'Hinata! Oi, Hinata!' Naruto called, waving his hand in front of the fainted girl. Out of nowhere she had fallen down, out cold, interrupting his observation of the ANBU's toned and shapely legs.

The other four turned around seeing the commotion.

'Che. Dobe, what did you do?' Sasuke asked, amused smirk plastered on his face as he watched the blonde check the Hyuga's head for a fever. He was a right idiot.

Naruto whipped his head around to look at the teme, 'What… I didn't do anything teme! She just fainted out of nowhere!' Shaking his head, he nudged the girl lightly. 'Oye, Hinata. Wake up.'

This girl seriously needed a doctor. This fainting habit can't be good for her. Honestly. This was the fourth time he had seen her do so.

'Hmm', the ANBU sighed. 'Either wake her up or carry her. We mustn't be late', she said walking towards the downed girl and the kneeling genin.

'I know', Naruto replied, not particularly liking the idea of having to carry the girl. Just when he was about to go and get some water to splash on her face, he sensed the arrival of the rest of team eight. Or more like, he smelled him.

'Hinata?' came Kurenai-sensei's concerned voice as she drew near.

Naruto was just about to answer her when he was almost bawled over by the barking Akamaru and the mutt.

'Oi! What did you do to her, dead-last?', Kiba hurried over to Hinata and attempted to snatch the girl from him.

Naruto let her go without a fight, 'I didn't do anything, you mutt', looking over to Kurenai. The last thing he needed was a fainting spy and a jonin on his case.

Kurenai nodded, seeing as the other two jonin weren't concerned, 'I know, Uzumaki-san. It's fine. She'll be okay.' With that, the sensei of team eight picked up the still unconscious genin and together they made their way towards the Hokage Tower.

'Boys', Sakura muttered under her breath, seeing Naruto and Kiba glaring at each other from the corner of her eyes. Seriously, why did they have to have a pissing contest at every available opportunity. So stupid. She glanced at the dobe sideways. At least Naruto was acting like himself again… somewhat.

Come to think of it, he hadn't asked her out in nearly three weeks now. She had suspected it was just to make her jealous or some hair-brained scheme of the idiot to make her accept him when he did ask, but it seems he really was serious this time. Did he really not have a crush on her anymore?

'Well, so what if he doesn't', Sakura assured herself confidently. 'Now he'll stop coming between me and Sasuke-kun.'

She was sure now Sasuke would go out with her. Why else would he then protect her from the baka, if he didn't have feelings for her. That re-motivated her to ask him out soon.

'Hinata can finally take him off my hands', she mused. Why then, did she have a feeling of loss in her chest? She hadn't wanted him when the baka asked her out the first time four years ago, and then everyday since then. She still didn't want him.

Why then, did she want to pull the baka away from the passed out Hyuga.

If Naruto had been actively kneading chakra or paying attention, not only would he have realised they were heading in the direction of the signatures he had sensed before, but that they were being followed, by a certain snake. Or he would have realised Sakura's saddened eyes on him.

They passed the security guards at the bottom of the tower without any hassle or checks. It seems they all knew they had been summoned before.

'Samurai', he noticed the armoured guards, and said guards immediately straightened further, their grips on their katanas tightening slightly.

'Strange', Shino added. 'To my knowledge only Daimyo's and other VIP lords keep samurai as guards these days.'

Naruto nodded; he had read the same. But to this day, he had never actually seen a samurai before. Especially in a ninja village. Something was definitely going on here. Five of the samurai were at the entrance, meaning the rest of them must be upstairs. It was safe to say that they weren't any infiltrators like he had been thinking earlier.

That only made him more curious? Who could the old man be meeting with?

'They're not from Fire Country', Kurenai-sensei informed the group as they entered the building. Seeing the genins' inquisitive looks, the raven-haired beauty elaborated, 'If they were, they would have an emblem of Fire Country on their armours.'

'That means Asuma-san was…?', Shino looked to his sensei for confirmation.

Naruto vaguely remembered Ino complaining how lazy her own sensei was. The sensei of team 10 had served the Fire Daimyo directly? Interesting. That means he must be powerful. Perhaps he could help Naruto like Guy was assisting him.

Before he could contemplate what that meant about Asuma's skills or how he would go about asking him, they crossed the Mission department and the answer hit him like a tonne of bricks falling on his head!

