AN: And I'm back. I know it has been a while and for those reading my other stories even longer. Problem is that even if I have a chapter for most of my works started, I can't get into the of writing more then a few words for any of them and worst of all this is usually for days at a time. The only thing I can do is promise everyone that I haven't given up on any of my fanfics and updates are coming… eventually. Right now, I am focusing on getting Crimson Knightmare updated while working on the others along the way.

Okay I've put this off long enough, seriously I had this done for a couple of weeks and have just been to lazy to post, so lets get on with it.

Disclaimer I do NOT own Naruto or Darling in the Franxx

Chapter 2

"Talking"
'Thinking'
(Author's Notes)

Returning to her office Tsunade grabbed a bottle of saki out from her desk and poured a cup for herself and Jiraiya. "Alright," Tsunade began, sitting down in her chair. "Start talking Jiraiya." The woman commanded. Jiraiya completely ignored the cup that Tsunade set out for him and instead reached out for the bottle that she had left on her desk and took a large swig, Tsunade's eyebrow twitching as she saw him do this, before he set it back down with a heavy thud. Letting out a heavy sigh Jiraiya made his way toward the window that overlooked the village, slumping against the wall. "Well." Tsunade pressed after a minute of silence.

Jiraiya turned his gaze from the village to look at Tsunade. "What you need to know is that, that girl is a parasite." Jiraiya told her.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow at the comment. "I know that the girl seems a little clingy—" Jiraiya snorted drawing another twitch of the eyebrow from Tsunade "—when around Naruto, but I don't think it's bad enough to call her a parasite." Tsunade replied honestly. Tsunade knew next to nothing about the girl, which was the whole point of this talk, but at least she knew that Zero Two was attached to Naruto. Which made Tsunade all the more interested in finding out all she could about the pink haired girl with horns.

"I mean she is a literal parasite." Jiraiya reiterated plainly. "Zero Two takes the chakra of others and use it to supplement her own."

"Ok," Tsunade got out slowly. "That's noteworthy, but she is hardly the first person with that kind of ability in the Elemental Nations." The busty Hokage pointed out; Konoha's own Aburame clan being a prime example. "How does her jutsu work?"

"That's as simple as it is complicated." Jiraiya muttered out with a sigh and thoughtful frown, considering how to best word it. "First off, it's not a jutsu - as far as I can tell at least - rather a natural ability that she possesses, that is always active, and that allows her to absorb chakra from everything around her. The amount that she naturally siphons from a person is negligible to the point even an academy student wouldn't be bothered by it."

Tsunade nodded her head in acknowledgement. If what Jiraiya was saying was true then neither she, Kakashi, or Sakura had noticed the drain during at any point earlier today. She didn't count Naruto because he would likely already be aware of what Zero Two could do and he would hardly notice a drain on his massive reserves that hardly affected an academy student. "Is that it?" Tsunade questioned hardly seeing what was so complicated.

Jiraiya snorted in amusement. "No that's just a passive ability that's most likely a byproduct of her power," The man stated before continuing. "Her real ability requires two things; one is physical contact and second is for her to ingest the blood of the person whose chakra she is consuming, initially anyway. After the first time she only needs physical contact to drain their chakra." Jiraiya explained.

Tsunade's brows furrowed in thought as she was getting a better understanding as to why Jiraiya called the girl a parasite, though the fact that she drank the blood of someone made her think the girl was more like the vampires of myth. "To what ends?" The blonde questioned. If Zero Two needed to have physical contact and to drink a person's blood then that would leave her, and who ever she was feeding/draining on, open to attack. Not to mention that if she drained a comrade then she would leave that person with little to no chakra. "If she has a natural ability to absorb chakra anyway then actively draining someone's chakra seems like too much of a hassle." Tsunade voiced out.

Jiraiya gave Tsunade a knowing smirk before answering. "Because otherwise Zero Two is only fighting with half of her full strength." Jiraiya explained.

Tsunade's eyes widened in shock. "You mean…?"

"That's right," The Toad Sennin confirmed at the surprise on Tsunade's face. "Even earlier when Zero Two was fighting against Kakashi her full power was sealed away, although she was close to it when she went berserk. Unsealed her power is closer to that of a Jōnin."

"That doesn't make any sense." Tsunade muttered out. "If she is so powerful then why have her power sealed at all? Or just unseal it whenever she is going into battle?" She questioned not seeing the logic in it.

"That's where things get further complicated." Jiraiya groused, drawing a slightly disbelieving look from Tsunade. "First off I'm not so sure that her power is sealed." Jiraiya admitted with a shrug of his shoulders. "At least I didn't find any sort of seal when I examined her."

Tsunade narrowed her eyes at Jiraiya, starring at him suspiciously. "Why does it feel like you were just taking advantage of the opportunity to be pervert." Tsunade accused knowing her teammate very well.

Jiraiya looked mildly offended, knowing fully well and proudly accepting his status as a super pervert, for all of a second before he quit pretending. "I can be professional you know." Jiraiya asserted with a huff. "Besides that, that girl doesn't really care about modesty or who sees her naked. Unless its Naruto, then she does whatever she can to make sure that his eyes are on her." The Sannin commented offhandedly then continued, as Tsunade briefly and silently worried about the corrupting influence that apparently surrounded Naruto. "Secondly, about a year and half ago did you hear anything about someone called the Partner Killer?"

