Answers to questions:
To:
Look Below the truth: The reason for the ramen thing is in here.
Every one who wants to know about the toad thing: It will be put up later on in the story. I want to test to see who pulls their hair out by chapter nine thinking about it.
Genesis Flame: Konoha is stupid. They wouldn't know a good thing if it ran infront of them naked, whacked them over the head and across the face with a frozen fish then stabbed a screw driver in to their foreheads (alot of room in Sakura's situation).
This is more of an interlude but I don't do those. I do chapters. It's easier for me anyway.
One thing I don't get is: How come people say Sakura's forehead is large? I compare it with other characters and Shikamaru and Sasuke have bigger foreheads than she does.
Anyway, I would like to thank the three people who have signed up for my contest (displayed on my other fanfic "Frozen Wood" in one of the later chapters). If anyone wants to then review and tell me which of the options you would like. I have a C2 set up already for the contest fics when their published.
I promise you that Naruto doesn't become Hokage (in a sense). You'll find out what I mean later on. I am so sneaky, you guys will probably want to castrate me before you find out my evil plan. But Naruto will be an important person in a certain other place. (hint hint nudge nudge).
I might pair someone else up with Naruto, but it won't be someone for Konoha. Anyway, on the 21st of August I will return to writting Frozen Wood, with the occasional chapter put in here. They will run side by side and I would really enjoy some positive reviews.
I also have this new idea for a Naruto Fanfic but it will not be published online until December 2008. I will give away the occasional spoiler for it, and it'll be fun seeing how many of you guess what it is.
Anyway, I will add some twists and turns in this chapter.
I can't believe Itachi is dead in canon. But who said Canon was the master when we are gods in the sense of how our fanfics work. We supply the occasions for the characters, but the characters supply us with the entertainment.
Well thanks for listening to my rambles.
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Chapter 7: Lullaby
Whispers followed them down the street.
People pointed at the two little boys, one with scarlet like hair that hung down his head and framed his face, the other with blonde hair in a topknot and two red bangs tied up in to that knot to give him small horns made of hair. They looked so adorable, which many pointed out, but yet they were "contaminated" by being around demons and jinchurikki so much. Haku glanced nervously as Obito Hatake and Naru Umino glared at them as the Konoha native children chewed on dango. Miso ignored them, knowing full well that he usually got those glances from people whenever he and his father visited an ally village.
But Haku was different.
He had grown up being loved and cared for by his father and whoever he had met on his travels. To have someone giving you stares full of hatred was frightning and disheartening. Especially if you are only five years old. Haku could feel the tears beginning to swell up in his eyes. Miso however was oblivious to his friend's plight to fight back the burning hot tears which would soon begin to roll down his face.
"Ne, ne, Haku-kun, not long now" Miso told him as they passed by a dark haired man. He looked in their direction curiously narrowing his grey eyes. Next to him a brown haired woman clung on to his arm. At their feet a five year old boy looked over following the dark haired man's gaze. "Tou-san" he spoke "Who were those?".
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Naruto rubbed his wrists as he was released from his bonds. Kyubi muttered something along the lines of "Lucky Bastard" but with a little more swear words that could ever be written down in a T-rated fanfic. "Relax, Kyu, when this is all over we'll go back to the farm, you can go back to throwing parties and living off my money" Naruto assured him. He didn't notice or pretended anyway, the looks on the council member's faces when they had come to release Naruto.
"You're lucky I'm human now, or I'd kill you all".
"Shut up Kyu. Most of your chakra resides in me and Haku now anyway. Besides, you don't now any jutsu's other than the Hell portal". The council members looked at eachother with worried eyes. Naruto did notice this and let a smirk escape his lips.
"Just you wait Uzumaki"
"Ohh I'm shivering in my boots".
Two ANBU began to lead Naruto away as Kyubi began singing to annoy his guards. "I know a song, that'll get on your nerves, get on your nerves, get on your nerves, I know a song that'll get on your nerves, and you'll all go mad!!". The blonde rolled his eyes as the door shut behind him. Gaara followed, accompanying the blonde out of the ANBU detainment centre.
"So where to next. Haku and Miso could be anywhere?" Naruto asked Gaara as they stepped out in to the open sun. "I don't know..."
