Reviews

Kanika the Wolf - Thanks for you review. In answer to your question: sure, go ahead. I look forward to reading it.

ecla - Thanks for reviewing, but could you tell be what a Mary-sue is? I'm kinda stupid, you see... -sweatdrops-

"blah" - speech

'blah' - thoughts

oyuban - boss

kowaii - scary

Konohagakure - village of Konoha

Chapter 2

On the top of Konoha's ninja headquarters, the annoyed photographer rested an arm on the top of his camera and tried to remain professional. Note the word: tried. Very few can remain professional when faced with one Uzumaki Naruto.

"Hey, are you really going to have your picture taken with that face?"

Naruto just waved his arms trying to calm the irritated man. It wasn't that bad was it? No, Kira would have told him if it was.

+ Flashback + 6am

Kira pulled her pillow over her head trying in vain to block out the sounds of someone breaking down her front door.

Bang, bang, bang! "Hey, Kira! Come on, wake up! This is important!"

Oh, great. It was Naruto. That meant he wouldn't leave till she answered the door. Damn.

Sighing, Kira slid out of bed. Not bothering to get dressed, she exited her room in a loose blue t-shirt that matched her eyes and loose black shorts that reached her knees. A weighted wristband adorned each wrist; it was too uncomfortable to wear her weighted belt to bed and she certainly wasn't going to wear her weighted ninja sandals to bed.

'I wonder if I've worn them enough to increase my speed and stamina yet…'

Let see, a few steps further and she should reach the top of the sta-

Thump! Tumble! Crash! Bang!

"…itai." Ah, the dangers of not being fully awake.

About a minute later, the door swung inward revealing a yawning and slightly annoyed Kira rubbing her head in the spot she had landed on.

"Naruto, do you have any –yawn- idea what time it is?"

"Late enough for you to be up! Now wake up, I need your opinion!" The impatient blonde was practically bouncing with enthusiasm. Yes, he still had an hour before his photo was to be taken, but he needed to know in advance if he needed to change something.

Blink. Yaaaaaaawn.

Naruto wasn't put off in the slightest. "Ne, ne, what do you think? I want the picture in my ninja application to stand out!"

Blank stare.

"…facepaint?"

Naruto sweatdropped slightly. 'She only just noticed? After staring at me for at least three minutes?'

"It's nice. I'm going back to bed." Slam! Naruto found himself staring at the front door of Kira's house again. Shrugging, he happily bounced off to get his photo taken. No harm in being early after all.

Inside the house, Kira simply flopped over on the sofa intending to sleep for the next two hours until she had to get up for her own photo. 'I hate morning people.'

+ End Flashback +

Then again, maybe not. A sweatdrop rolled down the back of his head.

"Don't worry about it. Just take it!"

"Geez, just don't regret it later."

Especially if he is sitting right in front of you, all visible skin painted white overlaid by contrasting blood red patterns on his hands and face, holding a fierce pose.

The photographer slipped under the black sheet of material behind the camera. "Okay, say 'cheese'."

The camera clicked and whirred.

A few hours later, Naruto was seated in an open classroom at the ninja academy in front of the Hokage and some other nameless chuunin who was probably acting as his secretary. The Hokage stared blankly at the picture on the registration form in front of him to the grinning blond, who sheepishly rubbed the back of his head when he caught the look the Hokage was giving him.

Sandaime sighed.

"I couldn't make a nice face no matter how hard I tried, so it took about three hours to make it look like that. But, but, isn't it really artistic and cool?"

"Re-take it."

That burst Naruto's happy bubble. "No way!"

"Re-take the picture." Sandaime repeated firmly.

"There's no way I'll do that!" Naruto yelled back.

A glaring contest ensued. Naruto cracked first. 'Fine! If he wants to do it the hard way…'

'Thank Kami-sama that's over.' Kira sighed gratefully.

The photographer had been in a really bad mood when he took he picture for some odd reason. Dressed in her usual attire, Kira made her way to the interview room where Naruto was supposed to be. Turning the corner, she noticed a kid with a scarf so long it was guaranteed to trip him sometime in the near future peeping through the slightly open door of the interview room. Shrugging, she stood behind him and looked into the room to see what was keeping him from noticing her, just in time to see-

"Henge!"

Poof!

"Hogake-sama!"

