Happy New Years!

'Thoughts'

"Technique/Demon/Bijuu" Talk

"Demon/Bijuu" Talk from inside

'Technique in head/Demon/Bijuu' Thoughts

Reviews

UnsanMusho: Guess you'll lousy have to wait and read, huh?

biginferno: I dunno if I'll revive Kushina, but that's not completely undecided yet.

Hardpointz: Glad you liked it, now here's your New Year's present.

Samuel Santillan: She is

Imperial-samaB: Thanks!

Harem so far (help it expand by suggesting)

Amaru, Ameyuri, Anko, Fuu, Fem!Haku, Hanabi, Hinata, Hotaru, Ino, Kaguya, Kin, Konan, Kotohime, Koyuki, Kurotsutchi, Fem!Kyuubi, Mei, Sakura, Samui, Sara, Sasame, Shizuka, Shizune, Shion, Tayuya, Temari, Tenten, Tsunade, Yakumo/Ido, Yugao, Yugito, Yukata

Chapter 10: Wave V

A week later, Team 7 watched over as Tazuna and his team finished building the bridge with some extra help from Naruto's clones. After Gato was killed, Nami no Kuni started becoming a better place. People were able to grow crops and start selling this again to the people. No one was starving and missing meals anymore thanks to the freedom they had. It wasn't gloomy anymore and everyone was happy and motivated to work towards making their home better.

During this week, Sasuke stayed away from everyone and began training harder while Sakura would usually watch, idolizing her love. Kakashi would sometimes drop by and see what Sasuke was working on. He was slightly surprised to see the boy working on his fire techniques, specifically the Great Fireball Technique, but wasn't surprised to find Sakura doing nothing.

The cycloptic jounin realized they tended to stay away from Naruto, most likely to what he did on the bridge. He wanted them to work together as a team, but seeing how they were acting… it wasn't possible. Kakashi was surprised that his team was even a team. The cycloptic jounin shook his head as he took out his blue book of porn and read it on top of Tazuna's house.

Haku took the time to rest and train by herself and sometimes with Naruto, though sometimes it turned into a chase when Naruto teased her. Whenever she was near the Uchiha, she could feel his anger towards her, but ignored it, and if things got heated between them, either physical or verbal, Naruto was always there to diffuse the situation. Well, more like tell Sasuke off.

Inari began helping out his grandpa more and more, and also lit up the people around him. He was like a ball of joy, spreading his happiness to others, and it was thanks to a certain whiskered blonde.

Speaking of the whiskered blonde, he was sitting out by the docks with Tsunami, looking out into the ocean with her.

"I can't thank you enough for what you've done, Naruto," Tsunami spoke as she looked at the blonde genin.

He smiled. "Don't worry about it, I was just doin' what I do best."

Tsunami smiled and chuckled. "No, you changed Inari and made him into a happy kid again. More happier than he was back then… I don't know how I can repay you for that."

"With your tongue," Naruto quickly responded as he poked his tongue out. Tsunami whipped her head at the whiskered blonde with a blush.

"N-Naruto!"

"I'm kidding!" He said as he laughed. "You don't need to repay me at all."

"But… you really helped out our village… you deserve something in return," Tsunami pointed out.

"Hey," Naruto said as he looked at the woman.

"... What?" She asked. Naruto hopped off of the dock and stood on the water. He turned around and held his arms out.

"Come on down."

"W-Are you crazy?! I can't walk on water like you can!" Tsunami stated with a glare.

"I know, but do you trust me?" Naruto asked, still holding his arms out.

"Y-Yes…"

"Then come on down."

Tsunami hesitated for a minute, before taking a deep breath and pushing off of the dock. She fell down and landed on the water as she grabbed Naruto's arms. She had her eyes tightly shut the entire time, before slowly opening them. When she saw she was standing on the water, she gasped.

"W-B-W-H-How…?" She simply asked. Naruto didn't say anything as he activated his Byakugan and lightly jabbed her chest. Tsunami's eyes slightly widened as she could feel something inside her activate.

"Your chakra is now slightly more active," Naruto responded as he smiled.

