A/N - Okey dokey, figured it was about time to update this fic. It's been a while, sooo...yay? lol.

I'm going to warn you now, something happens in the beginning of the chapter that is probably going to earn me a LOOOT of hate. After all, for a number of chapters now, we've been building up to the possibility of Naruto and Naruko being promoted to Chunin together. Well, fair warning, but the beginning of this chapter throws a bit of a wrench into that plan.

Anyways, there is a lemon in this chapter. Hopefully you enjoy it and find it tasteful. If not, oh well.

Finally, you'll find out in this chapter that a certain girl has, indeed, been added to the harem. For those of you that were against it so vehemently, I say tough molasses. Deal with it. :P

Now read on and enjoy! Hopefully! lol

Lemon in this chapter! You have been warned.

Chapter 13 – The Search for Tsunade

Hiruzen smiled at the group of Genin standing before him in his office. Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, Naruko Uzumaki-Namikaze, Kiba Inuzuka, Sakura Haruno, Kurotsuchi, Shino Aburame, and Hinata Hyuga. Staring at each of them intently, he soon began to speak. "As I'm sure you are all more than aware, you are here to find out if we have decided to promote you to the rank of Chunin. You all fought well, and recommendations have been given. However, not all of you will be promoted. Furthermore, I am making this my last act as Third Hokage of Konohagakure." Looking into their eyes calmly, he motioned towards Kushina, who was standing at his side. "Kushina-chan will be Hokage from here on. The only reason I have not abdicated the throne, so to speak, is because I wanted to be the one to give you all the good or bad news."

Looking at Kiba, Hiruzen said, "Kiba Inuzuka. While powerful in your own right, you are brash and tend to jump headlong into trouble. Your opponent outsmarted you and had you at his mercy. Until you can improve your temperament and think things through more carefully, I am afraid I cannot promote you to Chunin at this time."

Kiba sighed and slumped his shoulders. "I kind of expected that." he admitted.

Looking at Sakura at this point, Hiruzen frowned slightly as he wondered how to break the news to her. "Sakura Haruno. You showed everyone what you had and then some. Your reveal of the Explosion Release and the abilities you displayed would have more than earned you a promotion. However, in your effort to be fair to your opponent rather than ending the fight while you were ahead, you did more harm to yourself than good. In a life or death battle, there can be no mercy. No fair chances. Despite an awesome display of your power…it was not enough to earn you a promotion. I apologize, Sakura Haruno, but I cannot in good conscience promote you at this time."

Sakura's eyes widened and she lowered her head, tears welling up in her eyes. "I…I understand, Hokage-sama. I'm sorry Naruto-kun…"

Hiruzen frowned sadly at her before he turned his attention on to Naruto. "Naruto-kun, you displayed a cunning mind and incredible foresight. You planned accordingly for your opponents and outwitted them most effectively. You even managed to defeat Gaara after he had unleashed the Ichibi in a bid to not only kill you, but lay waste to our village. In essence, you saved a great number of lives through a little creative ingenuity, all without revealing everything you could do. You have the mindset that a true leader needs, and you have the power and abilities to back it up. Naruto-kun, it is with great pleasure that I hereby promote you to the rank of Chunin."

When Hiruzen tossed him a scroll, Naruto caught it and smiled happily at the old man. "Gramps…thank you. This means a lot to me."

The Third smiled at him and said, "Your new Chunin flak jacket and a few other key items are sealed within that scroll. Do make good use of them, Naruto-kun."

Turning his attention on Naruko now, Hiruzen frowned for a time before saying, "Naruko Uzumaki-Namikaze. You displayed remarkable power and precision. You most certainly have the kind of power and ability that would be expected of a Chunin. I also know for a fact that you have the mindset required of a Chunin, with the ability to outsmart and outwit your opponents. However, I cannot promote you based solely on my personal opinion of you. The council as a whole, as well as judges throughout the stadium, all gave their input." Sighing softly, Hiruzen shook his head and continued, a sad tone in his voice. "Naruko-chan, while you fought admirably and even proved yourself during the invasion…we have decided not to promote you to Chunin at this time. I am deeply sorry for this."

Naruko's eyes widened in horror at those words. After a brief moment, tears began to cascade down her cheeks and she fled from the room, unable to bear the news. When Naruto looked between Hiruzen and the door, the old man motioned for him to go after her.

Once they were gone, Hiruzen turned to Kurotsuchi. "Kurotsuchi. I talked with your grandfather about your match. We discussed it at great length, and as you are technically one of his kunoichi, I felt he deserved to weigh in on the decision. You were outsmarted at the very beginning of the fight, barely catching on to the fact that you were caught in a genjutsu. If Sakura had wanted to, she could have ended the match right then and there. Throughout the match, you were caught off guard at points due to your opponent outsmarting you at times and even revealing a trump card which you did not expect. While you won in the end, we have agreed that you are not to be promoted at this time. I'm sorry."

Kurotsuchi simply sighed and nodded in understanding. "I kind of figured as much. Oh well, better luck next time, I suppose."