Tsunade raised an eyebrow at Jiraiya going off on a complete tangent, but followed along anyway to see where he was going with this, she had an idea anyway. "I think I heard a few whispers of a rumor." Tsunade answered thoughtfully before shaking her head. "Honestly I didn't give it much credence. The rumors were rather vague and didn't seem to concern Konoha at all so I didn't really pay any attention to what few rumors I did hear about. Eventually they all just stopped and I didn't give it a second thought." Tsunade recounted to the best of her ability.

Jiraiya nodded his head as if that is what he expected. Honestly though it' kind of was, he was after all Konoha's spy master and managed its greatest spy network, there was hardly any intel that concerned the village that reached Tsunade's ears that he didn't come from him. "A year and a half ago someone suddenly appeared that would be willing to partner up with mercenaries and rouge ninja to complete missions. Thing is anyone who worked with her only ever lasted three missions before dying." Jiraiya told her.

"'Her'," Tsunade repeated. "So, the person you are talking about is Zero Two." She assumed.

"Yeah," Jiraiya validated with another nod not seeing the point of beating around the bush about it. "While Zero Two does drains a person's chakra when she makes physical contact with them that's not all." He stated running a hand through the back of his head. "As a part of his training I would have Naruto take go on missions on his own, nothing too difficult." The white-haired man assured. "Just something to test his skills and made sure he stayed sharp. After Zero Two joined us she would go with him on those missions, insisted on it. Thing was that some of her old partners had friends and well…"

"Those friends wanted revenge." Tsunade finished for the man.

Nodding his head, the Toad Sannin continued his tale. "They waited until they were sure I was gone before ambushing them, and to their credit Naruto and Zero Two more then held their own against them."

"Well obviously the ambush failed and they won." Tsunade pointed out. "So, what's the problem?"

"To make a long story short." The Toad Sannin uttered. "While Naruto and Zero Two might have one their fight it was only after Zero Two unleashed her full power, taking some of Naruto's blood and chakra. Afterwards the brat actually passed out, for a few hours actually; it was only then that Zero Two told me about her abilities."

Tsunade's lips thinned at the information; Jiraiya's words from earlier ringing in her ears. If the girl simply drained a person of their chakra, even if it was a considerable amount, it still shouldn't have been enough to render Naruto of all people unconscious. There had to be more to it than simply draining a person of their chakra.

Unaware of Tsunade's inner thoughts Jiraiya went on. "After that I thought it was a good idea to see just how much chakra Zero Two took for myself."

Tsunade held back what was on the tip if her tongue about Jiraiya's so called good ideas. "Well?" She prodded instead.

Jiraiya shifted a little uncomfortably before answering. "Honestly I thought she was going to kill me." The man confessed. "It only lasted for a second but it felt like she was going to drain me dry. I was at a 100% and it still felt like a fresh out of the academy Gennin could have knocked me on my ass."

"So, what is it?" The Senju wondered. "Something to do with her bloodline?" Tsunade guessed.

"While I may be an expert on women." Jiraiya claimed, as Tsunade suddenly found herself struggling internally on whether she'd rather burst out laughing or smash Jiraiya's face in. "This is more along your forte. The thing is that I think it's more than just a simple bloodline."

That once more peeked Tsunade interest. "What do you mean?" The Hokage inquired.

"I told you that she absorbs chakra from the area around her." Jiraiya reminded her needlessly. "And, well, that pigment around her eyes isn't exactly eyeshadow."

For a second Tsunade's eyebrows furrowed in thought as she considered what Jiraiya was implying before they widened in realization. "Senjutsu." The female Kage murmured.

"Got it in one." Jiraiya verified surely. "I even had Fukasaku confirm it for me just to be sure." The man revealed. "Which might explain the horns on her head." He theorized as an afterthought, well aware of the physical changes a person could suffer through from using senjutsu.

Tsunade nodded her head absently. While she herself was incapable of using the technique, she was well versed with it since her grandfather, the First Hokage Hashirama Senju, and Jiraiya were both practitioners of the art and she agreed that it did offer and explanation for Zero Two's appearance. "Even if she can use senjutsu that doesn't explain how she's capable of gathering natural energy while moving around or how she is immune to the dangers of senjutsu." Tsunade pointed out.

Jiraiya winced at that statement. "You got me there." He acknowledged. "Pa was also surprised, but when we asked Zero Two didn't know. She didn't even know what senjutsu was when we asked."

Resting her hands on her folded hands Tsunade let out a light sigh. "I should have figured that anyone involved with the two of you would end up causing me trouble." The blonde muttered.

"Hey!" Jiraiya protested loudly.

Tsunade waved off Jiraiya's indignation. "Alright, is there anything else?"

"Well…" Jiraiya started drawing a groan from the blonde woman.