Oh Kami! That's what he meant! What a cryptic, moronic old bastard! Why couldn't Danzo have just told him straight up instead of telling him riddles.

'If you want to find a sensei, go to the Hokage Tower.'

Che. How the hell was he supposed to understand something like that. He wouldn't have wasted a week trying to get baka-Kakashi to try to spar with him or teach him more than just the basics. He mentally made a note to come back to department and find out how it works after they were done here. Hopefully, the old man wasn't sending them on a mission today.

'Ugh. How can I be so stupid!' Naruto grumbled to himself, resisting the urge to slap himself up the head. This was probably one time where he did deserve one of Sakura's classic punches. Again, guilt stabbed at his heart but he squashed it down ruthlessly. She had deserved it.

'Haha', Kiba chuckled looking at Naruto. 'That's cuz you are idiot, moron!' resulting in Kurenai admonishing him with a stern, 'Kiba!'

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the mutt-like-ninja, 'Piss off.' He was in no mood to take his bullshit, not when he had so many things on his mind. He shook his head in realisation.

He should have left a few shadow clones back at the library to continue researching. Even if he was improving mentally, he still needed to start thinking ahead more. This was just another classic example.

'So, dobe. Have you gotten any stronger since Wave?', Kiba asked him with a cocky grin on his face.

Naruto at once replied, 'You bet. I've gotten loads stronger!' Okay, may be that was a bit of an exaggeration but Tobirama did say that if you were weak, show you're strong and vice versa. It might have even worked if Sasuke hadn't snorted as if he had a pebble stuck in his duck-nose.

Kiba burst out laughing, 'Yeh. That'll be the day when hell freezes over.'

Naruto resisted the urge to punch the arrogant bastard into next week. He knew Kiba was referring to the beating he took from Sasuke.

'Go fuck a dog!', Naruto flipped him off, earning a glare from Kakashi.

'Why you….!' Kiba cracked him knuckles and would have lunged at him if he hadn't been pulled back by Shino.

'K…Kiba-kun… Don't be m…mean', both Naruto and Kiba turned around to see a light-red faced Hinata pushing her fingers together, looking at Kiba, studiously avoiding Naruto's eyes.

'Oh, you're awake', Naruto said. 'You really need to go to a doctor or something, Hinata.'

'I'm fine, N…Naruto-kun', Hinata replied but her almost whisper was drowned out by Kiba.

'What? She's absolutely fine!' Kiba hollered at him.

'Kiba-kun…'

'Enough!' came the ANBU's stern feminine voice, 'We're here. Behave yourselves. We have visitors.'

Naruto couldn't tell because of the mask but he got the feeling that they had really annoyed the woman. Was she glaring at them?

'She's right', Kakashi added. 'This is the reputation of Konoha on the line.'

'What?' was Kiba's eloquent reply before he wisely shut up seeing his sensei's glare. Naruto however, wasn't paying attention to the scene behind him.

That was it. He could almost taste the chakra; the person was so close. Who was the person in the room with the old man?

Neko knocked on the door and the old man answered, 'Come in.'

Naruto knew just from the sound of his voice that this was no ordinary occasion. This was serious. The old man rarely sounded so cold and business like, even when talking to his own shinobi.

'Who do you think's in there?' Kiba whispered to Shino as they all entered after Kakashi and Kurenai. Naruto didn't hear Shino's reply for he was suddenly standing in the old man's office which was filled up more than he could ever remember it being.

'Ah good, you're here', the old man said, watching the two teams file in.

On each side of the Hokage, stood two ANBU, and he could sense there were two more hidden somewhere else, though he couldn't pinpoint where they were. Neko stood at attention at the back of the room.

The tension was so thick in the room that he could almost taste it. There were five other samurai in the room, who were guarding a young woman sitting in front of the Hokage's desk with her back ramrod straight. So, this was the VIP.

His attention however was quickly focused on the other large source of chakra in the room. Vaguely, he registered sensing Kiba's shock and might have also heard his jaw drop. What a pervert!

For the woman was perhaps the most beautiful he had ever seen, hands down. And given he had already met Kurenai, that was saying something. She was a tall slender woman, with green eyes and knee length auburn hair, with four bangs on her face. Two shorter bangs covered the left side of her face and one of her hauntingly green eyes, which observed them critically.

Naruto made sure his mouth was firmly shut, and he looked nowhere near her sizeable chest, which was only covered on the underside of her breasts by her blue dress.