Hiruzen looked at Hinata at this point and said, "Hinata Hyuga. I'm honestly not sure what to make of you after all you've shown. At times, you come off as psychotic. At others, you show a kindness not normally seen in a shinobi. In your match, you got into your opponent's head and scared her to the point that she was unable to counter your moves. And rather than kill her like you very well could have, you disabled her and showed her compassion. You have the mindset to be a great Chunin, and you are skilled enough to back it up. However, I warn you now that you need to be careful in the future so as not to alienate yourself from your allies. It is with great pride that I hereby promote you to the rank of Chunin. Congratulations."

Hinata's eyes widened as she took the scroll presented to her. Looking into the Hokage's eyes, she asked, "A-Are you sure? I…I wasn't expecting this. I thought for sure I had failed to impress."

Hiruzen simply smiled kindly at her and said, "You earned your promotion, Hinata Hyuga. Be proud of that fact." Seeing her nod in acceptance, he turned his attention on the final Genin standing in his office: Shino Aburame. "Shino Aburame. You are a very intelligent, polite young man. You show respect to your foes and you proved that you can be creative in your attempts to outwit and outmatch your foes. You went into the finals knowing that you likely didn't stand a chance against your opponent. However, you showed impressive ingenuity and creativity and unleashed attacks nobody expected to see from an Aburame. You even knew when it was wise to forfeit, rather than continue with a pointless struggle. You more than proved yourself, Shino-kun. I hereby promote you to the rank of Chunin. Congratulations."

Shino smiled and gladly took the scroll offered to him. "Thank you very much, Hokage-sama. I never thought I'd get promoted alongside my teammate. This means a lot to me."

"Of course. Now, you are all free to go. Kushina-chan, we need to talk." Hiruzen said, motioning the Genin and two new Chunin to leave. Once they were gone, he looked calmly into Kushina's eyes and asked, "How do you feel Kushina-chan? Be honest with me."

"I hate that my babies were hurt like this, Hiruzen. You know as well as I do that they dreamed for so long of becoming Chunin together. This is only going to crush them both. And poor Sakura-chan looked crushed too. I understand why you refused to promote them, but at the same time…"

Hiruzen nodded in understanding before he stood up and patted Kushina lightly on the top of her head. "Everything will be fine. Just because they failed this time doesn't mean they can't be promoted later. After all, field promotions are a thing. There is no need to be promoted strictly through the Chunin Exams. And, if you feel so inclined, you can put them together on a new team. You have that authority now, after all. In the end, it really comes down to what you want to do about this. Now, I think we've kept the people waiting long enough. It is time to officially pass the hat onto you."

Kushina nodded in understanding before she walked with Hiruzen out onto the balcony overlooking the village. It was time for everyone to meet their new Hokage.

Naruto

Naruto frowned sadly as he finally found his sister atop their father's head on the Hokage Mountain. Sitting down beside her, he placed a hand on her arm and said, "Naruko-chan? How are you holding up?"

Naruko turned and clung to her brother, burying her face in his chest and crying. "It's not fair. What about our dream? This fucking sucks dattebana! I wanted to become Chunin together. I want to be on the same team with you. What the hell am I supposed to do now?!"

Naruto hugged her close and gently stroked her hair. "I don't know sweetheart. I'd say talk to mom about it now that she's becoming Hokage, but…I can't see her playing favorites when she was on the council when they discussed the exams and possible promotions. Maybe she can put us on the same team though? I…I really don't know."

Looking into her boyfriend's eyes, she asked, "Do you really think Mom would do that for us? But…what about our current teams?"

The blonde hugged his girlfriend tight and said, "Mom would definitely put us on the same team. As for our current teams, maybe we can still go on missions together with them? I don't really know how it would work, but I'm sure Mom can figure it out."

Despite her sadness, Naruko smiled at Naruto and kissed him deeply on the lips. "Sweetheart, I hope you're right. Hmmm, you knooow, we're all alone up here. Everyone else is busy with the coronation of our new Hokage. We could…'play' a bit, if you wanted?" she suggested, a sly smirk spreading across her face.

Naruto chuckled softly and asked, "Is this your way of asking me to cheer you up or something?"

Lemon begins (skip if you're not interested)

Naruko tapped a finger to her chin before she pushed him down onto his back. Grinning at him, she removed her top, bra included. Seeing his eyes fixed firmly on her breasts, she soon began tugging at his pants. Getting the message, Naruto removed his pants and allowed his girlfriend to bring her breasts to his crotch. "First, let's give you something real nice as a reward." she said before she enveloped her boyfriend's cock in her breasts.

As Naruko began to use her breasts in an effort to get him off, Naruto let out a pleased groan and said, "Shit that feels good."

Naruko giggled and placed a kiss on the tip of his penis. Afterwards, she picked up the pace until he finally grunted and sprayed his load in her face and on her breasts. Grinning at him, she made a show of scooping up his cum and licking it off her fingers. When she finished, she said, "Not bad. It will take some getting used to, but it's not bad."

When Naruko removed the rest of her clothes so that she was in the buff before him, Naruto couldn't help but look her over appreciatively. Picking the redhead up, he placed her in his lap and began rubbing the tip of his cock against her glistening pussy. "Are you sure this is what you want, Naruko-chan? We could be found by someone any second."

The beautiful redhead slowly started to accept her beloved inside of her. "I want this so bad, Naruto-kun. I love you so much and you're the only one I'd ever want to do this with." Letting out a gasp when she finally got his cock buried inside of her, Naruko leaned against him, her breasts pressing against his chest. "Kami you're big. This…this feels…different. It feels good."