"H-How did you do that…?" The woman asked in astonishment. She realized that Naruto's eyes were a different shade of blue and his pupils were gone.

"It's just something I can do," the blonde answered with a shrug. The bluenette didn't know what to think of this. "Okay, Tsunami, focus your chakra to the soles of your feet."

"Oh… okay," Tsunami complied as she closed her eyes and tried focusing her chakra. It was much harder than she thought it was, but soon felt like she was getting her chakra to her feet.

"Do it in steady amounts. Too much and you'll blow the water up," Naruto added. The woman nodded and took deep breaths to help steady the process. "I… I think I got it…"

"Alright, try and maintain a steady amount of chakra and use it to connect to the water. Since the water isn't moving, it should be slightly easy," Naruto instructed.

"O-Okay… okay… I-I think I did it," Tsunami told as she kept her eyes closed.

"I'm gonna let go of you now. If you sink, I'll catch you, okay?" Naruto warned. Tsunami nodded and the blonde slowly let go of her. He was surprised to see Tsunami standing on the water's surface for the first try.

The woman opened her eyes and looked down. "O-Oh my Kami… I'm doing it… I'm doing it!" Her feet slowly began sinking and she yelped, but Naruto quickly grabbed her.

"You have to keep your composure. If you get too excited you lose your concentration, silly," Naruto said as he grinned. Tsunami's shocked face was replaced with a glare.

"How was I supposed to know that?!"

"Let's try it again. You did really well for the first time, ya know!" Naruto complimented as he lifted Tsunami up.

"T-Thank you… how are you able to lift me up so easily?" The bluenette wondered.

"You're not that heavy, believe it," Naruto answered. The woman looked at him skeptically before accepting it. "Your body's fine the way it is, Tsunami." She looked at his eyes and could feel he wasn't lying. A light blush graced her cheeks before nodding.

She closed her eyes and began concentrating her chakra to her feet once again. It took a moment, but she felt like she was doing it right.

"Okay, you can let go," Tsunami permitted. Naruto slowly let go and the woman was standing on the water again. She slowly opened her eyes and kept her concentration this time.

"Try walking towards me," Naruto said. The woman whipped her head up at him.

She wanted to yell at him, but then she'd fall in the water again. Tsunami took a deep breath. "A-Are you sure?"

The whiskered blonde nodded. "You can't stand on the water forever, you have to be able to love around too, ya know."

"Okay…" Tsunami whispered. She took a tiny step forward and her foot didn't fall in. She took another tiny step forward, and continued doing this until she was confident in taking bigger steps.

"Keep the concentration while walking. Don't break it just because your foot is off of the water," Naruto informed. Tsunami nodded and took deep breaths as she took bigger steps. Naruto walked back slowly as Tsunami walked towards him. "You're doing good, Tsunami, keep it up."

The woman smiled as she focused on her feet. She began walking slowly, then picked up the pace, and soon was walking at a normal speed.

Naruto stopped walking backwards and grinned at the bluenette. "Congrats, Tsunami! You learned how to walk on water efficiently!"

The woman stopped, "I did?"

"You did! And you learned it within such a short amount of time! That's amazing, believe it!" Naruto answered. The woman turned around and could see that her and Naruto were pretty far from the dock. Her eyes widened at this.

'Oh my Kami, I actually walked on water…' She wanted to scream in happiness but doing so would make her fall in the water.

"Come on, let's go back!" Naruto exclaimed as he ran up to her. He quickly swept her off of her feet and ran off with her. She let out a yelp and grabbed Naruto's neck as a deep blush formed on her cheeks.

While Naruto was having fun with Tsunami, Kurama was thinking hard about something. He looked down at the water and saw his reflection. His right sclera was black and his eye was a yellow slit. He moved his second tail into view and saw that it was blue with black markings. The tail moved as if it was fire itself. Kurama sighed before moving his second different tail back.

'How do I master Matatabi's power of it's basically the same as mine? We both have Fire Release, but hers is blue…' Kurama pointed out. 'Ugh, Matatabi's more useless than Shukaku…' As he was thinking hard on this, Kirai rose up from the ground.