"The manga store, next to the gateway to the Nara ranch" Gaara informed Naruto as they began to walk. "Nara ranch, but Miso said something about Auntie Tem- oh I was right. Shikamaru and Temari did get together! I knew it. Kyubi owes me fifty bucks". Gaara rolled his eyes. "Why do I get the feeling that it was your good luck that got them married?".
"Because it was probably a dominant factor. That and I remember Tsunade betting they'd never get together. When you think about it, you can blame me, the old hag, and your sister and brother in law. Let me guess you had to pay for the wedding?".
"That woman wanted a ten foot tall wedding cake, a horse carriage, a honeymoon in Twa country, a new dress and a large ceremony. Ofcourse I had to pay for it. The bride's family always have to pay, according to her". Naruto snickered seeing a tick mark on Gaara's forehead. "When your face goes like that, you remind me of Pinky". This continued to cause Gaara's tick to enlarge. "Come on, before Haku tries to use Oiroke no jutsu on someone who give him a funny look".
"AAAARRRRGGGGGHHHH" some one yelled as numerous fountains of blood spurted through the air of Konoha.
"To late" Naruto stated as the two ran after where the blood originated.
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Miso stood in awe at the parade of Naked men and women Haku had conjured up with one hand seal. "Bakas!!" the blonde cried as countless bodies lay on the ground, occasionally twitching. Miso watched as Haku's henged clones disappeared and one Haku stood where about thirty naked people had previously been before.
"That was AWESOME Haku-kun. Do it again!".
"But I'm tired" Haku whined to his self-appointed cousin.
"Come on Haku-ikoto. Party pooper" Miso declared as the two continued to walk away down the street. Haku didn't feel like whining. It was five minutes later that the two of them found themselves standing outside a purple roofed building with a cardboard cut out of an orange haired guy in a black kimono holding a sword that was really big. Haku looked at it and smiled. "They have the new BLEACH tankebon" he exclaimed to Miso.
"You get to read them?". Haku nodded in reply. Miso pouted agravated. "That's bull. Tou-san won't let me anywhere near it, and no one will sell it to me 'cause I'm not over twelve". Haku saw the look in his friends face before he grew a nasty smirk across his delicate features.
"HENGE"
Now instead of Haku stood a twelve year old version of Naruto, with wild hair and the two bangs framing his face. The triad of dots were still on his cheeks, but he now wore a pair of blue jeans that civillians liked to wear, with those things called sneakers, a black cotton shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, over that was a buttoned up silk shirt in ORANGE (you guys were waiting for an Uzumaki in orange, I was) with those sleeves rollled up to his biceps. Although he looked like his father, he had a more bishonen appearance than any one else.
Miso caught the devillish smirk plastered on the lips of the older version of Haku. The blonde walked right in to the manga store to be greeted by the vast array of DVD's and Tankobon volumes. Miso followed him in and felt shivers run up his spine. "Miso" Haku spoke "How much money do you have on you?" he asked. Miso looked at him before responding "30000 Ryo". It was quite a bit, but Haku pulled out a whale shaped wallet. It buldged and seemed to nearly rip from the seems. Haku opened it to reveal that the only thing in there were notes of Ryo. "Oh, we're gonna have some fun" Haku said.
Twenty minutes later, Miso and the older Haku walked out with arms full of DVDs and Tankobons. Miso somehow managed to carry the entire collection of the first seven seasons of Bleach DVD, a stack of Rayearth and Tsubasa: Reservoir chronicles tankobon volumes. It was amazing how a five year old could carry that much. Haku however carried alot more, Bleach Tankobons, D.N. Angel, and a manga series called Fushigi Yugi Genbu Kaiden. "Wow, Haku-kun, you haven't even dented you wallet" Miso noted.
"It's only my allowence for the last three weeks" Haku replied. Miso's eyes grew wide. "Nani?". Haku smiled down on Miso. "My tou-san gambles for a living, I get an allowence of 40000 ryo every week. We Uzumaki's have the luck of leprechauns in honest casinos, and we both know that an honest casino is rare". Haku remained in his adult form as they walked through the streets, causing some people to stop, stare and act like human Venus Fly traps. Haku looke GORGEOUS in his teen form, suddenly Haku felt the urge to transform himself in to his gruesome old man self, the one that repeals people from oglinf at him.