A huge sweatdrop hung on the back of Kira's head. Did Naruto honestly think that the Sandaime Hokage, the best ninja in the village, the only person to be selected as Hokage twice would be affected by such a-

The Hokage blinked before being thrown backward by a huge nosebleed.

Kira facefaulted.

The boy at the door turned at the loud thud behind him to see a girl collapsed in a heap behind him, twitching. Girls. He, the future Godaime Hokage, would never understand them.

A few seconds later, when Kira had picked herself up off the floor, she saw that Naruto had changed back and by the look on his face, he hadn't expected that reaction from the Hokage either.

'I don't think I can ever look at the Sandaime Hokage the way I used to. Hmph. Closet pervert.'

"The Sexy no jutsu, eh? What an devastating jutsu you have." The Hokage now back in his seat dabbed his nose with a white handkerchief wearing a solemn look in his face.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head, laughing nervously.

"By the way, Naruto, where is your hitae-ate?"

"I'm not going to wear it until the explanatory meeting, since it will get scratched."

Outside the room, Kira rolled her eyes. 'It's going to get scratched anyway when you go on missions, baka.'

Sandaime coughed slightly. "Putting that aside, this registration form is something of the uttermost secrecy that will remain in the village," he lectured, "so it's an important document, even for you. So what's with this face?"

"I don't understand these complex things!"

Outside, Kira raised an eyebrow as the kid in front of her pulled out a shuriken.

"And who would want a boring photo anyway?!"

Naruto and Sandaime's attention simultaneously switched to the door. The kid slammed the door open and stepped into the room.

"Old geezer! Fight me!" With that, he charged leaving a confused Kira to edge into the room in his wake.

"The title of Godaime Hokage will belong to me, Konohamaru-sama!"

Trip! Splat!

"Itai!" Konohamaru held his face in his hands.

Sandaime tipped his hat a little further forward and Naruto just watched with a confused expression on his face.

'Problems just keep showing up today.' Sandaime thought, eying his grandson, though his eyes flicked briefly to Kira, who was now leaning on the wall beside the door with a blank expression on her face. 'Somehow, I'm not surprised she showed up.'

Running footsteps diverted everyone's attention, except Konohamaru's because he was still holding his throbbing face, to the door as a tall man appeared, eyes hidden by round shades. He gasped as he saw his young charge slowly getting to his feet, holding his head.

"Is this a trap?" Konohamaru directed his attention to the ninja in the doorway.

The man looked around the room, confused., before turning back to Konohamaru. "Are you okay, young master?! There are no traps, by the way." He added, adjusting his shades.

Naruto, now over the shock of a kid charging into his interview, raised a twitching eyebrow. 'Who is this kid?'

Konohamaru then noticed Naruto, sitting and staring at him. The man in the doorway gaped when he noticed him a second later. 'That kid is-'

A cocky smirk plastered itself on his face as he glared at Naruto with cold eyes. 'The Kyuubi. It's the dropout I really hate.'

Oblivious, Konohamaru approached Naruto and pointed an accusing finger at him. "I got it. You did something, didn't you? Or maybe it was you!" He spun to face Kira pointing at her.

Kira blinked and almost fell over again. 'Huh?!'

"Yeah! It must have been you! You must have tied a wire around my leg and used it to trip me!"

A sweatdrop crawled down the back of her head as she stared at him, at a loss for words. Konohamaru's attention was abruptly drawn back to Naruto as he picked him up by the front of his scarf, an angry look on his face, his free hand fisted.

"You just tripped on your own!"

"Hey! Let go of him! He is the grandson of the great Sandaime Hokage!"

Kira eyebrow twitched. 'Really? I see no resemblance.'

Naruto looked from Konohamaru to the Hokage and then back to Konohamaru. Kira could just imagine him coming to the same conclusion. Konohamaru just grinned overconfidently.

"What's the matter? Why don't you hit be if you can?" Konohamaru taunted.

Kira pushed off the wall, starting towards the two, reaching out a hand to hopefully stop Naruto before he did something stupid. "Hey, kid, I don't think that's such a smart-"

Konohamaru ignored her. What would a girl know. "You're no match for the grandson of a Hokage!"

A super angry look appeared on Naruto's face. "Like I care!" he yelled. He promptly whacked Konohamaru hard on the head. "Baka!"

"-idea." Finished Kira, a little belatedly. Kira sighed, covering her face momentarily with the hand she had intended to stop Naruto with.