"Heya, Kurama!" The woman greeted. Kurama's eyes shifted towards the new arrival.

"Hello, Kirai…" Kurama greeted back.

"Great job on mastering Shukaku's power, now it's time for the Nibi!" Kirai praised with a thumbs up.

"Thank you, but, I don't see how I can master Matatabi's power. We use the same fire technique but hers is blue," Kurama brought up.

Kirai hummed before placing her hands on her hips. "That's not all there is to Matatabi."

"Explain."

"Yes, her flames are like any other fire techniques, but they're only blue and black. Except, her flames are way hotter than other fire techniques. Also, she's a really good tracker."

"How so?"

"She has this ability called 'Predator Mode' where if she locks onto an enemy, they'll be marked and won't be able to hide from her sight. She'll be able to see them through walls and barriers," Kirai answered.

"Hm… I guess that makes her more useful… but is that all?" Kurama wondered with a raised brow.

Kirai smirked. "You'll have to see that for yourself. Can't give away everything, ya know." Kurama glared at her. "Well, anyways, have fun with Matatabi's power, see ya!"

Kirai sunk into the water before disappearing. Kurama groaned before focusing on his newly different tail. A moment passed before the Bijuu opened his right eye and his claws and feet were covered in a blue flame.

Kurama looked at his claws indifferently. 'This just looks like a better, blue version of Scorching Limbs…'

He swung his claws around, seeing if anything was different, before slamming them on the water. Two geysers of blue fire shot up in front of Kurama. The Bijuu's eyes slightly widened as he looked at his blue, flame-covered claws.

'So it seems Matatabo might not be as useless as I thought she'd be…' Kurama thought with a slight smirk. The Bijuu opened his mouth and blue fire began flashing before it spewed from the corners. "Kirai!"

Kurama wanted to try the Nibi's powers on something besides his clones, and only Kirai could provide some test dummies in Naruto's mindscape, but he could only hope the entity would respond.

A few moments passed, but he heard the water start moving and could feel things rising in front of him. He could see large, black figures hiding in the darkness that were about as tall as him. The Kyuubi grinned, now able to try out Matatabi's powers to the fullest.

The Kyuubi rushed one of the figures and swiped down on its chest. It recoiled back as there were visible blue claw marks with blue flames noticeable. Kurama began close quarters combat with the figure and launched it in the air. He jumped up to meet the figure and quickly bear hugged it before nosediving. Once they hit the ground, they continued spinning as blue flames shot out in every direction, forming a blue-flamed tornado that caught the other figures in its vicinity.

Kurama let go of the figure and did a backflip or get some distance. As soon as he landed, he rushed a different figure and began slicing it up before placing his palm on the figure's chest. Kurama pushed and a giant blue flame sprouted from the figure's back. The flame formed what looked like Matatabi and clamped down on the figure's head. The flame bit down harder before exploding, catching the figure on fire and it's head was gone too.

Kurama opened his mouth again and blue flames flashed in his mouth.

"Fire Rat Chase!"

While Kurama was playing around with the Nibi's power, Haku was out training by herself. She was in front of a tree and took a deep breath before taking out three senbon.

"Icicle Senbon!" Her senbon were quickly covered in ice and she jumped back before throwing them at the tree. Once they struck the tree, it quickly began crawling with ice. She landed and was glad her new technique worked. But before she could continue, she heard two steps of footsteps coming her way. Haku was silently hoping it would either be Naruto and Kakashi, Naruto and that woman he knows, or anyone other than Sasuke and Sakura.

But, to her displeasure, it was who she was hoping wouldn't show up. Her eyes narrowed as she saw the Uchiha and pinkette come into view. Sasuke was smirking with his hands in his pockets while Sakura was smiling brightly… for some reason…

The two of them stopped in front of Haku.

"Is there something you need?" Haku was the first to speak.

"Yeah, I need you to die," Sasuke responded.

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that for you," Haku apologized.

"It's alright, I'll do it for you," he replied.