Naruto nodded as he started to slowly thrust up into her, letting out a soft moan as her vaginal walls were squeezing him tightly. "Holy crap you're tight. It feels so good, Naruko-chan."

Naruko clung to Naruto as she rode him, loving every second of it. She was finally one with the love of her life and she wouldn't trade this moment for anything in the world. Capturing his lips with hers, she soon let out a long, drawn-out moan as she started cumming on his lap. Realizing he had yet to cum, she whimpered a bit. Still… "Naruto-kun, I don't care if we end up being seen. I need this. Right here and now. Now please cum for me. I want it all inside."

Nodding in understanding, Naruto kissed Naruko deeply as he began to cum with her, pouring every last drop of his semen inside of her. Shortly afterwards, he laid her down on top of their father's head and chuckled to himself. Leaning in close as he began thrusting into her again, he said, "It's kind of amusing to know we're doing this on Dad's head. Makes this feel extra naughty. What do you think, should we bring Mom here and 'play' together?"

Naruko started giggling at that as she clung to her boyfriend and wrapped her legs around his waist, loving the feel of him really pounding into her. "Oh Kami! I just do not care. Keep fucking me Naruto-kun! Sure…oh Kami! Oh Naru-kun, I love you so much. And…the irony of that would be pretty funny, I must admit. We definitely need to bring Mom here and enjoy a nice threesome. It'd be…kinky."

Grinning at the thought, Naruto nibbled on her neck before giving her a hickey. Tentatively, he took one of her breasts in hand and began to gently roll his thumb along her nipple in a circle, loving the way it made her moan and clench his member. Leaning down, he took her other nipple into his mouth and began to lightly nibble on it and lick around the nipple, causing her to moan even louder.

After a number of minutes, he grunted as he began to cum inside of her again. When they came down from their highs, Naruto pulled out and flipped her over so she was on all fours. Rubbing his penis against her nether lips again, he leaned against her back and whispered, "I love you Naruko-chan. What do you think about me knocking you up? I bet you want it bad, don't you? All of my warm cum inside your hungry snatch, making sure to do its job well. Just the thought of having my child turns you on, doesn't it?"

Naruko whimpered pitifully at the lack of a certain something. Looking back at him, she said, "Yes. It really does. I want your sweet cum inside. All of it. I need it. I want your child! I don't care if people think we're too young. You're 14 and I'm 16, I think we'll be fine. Now please! Please put it inside of me again! I need it!"

Naruto grinned as he buried himself to the hilt inside of her. Listening to her scream out in pleasure, he started to thrust himself back and forth inside of her like a piston, getting faster and rougher as time went on. She was screaming his name loud enough that they were bound to get some visitors soon enough. He didn't care though, and neither did she. To the two of them, this moment was all about them and their desires. And if she wanted to bear his children, he wasn't about to deny her.

After a matter of minutes, he bottomed out inside her and began to flood her womb once more. When he was finished, he tapped her shoulder and pointed towards a guest they now had. Looking at their guest, Naruko simply smirked at the stunned look on her face. "Hello Hinata. Like what you see?" she asked as she wiggled her hips, grinding back against her blonde lover.

Hinata was blushing up a storm as she stared at the two of them, transfixed upon where they were currently connected. After a moment, the blue-haired girl said, "I…I was worried about you Naruko-chan. I wanted to see if you were going to be okay. I…oh dear. This…this is something I didn't expect."

Naruto smirked at her as he continued pounding into Naruko, his cum leaking out of her pussy. "Hinata-chan, thank you for your consideration. Sorry that we, erm…drew you here. I didn't expect for Naruko-chan to be such a screamer. Hmm…" Looking at Naruko, he whispered in her ear, "What do you think sweetheart? Should we invite her to join us? Might be…kinky."

The redhead simply wrapped an arm behind Naruto's neck and kissed him passionately for a time. When they parted, she said, "I don't care anymore. Hinata-chan, get over here. I think you deserve a piece of this too."

Hinata blushed deeper when Naruto began to cum inside of Naruko once again. Afterwards, the brother/sister duo laid on the ground, the two of them panting heavily. Stepping up to them, Hinata looked down at Naruto's penis and said, "M-Maybe just…a l-little?" Kneeling down, she grasped his cock in her hand and began to gently stroke it up and down, listening as he gave out a pleased moan. Smiling to herself, Hinata took his cock into her mouth, savoring its taste, and began to lick his shaft. She kept this up for a while until he finally blew his load in her mouth.

When Hinata sat up and swallowed his cum after getting a good taste for it, Naruto sat up and hugged her close to him. "We don't have to go any farther if you don't want to, Hinata-chan. If you're nervous or afraid or anything, there's no rush. I'll respect your decision either way."

The lavender-eyed girl shook her head and slowly removed her clothing, piece by piece, until she was nude before him. "I…I might not have the best body, but…but I want to be with you, Naruto-kun. I love you so much. I-If you'll have me, I'm…I'm all yours. Just…be gentle?"

