Authors Notes: So, it's been roughly a month since the events in Wave happened, so that means in roughly a day or so, the Chuunin Exams will begin and Naruto's fiances will finally meet our blonde hero for the first time in years. Should be interesting to see how Sakura will react when she finally learns that her blonde team mate is already engaged to five girls.
Anyways, last chapter we saw a bit more plotting between Hiruzen and Kakashi. Now of which, involves Sakura being a sacrificial pawn to further try to break Naruto further. So now Kakashi will be attempting to nudge the two together during their missions within the village and training sessions. Now that Naruto is no longer under the seals power, he will realize something is up right away. Already having a distrust with the masked pervert.
We also got to see Naruto and Sakura have their first lunch date, and also learned what Sakura had went through during the week she was searching for our blonde hero. Even going as far as to henge as him to walk a day in his shoes to really get his perspective on how life is for him on a daily basis. Not to mention, she has made a new friend in Ayame, and maybe developed a bit of an addiction to ramen.
Review Corner
HyperA2019 – Think ya got this story confused with another one. Naruto is the one who needs to be rescued. His mother is the leader of the village Berugakure, which is a village I created specifically for this story. Why is she there instead of in Uzushiogakure? Because Uzu still fell during the Second Shinobi War. The only difference is that many managed to evacuate to Berugakure, so expect that to change a few things within the story.
God of lightning mark 2 – Well, technically we get to see the Beru Team before the third stage, as they have to go through the first two phases of the exams. Kushina won't show up until the third stage, as much as she really wants to be there before then.
Thor94 – Yeah, and this is my first attempt at an Evil!Hiruzen story, so hope I am doing a good enough job making him look like a manipulative, power hungry dictator. Doing what he does all in the name of the good of the village. Though I should probably have him have some time with Naruto, pretending to be the caring grandfather figure.
YeagerMeister31 – Yup, the previous chapter gave Sakura most of the spotlight to show her character growth. Also love coming up with different ways for her to figure out Naruto's secret. And yes, I realized the timing was wrong after I posted the chapter.
Chaos Snow Kitsune – Already replied to this in a private message, but will also answer it here as well, in case others had similar thoughts.
The only reason Sakura managed to see the Sharingan in the Kyuubi's eye is due to the brave/stupid reporter getting an up close photo of the fox's head, added to the fact that she set down an empty glass over it, which acted as a magnifying glass. Inspired by the scene in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, when the detective does the same thing and notices the will in the mans shirt pocket.
Harem – Anko, Aqua, Esdeath, Kairi, Koyuki, Morgiana, Pyrrha, Rory, Sakura, and Xion
Now then, on with the story!
Remember Me
Chapter 5
Konoha, Four Weeks Later
Naruto couldn't exactly place his finger on it, but something seemed off with his supposed sensei as of late. For the past few weeks, the masked jonin had constantly paired Sakura up with the blonde for random things, that at first didn't seem like nothing. Having Sakura merely help the boy with various chakra exercises, or maybe a small task during one of their many D-rank missions within the village. But the constant consistency of it made the blonde jinchuriki question the silver haired mans motives.
Sakura had seemed to notice this as well, as she cast her blonde team mate a confused look when ever Kakashi had instructed her to aid Naruto. Not that she minded being with her blonde team mate that she had forged an actual friendship with, she just found it odd that her sensei was requiring her to always be around him for any little thing.
"Alright, that's it for today my cute little genin." The masked jonin called out as he stood up from where he was sitting the entire time while the three were wrapping up their latest D-rank mission. "Be sure to be here bright and early tomorrow morning."
"Hey Kakashi-sensei." The blonde called out, catching the jonin's attention, though he blanched on the inside to have to call the man by that just to keep up his appearance. "Do have any extra training I can do?"
Kakashi merely frowned before replying. "I'm afraid not right now, maybe later."