Konohamaru hit the floor face first for the second time that morning. Ebisu stood, jack dropped before recovering and panicking. "Nani?!"

Sandaime, who had watched the whole scene behind folded hands, just sighed. 'Oh well.'

Before the glaring glasses-man could yell at him. Kira dragged a protesting Naruto out of the door.

"Let me at the little brat!"

'Time for desperate measures.' "I'll buy you a bowl of ramen!"

"Ramen! Yatta!"

Kira hastily slid the door closed behind them, before running after Naruto as he sped of to Ichiraku, Konohamaru forgotten.

As the door closed, Ebisu turned to lecture Konohamaru. "Listen, you are the Sandaime Hokage's grandson." He shook a finger at Konohamaru. "Even though he hit you, you cannot get involved with a guy like him."

Konohamaru remained silent and merely glanced to the side sulkily.

"No good will come out of dealing with him. I, the elite teacher, Ebisu, am never wrong. You wish to become Godaime Hokage, right? If I teach you jutsu, it will be easy to gain the title of Hokage." Ebisu turned to the side slightly, adjusting his shades again. "Yes, the quickest path to becoming a Hokage is to learn from me. Do you understand, young master?" He turned back to Konohamaru.

An empty space greeted him.

"Eh?!" Ebisu turned quickly, trying to look in every direction at once to find Konohamaru. It finally dawned on him after a couple of seconds and he grasped his head with both hand in comical horror. "He's gone!"

"It seems he went to follow Naruto." Sandaime commented calmly to the panicking Ebisu.

"Nani?! That's an emergency! Young master!" Ebisu took off after Konohamaru.

Sandaime stared after him. 'How did he grow up like that? That was the twentieth ambush today.' Sandaime closed his eyes in thought. 'It worries me even more if he's with Naruto. I hope he doesn't teach Konohamaru weird things.'

At Ichiraku, Naruto and Kira sat down next to each other. Kira scowled at him.

"One bowl is all I'm paying for, Naruto, and that's it! I cant stay too long because I need to have an interview with the Hokage soon."

Naruto pouted. "Ne, ne, Kira, what's with that look? What did I do?"

Kira twitched. "Don't tell me you've forgotten, Naruto. It only happened last week."

"What, what happened."

Kira glared at him. "I'll tell you what happened last week. I told you I would treat you to one bowl of ramen. You ended up eating six bowls of ramen, leaving while I was in the bathroom and thereby purposely sticking me with the entire bill!"

Naruto laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "It wasn't my fault! Really!" he added at Kira's look of disbelief. "I forgot my money and ran home to get it!"

Kira stared at him for a while. "Whatever you say, Naruto."

Naruto walked aimlessly down one of Konoha's streets, which was surprisingly empty of people, hand in his pockets. A small figure flitted to alternating sides of the street behind him, ducking around building corners and behind various objects in the street like barrels and dumpsters to try and keep his presence from being noticed.

"Hmm?" Naruto turned at a series of soft noises.

A boulder? In the middle of the street? Wearing ninja sandals?

Naruto just rubbed his forehead in annoyance. He turned back and continued his aimless wandering. 'Maybe if I ignore him, he'll go away…'

Throwing off the blanket, Konohamaru resumed his Naruto stalking. Further down the street, Naruto stopped again. An annoyed look crept onto his face. Suddenly, he whipped around pointing a finger at his stalker, who was currently hiding, very badly at that, behind a sheet of fabric made in blend in with the fence. Only the wood was going the wrong way. And his hair and hands stuck out.

"Don't follow me! What do you want?!"

Konohamaru ignored him, still pretending that he was invisible. Naruto's eyebrow twitched.

"Ano, that's really obvious."

Silence.

Laughter. The fabric dropped slightly to reveal Konohamaru's grinning face.

"Nice job detecting me!"

'It was hard not to. You stick out a mile away.'

"I should have expected it from the guy I've heard rumours about!"

Completely abandoning his terrible disguise, Konohamaru walked up to Naruto and pointed a finger in his face.

"I don't mind being your follower!"

Naruto stared, no comprehendible words coming to mind. "Eh?"

Konohamaru wasn't put off in the slightest. "But in return, teach me how to do that Sexy no jutsu you used to defeat the old man Hokage!"

