"Can you remind me why we are headed to Suna?" Yugao asked Naruto as they walked across the desert. Yugao honestly did not want to be her but it wasn't because of the desert, it was because the person who killed her fiance was part of the village.

"I told you, I'm trying to master wind manipulation and Temari is one of the best users I know after Asuma-sensei. You seem aggravated when I mention this village, why do you hate Suna?" Naruto asked.

"It's not the village.." Yugao whispered. She needs to calm herself before she creates an incident. Yugao snapped out her thoughts when she felt Naruto grab her hand. She turned to face him and saw a concerned look on his face.

"If you ever need to talk, I'm here for you." Naruto said with a warm smile and tone to match.

Yugao couldn't help but smile. "Thank you."

After a few more minutes of walking, they notice Suna gates and three familiar figures standing in front. "Naruto Uzumaki, it's good to see you." Gaara greeted, stepping forward.

Naruto smiled and shook his fellow jinchuuriki hand. "Good to see you Gaara." He then turned to Kankuro. "Hey cat boy, make-up fabulous as always."

"It's war paint, it's intimidating you brat."

"Sure thing, pretty boy." Naruto retorted and turned to Temari without a word. Temari became aggravated.

"What? Got nothing to say to me?" Temari asked.

"Huh? Sorry, I'm just realizing how dumb and blind I was when we first met." Naruto said.

"What do you mean?" Temari asked.

"I never noticed how beautiful you are, especially your eyes. Must've been the height difference." Naruto answered. Temari blushed a bit, while scratching her cheek.

Gaara smiled at this. 'Naruto and Temari? I approve.' Gaara thought before turning to Yugao. "And who might you be?"

Yugao stepped forward and bowed. "I'm Yugao Uzuki, I've been traveling with Naruto on his training trip helping him with his kenjutsu."

"I see, well let's head to my office." Gaara said.

"What office?" Naruto asked.

Gaara gave Naruto a small smirk. "I see you haven't been informed. I'm the Kazekage."

Naruto linked a bit, processing what he was told. "WHAAAAATTTTTTT?!" Naruto yelled, causing everyone to chuckle. Naruto covered his mouth in embarrassment and coughed in his hand. "Um, sorry about that. Anyway, congratulations."

Gaara gave Naruto a huge smile, which people rarely see. "It's all thanks to you my friend. Now let's head to the tower."

The group followed Gaara to the tower, while Yugao and Naruto took in the scenery. "Your village is awesome, Gaara."

"Thank you, although I wish it was more than just sand." Gaara commented. Naruto looked at the people and saw them blushing at him, which confused him. Gaara noticed. "You have a fan-club. When the people found out how you changed me and let me go instead of killing me, they gain respect for you."

"It also helps that you grown to be quite the looker." Temari added, trying to tease her fellow blonde.

"Well, if someone as beautiful as you saying that, it must be true." Naruto teased back. Temari blushed, causing Kankuro to snicker.

"Well I'll be, I thought I would never see Temari actually blush." Kankuro teased.

"I'm surprised you can tease your sister when you keep taking her make-up." Naruto said.

"It's warpaint!" Kankuro yelled. Temari giggled a bit, while Yugao just smiled. When they arrived at the tower, they were greeted by Baki, the sand team sensei.d

"Greeting lord Kazekage. I see our guests have arrived. It's nice to meet you in person, Uzumaki-san." Baki said.

"Uh, likewise. Baki-san, was it?" Naruto replied, earning a nod from the man. Naruto was about to continue when his sense of danger went off. Thinking quickly, he unsealed one of his swords and blocked an attack coming from Yugao. "YUgao-chan, what are you doing?" he asked but didn't get a response. He looked into her eyes and saw rage but it wasn't aimed towards him, it was aimed towards Baki.

"What's going on, why did you attack our sensei?" Temari said, reaching for her fan.

"You took him away from me!" Yugao yelled in anger. Everyone was confused on what she meant. Naruto was thinking about what she said, he knew about her fiance dying but she informed him on who and how but all he knew was when it happened.

Naruto pulled her into a hug as both of them dropped their swords as the maskless anbu cried in his chest. Naruto processed her words, assuming she was talking about Hayate, he turned Baki with a cold look that startled everyone, including Gaara. "Sand-sensei, can I ask you a question? When the sand invaded, were you the one to kill the third proctor?"

Baki tense a bit before answering. "Yes I did, I regret that we were fooled by Orochimaru til this day but why ask such a question?"