In truth, he didn't want to train the boy anymore then what was required or unless the Hokage deemed it necessary for more training. Always using the promise of new jutsu's and techniques as a carrot on a stick to string the weapon along. As it was, he was barely skilled enough to handle the upcoming exams. Of course there was no chance of the blonde jinchuriki being promoted, he was merely there to support the Uchiha. All the boy had to do was survive the tests.
"Ah, okay Kakashi-sensei." The blonde whined while kicking some dirt. "Guess I'll just go get some ramen. See ya tomorrow."
'Kurama, please kill me.' He mentally cried anime tears at having to put on this act. 'Just overload my coils with your chakra and burn me alive from the inside.'
'Suck it up kit.' The fox retorted, rolling it's eyes at the young teens antics. 'Won't be long before we can escape this cesspool and get you back where you belong.'
"Hey Naruto, wait up!" A voice called from behind him. Turning he saw his pink haired team mate running to catch up with him.
"What's up, Sakura-chan?" The blonde asked, tilting his head to the side slightly.
"Don't 'what's up' me, baka." The pinkette chastised. "You know I always go with you for ramen. Now come on, Ayame-san is probably waiting for us."
Chuckling, the blonde jinchuriki scratched the back of his head before he followed after Sakura, while Kakashi and Sasuke merely looked on. The latter still not sure of what was going on with his team mates. Wondering what had happened that the annoying fan girl was now chasing after the blonde. Not that he cared, he was glad she was focusing on someone else other then him. Kakashi on the other hand had a smirk hidden under his mask.
'Everything is going as planned.' He thought to himself. 'Just need to push them a little more and Hokage-sama can initiate the next phase of his plan. All for the good of Konoha.'
"Come on Sasuke, I have some training for your Sharingan." He stated as he lead the last Uchiha further into the training field.
Sakura and Naruto
"Naruto, does Kakashi-sensei seem weird to you lately?" The pinkette asked as they approached the ramen stand that had become a natural hang out for the two of them.
"You mean that it feels like he is purposely putting the two of us together for the past few weeks?" The blonde clarified, his tone carrying a weight of seriousness to it. At the same time, he also activated the seal on him to distort his chakra signature to prevent the old man from spying on their conversation.
"Exactly." She frowned as the two of them took their seats inside the stand next to each other and placed their usual orders. "It felt like he was purposely putting us together, but not in a sense to improve team work."
"It felt off to me as well." Naruto nodded in agreement. "Almost like it was forced."
"What, are you implying that I am bad company?" The pinkette teased.
"Oh, the worst." The blonde rolled his eyes in sarcasm, earning a giggle from the pink haired girl.
"Here you two go." Ayame piped up, placing two bowls of ramen in front of the duo.
"Thanks Ayame-nee-chan." Naruto smiled, earning a blush from the ramen waitress.
"So how was your day so far?" The brunette inquired her two usual customers.
"More D-rank chores that civilians are too lazy to do themselves." Naruto half complained while he ate, earning a giggle from his team mate, and a chuckle from the ramen waitress. "Other then that, more training, though Kakashi-sensei keeps pairing Sakura-chan and myself together lately."
"Aww, sounds like he's playing match maker and trying to get you two together." Ayame teased, causing the pinkette to deeply blush at the insinuation. However, the young blonde adopted an expression of thought on his face, narrowing his eyes slightly.
'I think the ramen waitress is on to something, kit.' Kurama commented. 'Though I doubt the bastard is trying to play match maker. He has an ulterior motive.'
'I agree, but what?'
'I am not sure, but I think your friend just became a pawn to be used and discarded once her usefulness has ended.'
Naruto couldn't help but frown at that. If he knew his renewed friendship with his pink haired team mate would put her in danger, he would have continued to push her away. Cursing his forgiving nature, he tried to come up with a way to gently tell Sakura that it would be best to distance herself from him. Though, he could come up with nothing that wouldn't reveal his secret, and he wasn't sure where she would stand if he told her that he had been kidnapped and was currently training to run away from Konoha to return home.