Where the hell does she keep her weapons? Her dress covered a skirt, and fishnet leggings but he could see no holster for kunai or shuriken.

'Teams seven and eight reporting, Hokage-sama', Kakashi-sensei said seriously. Naruto had to hand it to the man. He might be a lazy ass bastard but no one could argue he wasn't a capable ninja.

Naruto could almost see the gears turning in his sensei's head, assessing the newcomers as potential enemies. Much like he himself was doing.

'Ah, Kakashi, Kurenai. This is the daughter of the Water Daimyo, Princess Eboshi Takigawa', the Hokage nodded towards the woman sitting directly opposite him, and only barely turned to look at the two jounin.

Wait, what?! Water Daimyo? Wasn't that country Kiri was in? Naruto's eyes shot to the headbands of her ninja and undoubtedly, it was the same as Zabuza's.

Both Kurenai and Kakashi bowed to her, prompting the rest of them to do so as well. If anyone saw Naruto's awkward bow, they certainly didn't say anything, for which he was grateful. For once Kiba kept his infernal mouth shut.

The Princess, who looked no older than twenty but otherwise unremarkable in looks, motioned towards her ninja. 'This is Mei Terumi-san, jonin of Kirigakure and her genin.'

The beautiful woman, Mei, was surveying each member of the group, sizing them up no doubt, making Naruto more uncomfortable by the minute. There was something very eerily familiar between her and the way Zabuza looked at them.

Naruto didn't knead chakra in this room, lest it was taken it as an attack. But even without that, he could clearly sense the woman's chakra and it confused him to no end. How come he could get a vague feeling of fire, rock and water from her? No, it wasn't that, he corrected himself.

It was some weird combination. Regardless of what her chakra felt like, Naruto knew she was a dangerous kunoichi. Plain and simple. The calculating look in her eyes, like she was a veteran of wars that he couldn't even imagine told him that much. He knew that if it came to head, this woman could easily defeat Kurenai-sensei, strength wise if not in skill.

Why was she fixating on Kakashi-sensei though? It didn't look like she meant him harm but her glances to Kurenai-sensei weren't friendly by any means, making Naruto even more suspicious of her.

Naruto studiously avoided looking at the girl beside the beautiful woman, who kept glaring at him for some reason. He didn't know what he thought was weirder. The fact that this teenage girl, who couldn't be more than a couple of years older than him had white hair, or the two red dots on her forehead.

Or the weird bone-y feeling he got from her. The last couldn't be right. He must have studied more than he thought, for he was thinking stupid things. What had he ever done to her? She could hardly know him. Why then did she glare at him like Konoha villagers did?

While the boy beside her, dressed in light blue looked older than the girl, he seemed almost… scared, he thought. No, not scared. But unsure. Uncertain. In complete contrast to his younger teammate. Said boy also had a slightly longer than normal sword on his back.

Naruto was by no means an expert on weapons, like he heard from Lee that his teammate was, but surely normal katanas weren't almost down to a person's knees. Sasuke too had taken note of that fact with his shrewd eyes, Naruto could see.

With that observation, he turned his attention his back to the talking adults.

'These are the teams who battled your rogue shinobi', the Hokage said, 'As you have requested.'

Naruto narrowed his eyes. This was about Zabuza and Haku? Did they know that he hid… No. They couldn't. Could they? Not even Kakashi knew it.

The Princess nodded and said, 'I'm grateful, Hokage-dono', taking the two scrolls Mei handed to her.

The Princess turned towards them, 'My father, the Daimyo would like to thank you and Konoha for killing the criminals Zabuza and Haku. You may or may not know, Zabuza tried to assassinate my father but failed in his attempt.'

Team 7 already knew of this since Kakashi had explained it to them on the mission to Wave but why was she here?

His question was answered as the Princess extended the two scrolls over to Kakashi, 'Please accept this token of our gratitude. In this are the bounties for both Zabuza and Haku, paid for by the Mizukage and the Daimyo himself.'

WHAT?! Naruto's eyes saw red as he clenched his fists! The nerve of this woman! So, these were the supporters of that monster Yagura and they thought they could just be bought!

Well, they should think again. Just when he was about to object taking the bounties, baka-Kakashi accepted it gratefully, and with a 'thank you' no less.

Naruto ignored the 'sweet' from Kiba behind him as he glared at his sensei.