"Because he was my fiance?" Yugao answered with her head still in Naruto's chest. All the Suna nin eyes widen. Baki was feeling more guilt than before.

"I see…well, if it will make you feel better, I'll let you strike me down for my treasonous actions." Baki said, stepping forward.

"But sensei.." Temari began until Baki held up his hand.

"No Temari, it's my choice." Baki said with conviction.

"Yugao-chan please do the right thing." Naruto whispered in her ear.

Yugao stepped forward, her sword pointing at baki. Temari was sweating, Kankuro looked at Gaara hoping he would stop it but Gaara just shook his head. Yugao glared at the suna jonin, shaking in rage. "I can't tell you how many nights his death haunted me. I dreamt of the life we could've had, the possibility of kids and so much more. After his death, I didn't feel anything any more. All the high risk missions I took just hoping I would slip up and die, to join him. You took away his future and my happiness." Yugao brought up her sword but to everyone's surprise, she threw it to the ground. "While I could get revenge, it will not make me feel any better. I decided to let go of that anger and hatred and move."

Baki was speechless, so all he did was get on his knees with a bow. "I'm terribly sorry for what I've done and thank you for sparing me."

"Don't thank me." Yugao said, looking at her traveling companion. "Thank Naruto-kun, the past few months with him reminded me of what it was like to live. Plus, Hayate would be disappointed in me." Naruto gave her a warm smile and a nod. Yugao smiled at the blonde and turned to Baki. "If you really feel sorry, then help Naruto with his wind affinity and no slacking."

"He will, alongside Temari." Gaara said, approaching the Konoha-nin. "I'm sorry for the pain my village caused, I'll take care of your reservations. Please try to enjoy yourselves. Temari, can you lead them to a Silver Oasis inn?"

"Of course." Temari responded and approached the two. "I'm sorry on behalf of Suna and thank you for not killing my sensei." Temari said to Yugao. "And Naruto-kun, once again thank you for saving my brother and Baki."

"Huh? But I didn't do anything." Naruto said. Yugao and Temari giggled a bit. Naruto didn't know, but he wormed his way into the two kunoichi's hearts.


Konan stood at the top of Ame, looking down at her village in the continuous rain. She never left Nagato's side ever since the death of Yahiko, always simply following his orders. She questions the other members of the akatsuki. Why would they strive for something like peace, some of them seem like they had their own goal but who was she to have these rights. As she looked down at her village, she always wondered if it was usually this quiet. She decided to check it out, after all, she wasn't a missing nin unlike most of the akatsuki. She spread her paper wings and took off to the village. As she looked down, she noticed the people were pointing at her with a look of fear.

'Why are they scared of me?' Konan asked. She saw parents, ushering her kids inside their homes. 'I never harmed them, I'm their protector?' Konan asked herself, as she landed on the ground. She felt something hit her leg. She looked down and saw a ball, looking at the direction it came from, and saw a group of kids coming her way. She picked up the ball and held it towards the kids. "Here you go."

The kids stopped and started to quiver in fear. "Look, it's the evil Angel." "Please don't kill us." "We're sorry, please don't hurt us." The kids said, hugging each other.

Konan was hurt by this. "Why would I hurt you, you're just kids."

"Because that orange haired man killed my older brother for saying he is not a god." one of the kids said.

Konan was surprised by this, she never agreed to this. Slaughtering because of someone's opinion. She looked around the village and saw parents ushering kids inside the house, while some adults glared at her with hate. She wasn't wanted here. It actually hurt a bit, so she left back to her home thinking about what she learned.


One month

Temari just came back from border patrol and decided to see if Temari wanted to go on a date with her. She was still grateful to the blonde for saving her brother and she had to admit he's gotten hotter since the last time she saw him. 'But where could he be, probably training again.' Yugao informed Temari of Naruto being in the CRA after Temari caught Yugao and Naruto on a date. She was determined to get her chance at the hot blonde. She went to the training ground Gaara let him use and he was there, in a meditating position. "Hey Mari-chan." Naruto said, opening his eyes.

Oh kami, she just loved that nickname. "Hey Naruto-kun, what are you doing?"

"I actually created my own wind jutsu. I wanted to show you." Temari perked up at this. "Just stay back a bit." Temari nodded and walked backwards to give her blonde crush some room. Naruto closed his eyes and started to concentrate. Soon a tornado was forming in front of him. "Wind style: Dragon cyclone!" Naruto shot a tornado towards the desert over the village wall, with the head shaped like a dragon to avoid damage.

