Well I'm back. Eh...I'm not to happy with this chapter, but it does introduce my newest arc. Hope you enjoy it, please review.

"Speech"

'Thought'

"Kyuubi"

(Standard Disclaimer)

Chapter 17: Two Birds With One Stone

Sasuke looked up as he approached the great Hokage tower of Konoha and unconsciously compared it to the Otokage tower of the Sound. 'Otokage Tower it taller...but Hokage Tower is wider,' he thought as he dropped his head to look directly in front of him.

Sasuke cooly walked past the intern who didn't even bother to raise her voice to the powerful Uchiha. Sasuke opened the doors of the Hokage's office and sat down in the chair across the desk from the exhausted leader. Tsunade glared at the boy as he sat down in the chair across from her, her hands crossed on the desk in front of her.

"Sasuke," Tsunade began, "I've been hearing word that you've been preforming some things that have raised some suspicions from your ANBU detail. Care to explain?" Sasuke said nothing and brought from his pocket a rolled up scroll which he tossed to Tsunade. Tsunade unrolled the entire scroll seeing an unfinished map of what looked like Otogakure.

"You told me I couldn't become a genin again until I produced something of value to your chief strategist correct?" asked Sasuke cooly. Sasuke couldn't help but smirk at Tsunade's wide eyes, he had planned this a while ago. If he were ever to go to Konoha again he decided to give his home village at least a little advantage. To bad he had already given Otogakure all it needed.

Sasuke winced to himself, 'what the hell is this feeling.' He discreetly put a hand on his stomach and gave off a shock of light healing chakra to himself, something he learned from Orochimaru. However the wave of chakra did nothing and the feeling remained. It was as if his stomach had been forcefully ripped out, turned upside down, and put back in with a rusty knife.

"This...is very good Sasuke. Do you remember enough to finish it?" questioned Tsunade who rolled up the scroll and threw it back to Sasuke. Sasuke caught the scroll, stood and pocketed it. "I'll have it on your desk by tomorrow, can I go now?" he asked. Not waiting for an answer he went to the door and left quickly without so much as a farewell.

"Well Kakashi?" asked Tsunade as she tapped her finger on the desk. Kakashi in full ANBU uniform appeared from the shadows a glare in his one visible eye. "He was lying," was Kakashi's three word answer."About what? Having it tomorrow or him making the map?" asked Tsunade to which Kakashi replied, "about being our ally." With that Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke leaving the Hokage to reach for her freshly acquired 'emergency' bottle of sake.

Days passed, Sasuke followed up on his word and gave the completed map to Tsunade the next day. He was soon placed into a Genin team under a Jounin instructor but still on high probation. Naruto lived peacefully in the Hyuga household having brief encounters with a certain branch member who seemed to keep a close on eye on him, someone he had come to know as Hitokoe. Neji had given Naruto the benefit of the doubt but still kept a weary eye on him due to the Kyuubi and Naruto's natural jester like attitude.

Naruto constantly trained under Kyuubi's instruction and grew from it. His illusions didn't need much improvement so Kyuubi had focused on Naruto's lightning, fire, and his doujutsu newly dubbed the Sekkaganafter many other failed names. He went on many other outings with Hinata, more then once stopping at the Ichiraku Ramen much to Teuchi's joy. From that day on the sign displaying going out of business was taken down.

A week after the Itachi incident Tsunade dubbed Hinata and Neji well enough to go on missions so they were gone more often then not. With the home empty and nothing to do Naruto would frequently get bored and seek entertainment in the village but with the Foxy Fan Club on the prowl Naruto had to take careful steps.

Naruto found that in this several week long time of relative peace he was swiftly growing bored. He needed action, he wanted a damn mission!

Naruto smirked as he stormed past the intern who had just plain given up on stopping anyone. "Obaa-chan! I need a mission, I need action, I need something to get my brain un-numbed!" Naruto yelled waking the napping Hokage from her dreams. "Eh...Naruto? Do you know what time of day it is?"

"Yeah three in the afternoon," Naruto said as he crossed his arms indigently. Tsunade blinked then glared at Naruto, "fine, fine..." Tsunade sat up and ruffled through some papers bringing a few to the surface. "It seems that there is a Chunnin exam coming up in a few weeks, and you ARE still a genin technically. This could get you relieve of your boredom AND you could move up a rank," Tsunade said with a smile as Naruto's eyes lit up and he grinned an insane smile.

