Naruto vs Sasuke: The Aftermath

by Kingkakashi

At the Valley of the End, Sasuke nearly kills Naruto and it affects everyone in many ways. See a vastly different direction after this battle to the Naruto story, than what the Canon did. There will be action, surprises, & romance NarxHin KakxKur JirxTsu & many more. Warning be prepared for the most Evil Sadistic Sasuke ever, and Sakura takes a beating in the early chapters. Enjoy!

70. The Night of the Hookers Pt1

Summary: As Naruto, Kakashi, and Jiraiya settle into their new lives back home. Each of them take on new roles, as their time away, life has brought many changes into their lives. One new change has is the shocking revelation Naruto has just discovered of his true heritage to the infamous Sannin Tsunade and Jiraiya. How will he react to this knowledge and what will it mean to the people closest to Naruto?

Naruto vs. Sasuke: The Aftermath

Chapter 70: "The Night of the Hookers Pt.1"

---

It was a joyous and exciting time in the Leaf village, as the marriage of their esteemed Hokage Tsunade Senju to the legendary Sannin Jiraiya was swiftly approaching in only a couple of weeks. The villagers were even more elated, as the only son of their adored Yondaime was also getting married to one of the most beautiful and prestigious kunoichi's of the village in Hinata Hyuga. And finally the impending nuptials of two of the village's elite shinobi Kakashi Hatake and Kurenai Yuuhi had also left the people feeling a sense of delight about all of the marriages. Alas this festive happy mood of people of Konoha was not experienced by everyone within the village. As those who were closest to Naruto, Tsunade, and Jiraiya could sense an underlying tension between the three of them.

To the villagers, everything seemed fine, as all three of them put on a respectable front towards the general public when they were together. However, to those who knew Naruto, Tsunade, and Jiraiya quickly realized something was definitely amiss between them. This was never more prevalent to them than when Tsunade spoke to Naruto, all the young man would say in response was either.

"Yes Hokage-sama or No Hokage-sama."

To those people who didn't know Naruto and Tsunade so well, it just appeared that Naruto had finally matured and was now showing the proper respect to his Hokage by no longer referring to her as baa-chan. And while how Naruto addressed Tsunade nowadays was something she had actually wished for in the past. Now the blonde-haired Hokage would pay a mountain of gold just to hear him call her baa-chan once again. Tsunade did her best to put on a brave face when Naruto spoke to her so formally, but inside it was breaking her heart. Jiraiya could see how badly Tsunade was hurting because of Naruto, which finally prompted his to seek out help from the one person who might actually be able to help…...Hinata.

As Hinata strolled through the park she smiled happily to herself, as the day of her wedding, her dream come true was almost upon her. She stopped at a secluded bench and sat down, while she gazed off at the children playing in the park under the supervision of their parents close by. The Hyuga girls mind drifted off, as she imagined a picture of her own kids playing in the park, while she and Naruto watched over them lovingly. Unfortunately, Hinata's daydream was interrupted when she felt an all too familiar presence nearby. After a moment, she finally called out.

"You can come out now Master-Jiraiya, I know you're there."

"When did you know I was here?" Jiraiya said, as he appeared out of thin air a few feet behind Hinata.

"Naru-kun taught me how to sense you're chakra signature, faint as it is. In case you decided to do any of your research at the Konoha Hot-Springs, while I happened to be there."

"Clever of the little gaki and I have to say I'm impressed Hinata, usually when I reduce my chakra signature in combination with my Toton no Jutsu (Transparency technique), I'm virtually undetectable by most shinobi. You truly are an exceptional kunoichi to be able to sense me as you did."

"Well, I want to be someone who is strong, skilled, worthy, and deserving enough to be the wife of a future Hokage, so I take my training very seriously, but that's not the issue right now. Why are you following me?"

Jiraiya heaved a sigh of resignation, before he finally asked in a defeated tone of voice.

"May I sit?"

Hinata gave a wave of her hand to the empty space next to her on the park bench, to which Jiraiya walked around and sat down next to her. Gazing out into the park at the kids playing happily, he commented in whimsical amusement.

"Oh to be that young and carefree again, no worries or troubles to deal with and the biggest decision one has to make is whether or not you want sprinkles on your ice-cream."

Hinata exhaled a soft sigh, before she spoke once more.

"Master-Jiraiya, you're avoiding answering my question. Why are you following me?"

Jiraiya turned his head towards Hinata and mustering up all the courage he could finally answered.

"I need your help Hinata."

"M-my help." Hinata said in confusion, before adding.

"W-what can I help you with?"

Jiraiya paused a moment, trying to decide how he should approach this moment, before he finally gulped and said.

"I need your help with Naruto."

"I' I don't understand, what kind of help are you asking for?"

"I need you to help convince Naruto to speak to Tsunade and myself or at the very least talk to Tsunade about learning that he is our grandson."

Hinata attempted to process what the Toad-Sage had just asked of her. As she did, the young Hyuga woman began to silently fume in growing anger. After everything this man had put her Naru-kun through. He now had the audacity to ask her to help him fix the broken relationship Jiraiya had with Naruto, when he was the one who broke it in the first place. As Hinata thought about it longer, the angrier she grew, before she finally snapped in furious response.

"How dare you come here and ask me to betray Naru-kun by helping you to fix your relationship with him, which you yourself ruined! Tell me why I should do that and risk damaging my own relationship with him. Especially when Naru-kun has every right to feel the way he does about you!"

"I know he does." Jiraiya softly replied.

"You say you know Master-Jiraiya , but I don't think you do! Naru-kun loved and trusted you, before he even knew you were actually his grandfather. He spent his entire life growing up alone with no family he could call his own. Always wondering if he did have any family left alive in world or even worse if he did have family still alive where were they? Why weren't they around to take care of and love him? Naru-kun's life was a living hell, as the villagers ignored, rejected, or just downright hated him, as he grew up. He needed a loving family more than anything during that time."

"I know." Jiraiya replied once more.

"Stop saying that, you don't know, because if you did know then Naru-kun is right! You and Lady Tsunade couldn't even stand to be in the same village with him and were embarrassed and humiliated in knowing he was your grandson. Or did the two of you just hate the very sight of him like the villagers and that's why you left Naru-kun all alone and when you did come back why you never told him about your true heritage to him. So imagine the pain he felt when he finally learned the truth about you two. And furthermore..."

Hinata paused mid-sentence when she saw a tear roll down Jiraiya's cheek, as the Toad-Sage held his head down low. She could see her words had hurt him deeply and the anger she had been feeling was slowly receding. Hinata didn't regret what she had said, but she also no longer felt like tearing into Sannin anymore. Exhaling a weary sigh, she silently waited for Jiraiya to say something and after a few minutes he did in a choked voice.

"You're correct, I have no right to ask you to help me, I know the mistakes I've made with Naruto, but please understand, I'm not asking for me, I deserve the anger and hatred he now feels, but I'm asking for your help for my Tsunade-hime."

"What do you mean?" Hinata questioned in confusion.

"I mean Lady Tsunade is hurting deeply over what happened and I'm not sure how much longer she can keep it together if something doesn't change between Naruto and herself very soon. She cries herself to sleep at night Hinata. That's how much pain and guilt she feels because of what she did in keeping the truth from him."

It saddened Hinata to hear this about Tsunade, a woman she greatly admired. And during the time that Naruto was away training, Hinata had also developed a close friendship with the blonde Sannin and came to care about woman very much. However, she was not guiltless in hiding the truth about her heritage to Naruto any less than Jiraiya was. To which the Hyuga woman brusquely remarked.

"I'm sorry that Lady Tsunade is hurting, but she is not blameless in hiding her true heritage from Naru-kun anymore than you are."

"No, she's not, and like myself if we could go back in time to prevent us from making that horrible decision to keep the truth from him we would."

"I don't understand, why did the two of you do that?"

Jiraiya exhaled a sorrowful sigh, before he answered.

"I could give you the long version and try to explain why we did that, but I know it would just sound flimsy and hollow. The shorter explanation and closer to the ultimate truth is we both were just plain scared to tell him."

"Scared? That's yours and Lady Tsunade's reasoning for keeping the truth from Naru-kun!"

"Yes scared, and it seems we were right to believe that, he hates us, just as we feared he would upon learning the truth."

"He doesn't hate you or Lady Tsunade, he does feel extremely hurt and angry at the betrayal by the two of you right now. I'm not sure that Naru-kun has the capacity to hate anyone, let alone two people he cares for very deeply. I believe that he will find it in his heart to forgive you both in time, but you can't force it."

"I pray you're right about that Hinata, but for Tsunade-hime's sake, I can't wait any longer for that day to come, because I don't think she can make it. Tsunade might be putting on a brave face, but each day that passes she hurts more and more about what she did. Please Hinata, you're my last hope. If I could make a deal right now with Kami or the devil himself that Naruto would forgive Tsunade, but continue to hate me, I would take it in an instance."

"You want Naru-kun to hate you?"

"No, far from it, but if that's what it takes for him to forgive Tsunade, then I will accept it. Besides, I deserve his hatred more than she does."

"Why do you think that?"

"Because when Naruto's parents Minato and Kushina died I was devastated. And I let my grief and anger of their deaths overwhelm me, when I should have been there for Naruto. Instead of stepping up and taking care of him like I should of, I let Sarutobi-Sensei convince me to resume my spy network and continue to try and track down Orochimaru. To leave Naruto's care and upbringing in his hands, because he assured me that he would take the utmost care of my grandson. Well, since you were there, you know how well that went."

Jiraiya exhaled a sad somber sigh as he thought of Naruto's life growing up, before he continued on.

"But as much as I would like to fully blame Sarutobi-Sensei for the life Naruto had to endure growing up, I can't. I'm just as much to blame as him. If I had only been stronger and not let my sorrow engulf me, I could have been there for him. But, that's not even my greatest sin I committed against Naruto. It wasn't that I left the responsibility of my grandson's upbringing in the care of others, while I went away. No, my most heinous sin is that I never even bothered to check on his well-being, while I was gone. It was just easier to assume that everything was fine and that Sensei was doing a good job and that Naruto was healthy and happy. To learn upon my return that wasn't the case, the guilt of what I did eats at me every day knowing the truth of his life growing up."

