A/N - Okay, since I updated Smashville Summoner, I figured I'd update this one next. Sooo...yay! lol. Hopefully you're all happy with this. If not...well, phooey! I wanted to update this one and that's that! *nods*

Anyways, this chapter things get a liiiittle crazy. And by that I mean a LOT crazy. You'll see as you read. And a fair warning to everyone: this chapter has a torture scene in it that made ME cringe and I had to stop writing for a while afterwards because I just...well I couldn't stop shaking for a while after writing it. I have epilepsy and stress-induced seizures and writing that scene was just...well...let's just say it was NOT a pleasant scene. I was in bad shape after writing that scene.

So...as a man, I will warn you now: that torture scene WILL GET TO YOU REALLY BAD IF YOU'RE A MAN! It has been said. Now...try to enjoy the chapter and watch out as you read okay? You'll easily be able to tell when it gets to the torture scene as it clearly says: "Konoha's T&I" when it gets to that scene. I'd LIKE you to read that scene, because it does include some info that's relevant to the story, but if you're afraid of what you might read because of what I've said here, then by all means, skip that scene. It's not important enough to risk if you're squeamish.

Anyways, please enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 2 - Let's Start a Riot

As soon as the duo entered the ramen stand, Ayame zoned in on the fact that they were holding hands immediately and began to smile mischievously at the two of them. Once they took their seats, a little wary of her smile, she turned around and shouted out to her father, who was in the kitchen cooking, "Hey Dad, guess who's here! It's Naruto, and he brought his girlfriend this time, too!"

Before anyone could say anything to the contrary, they heard things clanging and bashing around in the kitchen, as well as a few muttered curses, before Teuchi Ichiraku stepped out of the kitchen and looked at Naruto with a bewildered expression on his face. Looking between him and Sakura for a few moments, the man smiled and walked up to the counter before placing his hands on Naruto's shoulders and looked into his eyes with a proud smile on his face. "You've bagged yourself a cute one Son. Congratulations! I'm happy for you!" he said sincerely happy for the teenager.

Naruto was blushing an atomic level of red by this point and glanced anywhere but at Sakura at this point. Quietly, he muttered out, "S-She's not my girlfriend Pops. She is very pretty, and I like her just fine, but she's interested in somebody else."

Teuchi blinked at this and looked back at Sakura, who was blushing just as bad as Naruto was and couldn't even look at Naruto without blushing just a tad more. Looking at his daughter, he saw her nod her head and he frowned. "Son, we'll be in the back for a moment. We need to discuss something privately real quick." he said before leaving Naruto and Sakura alone as he and his daughter went into the kitchen so they could speak privately.

Once out of sight and hearing range, Teuchi looked his daughter in the eyes seriously. "I wasn't seeing things, was I? She's showing clear signs of a crush on m'boy. But...he says she likes another boy. It's that damned Sasuke kid again, isn't it?" Teuchi figured, a frown on his face.

Ayame sighed and shook her head. "Yeah, she's crushing on Naruto hard Dad. The problem is, how do we make her realize it? I'm willing to bet that you're right about her thinking she's in love with that dumb Sasuke jerk. I bet he's gay. He's got all these girls that want to be with him, and he claims he wants to revive his clan, but he doesn't show interest in any of them? Some of them are pretty cute. I dunno, it'd be pretty hard to resist a cute girl willing to just throw themselves at him if he were straight." she said seriously.

Teuchi sweatdropped and scratched at his cheek from the awkwardness of the situation. "Sweetheart, you just went off on a tangent. You were saying something about making Sakura realize her feelings for Naruto?"

Ayame blinked before the light bulb in her head went off and she pounded her left fist into her open right palm. "Oh, right! Sorry about that, Dad! Anyways, somehow we're going to need to talk to her alone and help her see that she's developing feelings for Naruto-kun. The best thing I can think of to do is have her compare the two and make her see for herself how both of them make her feel. For instance: When you think about them, how does Sasuke make you feel? How does Naruto make you feel? What kind of compliments have they given you? Do they compliment you? Things like that. Make her realize that her feelings for Naruto are genuine while her feelings for Sasuke were just her trying to fit in with the crowd. Make sense?"

Teuchi nodded at this and smiled at his daughter. "That makes perfect sense actually. The question now is: will Naruto accept her feelings or will he think she's only moving on with him because she believes she never stood a chance with Sasuke, so he's the best she can get?"

Ayame frowned at this and looked down for a moment before she sighed and nodded her head. "I guess we're going to have to split up then. You walk Naruto home after they've eaten and paid for their meals. Talk with him about Sakura and help him realize his feelings for her and let him know that if she ever wants to pursue anything with him to give her a chance. Meanwhile, I'll stay here with Sakura and talk with her. It would be easier for me to talk with her anyways, considering we're both women and all." Ayame said.

Teuchi nodded again and looked towards the door of the kitchen. "I suppose that's the best we can do. I just hope this works." he said before they both left to go and see to their customers.

Earlier with Naruto & Sakura

After Teuchi and his daughter left to venture into the back of the ramen stand, Naruto turned to Sakura and sighed. "I'm...sorry about that. They like to tease me sometimes." he said apologetically.

Sakura immediately turned around and looked Naruto in the eyes. "No! No, it's okay Naruto-kun! I wasn't offended by it or anything. It's just...you know. I like Sasuke-kun. I like you Naruto-kun. You're a really great guy and a wonderful friend. But...I want to stay loyal to Sasuke-kun." she explained.

Naruto sighed at this and turned away, staring down at the countertop. "Yeah, I know. I won't say anything bad about him or anything, but I just don't know what it is you see in the guy. I mean...I dunno what I mean." the blonde sighed and shook his head before reaching up and ruffling up his hair furiously. "Don't get me wrong Sakura-chan. I'm not jealous of the guy or anything, I just don't understand what all of you girls see in him. He doesn't give any of you the time of day. The only thing he says is 'hn'. He glares all the time. You're so beautiful Sakura-chan. He'd be so lucky to have you...and he won't even talk to you! I just...I don't get it, y'know?!" he exclaimed furiously.