Naruto crossed his arms and squinted his eyes shut in an annoyed manner. "Stop kidding around."

"Please don't say that, oyuban!"

"Huh?" Naruto opened his eyes in surprise to stare at Konohamaru. "Oyuban?"

Seeing his chance, Konohamaru repeated it over and over, hoping to sweet talk Naruto into being his teacher. "Oyuban! Oyuban! Oyuban!"

Taken aback by the sudden flattery, Naruto gave in. "Fine." He rubbed the back of his head.

Kira sat in the seat Naruto had occupied only an hour before, waiting.

"Hmm. This seems to all be in order."

Kira let out an inaudible sigh of relief.

"Thank you Kira. That will be all." The Hokage dismissed her. "Please try to show up on time to the explanatory meeting…"

Kira, one hand one the door, froze and gave him a sheepish look.

"I'll try my best, Hokage-sama."

Naruto and his new pupil, Konohamaru, walked side by side down a more populated Konoha street.

"First, to use a jutsu well, you need to use your Chatora well."

"Chatora?" Konohamaru repeated. In his mind, the literal meaning of the word appeared; a brown tiger washing its face like a domestic cat.

"That's right, Chatora." Naruto repeated, confidently.

Konohamaru turned to his teacher. "Hey, oyuban, I think it's 'Chakra'."

Naruto jerked and froze. 'Crap!' "Shut up! Professional shinobi call it Chatora!" he covered quickly.

"Nani? So that's how it is!"

Naruto sighed and slapped his hand lightly to his forehead. 'I'm glad he's so stupid.'

He turned back to Konohamaru. "Listen, chakra is-"

"Simply put," Konohamaru interrupted in an all-knowing way, finger raised. "it is the energy used to execute a jutsu."

Naruto stared in surprise.

"In other words," Konohamaru continued, "shinobi jutsu use both chakra, the energy of the body that exists in every cell of the body, and the spirit energy from stamina, which accumulates through training and experience. After these tow are mixed together, a seal is formed and the jutsu is executed."

Naruto noticed that after the first sentence, Konohamaru was simply reading it off a scroll that he had pulled out of nowhere.

Twitching, Naruto knocked him on the head. "Don't act like you know everything and then just read it off a scroll!"

Recovering, Naruto and Konohamaru stopped at the side of the street.

"Although that thing talks on and on about it, you just need two things to perform a jutsu well.

"Two things?" Konohamaru inquired, eagerly.

"Hard work and guts!"

"Hard work and guts, eh?"

"That's right. I'll train you hard, so prepare yourself."

"Roger, oyuban!"

"Alright then, try transforming into something."

"Eh?"

"I need to see how good your ninjutsu is."

"Okay, but what should I transform into?"

"Hmm…" Naruto looked around the street. 'There! Perfect!'

"Transform into that lady right there!" He pointed to a woman shopping at a fruit stand nearby.

"Hai, oyuban!" Konohamaru stared at her intently for a couple of seconds. He made a handseal. "Henge!"

When the smoke cleared, Naruto found him staring at an obese, Konohamaru looking woman.

"So? Do I look like her?" Konohamaru's voice was slightly deeper than usual but definitely not a woman's voice.

Naruto tried to be optimistic so that Konohamaru wouldn't be discouraged, though his voice was pretty flat.

"Yeah, sure…the clothes look perfect…"

Blue lines crawled down the left side of Naruto's head. 'S-Something's very wrong here…'

Turning his head slightly, he caught sight of the young woman who he had pointed out to Konohamaru earlier. Look like she overheard him…

She was trembling with rage. "What's so similar?!"

Whack!

She turned to Konohamaru, who had transformed back into himself, smiling. "Listen, young master. Please do a cuter transformation next time, alright?"

Waving lightly, she walked back to her shopping.

Konohamaru was shaking. "Kowaii…"

Naruto was in a crumpled heap on the ground. "Why did I have to be hit?" he moaned.

Kira sat on a log in a clearing drinking a soda from the drinking machines a short way off.

'I wonder how Naruto's getting on with that little brat.'

Shrugging inwardly, she finished her drink, crumpled the can and tossed it into the bins by the drinks machines about ten metres away. It bounced off the rim and onto the ground.

Kira sighed before getting up and putting her rubbish in the bin. Dustin her hands off, she picked up her scroll from where she left it by the log. Apparently he intended to help her train, regardless of if he was present or not.