Hinata could hear the painful guilt and remorse etched in every word Jiraiya spoke and knew he was being truthful to her. After a couple of minutes of muted silence between the two the young Hyuga girl softly asked.

"I understand now at least a little bit of why you betrayed Naru-kun. I'm not saying it was right or that it should be forgiven, but what you've said does explain your reasons, but what about Lady Tsunade's reasons?"

"As for Tsunade, she didn't even know of Naruto's existence until he and I came looking for her to become the Godaime Hokage after Sarutobi-Sensei's death. However, her reasons were no different than my own. She was as scared about telling him the truth as I was. We should have told him five years ago, but we were cowards, so scared that he was going to hate us. And with every day that passed since then, because of that fear we held, it just became easier for us not to tell him. Oh we always rationalized to ourselves that we were just waiting for the right time to tell Naruto. But by doing that, we doomed ourselves, because the longer we waited, the harder he was going to take it, when he did finally learn the truth." Jiraiya forlornly replied, before taking a deep breath and continuing on.

"So if Naruto truly does hate us, we have no one to blame but ourselves. We should have been stronger, but we both let our grief and anger over Minato's death overcome us. If we hadn't been so selfish to let that happen, one if not both of us could have been there for Naruto growing up. Now, all we can do is pray to Kami that he will find it in his heart to forgive us. If, we're even deserving of his forgiveness."

A heavy uneasy silence gripped the air around the two shinobi, as they sat silently on the bench. Both of them pondering deeply what had been said between the two of them. After a few minutes, Hinata quietly said.

"I'll help you."

"Wh-what did you say?" Jiraiya stammered, wondering if he had heard her correctly.

"I said I will help you, or to be more accurate I will try and help you and Lady Tsunade."

"Th-thank you." Jiraiya gratefully replied.

"Don't thank me yet Master-Jiraiya. I said I will try and help you and Lady Tsunade, but I make no promises. I will talk to Naru-kun, but ultimately the decision will be his and his alone about the two of you. I care about both you and Lady Tsunade a great deal and I know Naru-kun does as well. But I will not hurt or damage my own relationship with him by trying to talk him into or force him to forgive you both. Do you understand?"

"I understand and I wouldn't ask you to compromise your relationship with Naruto just for us. And no matter how it goes with him, I still want to thank you not only for my sake, but Tsunade-hime's as well." Jiraiya answered, as he hugged Hinata appreciatively, before rising to his feet.

Before turning to shunshin away, Jiraiya stated with sincerity and a smile before disappearing.

"By the way Hinata, I know Naruto would say this to you if he was here. But no amount of training you do will make you worthy and deserving enough to be the wife of a future Hokage. Because you are already worthy and deserving of that and of so much more, whether you train yourself or not."

Hinata smiled at the compliment Jiraiya had given her, before her thoughts drifted back to Naruto and hoped he would be coming back from his mission very soon. Sighing to herself, Hinata decided she needed some company and began walking towards the Yamanaka flower shop a short distance away.

---

As Hinata was heading off to see her best friend Ino, little did she know that Naruto, along with Shikamaru and Kiba were only a couple hours away from the village. The three were returning early from the escort mission they had been assigned. As they traveled, Shikamarua suddenly had a realization and brought up an intriguing subject to his blonde-haired friend.

"Hey Naruto, ... As long as you're going to go through with this and marry Hinata. Then the least we can do is make sure you go out in style."

"What do you mean Shikamaru?"

"Two words…Bachelor party."

"Yeah, man….. Let's throw a bachelor party with the three B's!" Kiba exclaimed, liking the idea very much.

"Huh, what's the three B's?" Naruto asked with curiosity.

"Booze, broads, and buds!" Kiba enthusiastically proclaimed.

"Exactly, all the things that make life worth living." Shikamaru chuckled in agreement.

"I don't know guys, Hinata may not like it."

"Dude, are going to be a man or a wimp with Hinata during your marriage?" Kiba challenged Naruto.

"What do you mean by that?" Naruto angrily replied.

Shikamaru sensing the conversation about to take a negative turn spoke up and said.

"He doesn't mean anything. Look Naruto, all a bachelor party is a celebration held for a man by his friends shortly before he enters marriage, to celebrate his "last night of freedom". That doesn't sound so bad does it?"

"No, I guess not." Naruto hesitantly answered with uncertainty laced in his voice.

"Besides, if I know Ino, she's probably going to throw Hinata a bachelorette shower. Which is basically the same thing as a bachelor party. So you're not going to be doing anything that Hinata won't be doing at her party." Shikamaru stated, before he shot a quick glance at Kiba and both young men slightly grinned, as they knew there were "some" differences between the two parties.

Naruto contemplated this for a couple of minutes, before he sighed and said.

"Ok, if Hinata's going to have a bachelorette party, then I guess it's ok if you guys want to throw me a bachelor party."

"Alright, that's being a man!" Kiba shouted in glee, while pumping his fist into the air and throwing his other arm around Naruto's shoulders.

Meanwhile, as Naruto was agreeing to his bachelor party, back in Konoha Hinata entered the Yamanaka flower shop and was surprised to find Kurenai there in a heated debate with Anko and Ino. They all turned to the sound of the bell ringing, as Hinata came in and Ino exclaimed joyfully.

"Hinata, I'm so glad you're here! You can help me and Anko-Sensei convince Kurenai-Sensei to let us throw the two of you a bachelorette party."

"A….a….bach…..bachelorette party." Hinata stammered in confusion.

"Yeah, a bachelorette party, you heard of those haven't you?" Ino questioned.

"N, no I haven't, what exactly is it?"

"A bachelorette party is a party for a woman or in our case women who are about to be married usually attended by their friends who take part in the celebration." Kurenai answered in reply.

"That doesn't sound so bad."

"See Kurenai, she doesn't think it's a bad idea to have a bachelorette party, so why are you so opposed to it?" Anko asked her best friend.

"I'm not opposed to a bachelorette party, I'm opposed to a bachelorette party thrown by the two of you devious vixens."

"Devious vixens, I'm hurt." Anko remarked and she placed her hand over her heart and cast a sad look upon her face."

"Me to." Ino followed and mimicked her sensei's actions.

Hinata couldn't help but giggle at the sight of the two of them, while Kurenai rolled her eyes and said.

"Oh knock it off you two, alright you can throw Hinata and I a bachelorette party, but I have a one condition and it's non-negotiable."

"Name it." Anko replied.

"No strippers!"

"Oh come on Kurenai-Sensei, every bachelorette party has some hot hunky strippers at them!" Ino cried out in distress.

"Not my or Hinata's bachelorette party they won't, unless Hinata disagrees."

"I don't disagree Kurenai-Sensei."

Ino huffed an exasperated sigh, before she openly declared to her best friend.

"You know Naruto is probably going to have strippers at his bachelor party."

Hinata's heart suddenly started to race upon hearing that, before she heard Kurenai declare.

"No he won't, because if they do have a bachelor party, then I'm going to make Kakashi promise not to have any strippers at that party."

Ino was about to argue further, before Anko put a hand on her students shoulder to stop her and said.

"I promise Kurenai, we won't have any strippers attend the party."

Kurenai eyed Anko suspiciously for giving in so easily, before she finally remarked sternly.

"I'm trusting you Anko."

"Cross my heart and hope to die." Anko replied making an X gesture across her chest with her hand.

"Ok Hinata, let's head over to the Academy and pick up Minato-kun, his class will be ending soon."

Hinata nodded her head in agreement, before the two kunoichi's bid farewell to their respective best friends. After they left, Ino still annoyed at the prospect of having no hot hunky strippers at the party openly groused at her teacher.

"I don't understand Anko-Sensei, why did you give up so easily about the strippers?"

"Because I know Kurenai, and no matter how hard we tried, we would have never convinced her to have strippers at their bachelorette party. But that doesn't mean we won't get to see a show performed by the hottest male stripper in the entire world or so the legend says."

"You mean the Subarashii Kitsune (Magnificent Fox)!" Ino exclaimed in disbelief.

"Correct!"

"But, but I thought he was just an urban myth, a legend like you said."

"He exists, it costs me a lot of money, but I've got the proof of it. C'mon, I'll tell you all about it over some dango." Anko stated, as she threw an arm around Ino's shoulders and they began walking towards the Konoha marketplace.

---

An hour later, Minato was happily enjoying a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a glass of milk, as he regaled his Aunt Hinata and his parents about his day at school. He only stopped when the front door suddenly opened and a booming voice called out.

"Hey Hinata-chan, I'm back!"

"Unca Nawuto!" Minato shouted with glee, as he jumped down from his chair and raced into the foyer of the house and jumped into Naruto's arms for a warm and loving hug. Naruto carried Minato back into the dining room and set him back down into his chair, before Hinata kissed him sweetly and asked.

"Naru-kun, I thought you weren't going to get back from your mission until tonight?"

"Yeah well, we got done early and Kiba and I wanted to get back as soon as possible to see you and Ayame."

"What about Shikamaru, didn't he want to get back to see Temari."

"Umm, not so much, he even volunteered to give our report to the old lady, while Kiba stopped off at Ichiraku's and I came here when we got back."

Both Kakashi and Kurenai chuckled upon hearing this, as it was rumored throughout the village that Shikamaru dealing with a pregnant Temari was proving most troublesome for the young father to be. It was then that Minato accidentally dropped his napkin onto the floor. Hinata saw this, and bent down at the waist in front of Naruto to pick it up, giving Naruto a glorious view of her…..backside. Almost immediately the young man felt a stirring in his nether regions at the sight, before Hinata turned back around and asked.

"Are you hungry?"

"Famished." Naruto answered in a low rumbling voice.

"I'll go fix you something to eat." Hinata stated and turned to walk away before Naruto caught her arm and pulled her back.

Hinata was confused at this action and said.

"I thought you said you were famished."

"I am Hina-chan, but not for food."

Hinata didn't understand what Naruto meant, until she saw the sly salacious smirk that spread across his face, before she squeaked in surprise, when she felt herself suddenly thrown over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and he began marching towards the main staircase that led upstairs. Naruto only stopped his march when Minato called out.

"Unca Nawuto, where are you going?"

"Uhh, your aunt and I are going to do some of that…special taijutsu training." Naruto quickly replied, as Hinata blushed furiously, before he raced up the stairs carrying her.