…Thud…

…Thud…

…Thud…

Naruto let out a groan as the pounding coming from his front door roused him from his sleep. The blonde tried to ignore the noise and just snuggle closer to the warm body that was pressed up against his own. Unfortunately, the racket didn't just manage to wake him up.

Looking down Naruto spotted a head of pink hair stirring, their naked breasts pressing against his chest, arms wrapped around him while their legs entwined his, letting out a cute whine even as they tried to snuggle deeper into his chest. "Daaaarling~ It's too early." Zero Two protested. "Make them go away." She pleaded as she looked up at him with her best puppy dog eyes. Resistance was futile.

"Someone will have to let go so that I can get up." Naruto pointed out.

Zero Two stared at Naruto silently with a frown on her face as she seriously considered her options. "Maybe they'll go away." She said hopefully after a minute, laying her head back on Naruto's chest, unwilling to move from her position just yet. Smiling beautifully Zero Two listened to the beat of Naruto's heart; the sound almost enough to lull her back to sleep. Unfortunately, and despite Zero Two's hopes, the person at her Darling's front door didn't seem to have any attention of leaving.

Thud…thud…thud

"Naruto!" Sakura's voice shouted through the door. "Wake up already!" The other pinkette demanded loudly. "Tsunade-shisho sent me to get you!" She informed him as the knocking on the door grew louder and more insistent.

Naruto sighed turning his attention away from the direction that Sakura's voice was coming from back to Zero Two. "If I don't answer Sakura's just going to break the door down." The blonde shinobi pointed out.

Zero Two let out a huff. "Fine," She grumbled, rolling off of Naruto. While she was upset at being disturbed Zero Two couldn't deny that she would likely do the same thing if she was the one standing on the other side of the door. Still didn't mean that she had to like it.

Rising out of bed Naruto soon enough opened the door of his apartment for Sakura. "Morning, Sakura." Naruto greeted his teammate cheerfully enough.

While she had been annoyed at Naruto for taking so long to answer his door Sakura was able to set it aside once he did. Having her friend home after years of him being gone helping to better her mood. "Well it's about time." Sakura muttered though with a smile on her face, drawing a sheepish smile from Naruto in return. "Come on Tsunade-shisho wants to meet you and Zero Two at the hospital." She told him.

"What for?" Zero Two questioned, the sound of her voice causing Sakura to look over Naruto's shoulder to find the girl leaning against the wall outside of the blonde's bedroom wearing a white t-shirt with her arms crossed under her breasts. A shirt that had to belong to Naruto from how big it fit the oni.

Sakura blinked a couple of times in bewilderment. "What are you doing here?" Sakura asked, "Why are you naked!?"

Zero Two arched an eyebrow. "I live here?" She voiced slowly as if should have been obvious before proceeding to answer Sakura's second question. "And I'm not naked I have a shirt on." Zero Two stated emphasizing her point by pulling on the shirt little, her breasts becoming a little more pronounced as a result; which Sakura noticed and she was sure that Naruto had noticed as well.

Considering the two nubs that were clearly visible though Sakura was more than sure that Zero Two wasn't wearing a bra underneath. Sakura would have questioned Zero Two whether or not she had panties on, but was worried to what lengths the girl would go to prove her either right or wrong. Instead she decided to focus on the other piece of information that she just learned about. "You're living here?" She pondered dubiously before turning to Naruto. "She's living here." Sakura repeated pointing towards Zero Two.

"Well yeah," Naruto answered, rubbing the back of his head. "Zero Two is new to Konoha, so she doesn't have her own place, and we've shared a tent and rooms all the time on my training trip." He claimed. After the first couple of nights where Zero Two would sneak out of her room or tent and into Naruto's they stopped bothering with getting an extra room or setting up an extra tent. Jiraiya didn't exactly discourage Zero Two's actions, if anything he encouraged it, and instead just started giggling perversely once he found out what she was doing.

Sakura facepalmed as she let out a heavy sigh. She really wanted to admonish the pair for living together without any sort of supervision; she couldn't even begin to imagine what the pair got up to behind closed doors, and it left Sakura blushing a deep shade of red. At any other point Sakura might have actually done it, but she restrained herself because while she had known Naruto for a while, she didn't know Zero Two at all. Not to say Sakura hadn't already formed some opinions of the other pink haired girl, just that if she had learned anything from her time around Naruto it was that she should not form opinions of people so quickly. Besides that, Tsunade was currently waiting for them so Sakura really couldn't waste time chastising the pair right then and there. "Well come on. We shouldn't keep Lady Tsunade waiting." Sakura said turning away from the two, with her eyes closed, and walked back out the door.

Blinking a couple of times Zero Two stared after "You never said why the old lady wanted to see us." Zero Two pointed out, not to mention that she and Naruto still needed to get dressed.

"Stop squirming." Tsunade instructed, as she did her best to keep Zero Two from fidgeting.

Zero Two looked away from the blonde woman with a pout, as she re-buttoned her top. Dressed in her red uniform styled clothing Zero Two sat on the edge of a bed within the hospital with Tsunade sitting in front of her. From the moment that Naruto and she had arrived Tsunade had separated her from her Darling for the sake of performing some exams, and Zero Two had been feeling uneasy since then. Part of the reason she knew was because she was in a hospital to begin with, but mostly it was because she was separated from her Darling in such a place. If he was just beside her Zero Two was sure that she'd be fine. "Is this really necessary?" Zero Two questioned.