Sakura blushed at his comment about being beautiful, but something about what he said stuck with her. Quirking a brow at him in amusement, she decided to poke a bit of fun at him. "I thought you said you weren't going to say anything bad about him?"

Naruto sighed and shook his head. "Sorry Sakura-chan, I just...couldn't hold it in, y'know? I needed to get it off my chest. But I'm being serious."

Sakura giggled a bit and nodded her head in understanding. "I know, and I appreciate your honesty Naruto-kun. Thank you for your concern." she said sincerely, bowing her head to him just a bit to show her thanks. "To be honest...I don't know the answer to your question." she admitted shamefully. "Ino kind of got me into the whole 'Sasuke Fan Club' thing and I just...grew to like him on my own from there. There was just something about him that attracted me to him. I'll admit that he's not exactly 'perfect', but then again...no one ever is. Does it hurt when he blows me off like I don't exist? Yes, very much so. Do I understand why I continue to pine after him when he clearly doesn't show any interest in me or any other girl for that matter? No, I do not. It...quite frankly doesn't make any sense. It just is. It's almost like it's an instinct that's been ingrained into me by now and I don't know how to make sense of it."

Sighing to herself, Sakura looked up at the ceiling of the ramen stand and thought seriously about what she was saying for a time before she looked back into Naruto's eyes, a dead serious expression on her face. "I could give you an answer that any of the other fangirls would give Naruto-kun and say that same old bullshit about 'wanting to cure his wounded heart'. Yes, the Uchiha Massacre was tragic and I'm sure he's still hurting from it, but he should have gotten over that by now. In fact, he should have been getting therapy for that, but I doubt he ever did. But that's not important to this discussion."

Frowning, Sakura looked down at her hands that were resting neatly in her lap. "The truth is, most of those fangirls just want him as a prize to show off to say, "Oh lookie here ladies, I bagged the last Uchiha! Look at my prized trophy husband you insignificant peons!" or some such thing. They don't really care about him, only about what he represents." Sighing softly, she looked up into Naruto's eyes again to see him listening attentively to everything she was saying. "In truth, I don't know if Ino is the same way or if she genuinely cares for Sasuke the same way I do."

Frowning again, Sakura shook her head and looked down again, unable to face Naruto right now. "Again Naruto-kun...I don't know why I like Sasuke. I fell into the pack mentality and went for the prized trophy just because he was the best one available. By the time I knew it, I was genuinely interested in him, but I don't know why. It just feels like I'm supposed to be interested in him. Whenever I try to figure out why though, my mind drifts away to another topic. It's like something's preventing me from searching out the answer. But more than that, whenever I do try to figure out why I like Sasuke, the back of my neck starts to itch and even burn a little." she explained.

Naruto, feeling suspicious about this, asked Sakura to turn around for him. Lifting up her hair after she did, he found something that he hoped he wouldn't have found there. A seal. It didn't look like too complex a seal, but he couldn't be too sure. Frowning, he was about to say something before Teuchi and Ayame came back out. "Pops, Ayame-chan, can you two please wait here for us? I've just discovered a seal on Sakura's neck that Gramps is going to want to see." he explained in a serious tone of voice.

Sakura's eyes widened at this and she looked over her shoulder at Naruto. "What? There's a seal on me?! Why?! What's it for? Who the heck put a seal on me?!" she exclaimed in a panic.

Ayame and Teuchi wanted to know as well, as doing such a thing to a beautiful young woman like Sakura was highly immoral. However, they would allow Naruto to handle this. Naruto wrapped his arms around Sakura and held her close. "Relax Sakura-chan. We'll get this taken care of and find out who put this on you somehow, I promise." he said in as calming a voice as he could. When she began to calm down, he smiled and took her hand in his. "Let's go Sakura-chan." he said before helping her up from her stool. Together they both began their walk to the Hokage Tower where they would speak with the Hokage about getting this seal removed.

Hokage's Office - 20 Minutes Later

The duo had taken their time getting to the Hokage's office so that Sakura could calm herself. It wouldn't do to be a panic-stricken mess in front of their esteemed leader. So, now that she was calm, they were sitting in the Hokage's office in two chairs across from his desk, staring at him as seriously as one could.

Sensing the seriousness of the conversation they were about to have, as it wasn't hard to do, Hiruzen Sarutobi activated the silencing seals in the room and nodded to one of his ANBU guards to ensure that they weren't disturbed. "Naruto-kun, what brings you and young Sakura-chan here to me tonight? I heard you passed your Genin exam, the both of you, so I feel congratulations are in order. However, it would seem that this is not what brings you here. So, what is it that troubles you?"

Naruto looked from his 'Gramps' to Sakura and frowned. "Gramps...someone placed a seal on Sakura-chan. It's on the back of her neck. She says it itches and burns whenever she tries to figure out why she likes Sasuke so much. She's admitted that she doesn't even understand why she likes him. She's even admitted that she's tried to figure it out before. But…"

Sakura took over the explanation at this point. "Hokage-sama, every time I try to figure out what's going on or why I like Sasuke-kun as much as I do, my thoughts drift to something else and I feel this strange itching sensation in the back of my neck, as well as this weird burning feeling. As Naruto pointed out earlier tonight, there's really nothing much about Sasuke-kun that's all that attractive about him. Sure he's got looks and that bad boy attitude going for him, but that can only go so far. He doesn't talk to anyone, he's rude, he's arrogant...the list goes on. Ugh."

Sakura clutched at the back of her neck and groaned in pain. "Talking bad about Sasuke-kun seems to make it hurt really bad. I didn't know it would do that. I've never said anything bad about him before! It hurts!"

The Sandaime Hokage quickly rose from his chair and rushed around to Sakura, pulling her out of her chair and turning her around so he could get a close look at the seal on her neck. What he saw disturbed him greatly. It wasn't a complicated seal, just something that looked to have been thrown together quickly, but it was a cruel one. It was pulsing an angry red color and sending electric jolts throughout her nerve endings in the back of her neck, which is what was causing her to feel all that pain.