"Why do you need me to die?" Haku wondered.

"Because we didn't get to finish our fight! If that blonde dobe didn't ruin it, I would've shown you what I could actually do and I would've killed you!" Sasuke reacted as he scowled. Sakura nodded in agreement.

"You know, during that fight, you could've at least impressed me a tiny bit, but you didn't even do that," Haku pointed out. "Now, if that's all, please leave. I'm trying to train."

"No, we're fighting right now, and I'm killing you here!" Sasuke declared as he converted his chakra to fire and made the Snake → Ram → Monkey → Boar → Horse → Tiger hand seals. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!" He blew out a fairly sized fireball that was barreling towards Haku.

'At least I'll be able to try this technique out,' Haku thought as made her special hand seal. "Ice Release: Crystal Mirror Capturing Image."

Ice formed on the ground and quickly began rising as well as forming a giant ice mirror. Once it was done, it covered Haku from sight.

The fire technique hit the mirror head on, but went into the mirror. Sasuke and Sakura flinched in shock. They could clearly see the Great Fireball Technique displayed in the mirror.

Haku quickly made the Ox → Snake → Ram then clamped her hands together and put her two middle fingers up. "Hiding in Mist Technique: Frost-Covered Air!"

The area began getting covered in mist before it got heavier. Sasuke tried looking around, to see if he could see something but it was pointless. The Uchiha felt something could touch his back, but then he felt really cold. The air began changing to a lighter hue but didn't help with Sasuke's vision.

The Uchiha could hear things around him, but didn't know where they were.

"Crystal Mirror Capturing Image: Projection." Haku's voice rang around the area and Sasuke couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from.

A second later and seven fireballs shot out in all of Sasuke's directions. The Uchiha didn't have enough time to dodge these. If they hit him, he was toast.

Getting desperate, Sasuke looked at the confused Sakura, and right as the fireballs hit, he substituted places with her.

Instead of hearing Sasuke yell in pain, it was the girl. Haku's eyes widened as she realized what Sasuke did. The Ice Release user quickly cleared the mist and saw Sakura knocked out against a tree with burn marks and other injuries. The girl whipped her head at Sasuke, who breathed a sigh of relief.

"Are you out of your mind?! How could you let your follower take a hit for you?!" Haku grilled.

Sasuke stood up and wiped some dirt off of his clothes. "Like you said, she's a follower. Followers will do anything their leader tells them to if they're devoted enough. Sakura would've taken the hit for me anyway."

"You're terrible…" Haku spoke as she shook her head. "You really don't care for others, do you?"

"Why should I? Unless they can help me reach my goal, they're worthless," Sasuke responded. Haku scowled at him before taking out three senbon.

"You're scum," Haku said before throwing the senbon at him. Sasuke avoided the needles and scoffed, but was soon kicked in the face by Haku's spin kick. Sasuke stumbled back and as soon as the Ice Release user landed, she rushed the Uchiha. Haku punched his stomach, then went wild on his face.

Sasuke, in a desperate attempt to hit Haku, threw a random punch, but it was slower than he wanted it to be. Haku glanced at it before quickly taking out a senbon and flicked her wrist. The senbon quickly hit one of Sasuke's pressure points in his arm and the limb went limp. The Uchiha's eyes widened, but didn't have time to process it once Haku did a low sweep. Sasuke flipped over and Haku elbowed his stomach. Sasuke fell to the ground, but the girl didn't give him time to recover. She kicked his side hard and made him roll over.

"I'd kill you right here, but since you're a part of Naruto's team I can't do that," Haku told as she got four senbon ready. Sasuke grit his teeth at hearing Naruto's name, but didn't have the strength to get up. "Sleep."

Haku threw the senbon and they stuck into Sasuke's back, hitting certain pressure points, and making him go unconscious. Haku stared at the Uchiha in disgust for a moment before turning around and walking towards the injured pinkette.

Once Haku was close enough, she made the Boar → Dog hand seals. "Medical Water Release: Healing Water Cradle."