When Minato, Kurenai and Kakashi heard their bedroom door slam from upstairs. It was Minato who commented with admiration.

"Wow, Unca Nawuto is an awesome ninja! He just gets back from a mission and the first thing he wants to do is train with Awnty Hinata."

Now it was Kurenai's turn to blush upon hearing her son, as Kakashi cleared his throat and said with a chuckle.

"Ahem, that's true son, your uncle and aunt are very uhhh…..dedicated when it comes to that particular type of training."

An hour later, Naruto collapsed on top of Hinata breathing heavily, before rolling off to side and bringing his forearm to rest on his forehead. For her part, Hinata barely had the strength to turn on her side and snuggle into Naruto to rest her head on his heaving well-toned chest. Both of them were exhausted and drenched with sweat, as Naruto gently kissed the top of her head before commenting in a ragged voice.

"Now I could use some food."

Hinata giggled after hearing this and playfully slapped his chest before stating.

"You had your chance earlier, but you chose this instead."

"And I don't regret that choice one bit." Naruto declared, before he leaned down to place a loving kiss onto Hinata's lips.

After the young couple broke their kiss, Hinata sighed contently, as she laid her head onto Naruto's chest once more. While he idly rubbed her belly softly and remarked.

"I can't believe we're going to have a kid."

"Well believe it, because in a little more than seven months, it's going to be a reality." Hinata replied.

"Well at least this kid is going to have a loving family around him and not one that will abandon him."

Hinata could hear the edge in Naruto's voice with his comment and her mind drifted back to her conversation with Jiraiya, before she exhaled a deep breath and said.

"Naru-kun, I know you're hurt and upset about what Lady Tsunade and Master Jiraiya did to you."

"Yeah." Naruto answered with a bit of trepidation in his voice about where this conversation was going.

"And I'm not saying you don't have every right to feel that way, but can you answer once question for me?"

"Ok."

"What is it you want from the two of them, now that you know the truth? I only ask this because ever since you found out you've been distant and seemingly unhappy around everyone. You're no longer the same Naruto we all came to know and love and it hurts all of us knowing that you're so sad."

Naruto remained silent for a minute, before he finally responded.

"I suppose I haven't been the same since I found out, but can you blame me. I am saddened about what baa-chan and pervy-sage did to me. And believe me, I want to get past it, but I'm also incredibly angry with them about it to. I just didn't realize though that what I was feeling was affecting those around me and I'm sorry about that my hime."

"You don't have to apologize, we all understand what you're going through, but all of us just miss the old Naruto that's all."

"I'd like to get back to feeling like my old self, but I just don't know how."

"Well, I think the first step to doing that should be to answer my question. What is it you want from Lady Tsunade and Master Jiraiya, now that you know the truth?"

Naruto thought about this for a moment, before he heaved a frustrated sigh and remarked.

"I'm not sure what I want from them my hime. I guess if I have to pick one thing is that I want to know….why?"

"What do you mean by why?"

"I mean why, why did they keep the truth from me? Why weren't they there for me growing up? Why did they allow all the shit that happen to me? I want to know why about everything!"

Hinata remained silent for a minute, before she responded and said.

"If you want to know about all of that and more, then you know what you have to do."

"What's that?"

"You need to talk to them Naru-kun."

Naruto huffed in frustration and stared at the ceiling before he finally said with exasperation.

"I know that, but it's just so hard to do that. Every time, I see them my anger begins to rise within me and I just want to get away from them before I do something I might regret."

"I understand that, but you must put your anger aside if you're ever going to find any resolution."

"So what are you saying, I should just forgive and forget what they did to me and go back to how everything was before I found out the truth!"

"No, I'm not saying anything of the sort. What I am saying is that the only way you're going to learn the truth or to be exact the reasons why Lady Tsunade and Jiraiya made the choices they did concerning you is talk to them and let them explain."

"Then I'm supposed to just forgive them." Naruto spat bitterly.

"Whether you do or don't forgive them is entirely up to you."

"You won't be mad or upset with me if I don't forgive them?"

"Naru-kun, I love you and I will support whatever decision you make. All I'm saying is before you make any decision like that, you owe it to yourself to at least hear them out. At one time, you did consider both of them two of your precious people and the only way you're going to learn the truth is to talk to them. Because of you don't talk with them, the question of why they did what they did is going to eat away at you for the rest of your life."

Naruto remained silent and pondered what Hinata had said, while he stared at the ceiling above. A moment later, Hinata rose from the bed and stretched her arms above her head. She then began to walk across the bedroom towards the bathroom, before she stopped and turned her head and placed her hand over her belly and said.

"I meant what I said in that I will support whatever decision you make. But if after hearing what Lady Tsunade and Jiraiya have to say, you can find it in your heart to forgive them. It would be nice for our child to have grandparents or in this case great grandparents to give and receive love from."

Naruto remained silent, as Hinata closed the bathroom door behind her, before he heaved a heavy sigh, as her words struck a deep chord within him. Staring at the ceiling above him, Naruto could only utter in frustration.

"Damn it, she's right."

---

Meanwhile, as Naruto was carrying Hinata up the stairs at his home, Shikamaru was entering the Hokage's office to deliver his mission report to Tsunade. After taking a minute to brief Tsunade on the latest mission he had completed with Naruto and Kiba. The blonde Hokage leaned back into her chair and remarked in curiosity.

"A rather short and concise report from you Shikamaru. You can offer up no other pertinent details about your mission to me."

"Troublesome, if there were any other pertinent details to give I would have. The escort mission was pretty much as I've already said. We were assigned to provide security and guard a Fire merchants gold shipment from his mines to his bank 25 miles away and along the way, the caravan was attacked by bandits."

"And?" Tsunade questioned.

"And before Kiba and I could even jump into the action, Naruto had already created about 100 shadow clones and overwhelmed and took down all of the bandits before they even knew what was happening, end of story…..umm I mean report."

"And there is nothing else to add?"

"Not really."

"Alright, then answer me this, you were the mission leader, why did you allow Naruto to take over and effectively complete the mission all on his own?"

"What a drag, it's not like I had a choice in that happening Lady Tsunade. He didn't consult me the moment the bandits attacked, he just acted on his own."

"Why didn't you stop him?"

"Why would I stop him, he looked to have everything under control from what I could see. And to be honest, I think he needed to release some pent-up aggression. He's been pretty distant lately for some reason."

Tsunade frowned a bit, as she knew the reason why Naruto was so distant and it saddened her greatly knowing she was the cause in his change of demeanor. Exhaling a weary sigh, she looked back to Shikamaru and said.

"I understand, I am curious though, why aren't Naruto and Kiba here with you to debrief the mission to me?"

"Kiba wanted to see Ayame when we got back to the village and the same for Naruto with Hinata. So I volunteered to come and debrief you on the mission."

"I see, well aren't you as anxious to see Temari?"

Shikamaru shoulders slumped a bit, before he answered in his typical fashion.

"It's troublesome, but I looked upon it as a choice between two evils. Go home immediately and see a pregnant hormonally driven temperamental blonde or go see just a regular temperamental blonde. I chose the latter."

Tsunade scowled a bit before she released a bit of killing intent and said in an icy tone of voice.

"A choice between two evils."

"Shikamaru sweated a bit, before he gulped and nervously answered.

"Perhaps I should have used a better analogy."

"Perhaps you should have, anyway before I send you home to your pregnant hormonally driven temperamental blonde wife. I have a problem that I hope you can solve. Here is the file on the matter, read it and get back to me with a solution as quickly as you can. I'll warn you, I've already had your father take a look at the problem and even he was unable to come up with a viable, realistic solution to it."

Shikamaru's eyebrow cocked in surprise upon hearing this, as he reached forward and took the file from the blonde Hokage and stated.

"If my father was unable to come up with a solution, I highly doubt that I will be able to Lady Tsunade."

"Well give it your best shot, because it was your father who suggested I let you take a crack at it."

"What a drag, but I'll try my best."

"Good, now get home to your wife, that's an order."

"Yes Lady Tsunade." Shikamaru answered with a roll of his eyes, as he left the Hokage's office.

A short time later, the Nara heir entered his home and called out.

"Mari-chan, I'm back from the mission."

"It's about time!" Temari called out from the living room in an aggravated tone, before she added in a pleading desperate voice.

"I'm in the living room and I've been on my feet all day. Please come in here and rub my feet won't you Shika-kun."

Shikamaru's head fell forward in defeat and he slowly trudged his way towards the living room while muttering under his breath.

"Damn, what a drag."

---

As Hinata and Naruto came downstairs to join Kakashi, Kurenai, and Minato for dinner, one could see that the young blonde Jounin was still in deep thought about what he should do about Tsunade and Jiraiya. All save for little Minato who began peppering his uncle with a hundred questions about the latest mission Naruto had been on. After Naruto finished regaling his surrogate nephew over dinner about his mission and what he had done, Minato exclaimed in astonishment.

"You mean you took down over 30 bandits by yourself Unca Nawuto, that's so cool!"

"It is Naruto, but didn't Shikamaru and Kiba help out as well?" Kurenai asked in curiosity.

Naruto started to nervously rub the back of his head and sheepishly answered.

"Well I sort of didn't give them the chance to help out. Once the bandits attacked I immediately jumped into action and took them down before anyone else could react."

"So they didn't help out at all?"

"Umm in capturing them no, but that's not their fault. They did help when we turned the bandits over to the local authorities in the next town."

"I don't understand, Naru-kun, why didn't you let Shikamaru and Kiba help you in defeating the bandits?" Hinata asked in a concerned voice.

"I don't know, I just acted when they attacked. It was wrong of me and I should have let them help, but I just had some aggression I needed to work out and the bandits provided to me the perfect opportunity to do so."

The mood in the room became somber with the adults, as they sat silently and contemplated the reasons why Naruto felt the need to relieve some aggression. After a few moments, Naruto decided he needed to change the subject and piped up to ask Hinata.

"By the way Hina-chan, Shikamaru, Kiba, and the rest of the guys want to throw me a bachelor party. I told them I had to check with you first to see if it was alright?"

"It's funny you mention that Naru-kun, because Ino and Anko-Sensei want to throw me and Kurenai-Sensei a bachelorette party. Is that alright with you?"

"Sure, that's only fair, I mean if I'm going to get to have a party before we get married then so should you."