Just from looking at it, he could tell that it had a few purposes, none of which were good. The first purpose was to instill in its victim a desire for a select individual or thing, in this case: Sasuke Uchiha. The second purpose was to punish the victim should she (or he if the seal was placed on a male) speak ill of said person or thing. The third purpose was to prevent the victim from questioning their unusual desire for said person or thing. Finally, should all else fail, the seal had one final purpose: it would shut down the victim's brain and nervous system and thus kill the victim. All-in-all, it was a horrible seal and it needed to be removed immediately.

Thankfully, this was a shoddy seal created by someone that was obviously not a seal master. It wasn't a layered seal, and it would be easy enough to remove, even for a novice in the art of seals. The likes of Jiraiya, a seal master, would not be needed to deal with this. So, asking Sakura to remain calm, Hiruzen went and grabbed an ink brush and inkwell and began to inscribe a series of complex seal work on and around Sakura's neck.

Once he had finished, the Sandaime patted Sakura gently on the head and smiled at her. "You'll be alright Sakura-chan. Just relax and try to stay calm." he said in a soothing tone of voice. Afterwards, he placed two fingers against her seal and muttered a quick command before watching as his seal went to work removing the shoddy seal work.

Sakura winced in slight pain as the seal was removed from her neck, but when the pain died down, she felt nothing but a soothing feeling of relief wash over her. Afterwards, she turned and hugged the Hokage, thanking him for freeing her from the seal. However, after a moment she released him and began to think about something. "Hokage-sama, who do you think could have put this seal on me? I know it wasn't my mom, she would never do such a thing to me. In fact, just yesterday she was teasing me about holding hands with Naruto-kun and going on a date with him and stuff." Sakura admitted with a blush. "The only other person I can think of...would be my dad. But...why would he do such a thing?"

Hiruzen sighed as he returned to his big, comfy chair behind his desk, putting his items away in their proper place once again. Propping his arms upon the desk and steepling his fingers together so he could rest his chin upon them, he looked seriously into Sakura's eyes. "I can think of a few reasons Kizashi would do such a thing. I'm sorry Sakura-chan, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to send your father to Ibiki for questioning. If he is, indeed, the one responsible for putting this seal on you, Ibiki is the right man to pry that information out of him. I will let you know right away if he's the one to have done such a thing. Because...I'm sad to say, that seal was a nasty piece of work. If I hadn't removed it, the blasted thing could have one day killed you."

Sakura and Naruto went wide-eyed at this piece of information and the pink-haired teenager began to break down, tears streaming down her cheeks. "If...if my father really did put that seal on me...then...oh Kami...why Dad? Why would you do such a thing?" she asked, unable to comprehend why her own father would put such a horrific seal on his own daughter!

Naruto reached over and gently took Sakura's hand in his. Squeezing it gently, he was glad when Sakura squeezed his hand back. This was a way for them to show their support to one another and he was glad that they could be there for one another.

"Sakura-chan...I don't know if your father was the one to put that seal on you, but if he was...I promise you that he won't get away with it. Gramps and the others will make sure he pays for his crimes against you. And if he somehow does get away, I won't let him get anywhere near you. I give you my word, and I never break a promise, just as I told you before. You're safe now Sakura-chan." he assured her with a kind smile on his face.

The pink-haired girl smiled at her friend and hugged him tight, pressing her face into his neck and just enjoying basking in his presence. "Thank you Naruto-kun. For being here for me and for just being you. You're an amazing guy and I want you to know that. Never forget it, okay?"

Naruto chuckled a bit and began to gently comb his fingers through her hair. "I won't. Just so long as you don't forget how beautiful you are and how intelligent a person you are Sakura-chan. You're a great woman and I can't get enough of how amazing you are. Got it?"

Sakura couldn't help but blush profusely as she buried her face further into his neck and giggled a bit. "You're way too sweet Naru-kun. I swear you're going to make me fall for you." she said with a happy smile on her face.

Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled at this romantic little scene before he made a brief shooing motion with his left hand. "Alright you two, that will be enough of that. You two should get on home now. Sakura, one of my ANBU has already left to collect your father and take him to Ibiki, so you won't see him at home for a while. It's safe for you to be at home with your mother. If you feel comfortable doing so, you may inform her of what has happened. Naruto-kun, I hope you have a good night and sleep well." he said.

Thanking their aged leader, the duo left the Hokage's office and made their way out of the tower in its entirety. Once outside, Naruto looked to Sakura and rubbed the back of his head awkwardly for a moment. "Well...I suppose this is goodbye and good night then, huh Sakura-chan? I'd walk you home, but...after everything that's happened, I think it might be a good idea for the two of us to just get to our homes and rest ASAP. Know what I mean?"

The pink-haired girl smiled at him and nodded. "I understand Naruto-kun. But…" here, she surprised Naruto by leaning up and planting a soft kiss on his lips that lasted for a good twenty seconds, effectively taking his and her breath away. When she pulled away, she winked at him and grinned. "There we go. Think of that as a thank you for saving me. And...think of it as a way to show you that maybe...juuust maybe, I want to be a liiiittle something more with you. If you're willing to have a girlfriend like me, of course." she said with a giggle.

Naruto blinked and looked at Sakura stunned. "Y-You're serious?" Seeing her nod once with an even wider grin on her face, Naruto couldn't help but grin wide himself and hug her tight, picking her up and spinning her around in excitement. "Of course I'd be happy to have you as my girlfriend! Why wouldn't I be?!"

Giggling to herself, Sakura waited until he put her back on the ground before she kissed him on the lips again, savoring the taste of his lips this time as their kiss went on for longer. Closing her eyes, she wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss, just enjoying being held in his arms. She felt safe with him and just could not get enough of this happy feeling inside of her whenever she was with him.

Naruto, on the other hand, felt like he was about to burst with joy! He was so giddy about this! This beautiful young woman before him was his first kiss, his girlfriend, his everything and he couldn't be any happier! She was just so amazing and he just did not want to let her go! Oh man, the taste of her lips was amazing! And as he held her close, his hands placed gingerly upon her waist, he couldn't help but love everything about her at this moment in time.

However, all things have to come to an end at some point. So, pulling apart from one another, they both giggled happily and looked away from each other, blushing badly. "W-Wow." they both said. "W-We should probably get going. Before we end up keeping each other for too much longer." Sakura said.