'Stupid undercover espionage mission.'

Unfolding it, Kyoshiro's messy but somehow legible handwriting met her gaze. She began to read.

'Tree climbing

This exercise is for chakra control. Concentrate your chakra to the soles of your feet before approaching the tree. This is because the soles of the feet are the hardest places on the human body to keep a steady supply of chakra flowing to. Once this is accomplished, less chakra will be wasted when use perform jutsu.

Using your hands to climb the tree is not permitted.

Use a kunai to mark you progress.

Do not climb trees in other people's gardens.

Begin with running up the tree. When this is accomplished, move on to walking up the tree.'

Just about to roll up the scroll, a small note at the end caught her eye. Blinking, Kira unrolled the scroll so that she could read it more clearly.

'P. S. Oh, and if it's Kira reading this, remember: Run up the tree, not into it.'

A vein throbbed in her forehead and an eye twitched as she glared at the scroll. She could clearly hear Kyo's sarcastic tone through the letter as if he were standing beside her saying it.

'Nii-san…you…!'

Meanwhile, Naruto and Konohamaru arrived outside one of the many bookstores in Konoha.

"Okay, we're going in here for research!"

"Roger, oyuban!"

Naruto carefully slid the door open and peeked in. The storeowner obviously wasn't getting much business because he sleeping leaning on his hand, snoring. Naruto crept past him soundlessly, Konohamaru mimicking him. Naruto selected a magazine full of women dressed in swimsuits, bikinis and other revealing items of clothing. He and Konohamaru stared at the pages, drooling.

Naruto snickered quietly to himself, unheard by Konohamaru. "Good thing Kira's not here, she'd probably kick me again like last time."

"Okay, here goes!" Kira concentrated chakra to the bottom of her feet and charged the tree, kunai in hand. She managed to get five steps up before she suddenly sneezed. Unfortunately, she didn't put enough chakra into the bottom of her feet, so, that added to distraction of her sneeze sent her crashing back to the ground before she could even mark the tree.

"Itai!"

And as luck would have it, she landed on her head. Again.

Oblivious, Naruto and Konohamaru continued their browsing.

Kira sat up, rubbing her abused head, annoyed.

"Someone must have talking about me. Probably Naruto. Stupid blonde-haired idiot." She grumbled.

Naruto sneezed. Unfortunately for him, the soft noise was all that was needed to wake the irate storeowner. He appeared silently as a shinobi behind the two boys, tapping a duster meant for cobwebs in high places on his shoulder, waiting for them to notice him.

"I told you that there's no browsing in the store, Naruto."

Naruto and Konohamaru jumped and automatically cringed at the tone in his voice. Slowly, they looked over their shoulder to meet the scary, wrinkled face, emphasised by the large frown in place on his lips and menacing light reflecting off his glasses.

A while later, the two boys found themselves outside the last place they would visit for 'research'. Naruto's face was bruised from both the woman and the shopkeeper, who had given him a black eye. Konohamaru was unscathed.

"This is the last place." Naruto turned to Konohamaru, smiling. "Let's put our spirit into it!"

"Roger, oyuban!"

"Henge!" the two chorused.

Smoke cleared to reveal a Naruto's Sexy no jutsu appearance, only this time she was wearing Naruto's clothes and Konohamaru…

An ugly, obese, Konohamaru-looking girl missing a lot of hair entered the bathhouse beside Naruto.

Silence.

Screams shook the bathhouse.

"Naruto! You again?!" Apparently Naruto did this often enough to be recognised.

By the end of their little venture, Naruto's face was very puffed up with bruises and Konohamaru was untouched.

"Why am I always the one getting pounded?"

"Gomen…" Konohamaru's voice lacked its usual enthusiasm as he stared at the ground.

Naruto stared at him.

"It's because I'm the Hokage's grandson." He explained.

"Don't worry about it." Naruto said reassuringly.

"Huh?" Konohamaru looked up, confused.

"The preparations for the Sexy no jutsu are now complete." Naruto said, smiling as best he could. He gave Konohamaru a thumbs up. "All you need now is practice."

Konohamaru blinked for a moment, before his enthusiasm returned. "Roger, oyuban!"

"Okay, I know the perfect place to practice this! Come on!"

"Hai, oyuban!"