A puddle of water formed under Sakura before rising and forming a bubble around her. The girl began glowing a green aura as the bubble rose a couple feet off the ground. Haku placed her hand on the bubble and began walking back to Naruto with it.

Naruto was outside of Tazuna's home with the old man, Tsunami, Inari, and Kakashi. Naruto and Inari were conversing while the others were having their own conversation.

Naruto glanced to the side and saw Haku. He fully looked at the girl and saw Sakura in a water bubble. His eyes widened as he could see the injuries on Sakura slowly healing. The whiskered blonde walked up to Haku.

"Haku, what happened to Sakura?" Naruto asked, catching the others' attention.

The girl sighed. "I was out training alone when the Uchiha and her found me. He wanted to kill me and attacked me, but failed in doing so. I used a technique that sent his technique back at him, but he replaced himself with Sakura and she got badly injured."

"Will she be okay?" The Leaf jounin asked.

Haku looked at the water cradle. "Probably. It'll take awhile for her to fully heal, this is the first time I've used this technique."

"Okay that's good… we can stay here for a little longer until she's fully healed and ready to go," Kakashi decided. Haku nodded before looking at Tazuna.

"Can I put her in an empty room?" Haku requested.

Tazuna nodded. "Go ahead." Haku walked past the group with Naruto following.

"You okay, Haku?" Naruto concernedly asked the Ice Release user.

The girl smiled hearing Naruto's concern. She turned to him with a bright smile. "Yes, I'm fine, thank you."

Naruto nodded and they walked in a comfortable silence to an empty room. Once Haku found one, she moved the cradle to the middle of the room and sat against a wall with Naruto joining her.

"You don't have to sit here, I have to watch over her to keep the concentration on the water cradle," Haku informed the whiskered blonde.

"Yeah, I know, but you'll get lonely. I at least wanna keep you company for a bit, ya know?" Naruto brought up with a shrug.

Haku giggled as she nodded. "Yes, I know what you mean."

The two began having a conversation and they were both enjoying themselves.

Over the next few days, Sakura's wounds were fully healed. The pinkette was asleep for a few days and didn't know what happened. When Naruto and Haku gave her the rundown, she didn't believe them and thought Haku either misfired or targeted her on purpose and Sasuke was trying to save her.

Sasuke was more pissy than usual, most likely because he got embarrassed again by Haku, and wanted to kill her, but couldn't find her.

Now, Team 7 plus Haku were finally ready to go home. The group was on the bridge, ready to leave.

"Bye Naruto!" Inari shouted as he waved his hand.

"Have a safe trip, Naruto!" Tsunami shouted as well with a smile.

"Don't get yourself killed, you little runt!" Tazuna ordered as he crossed his arms.

"Oh calm down old man, I'll never let that happen!" Naruto declared with a foxy grin. "See ya guys later! I'll be sure to visit!"

Once the team took off, Naruto waved with both of his hands as he walked backwards. When they were far enough, he spun around and walked next to Haku.

The days it took for Team 7 to get back to Konohagakure was painful, especially for Naruto. Keeping Sasuke away from Haku was more difficult then he'd expect it to be. Having to constantly stay up all night just to watch Sasuke and keep his Shadow Clones active while doing other things like using the bathroom. Kurama opted to watch over Haku while he slept but Naruto declined it. The whiskered blonde saw Kurama's changes and assumed he was training, so he told his Bijuu to focus on that.

It was nighttime and the group stopped to rest for a little. Haku was asleep and Naruto had to use the bathroom. He quickly made a Shadow Clone and departed the group to do his business.

Once Naruto was done, he turned around and saw Sakura standing a few feet away, by a tree.

"Woah, hello Sakura, didn't expect to see you there," Naruto said as he walked up to the pinkette. She glared at him before stomping up to the blonde.

"You idiot! This is for all the things you've done to Sasuke!" Sakura reeled her arm back and launched it forward. Naruto was slightly caught off guard, but his reflexes kicked in and he grabbed Sakura's arm before it could reach his face. The pinkette had a look of shock on her face, not expecting Naruto to catch it.

