Buzzing with excitement, Iruka bounds up the stairs to his apartment two at a time. He can't wait to tell Naruto that he finally made it to the last round of the chunin exams. No sooner has Iruka opened the than he is knocked over by Naruto.
"Iruka-niisan! You're back!" Naruto yells in happiness.
Iruka grins down at Naruto and says, "I made it to the final round!"
"Yay!" Naruto lets go of Iruka and starts jumping around. Then he grabs Iruka's hand and says "Come see what I got!" he pulls Iruka into their bedroom and points triumphantly at a pile of toad themed school supplies.
"Um…" Iruka isn't sure how to react. "Where did you get this stuff?"
"From my godfather," explains Naruto. "It's a late birthday present."
"Oh." Iruka is not sure what he should do. Lord Third told him to run any and everything that comes from Jiraiya by him before Naruto gets his hands on it, but obviously Naruto got to it first. Maybe whoever delivered it waited until they were sure Naruto would be the one to find it. "Well, that will all be very useful, won't it?"
"Yep!" Naruto grins. "Look at this!" he picks up a carefully swaddled book from its cushioning in the middle of his fuuton and holds it up for Iruka to see.
Iruka takes the book from Naruto's hands. 'The History of the Village Hidden in the Whirlpool, by Mito Uzumaki. Second edition; with updates by Kushina Uzumaki', says the title. Something tells Iruka that the Hokage won't like Naruto owning something that can be linked back to his parents. On the other hand, Iruka does like the idea of Naruto owning something that he can link back to his parents. Besides, this book will be incredibly helpful for teaching Naruto about the Whirlpool. Besides, this book used to be a required textbook for all Academy students. "This book is actually pretty hard to get hold of," comments Iruka.
"My Mum wrote some of it," says Naruto happily. "But what's the other Uzumaki's name?"
"Mito," Iruka tells him. "She was your mother's Great Aunt." If the Hokage heard Iruka say that, he might lose his Naruto Teaching Privileges.
"Really?" Naruto's eyes light up.
"Yes," grins Iruka. "Take good care of this book. I don't think I would be able to get hold of another copy if you lost or damaged it." And the Hokage would kill him if he brought Naruto a book with his mother's name on it.
"I will!" announces Naruto. "I will treat it like a precious treasure! 'Cause it is."
Iruka nods once and hands the book back to Naruto. "Now, Naruto," he begins, seriously. "For the next month I will be gone most mornings and home late most nights because I will be training for the chunin exams. While I'm gone you can work on your fuuinjutsu. You can start on the Second book as soon as you finish the first one. You can practice as much as you like, just don't blow anything up, set anything on fire, flood the apartment (again), spill ink everywhere, cut yourself, draw the seals on your body, make random things stick to you, summon any shinigami, cause an earthquake, try not to summon any mythical beasts-"
"I get it Iruka-niisan," interrupts Naruto. "I'll try not to cause any accidents. I'll be really careful."
"Naruto, remember your manners," scolds Iruka. "Interrupting is rude."
"Yes Iruka-niisan," says Naruto, hanging his head.
"Good, now let's have some tea."
Tenzou is fully geared up, her ANBU mask securely in place and her form concealing cloak shrouding her and helping her blend into the shadows. She is a forbidding sight (well she would be if anyone could see her). Now Tenzou isn't usually one to question her orders (at least not when they are from the Hokage, Danzo on the other hand was a different matter), but is it really necessary to stake out a six year old boy in order to determine whether or not the Hokage needs to steal his birthday presents?
But, orders are orders and Tenzou has to follow them. Her observations have uncovered the fact that one of the books Jiraiya sent has Naruto's mother's name on it. The Hokage didn't exactly tell Tensou everything, but he did say that anything that can be linked back to Naruto's parents must be reported immediately. Tenzou is on her way to do just that.
Tenzou is not overly surprised when another ANBU appears beside her. They have a tendency to investigate if they see one of their own heading for the Hokage tower at top speed. What does surprise her is that the ANBU is Kakashi sempai. "Hello Senpai," she greets him.
"Why are you on your way to the Hokage?" he asks.
"Because I have the information he wanted," replies Tenzou.
"Is it classified?" asks Sempai.
"Well, it is about the jinchuuriki, so yes."
Sempai stops Tenzo and turns her around to face him. "Is it about Jiraiya's gift?" he demands.
"Yes," she admits. It seems he knows about her mission.
"Let me guess; the Hokage wants to know about anything that could link back to Naruto's parents?"
