on him.

"I was wondering if you would like to get some ramen?" The pinkette blushed as she realized it sounded like she was asking her blonde team mate out on a date.

"I was about to head there now." Naruto honestly replied. "But since when do you eat ramen? Aren't you on a diet?"

"I've been eating there all week." Sakura answered. 'While I was looking for you.'

"And I've kind of ended my diet." She continued.

'Accept her offer kit.' Kurama spoke up as he watched the interaction between the two.

'Kurama?' The blonde mentally questioned.

'It's clear she's been looking for you all week since we detected her following you the day we returned.' The fox explained. 'Notice how she hasn't even asked the Uchiha bastard for a date all afternoon, yet she is asking you to join her.'

'I guess.' The blonde relented, though still doubtful of the pinkette's intentions.

'I know your crush on her was based off of her hair subconsciously reminding you of Morgiana-chan, but I can feel that she truly wants to be friends with you.' Kurama continued, sensing the blondes doubt. 'I say give her another chance, may be nice to have an actual friend on the team while we are still here.'

'Alright furball, you made your point.'

'Love you too, brat.' The fox retorted with a scoff, though smiled none the less.

"Alright Sakura, let's go." Naruto replied with a smile, causing the pinkette to blush a little before nodding and joining the blonde.

Leaving behind a dumbstruck Uchiha whom had just witnessed what had happened and still didn't understand how one of his annoying fan girls had completely ignored him all day, and then asked the blonde dobe out for a lunch date.

'Did that really just happen?' He thought to himself.

Additional Authors Notes: And done!

Alright, first things first. The bit about Naruto flipping off Sasuke and telling him to copy it with his pink eye was directly inspired by another story I read some time ago. Sadly, I can't remember the name, but that part really stuck out for me, and I figured it would go perfect for that segment.

We also had a look into what Naruto had been doing his entire week off, and how he is managing the fool the Crystal Ball that the Hokage likes to use to keep tabs on his weapon. A nice combination of a Blood Clone filled with the Kyuubi's chakra to act as a decoy, while Naruto uses a dampening seal to hide his own chakra. Now he can train without interruptions.

Lastly, we got a look at Xion training with Kubikiribocho of all swords, as well as a little flashback as to how she acquired the blade. Going to be a huge shock to Kakashi when he sees the girl wielding it when they enter the exams here soon.

As always, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. Feel free to let me know in the reviews and/or private messages!