Naruto nodded his head and blushed just a tad more. "Y-Yeah. Wouldn't want your mother to worry too much and come looking for you. That would probably be kind of bad. I'll...I'll miss you though. Take care okay?" he said.

Sakura blushed and hugged him just a bit tighter. "I'll miss you too Naru-kun. Sleep well okay? Bye!" she said before she ran off towards home.

The blonde ninja blushed a bit and giggled to himself as he turned and began walking towards home, never noticing how a certain fellow blonde had spied the whole situation taking place with a mischievous glint in her eye.

The Next Day - Noon

Naruto couldn't help but notice the glares today were even worse than usual as he made his way to Training Ground #10. He had heard them whispering about him, but he was used to that. However, it was what they were whispering about that bothered him. Somebody must have seen Sakura-chan and me together and spread the news. There's no other explanation. He thought to himself as he made his way onto the training ground where his team was waiting for him.

Immediately, he could tell that Sakura had been crying. It appeared that Shikamaru and Asuma had been trying to console her, but it had been a futile effort it seemed. Looking to them for an explanation, he folded his arms across his chest and quirked a brow in anticipation of what they would have to say.

Asuma sighed and shook his head. "I assume you heard those bastards talking about you as you walked through the streets Naruto." he stated more than asked. Receiving a nod in return, the smoker nodded once and closed his eyes. "I thought so. Turns out that someone saw the two of you kissing last night and spread the news. Now practically the whole village believes that the 'demon' has used his 'vile magic' to seduce a young woman into being his love slave. That's the polite terminology, you don't want to hear the worst of the things they've been saying. Suffice it to say, they've approached Sakura and harassed her about being with you and tried to 'convince' her to leave you before it's too late. When she refused…" Asuma nodded towards Sakura in a motion for Naruto to take a closer look.

Naruto frowned at this and took a close look at Sakura, noticing some bruising on her wrists as well as a bruise on her right cheek and some cuts on various parts of her body. Seeing this caused Naruto to grow furious. As his anger spiked, Naruto began to unconsciously draw on the Kyuubi's chakra, though Asuma noticed and quickly placed his hands on Naruto's shoulders. "Naruto, calm yourself! We're going to talk to my father today and see if he can somehow quell the masses and do something about this! He should be able to do something about keeping both you and Sakura safe from these pe...no, they aren't people. They're monsters. Pops should be able to do something damn it. Come on you three, we're heading there right now to talk to him. Then, we'll get to training. I won't have you doing any missions just yet until this problem has been settled." he explained. "If we do take any missions, we'll be taking C-rank missions only that take us out of the village. No D-ranks, because those are chores that will keep us in the village and take us around the civilians that did this to Sakura. So I'm going to train you three into the ground until we're ready for the toughest C-ranks we can do, got it?"

Naruto and Shikamaru both looked at each other before looking back at Asuma and shouting out, "Yes, sensei!" before Naruto wrapped his arms around Sakura and pulled her close against him, allowing her to bury her head against his chest and cling to him. She began to calm down immediately, her tears slowly coming to a stop, and eventually she stopping sobbing and hiccuping altogether. Looking up into her boyfriend's eyes, she saw him smiling at her and she couldn't help but smile slightly as well. "Are you feeling better now Sakura-chan?"

Sakura blushed a bit and nodded slowly. "A little. Thank you Naruto-kun." she said before leaning up to kiss him lightly on the lips. Afterwards, she looked around to see Asuma and Shikamaru smiling kindly at her and she smiled back at them. "Thank you both too, for being here for me. And...for not teasing me about my new relationship with Naru-kun." she said, smiling sweetly at them.

Shikamaru chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "Nah, think nothing of it. It'd be too troublesome anyways to make fun of you two. Besides, so long as you're both happy, I'm happy for you." he said with a smile on his face.

Asuma smiled back and motioned for them to follow him as he began to make his way towards the Hokage Tower. "You're welcome Sakura. I wouldn't tease you about something like that. Besides, the two of you are trying to explore your feelings for one another. They're something new that you both need to experience for yourselves. I say see where this relationship of yours goes and be happy together. So long as you do that, I'm happy for you." he explained as he hopped up onto the roof of a building and motioned for his students to do the same.

Doing as their sensei did, the group began to roof hop their way to the Hokage tower. However, along the way, they couldn't help but overhear a conversation taking place down below that caused them to pause in their tracks and listen in. The people that were talking down below were Ami and her friends from the academy that happened to have failed the true Genin test.

"Yeah, Ino's been going around telling everybody she can about it! It kinda helps that people have been spreading the word around the village too. But seriously, can you believe it?" Ami asked, disbelief clearly evident in her tone.

"Yeah, seriously. Who would have thought Sakura would stoop so low as to settle for that loser? I mean, sure, it's not like Sasuke would go for her and that giant forehead of hers, but to just give up like that isn't like her." one of her friends said.

"Worse still is the fact that the guy she used to beat up all the time is now her boyfriend! Sakura treated him like trash, and now all of the sudden she's kissing the loser?! It's hard to believe she'd be so desperate for attention that she'd lead the poor guy on. I feel kinda sorry for him. You think maybe she's doing this to try and get Sasuke's attention or something?" another girl asked.

"Pft. As if! Sakura's so desperate for any positive attention that she'd genuinely just give in and give herself over, body and everything, to that loser just to make herself feel special. Talk about slutty behavior." Ami said with a laugh. "And she calls Ino the pig."

Asuma put his hands on Naruto's and Sakura's shoulders to keep them from going down there and assaulting Ami and her friends. "I think we've heard enough. It would seem Ino's the one that spread the information around that you two are together now. And it's just spread by word of mouth from there. We should inform my dad about this and see what he wants to do." he said before they resumed their trek to the Hokage tower.

What nobody saw though was that Shikamaru lagged behind for a moment with a devilish grin on his face as he went through the hand seals necessary for his Shadow Imitation Technique. "Insult my friends like that, will you? Not on my watch." he muttered out quietly before unleashing his own brand of justice, which elicited a cacophony of screams from the girls below.