Tsunade hummed uncommittedly for a second before answering. "If you are going to be a kunoichi then you need to be given a physical before being cleared for duty." The Hokage told her seriously. "This is standard procedure. Sakura is giving Naruto one now that he will officially back on active duty." Tsunade continued.

Zero Two twitched at that tidbit of information, flames bursting into existence all around her, her face shadowed over as her eyes flashed a burning red. Only a few seconds ago she had been in her underwear. If Sakura was giving her Darling a physical that meant…

Zero Two's Imagination

"Aright, Naruto." Sakura purred, running her hand sensually over Naruto's bare chest. "I need you to get rid of your boxers so we can… continue the 'exam.'" The medic said, a finger trailing slowly around the top edge of his boxers.

"Sakura," Naruto started uneasily, trying to back away from the girl to put some space between each other, only for Sakura to follow him until he eventually hit bed's edge and fell back on it with Sakura then landing on top of him. "Don't. I won't betray Zero Two." The shinobi declared defiantly with fire in his eyes.

Sakura gave Naruto a sultry smile in return. "She never has to know." She finished in a whisper sliding her hand beneath the band of Naruto's boxers as she closed in on her prize.

End of Zero Two's Imagination

'That BITCH!' Zero Two roared in her mind, shooting up from the bed and started stomping her way for the door with the intent of hunting down the other pink haired girl and tearing her apart for daring to touch her Darling.

At least that's what she would have done if she hadn't been stopped.

"Where do you think you're going?" Tsunade questioned, her hand having snapped up to grab a hold of Zero Two's arm. "We're not done with your physical yet."

"But I have to get Darling away from that hussy!" Zero Two declared trying to pull her hand free.

"Hussy?" Tsunade echoed with a raised eyebrow and a small amused smile on her face. While the insult toward her apprentice wasn't appreciated the older woman still found some amusement in Zero Two's sudden stroke of jealousy. But as amusing it might be to watch Zero Two confront Sakura for whatever reason the girl imagined, to which Tsunade was sure Sakura would retaliate to, they were still in a hospital and she was not about to allow Zero Two to cause a ruckus and disturb all the other patients. "Calm down." Tsunade ordered, tugging on the girl's arm and forcing her to sit back down on the bed. "I don't know what's going through your head, but Sakura is a medical professional there is no way that anything that's going through your head is actually happening."

"It better not." Zero Two muttered darkly.

"Okay, next I'm going to need to take a sample of your blood." Tsunade listed, grabbing a syringe from a nearby table, not at all missing how Zero Two stiffened at the declaration. "What is it?" She questioned curiously.

"I hate needles." Zero Two murmured turning her head away.

"Well you and Naruto have that in common." The Senju commented, once more taking a hold of Zero Two's arm.

Zero Two didn't offer a reply as she did her best not to tear her hand away from the woman's grasp, yet the feeling of the needle piercing her skin caused Zero Two to react instinctively. With nails as sharp as claws, and with an almost wild look in her eyes, Zero Two thrust her arm at Tsunade with the intention of embedding those claws into the blonde woman's face.

Tsunade didn't bat an eye even with Zero Two's sharp nails only a hair's breadth from her eyes. The moment that Zero Two had moved Tsunade had already snapped her hand up taking a firm hold of the younger girl's wrist stopping her.

For the next couple of seconds Zero Two tried to force her hand forward, yet being securely held in place due to Tsunade's superior strength, before she finally came back to her senses. Relaxing her arm Tsunade let go allowing Zero Two to retract it as she looked away remorsefully, holding her arm close to her.

"What was that?" Tsunade inquired.

"I hate needles." Zero Two reiterated without making eye contact.'

Tsunade stared at the girl in contemplative silence before letting out a sigh. "Unfortunately, this is required so you'll just have to bear with it." The Hokage told her simply; healing the puncture wound that Zero Two had on her arm from the needle being carelessly and forcibly removed when the oni attacked her, before retrieving another syringe.

Zero Two winced but held her recently healed arm out to Tsunade, even as the other clenched the sheets of the bed tightly within her hand.

A few minutes later Tsunade watched through one of the hospitals many windows as Sakura, Naruto, and Zero Two walked away, the oni making sure to stay between the two old teammates. Once the physicals for Naruto and Zero Two had been finished Tsunade had dismissed the trio. Seeing the playful smile on Zero Two's face as she looked at Naruto, Tsunade couldn't help but note the contrast between now and before. The instinctive way that Zero Two reacted to the needle, the look in her eyes, all told Tsunade that whatever past experience Zero Two had with hospitals – or the like – must have been traumatic for the pink haired girl. Jiraiya hadn't mentioned anything of the sort when they had talked last night, but the Toad Sannin had admitted to not knowing anything about the girl's past; a subject that Zero Two remained rather tight lipped about. Tsunade understood that everyone was entitled to their secrets, especially about their pasts, that didn't mean it was any less concerning.