Naruto nodded and pulled Hinata onto his lap. Rubbing his cock against her nether lips, he started to slowly insert his cock into her moist entrance. Once it was buried to the hilt inside of her, he kissed her sweetly on the lips before saying, "Get ready, Hinata-chan. You're going for a hell of a ride."

Hinata blushed deeply as Naruto began thrusting up into her snatch. Moaning loudly, she wrapped her arms and legs around her lover and began riding him for all she was worth. "Oh Kami. Oh dear. Oh, I love you so much Naruto-kun! This…this is better than I could have ever imagined. I was starting to think you'd never return my affections. I've wanted to be with you for so long, and now…" Looking into his eyes, Hinata couldn't help but cry tears of joy. "Now we're one. My dream's come true. I want to be your bride, Naruto-kun. I know I won't be the first to marry you, but…I don't care. Right now, I want you to cum inside me. I know we're young, but it's been my dream to have your children for years now. I want to make you happy, and I want to be happy with you. Thank you Naruto-kun. I love you so very, very much." Hinata said as she kissed him deeply.

Naruto simply held her close, wishing he could say the same back to her, but he knew he couldn't just yet. "I want to say it back so badly, Hinata-chan. We will be happy together, I promise. We just need to give the whole love thing a shot once we get to know each other better. Or rather, when I get to know you better. I want you to be happy. And if bearing my children will bring a smile to your face, then…" Kissing her again, he soon grunted and shot his load inside of her waiting womb. "I'll do whatever it takes to please you, my Hinata-hime."

Moaning in delight, Hinata took a moment to catch her breath before she began riding him harder, bound and determined to milk him for all he was worth. "We're not finishing until I'm stuffed full of your wonderful cum. I refuse to stop until I'm good and pregnant. I need this sooo bad."

Naruto grinned at her and continued making love to her, kissing her and nibbling on her neck the whole time. Eventually he began to gently fondle her breasts and grope her wonderful ass. After he came inside of her a second time, he whispered to her, "For the record, you're beautiful, Hinata-hime. You're stunning. Radiant. Lovely. You're amazing as you are and your body is perfect the way it is. I'll give you all the love you can handle and then some."

Hinata simply clung to him while they made love. No words needed to be said between them. She was just so happy and couldn't stop the tears that continued to flow. After cumming together once more, she whispered to him, "I love you Naruto-kun. Even if you don't say it back yet, I just want you to know my love for you will never fade. Now and forever, I am yours, my love."

"I know sweetheart. I know." Naruto said before slowly pulling out and lying beside her and Naruko. "You girls are amazing."

Lemon ends (safe to read again!)

After resting for a while, Naruto gathered their clothes before disappearing with them, working on getting them home before they were found out. I have to admit, I love my life right now. he thought to himself with a chuckle.

The Next Day

Kushina stared knowingly at her children as they stood across from her in the Hokage's office. She knew what they had done and couldn't help but shake her head in amusement. "You two do realize that the whole village heard you having sex, right?"

Naruko and Naruto blushed deeply. "T-They did? I thought they'd be so busy, focusing on your coronation. I didn't think I was being that loud." Naruko said, poking her fingers together shyly.

Kushina sighed and said, "It's fine. I just have one question for the two of you. Did you use protection?"

Naruko smirked at her mom and said, "Nope! I want Naru-babies! Hell yeah!"

Naruto blushed deeply in embarrassment. "Hinata didn't want to use protection either…" he muttered, his face turning redder as he scratched at his nose.

Kushina slammed her forehead on her desk and let out an agonized groan. "Trying to make me a grandmother already?" Sighing softly, she straightened herself out again before saying, "That's not why I called you two here. I know how upset you were at not being promoted, sweetheart. However, I've got a proposition for you. I'm planning to form a new team with the two of you on it. This team will be a four man cell, which means I need to place two more people on your team. I have chosen to place Ino Yamanaka and Kurotsuchi on your team. Naruto-kun, you will be the leader of this new team."

Naruto and Naruko high-fived one another before turning back to Kushina. "Thanks Mom. That means a lot to the both of us." Naruto said. "But I get the feeling you called us here for more than just that. What's up?"

The redhead nodded and steepled her fingers in front of her face. "I'm sending your team out with Jiraiya to find Tsunade Senju. You are to bring her back to the village by any means necessary. It's high time we implemented the medic program she proposed so long ago. I want her to teach our current Genin and students at the academy medical ninjutsu. Besides that, I think she's been running from her problems for quite long enough. It's time for her to suck it up and return to the village. As of this moment, I am revoking her Sannin traveling rights that Hiruzen Sarutobi gave her. If she fails to heed the return order, you are permitted to use force. Do you understand me?"

Naruto and Naruko both nodded in understanding. "Of course, Hokage-sama! We'll get the job done, just you wait and see. When do we set out in search of her?"

Kushina simply smirked and said, "As soon as you and your new team are ready. When you are, I'll have Jiraiya meet you at the gate. And, just in case, I give you full permission to nail him in the balls if he decides to give into his 'habits'. I will NOT tolerate Jiraiya's peeping habits any longer. If need be, I'll revoke his rights as well. I do not care if he's your godfather, nor do I care that he's a Sannin. He can either shape up or he can get lost. I have no use for a shinobi under my authority that would abuse his position so he can get 'inspiration' for his books."