"You okay, Naruto?" Sakura inquired as she snapped the blonde out of his musings.
"Yeah." He quickly replied. "Why?"
"You kind of zoned out there, kind of like you were talking to someone only you could hear." She offhandedly commented. Not noticing the boys eyes widen for a fraction of a second.
"Sorry about that." He replied, sheepishly. Rubbing the back of his head.
The two ate in a comfortable silence for the next few minutes, though to the pinkette's surprise, the blonde teen had stopped at a measly two bowls of ramen. Once he was finished, he laid his money out on the counter to pay for the meal and bid Sakura good bye, telling her that he was going to go train a little.
With a frown on her face, Sakura watched as her blonde team mate disappeared down the street. Not missing some of the glares sent the boys way by the villagers he passed by, causing her to scowl slightly.
"You like him don't you?" A voice startled the young pinkette, snapping her out of her thoughts. Turning around, she saw a grinning Ayame.
"I-I…." She fumbled, blushing horribly. Completely caught of guard by the young woman's bluntness.
"Ah ha, so you do like him!" She exclaimed while pointing a playful accusing finger at the young pink haired kunoichi.
To hide her embarrassment, Sakura quickly shoveled the remaining ramen into her mouth and fished into her pocket to pay for her meal before the ramen waitress stopped her.
"Naruto-kun already paid for yours." She smiled, earning another faint blush from the pinkette at the blonde teens gesture, and muttered a thanks to the ramen waitress. "Just be sure to be there for him, Kami knows that boy needs all the love he can get right now."
Nodding her head, Sakura climbed down from her stool and departed the stand. She was half tempted to seek our her blonde team mate and perhaps join him for a training session, but she realized that she didn't know where Naruto trained when he was on his own. All she knew was that he did it away from prying eyes. 'To ensure Sasuke-teme couldn't copy my training with his pink eye', were the blondes words. Two months ago, the pinkette would have lashed out at the blonde for making such a comment about the great Uchiha, but when he had said it, she had simply giggled.
Knowing that she wouldn't be able to find her blonde team mate, she had instead opted to head home and get to bed early. Not knowing what horrors would await her the next day. She was about half way home when a voice called out to her from her right.
'Oi, forehead!" A platinum blonde girl called out.
"What do you want, Ino-pig." The pinkette retorted.
"Is that any way to greet your best friend and rival?" The blonde girl grinned as she approached Sakura.
"You haven't been my friend since we were ten." Sakura scowled, with a bit of disappointment in herself for allowing a single boy ruin their once close friendship. As much as she wanted to blame the girl across from her, she knew she was just as guilty.
"Anyways," Ino continued, ignoring the comment the pinkette made. "I heard you've been spending a lot of time with Naruto-baka, even spent your first week back looking for him. What's up, you got the hots for him or something?"
"Why do you care?" Sakura inquired with a clipped tone, clenching her fists tightly as she became upset at the blonde girl insulting her blonde team mate. "And Naruto is not an idiot."
"Just wanted to see if it was true." The blonde girl shrugged. "And it seems it is, with how defensive you are over him."
When Sakura didn't reply, Ino continued.
"So does this mean you're finally realizing that Sasuke-kun will never choose you over me?" The blonde taunted. "Is that why you're now chasing after that loser?"
"What ever." Sakura scoffed as she turned to walk away, only to be stopped once more by her former best friend.
"You really are chasing after Naruto now, aren't you!?" The blonde girl stated, more surprised then anything else. "Okay, spill forehead, what happened?"
Sakura could only mentally groan, as she knew the mind walker would not let it drop until she got the information she was after. With a reluctant sigh, the pinkette motioned the blonde to follow her to one of the nearby training grounds, to reduce the chance of other's listening in.
"Alright, spill the beans Sakura, what happened to make you focus on Naruto-baka?" Ino all but demanded, ignoring the pinkette's glare once they arrived to their destination.