Kira looked up from where she rested, sitting against the base of the tree she had been practicing on, when she caught a flash of orange from the corner of her eye. Sure enough, a severely bruised Naruto emerged, followed by the same brat who she'd had to drag him away from earlier.

"Hey, Kira!"

Kira waved a hand. Chakra control exercises were exhausting. Apparently, her control was below average because in the three and a half hours she had trained, she had succeeded in climbing a grand total of…wait for it…four metres!

"Ne, ne, do you mind if we use the clearing to train?"

"Go ahead, I'm done for the day."

Konohamaru scowled at her as he watched their exchange. It was ten minutes to four and she had already stopped training for the day. 'If that's the case,' he thought, 'she must be pretty weak.' He glanced at her forehead, which was covered by a Konoha hitae-ate. 'She probably passed the exam on luck.'

Naruto turned from Kira to Konohamaru. "Okay, remember the basics! Big chest, thin waist, big bottom! Do it!"

Kira twitched. 'Be thankful I'm too tired to get up Naruto. It may be an effective jutsu, but I'd rather you didn't teach it to someone and practice in front of me.'

"Hai, oyuban! Henge!"

An ugly, fat woman, dressed in a pink bikini with puffed up cheeks, fat lips and Konohamaru-style hair posed as the smoke cleared.

"Somehow, it turned out like this."

Kira stifled her laughter behind a hand. Naruto stared in shock.

"Wrong! More slender!"

"Hai, oyuban! Henge!"

"Is this okay?" Konohamaru chirped in a high-pitched voice.

"No, no! More beautiful!"

"Hai, oyuban! Henge!"

"How's this?" Old lady Konohamaru croaked.

Kira gave up on trying to hide her amusement. Her laughter rang around the clearing.

On top of the Hokage monument, Ebisu searched frantically for any sign of his charge below, shading his eyes from the Sun.

'Naruto… What is he planning to do to my young master?'

Ebisu swept his eyes over the village a final time. Nothing.

"Damn it, where did he go?!"

Crouched on top of one of the heads, he continued his rant. "I am an elite teacher that has taught many Hokage candidates. Any bugs that attach themselves to my students must be…eliminated."

That said, Ebisu leapt into the air, disappearing about a metre into his jump.

Back in the clearing, Kira had finally managed to control her laughter and was busy ignoring the glares Konohamaru sent her way between talking to Naruto and drinking. The two boys sat on the same log she had used earlier as she watched them silently.

"By the way," Naruto changed the topic slightly. "Why are you so obsessed with the old man Hokage?"

Konohamaru stopped glaring at the smirking Kira and turned to Naruto.

"Grandpa named me Konohamaru after Konohagakure, but no one ever calls me that. It's always young master or something similar. All they see is the grandson of their Hokage. No one recognises me as an individual. I hate it." Konohamaru clenched his fists, angrily. "So…so I want the title of Hokage right now!"

'Looks like Naruto found someone he knows he can relate with. Somewhat.'

"Baka. Who's going to acknowledge someone like you."

"Eh?!" Konohamaru was a little shocked by Naruto's harsh response.

"It's not a title a little kid like you can achieve." Naruto's voice was serious.

"Nani?!" Konohamaru jumped to his feet, angrily.

Naruto ignored him. "It's not that easy. You keep saying 'Hokage, Hokage'. If you want the title that badly…"

"Nani?" Konohamaru turned to him, waiting for him to finish with baited breath.

Naruto finally looked up at him with a mocking grin. "You need to defeat me first!"

Kira looked up from studying Naruto and Konohamaru as they conversed as something, or rather, someone landed on the tree branch above her.

'Oh great, it's glasses-man. What was his name again? Hmm…begins with 'E', I think.'

"I found you!"

Naruto and Konohamaru stopped talking and turned slightly, catching sight of Ebisu standing on a branch above Kira, glaring down at the two of them as he either didn't see or ignored Kira.

'Damn monster fox…' Ebisu thought, radiating coldness.

Naruto tensed as he stood up. 'It's those eyes again. Everyone just keeps-'

Both Naruto's negative train of thought and Ebisu's cold glare were interrupts by Kira standing up and stretching with a slightly louder than necessary yawn. Ebisu turned his gaze to her, slightly curious.

'Those features…perhaps this is Mayashi Takeshi-san's-'

Ebisu jumped to the ground. 'No time for that now.'

"Now, young master, let's go home."