Tsunade looked down at the two phials of Zero Two's blood that she had drawn from the girl. After talking with Jiraiya yesterday Tsunade decided that this would be good way to learn more about the girl. Which was why she decided to give Zero Two's physical exam herself.

'I better start running some tests.' Tsunade decided turning away from the window.

"Now what should we do?" Naruto asked aloud to his two companions, walking with his hands behind his head.

"It's a little early, but you know what we should do." Sakura started, an excited smile on her face, causing Zero Two and Naruto to look at her curiously. "We should round up the others and all have lunch together." She suggested. "I think Lee and his team are out on a mission right now, but everybody else should be in the village."

Naruto grinned brightly at the idea. "Yeah, that sounds great." He agreed before turning his attention to Zero Two. "What do you think Zero Two?" He asked her.

"That's fine." Zero Two answered rather aloofly. If she was being honest Zero Two wasn't all that interested in meeting her Darling's friends, but if it was something that he wanted to do then she wouldn't oppose him.

"Alright," Sakura continued. "I'll go start looking for the others and letting them know. We can meet up at Yakiniku Q later, okay?" Sakura inquired as she made her way to split up from the two.

"Well I'd prefer ramen." Naruto mumbled." But sure." He settled.

Sakura rolled her eyes at Naruto's comment. "See you later." Sakura said leaving the pair on their own.

With their plans for lunch set Naruto decided to show Zero Two around Konoha before they met with the others.

"So, what's up Forehead? Why did you want all of us to eat lunch together all of a sudden?" One Ino Yamanaka asked her best friend as she and the other members of the Rookie 9 sat around a table of Yakiniku Q after Sakura had gathered them all.

"When can we eat!?" Choji Akamichi cried feeling like he was being tortured being so close to food yet not being able to eat any of it.

"It's a surprise, just be a little patient." Sakura told them both.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru muttered under his breath. It didn't take him long to figure out why Sakura wanted them all to eat together, being rather insistent. It wasn't uncommon for them all to go out once in a while, but it was usually Ino who insisted on these group gatherings.

Glancing to the other side of the table Shikamaru saw the members of Team Kurenai; Kiba Inuzuka and Akamaru, with the Nin-ken transformed into Kiba so that the large dog could enter the establishment, Hinata Hyuuga, and Shino Aburame. Of the remaining team Shikamaru figured that only Shino could possibly guess why they were there. Though it was unlikely that the ever-silent Shino would reveal it.

"What is?" A female voice asked from the seat next to him.

"Hm?" Shikamaru hummed as he looked at the person who asked him.

Temari no Sabaku was from Sunagakure no Sato and was acting as their ambassador for the upcoming Chunnin Exams. Shikamaru was assigned to be her escort while in the village along with going over all the details that needed discussing for the exam, as troublesome as it was.

"What is so troublesome this time?" Temari clarified with a smirk on her face, having heard what the Nara had said under his breath.

Shikamaru let out a sigh before resting his head in the palm of his hand. "You'll see." He answered vaguely, drawing a raised eyebrow from Temari.

They didn't have to wait long before the last members of their party joined them, Sakura having kept an eye out for them.

"Hey guys." Naruto was the first to greet everyone, drawing looks of surprise from nearly everyone there.

"NARUTO!"

With his ears ringing Naruto gave everyone one of his fox like grins proving beyond a reasonable doubt that it was really him. For the next several minutes Naruto had to field questions from all of his friends who wanted to know how he had been in the nearly 3 years that he had been away and when he had gotten back.

'Naruto-kun,' Hinata thought silently, with a small smile on her face while blushing red as her heart started racing, out of everyone there, besides Shino, the Hyuuga Heiress was the quietest person among the group welcoming Naruto even though she wanted to talk with him more than just about anyone there. Ever since they had been children Hinata had been inspired by the blonde, that admiration turning into a crush before finally turning to love. Her crippling shyness had kept her from getting as close to him as she would have liked, yet despite that they had become friends and – she hoped – someone that Naruto could rely on. While Naruto had been gone Hinata wished and tried to grow in both strength and confidence so that when Naruto finally did return, she could talk with him, fight beside him, and finally really notice her. Unfortunately, now that he was back' everything she had done to grow more confident seemed to go out the window and she returned to that shy stuttering 12-year-old girl who couldn't say one word to her crush.

Despite that Hinata couldn't deny the immense happiness that was swelling within her at seeing Naruto once more.

It was only after Naruto had assuaged all their questions that they finally noticed of the other pink haired girl that was with him. A couple of them couldn't help but stare between Sakura and the new girl noticing the similarities. Those who didn't found themselves staring at Zero Two's horns. What was most prominent for Hinata was how close the girl was standing to Naruto and how at ease the shinobi was with it. Like it was just something he had long since gotten used to.

"Whoa, Sakura you didn't tell me you had a twin!" Ino exclaimed as she circled Zero Two to take in everything about her. "Except that her forehead is actually a normal size." She added as an afterthought.

Sakura growled at her female best friend, eyes turning white in anger. "What was that, Ino-pig?" Sakura questioned threateningly.

"She does look a lot like Sakura." Choji offered up.