She looked at his hand, then at the blonde and flinched after seeing his glowing red eyes and bared teeth. She winced as Naruto's grip got tighter and hurtful, she was then forced backwards and her back was against a tree. Naruto leaned in close.

"Sakura… I'm getting tired of your shit. Sasuke this, Sasuke that! When are you not talking about Sasuke?! Get his dick out of your mouth and focus on yourself! You're the weakest one on the team by far and you'll continue to be this way once you stop chasing Sasuke! All you're doing is dragging the team down and not helping at all! Once we start getting B-Rank or A-Rank missions, you're going to die first, and you wanna know why? Because you'll be too busy caring about your precious 'Sasuke' to protect yourself! You'll expect him to come save you once you're in danger, but that's not how this works! You need to protect yourself! That's what's expected of you! If you can't even do that, then you're worthless!" Naruto stated. "And also, Sasuke doesn't care about you at all! He probably thinks you're annoying and would want nothing to do with you like how he substituted himself for you and you took the hit of Haku's reflect!"

"N-No… S-Sasuke wouldn't-" The pinkette didn't get to finish when Naruto squeezed her arm tighter.

"Sakura, open your fucking eyes! You felt that he swapped places with you! I know you felt it! Stop trying to protect Sasuke and lie to yourself that he wouldn't hurt you! He would! He'd absolutely kill you without a doubt, whether you're his teammate or not, I mean, he stabbed me in the back because he was jealous!" Naruto interrupted. He sighed before backing up and letting Sakura's wrist go. "Why did you want to become a ninja?"

Sakura was caught off guard by the question. She didn't expect him to ask that. "U-Um… b-because Sasuke was becoming one…"

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the answer. "Was your goal to simply be with Sasuke no matter what?" Sakura nodded, not trusting her voice. The blonde sighed again, and in a flash, he threw a kunai at Sakura. The kunai cut her cheek and stuck into the trunk of the tree. The pinkette's eyes widened as she felt a slight burning sensation.

"If you don't stop chasing Sasuke and being a little fangirl, you're going to die. He doesn't care about you at all. And if you continue to chase him, then just quit being a shinobi," Naruto advised as he walked past the pinkette, leaving her with her thoughts.

Once Naruto was fully gone, Sakura put a hand up to her wound and gently pressed against it. She brought her hand up to her face and saw the blood stained on her fingers.

'N-No… N-Naruto's wrong… h-he has to be… right?' Sakura asked, trying to reassure herself, but she was beginning to doubt that.

"Girl… I'd be all for it trying to defend Sasuke and shitting on Naruto… but he's right…" Inner Sakura voiced.

'N-No… that's not right… he can't be…'

"Sakura… rethink what Naruto did to you that was bad… absolutely nothing. Over the course of the years you've known him, he didn't do anything harmful to you. Even before the Academy, he kept to himself because he was afraid of others. He couldn't make friends because of your parents… he was just alone and didn't do anything to anyone…"

'B-But… but…'

"But what? There's no reason to hate him, there never has been. All because Sasuke doesn't like him now we have to dislike him? That's not right at all… we never even gave him a chance…" Inner Sakura told.

'No, he hurts Sasuke and trashes him…'

"Sasuke's been on Naruto's case for years. Remember back in the Academy when you were doing those taijutsu spars and Naruto humiliated Sasuke and tried to attack him after it was over? Or how about that other time when it was lunchtime and you followed Sasuke to find Naruto, and when you did, Sasuke got beat up again? Or any other time when Sasuke fought Naruto, he'd lose? This is all of Sasuke's fault he's been beaten by Naruto. It's because he's too much of an arrogant asshole."

'S-Shut up! Aren't you supposed to be on my side, not against me?!' Sakura grilled.

"Technically, I'm your inner feelings representing what you actually mean when you say something different… and that's what I'm doing right now…" Inner Sakura replied.

'Argh! Whatever! Doesn't matter!'