"That looks stronger than my Wind cyclone jutsu." Temari said.

"Yeah, it's kinda difficult to hold the wind in one place but with enough practice, I think I can control it." Naruto said.

"That's amazing, is it possible for me to learn it?" Temari asked.

"Sure, I'll teach it to you. I'll also teach you to get rid of the wind resistance when we run and jump." Naruto said. Temari's eyes widened in excitement.

"You actually learn to do that?"

"Yeah, with the help of my clones. So do you want to train with me?" Naruto asked his fellow blonde.

"Of course, by the way. I wanted to ask you if you wanted to go on a date with me?" Temari asked nervously.

Naruto was surprised by this but gave her a warm smile. "Sure Mari-chan. I would love to."

Temari smiled and pecked Naruto on the cheek. "Great, pick me up tonight." Temari said, disappearing in a shunshin.

Naruto chuckled. "Well better prepare." Naruto said before disappearing.


"You want to do what?" Tsunade asked the Nanabi Jinchuuriki.

"I want you to train me how to fight. You're the strongest woman in the village and I want to be strong like Naruto-kun." Fu said.

"Well, I can train you in taijutsu but because of you being a jinchuuriki, you'll have a difficult time learning my super strength." Tsunade said but was surprised when Fu started whimpering. "Oh, I know. Why won't I put you with my anbu team I created. Two of Naruto's precious people are on the team and you can train with them."

"Really?" Fu asked excitedly.

"Of course." 'plus it'll keep Danzo's grubby hands off you.' Tsunade thought.

"Thank you, I really appreciate it." Fu said with a bow.

"Shisou, I'm here for my lesson. Who's this?" Sakura asked, walking in the office.

"Sakura, meet Fu. She just transferred here and now is a kunoichi of the village." Tsunade said.

"Sa-ku-ra…" Fu said, analyzing the girl. Isn't this the girl who always hurts Naruto-kun? The one who broke his heart and called him names?'

"Nice to meet you, I'm Sakura." Sakura said, extending her hand.

Fu looked at and turned her face away. "I don't like you." Fu said, shocking Tsunade and Sakura. "I heard you were a mean person, who bullies people and makes fun of them. I don't like bullying." Fu said. Sakura was confused but Tsunade realized what's going on.

'Naru-chan must have told Fu about his former crush. Can't blame Fu for not liking the girl.' Tsunade thought.

"I-i'm not a bully and I'm not mean to anyone." Sakura said.

"Hmph, whatever. See you Hokage-sam, I'm going to go train." Fu said, leaving the office.

"What was that about?" Sakura questioned. Tsunade just stayed quiet.


"I had a wonderful time, Naruto-kun." Temari said, clinging to his arm. Naruto treated to a nice dinner and she decided to show her fellow blonde around Suna. But to both of the blonde annoyance, multiple people were bothering them with random comments about their looks and soon enough, they built up a fan club. Overall, both blondes enjoy their night together.

"So did I. We should do this again in the future." Naruto said.

Temari gave Naruto a flirty smile. "Oh, it sounds like you are asking me to be your girlfriend."

"Well, I would love that but you realize you have to share me. Since I'm part of two clans, I have to take multiple wives." Naruto informed the girl.

"I know, Gaara told me and I don't mind. I've seen what kind of person you are and I know you'll treat us equally if we ever get to the marriage stage." Temari said as they approached her house. "Now that we're pretty much official. This is the part where you kiss the girl after the date."

Naruto chuckled at the boldness of the sand mistress before wrapping his arms around the girl and pulling her towards him, capturing her lips. Temari wrapped her arms around his neck and a moan erupted from her mouth as she deepened the kiss. Naruto lifted the girl up and put her back against the door as he tongue poke her lips, asking for permission. Temari opened her mouth, allowing the entry and the tongue wrestle began. 'Kami, this is the best first kiss I ever had.' Temari thought as she ran her finger through her fellow blonde's hair.

Soon, the two separated and were gasping for air. "Wow." the both said in unison. "We definitely have to do that again." Naruto said. Temari giggled at the comment but couldn't help to agree.

"You bet your ass we will. Now have a goodnight and I'll see you tomorrow." Temari said before giving Naruto one last peck on the lips. Naruto heads to the hotel with a huge smile on his face.

"So Naruto-kun, what's next on the agenda after Suna? Are you going to another village to add another girl to your harem?" Akane asked with a teasing grin.

"It's not like I asked for this." Naruto responded.

