Chapter 5

Three weeks have passed since the events of Chapter 4

The bright sun that signified morning raised high above Nami no Kuni on this specific morning. The vast seas of the sea-based country shimmered when the sun rose. In the nearby small village, the small community began to wake up. At least, most of them started to rise to the morning activity.

Within a home at the edge of the village, there laid a mess of blond and pink hair under a pair of sheets. With a groan, the blond mess awoke and found him with a happy pink haired female snuggled into him. The blond sighed as he remembered that Sakura was having nightmares, and so he allowed this. He knew that she enjoyed the comfort of him despite how he seemed to be so devoid of emotions around her. He slowly pulled from her, tucking the sheets around her neatly as he went and took a shower.

As he stripped in the bathroom, he looked at his reflection in the mirror and stared hard at it. He was Uzumaki Naruto, a traitor to Konoha and now he had the company of a young woman who was devoted to him. He ran a hand through his spiky hair and finished getting his clothes off. He turned on the warm water and stepped inside the shower. As he cleaned his hair and his body, his hands traced over his seal that kept Kyuubi imprisoned in him. This drew Naruto's thoughts to the ordeal of him being a jailor of a very powerful beast. Naruto's entire early life had been about survival when he was a child. When he had gotten to the rank of genin, he had developed a cold mask to keep himself strong.

Naruto's mind then travelled to the thoughts about the genin team he was on. The sensei, Hatake Kakashi, was a powerful shinobi with an implanted Sharingan. Naruto respected Kakashi's loyalty and strength that he used for Konohagakure. Under Kakashi's tutelage, Naruto had learned the basics for the shinobi and even had some personal chakra control training with him in the earlier days of the team formation. The first of the two genin Naruto was teamed with was Uchiha Sasuke, the last of his clan and a prodigy. The two had developed a rivalry that kept the two on their toes and helped both of them become skilled genin. While Sasuke had goals of revenge, Naruto had goals gaining the acknowledgement he had never gotten in his life before. They were two different ends of the spectrum and this is what Naruto liked about Sasuke. The other one, Haruno Sakura, had fallen for Naruto hard and was the one that fuelled Naruto to get stronger. In secret, Naruto had crushed on Sakura but told no one because he did not want to hurt her as he fell to the grasp of Orochimaru.

Stopping his thoughts there, he finished his shower and stepped out, drying himself off. After putting on the fresh clothing, he looked to his reflection in the mirror once more. Naruto wore a white hakama, but only with a right sleeve that covered his arm. The left sleeve had been customized to be non-existent. On the back of the top of the hakama was a flower surrounded by nine fox tails. The lower section of the hakama was crimson and he wore a black belt around it that kept the hakama neatly tied and kept together. His hands were wrapped in the same manner that Rock Lee wrapped his hands. His feet were wrapped the same, but also covered up by black socks and flat shoes. Attached to his right hip was his sheathed katana, which was the last thing that had been put to his clothing. ((Sort of like this: .com/gallery/24643714#/d1kdapb, but with modifications as mentioned above))

He walked out of the bathroom, only to see Sakura standing there with her hands on her hips with her eyes locked right on him as he exited. He stared at her with unmoving eyes as she walked up to him and put a hand to his chest and got right up and close to him.

"Thank you, Naruto. For last night." spoke Sakura quite cheerfully

Naruto merely nodded as he tried to make a step forward, but Sakura's strength had been concentrated to keep him from leaving. He cocked up an eyebrow at her as she smiled and then moved into hugging him. The gesture was surprising for the young blond, but he did not return it. As Sakura pulled from the hug and slipped past him into the bathroom, smiling to herself as she closed the door behind her. Naruto stood there, his eyes wide and his heart thumping inside his chest. He did not expect such a move and as such, he was experiencing the rush of blood as per the feelings he held for Sakura rushing head first to their respective areas.

Shaking himself out of his stupor, he strode through the small home and tidied up before exiting the house. As he closed the door behind him, he heard a leaf crunch and his right hand instinctively went for his katana's hilt.

"Don't move, Uzumaki." barked an unknown and gruff voice.

