Plots, Plans, Parties

Take all the fools out of this world and there wouldn't be any fun living in it, or profit.- Josh Billings

Naruto rested on his bed while staring at the ceiling. The soft mattress easily supported his small frame, but he didn't enjoy it as much as he should. It just didn't feel as comfortable as his old bed. The thing was big enough for two people and though Naruto had no trouble sleeping in it- he could sleep anywhere if he wanted- but it felt empty. There's too much space on the side. Naruto briefly entertained the idea of having a sleep-over.

He sat up, at the approaching sound of people arguing loudly. The fox container peeked out from his door, only to see the two largest men he had ever met. Both wore the forehead protectors of Konoha, and from the way they bickered he decided they must be related. When they started talking about food Naruto perked up.

"Fuujin, Tsunade-sama said the kitchens were downstairs! Not down the hall!" One of the large men complained. His stomach growled its own complaint and Naruto smiled. He could understand stomach-speak.

"Hi! I'm Naruto Uzumaki!" Naruto exclaimed as he introduced himself to the new shinobi. I wonder if they are some of the people from prison?

The brothers stopped arguing and turned to the boy, thoughts of dinner temporarily banished. "Naruto? Are you a new type of fishcake that serves itself?" Or maybe not.

Fuujin grinned predatorily and licked his lips. Naruto stepped back, not out of fear but out of awkwardness. He knew his name was a little strange but no one had confused him with edible before. "No. I can take you too the main kitchens if you want."

"Yes! Dinner! Riceballs! Sandwiches! Pasta! Pork!"

"Eggrolls! Cake! Pie! Chicken! Cookies!"

Caught up in the celebration of food, Naruto added to the list as the threesome marched to the underground dining hall. "Ramen! Strawberries! Ramen!"

Several audible sighs of relief could be heard as the group left the dorm section of the manor.

The dining hall was extravagant compared to the personal cooking stations in the rooms. Gray marble served as the floor, as well as the countertops. Huge stoves lined one wall, with nothing to separate the dining area from the cooking. There was a bonfire lit in the center of the room, over which a wild boar was roasting as Iruka turned the spit.

"Food!" The trio called and rushed the chef. Iruka 'eep'ed and clung to the ceiling, smiling in amusement as they burned their hands on the still flaming meal.

"You know, it would have been much easier if you just waited." Iruka said with a sigh. The two former convicts, who had been jailed for cannibalism, were each gnawing on a leg.

Naruto was sucking on a burned hand since he didn't have the ability to reach through the roaring flames without incident. "Iruka-sensei! How have you been? I been great! Hinata-chan made me try carrots yesterday. I didn't like them though. They made my lips itch afterwards. Does that make me allergic? Huh?"

Iruka patted his former students head, much like one would a loyal pet. "Yes, yes. I'm fine. Great actually. Anko brought this guy back from a patrol of hers, truthfully I didn't think boars got this big. Carrots? Never saw you as the carrot type. I don't know. You should ask Tsunade-hime."

Naruto hugged the older man and watched the brothers head to the cabinets where they proceeded to search for other food. Iruka patiently added another layer of sauce to the now mangled meal, waiting for Naruto to detach. The kid hadn't been this affectionate before, but to see the smile on his face was worth it. If the Umino hadn't been cooking he would be returning the embrace ten-fold.

"Why are you cooking the piggy?" Naruto asked, leaning forward but careful to avoid the flames. "Where is the fire coming from?"

"Don't know. It was here when we found the place and hasn't gone out. I figured bar-ba-que boar would be good, considering Chouji-kun's been asking for it."

Naruto bounced around the room inspecting it for traps and the like. Typical of Sasuke-teme to leave something of the like and not tell anyone. Iruka chuckled and told him that they had all been disabled already. "You said Akno-chan brought it back. Why did she give it to you? Can't she cook it herself?" The examiner had struck Naruto as a capable woman.

Iruka scratched his chin, absently getting some sauce on it. "Actually, I'm not quite sure but I have some ideas." He replied slyly. "She just showed up with the gutted carcass and dropped it at my feet, blushing the whole time. I thought she had a fever at first. Curious that is...but it gives a nice excuse to relax."

Naruto bounced on his toes, instantly his attention went to Iruka. "Does that mean were having a party?"

"Yes. Some others are bringing snacks and other things. I believe Kurenai volunteered to make brownies."

"And everyone's coming?" The blonde asked, eyes shining.

"Yeah." Iruka wiped his hands on a cloth.

"Sweet! I'm going to go tell Hinata-chan!"

Naruto burst from the kitchen, and slammed into the far wall. It was intentional, because as the sudden pressure of the boy's body hit it the wall rotated and allowed the blonde entrance to the tunnel. He kept one finger on the stone tracing a path, before the tunnel branched off into the separate directions. Left led to the main bedrooms, but the path narrowed. Naruto shrugged and continued forward until he came to a familiar hall. This place gets repaired fast!

Hinata was pacing her floor, wondering if she should wear a formal kimono to the impromptu celebration. Her ponderings were cut short as her idol burst from the wall, though this time he took time to use the handle. "N-Naruto-kun!"