Hokage's Office - Ten minutes later

Hiruzen couldn't help but quirk a brow as he looked at his son and his team. Looking between Naruto and Sakura, he asked in a clearly amused tone of voice, "Back again so soon? I could have sworn we just saw each other not too long ago." he said jokingly.

Sakura pouted at that before she gave him a serious look and pointed at her wrists and then at her face right where her wounds were. "This is serious Hokage-sama. Just as serious as last night was." she said.

Asuma sighed and nodded his head as he looked at his father. "I'm sure you've probably heard all about the rumors by now Pops. Well...some of the villagers were trying to 'save' Sakura from the 'demon'. When she refused to stop seeing Naruto, they did that to her."

The Sandaime Hokage sighed and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "Wonderful." he muttered out sarcastically. "So you're telling me civilians assaulted one of my shinobi?" Receiving nods all around, he shook his head. "Just fantastic. Tell me, do you know who the hell spread the news around that Naruto and Sakura started dating? Wait, when the heck did the two of you even start dating?"

Naruto and Sakura both blushed and looked each other in the eyes before looking back at the Hokage. Naruto decided to be the one to speak up. "Actually...we haven't started dating yet. We just kissed each other last night after leaving your office. Apparently Ino saw us and decided to spread the news around today that she saw us kissing and that we're dating and whatever the hell else she decided to say." he explained.

Hiruzen narrowed his eyes at that and turned his chair around so he could stare out the window at his village. "I see. So young Ino Yamanaka is the one behind all of this, is she? ANBU! Go and retrieve that young woman immediately and have her brought to the Council chambers. She is going to face retribution for what she has done. Asuma, you and your team are to come with me. I'm calling a Council meeting and everyone is to attend, yourself included as the Sarutobi clan head." he said in a commanding tone of voice.

Everyone on Team 10 saluted their aged leader and followed him through the tower to the Council chambers where both the Hokage and Asuma took their assigned seats. It took some time, but eventually the Council chambers filled in with the six civilian Council members, the remaining Clan Heads, and the Elder Council. Strangely enough, there was also a tall, white-haired man with a headband on that had the kanji for Oil on it in the room as well, standing behind the Hokage to his right.

Once the room had been silenced, Hiruzen ordered for one Ino Yamanaka to be brought into the room. When she was, she was in restraints and she was tossed none too gently into the center of the room where she landed on her knees, crying out more from the shock than the pain she was feeling. "What the heck is going on here?!" she demanded to know.

"Silence!" the Hokage demanded, his voice carrying throughout the room. "Ino Yamanaka, you have been brought before us today for the crime of attempting to incite a riot throughout the village. You damn near have started a riot. And all for what? To harm Naruto? To harm Sakura? Both of them?! Was it out of petty jealousy perhaps? Well? What is it?!"

Ino was shivering in fear of the Hokage at this moment and was finding it very hard to talk. As she began to stammer, he yelled at her to answer the question. Feeling tears stinging at her eyes, she shut her eyes and shouted out, "I just thought it would be funny to see both Sakura and Naruto be made fun of for being together! Naruto's a loser, nobody in their right mind would want to be with him! And Sakura's pathetic for wanting to be with him! She's been after Sasuke-kun for so long and she just gives up on him all for that pathetic loser Naruto?! It was just too funny and I had to tell people all about it! Why is that so wrong?!"

Inoichi, hearing this, couldn't help but sigh and lower his head in shame. "Ino...I thought I raised you better than this. How could you have turned out to be such...such a terrible person sweetie?" he questioned her sadly.

Before Ino could say anything to her father, the Hokage spoke up once again. "I see. So that's your answer, is it? You've essentially started a riot in my village for such a stupid reason?" Sighing, he shook his head and looked into her eyes apathetically. "In that case, I hereby strip you of your headband. You are cast out of Konohagakure's shinobi forces Ino Yamanaka. Furthermore, your chakra will be sealed away, allowing you the bare minimum required to function and live. Finally, as a final punishment, you are to live out the rest of your days serving as Miss Sakura Haruno's maid and attending to her every want and need."

When it looked as if Ino was about to protest, Inoichi beat the Hokage to the punch as he shouted out, "Ino, shut the hell up and listen for once! If Hokage-sama so wanted it, he could go with the proper punishment for inciting a riot and have you imprisoned for life in a maximum security prison or even have you executed! He's going easy on you because it isn't a full-blown riot yet! So for once, listen to me and be a good girl! You are getting off easy when you really shouldn't be!"

Hiruzen nodded in thanks to Inoichi and looked down at Ino Yamanaka who was looking down at the ground in absolute shock. This was a light punishment?! It was horrible! She wouldn't get to be with her Sasuke-kun! Some other skank would be with him! It wasn't fair!

Sighing to himself, the Hokage looked down at Ino and decided he just had to ask. "Which part is most unfair to you about this Ino Yamanaka? The fact that you will no longer be a ninja? The fact that you're stuck serving as Sakura's maid? Or the fact that you don't get to be with your precious 'Sasuke-kun'? I'm curious to know."

Ino scowled here and shook her head. "I don't want some other skank to be with him! Sasuke-kun should be mine! He was mine! We passed the test together! This is so unfair! It should be me with him, not some other whore!"

Hiruzen and just about everyone else in the room couldn't help but release a heavy sigh at this. "If that is truly what bothers you most about all of this...then I pity you Ino. I truly, truly do." the Hokage said. "ANBU, take Ino Yamanaka away. Have her chakra sealed and then have her fitted for her new outfits that she'll be wearing while staying with the Haruno family. After all, she is going to be their new maid from now on." he said with his grandfatherly smile directed at his hidden ANBU.

Immediately after he said this, an ANBU member appeared, bowed to the Hokage, and then disappeared with Ino Yamanaka. Turning to Inoichi, the Hokage spoke, "Inoichi...I am sorry. Truly, I am. I do not know for how long, but your daughter was lost to you for some time it would seem. This can't have been easy for you to see."