"Hmmm, so you're going to have a bachelorette party." Kakashi queried to his fiancé.

"Yes, why do you ask?" Kurenai replied suspiciously.

"Well, Genma and even Gai have been asking about a bachelor party for me and since you're having a bachelorette party. I'm assuming it's alright for me to have a bachelor party." Kakashi replied in wily tone of voice.

Kurenai nearly had to bite her tongue before she answered, as she was not pleased in being maneuvered into allowing Kakashi to have a bachelor party. It annoyed her that she had no right to deny him one, considering she was having a bachelorette party herself, as she answered.

"Of course you can have a bachelor party Kashi-kun."

"Hey Kakashi-Sensei, why don't we have our friends get together and they can throw us both our bachelor parties at the same time."

"That sounds like a good idea Naruto, I'll tell Genma to contact Shikamaru tomorrow."

Kakashi then paused a moment before he then tentatively remarked to his student.

"You know, we also ought to include Master-Jiraiya, as he's deserving of a bachelor party as much as we are. Provided that's alright with you?"

Naruto sat silently for a moment, before he finally answered in a subdued tone of voice.

"Yeah, it's alright with me if pervy-sage is able to celebrate with us. You're right, he deserves it as much as we do."

Kakashi, Hinata, and Kurenai all smiled upon hearing this, as it was the first positive gesture Naruto had shown towards Jiraiya since learning the truth about him. They all took it as a sign, albeit a small one that maybe one day Naruto and Jiraiya could resurrect their relationship with one another. After hearing what Kakashi had suggested, Kurenai spoke up and stated.

"You know Hinata, that's a very good idea, we should include Lady Tsunade as part of the bachelorette party for us as well.

"I agree, we'll let Ino and Anko-Sensei about it tomorrow."

"Can I come to yours and Unca Nawuto's party otousan?" Minato asked to his father.

"I'm sorry son, but that type of party is for adults."

"Awww, I'm a big boy, I should be able to go."

"I'm sorry son, but don't worry, you'll be able to go to one of these parties before you know it."

Kurenai saw the sad, dejected look on her sons face and asked in the hopes of making him feel better.

"Minato-kun, would like a big bowl of ice-cream?"

"Can I have some chocolate syrup and whipped cream with it?"

"Yes you can, in fact you can even make it yourself if you want."

"Neato!" Minato exclaimed, as he hopped off his chair and raced to the kitchen."

"Don't make a mess." Kurenai called out to her son.

"We'll go help him." Hinata declared, as she and Naruto followed after Minato.

"I'm a bit surprised with myself, but I can't wait for the bachelorette party Ino and Anko are throwing, it should really be fun." Kurenai remarked with eagerness.

"I have to say I'm looking forward to the bachelor party as well." Kakashi openly commented.

"Why is that Kashi-kun.'

"It's a traditional event, and I'm a traditional guy Kure-chan."

"Are you going to have women at your party?"

"No, sweetheart, it's a stag party, does stay home."

"I'm not talking about does. I'm talking about strippers."

"Oh those. Why do you ask?"

"Because from what I've heard, it's a tradition and you're a traditional guy."

Kakashi quickly grabs her and starts kissing her passionately on the neck, before saying in playful voice.

Kurenai, you is my woman now and I'm your man. No painted lady ever gonna come between us."

"I need you to promise."

"Okay, you got it. I got a way we can seal the deal - what'd you say?"

Kakashi grabs her once more and they kiss and slide down onto the table, knocking the dishes to the floor.

"Remember, you promised... no screwing around." Kurenai said panting, as she broke their kiss.

"Did I promise that? I don't remember that..."

"You're really pissing me off!" Kurenai declared, before she grabbed Kakashi and wraps her arm around him in a playful headlock."

"Okay, I promise... I swear on the Fifth Hokage's grave."

"The Fifth Hokage is not dead."

"Well, if I go back on my word, I'll kill her." Kakashi replied in amusement, before he tickled Kurenai's ribs causing the red-eyed beauty to laugh in childish merriment, as she let go of his neck. A moment later, the door opened to the dining room and Hinata, Naruto, and Minato holding a big bowl of ice in his hands stared with confusion at his two laughing parents, before the little boy piped up and said.

"That's not fair mommy, you told me not to make a mess in the kitchen, but you and otousan get to make a mess in this room." As everyone looked at the broken plates and glasses strewn around the dining room table and floor.

---

Friday night quickly arrived, as Naruto, Hinata, Kakashi, and Kurenai approached the Hokage residence to pick up Tsunade and Jiraiya for their respective bachelor and bachelorette parties being held in their honor that night. Naruto was a bit anxious and tense about seeing his grandparents, but he never voiced any type of complaint or protest. Upon arriving, both Jiraiya and Tsunade exchanged warm greetings with everyone, until they reached Naruto and Tsunade nervously stammered.

"He-hello Naruto, you-you're looking well."

"Thank you Hokage-sama, you too are looking…fine as well." Naruto replied in monotone voice, revealing no clue of the emotions he might have been feeling at that moment.

A pang of sadness at the tone and the way Naruto addressed her shot through Tsunade.

Wishing to ease the growing tension, Kurenai quickly spoke up and asked.

"Are you ready for our joint bachelorette party Lady Tsunade?"

"Turning her attention away from Naruto, the blonde Hokage quickly answered.

"I am, and I can only imagine what's in store for us with Anko and Ino running the event."

"I forgot to ask, but where is your bachelorette party being held Hina-chan?"

"Ino's father was kind enough to let her use the guest house at the Yamanaka compound for our party Naruto. Where is yours going to be?"

"I was able to call in a favor and get the penthouse suite of the Konoha Royal Plaza hotel for our bachelor party to use." Jiraiya openly answered.

"That must have been some favor Jiraiya-kun. That suite encompasses the entire top floor of that hotel and is the most expensive rental property in the entire village." Tsunade remarked, while she eyed the Toad-Sage suspiciously.

Jiraiya merely smiled without answering, but remembered that the only way the female hotel manager finally agreed to let them use the opulent suite was because he had mentioned that one of the honored participants was the living legacy of the Yondaime. After hearing that, the hotel manager quickly agreed, and was so awestruck, that the only payment she demanded was a personalized autographed picture of Naruto to her. Apparently the young woman was one of the many ardent fan-girls Naruto had garnered since his return to the village.

"Well, we should better get going, it's not fashionable for the guests of honor to be late to their own parties.

Each of the couples share a kiss with their betrothed before Hinata softly said to Naruto.

"I love you Naru-kun."

"I love you to Hina-chan."

Meanwhile Kurenai's message to her fiancé was a bit different.

"Remember your promise Kashi-kun, no screwing around."

"I'll remember Kure-chan."

As for Tsunade she pleaded precariously to Jiraiya.

"Please try and stay out of trouble."

"I promise I will be a paragon of virtue."

Tsunade merely rolled her eyes derisively in response, before her, Kurenai, and Hinata began walking towards the Yamanaka compound, while Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Naruto headed off towards the hotel.

A short time later, as they rode up the private elevator entrance to the penthouse suite of the Royal Plaza hotel, all three men inhaled and exhaled a deep breath before the doors opened and they stepped inside.

What they saw nearly took their breath away.

The 4,490-square-foot Royal Plaza Penthouse Suite was inspired and designed in an Eastern style motif. The immense size of the suite made it seem more like a multi-million dollar home than a hotel room. A quick look at that floorplan showed that it was a 6BR/4.5B domicile, which also included a library, a luxurious and sizable living room with a baby grand piano. There was also present a dining room for 12 people, a home gym, a full kitchen with a pantry, and at least eight foyers, which the hotel described as unique oval and round vestibules. And all of it was lavished in just sheer extravagant opulence no matter where you looked. The only thing that seemed out of place to the décor of the room was the multitude of balloons hung and strewn about along with a large sign that read "Happy Bachelor Party!"

No one seemed to be present until suddenly everyone jumps out from their hiding places and yells.

"SURPRISE!"

Front and center is Genma who spreads his arms out in a gesture and music abruptly blares to life and a couple dozen scantily clad women jump up around the room and start dancing around.

"Oh, this will not be good for me if Kurenai finds out about this." Kakashi remarks with a shiver when he sees this.

"For any of us!" Jiraiya declares, while Naruto nods his head in agreement.

Genma breaks away from dancing with one of the girls and prances up to Kakashi swaying to the music and asks.

"So what do you think Senpai?"

"Genma, I thought I told you I promised Kurenai no strippers."

"You did and you kept your promise, they're not strippers, they're hookers!" Genma answered in merriment, before he danced his way back into the living room.

One of the hookers, a very beautiful and curvaceous blonde named Fumiko, got everyone's attention and loudly announced, as the music abruptly stopped.

"Who's first, guys?"

Almost everyone acted as if they're in grade school, as they raised their hands like kids trying to get the teacher's attention and shouted.

"Oh, me... me... me!"

"Wait, one of the guests of honor should be first and I nominate my Senpai Kakashi!" Genma earnestly declared.

Kakashi sweat dropped a moment, before saying.

"Nah, that's okay, you did…..quite a job setting this party up Genma, you deserve the first treat of the night."

"Are you sure Senpai?"

"I'm sure, go have some fun."

Everyone cheered Genma's good fortune, as Fumkio took Genma by the hand and lead him into one of the bedrooms. Someone turned on the music again and everyone started dancing once more. Meanwhile, Naruto made his way over to where Kiba, Shikamaru, Neji, and Rock Lee were standing about drinking.

"Hey guys, thanks for the party, but where's Shino?

"He sends his apologies Naruto, he had some sort of clan function he couldn't get away from."

"Well, that's alright, I understand, but what I don't understand is what's with all the women?"

"Don't look at us that was all Kakashi's friend Genma's doing. Temari would rip my nuts off and hang them over the fireplace if I had hired some hookers. And I can't even imagine what she would do if I slept with one." Shikamaru replied, as he quickly downed his drink.

"I'm afraid I must concur with Shikamaru's fears, as being married to a woman who always has a sharp weapon within arm's reach would not bode well for me were I tempted to….partake in what these ladies are offering." Neji stoically stated.

"Yeah, Ayame would do the same thing to me, but you have to admit, these are some smoking hot hookers." Kiba remarked giving all the ladies a long and yearning look.