"I know but I do have a question, when are you going to visit Koyuki?you know she have a thing for you?" Akane asked.

"...she WHAT?! I didn't know that."

"Really? It was kind of obvious. You should visit her before you return to the village. She might be able to help you with your book. 'Lost soul.' she could make it into a movie, imagine that pervert's face when your book is made into a movie and his is not."

"That would be funny to see, maybe I should pay her a visit. Plus, I would love to see her again." Naruto said.

"Naruto." Naruto exited his conversation and turned to see Gaara looking at him with a smile. "I was hoping we could have a small drink and talk."

"Sure Gaara, I wanted to catch up with you." Naruto repoonded. As he and the Kazekage proceeded to Gaara's office.


"So what's your plans after this?"Gaara asked, pouring the two jinchuuriki some sake.

"Well, after I master my wind affinity, I need to work on my water affinity." Naruto answered.

"Well, why not go to Ame? The shinobi there are aggressive but they're not too much for you to handle."

Naruto thought about it. "Well, I'll leave a hiraishin kunai here if I have any problems. Plus, Temari-chan would be happy if I could see her more often." Naruto said.

Gaara nodded at the idea. "I approved of the idea but be careful traveling on your own. I'll hate to leave my brother in law to the curse of Akatsuki." Gaara said, making Naruto blush. "Naruto, you're my first and best friend. I trust you with my sister and you're the only one I approve of to marry her."

Naruto stared at his best friend and smiled. "Thank you Gaara, that means a lot to me. You know, I used to think my best friend would be Sasuke but you proved me wrong."

"Sasuke Uchiha is foolish, he traded friendship for power. I never had the choice, he's a fool and I want you to do everything you can to bring the Uchiha down if he becomes a threat because if he kills you, I will not forgive him and end his life in a heartbeat."

Naruto stared in disbelief at his fellow jinchuuriki. "I will, I honestly gave up on him after he plunged two chidori in me. I feel like I promised Sakura more than myself. I let my affection for her control my emotions. But no more, I'll do what's right for the village."

"Good to hear." Gaara said, pouring two more cups of sake.


Konan had been happy the past three months, she's been helping some orphaned kid who used to think she was a monster alongside Pein. it's been a real mind opener, she started to question all the things she's been doing with the akatsuki. 'Building a super weapon to force people to work together and killing anyone who stands in your way.' Konan was slowly thinking about her childhood friend. She looked at the bag of food in her hand that she was bringing for the kids and smiled. "At least I can bring some happiness." Konan said.

"Onee-san." one of the kids said, hugging the angel. Konan had a warm smile on her face and hugged the child back. "Nii-chan is here!" the little girl said.

'Onii-chan?' Konan thought, confusingly as she followed the child into the building. She almost gasped when she saw one of her targets sitting in the living room playing with two young boys and it was the kyuubi jinchuuriki. "It's you…"

Naruto looked up from the boys and flinched when he saw Konan's cloak. "Why are you here?"

"Onii-chan, onee-chan was the one taking care of us before you came." the girl said.

Naruto was surprised to hear this and hid it.

"Really? I have to think the beautiful onee-chan for taking care of my cute imouto and otoutos." Naruto said, eyeing Konan suspiciously. To his surprise, instead of a glare, Konan seemed uncomfortable. "Do you mind if I talk to onee-san?" Naruto asked the kids. The kids nodded and went outside to play. Once the two shinobi were left, Naruto's eyes turned slit and he glared at the paper user. "Ok, talk. Why are you here?"

"I was taking care of the kids since it's my job as the village shinobi to do so." Konan answered, staring at Naruto. "But why are you here, this is my village after all."

"I was training and needed a place to train my water affinity. Nothing better than a village that always rains. So what happens now? I don't want to fight you since you're close to the kids." Naruto said.

"We won't have to if you just come with me and allow me to abstract the kyuubi from you." Konan replied.

"Then what? Are you going to tell the kids how onee-san killed onii-chan?" Naruto asked, causing guilt to build in Konan's heart. "Can i ask you something, why are you killing us jinchuuriki's anyway? What have we done to your group of rogue nin?"

"It's for peace, my leader wants to use the bijuu powers to create a weapon of mass destruction and destroy half the nation, forcing people to unite together to survive and end wars." Konan answered.

"Are you kidding me? Does that sound logical to you?" Naruto asked in disbelief.

"He believes if people understood each other's pain, they would unite." Konan said.