"Yeah," Kiba agreed before continuing. "But we've known Sakura since forever so we know that she doesn't have a sister." He commented as his nose twitched a little. "Besides that, her scent isn't anything like Sakura's." The Inuzuka added in.

Ino turned to Kiba with a frown on her face. "What the hell Kiba, what's wrong with you?! You don't go around smelling people, especially a girl that you just met and doesn't know you!" The blonde kunoichi chastised the Inuzuka angrily.

Kiba flinched a little away from the angry blonde. "Alright, alright I'm sorry, jeez." He apologized warily more worried what Ino might do to him then the new girl.

"Don't worry about it kibble." Zero Two waved off his apology.

"The names Kiba." The Inuzuka retorted with a small growl.

"Then maybe you shouldn't eat it." Zero Two continued in a dismissive tone.

Shino looked over at his teammate and stared at him deadpanned, somehow managing to give him the look even with his entire face covered. "Again?" He asked blandly.

Kiba's face flushed darkly with a panicked look. "Akamaru won't eat any of his food unless I do first." The brunette argued heatedly before snapping his head toward Zero Two with wide open eyes. "Wait, how did you…?" He tried to ask.

In response Zero Two tapped her nose with a knowing smile as Kiba's eyes widened in realization. Kiba of course wasn't the only person there who realized what Zero Two was implying.

Zero Two observed her Darling's friends taking them all in as they talked amongst themselves for a moment. They were just as Naruto had described them to her, they were older and their style of clothing had changed, but she was still able to recognize them. Well most of them, she didn't recognize the blonde girl dressed in a black kimono with her hair pulled into four pigtails. But even as focused as Zero Two was in observing all of them she couldn't ignore the feeling of someone staring at her intently. It was hardly a challenge to discover who it was.

Zero Two's cyan eyes meet a pair of steeled lavender.

"Anyway," Sakura spoke up. "This is Zero Two." She introduced her fellow pinkette handling the introductions before an uncomfortable look crossed her face which peeked the others' interest. "She's… the new member of Team 7." Sakura revealed uneasily. Knowing that Zero Two was now a member of Team 7 meant that she was replacing Sasuke on the team which left Sakura feeling perturbed. An irrational part of her mind couldn't help but point out again how much she and Zero Two looked alike and that the other girl was also replacing her, after a fashion.

What Sakura had left unsaid, at least the first part, and yet was understood by everyone there caused them all to stare at Zero Two with far more scrutinizing looks. Despite whatever could be said about Sasuke, about everything that he must have done over the last two and a half years, he was one of them once. For someone to suddenly replace him was no small thing for various reasons.

Zero Two hardly payed any attention to the looks that the others were giving her focused as she still was on the blue one.

Naruto though thought that it would be best if they changed topics, quickly. "Are we going to eat or what?" Naruto asked out loud taking a seat, causing Choji's mind to immediately switch gears and earning a cheer from the Akimichi, his eyes cutting over to Kiba. "Though I guess you're already full huh Kiba?" The blonde shinobi questioned teasingly.

A vein popped on Kiba's forehead. "What was that!" Kiba growled at Naruto.

With Choji hyped upped on food, Ino attempting, as futile as it might be, to curb Choji's exuberance while ordering food, while the others are doing their best to keep Kiba from jumping the table at him, Naruto felt that he had effectively diverted everyone's attention from their previous train of thought. The blonde shinobi gave Kiba a wide fox like grin, further taunting and riling the Inuzuka, as he went to say something more and instead ended up getting the air knocked out of him as something, or rather someone, sat themselves on his lap. Even as bewildered as he was by the sudden turn of events Naruto still instinctively wrapped his arms around the person's waist.

At that point Naruto needn't have bothered distracting everyone earlier since they were all completely focused on the scene before them. If there ever was an example of deafening silence that was it as everyone gawked at the pair with looks of disbelief and bewilderment trying to make sense of what their eyes were clearly telling them. The only exception, besides Sakura who had developed a small resistance after what she saw yesterday and more aware of Naruto's and Zero Two's relationship, was Hinata who if she had been anybody else would have burst into flames fueled by rage. Yet she somehow suddenly managed the stoic façade that her family was known for.

"Finally," Zero Two declared completely ignoring – again – the looks that she was receiving. "I was getting hungry." The pink haired girl continued her eyes were trained on the meat that was being cooked, a hungry look in them as she licked her lips. With her tongue sticking up at the side of her mouth the pink haired girl turned her right hand over to reveal a storage seal on her wrist, which she proceeded to unseal a container of honey from. The safest place possible for her golden ambrosia while keeping it close at all times. "Someone decided to pull us out of bed before we could even have breakfast." She finished glancing over at Sakura with a sly little smile on her face.

Sakura's cheeks tinted pink at the reminder of that morning before she shook it off and let out a slight huff. "Can you please get off of Naruto's lap and take a normal seat?" Sakura pleaded with the other pinkette.

Zero Two tilted her head to the side. "But I always sit here during meals." She said obviously before looking over her shoulder at Naruto. "Right Darling?" She asked him sweetly.