Konohamaru shook his head in denial. "No! I'm going to defeat that old geezer right now and take the title of Hokage! Don't bother me!"

Kira just leaned back on the tree, satisfied that she had managed to move that cold look Naruto received from many of the villagers away from him.

Ebisu just smiled condescendingly and proceeded to prattle off another lecture as he walked towards Konohamaru.

"Hokage is a title you can receive when you understand the principles or morality, knowledge, loyalty, getting along with everyone and when you can use more than one thousand techniques-"

Konohamaru cut him of by creating a handseal. "Henge!"

Chakra swirled. A puff of smoke.

"Take this! Sexy no jutsu!"

All of his practice paid off as Konohamaru correctly pulled off the Sexy no jutsu; a nude brunette appearing from the smoke.

Ebisu stopped in his tracks, staring, mouth hanging open with a furious blush appearing on his cheeks. After a short time, Ebisu regained his senses and exploded.

A vein throbbed on his forehead. "What an indecent jutsu!" he screamed. "I am a gentleman! I will never fall for a jutsu as vulgar as that!"

Naruto watched in silence as Ebisu tried to drag the resisting Konohamaru away by the scarf.

"Young master, you're only going to get dumber and dumber id you hang around with him!"

Where she stood, Kira twitched. 'Is he calling me dumb then?' she wondered. 'How rude. What kind of gentleman insults a girl?'

"The quickest path to becoming Hokage is to listen to me! Now, let's go back."

"No! I don't want to!"

"Kage bushin no jutsu!"

Kira stopped glowering at Ebisu and turned starry eyed as Naruto performed the high-level 'really cool' jutsu she wanted him to teach her. Stealthily, she edged closer to the nearest clone. Ebisu and Konohamaru also turned to stare as many clones of Naruto appeared.

"Wow! That's amazing!"

Ebisu merely adjusted his shades and smiled smugly. "This is silly. Even if I do not have the appearance of one, I am an elite teacher. I am different from Mizuki." He strode forward into the midst of the clones.

In a darkened room, the Hokage watched the proceedings through his crystal ball. He sweatdropped a little as he saw Kira prodding one of the clones near the edge of his crystal ball.

Ebisu took a stance only to have all of the Naruto use a single devastating jutsu.

A chorus of "Henge!" echoed around the clearing.

The huge cloud of smoke cleared to reveal many naked, good-looking blondes who promptly jumped and clung to Ebisu.

"Ebisu-sama!"

Ebisu shot off into the air with a monster nosebleed.

The Hokage rolled his eyes upward, one hand on his head, sighing.

Konohamaru looked awed and Kira looked surprises.

"Oi, Naruto." Several naked blondes turned to her. "How did you make the clones do 'Henge'? Can they do other jutsu too? How far away from you can they move without disappearing? How did you-"

Kira prattled out more and more questions leaving no room for answers, not noticing the sweatdrops on the back of the girls' heads or Ebisu, who still had a bloody nose, land a few feet away from her.

Naruto cancelled the jutsu, temporarily stopping the endless flow of questions from Kira as she sulked over the disappearance of the clones. Grinning and posing, he declared,

"I call it Harem no jutsu!"

"He combined Kage bushin and the Sexy no jutsu." Commented the Hokage to himself.

'He made another stupid jutsu!' he added in his thoughts. 'I'd probably fall for it too.' He finished, sighing mentally.

Kira waited at the edge of the clearing for Naruto as he and Konohamaru had a short talk which ended, as far as Kira could hear, with Konohamaru declaring Naruto as his rival. Naruto walked towards her, waving a hand over his shoulder to Konohamaru, who in turn saluted him.

Naruto paused as he drew level with Kira, who was giving him a small smile.

"You like you had fun without me today."

"I did. Although," he added with a slight wince, "some of it was pretty painful too."

"Oh?" she turned and started to walk off. "Sounds interesting. Want to come over? You can tell me about over ramen if you want." she tossed over her shoulder without turning back.

Glancing back, she watched Naruto stand there for a second, before one of those rare, real smiles spread itself over his face. A familiar warm feeling spread through her as she saw it.

'I make sure you keep smiling like that.' She thought, her own gentle smile appearing on her face, even though Naruto couldn't see it. 'Definitely, no matter what it takes.'

"Hey, Kira! Wait for me! I hope you stocked up on raaaamen!"