Naruto, however, never did listen well as he turned on his heels and saw who was there. It was a small group of bounty hunters he had heard of. They went about hunting down any missing-nin in the bingo book for the money. Narrowing his eyes, he leaned forward as the bounty hunter leader took a step forward. No words were shared when Naruto shot forward at them, drawing his katana. He quickly cut through two of the ten bounty hunters with his surprising speed before clashing with one of them in a sword fight. As two more bounty hunters jumped to ambush him, Naruto smirked and gripped the hilt of his blade tight.

"Demon Arts: Midnight Storm." muttered Naruto.

Spinning around with his sword, he expelled a whirlwind of demonic chakra, sending the attacking men flying outward away from him. Coming to a stop, he grinned and drew up his blade and sheathed it. He flexed his hands as he looked at the remaining bounty hunters. He had eliminated five of them at the start, leaving five more for his fun. As four of the five spread out around him, he glanced over to the house and then the bounty hunters and noticed one crucial thing.

The leader of these bounty hunters was inside the house.

Naruto's eyes narrowed and his hands went into a chain of hand seals. With no warning, fire sparked across his arms as he sucked in a breath of air, chakra flowing through him for a technique. As he lurched forward, the flames surged towards his maw.

Fire Release: Phoenix Storm!

The flame exploded outward and caught the other bounty hunters by surprise, giving Naruto time to burst into the house, only to see the leader of the bounty hunter gang holding Sakura captive. Naruto's eyes went wide, only to settle into a devoid of emotions sort of gaze. He settled himself with his arms at his side as he watched the leader smirk.

"You don't care about her, Uzumaki? Is she just another life for you to throw away?" remarked the man.

"You mistake my tranquillity for being uncaring. Let her go and I will let you live." droned Naruto as he removed the katana from his side, hilt and all, and tossed it to the side.

The man sneered and adjusted the kunai. However, he had left an opening as a shoulder smashed into his face, sending teeth flying as well as his body straight through the wall. The owner of the shoulder was none other than Haruno Sakura, who looked pissed off. At her attack, Naruto cocked up an eyebrow and crossed his arms.

"Nice hit, Haruno-san." drawled Naruto.

Sakura's only answer was to crack her knuckles and shoot out from the hole and go hunting for the man. She found him rubbing his face some feet away and she landed not too far from him. He looked to her and frowned. Pulling himself up, he brushed himself down and rolled his shoulders.

"You hit pretty hard, girlie." came the mocking voice of the bounty hunter leader.

"You underestimate me and her both." spoke Naruto

The man's eyes widened as he heard the voice of Uzumaki Naruto behind him so casually. Naruto shifted his place and drew his right fist back as chakra began to pour from him. Naruto's lips twisted into a feral grin for a moment as his pupils became the demonic slits they became when he was calling upon Kyuubi's power. His fist began to swirl with wind and flame both, which became a raging fire within moments.

The man looked towards Sakura, only to see her charging and his eyes went wide as dinner plates at the chakra flowing off her fist. He was about to move when Naruto grabbed him roughly by the shoulder.

"Ah, you are going nowhere. Take it like a man!"

Naruto and Sakura both sent their fists forward in a combination attack, both of them yelling out the technique's name at the same time.

"Heaven and Earth Art: Crushing Fists!"

Moments later...

Naruto and Sakura were on the road once more with Sakura having a satisfied look to her face. She glanced to Naruto and her lips twisted into a smile. She knew Naruto had fought valiantly against the bounty hunters and she knew that deep down, he had done it to protect her. What she didn't know is that he had intended to rush inside to protect her. She stepped closer to Naruto and planted her lips to his cheek in a quick peck. His reaction was priceless as she swore she saw him blush for the first time since meeting up with him after he left for Orochimaru.

Naruto, in the meanwhile, was trying to tame his raging emotions once more and stumbled once, earning a light giggle from Sakura. He shook off his stupor as best he can and set his eyes forward while his mind raced on and on about Sakura. If it wasn't for Sakura's gasp, he wouldn't have noticed two figures standing before them and blocking their path.

"Uzumaki Naruto. Long time no see, brat."

Naruto opened his mouth to speak when one of the figures, a red haired man, decided to appear right before Naruto and uppercut him. Naruto went flying up into the air, only to land on all fours with a grin.

"Hello, Roshi-sensei."