However soon Naruto and Gaara showed up. Naruto raised an eyebrow as Haku disappeared in a plume of smoke to reveal Chibinaru. Gaaranoticed the purchases that were stacked in Miso's arms. "Miso did you spend all of your money at that Otaku shop?" Gaara asked dangerously. Miso despretely shook his head. "No, Tou-san. Haku-kun paid for it all. He said their make-up birthday presents. We need to get him some stuff aswell". Gaara looked over to Naruto who held up his arms from the elbow down and shrugged. Haku just smiled sheepishly. "Well I had to Gaara-sama. Miso is being so nice to me. And friends buy friends gifts to show friendship. Nuriko told me that".
"Nuriko is a shop-a-holic, a cleptomaniac and a materailistc pre-Madonna Haku-chan" Naruto replied. "Ofcourse he said that. Still it is nice of you to do that". Naruto rubbed his son's hair which was now once again contained by the hairband that had constantly been on his head. "Why don't you ever let your hair down Chibinaru?" Naruto asked "You looked goof with it all messy".
"But I wanna be like tou-san!" Chibinaru whined. Naruto gave his son a sweet smile before picking up his son, letting the collection fall to the ground. "Say, chibinaru, where is Kyubi-P?". As if on que the floating fox head like soccor ball appeared in a sound that was reminisant of a firework. "Kyubi-P, can you take care of this stuff, please?" Naruto asked the floating object. The ball opened where the mouth was painted on and sucked the tankobon and DVDs in to it's mouth. "OUR STUFF!" Miso cried. Chibinaru chuckled.
Naruto knelt down and patted Miso on the head. "Don't worry Miso-chan. Kyubi-P's special. You could put all of Konoha and Suna in it's mouth, everything within the walls, heck even the walls themselves and they's barely make a dent in it. It's a pocket dimesion. It grows every time Haku's birthday rolls around. Don't worry, it's nice in there. One time I spent a month in there with Haku as a holiday". That was true. Naruto and Haku had accidently sucked in an uncharted island and had stayed in Kyubi-P for a month. The island was still in in the ball.
"Kyubi-P can change in to anything Haku wants. It only works for him, Kyubi-P recognises his chakra and it reads his mind to find out what he wants. It's really cool". Gaara looked at Naruto strangely. "Let me guess, your bijuu?".
"Yep"
WDo you think Shukaku would have done the same for Miso?"
"Don't see why not. The demon containers love the kids of their jinchurikki. Yugito-chan told me that nibi spoils Usagi-chan constantly".
"How is Yugito and Usagi anyway?" Gaara asked. Naruto shrugged. "Fine. They're in the land of Demons now. She was a mercenary until two years ago. Now she's just stud farmer". The four walked down the road with Kyubi-P in Haku's arms. "Naruto do you havve anywhere to stay tonight?" Gaara asked out of the blue. Naruto shook his head. "Nah. We've spent most of our time in the ANBU headquarters. I was supposed to ask for a place from the Hokage but I forgot with Kyubi and everything". Gaara nodded.
"Why?"
Gaara looked in to his friends face. "I was wondering if you would like to spend the night at the kage suite in our hotel. Kankuro is staying with Temari, our body-guard is to escort Matsuri back home tonight. She is needed to organise our genin exam, in three days. We have the room, you can have one of the other rooms and Miso can share with Haku. He has never had a slumber party before and I think it would be beneficial for them to have child time".
"As long as I can be sure they'll be safe".
"You are talking about a child who can manipulate sand to kill and sheild instantly and another, your own son, who could possibly massacre Konoha with that hentai jutsu of yours or persuade any foes to turn themselves in with his kawaiiton jutsu".
"Oh you heared about that?"
"I advise you not to allow any young women who are partial to cute children near your son. Or, when he is older, not to let him near any hormonal teenager, male or female".
All the while Haku and Miso were oblivious to the adults chatter as they read through a chapter of Genbu Kaiden. "Wow, he has to control the wond by turning in to a girl?" Haku said. "Sugoi. Can you do that as oiroke-chan?" Miso asked. Haku replied negatively.