"Yes."
"Do not tell him anything."
"Why not?" Tenzou demands. Sempai is starting to scare her.
"Because if you do I will tell the team that you sleep with a pink teddy bear named Mr Fluffy-Pants."
"But…" Tenzou protests. He wouldn't, would he?
"And then I'll glue all the books in your apartment shut."
"Uh…" How is he keeping a straight face while saying this?
"And then I'll tell Ebisu where you keep your porn."
"I don't keep porn!" squeaks Tenzou.
"Then I'll tell Might Gai that you would LOVE to go training with him."
Damn, his threats are about to work. Might Gai is bad enough when she has to be in the same room as him. Maybe there is a way she can turn the situation around? Maybe some sort of blackmail? Good thing he can't see her face, otherwise he would see how scared she is. The perfect idea occurs to Tenzou. Then she blushes violently and is instantly glad for her ANBU mask. "Do you honestly think that your threats would scare me?" Tenzou demands defiantly. They scare, they scare me, they scare me! She panics on the inside.
Sempai seems taken aback. "Damn," he says. "I was sure the Gai one would work. Are you sure you don't have a porn stash I can show everyone?"
"I do not have a porn stash." And Tenzou doesn't, either. What she does have is an unhealthy tendency to stare at Senpai's nice butt. "But I do have a proposition for you. Perhaps you would be willing to buy my silence?" Tenzou really doesn't want to crush the dreams of a little kid. Or have everyone find out she still sleeps with Mr. Fluffy-Pants.
"Um…" now it's Kakashi senpai's turn to look scared. "What do you want me to do?"
Feeling vastly more confident, but still blushing like a tomato, Tenzou says, "You have to take me on a date. But if I'm not impressed, I'll tell the Hokage anyway. And then I'll tell him you tried to threaten me into keeping quiet."
"Okay," agrees Sempai. "Where do you want me to take you?"
"You decide. Surprise me."
Kakashi spends all of the following day preparing to take Tenzou on a date in order to save Naruto's happiness. He spent a sleepless night trying to figure out what to do. Eventually he decided to copy what Minato sensei did the first time he took Kushina neesama on a date. That is, take her on a picnic. The real problem was where, since Kakashi does not want to completely copy Minato sensei. But then he thought of the perfect location.
When the appointed time comes, Kakashi collects Tenzou from her apartment. She is waiting outside for him, leaning against the door with a nervous scowl on her face. Kakashi stares for longer than can be covered by an excuse. This is the first time he has seen Tenzou in civilian clothes. And she's wearing girly clothes, too. Not just shorts and a pink t shirt either, no she's wearing a floral print dress, high heeled sandals, a ribbon in her hair and she has a handbag.
"What are you staring at?" she demands.
"You're wearing a dress," he says, and instantly feels stupid.
"And you brushed your hair, but do you see me staring? No, you don't," Tenzou sasses back.
"Sorry, I've just never seen you wearing civilian clothes before," apologises Kakashi.
"Well at least I actually own civilian clothes!"
"Ah, touche."
"So... what's in the basket?"
"A picnic. It's a picnic basket. We're going on a picnic."
"A picnic…?"
"Don't tell me you've never been on a picnic before!"
"Um…" Tenzou blushes bright red, confirming that she has never been on a picnic before.
Kakashi forgets that Naruto's happiness rides on this date as his fears are replaced by an iron-cast determination to make sure Tenzou's first picnic ever is her best picnic ever.
He didn't spend all day making every bit of food in the basket so that his friend would be turned off picnics for the rest of her life.
As the sun is setting, two off duty ANBU can be found sitting atop the Fourth Hokage's head. Sitting on a picnic blanket, with a basket of bento, sushi and rice balls, it is obvious they are on a date. Although at first glance it would be impossible to tell they are ANBU, the trained eye can see past the girl's floral dress and pink blushes, and the young man's lazy expression and mask.
And perhaps, the casual observer might think seeds of romance are blossoming between the pair. If the casual observer were to take a look in the girl's mind, however, they would find that she has been crazy for sempai for as long as she has known him. A look in the young man's mind would reveal a hidden, but not forgotten, fear that if this date does not go well, a little boy's happiness might be torn asunder. But the casual observer would have to see past the growing crush on the girl to uncover that information.
And maybe, just maybe, if the casual observer were to look in both minds they would find that both ANBU are scared of losing the other. After all, they are ANBU and ANBU have a tendency to be killed in combat.