Naruko grinned wickedly and said, "'Bout damn time someone put him in his place! The Third let him get away with far too much. Do we have permission to cut off his manhood if he doesn't obey?"

The violet-eyed woman grinned sadistically and said, "Of course you do. If it'll make the man focus and give up his perverse habits, then do whatever you'd like to him."

Naruko's grin widened and she said, "Goodie. That sounds wonderful to me. If Jiraiya knows what's good for him, he'll behave. Otherwise, I might have to go snippy-snippy and chop a certain friend of his off."

Naruto chuckled nervously and said, "As a guy, I'm honestly not sure how to feel about that. But seeing as this is Jiraiya we're talking about here…I'd say he deserves it. Now we should probably go and get our teammates. Take care Mom."

Kushina watched her children leave her office. Afterwards, she turned towards the window and said, "I expect you to behave, Jiraiya. This is the only warning I'll give you. You will no longer get away with your perverse habits and desires. You can either take this mission seriously and keep your manhood intact, or you can goof off and lose what makes you a man. Do you understand me?"

Jiraiya peered into the office and nodded once in understanding. "Message read loud and clear. I'll behave, Hokage-sama." he said before he left, not wanting to deal with a pissed off Kushina.

Once he was gone, the redhead sighed and shook her head. You're going to lose your manhood on this mission. I'm sure of it.

Naruto

Naruto and Naruko were all smiles as they entered Yamanaka Flowers. Looking at Ino, Naruto walked up to her, hugged her close, and kissed her passionately on the lips. When they parted, the blonde was blushing deeply. "What was that for, Naruto-kun?"

The spiky-haired teen shrugged and said, "I just felt like doing that. Besides, I think I'm allowed to kiss my beautiful girlfriend, am I not?"

Ino blushed, but before she could say anything, Naruko spoke up. "Ino, you need to get ready for a mission. You, me, Kurotsuchi, and Naruto-kun are on a new team together. Naruto-kun's our leader. Make sure you pack for a month or two. We'll be leaving the village in search of Tsunade."

Eyes widening, Ino cheered excitedly before hugging her boyfriend tight and kissing him deeply. When they parted again, she giggled happily before she rushed off to get ready. When she was gone, Naruto blinked a couple of times before looking at Naruko. "She sure seems happy."

Naruko giggled and said, "Indeed. I wonder which piece of news excited her more. The fact that she gets to be on a team with you finally, or the fact that we're going to bring Tsunade back to the village?"

"Can't it be both?" Naruto questioned with a shrug.

Naruko hummed in thought for a moment before shrugging. "I don't see why not. Both is almost always a good answer." she said with a grin.

A moment later, Ino rushed back up to them and said, "I'm ready to go! Let's go go go!"

Chuckling softly, Naruto nodded and the three of them left the store. Flipping the sign to closed, they went to their next destination to pick up Kurotsuchi. She was just as giddy about being on a team with Naruto and her future sister wives. It was also rather obvious that she was excited about finding Tsunade.

Now here they were at the gate, looking at Jiraiya. Naruto frowned as he looked at the taller male. "Jiraiya…I'm going to ask you this one question. Please answer me honestly. Did you spy on us yesterday when we were on our father's head at the Hokage mountain?"

Jiraiya began to sweat nervously before quickly shaking his head. "I didn't see anything! You three were being loud enough that pretty much the whole village could hear you. It's not like I watched you, Naruko, and Hinata having sex. Nope. Not at all."

Naruko growled and clenched her fists tight. "You definitely watched us, you creep! We never told you who was involved. You'd better not even THINK about using us as 'inspiration' for those smut books of yours! You're damn lucky I don't neuter you right here and now!"

The white-haired man practically wilted under the intense killing intent the four members of Team Naruto were hitting him with. Turning away from them, he said, "L-Let's just go. We'll head to Shukuba Town first. I've got a contact there that might be able to help us locate Tsunade. And if not, I think I know where she might be heading. We'll just have to see when we get there."

When Jiraiya began to run off, Naruto and his girlfriends smiled sweetly before they gave chase, fully prepared to make him pay for spying on Naruto's private moment with his girls.

Shukuba Town

Later that afternoon, Naruto and his girls were scowling angrily as they sat in their room at one of Shukuba's hotels. Almost as soon as they arrived and were preparing to check into a few rooms, Jiraiya was approached by a rather alluring woman who actually started flirting with him. This, in itself, was strange and set off warning bells in their heads. However, Jiraiya, being led by his penis rather than his brain, left with the woman after telling them to get some rooms.

Frowning deeply, Naruto said, "We've got company."

Naruko nodded as she looked towards the door. "I doubt it's the friendly variety. What do you want to do?"

Naruto rose from the bed and held a finger to his lips, shushing his teammates. Creating a Shadow Clone, he sent it to open the door a crack. As soon as it did, he heard the clone mutter, "Shit. Itachi Uchiha. What do you want?"

Hearing this, Naruto and his girls quickly fled the room via the window. There was no way they would try to fight inside of the cramped hallways of the hotel. They knew the clone could only fool Itachi and his partner for so long before they realized that the team had escaped.

Growling to himself, the spiky-haired blonde looked around frantically. "Dammit! Where the hell is the pervert?! When we need some damn help, he's nowhere to be found. Mom's definitely going to hear about this!"