The Yamanaka clan head sighed again and buried his face into his hands. For a time, he didn't say anything and everyone throughout the room could hear his sobs. They all just let him release his stress and bottled up emotions as he needed without saying a word. When he had finally calmed down, he wiped at his eyes and took in a few deep breaths before nodding at the Hokage once. "Thank you Hokage-sama. For taking it easy on my baby girl. At least this way I can still see her, even if her mind is forever lost to me. I just wish I knew how to bring my little girl back to me. I don't know how to fix her." he said sadly.

The Hokage frowned and looked down at Sakura. "That...actually brings me to our next topic of discussion." he said. "As you all know, like Ino, Sakura here was a Sasuke fangirl as well. However…"

Taking the opening given to her, Sakura stepped forward and parted her hair in the back so they could see her neck where the seal used to be. "For the longest time, I couldn't figure out why I liked him. It was almost like it was programmed into me that I had to like him. Whenever I tried to figure it out, my thoughts would be redirected to something else and I would get a weird itching and burning sensation right here, in the back of my neck. And I found out last night that if I ever said anything bad about Sasuke, it would hurt really bad too."

The Hokage took over at this point. "We are telling you this because Sakura had a seal placed on her that was removed by me last night. Ibiki is currently interviewing a suspect about this seal. Unfortunately, I don't think a seal has been used on your daughter Inoichi. But…"

Shikaku looked down at Naruto and Sakura at this point and sighed. "Troublesome. You're telling us this because Sakura and Naruto had already developed some kind of romantic feelings for one another before the seal was removed, and without the seal in place, they were free to act on them. The rumors we've all been hearing about today regarding the two of them…"

The Hokage sighed and looked down at Naruto and Sakura. "After leaving my office late last night, Naruto and Sakura shared their first kiss. They haven't even been on any dates yet. Ino saw them in the act though and spread the rumor around today that they've started dating and, well, you know the rest. The problem is that, well...show them Sakura."

Sakura sighed and held up her wrists for everyone to see while also showing them the bruise and cuts on her face. Naruto took this moment to explain. "Some civilians tried to tell her to stop seeing the 'demon'. They wanted to 'save' her. When Sakura-chan refused...they did this to her. Civilians attacked a shinobi!"

Hiruzen sighed and shook his head sadly. "There's laws in place to protect civilians, but I never thought we'd have a problem with civilians attacking our shinobi. The problem now comes to this: what do we do about this? We can't let them get away with this. If we do, the civilians might believe that they can get away with anything. No offense to you six, of course. You've been most understanding and respectful since joining the council." he said with a smile directed at the six civilian council members.

The six of them looked at Hiruzen with a smile and shook their heads. One of them even looked down at Sakura and smiled kindly at her. "If it's any consolation, I apologize sincerely for what they did to you Sakura-chan. As recompense, why don't you come by my clothing store later and we can get you a few new outfits? I promise to give you a nice discount." she offered politely. Sakura smiled in kind and nodded happily.

Asuma furrowed his brow and looked down at his student with a frown. "Sakura-chan, do you know who it is that attacked you? Or could you at least pick their faces out of a crowd if you saw them again?" he asked curiously.

Sakura frowned at this and shook her head. "It all happened so fast. I can barely remember what one of them looked like, let alone all four of them. The one I do remember had light blue hair, he was old too, maybe in his 50s? Umm...he had hazel eyes...ugh. I really can't remember too well. All I can really remember is my wrists being grabbed so tightly they hurt while the others attempted to cut my eyes. I got really lucky." she explained.

Everyone in the room frowned at this information and tried to figure out some way to fix this situation. The Hokage turned to his son and sighed. "Asuma-kun, I want you to personally pick up Sakura-chan and Naruto-kun from their homes for training every day. They'll be safest under your protection. Once you deem them ready, I want you to start taking C-rank missions that will take your team out of the village as often as possible until the situation in the village has calmed down. Is this understood?" he commanded.

Asuma smiled at his father and nodded. "I had already planned on doing just that Dad, er, Hokage-sama." he said, quickly having to correct himself, as he was in an official setting right now. "It shouldn't take me too long to get them up to speed. They're a smart, capable group after all." he said with a smirk.

Hiruzen chuckled and nodded his head in agreement. "That they are indeed. Alright, Asuma-kun, take your team and go. I want you to begin training immediately. The rest of you, stay behind and we will discuss ideas on how to deal with this issue we now face."

Asuma nodded and quietly, but quickly left his seat and led his students out of the Council chambers as the rest of the Council got to work discussing ways to not only protect the shinobi from civilian attacks, but also how to stop the damn riot that was threatening to break out now.

Once they had left the Hokage tower, Asuma looked around and sighed at the huge mess that was the village right now. Shaking his head, he looked down at Naruto and Sakura. "I'm really sorry you two have to go through this. All because of that little gossip-monger. Ah well, let's just go. It's time for some training." he said with a grin as he began to roof hop back towards their training ground.

Two Days Later - Konoha's T&I

"So, you're finally ready to talk, hm?" Ibiki said as he sat across from one Kizashi Haruno, a smirk on his face. "Very well. Tell me about that seal on your daughter, you know the one."

The pink-haired man narrowed his eyes at Ibiki, but eventually sighed and nodded his head slowly. Closing his eyes, he began to speak. "You were right in guessing I'm the one that put it on her. Took me forever to make the stupid thing too. How those stupid Uzumaki's made seals look so easy is beyond me." he grumbled.

When Ibiki looked about ready to grind a screw through his hand again, Kizashi got the message and got back on track. "Anyways, as I was saying, yes, I made the seal. I put it on her in the hopes that she'd seduce that stupid Uchiha boy. She's pretty enough, she's also plenty smart, so she was supposed to be a good catch for him. But that damn boy doesn't show any interest in her or anyone else for that matter! Still, the seal was on her and she was supposed to keep trying and trying until she either succeeded or they both died, it didn't matter to me."

Ibiki snarled in disgust at this and jammed a screw into the man's hand anyways, twisting it for good measure. Listening to the pink-haired man scream for a while, Ibiki slowly ripped the small object out and looked Kizashi hard in the eyes. "What about the kill switch in the seal? What made you put such a thing on your own daughter?"