"Hinata-chan!" He pounced like a cat, but only onto her bed. Hinata shrugged off the disappointment. She would have liked him to play with her hair again. "Iruka-sensei said they're going to party. Wanna come with me?"

I was trying to get the courage to ask you that. Hinata blushed. "Y-yes. I would like that, very much." Hinata bobbed her head. She spent the next few minutes in a haze.

"…That is a big boar." Hinata commented when she regained her bearings. Iruka nodded.

"Hinata-chan, can you get a leg?" Naruto asked innocently.

"What?"

Iruka pulled his fork from the sizzling meat, and decided it needed a few more minutes. "Naruto saw Fuujin and Raijin reach into that," he waved at the flames thoroughly surrounding the boar. "And rip off a leg, each. He tried to do the same and was burned."

"Oh. No Naruto-kun. I don't think I can, not yet."

Naruto fell backwards onto the cool tile, and rested his hands behind his head. "Okay. Is it something that only the two of them can do?"

"No. They do it because they have short attention spans and crazy stamina." Iruka called absently. When he realized what he said he felt the need to add to it. "You're too young to have the kind of raw power to rip the leg off quickly. Or control to protect yourself from such."

"Damnit. But I'll be able to do it, eventually right?"

Hinata nodded at his eager attitude. "And with enough chakra and control it's possible to create a shield, and walk straight through flames."

"That's sooo cool!" Naruto exclaimed as more people filed in.

Iruka lifted the iron rod holding the boar and shifted it out of the fire. "Very few shinobi have that kind of power and control. None of the sannin can do it longer and a few seconds."

Naruto sighed. He appeared depressed, when a thought bubbled up in his mind. But if no one can do it well… "It would be a good defense then."

"Come again?" Tsunade asked as she entered the room with Jiraiya. Surprisingly several girls were trailing the sweet-talking sannin.

Naruto blinked. They were taking him seriously? "Well, if it's hard to get through fire, couldn't there be wall of it."

Iruka shook his head. "The only jutsu capable of creating a wall of flames used the Uchiha bloodlimit."

Tsunade arched an eyebrow. "And you know this..?"

He shrugged. "I had an Uchiha in my class, I wanted to be the best teacher for him."

Naruto crossed his arms. "Isn't there some other way? Ero-sennin! Don't you have a combo with Gamabunta that makes fire?"

The room had begun to fill, with the gathered shinobi congregating around the cluster to listen in. Jiraiya smoked his pipe, thinking as Asuma cut the meat. "It's just a simple katon to ignite the oil. Only a brief stream comes from it."

"So the oil is flammable?"

Shikamaru shook his head in the negative when his father offered some sake. "Why not use trenches to hold it?"

"Jumping through a straight wall of fire is simple, it wouldn't help very much. Unless you can hold the person in the flames long enough for it to catch, it would be pointless." Tsunade uttered to Naruto's disappointment. He thought he had something.

Hinata furrowed her brow in thought. The idea made sense, but how to make it work against shinobi? There had to be a way to force the enemy ninja into remaining in the fire. "What about a grid?"

"A grid?"

Shikamaru nodded, his eyes loosing their bored look as he thought about it. "If placed close enough, the fire would suck the oxygen from the environment…I think it could work."

Kiba rolled his eyes. "Can we talk about this later? IT'S PARTY TIME!"

Asuma stepped up onto a table, so that the ever-burning fire served as a background. A few former ANBU were wearing their masks to the side of their heads as they picked up instruments.

The smoker took one last drag of the cigarette. "Some people call me the space cowboy…yeah…some people call me the gangsta of love."

Naruto jumped up and started to dance. He rocked from side to side, soon joined by Hinata. People danced and ate, while the tension of the past weeks drained. As the ninja and civilians let themselves relax an unbreakable bound, started during the great purge, completed. The village of Konoha inherited a will of fire, a pure burning passion that would soon be feared by all shinobi nations.

Naruto was drunk on the atmosphere of the party. He wandered back to his room with his head bobbing in time to the music, with Hinata clinging to his arm. She had accidentally taken a sip of Gai's sake and nearly passed out. The shorthaired girl had the same alcohol tolerance as her cousin, none.

"Naaaaruuuuto-kun." Hinata slurred, soon loosing her grip as blissful sleep called her. Without missing a step Naruto caught her and started carrying the girl bridal-style.

"Hinata-chan's really light." Naruto muttered to himself as he kicked open his door and sat the sleeping girl on his bed. Humming, he struggled to get off her coat after reasoning that she would be more comfortable without it. He stepped back, his blue eyes tracing her curves. Naruto climbed into bed on the other side. He reached over, weaving his fingers in Hinata's hair and listening to her breath. The steady pattern helped calm him down from the evening's festivities, and Naruto felt his eyelids drop. He pulled her closer, until the scent of her shampoo overwhelmed him. I could get used to this.

Hinata woke briefly, a small headache present. She would have left to get a painkiller, but the warm band around her middle stopped her. Hinata turned to see her love sleeping next to her. I must be dreaming. She brushed her lips against his as she burrowed closer to his warmth.

Naruto's eyelids lifted marginally, revealing red irises. He smiled and clutched Hyuuga tighter, possessively.

End.