"Fine, you know how a month ago we had that mission in Wave Country?" Sakura inquired, earning a nod from the blonde. "That's when it all changed. Naruto-kun said something that really shook me to my core."
Ino could only cock an eye brow at the -kun suffix the pinkette had unknowingly attached to Naruto's name, but decided to remain silent for the time being, though storing this bit of information away to tease the pink haired kunoichi later.
"Well, what did he say?" The blonde mind walker asked, a bit impatiently. "Did he confess his undying love to you or something?"
"No, I wish it was something that simple." Sakura all but whispered, her expression turning solemn. "When Kakashi-sensei and I found him after he mastered the tree walking exercise. He pulled one of his pranks, I yelled at him about how he could have died, and what he told me still haunts me."
After a pregnant pause, much to the ire of the blonde, she continued.
"He said I wouldn't care if he did, and even stated that the village would celebrate his death. And the sad thing is, it's true about the villagers." Sakura finished, wiping a few tears that had formed in her eyes.
"How do you know if it's true?" Ino asked, a little skeptical about the villagers reaction if the blonde goofball had died.
"Two reasons." Sakura sighed, looking down at the ground. "When we returned, I followed Naruto-kun to try and talk to him. As I did, I heard the whispers of the villagers and even some of the shinobi, confirming what he said. Many wishing he would have died on our mission outside the village, others bragging about horrible things they have done to him in the past when he was younger."
Ino could only look on in horror at this revelation.
"The other reason I know this." The pinkette bit back a sob. "I henged as him for one day. All day, the glares, sneers, hateful words. Getting tossed out of stores, over charged for expired food. And that wasn't the worst of it. They tried to kill me. Not just the villagers, but shinobi as well. They chased me with the intent of killing me."
"I don't believe it." The blonde stated in denial.
"Use your Mind Transfer Jutsu on me then, and you will see it as it happened." Sakura challenged.
Ino frowned a bit, before moving her fingers into the proper seals for her families jutsu, rising up to the pinkette's challenge. Instantly, she found herself within her former friends mind. Immediately she was thrust into the girls memories of what happened in Wave.
Naruto hanging upside down from a tree branch with his trade mark grin on his face as he reacted to the frightened and shocked reaction he got from the two from his latest prank. Herself as Sakura yelling at him for being an idiot and how he could have died if he fell. Then the words that felt like a punch to the gut, how she wouldn't care if he died. Kakashi reprimanding the blonde, only for Naruto to scoff and claim that no one would care if he died, and that the villagers would celebrate his death.
Suddenly, the memory shifted to a bridge. Two bodies had fallen due to the sheer number of adversaries before a short, fat man barked out orders for his men to kill the male shinobi and capture the women to be broken in and then sold off to various brothels. Fear freezing her very soul at the implication. Then she saw a red chakra wrap around Naruto as he let out an enraged roar before the blonde charged forth and began to massacre the thugs before reaching the pathetic fat man, who was now on his knees, begging to be spared. Ino could only gasp as she saw the red chakra wrap around the man and rip him apart. The slaughter finished, the red chakra seeped back into the blonde before he turned and collapsed on the bridge.
Another shift, Ino found herself trailing the blonde boy through the village. Watching as the villagers she recognized as being cheerful and kind all glare at the blonde boy, whispering desires that the boy died, and some even bragging about how they had tortured the boy years ago. Their very words made her want to throw up in disgust.
Another shift in memories. She now felt the glares and hateful words directed at her as she walked through the village. Attempting to enter a shop, only to be chased out by the shop owner. Stating something about demons not allowed in his store. She wanted to cry. Each store was the same experience, and those that did allow her in would charge her three times to normal price. Then, she felt a kunai graze her arm, bringing her attention to the mob that had formed behind her. Turning, she quickly ran away from them. Dodging projectiles as much as she could.