"YES!" Naruto said as he pumped his fist in the air, "TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE!" "One problem," Tsunade said with a sigh. Naruto blinked as Tsunade said, "You need a team to enter. Two people to be exact." Naruto groaned, "Oh come on Obaa-chan! I don't NEED a team! I know you can pull some strings just get me in, come on," Naruto said with a foxy smirk.

Tsunade's eye twitched, Naruto's Kitsune seduction no match for her anger. Oh, she could have vaulted him out of the building but no, that would be to easy on him. This one is going to be throughly punished. "Oh I can Naruto, quite easily. But for that Obaa-chan crack you're stuck rounding up a team. There are the few genin who have either had a team member quit or the team member was lost in some other way. You only have a few days to find a team so you better hurry up Naruto baka," Tsunade smirked as she tossed a small pile of six scrolls at Naruto, three piles each with two scrolls per pile.

Naruto's eye twitched in anger but he held back and said, "whatever...Obaa-chan." With that he sped off before receiving a massive punch from the sannins legendary fist. Tsunade seethed in her seat but the let out a breath and sat down in her chair. "God...I feel sorry for those poor genin," Tsunade muttered before she lay her head down to take a quick nap.

Naruto looked through the papers as he walked from the Hokage tower back to the Hyuga mansion. "Ugh...none of these guys are cool enough for my taste, but I have to choose one of them. It's either that or no Chunnin exams for me...or them. Hm...here's a couple that took it a few times over. One year behind me too..." Naruto mused as he looked at the particular paper.

Naruto decided to shuffle it in the back of his mind as he walked the grounds of Hyuga mansion. He was getting more bored by the second until of course he spotted the younger Hyuga main house girl walking the garden to the training ground, every second or so checking her surroundings. 'She's gotten more careful, like that's gonna help her,' Naruto thought as he slipped into one of his Kitsune illusions.

Hanabi treaded the path to the training grounds very carefully, ever since she had fallen into a pit due to an illusion she always watched her step. She had her senses on high alert and even had the Byakugan active just to catch a glimpse of Naruto's golden tails. When she entered the clearing of the training grounds she deactivated the Doujutsu her clan was famous for and went about her usual routine of practicing with a training dummy.

Suddenly she felt as if she wasn't alone and she stopped her Juken strikes upon the poor defenseless puppet. She activated the Byakugan and looked around but saw nothing. No flash of golden fur and shine of blue and golden eyes. She sighed, all these tricks from the fox were messing with her mind.

She returned to her sparring with the inanimate object still feeling the stare of eyes upon her back. Suddenly, as if saving her from a fate worse then death, her father appeared from the path. "Hanabi, that's enough training for the day. Go inside and rest..." Hiashi said with a tone of voice that said do not argue. Hanabi bowed and left leaving Hiashi alone in the training grounds. "Naruto, I think we should have a talk," Hiashi said just as Naruto peeled himself from the Kitsune illusion he had created.

Naruto scratched the back of his head and smiled nervously, "Uh, yes Hiashi-sama?" "Naruto, you have to stop the illusions on Hanabi, or at least make them less frequent," Hiashi said. Naruto laughed nervously but nodded and said, "sure thing Hiashi-sama." "Another thing Naruto, what are your interests in Hinata?" Hiashi asked with a serious glare on his face.

Naruto looked at Hiashi and said, "I already said I would protect her no matter what. Those rumors were just rumors." Hiashi nodded and said, "but what are your...intentions?" Naruto's eyes narrowed and he said, "I said those rumors were just rumors." Hiashi matched Naruto's glare and said, "rumors are rumors but I want to know, are you courting my daughter or not?"

Naruto opened his eyes in surprise, what had he just asked him. "W...what?" Naruto asked in confusion. "Are. You. Courting. My. Daughter," Hiashi said punctuating each word. Naruto stared confused, was he? He had been spending a lot of time with Hinata, wanting to know more about her. The main reason he wanted to live here was so he could be around her.

"I...I don't know..." Naruto said in an unsure tone. "What do you mean you don't know? Do you care enough for my daughter to want to marry her or do you not? Do you want to always be there for her or do you not? Are you courting her or are you not?" Hiashi asked harshly. "I vowed to protect her...I want to be with her...I'd use my life to protect her...yes I am," Naruto finished as he crossed his arms in a defiant stance.