"Naruto Uzumaki, please stop running." Itachi could be heard saying as he approached the group with his rather tall partner.

Naruto turned and stared hard into Itachi's eyes. "Itachi Uchiha. What do you want with me? Do you have any idea how worried Mikoto-chan is about you? Looks to me like you fell in with the wrong crowd."

Itachi frowned and shook his head. "I heard about the…problems you've had with my foolish brother. I had never expected him to lose his mind in such a way. For that, you have my apologies." he said before bowing slightly to the younger man. "Alas, I am not here to speak about my brother, nor my mother. Our leader would very much like to meet with you, Naruto-kun. You see, we'd like to bring about peace to the world, and our leader has a way to do that. Will you come willingly, or do we need to use force?"

The blonde scowled as he looked Itachi in the eyes. "Would this have anything to do with the Kyuubi being sealed in my gut? Because I won't let you assholes take him. Besides that, extracting a person's bijuu will kill that person. But you know that already, don't you?"

Itachi frowned deeper and said, "That does not matter to us, Naruto-kun. I'm giving you this one chance to come with us willingly. Your life is of little importance in the grand scheme of things."

When Naruko and the others went to yell at him, Naruto held up a hand to stop them. Looking at Kisame at this point, he spied the sword strapped to the man's back. "I'll make you a deal. If I can cut him once with my sword, you two leave me alone from now on and you tell your precious leader that he can suck it. I'm off limits, so tough shit. Then again, if you're too afraid that I'll actually cut him, you two can run off right now with your tails between your legs. I don't mind."

Kisame grinned ferally and said, "And if you fail to cut me even once, you come back with us willingly. Itachi, I think the terms of the deal are fair."

Itachi frowned as he looked into Naruto's eyes. Something's not right about this. Naruto is far too calm. And he acts like he only needs one cut. What the hell could he be planning? Without looking at his partner, Itachi said, "Very well. There will be no time limit for this. I want to see what you can do, Naruto-kun."

Naruto grinned wickedly as he drew his Shi no Tacchi blade. Holding it in one hand, he motioned for Kisame to make the first attack. Not one to disappoint, Kisame went on the attack, putting Naruto on the defensive. As he was forced to take step after step backwards, barely able to block each of the blue man's attacks, Naruto grimaced. Shit. He's a lot stronger than I thought he'd be.

Ducking down, Naruto performed a sweep kick, aiming to knock Kisame off his feet. However, rather than fall for it, the fish-like man leapt backwards, putting some distance between himself and his foe. Kisame didn't know what it was exactly, but he felt something was off about Naruto and his blade of choice. He was genuinely beginning to worry that something was going to happen and he didn't like it.

Hating the fact that he was feeling even a slight hint of fear of his opponent, Kisame shook it off and charged. Swinging Samehada at the teen, Kisame's eyes widened as his opponent disappeared in a puff of smoke. Then, he felt it. A blade had cut into his exposed back. Eyes widening, he quickly turned around to glare at the brat. "Goddamn you! I don't care what the deal was, I'm…I'm…oh shit." Kisame said as he slowly fell to his knees, his sword dropping to the ground beside him. "W-What is this? I feel…so cold. This…this can't be right. It was just…a single cut…no…way…"

Naruto and the others watched as Kisame fell to the ground, his life coming to an end. It was at this point that his soul was sucked into his sword. Turning towards Itachi, Naruto said, "And that ends the life of your dear friend, Mr. Fishcakes. Do you want to try your luck too?" Itachi narrowed his eyes at Naruto, but didn't say anything. Instead he turned and fled the scene without a word.

With Itachi gone, Naruto looked at his sister and said, "See if Samehada will accept you, Naruko-chan. It's better than simply leaving it here."

Naruko nodded and stepped up to the blade, slowly reaching down for the handle. When she picked it up, she exerted her pressure on the blade, forcing it into submission. Giving it a few practice swings, she said, "That's a good boy, Samehada. You and I are going to be great friends from now on. Got it?" The sword simply chittered for a bit before allowing Naruko to strap it to her back.

Jiraiya appeared at this point and looked around in a panic. "What the hell happened? Are you all okay?"

Kurotsuchi glared at him and said, "We are, no thanks to you. I think that woman you were with was under a genjutsu of some kind. Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki found us and tried to make Naruto-kun leave with them. Naruto-kun managed to kill Kisame, but Itachi got away."

Jiraiya frowned as he looked down at Kisame's body. "A single cut? And not even a deep one. How did he die exactly?"

Naruto simply held up Shi no Tacchi for a moment before putting it back in its sheathe. "My blade only needs to cut you once and you'll die moments later. It's as simple as that."

The white-haired man shivered in horror at the thought of such a powerful weapon. "I see. Remind me never to get cut by that thing. Sounds dangerous."

Naruto chuckled a bit before he got serious and looked hard into Jiraiya's eyes. "I assume you were gathering information on Tsunade rather than flirting with that woman. What did you find out?"

Jiraiya sighed and rubbed the back of his head for a moment. "We need to get moving to Tanzaku Quarters. There's a big festival that's going to be taking place there soon. There's going to be a LOT of gambling, and considering Tsunade loves to gamble, despite sucking at it, then she's definitely going to be there. We should be able to make it there in a few days. Just…be careful not to insult her. She's got a pretty nasty temper and her punches can level mountains."