Then it all went black, and Ino found herself back in her own body. Tears streaming down her face at the memories she had just witnessed. She couldn't believe it, yet it was true. She knew the pink haired girl couldn't fabricate such things. She had actually experienced these things first hand. Though the mind walker had been completely unaware that Inner Sakura had been the one directing her to certain memories.
"That last part you saw." Sakura stated, catching the blondes attention. "He lives through that every day."
"I-I can't believe it." Ino stammered, trying to shake the feeling of what she had just experienced. Rubbing her arm where the kunai had grazed her in the memory. "But why would you henge as him?"
"Because I wanted to experience it for myself." The pinkette answered softly. "My mother always told me that you never truly know someone until you walk a day in their shoes."
Silence hung between them as Sasuke was forgotten from the blonde mind walkers mind. Her thoughts now revolving around her fellow blonde, and the daily trials he faced on a regular basis. However, one single thing stuck out to the blonde mind walker.
"You know, there is one thing I should point out to you forehead." Ino mischievously grinned, making Sakura a little bit nervous. "This entire time, you've been referring to Naruto as Naruto-kun."
At this, the pinkette stiffened as a heavy blush spread across her face.
Naruto
The blonde jinchuriki groaned as he did his stretches, having arrived at his desired training ground that had become a home away from home. Training ground 44, also know as the Forest of Death. He had chosen this particular training ground for his private training due to the fact that many shinobi, even of Jonin rank, avoided this place due to the dangers that the forest itself held. Only one was crazy enough to frequent here, aside from himself.
Not wasting anymore time, Naruto summoned around a hundred clones and divided them into small groups. Instructing one group to practice tree walking, another to set to work on water walking, another group to practice fuinjutsu, and the last group he split in half. Having one half practice throwing kunai, and the other half throwing shurikan.
With his clones setting off on their assigned tasks, the original removed his monstrosity orange jumpsuit, leaving him in only a pair of dark blue shorts, and a black t-shirt. He really hated that jumpsuit and cursed the old bastard for forcing him to wear it. Of course he knew why the bastard instilled that false memory of orange being his favorite color. It made him stand out more, easier to hunt down for the villagers fox hunts. Making a mental note to trash any remnants of his orange clothing as soon as he got back home where he belonged, and replace them with his favorite colors. Black and Red.
Moving over to one of the training posts, he began to execute perfect strikes into the post. Barely registering the impact as his knuckles and shins smashed into the hard wood. The indentations on the post where his strikes connected made it very clear he had been doing this since his return from Wave. Though, as they often did, memories began to float to the front of his mind. Of his life in Berugakure. All his girls, his himes smiling at him, his mother hugging him. The villagers actually treating him with kindness and respect.
Then Kakashi, the bastard, luring him away to an isolated training field. A false promise of teaching him one of his fathers famous jutsus. The night everything came undone, and destroyed. So caught up in his memories that Naruto didn't notice the blood coming from his shin as he began to kick the post harder, until in one last powerful strike, he broke the training post in half. Snapping him out of his thoughts.
"Fuck." The blonde cursed as a wave of pain washed over him as he came crashing back to reality.
"Damn gaki.." A voice called out from behind him, prompting him to turn to see the snake mistress making her way over to him.
"Hey Anko-chan." Naruto smiled, as he turned to greet the approaching snake mistress.
"So what's got you so upset that you decided to chop down the training post with just your legs?" Anko inquired in a teasing tone, though an underlying hint of concern was evident.
"Just bad memories." He replied honestly with a sigh. 'Kami, I wish I could tell her the truth.'
'Then tell her kit.' Kurama stated. 'I can sense she truly cares for you, hell, she may even love you. She's not that much older then you.'
This of course earned a slight blush from the blonde as he struggled to mentally shake himself out of his inner monologue.
"Still being haunted by what happened on your last mission outside the village, gaki?" The snake mistress asked, taking a seat on a fallen log.