Hiashi and Naruto met gazes for an instant, Naruto seeing the eyes of a leader and a father in Hiashi's pupiless gaze and Hiashi seeing an unbreakable will in Naruto's cerulean and golden orbs. One side of Hiashi's mouth turned up in a semi-smile and he said, "I expect nothing but the best for my daughter Uzumaki. Only a man of Hokage skill is someone I see worthy for her to marry."

Naruto blinked then smirked wide, "I intend on being that man then Hiashi-sama. If you want proof then let's have a little match." Hiashi gave a mild scoffing laugh and said, "this will be interesting. How about a little bet?"

"Such as?" Naruto asked as Hiashi pulled a stack of scrolls from his robes. "I see that you intend on participating in the Chuunin exams. If you win I will help in your training and possibly teach you some techniques that do not require the Byakugan," Hiashi said as he waved the stack of scrolls.

"And if I lose?" Naruto asked. "You don't enter the Chuunin exams and you cease courting my daughter," Hiashi said calmly. Naruto turned the thought over in his head and smirked, "Alright, I accept the terms." Hiashi smiled and tossed the scrolls to the side and slid into the Juken fighting pose.

Naruto took a deep breath then began waving his tails back and forth slowly gathering the energy he needed for his attack. Hiashi gave Naruto no time to gain the upper hand and he attacked with blinding speed attacks. Naruto's eyes widened and his Sekkagan activated slowing the world to a snail pace.

Hiashi stuck viciously with his attacks and like Neji, he found it hard to land a hit on the fox boy. He suddenly disappeared causing Naruto to disengage his Sekkagan and look around in normal world time. Suddenly he felt the wind whipping behind him and then the powerful hit from Hiashi's perfected Kaiten.

Hiashi came out of his spin and before Naruto could react Hiashi had preformed the closing of his tenketsus completely blocking his chakra. "Well, it seems that I am the victor," Hiashi said in a disappointed tone. Naruto smirked and said, "you would think that wouldn't you?"

Suddenly Hiashi doubled over in pain as the electricity struck him through his feet. Naruto smirked and with the help of two of his tails, rose into a semi-standing position. "I think you forgot the tenketsu in my tails, or do they not have any?" Naruto asked as his remaining three tails began to wave again.

Hiashi rose as quickly as he could and took off at Naruto ready to disable his tails in a flash. Just as Hiashi laid his open palm on one tail it reacted much like a static shock and Hiashi had to back away lest he get more then a slight shock. "Clever Naruto," Hiashi said as he looked at the slight burn mark on his palm. "Well I can't beat you like this and you can't attack me," Naruto said as he continued to wave his tails as two of them supported his body.

"I believe that means a draw," Hiashi said as her let his arms fall to his sides. "Then who wins?" asked Naruto as his tenketsu slowly began to return to normal thanks to his bodies swift healing abilities. "Logically no one does...but since you were able to draw me to a stale mate, I'll train you," Hiashi said with a small smirk. Naruto didn't smile, he only glared and said, "and Hinata?"

Hiashi laughed lightly and said, "until you can show me you are worthy of being the Hokage." Naruto smirked and flexed his fingers slowly getting feeling back into them. "I'll see you early tomorrow morning for training, and before I go. You know that branch girl by the name of Hitokoe. She was the one who spread the rumors about you and Hinata, " said Hiashi as he left Naruto to heal and revel in this new information. 'Oh this is going to be sweet,' thought Naruto as he forced more chakra to his affected tenketsu, intent on getting his well needed revenge.

End Chapter

Well how'd you like that? I had some difficulties with this chapter for obvious reasons but...I'll manage. Well time for Q and A!

Q: Eye name?

A: Thank you for the suggestions and for the record his eye means "Flash Eye" such as someone suggested.

Q: Did Botan-kun use Kitsunegan joke?

A: ...I honestly didn't know and if so I'm really sorry but it was the only thing I could think of.

Well that's it I hope you enjoyed this chapter and keep tuned for more. Here's your preview and then I'm gone, later all.

Hiashi walked up to a tree and pulled a rope releasing four planks of wood from the high branches. The planks were arranged so a person could fit in between all of them comfortably. "You have to hit these planks of wood hard enough to break them into pieces," Hiashi said with a solemn expression.

Naruto smirked, "That's it? Easy..." "Without your hands, feet, or tails..."