No, he would not stand for this insult to Haku! 'Kakashi-sensei! Don't! You can't accept this….', he paused trying to think up a suitably offensive word. 'Blood money!'

Everyone's eyes snapped towards him in surprise. Not just anyone would dare to object to a gift from a Daimyo, even if said Daimyo wasn't their own leader.

'Naruto, stand down!'

Naruto's breath heaved; his body subconsciously preparing itself for battle, aware of the Hokage's stern gaze and the visitors incredulous looks on him.

Yet he carried on, 'No! Zabuza and Haku fought for Kiri! They gave their lives for Kiri and these ungrateful... You can't accept this insult to their memory!'

'Enough, Naruto!' Kakashi reprimanded his genin who was staring at the Princess with those hateful eyes. This could quickly dissolve into an international scandal if the idiot didn't get himself under control and if the Princess took this as an insult, which it very clearly was.

Harui looked on in shock at the scene unfolding her before her. She had felt the group approaching the Hokage's office and was sure that the boy Kiri hunter-nins had talked about would be a shinobi. She was positive that they would be mistaken. Colour her surprised when it turns out that she was the one who was mistaken.

This idiot, who had the gall to wear that awful bright orange jumpsuit, one who yells about naïve ideals is no shinobi. He's a moron.

'No, Kakashi-sensei. We aren't some mercenary bounty hunters to take money for taking lives', the idiot went on to say. Didn't he know that's what all ninja do?

It was in that moment she understood that the orange idiot wasn't the one who defeated Haku. After all, how could he have done? She didn't sense anything special from him. The orange idiot's chakra, while abundant, wasn't trained at all. It was a chaotic mess. No, it must have been the Uchiha, who even now looked annoyed at his teammate, along with the pink haired girl.

Wait, pink! Seriously! Did Konoha have any decent genin at all? Out of the collected ensemble, only the guy with the coat and the sunglasses looked like he was a ninja. The boy with the dog on his head, felt like he could fight. But then again, anyone who uses the assistance of a dog on a regular basis, how powerful can they really be.

There wasn't even any point wondering about the fidgeting girl beside him, wearing that bulgy overlarge jacket, pushing her fingers together nervously.

'N…Naruto-kun', the timid girl behind the idiot said, lightly pulling on his jumper. 'I…I think they get it.'

What an idiotic girl. Did she really think the loudmouth moron would listen to such a weak request, even though he didn't listen to his own sensei?

However, Harui was once again surprised when she saw the boy's angry blue eyes, soften just a little and the idiot relented, albeit reluctantly. Interesting… He didn't look like he had any emotional attachment to the girl. In fact, the momentary confused look he sent her way told her they didn't know each other well. Then why did he listen to her? Why then did she call him -kun?

'Naruto', Kakashi was thankful to whatever the Hyuga girl did to get his brash genin to stop talking. Even if she was a timid little soul, being Hiashi's daughter, she was undoubtedly aware of the importance of political allies, especially once has important as a Daimyo's daughter. Something that Naruto would never be able to understand, what with his idealistic, narrow world view.

For whatever reason they were here, Konoha couldn't afford to make an enemy out of them. At least, not to their face. But the genin probably had no idea of that. Other than Hinata and Shino perhaps. Time for some damage control now.

'The bounty for both Zabuza and Haku is going to be shared between all eight people who were on the mission', Kakashi informed him. 'It's not fair if you keep what is rightfully theirs from them.'

What?! Rightfully theirs? How could he even say that? But it was clear to Naruto that he would not get any support in this room.

'Fine', Naruto spat, glaring from his sensei to the Kiri nin who had the gall to insult Haku and Zabuza. 'They can take it if they want to but not me. Donate my share to orphans or something.'

'M…Mine too. I agree with N…Naruto-kun', Hinata added quietly. Naruto's anger abated just a little, if only because he was more shocked than anything. Since when did Hinata ever side with him? Didn't she deliberately oppose him last time, in favour of the mutt?

Is it true? Could she actually think he was right and not be making fun of him? He turned a little but stopped short, his breath hitching in his throat, pleasantly surprised to see the sincere look in her eyes. But that wasn't all, he could see the determination in them.

Could it true that someone, anyone wanted to stand with him for the first time since he could remember and not against him? A warm feeling blossomed in his chest at seeing the soft lavender eyes, but he squashed just quickly, remembering that she was the one who was spying on him a week ago, and today as well.