Naruko frowned at this and said, "Whether she likes it or not, she's coming with us back to Konoha. And if she says or does something to piss us off, we will be letting her know. She's the one that should be wary of pissing us off."

Jiraiya sighed and said, "Yeah, I see your point. Ah well. I'll give you a choice. We can set out now so we can get there in a couple of days, or we can spend the night here and relax for a little while before setting out again. Which would you prefer?"

Naruto looked at his team, waiting for them to make up their minds. When they nodded as one, he turned to Jiraiya and said, "We're setting out now. We can't risk missing her for any reason. When does this festival start exactly?"

The old man shrugged and said, "At the end of the week. We've got plenty of time to get there and look for her."

The blonde nodded and said, "Then we'd best get moving, just in case."

"All right. I'll talk to the hotel manager and see if we can't get a refund on the rooms. Afterwards, we'll set out." Jiraiya said before he walked off.

Once he was gone, Naruto looked at his girlfriends and asked, "Are you sure you girls are fine sleeping in tents tonight? We could have left in the morning, you know?"

Kurotsuchi shook her head and said, "No. It's best that we get there before she does, if she isn't there already. Besides that, I'd like to meet her and see what she's like in person. I've heard stories, but I don't have any personal experience with her."

Ino nodded once and said, "Same here. According to Daddy, she's notorious for a few things, or rather her vices. Tsunade-sama likes to drink a liiittle too much. Then there's her nickname, 'The Legendary Sucker'. I know, sounds dirty, but she earned that nickname because she sucks so bad at gambling. She loves to gamble though, despite the fact she always loses."

"I see. Then I think I've got the perfect idea to get her to see things our way." Naruto said with a devilish smirk on his face. "This should be fun."

Konohagakure

"What the hell do you mean you can't find him?!" Kushina shouted as she glared into Anko's eyes.

The Snake Mistress felt like cowering before her new Hokage. She was starting to get scared for her life! However, she knew Kushina was expecting an answer, so… "I don't know how else to put it, Hokage-sama. We were watching Rihoshi just like we were told to, but now we can't find him anywhere. It's like he just up and disappeared on us! He's just…gone. No trace of him left in Konoha. Your son and his teammates described Rihoshi as, well…terrifying. There was just something wrong with the boy. We can't find Kabuto Yakushi either. After the Sound Four revealed him to be a traitor working with Orochimaru, we tried to find him, but he's disappeared as well. You don't think…?"

Kushina frowned deeply as she turned to stare out the window at the village. "Kabuto will be dealt with in time. It's likely he's gone home to Otogakure to take over now that Orochimaru is well and truly gone. It's Rihoshi that I'm really worried about. Something about that kid feels…evil. I don't even know if he's human. Naruto-kun and Shino were actually frightened of him, and that's definitely saying something. I can't help but wonder if he's connected to Orochimaru and Kabuto in some way. Or…worse."

Anko frowned and asked, "Worse, ma'am? How so? Working with Orochimaru is certainly bad enough."

The redhead sighed and turned to face Anko again. "Not many people know this, but a masked man with a Sharingan in his right eye ripped the Kyuubi out of me on the night of Naruto-kun's birth. This masked man claimed to be Madara Uchiha, but that's a load of hogwash. Whoever it is, it's an Uchiha powerful enough to control the Kyuubi with his Sharingan. If Rihoshi is with him…"

"That…would NOT be good." Anko said with wide eyes. "Shit. What the hell are we supposed to do now, Hokage-sama?"

Kushina shook her head and said, "I don't know, Anko. I really don't know."

Tanzaku Quarters – Days later

After arriving in the city the day before, Naruto and his team went on the search for Tsunade Senju. So far, they had yet to find her, but they also knew that there was still time. So, on his off time, Naruto paid a visit to each of the casinos, cleaning them out one by one until he was eventually banned from gambling in each of them. Ahhh, the joys of having really fucked up luck.

Now, however, he was inside a restaurant with his team, minus Jiraiya, waiting to be served. While they chatted with one another, they couldn't help but notice when their target walked in with a black-haired woman and a pig. Blinking at the sight of the pig, they weren't quite sure what to think at first. However, they put that thought aside for the time being.

Naruto summoned forth a shadow clone, discreetly of course, and told it to go and find Jiraiya. Meanwhile, Team Naruto kept a close eye on Tsunade, waiting to make their move. After some time had passed and Jiraiya had yet to show, Naruto grumbled irritably to himself. "Damn that pervert. Probably eye-humping some poor woman or something."

Naruko and the other girls sighed and nodded in agreement. "What do you want to do, Naruto-kun?" Ino questioned.

"We're moving in. Naruko, Ino, sit beside the other woman, don't let her move. Kuro-chan, you're with me. We're going to ensure Tsunade can't get away." Naruto commanded before they made their move, sliding into the booth next to their targets.

Tsunade narrowed her eyes on the four Konoha shinobi. It was easy enough to see where they hailed from, courtesy of their headbands. Grumbling irritably, she asked, "What the hell do a bunch of kids want with me? Can't you see we're busy?"