"It's troublesome, but you're right, they are pretty damn hot." Shikamaru reluctantly stated in agreement with Kiba.

Rock Lee also nodded his head in agreement to what his comrades had just said before loudly declaring.

"These ladies are indeed pretty, but they can't hold a candle to my beautiful cherry-blossom Sakura-chan."

The green-clad youth then took another drink of the milk he was holding, before heading off to get another.

A moment later, a sweet-faced young hooker named Kimi came prancing up to Naruto in her bra and underwear and seductively asked.

"Is there anything I can do for you Naruto-sama?"

Uhhh…..n-no…I'm, I'm fine…. Th, thanks." Naruto nervously stammered, before hastily slamming down the drink he held in his hand.

Disappointed, Kimi turned to Naruto's companions and in the same suggestive voice asked.

"How about you boys, won't any of you play with me?"

All three of Naruto's friend's seemed to gulp nervously in unison, before Shikamaru finally stammered out in response.

"As, as much as we appreciate the offer, we're already taken and I don't think our ladies would like us cheating on them."

"Awww that's sweet, I understand, but how about if me and my friends give you guys a lap dance. I mean a lap dance isn't cheating." Kimi coyly replied, as she waved over two of her skimpily clad compatriots to join her.

Shikamaru, Kiba, and Neji looked around at one another in befuddlement, as they all contemplated what Kimi had just said, before Kiba spoke up in a hesitant voice and openly asked.

"She has point; a lap dance isn't cheating is it?"

All three young men looked at one another before shrugging their shoulders, as they let the three young women take each of them by the hand and lead them over towards a large couch. Naruto could only stare in utter amazement, as he too began pondering whether or not lap dances constituted cheating, before a familiar voice rang out and said.

"I know what you're thinking Naruto and my advice is it's better to be safe than sorry. So I would not be taking the chance that your friends are right now."

Naruto turned to see Iruka standing there holding out a drink to him, which he gratefully accepted, before he then questioned.

"So you think getting a lap dance is cheating Iruka-sensei?"

"Actually, I don't think it is cheating."

"So does that mean you'll be getting some lap dances?"

"Oh dear Kami no!" Iruka exclaimed in earnest.

"How come?"

"You do remember to whom I married don't you. While I may not think it's cheating, you can never tell how a woman may view it. And when that woman also happens to be one of the foremost interrogation specialist of the Leaf village and an expert at inflicting pain. Then I'd just as soon not test whether or not she thinks a lap dance constitutes cheating or not."

Little did Iruka know how fortunate he was to have made that decision, as a very small black snake silently unwrapped itself from around his boot and stealthily slithered off into a corner of the room to continue its mission of observation for his mistress.

---

Meanwhile, as the bachelor party was getting into full swing, so to was the bachelorette party. And a few hours later with the sake flowing, everyone was in a very festive mood. And even though Hinata had to abstain from partaking in the libations, it didn't really matter, as she was enjoying herself immensely as the guest list at the party was with all of her closest friends and people she respected and cared about. The people in attendance comprised of Ino, Tenten, Temari, Ayame, and Sakura. Also present were Kurenai's closest friends of Anko, Shizune, Hana, and Yugao Uzuki. And rounding out the list was Tsunade of course along with Keko Yamanaka, Yoshino Nara, and Tsume Inuzuka. Mana Akimichi would have also attended, but she had graciously volunteered along with her husband Chouza to baby sit the children of Kurenai, Anko, and Tenten for the evening.

Unexpectedly, it was Tsunade who slightly inebriated suddenly asked loudly in a bold voice.

"Anko, this party has been great so far, but when is the live entertainment arriving?"

"What do you mean by live entertainment Lady Tsunade?"

"She means when are stripper studs getting here, whoooooooo...hooooooo!" Tsume whooped excitedly, as she was even more drunk than the Hokage.

"Oh them, they won't be coming."

"WHAT! Why not?" Several women shouted out in dismay at Anko.

Because a certain red-eyed bride to be made me promise not to have any. And since this party is in her as well Hinata's and even your honor Lady Tsunade, I couldn't very well refuse." Anko dejectedly replied, as all eyes in the room fell upon Kurenai, who shifted nervously on her feet before defensively saying.

"What, I made Kakashi-kun promise not to have any strippers at his bachelor party, so it's only fair I don't have any at my bachelorette party.

"Oh Kurenai, fair and marriage has nothing to do with one another and the sooner you realize that, the better off you will be." Keko Yamanaka declared in a semi-scolding tone towards Kurenai.

"I don't understand what do you mean?" Kurenai asked in confusion.

"What she means is all that fairy-tale crap you heard growing up about how a good marriage is held together by fairness and equality sounds wonderful, but the reality is quite different." Yoshino Nara offered up in reply.

Most of the women looked at Yoshino curiously, before she continued on.

"Marriage is about survival of the fittest. In fact, you can almost liken it to war. However, marriage is the only war in which you actually sleep with the enemy. So in marriage, as in war, it is permitted to take every advantage of the enemy. I don't fault you in the least in making Kakashi promise not to have strippers at his party. I mean after all most men are just overgrown children, and all children like to play if you know what I mean. So, if you have an advantage, you take it and you did with Kakashi. But that doesn't mean you have to offer up the same advantage in return to him, out of some misguided notion of fairness and equality. Thus depriving all of us of some much needed relief and entertainment of the time honored tradition of having some live entertainment at this shindig."

Yoshino then slammed down her drink, before wiping her lips with her hand and sternly proclaimed.

"Lady Tsunade, you're older than I am, so you should already know what I'm about to say. As for you Kurenai and Hinata, and for the two of you as well my dear daughter-in-law and Tenten. I have one piece of advice all of you should always remember. Marriage is a relationship in which one person is always right and the other is the husband!"

An uneasy silence fell over the room, as all of them women pondered deeply everything Yoshino had just said, before Keko finally spoke up and said regarding her friend.

"Granted what Yoshino just said about marriage is bit more mercenary than necessary."

"Quit being a candy-ass about it Keko." Yoshino spat, before downing another drink.

Keko shot the Nara matriarch a quick glare, before then stating.

"But a small part of what she said is accurate in the sense that there are times you will need to assert yourself and take control."

"But Keko-san, can't marriage also exist with love and compromise? The way Yoshino-san just described marriage it makes it sound like a prison term." Hinata fretfully asked.

"EXACTLY! Now you're getting it Hinata. Marriage is not a word. It's a sentence-a life sentence." Yoshino exclaimed excitedly, before she slipped and promptly fell off her chair, due to her drunken state of being.

As some of the women helped Yoshino off the floor and back into her chair, Keko spoke once more.

"Hinata you're correct, I would 99% of a good marriage is based on both love and compromise, but there are times in that 1% in which you will be better off by asserting some control. Because a man left to his own devices all the time, will ultimately steer him to make a bad choice and lead him to ruin. And as someone who loves that man, it's up to you keep him from making that bad choice."

"I agree with Keko, even if she did get the percentages reversed." Yoshino said with a laugh, causing the mood in the entire room to lighten and what she said.

Tenten then spoke up and stated glumly.

"Well, all of that was indeed enlightening; it still doesn't change the fact that we're not going to have any live entertainment.

"Fear not kid, we might not have any live entertainment, but we are going to have some entertainment. Ino go bring in my surprise."

Ino squealed in delight and clapped her hands happily, before racing out of the room. A couple of minutes later, the blonde kunoichi returned pushing a cart with a film projector sitting atop it. As Ino began setting up the projector, Anko was erecting a viewing screen, as everyone else looked at them with curiosity. After the two kunoichi's had everything set up, curiosity finally got the better of Kurenai and she asked with a little trepidation.

"Anko, what are doing?"

"What I'm doing is providing the entertainment for this party."

"I don't want to watch a porno." Kurenai firmly announced.

"A porno, is that how little you think of me, perish the thought." Anko replied in a miffed tone of voice.

"Then what are we going to watch?" Several of the women present asked.

"Let me ask all of you this, does the name Subarashii Kitsune (Magnificent Fox) mean anything to you?"

Some of the women in the room recognized that name and their eyes grew wide in astonishment.

"I don't recognize the name, who is this Subarashii Kitsune?" Hinata innocently questioned.

"Subarashii Kitsune is the stage name of a male stripper who is supposedly so hot, that the one performance he did caused a huge riot in the village of Estrogenia." Tsunade openly answered.

"Estrogenia, I've never heard of that village."

"It's in a land to the far, far west called Amazonia Temari." Tsunade answered once more.

"I'm impressed Lady Tsunade, as everything you've just said is correct. But I'm curious as to how you know so much about this legendary stripper?" Anko quipped in amusement, earning a sharp glare from the blonde Hokage who curtly stated.

"That doesn't matter, the Subarashii Kitsune is nothing more than an urban legend, a myth, he doesn't exist."

"I beg to differ, as I have procured, with great difficulty and great monetary expense I might add. A film taken of the one performance the Subarashii Kitsune gave, which caused that huge riot in the village Estrogenia."

A murmur of excitement shot through the room like a lightning bolt, as everyone quickly took a seat, eager to view the film Anko had provided. Kurenai whispered to her best friend in annoyance.

"I can't believe you did this, I told you I didn't want any male strippers at this party and you promised there wouldn't be any."

"Ahhh, if you will recall, what I promised is that I wouldn't have any strippers attend the party. And I kept my promise, the Subarashii Kitsune isn't here and attending the party. So lighten up and enjoy the film, it cost me a lot of money to get." Anko answered, before shouting out.

"Ino, kill the lights and roll the film."

As the lights in the room dimmed to darkness, an image on the video screen blared to life showing a room full of women in front of a well-lit stage, with a brass pole standing tall in the center of it. The stage is set with lights shining, smoke machine steaming, and the hearts of the feminine crowd are racing and their blood is pumping with excitement. As the lights were lowered, electrifying music filled the air. A moment later, a spotlight was turned on illuminating the center of the stage and the women erupted in cheers and cat-calls. After a few minutes, the excitement and anticipation of the crowd began to build to a crescendo. When suddenly the curtains on the stage were unveiled and out strutted a young man wearing a fur-covered fox costume and mask. The throng of women cheered loudly, as he began to slowly gyrate and dance to the beat of the music playing.