Kizashi quirked a brow before scoffing in disgust. He would have been cradling his hand, but both of his hands were nailed to the table and he couldn't move an inch. "So what? Am I supposed to care about that thing? She was only good for one thing: securing me a better future. Other than that, I had no real use for her. When my wife got pregnant, I wasn't happy. I was pissed. I didn't want children! I never have and I never will! Hell, I barely even wanted to be with Mebuki! I wanted to fuck Kushina's brains out! I wanted to fuck Mikoto's brains out! Hitomi! There were so many other hotties that deserved a good pounding, but I got stuck with Mebuki?! Where's the justice in that?! Ohhh man, Kushina reaaaallly deserved a good, thorough fucking. That tight ass and those melons, oh Kaaaaaami above, I wanted to dive right into that!"

Ibiki felt like vomiting. This thing before him was sick. It was beyond twisted. Standing up, the Tokubetsu Jonin motioned for his assistants to stand Kizashi up and pull his pants down. Once they were down around his ankles, Ibiki took a look at what Kizashi had down there and scoffed. Walking over to his tray of tools, the scarred man picked up an icepick and grinned. "Now this will only hurt for a moment...or several, I'm not too sure." and with that, he grabbed hold of Kizashi's dick with one hand and jammed the icepick straight up the urethra. Needless to say, Kizashi's screams could be heard throughout Konoha and all throughout the country of Hi no Kuni for some time to come.

Five days later

Things had calmed down some, but people were still upset about the 'demon' actually dating someone. They still wanted to 'save' her from his clutches, but she was always with someone and was never on her own, so they couldn't do anything to stop her from seeing her boyfriend. It didn't help matters any that the Hokage had enacted new, stricter laws regarding civilians and their interactions with shinobi. Now, the shinobi could react and fight back if a civilian were to attack them. Claim it was in 'self-defense' or some such bullshit. It wasn't right!

At least, that's how they felt. Sakura was just happy to be spending time with her boyfriend. They couldn't go very many places when they did go on dates together, but they did go on a couple of nice, romantic dates. Sure, a few people had tried to ruin them, and on one occasion, their date was nearly ruined entirely by Kiba being a major jackass, but they had weathered the storm and were genuinely happy together.

Now, Team 10 stood within the Hokage's office awaiting a C-rank mission. Asuma had deemed them ready to go on such missions and they were more than happy to be getting out and away from the stress that was the village lately.

Looking through the pile of paperwork on his desk, the Hokage furrowed his brows and sighed to himself. "I could have sworn it was right here. Now where did I put it?" he questioned himself thoughtfully as he searched for what he was looking for.

Naruto sweatdropped at this and decided to supply helpfully, "Hey Gramps...have you ever thought about just using Shadow Clones to help sort out all this paperwork for you? It might save you a lot of time and effort. Just saying." he said with a shrug.

Hiruzen looked up at Naruto with a goggle-eyed look on his face and blinked a few times in rapid succession. As he realized that what Naruto said had merit in it, he slowly bashed his head into his desk and mumbled out, "I am a fucking idiot."

Releasing a heavy sigh, the aged Sandaime Hokage sat back up and formed the required hand seal for the Shadow Clone Technique and summoned forth four Shadow Clones who quickly got to work sorting out all of the paperwork while he went back to looking for the mission he wanted to give to Team 10.

Finally finding it, he motioned for Asuma to come closer. Handing the file over to him to look over, Hiruzen looked at the other members of Team 10. "This mission is a strange one. A village by the name of Inuvusha about 16 miles to the northeast of here has sent us a request asking for aid in exterminating creatures they've described as 'bizarre monsters'. When asked to describe what they looked like or give us a detailed picture, well, have a look for yourselves." Hiruzen said as Asuma passed around the drawn picture that was in the folder.

On the picture was a creature with multiple eyes, what appeared to be a hard shell covering it with multiple spikes shooting out of it, and it had mandibles as well. Naruto blinked and said, "Hold on a moment, I think I've seen something like that before in my suit's data logs. Gimme a sec." he said before he gripped the medallion on his chest tight and transformed into his Power Suit.

Switching to his Scan Visor, he looked at the picture and watched as all kinds of information on the creature began to flash before him on the inside of his visored helmet. Reading through all of the information, he nodded once and clicked on the side of his helmet, making the green visor recede so that he could look everyone in the eyes. "These 'monsters' as the villagers call them are actually called Zoomers. They aren't that dangerous as they tend to leave people alone most of the time. They're likely just trying to find a food source to feed off of. However, if they've entered their village, they're likely causing problems for the villagers, which means they do need exterminating. So...I say we go and take care of their little pest problem. What do you say Asuma-sensei? Guys?" he said, looking around at everyone.

It was at this point that he noticed the looks his teammates were giving him. The only one not giving him a strange look was the Hokage. "Um...guys? What's wrong?" he asked stupidly, not realizing what was wrong with this situation.

Shikamaru decided to be the one to point out the obvious elephant in the room. "Umm...Naruto? What the hell is that and since when have you been able to morph into this suit of armor?"

Naruto blinked and looked down at himself in realization. "Ohhhh. Okay, now I see what's going on. I forgot I hadn't shown this to you guys yet. Y'see, I kinda sorta...found this medallion in the Scroll of Seals on the night that Mizuki tricked me into stealing it. Turns out that when I put the medallion on and I pour some of my chakra into it, it transforms me into this thing called a Power Suit, which is what you see right now. I can use what's called a Power Beam, which is where I shoot these basic balls of energy at things. I can use what's called a Charge Beam to charge up my shots and increase their power before I fire them off. That's kiiiiinda how I killed Mizuki on accident. Thankfully I've learned how to use my Power Beam without the Charge Beam by now, so...yay for that! I've also got this thing called a Scan Visor that allows me to scan things and get all kinds of information on everything. It's pretty cool!" he explained happily.

Everyone nodded in understanding at this before Asuma decided to ask, "Can it do anything else?"