He was about to turn away but then he remembered, he couldn't show disrespect to the Hokage in front of outsiders. Even if the old man was going senile.

'Is that all, Hokage-sama?' he asked, surprising all those who knew him. They had never, ever seen him add a respectful honorific to anyone's name or title. It was common knowledge in Konoha that the demon brat cared not a whit about formality or anyone's status.

He neither saw nor cared what they thought of him at this point. As such, he missed the look of slight pride in Hinata's eyes before she looked down on the floor. It, however, did not go amiss by any of the jonin present.

Naruto was however, surprised to see that there wasn't a look of annoyance or anger in the old man's eyes. But before he could figure out the odd look in the Hokage's eyes, it was gone replaced by a blank look.

'Yes, you may go', Hiruzen said, hoping that the Kiri Jonin did not bring up another sore point of contention. They were here for another week or so. There was no reason to bring up all the problems right this minute.

He had heard of Mei Terumi of course. Given that she had tried to melt his student's balls for peeping on her made it kind of hard not be aware of her. But that was quite a while ago. This was a good opportunity to actually learn what the hell was going on inside Kiri. The village was so closed off, second only to Rain, especially after the Second Ninja War that it made the other Great Villages anxious.

Rumours stated that Yagura's forces were not fairing well. Or at least, they hadn't been until the Daimyo decided to lend the young lunatic a hand. And now, the daughter of said Daimyo was here. Interesting indeed. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that what his advisors would say.

But that fact was, siding with the Daimyo and the Mizukage just didn't sit right with him. Not to mention, he would never be able to look Naruto in the eye if he did that.

Granted, a village leader should not base his decision on the opinions of a genin, but in this case, Naruto's feelings on the Mizukage were spot on.

He knew he should not show favouritism to any of his genin, but he couldn't help feeling pride at Naruto's strong ethics. At least in this, he hadn't failed him. It did his old heart good, seeing the pure hearted boy refuse to accept money in return for the enemies he had killed.

It spoke a lot of a person, especially in this world so full of hatred that he was not willing to take advantage of his enemies even after death. It showed a certain honour that many lacked.

'If only you were here to see the boy, Shodaime. You would have been proud.'

The boy probably didn't know but he had inherited the purest form of the Will of Fire. And even his difficult childhood hadn't succeeded in driving it away.

One look at Kakashi reminded him that he still needed to talk to the jonin about his favouritism. There was no way in hell was he going to allow something as trivial as that to drive the Will of Fire from Naruto.

'I apologise for the outburst of my genin, Eboshi-sama', Kakashi said, just as Naruto walked out, not missing the fact that the Kiri jonin's unusual interest in him ever since he lost his cool. No, that wouldn't do at all. However, what confused him was the calculating look in the Princess' eyes.

'No indeed', the Princess replied, 'I quite understand. It is… refreshing to see a shinobi hold himself to expectations of honour.'

Even more concerning was the unusual gleam in Mei's eyes following Naruto. What did the woman want from his student? Did she suspect… no, she couldn't. How would she even begin to look for it. But then, if she didn't suspect what he thought she did, then why was she interested in him?

'Teams seven and eight dismissed. Kakashi, Kurenai, stay', the Hokage ordered, and offered them a seat, which both of them declined. Smart move, even if a little unnecessary. They were quite safe from any attack, given that two ANBU squads were nearby.

'Now, shall we get to business', the Hokage said, looking at the Princess who also looked like she was a no-nonsense kind of person and appreciated a directed approach.

'Indeed', the Princess replied. 'As you probably know, I am here to improve Water Country's diplomatic relations with Fire Country. My father tells me that the Daimyo holds you in high regard, Hokage-dono.'

Hiruzen nodded, 'He may do, but that does not follow that he will listen to whatever I say', he said sagely.

Now here starts the political games that he so excelled at and his sensei had lacked in. Tobirama was thoroughly military minded and made many enemies and mistakes in his tenure as Hokage. Some of which, Hiruzen had corrected, and some were irreversible. The Uchiha massacre was one such result of his sensei's harsh policies.

But with any luck, he would start a negotiation which benefitted Konoha's economy more. His ninjutsu repertoire wasn't the only reason they called him the Professor. Little did he know what the Princess was planning, especially in regards to a certain blonde genin.