Frowning slightly, Naruto came to his decision.
"No, something else." He sighed as he walked over to the same log, and sat down just a small bit away from her. "Anko-chan, what I am about to tell you is a secret that I trust you with."
Hearing the seriousness in the boys tone, Anko turned her full attention to him. Turning herself so that she was now straddling the log, facing directly at the young blonde. Concern etched in her face.
"I don't belong here." He stated with a sigh, causing her to narrow her eyes slightly at his words. "This village, it's not my home."
"What do you mean gaki?" She asked. "I know the villagers are assholes and will rot in hell for the shit they have pulled…."
"It's not that Anko-chan." Naruto interrupted her, causing her to scowl slightly. "The truth is, seven years ago, I was kidnapped from my home in Berugakure, under the orders of the current Hokage."
At this revelation, Anko's eyes widened to comical proportions. Silently, she moved closer and brought the blonde teen into a hug. Inadvertently, smashing his head into her breasts, causing him to blush fiercely at the closeness. Though, she believed him. She knew all to well that the village was not the beacon of purity that it claimed to be.
"You're training to leave, aren't you Naruto-kun?" She asked, her voice soft in a very un-Anko like tone.
"Yes." He replied honestly, gently pulling away from her to look her in the eyes. Though blushed as he realized just how beautiful she looked. "I want to go home. Away from the hate and the pain."
"The Chuunin Exams." She whispered.
"What?"
"Starting this week is the Chuunin Exams." Anko continued. "That will be your chance. Lots of people from foreign countries will be coming in and out of the village. That's your best chance to escape."
"Anko-chan?"
"With all the movement, it should give you a head start before they send anyone after you." She continued, tears forming in her eyes as she sniffled slightly.
"Come with me, Anko-chan." He offered, earning a surprised look from the snake mistress. Gently taking her hand into his own.
Now it was her turn to look at the blonde in confusion, realizing what he was asking.
"I know you've gone through the same shit as me." He pressed, moving slightly closer to bring her into a comforting hug. "I know the villagers also treat you like shit. You would be welcomed in Berugakure."
"Bu-but if I leave, they won't remove the seal the snake bastard put on me." She tried to protest, though it was weak.
"Anko-chan." He sighed. "I don't think these bastards ever plan on actually removing it from you. It's just a false promise to string you along. Just like Kakashi-baka does with me with new jutsus."
Hearing this, Anko couldn't prevent the tears from falling from her eyes. She had her doubts the old man would ever come through with his promise of freeing her from her past, but she knew the blonde teen was right. He was only stringing her along. Sobs racking her body as she silently admitted the truth to herself.
"But don't worry, Hebi-hime." He smiled as he brought her face up to look at him, causing her to blush at his nickname for her. "I promise you that we will get it off you and free you from that bastard."
Hearing this, the snake mistress did the first thing that came to mind. She launched forward and captured the blondes lips with her own. Catching him by surprise, though he returned her kiss as he was forced to lay back on the log with the seductive snake mistress on top of him.
'Good going kit, you got another one.' Kurama laughed inside the boys mind. 'Now you just need four more to fill all the seats of your family council.'
'One step at a time, ero-fox.' Naruto mentally shot back at his tenant and older brother figure. 'We don't even know if she will…., oh wow, she's using her tongue.'
At this, the giant fox barked with laughter as the snake mistress assaulted his hosts mouth with her own tongue. Things were going to get interesting, and soon.
Berugakure, One Day Earlier
Kushina gazed out of the window of her office, over looking a majority of the village of Berugakure. It had been just over a month since the girls had returned from Wave Country and had begun their training for the upcoming Chuunin Exam's that were to be hosted by Konoha. The woman had long since sent the proper paper work to get her team into the exams, under the guise of strengthening relationships between the two villages. Fortunately, the required paper work went through the Fire Daimayo's court, and not the local villages council.