"I can't tell what he looks like under that costume, but I'm liking what I'm seeing so far. Just look at those electrifying dance moves he's doing!" Ino shouted with glee of what she was seeing, while her mother blushed at how….enthusiastic her daughter was acting.

"He certainly is an energetic and flexible young stud." Anko added in appraisal, as she watched the young man on the view screen wrap himself around the brass pole, as nimbly as any female stripper could do.

Meanwhile the rest of the women were sitting silently on the edge of their seats, seemingly mesmerized by what they were watching.

Suddenly, the man stopped dancing and stood in the middle of the stage, before he pointed out to two women in the crowd and crooked his finger on each hand inviting them to join him on stage. The two women he had chosen screamed in delight, as they jumped up onto the stage and stood to each side of the man. Whispering into their ears, the two women grasped his fox costume at the shoulders and yanked down, tearing away the arms of the costume and revealing a set of very tanned, toned, and muscular arms, as the women in the club exploded in vocal approval of what they saw.

"Wow, look at the guns he's sporting, I wouldn't mind being trapped in those arms!" Temari openly remarked in excitement.

The young man suddenly lifted both women and sat them upon his shoulders to their undying thrill, before jumping down from the stage and setting them back down into their chairs. As he made his way back to the stage, all of the women he passed were either stuffing money into his costume or copping of feel of his powerful arms as he went by. Leaping back onto the stage, the fox dressed performer spent the next few minutes dancing and posing causing all the women in the club to become even more worked up in their exhilaration.

And when the music reached a highpoint, the young man suddenly stopped and yelled out in a bellowing cry, before grasping the front of his costume and tore it away from his body. The women of the club screamed wildly in happiness, as he revealed his strong broad shoulders, well defined chiseled muscular chest, and a bronzed colored perfect six-pack of abs all gleaming under the spotlight.

Meanwhile, all the women in the room watching this performance on the screen seemed to match the enthusiasm of the women in the club, as many of them hooted and hollered in agreement with them of what they were seeing. Some of the women like Shizune, Sakura, Kurenai, and Hinata blushed at what they were viewing, but that didn't stop them from continuing to watch. Hinata felt Ino nudge her playfully in the shoulder and say in mischievous amusement, chiding the young Hyuga girl.

"Damn Hinata, this guy is even more well-built and hotter than Naruto."

"Hmph, I wouldn't say that." Hinata defensively answered in a dismissive tone, before thinking to herself.

'I'll admit this guy is pretty hot, but he's nothing compared to my Naru-kun.'

A few more minutes of erotic dancing and strutting from the young man went by, before he repeated his earlier maneuver and invited two more women onto the stage. As before, the two chosen women shrieked with joy at being chosen and raced to get on stage. This time it was the furry leggings that were torn away exposing the young man's well-toned and muscular legs and thighs leading upwards towards his strong narrow hips. This brought about another chorus of wild cheering both from the women on the screen and the women in the room watching all of this.

For the next few minutes, the man danced, gyrated and strutted his body now covered in only a pair of furry short-shorts with a fluffy red-tail attached and his fox-mask still hiding his face around the stage. As he did this, the excitement and anticipation of that final piece of costume being removed was reaching a fevered pitch with all of the women both at the club and the party goers watching on the big screen. Suddenly the man stopped in the middle of the stage and he began going through a series of hand-signs, causing several of the kunoichi watching the film to shout in astonishment.

"That's a jutsu he activating!"

A moment later, there were several explosions of smoke inside the club and after it dissipated all of the women present were surprised to find an exact duplicate of the man on stage dancing atop the table they were sitting at. There must have been at least 30 duplicates all gyrating and moving in unison to the man still on stage. The women in the club were momentarily stunned at this, but quickly got over it and shouted in shameless glee at having the young stripper within arm's reach of them.

Meanwhile, all the kunoichi's watching on the screen were equally as stunned as the women had been at the club, but for different reasons, for they knew only a shinobi could accomplish what had just happened.

"Are those regular-clones or shadow-clones?" Tenten asked out loud in curiosity.

"They have to be shadow-clones if those women are able to touch them like we're seeing." Kurenai answered, as all of the women continued to stare at the view screen in amazement.

After a few minutes, the clones dancing upon all of the tables disappeared in a puff of smoke much to the disappointment of all of the ladies. As they turned their attention back to the stage, their disappointment quickly vanished, as they saw the young man grip the waistband of his fur-covered shorts. Suddenly, he gave the shorts a powerful yank and they were ripped from his body. A collective gasp echoed throughout the club, as the young man now stood in front of the women adorned in only his mask and a male thong encased within its skintight sock his very impressive…attribute.

And just like the women in the club, the women of the party gasped in unabashed admiration of the physical size of what they were seeing.

"Damn, look at the size of that tool he's packing!" Tsunade brazenly declared for all to hear.

Even Hinata, admitted guiltily, as she thought to herself.

'Not as big as Naru-kun's, but damn he's close.'

The young stripper on the screen began to dance in a very decadent and sensuous way, whipping the women in the room into a most excitable and agitated state. Even some of the women at the party were becoming quite fervent when suddenly the young man bent over and was shaking his ass towards the women in the club and towards the camera filming his performance. This caused many of the bachelorette participants to jump to their feet and they began shouting their approval with glee. It wasn't until someone yelled out in admiration, that the shit hit the fan so to speak.

"Oooooooooh, look at that cute little dimple he has on his left butt cheek!"

Hearing that was like someone had thrown a bucket of cold water into Hinata's face, as she immediately focused her attention onto the movie screen more intently as she thought to herself.

'Cute little dimple…left butt cheek…it can't be?'

After of few seconds of intense scrutiny from the young Hyuga girl, she abruptly jumped up and shouted for all to hear.

"NARU-KUN!"

"WHAAAAAAAAAT!" The room full of women cried out in unison.

Hinata's eyes flew open in horror, as she realized what she had just said and her hands flew to her crimson colored face to cover her mouth. As if this action would somehow undo what she had just revealed to everyone. Hinata quickly sat back down and kept her head lowered, refusing to look at anyone. However, before anyone could seriously comprehend the true meaning of what Hinata had just uttered. The music coming from the film stopped and all eyes turned to see the young man on the screen standing in the center of the stage unmoving. A minute later, some introductory music called "Also Sprach Zarathustra, op. 30" by Richard Strauss began to play.

As the classical music began to grow with intensity, so did the anticipation and exhilaration of what it was building to in relation to the man on stage of the women watching. When it reached its climax a minute and a half in, the thong was torn away, revealing to all the Full Monty of the performer, as Hinata looked up and softly uttered.

"Oh Kami, it really is Naru-kun."

As everyone save for Hinata suddenly clamored closer to the movie screen to get a better view, they were disappointed, as Naruto's full glory was only visible for a few seconds on the screen. For his performance had so worked up the women in the club into a mindless rabid frenzy, that they immediately rushed the stage obscuring the impressive trait Kami had blessed Naruto with from the camera. Hinata and the rest of the party guests watched in shock, as the women on screen began fighting with one another in their attempt to get to Naruto.

As several women reached and grabbed onto Naruto, his mask was knocked off revealing his whiskered marked face for just a moment, before he suddenly disappeared in a brilliant flash of golden light. It was then that the film ended and a pall of uneasy silence fell upon everyone at the party, as everyone tried to come to grips with the fact that the male stripper on the film they had all been drooling over was none other than Naruto. It was only after a few of minutes, before Tsume Inuzuka finally spoke up and said with a sly smirk.

"I just have one thing to say to you Hinata, judging by what I saw…you're a damn lucky woman!"

This seemed to break the tense mood permeating the room, as many of the women in the room laughed and agreed with Yoshino and offered up their own congratulations to the Hyuga girl causing her to blush furiously.

"I still can't believe that Naruto is the Subarashii Kitsune!" Temari openly commented in amazement.

'I can't believe I made a comment about the size of my grandson's...attribute.' Tsunade thought in embarrassment, before slamming down another cup of sake.

"When did this, this...performance take place?" Sakura questioned in a stammer.

"It happened a couple of years ago, which means it must have occurred when Naruto was out training with Kakashi and the old perv." Anko answered in response.

"Did you know anything about this Lady Tsunade?" Kurenai asked in wonderment.

"No I did not, and it wasn't in the report Kakashi and Jiraiya turned in about their time spent away from the village supposedly training Naruto. I would say those two have some serious explaining to do, because that certainly isn't any kind of shinobi training that I'm aware of."

"You seem awfully sure that Kakashi and Master-Jiraiya are to blame for what we just saw."

Tsunade merely cocked her eyebrow at Kurenai, before she asked.

"Are you going to stand there and tell me you think those two perverted idiots you and I are about to marry didn't have anything to do with Naruto giving a performance like that?"

Kurenai stood silent for a moment, before she finally conceded and reluctantly said in agreement.

"No, you're probably right and they did have something to do with it."

"Hey, let's watch it again!" Ino lustfully exclaimed, as many of the women around her nodded their heads excitedly.

"NO...!" Hinata declared on a resounding tone of voice.

"Awww come on Hinata, you're going to get to see Naruto in all his glory for the rest of your life. At least let your friends get one more peek at how lucky you are." Ino whined in protest.

"I don't care, you all already got a look at my Naru-kun's sizable...uhh...umm..."

"Tool." Tenten said.

"Package." Temari followed.

"Freaking enormous cock!" Ino enthusiastically proclaimed.

"Ino Yamanaka!" Keko shouted in admonishment of her daughter.

"Y-yes." Hinata stammered in embarrassment, before adding in a stern voice.

"And none of you need to see it again!"

"Oh pooh, you're just being mean." Ino stated in frustrated disappointment.

"Leave Hinata alone, she has every right stop this. I mean how would you feel if she asked to see what your men are packing?" Kurenai spoke up in defense of her student.

'Like it could even compare to what I just saw. Shika-kun's a decent size, but compared to that monster Naruto has, it's no contest.' Temari thought to herself, as did many of the women in the room who shared similar thoughts about their own men.

Everyone was broken out of their musings when Tsunade declared with a sigh.

"I don't want ruin Naruto's bachelor party, but I'm sorely tempted to go over there and drag Jiraiya out by his ear so he can explain the how and why our gran….I mean Naruto ended up becoming the legendary male-stripper Subarashii Kitsune during their travels?"

"That would give us a chance to see what the boys are up to at their party." Tenten innocently remarked.