Naruto frowned at this and went to scratch at the back of his head before he remembered he was in the Power Suit and couldn't do that. Drat! "It's supposed to be able to, but only when I find these things called Power-Up Stations. They're hidden around the world and this suit doesn't exactly tell me where the heck they are, sooo...I'm kinda shit out of luck on that one. I just have to hope and pray we find some of those stations when we're out doing missions. I've looked all over Konoha and haven't found anything that leads me to believe there's one here." he explained before slumping over with a sigh.

Asuma nodded at that before looking to his father. "And you didn't think to tell me in advance about this little tidbit of information because…?" he asked with arms crossed and a stern glare on his face.

Hiruzen chuckled as he lit up his pipe. "Oh, I knew he'd show you in time and I thought the look on your face would be priceless to see. And I was right, it was!" he said, chuckling some more.

Sighing to himself, the bearded Jonin shook his head and motioned for his Genin to follow him. "Let's just go. I want you three to go pack your bags for a week long mission. I doubt this will take that long, but it's always good to be prepared. And Naruto, Sakura, make sure you travel together. You're still not exactly 'safe' just yet." he said before watching the three of them leave as they exited the Hokage tower.

As they walked away, Sakura turned to her boyfriend and slugged him in the arm. When he turned to ask her why, she answered before he could. "That's for not telling me about your Power Suit before. I'm your girlfriend now. You're supposed to tell me these things!" she exclaimed with a pout.

Naruto sweatdropped and wrapped an arm around her now that he had powered down. "I'm sorry Sakura-chan. I didn't mean to, I just kinda...forgot I guess. I didn't use it against Asuma-sensei in the test because I didn't want to accidentally kill him with the Charge Beam since I still hadn't mastered using my Power Beam/Charge Beam yet. Sure I could have probably just used my armored legs and arms to beat the crap out of him, but I didn't think about that at the time. And I just...haven't had to use my Power Suit at any other time we've been together. So it just totally slipped my mind. Can you forgive me?"

Sakura smiled at her boyfriend and leaned up to give him a tender kiss on the lips before she just rested her head on his shoulder as they walked through the village hand in hand. "Of course I forgive you, you dolt. Just don't go keeping things from me like this again, got it? Otherwise, when we're married, I'm making you sleep on the couch." she said, looking up at him and winking.

Naruto blushed furiously at her comment and looked down at her in shock with wide eyes and mouth hanging. Before he could say anything, she captured his lips with hers again in a passionate kiss before she turned around and ran off ahead, forcing him to chase after her lest he lose her in the crowd. Married?! We've barely started dating and she's talking about marriage?! I can't tell if she's teasing me or if she's serious! Either way, I think I like it!

Twenty Minutes Later - Village Gates

Asuma and Shikamaru were waiting patiently at the village gates for their teammates to show up. They knew that it would take them time to get here as they first had to go to Naruto's place, which was farther away, and then to Sakura's to pick up her things. But at the same time, they also knew that the two of them would likely end up getting distracted being all romantic and playful with each other. It had happened before and it was bound to happen now too. In Shikamaru's words, it was 'troublesome'.

When they finally appeared, both blushing profusely, Asuma and Shikamaru couldn't help but raise their brows in confusion. "Okay, what happened this time?" Asuma questioned.

Sakura sighed and hung her head. "Just more of mom's teasing. She said some things that were a little...much this time. I don't want to talk about it." she said somewhat embarrassedly.

Naruto nodded a couple of times in agreement, not wanting to speak of what was said back at Sakura's house. Instead, he simply looked anywhere but at Sakura and said, "Well, now that we're all here, what do you say we get going, huh?"

Asuma chuckled at this and nodded his head. "Sounds like a good idea to me. Alright team, let's head out. Remember, we're heading to Inuvusha Village on an extermination mission. First we'll do some reconnaissance to determine the state of the village and how many of these Zoomers there are and their locations. Afterwards, we'll come up with a plan of attack and wipe them out. Understand? While we're making our way there, I want you to tell us everything you can about them Naruto and how to take them out. Got it?" he commanded as they began their trek to Inuvusha.

Naruto nodded in understanding and, as they dashed off, began to explain everything he could about the Zoomers from the different colors and their variations and breeds/offshoots to their feeding habits and everything else. Little did they know that they'd be meeting someone rather…'unique' in Inuvusha, nor that they'd be encountering far, far more than just the simple Zoomers there as well. They'd find out soon. Oh so very soon...

A/N - Well, that's the chapter! Hopefully you enjoyed it. Like I said up above, there was a rather...gruesome torture scene. I've seen and written worse than that before, but as a man...that was painful to write.

Anyways, a LOT happened in this chapter. I'm sure many of you are wondering what will become of Team 7. Right now they're waiting for a third member to be selected for their team while Kakashi trains his remaining two students. That's the gist of it right there. I plan to have something happen soon that will get Team 7 their third member in the next chapter, so don't worry, they'll be in the Chunin Exams and all that.

There are those of you who probably think Naruto and Sakura are moving too fast. So here's my explanation for that:

Naruto and Sakura are two 16 year-olds that are new to what they are feeling for one another. It's a brand new experience for them and they want to explore these feelings together with one another. They want to see where these feelings will lead and see how a relationship works out. If everything works out for them, then great. But if a relationship just doesn't pan out, then that works too, they'll stay as friends. They'll be able to say that they tried a relationship, but it just didn't feel right to them. These are brand new feelings for them and they want to see if these feelings lead to love and eventually to marriage and something more, a family for the both of them. Right now, it's just two teenagers exploring their feelings for one another in a passionate romance. They don't know if they're in love or not, all they know is that they really, really like each other and they're fine with that.

As for Ino, I'll show how she's coming along as a maid sometime soonish probably. And I might show her coming to terms with everything and maybe, juuuust maybe she'll start getting better, but I don't know. It really kinda depends on how Sasuke withdrawal affects her.

And oh! Can't forget about the civilian council! I actually made them NICE! Bet you weren't expecting THAT when you read this fic, were you? An actual KIND civilian council?! lol. Yep, I figured it was about time I wrote a nice civilian council. lol.

Anywho, I can't think of much else to say. I have no idea what I'm updating next, sooo...I'll just write whatever when I feel up to it. Yay! lol. Stay cool!