Knowing that Konoha was behind the kidnapping of her son, she was positive if Hiruzen had to approve the papers, he would isolate Naruto away from the village just to keep him out of sight while they were there. The mere thought that the old bastard was behind her sons kidnapping made her blood boil. When she had learned the news, she was tempted to follow Rory and Morgiana's idea and storm the village, but years of being a village leader herself had done much to temper her recklessness from her youth.
Her main priority now was to simply extract her son. She would deal with the war once he was safe.
"Mission success, Berukage-sama." A deep voice spoke from behind her.
Turning, she saw a rather tall and lean man with a gymnasts body. His face obscured by a metallic mask that gave off the impression of being a skull. Reaching up, the man before her removed his mask and lowered his hood, exposing a rugged face with a scruffy beard and shaggy long hair.
"What did you find, Corvo?" She inquired as she took her seat behind her desk, waiting for her top spy master and assassin to report on his recent mission.
"As you requested, I investigated the new village that had popped up in Rice Country." The man began. "I learned that it is being lead by the missing-nin, Orochimaru. Furthermore, upon investigating inside the village walls, I came across something interesting."
"And what's that?"
"He plans to invade Konoha during the upcoming Chuunin Exam's, during the finals." Corvo replied as he produced a few scrolls. "I've copied down his plans. Looks like he has talked Suna into joining him, due to the financial stress the village has been under due to their own Wind Daimyo forwarding missions to Konoha instead."
Taking the scrolls, Kushina began to read over them. Narrowing her eyes slightly before a ghost of a smile visited her lips.
"I also heard that young Naruto-sama has been found." The man ventured, garnering the attention of the red haired woman once more.
"You over heard the girls, didn't you?" She smiled, earning a nod in acknowledgment from her spymaster. "Just over a month ago we felt Kurama's chakra signature spike. I sent the girls to investigate the source, a small village in Wave Country. Upon arriving there, they discovered that Naruto-kun had been there with a team of genin from Konoha."
Corvo narrowed his eyes at this, clearly upset that a close ally would betray them in such a way. The mark on his left hand pulsating with power. He knew he should have searched Konoha first, despite the Hokage's reassurances that they were doing what they could to help find the missing boy.
"Say the word, and I will have him home before nightfall." He stated.
"As much as I would love that, I have something else in mind." Kushina sighed. "The girls will be entering the Chuunin Exams as genins. Their mission is to locate Naruto-kun and assess the situation, and extract him."
"Don't know if I should feel sorry for anyone who gets in their way." He commented with a small chuckle.
"However, with the information you have provided about this new Sound Village, and Orochimaru's plans to invade has given us a new opportunity." She continued. "When the invasion begins, I have a special mission for you. This is what I want you to do."
At this, Corvo paid rapt attention to his new mission he was being given. A grin twitching at his lips.
Additional Authors Notes: And that's a wrap!
We got to see a bit more Naruto and Sakura time, with our pinkette developing a crush on the blonde, now that she truly understands him, as well with him trusting her with one of his secrets. Also had a bit of a confrontation between Ino and Sakura, with our little mind walker also learning the truth. No, Ino will not be in the harem, as it is already set.
We also got to see my favorite couple, Naruto and Anko spend some time together. I was on the fence if I should have Naruto expose his plans to our snake mistress this early or not, but figured if anyone in the village would understand his plight, it would be her. And, Anko being Anko, kissed Naruto when he promised to get the seal off her. Such an Anko thing to do.
And yes, the next chapter will be the start of the Chuunin Exams. For the first time in seven years, the girls will finally get to see Naruto, and vice versa. Though, how is he going to explain his new snake mistress to the girls?
Also as noted, Kurama mentioned something about a family council when teasing Naruto. I am setting it up so that each of Naruto's wives has a say in how his house is operated. Will try to go into detail about that in a later chapter.
Anyways, hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. Feel free to let me know what you think in the reviews, or hit me up with a private message.