"Oh we don't need to go over there to find out about that." Anko declared with confidence.

"What did you do Anko?" Kurenai questioned in a critical tone.

"Oh knock it off with that disapproving look, it's nothing terrible. I just sent one tiny little summons over to keep an eye on my Iruka-kun and the others at the party, that's all."

"So you were spying on them."

"I wouldn't call it spying per-say, I...ummm just wanted to make sure Iruka-kun was safe and having fun, yeah that's it." Anko stammered in as innocent a tone as she could muster, which no one bought for a second.

"I can't believe you were spying on Iruka-Sensei." Sakura remarked sadly, and was joined by Ino, Tenten, and Hinata in shaking their heads in disapproval, as they all respected their former academy teacher a great deal.

Anko a bit annoyed at all the looks of condemnation she was receiving growled out defensively.

"Well since you've all judged and condemned me, I guess that means none of you want to find out from my little friend what all of your men have been up to at the bachelor party!"

Anko's barb of a statement had suddenly caused a trial of conscious to commence in the women around her. They could stand firm in judgment of Anko or they could give into the curiosity they all had of what their men were up to. After a minute, curiosity won out and they meekly nodded their heads, as Anko smirked, before she drew a small seal on the floor and bit her thumb to smear some blood on it, before she slammed her hand down onto it and shouted.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" (Summoning Technique)

Across town inside the Royal Plaza Penthouse Suite, there was a puff of smoke in a shadowed corner of the room that went unnoticed by all the party goers present.

A second later, there was a brief flash of light and a minute puff of smoke that appeared under Anko's hand, and when the purple-haired kunoichi lifted her hand, it revealed a small black snake named Adder who looked up at Anko and asked in a hiss.

"How may I serve you Misstresssssssssss?"

"Give me your report of what you saw and heard at the party Adder?" Anko ordered to her summons.

"As you wishhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

"I'm sorry to interrupt Anko-Sensei, but how can a snake reveal what it heard, they don't have ears." Sakura questioned in puzzlement.

"While its true snakes don't have ear, they aren't deaf. They have vestiges of the apparatus for hearing inside their heads, and that setup is attached to their jaw bones. So snakes pick up vibrations through their jaws. These vibrations travel to a cochlear mechanism in their auditory system. Much like the process that occurs in the inner ears of human beings, these vibrations are converted to electrical impulses and transmitted to the brain. And over the centuries they've been able to learn to translate our speech into something they understand. Now, continue on with your report Adder." Anko explained.

"I saw nothing of any consequencccccccccccccce at what you call a party of the male of your speciesssssssssssssssss. They appear to be doing nothing other than drinking, gambling, and danccccccccccccccing.

'Dancing?' All of the women thought to themselves in confusion, before Anko asked.

"What do you mean by dancing? They're dancing with each other."

"Oh no Misstresssssssssss, they were dancing with the females of your speciesssssssssssssss who are in attendance at the party."

"Female of our species, you mean women; there are women at the bachelor party!" Kurenai exclaimed in shocked disbelief.

"If…women is the term of how you refer to yourselves, then yessssssssssssss, there are women at the party. Although they wore much lessssssssss of what you call clothing than all of you appear to be doing."

"Ha, you see Kurenai, you made Kakashi promise not to have strippers and he lied to you and has strippers at their bachelor party." Yoshino proclaimed in a triumphant tone of voice.

"You are incorrect; for the one called Genma informed this Kakashi that the women attending the party were not strippersssssssssssssss."

"Scantily clad women at the party, if they're not strippers, than who are they?"

"Thisssssssssss Genma male referred to them with a term I am not familiar with Misstresssssss."

"What did he call them?"

"Hookers."

"HOOKERS!" All the women shouted in unison.

After the shock of hearing this wore off, Anko asked in a stammer.

"What, what else did you observe of these...hoo-hookers besides dancing?"

"Periodically, one of these hookers would lead one of males of your speciesssssssssssssss into another room. I was unable to observe what transpired, as my mission per your orders was to watch over your mate Misstresssssssssss. However, of the males who went into those rooms when they returned appeared to be very ssssssssssatisfied and tired for some reason."

"So my Iruka-kun never went off into any of those rooms with a hooker?"

"No Misstresssssssssss, he did not."

Anko exhaled a sigh of relief, before it quickly disappeared when her summons then stated.

"But sssssssssssince I'm no longer watching him, I have no idea what your mate has done while I've been gone."

A wave of uneasy concern seemed to wash over the women who all had boyfriends, fiancé's, or husbands attending the party. A fact that seemed to escape Yoshino, who openly mocked and chided Kurenai.

"I apologize Kurenai, it appears that Kakashi did keep his promise to you. I mean a bachelor party filled with hookers for all of the guests attending is so much better than a party filled with strippers, ha, ha, ha!"

Kurenai glared at the Nara matriarch, before she pointed out tersely.

"Need I remind you Yoshino-san that your husband is one of the guests at that party."

Upon hearing Kurenai's statement was like someone had slapped Yoshino across the face. Who after a moment, suddenly realized and growled out with fury.

"I'll castrate that miserable slacker if he slept with any of those skanks!"

"What about our men, did they go off with any of these hookers?" Ayame anxiously asked, remembering Kiba's playboy reputation within the village, before they started dating.

"Isssssssssss…..men the term of how you refer to the males of your speciessssssssssss?"

"Yes." Many of the women answered in unison.

"I'm sssssssssssorry, but I cannot answer your question, because I don't know who your men are?" Adder declared, before turning his head to Anko and asked.

"Misstresssssssssss is my mission completed? May I get my reward?"

"Yes Adder, your mission is completed. I'll get you your reward." Anko answered, before she walked over to the kitchen and a couple of minutes later returned with a small bowl filled with milk and placed it on the floor in front of her snake summons.

Adder gave a hiss of approval, before he started to lap eagerly at the milk with his forked tongue. The women attending the party moved off away from the small serpent and sat back down in the living room in silence. After a couple of minutes, it was Temari who broke the uneasy silence and finally asked.

"So what the hell are we going to do about this?"

"What can we do?" Sakura replied.

"I'll tell you what we can do; we can march over to that hotel, kick down the door, and drag our men out of there by their ears or whatever other appendage they have." Yoshino gruffly declared.

"That won't work, if we go marching over there and storm the place, it will just give our men time to stop what they're doing. Especially if it's something they shouldn't be doing. We have to be more crafty and subtle about it."

"Tenten is right, I'm all for going over and checking out what our men are doing, but we need to sneak in somehow without them knowing it's us to see what they're doing." Tsunade stated in agreement.

"You want to crash their bachelor party milady!" Sakura exclaimed in surprise to her mentor.

"Exactly."

"But how do we do it?"

"Well, if what Adder says is correct. We could henge into looking like hookers and infiltrate the party. I mean I doubt the men there are going turn-away more hookers if they show up at their door. We'll probably be welcomed with opened arms." Ino openly suggested to everyone.

"No that won't work, remember these are shinobi were talking about. They will be able to sense a henge the moment we arrive at their room." Kurenai said with frustration.

Kurenai's declaration seemed to stymie the room, as all of the women sat in silence and stewed. Trying to think of a way they could sneak into the party unnoticed. After a few minutes, a sly grin formed on Anko's face and she announced.

"I have an idea on how we can get into that party."

"Well don't keep us in suspense, let's hear it Anko-Sensei." Ino expressed with curiosity.

"As I see it, you're idea is a good one my student. However, Kurenai is correct about us using a henge to implement it. But a henge isn't the only way to change one's appearance. We need to go old school if you know what I mean, to a time before the henge jutsu was developed."

Some of the older women present, did pick-up on what Anko was referring to, while the younger generation looked around at them confused.

An hour later, Kurenai, Hinata, Ino, Anko, Tenten, Temari, Sakura, Ayame, Tsunade, Shizune, Yoshino, and Keko were all standing around in a various state of undress. All of the women were trying on a variety of different clothing. All of them attempting to find the right combination of clothes and makeup that would disguise and allow them to pass themselves off as...hookers.

The clothing was provided courtesy from Anko and Ino's wardrobe, much to the chagrin of Keko. Who found it a little disconcerting that her daughter would have such revealing clothes in her wardrobe. And while all women who were crashing the bachelor party were able to utilize the clothing provided by the two kunoichi. There still had to be some alterations made for some of the women to provide a proper fit for them. Hinata and Tsunade posed the greatest challenge due to their impressive assets. However, Keko, Ino, and Hinata herself proved to be wizards using a sewing machine and very quickly all of the women were dressed and with the appropriate makeup applied for the look they all were trying to achieve. When all was said and done, this dirty dozen of pseudo-hookers stood in front Tsume and Hana Inuzuka, Yugao Uzuki. As these three women were not going with them since they had no men to check on at that party, as Tsunade hesitantly asked them.

"So, how do we look?"

Tsume cocked her head a bit and eyed all of the women before her carefully, while Hana did blush a bit, as she stared at them, before her mother answered bluntly.

"You all look like a bunch of whores."

Hana blushed even more now because of her mother's crass appraisal, as she quickly stammered out in opinion.

"I, I think what my mother meant to say is that all of you have...uhh...achieved the appearance you were trying for.

"That's what I said, they were trying to disguise themselves as whores and they succeeded. They all look like whores."

"Well thank you for your...honest opinion Tsume." Tsunade stated in a brusque tone of voice.

"Don't get mad Lady Tsunade, you asked for my opinion on how you all looked and I gave it. If it's any consolation, I also think you all are the hottest looking whores I've ever seen. Once the men get a look at you all, you'll have no problem getting into that party."

"Tsume-san is correct; I've had to do many Anbu patrols in Konoha's red-light district at night, so I've seen a lot of hookers. And I can say in all honesty you're probably the most attractive group of street-walkers I've ever seen." Yugao offered up in assessment.

Tsunade took a moment and realized that Tsume was right, she did after all ask for the Inuzuka matriarch's opinion and they were trying and apparently were successful at disguising themselves as hookers. The blonde Hokage gave a quick inspection of her fellow kunoichi's and ultimately agreed with both Tsume and Yugao. Everyone was dressed and disguised as a common hooker, but by Kami they all were a pretty damn smoking-hot group of hookers without question. However, Tsunade did spot a problem and openly voiced her concern.