"No, it does matter. Literally what has Sasuke done to you that was good? He didn't get the second bell for you from Kakashi-sensei's bell test, but Naruto gave you the first bell and you gave it away, why?! Oh, and Sasuke also substituted himself for you before getting hit by the fireballs! I saw that happen, Sakura! You didn't 'cause it was in the heat of the moment, but I did!" Inner Sakura stated. "And remember those times Sasuke told you to piss off and leave him alone? He clearly didn't want you, so why did you still go after him?! Sasuke's a stuck up, piece of shit who only cares about himself. Take Naruto's advice and for the love of Kami focus on yourself! Or else you will die."

Inner Sakura didn't say anything else, leaving Sakura to have some serious rethinking to do.

Team 7 finally got to Konoha's gates. Once Naruto saw, he weakly smiled, he was finally home. The group went straight for the Hokage's office, and got there swiftly. Kakashi knocked on the door, and once granted permission, opened up the door.

The Hokage was sitting behind his desk, doing paperwork like usual.

"Kakashi! Was the mission a success?" Hiruzen asked with a smile.

"Yes, it was… but there's more to it," the cycloptic jounin responded with a nod.

Hiruzen lost his smile to a curious face as he took out his pipe. "Tell me."

Kakashi went over the entire mission and how it wasn't just a simple C-Rank, no, it was a B-Rank or above. He went over everything he knew and saw on the mission and Hiruzen didn't interrupt him, but was surprised at hearing what Naruto did.

Once he was finished, the Hokage put his pipe back in his mouth and inhaled. He took it out before exhaling. "So is that why she's here?"

Kakashi looked at Haku and nodded. "Yes, she's not hostile by any means, I assure you."

"Alright, I believe you, but you still know what we need to do with foreigners, right?" Hiruzen checked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, Lord Hokage," Kakashi responded as he slightly bowed.

"Good. Take her in for questioning and if it's nothing bad, release her immediately to my office, I'll decide what to do with her," Hiruzen instructed.

"Oh! Wait, Gramps," Naruto interjected.

The Hokage looked at the whiskered blonde. "What is it, Naruto?"

"Me and Haku talked a bit and she wants to be a part of Konoha," Naruto informed his Kage.

Hiruzen raised an eyebrow at this as he looked at the girl. "You want to be a part of Konohagakure?"

Haku nodded. "Yes. I don't have anywhere else to go, so I wanted to be a part of here and join Naruto in his adventures, since mine with Zabuza have stopped."

Hiruzen took a puff of his pipe and smiled. He was amused by that answer, since it seemed like Haku changed because of him. "Hm… alright, after we interrogate you, I'll have you live with Naruto. Regardless of your skill, you'll be a genin once we give you a headband."

Haku smiled at the Hokage's decision. "I understand."

"Great. You're dismissed. Kakashi, take her to the T&I building," Hiruzen told the jounin.

"Hai." Kakashi looked at Haku and she looked back before they turned and left. Sasuke crossed his arms and scoffed before leaving, followed by Sakura. Naruto watched as they left before turning around to Hiruzen.

"Something wrong, Naruto?" Hiruzen asked.

"Yeah, there is," Naruto replied. "Who was the one that leaked about the Kyuubi being sealed inside of me."

Hiruzen's eyes widened as he stared at the boy. "H-How do you know that…?"

"Kakashi-sensei told me," Naruto answered as he crossed his arms. Hiruzen activated the silencing seals before sighing.

"I'm… sorry, Naruto. I did try to keep this a secret, but someone else had other plans…" Hiruzen apologized as he rested his forehead on his hand.

"Gramps, you don't have to apologize to me, I know you tried, but you have to tell me who leaked that secret," Naruto said.

Hiruzen spun around in his chair until he was looking out the office window. He took a draw of smoke from his pipe before blowing out as he looked at the citizens below.

"Danzo Shimura was the one who leaked the information," Hiruzen spoke.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the name. "Danzo Shimura? Who is he?"