Naruto didn't have to look around to know that all eyes were trained on him, as he could feel their gazes boring into him. As boisterous and willful as he was there were times that Naruto still found himself feeling embarrassed and this qualified as one of those times as he felt his cheeks reddening, even if just a little. "Uh, right." Naruto answered removing one of his hands from around Zero Two's waist in order to scratch the back of his head with a sheepish smile on his face.

Beaming at his reply Zero Two turned her attention to the food that Choji had started to cook; the temptation to dump dollops of honey on it all almost overwhelming. But if the food was going to covered in her honey then Zero Two was going to be the one to eat it. Well she might be willing to share with her Darling, but no one else.

"WHAT?!"

"NO FUCKING WAY!"

Ino and Kiba shouted at the same time getting over their shock.

"There is no way that Naruto of all people got himself a girlfriend before me!" The Inuzuka denied.

Zero Two glanced over at Kiba with a sly smirk on her face. "Jealous?" She asked, leaning back against Naruto placing one of her hands against his cheeks.

A dark blush spread across Kiba's cheeks. "NO!" He refuted feverishly.

It took a while but eventually everyone managed to settle down once more, just in time for the food to get done cooking. Though even with it done hardly anybody was actually eating as most couldn't turn their attention away from Zero Two and Naruto, except Choji and even then, his attention was divided. With some fascination, and a fair amount of disgust, they watched as Zero Two drowned all her food in honey before picking it up with her bare hands to eat it ignoring the utensils that were laid before her that she could have used. As disturbing as it was to watch her eat none of them could tear their eyes away of Zero Two, especially the guys, when she started to lick away the honey that coated her hands. Whether she was doing it on purpose or not it was still one of the most erotic things that they had ever seen.

When Zero Two then looked over her shoulder at Naruto, a seductive look in her eyes, it instantly answered the previously asked question. Acting slowly and deliberately Zero Two made sure that she had her Darling's complete attention as she slowly licked her hand clean only stopping when a single digit was left coated in honey. "Here Darling have some." Zero Two temptingly offered, the finger covered with honey held out to Naruto. "Say 'ah~'."

Naruto gulped unable to avert his eyes from the proffered finger as he automatically, and absentmindedly, opened his mouth to accept. Zero Two wore an ecstatic smile with hooded eyes and a darkening blush as she felt her Darling's tongue swirl around her finger.

Choji and Shikamaru found that they couldn't tear their eyes away, as wide open as they were, as they blushed a bright red. Unfortunately for the male members of Team 10 this resulted in them getting jabbed by their blonde companions forcibly snapping them out of their daze; Shikamaru muttering a troublesome under his breath as he rubbed his side as stared wryly at Temari. Two members of Team 8 were suffering from bouts of jealousy for the exact opposite reasons; one wishing to be in Naruto's place, the other wanting to be in Zero Two's. Shino…

… Well it was impossible to tell what Shino was thinking.

Sakura slamming her hands on the table, causing the others to scramble to make sure none of the rattling dishes ended toppling over or on the ground, glared at the pair in annoyance. "Would you stop that?" She demanded of them. "Your making everyone uncomfortable." Sakura claimed.

Zero Two rolled her eyes as she let out a huff. In all honesty she didn't care how uncomfortable she made the others with her actions, especially when she was enjoying herself so much teasing her Darling. But the whole reason that she was there was because Darling wanted her to get to know his friends, which she figured would be hard if they were all too embarrassed to say anything. "Fine," Zero Two muttered relentingly, moving off her Darling's lap with an obviously displeased look on her face, as she reluctantly took the seat next to him. At least she could take some pleasure from the fact that she could still be right next to him.

Sakura let out a sigh once Zero Two agreed to stop and took her new seat. She had only known the other pink haired girl for two days – and not even that – and already Sakura felt like the other girl was going to be the cause of many future migraines and more than likely the reason she would get several grey hairs years earlier then she should. "Well if you're going to be one of us then you should introduce yourself like we did when we first assigned to our teams." Sakura suggested tiredly.

Zero Two stared at Sakura with a raised eyebrow. "Why do I need to introduce myself when you already told everyone my name?" She questioned the girl.

"Sakura means telling everyone a little about yourself." Naruto supplied, drawing Zero Two's attention. "We all shared what our likes, dislikes, hobbies were and our dreams for the future." The blonde shinobi informed her.

"Oh," Zero Two murmured thoughtfully, nodding her head, before turning to look at the others. "Hm, my likes are sweets, fighting, and my Darling." Zero Two started to list off after a moment of thought before continuing, a frown suddenly marring her beautiful features. "I don't like it when people try to order me around." She said, pausing for a second as her eyes flashed a menacing red for the briefest of seconds that caused the others recoil a bit and question if they had actually seen anything when her eyes returned to normal not even a second later, before continuing. "Or try to get between me and Darling." The threatening tone in her voice made more than one person to shudder.

The pink haired girl calmed considerably once Naruto started petting her head gently. "Zero Two," He chastised lightly.

"What. The. Hell." Kiba muttered out loud. Even Kiba was unsure if his comment was about what he just experienced, not that he was sure that anything actually happened, or if it was because he currently being forced to witness Zero Two nuzzling her cheek against Naruto's, a wide grin on both their faces.