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Kyubi stood infront of Tsunade with a sly smirk. He had been released by the Hokage to answer questions. So far the blonde woman found herself blushing, nosebleeding, sweating, stuttering and all the while getting generally aroused by the ex-demon lord, who had explained, in the sexiestly honset way, that he was remorseful for his actions and wished to be forgiven for his crimes against the people of Konoha.
Now he just stood there as Tsunade explained to the council the situation. Kyubi had come clean about his power. He and Naruto had lied about the power of three kages and admited that it was on the level of a sannin. A couple of council members breathed a sigh of relief at this, but some were still cautious. But Kyubi reminded them that he only knew the hell portal jutsu, reserved for demons or ex-demons only.
The council members soon left leaving Tsunade alone with Kyubi.
As the door closed he leaned down face to face with her. "Well Tsu-chan, you wanna go get something to eat?" he asked sexily. You know the voice that makes your legs go weak and your teeth to chatter. That voice. The voice that made Tsunade consider the offer before she punched. "No. I have work to do".
"Paperwork? Use the shadow clones. If Shizune can create a small regiment then I'm pretty sure you can do almost as many as her, if not more".
"I have a meeting"
"With who? No one else is coming in to Konoh today and a clan meeting hasn't been aranged"
"How do you know that?"
"You people really need to buff up your security around record rooms. Before I went to see Naruto I got details on every mission you ever went on. By the way, loved the picture of you dressed as Sailor Moon. Whyever did you cut your hair".
"We had to infiltrate a cosplay convention where our target was"
"Still, Jiraiya didn't need to add a picture of you in the report though I must congradgulate him on getting a shot of your strawberry printed underwear".
"WHAT?"
"And Orochimaru as Sailor Neptune and him as Sailor Uranus. Awkward. I knew Orochimaru had a thing for dressing like a girl but Jiraiya. Those shots were fantastic". Kyubi however found himself up against the wall held by the fist of a pissed of Hokage. "Hey now don't do something you're gonna regret!"
"How am I gonna regret castrating you?" She asked venomously.
"Because then you might not have kids?"
"Care to run that through me again?"
Kyubi gave her a sly smirk. "Will you marry me?"
"PERVERT". Kyubi found himself flung through the door of the Hokage office. "Ow. Hey how am I a perv? I asked you? I didn't lear, I had no lecherous thoughts, I don't just wanna get you in to bed. I happen to like strong women, and you're sorta turning me on right about now" the red head stated as a tickle of blood began to fall down his nose. Tsunade only began to grow even more flushed. "Run before I send you on Knuckle-sandwich airlines back to Umi".
"How about next week. I'll cook. I owned a resteraunt back in Umi a while ago. Gave it to a friend of mine. I cook a mean dinner".
Shizune supressed a giggle at his antics. Here was an ex-demon, probably thousands of years old, flirting with the Hokage of Konoha. An ironic thing about it was that neither of them looked their natural age. Instead they looked like they were in their early twenties. It was sort of like watching a soap opera or what she had heard from Kakashi reading Icha Icha outloud for them all to hear in their house.
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"Why has the Kyubi not taken you or Haku away from Konoha yet?"
"Probably just wants to flirt with Tsunade. Plus I promised not to leave. And so far there is only one promise I have never and will never keep, and I'd like to keep it that way".
Naruto and Gaara continued to eat the cake set out infront of them. "Temari is an excellent cook" Naruto noted. Gaara shook his head. "No. It is my nephew, Fuujin and his sister Fuuko who have the culinary arts in our family. Temari just likes to take credit for it". Naruto took another bite of cake. "Ya know what's ironic?". Gaara shook his head. "No what?".
"That your title, Kazekage, is just like your sisters marriage. She's a wind user married to a shadow user. They could have named their kids either that or if they had one just name it Kazekage and say it was the combination of their styles". Gaara sweatdropped. "You have grown random in you years of exile Naruto". The blonde grinned cheekily. "Well it's true. Anyway another ironic thing is-"
Gaara moaned as Naruto continued speaking. "Shikamaru got what he wanted. A wife, granted she's not plain like he wanted, but he's got two kids, twins, one boy, one girl, now all he has to do is grow old and die in bed before he finally accomplishes his dream".
Gaara simply rolled his eyes.