"Hinata, Kurenai, we have a problem with how the two of you look."

"What, what's the matter Lady Tsunade? Is my hair poking out? Hinata asked as she turned to a mirror to see if any of her indigo-colored locks were poking out from under the blonde wig that adorned her head.

"I think I know what she means Hinata, it's our eyes."

"Exactly Kurenai, we need to hide them somehow."

"We could use some color-tinted contacts." Temari suggested.

"That might work, but it's too late at night to try and get any." Tenten stated glumly.

"Let's not overthink this people, this should work fine." Ino declared, before she handed over two pairs of sunglasses to her fellow kunoichi's.

"But won't people think it strange that we're wearing sunglasses at night?" Hinata questioned.

"Believe me, the way you look, the men at that party probably won't even notice them or even care." Ino remarked in amusement, causing Hinata to blush a little.

"I bet right now Shikamaru and his pals are knee deep in whores." Temari spit disdainfully.

"Temari, we don't really know that." Hinata softly said, as Naruto was one of those pals she was referring to.

"That's what we're going to find out my dear daughter-in-law, because if he is then that probably means his father is as well!" Yoshino spat with equal venom.

"I feel like I'm spying on Naru-kun"

"Good. That's just what we're doing Hinata." Ayame harshly declared, before adding.

"I'll kill Kiba, if I find out he's been screwing around."

"Well, I think we're as ready as we're going to be. Tsume, Hana, Yugao, are you three sure you don't want to come along as well?"

"No thank you Hokage-sama. I have to work with many of those guys who are at the party and I fear it would affect my job in the future, if I saw how big of idiots they are capable of becoming." Yugao politely answered.

"No thanks Lady Tsunade, I've no desire to my son and I doubt Hana wants to see her brother possibly doing something that he shouldn't. Besides, if he is, I have full faith in Ayame-chan that she will…correct any deviant behavior he might be exhibiting." Tsume declared with a grin.

"We'll stay behind and get things cleaned up here for you Keko."

"I thank you for that Hana." The Yamanaka matriarch responded gratefully.

"Then let's head out, and there will be hell to pay if our men are up to no good behind our backs!" Anko shouted, as she pumped a fist into the air.

As the 12 kunoichi's now turned into would be hookers marched out of the room and headed out towards the Royal Plaza Penthouse Suite. Adder raised his head from sipping his milk and watched them leave, while thinking to himself.

'What a strange species these humans are, makes me glad I'm a reptile.'

---

What a wicked thing to do ending the chapter there and leaving a cliffhanger like that, lol.

Author Note:Well the first thing I want to say is how sorry I am it has been so long since my last update. I could give you a litany of reasons as to what that happened, but I don't want it to sound like a bunch of excuses. All I can say is life has been kicking my ass pretty good in a lot of ways this year and unfortunately the time I could spend writing this story got affected because of it. I will try much harder in the future with the hopes that a nine month update gap won't happen again. However, with that said I sincerely want to thank all of you for your patience and in sticking with the story and showing your support of my tale.

As for this chapter, since the last one was a very heavy, emotional, and angst-filled chapter. I wanted to give you all something a bit lighter and fun to read with this one. There's still a bit of drama here and there in the chapter, but my wish is after reading it, that all of you had a good time in doing so. So I do look forward to seeing your reviews and get your opinions on the chapter and my story itself. When you do review, please don't beat me up too bad about the Naruto striptease. That scene and description was incredibly difficult to write considering I'm a guy and I have never been to or wanted to go to a male strip club. So to say I was winging it in writing that scene would be a gross understatement, lol.

I do wish to thank everyone both old and new readers who took the time to review my last chapter. I apologize at not being able to respond to as many of the reviews as I would have liked, as I normally try to do, before I post a new chapter. For those of you who did review, you all had a lot to say about it and I'm pleased that this story has such a strong fan base with readers who actually write out well thought-out reviews. Because of that, I enjoy reading many of your reviews, so please leave lots of them, as they do help a writer get a sense of the thoughts and opinions of the fans of a story. They also can help lift the spirits of an author as well. Also, to any readers who are staff members to any C2 communities, please feel free to add my story to your community if you feel it is worthy of it. I won't mind, I swear. I'll even pinkie swear if I need to?

If you want to hear the music mentioned in this chapter. You can either Google "Also Sprach Zarathustra, op. 30" by Richard Strauss. Or Google Rick Flair's theme music. It's a pretty recognizable classical music piece once you hear it.

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Now, onto everyone's favorite section Kingkakashi's rants on the manga yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

Surprisingly, I have mostly positive things to say about the following issues of the Naruto manga.

*Warning I do give away some spoilers in my rants, so read at your own risk.

#694 – The chapter starts with what will become the theme of the next few chapters. Sasuke pissing and mooing to Naruto about how it's everyone else's fault he became the person he is. I'm not even going to bother to repeat the garbage he spews, because in the end they're nothing more that petty rationalizations on his part to excuse everything he has done. Sasuke also has developed a martyr complex and his intention in becoming the next Hokage is destroy all the ideals of the past. Naruto of course refutes everything Sasuke is saying and the last page is the kickoff of their final battle. This chapter was basically Kishimoto trying and failing for us to sympathize with Sasuke, but don't worry, he'll continue to try and get that sympathy from us for Sasuke in the next few chapters.

#695 – There really isn't a whole lot to this chapter. Naruto and Sasuke start slugging it out and Sasuke is pulling no punches, as he's already calling upon his Susanoo to attack, forcing Naruto to tap into the Kyuubi's chakra to fight. There's hardly any dialogue whatsoever in this chapter, just fight scenes and a few memory scenes between the two. Overall, the chapter was good, but that's primarily based on just the action scenes within it.

#696 – Well this chapter is pretty similar to the previous one. Naruto and Sasuke are still slugging it out. The emo-Uchiha does start to play on hi martyr complex a bit in the chapter. And you do get some more memory flashbacks. Also, Kishimoto appears to be slanting the fight into Sasuke's favor. (What a Shock!) And the chapter ends with Naruto attempting to stave off an attack. Once again, the chapter was good mostly for the fight scenes.

#697 – This chapter starts with Sasuke's Indra powered arrow from Susanoo flying towards Naruto's Kyuubi powered Rasenshuriken. The resulting explosion blows themselves and the surrounding landscape of their fight all to hell including the statue heads of Madara and Hashirama. (I feel bad for the artists who must of spent years carving those two huge statues at the Valley of the End, only to see these two damage all of their hard work.) Anyway, both attacks have left Naruto and Sasuke extremely weakened to the point they can hardly utilize any jutsu's. So they resort to hand-to-hand combat, which of course Kishimoto has Sasuke start to win and he's beating up Naruto pretty viciously. Naruto makes a small comeback and then you get some more memory scenes of the two of them as kids. But Kishimoto decides to bestow yet another new power-up with Sasuke and using the Rinnegan he starts to drain all of the Kyuubi's chakra from Naruto. And then Sasuke is about to deliver the killing blow to Naruto ending the chapter. Not a great chapter mainly because Kishimoto's blatant and rampant favoritism, which he has shown consistently throughout the Naruto series is on full display again.

#698 – This chapter starts off with Sasuke about to deliver the killing blow, but somehow Naruto finds the last remnants of strength and catches Sasuke with a sweet uppercut knocking the emo-Uchiha backwards. Sasuke is pissed and openly complains about Naruto's stubbornness in not letting him kill him. Sasuke decides he's had enough and forms a Kagusuchi, which is that Amateratsu technique that allows him to shape and manipulate the black flames. Kyuubi gives Naruto the rest of his chakra and he forms a Rasengan and both he and Sasuke slam their attacks into one another. The resulting explosion is massive and destroys the surrounding landscape and obliterates the Madara and Hashirama statues completely (so sad). You then cut to a scene with Sasuke waking up and lying next to Naruto on the ground.

Sasuke begins talking to Naruto and can't understand why he never gave up on him Naruto explains it's because Sasuke is his friend. Suddenly Sasuke has an epiphany, as it all suddenly makes sense to him now. He then goes into this long diatribe of how he actually admired and looked up to Naruto growing up. How he understood Naruto's pain growing up and that it motivated him because he realized that Naruto was actually stronger than him. And that he was envious of Naruto's skills growing up as well. Sasuke admits that he trained so hard to get stronger because of how much stronger Naruto was to him and that it reminded him of his brother Itachi. In the end Sasuke acknowledges and admits to Naruto that he lost. Sasuke is ready to die, but Naruto argues with him to try and live and that they can shape the future together. And the chapter ends with scene showing that Sasuke and Naruto have blown their arms off from their final attacks and that their slowly bleeding to death.

Truthfully, I thought much of Sasuke's rant to be a load of bullshit. But I suppose it's the best Kishimoto could come up with if he wanted to try and make Sasuke as one of the good guys. Completely ignoring of course all the evil he had committed up to that point. So there you have it, the power of friendship saves Sasuke at the end. I'm pretty indifferent about this chapter, so I'll leave it up to those who read it to form their own opinions whether it was good or bad.

I've decided to stop my manga rants here, as I have a lot to say both good and bad about Naruto issues #699 & 700. So look for them in chapter 71, hopefully coming soon.

Yes, I'm still thoroughly disgusted that Kishimoto hasn't done anything yet with Hinata's confession to Naruto now reaching 261 freaking issues!

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Now I'd like to give a shout out to one story that strongly urge all Naruto fans, but especially NarutoxHinata fans to please check out and review.

Recommendations:

"After The Storm" by Narutoenthusiast: This story is written by one of the best writers on this site in my opinion. I've enjoyed many of his works over the years. He has mainly specialized in writing stories where Naruto is paired with an older kunoichi. This story is his first foray into writing a pairing with someone Naruto's own age. So he does have a bit of angst about writing it because it's outside his normal comfort zone. Which is why I implore everyone, but especially Naruto/Hinata fans to please check this story out and leave reviews. I promise the story itself will be a good read to all Naruto fans and positive reviews for it can really help provide the motivation and drive for him to continue on with the tale and not give up on it.

Now please be kind and leave precious valuable review on this story.

Take it easy and be good!

Kingkakashi

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School Time:

Salacious

Definition: Arousing or appealing to sexual desire or imagination.

Etymology: Latin 1635-1645a.d.

Part of Speech: Adjective