"What a coincidence, so are we." Naruto said with a smirk on his face. "Tsunade Senju, on the order of the Fifth Hokage of Konohagakure, you are hereby ordered to return to the village. Fifth-sama has decided to implement your medic nin training program so that each team will have a trained medic. She would like you to head up the program and train future medic nin. On top of that, there are certain people that could use your aid, as you are the best medic in the world. Will you cooperate, or not?"

Tsunade's eyes widened for a time before she narrowed them and asked, "Fifth Hokage? What happened to Sensei?"

"Hiruzen Sarutobi is fine and in good health. He has simply stepped down and given the position over to Fifth-sama. And, just to ensure you get the message, Fifth-sama has revoked your travel privileges. Should you refuse, we have been given permission to drag you back kicking and screaming if we have to. So please think this through carefully." Naruto explained.

Tsunade's hands balled into fists and she growled out, "She can't do that to me. I have my rights dammit."

Shizune frowned at her master and asked, "Isn't this great though, Tsunade-sama? Whoever the Fifth Hokage is, she is finally giving you the chance to save lives with this program. Won't you at least consider it?"

The busty blonde sighed and unclenched her fists. "You're right, Shizune. I know you are. But…"

"Up up up! No buts. We don't care if you don't like Konoha anymore. We don't care if you're afraid of something. All we care about is dragging you back to Konoha, whether you like it or not." Naruto said, a small smirk playing at his lips.

"It's not so simple for her, Naruto-kun. Tsunade's scared of blood. Until she gets over that fear of hers, training new medics might be a bit difficult." Jiraiya said as he walked up to them and sat down beside Naruko. "Hello Tsunade-hime. It's been a while."

Tsunade scowled at him and said, "Wonderful. Should've figured you'd show up. Next thing you know, Orochimaru will come here begging me for something too."

Jiraiya chuckled and said, "Yeah, funny thing about that is that Orochimaru's kinda very dead. Very, very dead. He pissed off the Shinigami. And no, that's not a figure of speech. Orochimaru genuinely pissed off the Shinigami. So she killed him."

Tsunade blinked a couple of times and asked, "She? The Shinigami is a female? Holy crap."

Naruto chuckled a bit and said, "Yep. Her name's Yure and she's great. She's one of my best friends."

The busty blonde looked at Naruto for a time before sighing and shaking her head. "It doesn't matter. My point still stands that I can't do anything, so long as I'm afraid of blood."

Naruko frowned and said, "Then we'll just have to help you get over that fear."

"You say that like it's the simplest thing in the world." Tsunade said. "It's not as easy as you might think."

"Sure it is. We're going to put you in a situation where you have no choice but to get over your fear. Otherwise…" Looking at Shizune, Naruko said, "Shizune here might very well die. You don't want that, do you?"

Tsunade's eyes narrowed and she growled out, "Touch Shizune and I'll kill you."

Naruko simply waved her off. "It's either that, or one of us hurts ourselves. But that wouldn't have the same kind of effect as inflicting a severe wound on Shizune-chan here."

"I don't care! I refuse to let another person precious to me die!" Tsunade exclaimed angrily as she stood up, glaring down at the redhead.

Naruko simply smirked as she grabbed Shizune by the arm and disappeared with her using the Body Flicker Technique. Once the two of them were gone, Jiraiya sighed and shook her head. "This can't end well…"

Naruto simply chuckled as Tsunade ran off in search of Naruko. "Well, at least it'll be interesting. Now come on, we should follow them."

The group followed Tsunade outside of the city and approached Naruko and Shizune. Shizune looked to be perfectly fine at the moment, thankfully. When Naruko drew a kunai and prepared to stab the black-haired medic with it, they all suddenly felt a really cold shiver shoot down their spines. Something was very, very wrong, but they weren't sure what it was. Then, a dark hole opened up in the ground some distance from them. Quickly drawing their weapons, just in case of an attack, they weren't prepared for who it was that popped up out of the dark hole. "Rihoshi?" Naruko questioned, staring at her teammate with wide eyes. "What are you doing here?"

Rihoshi simply smirked and pointed at Naruto. "Find. Kill." he said, his words barely being heard by the large group. "Orders. Must kill Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze." And with that, he went on the attack…

A/N - And that's the chapter. A LOT happened in this chapter, as you no doubt read. lol.

Now, like I said at the beginning, I fully expect a loooot of hate for what I did. People that you might have been hoping to be promoted...likely weren't promoted. Only three out of seven Konoha genin were promoted. I bet you weren't expecting that.

Anywho, I think this chapter turned out to be a pretty interesting one. I sincerely hope you enjoyed it. I also hope that this chapter was interesting enough to really bring you back into the story again, after it's been so long since I updated it.

Not sure what else to say. I don't really know what I'll work on next. It could be a new fic, could be an existing one, who the hell knows? lol

EDIT: Okay, since a looooot of people don't seem to understand what happened early in the chapter when Hiruzen doesn't promote Naruko, I figured I'd explain it here.

If Hiruzen could have promoted her based solely on his opinion of her, he would have. He knows she has what it takes to be a Chunin and would have gladly promoted her if it was based solely on his opinion. However, it was discussed at length with all the judges, the other council members, and so on. Together, they decided that she was not ready for a promotion.

Hopefully that clears up some confusion. You have no idea how many times I've had to explain that scene to people.