He and Naruto were dressed in nighwear now, and Naruto had let his hair fall down in to it's messy form. Naruto had almost had a heart attack seeing Gaara in red nightpants and a black t-shirt with cookie printed on the front. It had been hilarious at first but he soon got used to it. "So, you gonna stick around. When I win I'll come over to Suna and we'll have a party. Febuary is Haku's birthday".
"Miso's also"
"Febuary 13th" Naruto said to Gaara. The red headed kazekage slapped his forehead. "Are all jinchurikki cursed with certain things. Both our son's share a birthday".
"You're Shng me" Naruto said. "Wow, we're both ostrisized, we both had food feitishes, our children resemble us, our wives and our demons, their our opposites in certain areas and they share a birthday. I think it's the same for Usagi-chan and Yugito". Gaara shook his head.
"Tou-san" a voice rang from the bedroom. Naruto turned to see Haku standing there in an orange frog suite pair of PJ's. "I can't sleep. I keep seeing Auntie Kyu Kyu with Baa-san". Naruto looked up to the sky for a second before giving off a shudder. "Hold on for a minute Haku-chan".
"K".
When Haku had returned to the room Naruto turned to Gaara menecingly. "Leave my half of the cake alone" he said before standing up and entering the bedroom. Gaara grinned and tried to grab a slice of Naruto's half. "Don't even think about it!" Naruto called from the other room. Gaara flinched and retreated his finger.
Gaara resigned to munching on his slice of cake before a song rang through his ears. At first it was a beautiful tune before it slipped in to lyrics. When it spoke Gaara recognised it as Naruto's voice. He stood up and walked quietly over to the door where he gazed in through the ajar door.
Gomen
ne sunao janakute
Yume no naka nara ieru
Shikou kairo wa shooto
sunzen
Ima sugu aitai yo
Nakitaku
naru you na muunraito
Denwa mo dekinai miidonaito
Datte junjou
doushiyou
Haato wa mangekyou
Tsuki
no hikari ni michibikare
Nando mo meguriau
Seiza
no matataki kazoe
Uranau koi no yukue
Onaji kuni ni umareta
no
Mirakuru romansu
Moichido
futari de uiikuendo
Kamisama kanaete happi endo
Genzai kako
mirai mo
Anata ni kubittake
Deatta
toki no natsukashii
Manazashi wasurenai
Ikusenman
no hoshi kara
Anata wo mitsukerareru
Guuzen mo chansu ni
kaeru
Ikikata ga suki yo
Fushigi
na kiseki kurosu shite
Nando mo meguri au
Seiza
no matataki kazoe
Uranau koi no yukue
Onaji kuni ni umareta
no
Mirakuru romansu
Shinjite
iru no
Mirakuru romansu
Gaara listened quietly to the song and closed his eyes to the beat. Then Naruto began to sing again, only this time in a different language. It was beautiful none the less. He could feel the sense of a warm feeling grasping his heart. Images of stars and the moon ran through his mind, not only that but images of Naruto and the woman he had seen in a picture of Naruto, who the blonde had pointed out had been his wife.
I'm
sorry I'm not honest,
I can say it while I'm dreaming,
My
thoughts are on the verge of overloading,
I want to see you right
now
Moonlight
makes me want to cry,
At midnight I can't call you,
But I'm so
devoted, what should I do
My heart is a kaleidoscope
Ushered
by the light of the moon
We meet again over and over
The
sparkling lights of the constellations predict the whereabouts of
love
Born on this same planet,
A miracle romance.
Once
again, on a weekend, we're together,
A happy ending granted by the
gods,
The present, past, and future,
I'm completely devoted to
you
That
time when we met, that dear
Look I'll never forget
Among
millions of stars I'll can you,
Coincidences becoming chances,
I
like this way of life
A
strange miracle crosses over,
We meet again over and over
The
sparkling lights of the constellations predict the whereabouts of
love
Born on this same planet,
A miracle romance.
Do
you believe in it?
A miracle romance.
As the song finished Gaara felt the sadness and sorrow in Naruto's voice. It was obvious who Naruto was singing about. His wife, Isaribi. Haku's mother. It was probably a way for the small child to get to sleep. The readheaded Kazekage even heared the smaller blonde hum the tune for the song in his sleep. He immediatly sensed movement and backed away from the door. As he sat down once again the door opened to reveal Naruto with watery eyes. "They're both asleep now" he noted to Gaara.