"If that was true, people would have united after the first war. In war people lose family and friends but instead of grieving and understanding each other, they want revenge. Regardless of what your leader thinks, he he commits genocide, there will be people who wants revenge. Trust me I know. My old friend Sasuke tried to kill me, I thought because both of us lost our parents and we were alone, we could understand each other. But revenge was way more important to him and he tried to kill me." Naruto said.

"You don't know what you're talking about, my leader is a god. No one can beat him." Konan said.

"You don't believe that." Naruto said, making Konan flinch. "You believe he could die anytime, i can tell. Why do you follow your leader after he killed so many people for his own goals? I know you have a heart after seeing you take care of the kids. You don't seem bad." Naruto asked.

"Because my leader… is my old friend. I lost one of my best friends a long time ago and he is all I have. I refuse to leave his side." Konan said with determination.

"Has he always been like this? I understand you want to be loyal to your friend but has he always been a heartless bastard who takes lives without regret? Or is he a shell of his former self?" Konan froze a bit, giving Naruto his answer. "I understand how you feel but don't let your emotions control you. I was like you when it came to my teammates. The girl I like, I let her treat me like shit if it made her happy but she didn't give a damn about me. Sasuke, I thought of him as a friend even though we fought all the time but in the end, I was just in his way when it came to his revenge. I'm not a puppet to my emotions and neither are you. You shouldn't give your friend a pass because of how you feel. Jinchuuriki are people too and we deserve to live out our own lives."

"What we do is for the world, so don't try to manipulate me." Konana argued.

"Then let me ask you this, if your leader told you to kill those kids, would you do it?" Naruto asked, causing Konan to freeze. "Do you know what those kids' dreams are? To save the village from their evil leader. Know that you know this, will you tell your master or will you follow your heart." Naruto asked.

"H-he would never." Konan said with tears coming out her eyes.

"Why don't you find out." Naruto said, cutting her off. Konana just stares at the blonde before disappearing in a flutter of paper origami.


"Nagato-" "Why did I tell you about calling me that?" Kona flinched at the tone but continued.

"We're friends, why wouldn't I call you that?" Konan asked.

"Nagato is dead and friendship is not needed in this world. Only our objective matters, now why have you approached me?" Pein asked, staring across Ame.

"I believe some of the villagers fear us and I believe we should show them that we mean no harm."

"Nonsense, they'll either follow me or be destroyed, no matter if they're man, woman or child. Anyone against me will be considered an enemy to peace. We do this for the world, nothing else matters."

"Even a child? Nagato, I support your cause but to kill children because of the belief is simply barbaric." Konan argued,

"Even children will grow up in this world to become killers, if one was to go against me right now. They would feel the wrath of god. I will not spare any sympathy towards anyone, not my village, my comrades or you. You. just like everyone is nothing but a pawn towards my true goals. Now leave." Pein said. Konan felt her heart break at his words and disappeared.\\


Naruto was cutting up some vegetables for the kid but his thoughts were on Konan. It was weird that he was worried about her and was hoping she was ok, despite being enemies. 'What if I have to fight her?' he asked himself but came to the conclusion that it would be for the greater good since she's a part of the terrorist group. He snapped out his thoughts when he heard the door open. "Hey kids, the food is…" he paused when he saw Konan at the door with puffy red eyes and tears rolling down her face. Naruto approached the girl and gave her a warm hug, rubbing her back.

"Y-you were right." Konana said between sobs. "He doesn't care about me at all, he said I'm just a pawn who would be killed if I ever go against him." Konan said. "I only followed because I didn't want to abandon him, my last friend but it turns out my friend died a long time ago."

"I guess you need to make new friends." Konan looked up at Naruto with a shocked expression.

"Why? Why are you nice to me?" Konan asked.

"Well, because of the kyuubi, I can sense the true nature in people's hearts and you're not bad. You deserve a second chance and if you help me take down the akatsuki, I promise I will achieve true peace throughout the nation."

Konan looked out at Naruto and saw an image of Yahiko in the young blonde, making her blush. Naruto extended his hand towards Kona and gave a warm smile. "Let's work together, friends?"

Konan hesitated before grabbing Naruto's hand, returning the smile. Yeah, I'll help you by providing intel and Naruto…thank you." Konan siad with a genuine smile.


Three years since Naruto left, he was now standing in front of Konoha gate alongside Jiraiya. "Come sensei, the sooner we walk through the gate, the sooner your payment will be over from the bet you lost." Naruto said to Jiraiya, making the man grumble.