"He's a warhawk. Danzo does not like any sort of peace because he feels like it will make Konohagakure look weak and vulnerable. He wants to make this place a battle-hardened village that won't take peace as an answer. He doesn't like the way I deal with things and thinks it's better to be aggressive, not peaceful, and the only way of doing this is by either being Hokage, or having someone he knows be Hokage. I've learned of this recently because of his assassination attempt on me after the Third Shinboi War… I've known Danzo Shimura ever since I myself was in the Academy, and I assume he thinks we're rivals, but I don't wish to be. I do believe he has good intentions of protecting the village, but he goes about it the wrong way," Hiruzen described the old man.

"W-What?! Gramps, is he still alive?!" Naruto questioned. Hiruzen nodded his head. "W-Why?! He tried to assassinate you! And he wants to cause even more problems for Konoha! Why didn't you kill him?!"

"Because I believe he can change," Hiruzen answered calmly.

"W-B-H-G-" Naruto stammered, but took a moment to calm down. "Okay, okay… Gramps, I understand that you don't like violence, but this isn't okay! Danzo's going to cause even more violence if he's still alive!"

Hiruzen took another draw of smoke and blew out. "I understand, Naruto… I do… I've been wondering for years if I've been making the right decisions and I haven't. For starters, you. I could've taken better care of you, but I didn't. I could have bought you a good house in a good part of Konoha instead of where you're living now… I could've given you someone who didn't care who you were… but I didn't… and now I let a warhawk run loose to Kami knows where… but it's too late to do anything now… I don't have any information to apprehend Danzo without the elders getting on my back."

Naruto looked at the old man in a sorrowful manner before walking up to him and standing beside him. "Gramps… I don't want violence either, but it's come to be this way. The other hidden villages aren't going to agree with us because of their pride. Unless there's a central problem for everyone, the villages won't cooperate, at least not all of them will. You can't be peaceful without causing violence. If you can't do that, then you're just harmless, ya know…?"

The Hokage looked down at the whiskered blonde with a smile. "Where'd you learn to say that?"

Naruto looked up at Hiruzen with a grin. "I've had a lot of time to think."

Hiruzen ruffled the boy's hair before looking over his village again. "Alright, if I can find any evidence of Danzo committing crimes he will at most be detained. If it's far greater, then I will kill him."

Naruto blew out a sigh of relief. "I can agree with that, Gramps."

"So, the Flying Thunder God Technique, huh?" The Hokage brought up as he smirked.

"I learned it from the Yondaime himself, Minato Namikaze…"

"So you've talked to your father?"

"Sure have, believe it…" Naruto answered. "I learned a lot from him in such a short time…"

"Oh really now? Well that's good to hear. I'm glad you were able to meet your father… he was a great man, outstanding shinobi, and an amazing Hokage," Hiruzen praised the blonde Hokage.

"Heh, I actually looked up to him without even knowing he was my dad." Hiruzen looked at Naruto with a soft smile. "So, do you know who Jiraiya is?"

"Of course I know him, he was my student," Hiruzen chuckled.

"H-He was?!"

"Yes, but he was… really perverted…" Hiruzen responded as he looked away.

Naruto raised a skeptical brow at Hiruzen. "How so…?"

"Well… you know, that's not really important, what's important is that you won't be seeing Jiraiya any time soon."

"Why not? Where is he?" Naruto inquiried.

"He's on a mission and I don't know when he'll return. It's a really important mission too, so he can't stop and come here," Hiruzen replied, making Naruto slightly pout. "I know you have many questions for him, but you'll just have to wait."

Naruto nodded and stared over the village with Hiruzen for a moment before remembering something. "I know what that weird affinity is."

The Hokage looked down at the whiskered blonde. "Oh? What is it?"

"It's… do you know what the God Tree is?" Naruto asked as he looked up at Hiruzen.

"Yes, it's a sacred tree that landed here from a meteorite many, many years ago. People have been known to worship the tree because it helped nourish the land and make it thrive," he responded.

"Yeah, well… the God Tree doesn't actually do that…" Naruto debunked. "The God Tree slowly kills the land by draining its natural energy away and sucks up the blood from the earth."

"How do you know that?"

"Well… the weird affinity is actually the God Tree's offspring named Kirai inhabiting my body like the Kyuubi is…"

If you're confused about Fem!Kyuubi being in the harem, it'll be explained later.