Gaara listened intently to his friends breathing as it hitched in his throat. "So what do you think of the song, Gaara?" Naruto asked the redhead. So Naruto knew he had overheared it. Probably because he noticed the door was opened and Gaara had probably heared it through there. Gaara looked down silently. "It was beautiful" he replied.
"Isaribi and I wrote it. She wanted to have a go at writing a song, but she had a terrible singing voice, but it always made me happy. And damn she was a good song writer. I sang that to Haku every night after she died for a year, but we always sing it for special occasions. Sort of her legacy, ya know. Haku told me he was gunna pass it down. Family heirloom and all that jazz". Gaara nodded empathically. "It is sweet. You and him. That song. You could win competitions with that voice of yours". Naruto nodded.
Gaara suddenly felt the urge to ask an important question. "Ano, Naruto? May I ask? How and why did Isaribi-san die?" Gaara asked as Naruto gazed at his cake infront of him. Naruto shook his head as he allowed a single tear to fall down his face. "Ramen" he stated simply.
Gaara's face screwed up in to one of confusion. "Ramen?".
Naruto looked Gaara dead straight in the eye and said "Yeah, turns out the fish experiments by Orochimaru have some sort of allergic reactions to ramen. Sometimes prolonged,in the case of Isa-chan, sometime instantly. If it's prolonged, then you wouldn't know so you wouldn't stop eating ramen. We had it two times a week. After a couple of years, it started to show on isaribi. It was to late by then. Haku has a watered down version. He just gets sick. But Isa-chan didn't have a chance. Since then I have vowed never to eat ramen again for Haku's sake and for Isaribi's memory".
"That is incredibly sappy, Naruto-sama". Naruto looked at him confounded. "Naruto-sama? Where did that come from?". Gaara looked Naruto in the face and said in an honest tone "You are my teacher. You saved me three times. Once from myself and my demon, another time from the clutches of the Takumi village, and lastly from the Akatsuki. I know others have helped..." he said the last bit quickly as Naruto began to protest "...but it it is you who has saved me most times, I will never forget our friendship Naruto-sama".
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Kinda sappy I know, but hey I thought it might be good. I needed a chapter like this to add information and fill in some plot holes in future chapters.
The song is called "Moonlight Densetsu" or "Moonlight Legend". I'd like to thank wikimoon for providing the lyrics, both Japanese and English. I wanted a song that could be sung sadly and joyfully. So Moonlight Densetsu was used. For the song search on YouTube.
To alteris: Digimon and Sailor Moon was how I got in to anime in 1999. I used the attacks because I thought, that i'd be fun to see how good it would go.
I've made Miso and Haku Otaku (manga and anime fans), just like me. Okay I don't have all those because I have to save my money, but hey, they're good stuff. I'm afraid of what people will think about the ramen bit. Sorry it's at the very end of the fic but I forgot about my promise at the top and decided to add a bit of the explaination as a way for Gaara and Naruto to catch up. Naruto doesn't have anything against Gaara and they're like siblings in a sense because they both belong to the disfunctional family that is Jinchurikki (gotta use that one later on).
For comic relief I added a Kyu/Tsu moment. I'm debating whether or not to have it as a pairing. I feel so sorry for Tsunade. She's lost all the men she loves in her life, it'd only be a tibit of a nice thing if I paired her with Kyubi. But I'll leave that up to votes. I'll even open up a poll on my account.
The Miso/Haku friendship thing is incredibly important. So important that I can't stress how much it is. It'll be a key point later in the story.
Shikamaru's kids are fraternal twins. One boy called Fuujin, and one girl called Fuuko. Both have connections to wind. I realised the jutsu style thing with Temari and Shikamaru as I was about to write it. Get it? Temari - Kaze, Shikamaru - Kage.
Kaze + Kage Kazekage!
Still don't get it? Well if you don't I suppose you have to be on the same brainwave length as me then.
Battles next chapter. Naruto convinces Tsunade to let him fight now (somehow, gonna use sneaky tactics).
Anyway R+R.