From her seat next to Kiba everyone missed, focused on Naruto and Zero Two as they were, how the Hyuuga Heiress' grip nearly tore off a large chunk off of the table.

After about a minute of cuddling up to Naruto, Zero Two seemed to get her fill as she pulled away and returned her focus back to introducing herself to everyone. "Hobbies," The girl murmured, looking like she was giving it some actual thought before continuing. "I'm pretty good at drawing, so I guess that counts." Zero Two supplied, catching Naruto off guard since even he hadn't known that little tidbit about Zero Two. "Reading picture books,"

'Picture books?' More than one person questioned, not having expected something so childish from the pinkette.

"And spending time with Darling." Zero Two finished. That part no one was surprised by.

"Dreams," Zero Two continued thoughtfully before a mischievous smile appeared on her face as her eyes cut to Naruto. "Well I do have this one dream about Darling being covered in honey." She divulged saucily.

Naruto's face burned a bright cherry red as Zero Two's words registered in his mind and he became painfully aware of how everyone's eyes were once more focused on him. "Z-Zero Two!" He spluttered.

With everyone so focused on Naruto as they were, they missed how Hinata suddenly fainted out of the blue for no apparent reason as blood dribbled down her nose; with the exception of the other members of Team 8. Kiba going into a slight panic as he tried to wake the girl.

"What?" Zero Two asked feigning innocence as she leaned in closer. "You said to share my dreams with everyone, and that is my greatest one." The pink haired oni asserted, still acting like she hadn't said anything wrong as she drew closer to Naruto. "Don't act like you don't dream of me in a giant bowl of ramen, Dar-ling~." Zero Two whispered seductively into his ear before nibbling on it.

Impossibly enough Naruto's blush darkened because as much as he wanted to deny Zero Two's statement he couldn't. More than one night – or a couple times a day – Naruto would fantasize of a naked Zero Two in a bowl of ramen that she could lie across; the broth just barely managing to keep the important bits hidden. Even now Naruto could clearly picture Zero Two giving him a seductive smile as she lifted one of her legs high in the air; a droplet of broth running down the length of her leg, then thigh before rejoining the rest of the soup. Naruto never thought he could hate ramen so much, or at all, as he did at those points of time as the ramen kept a certain part of Zero Two hidden from his gaze.

While none of the others could hear what exactly Zero Two was whispering into Naruto's ear by the dopey grin on his face it wasn't too hard for them to guess the contexts.

Sakura dropped her head in defeat. "I give up." The girl muttered as trying to keep these two from doing anything inappropriate seemed to be a lost cause. Not to mention that it was very clear now that Zero Two only served to encourage Naruto's perverted acts.

"I guess Kakashi-sensei hasn't changed at all in the last few years." Naruto mumbled out loud. Currently he, Sakura, and Zero Two were waiting for the grey haired Jōnin who was of course late to a meeting that he himself had scheduled.

"Not at all." Sakura agreed with a heavy sigh.

"If you know that he's always late to these things why do we have to be on time?!" Zero Two complained, resting her head against Naruto's shoulder from where she stood. Dressed in her mission clothes Zero Two ran her fingers along the metal plate of her new headband that she had tied around her neck. Once more she had been disturbed from her sleep this time because the scarecrow said they had a mission and while she had been initially excited about going out on her first official mission right now Zero Two was more frustrated than anything else. Not only was her morning time with Darling once more interrupted but it seems to have been for nothing since, they had been waiting for the last hour for Kakashi to show up.

After a few more minutes of waiting Kakashi finally made an appearance, showing up in a characteristic burst of smoke with an eye-smile directed at the three.

"Y-!" The greeting that he was going to give was cut off as he had to immediately had to duck down to avoid a kunai that was thrown at him. 'I forgot that she has a tendency to do that.' Kakashi thought to himself glancing over at the pink haired girl with horns to find her arm was still outstretched. With everything that happened yesterday the fact that Zero Two threw kunai at him for arriving late had temporarily slipped his mind. At the very least she stopped at one this time.

"Your late." Zero Two pointed out tersely.

"Sorry," Kakashi apologized. "I got lost on the road of life." Immediately following up his excuse Kakashi had to dodge a few more kunai from Zero Two. "Okay," The Jōnin drawled out slowly, keeping a tentative eye on Zero Two in case she tried attacking him again. "I guess I should get to our mission." The man stated, drawing expectant nods from the three teens. With a sigh Kakashi knew that the next words out of his mouth would be hard to hear, for Naruto especially. "We'll be going to Suna." Kakashi revealed, causing the teens to perk up slightly. "The Akatsuki attacked and have captured the Kazekage."

Naruto's eyes widened in shock. "Gaara."

AN: I originally had a bit more planned before ending this chapter, but I felt like I had gone long enough without updating something. Plus, I couldn't get the transition to appear naturally enough for me to be comfortable with, so I decided to end it here instead.

This chapter didn't have any action in it but the next one should more then make up for that. Though when it will come out is impossible to say.

Until next time please remember to review to let me know what you thought.