Bondage Style:

Chapter 20:

Disclaimer: Naruto and Co belong to Kishimoto

Author's Notes: Just so ya'll know, when I say nearing the end, I still have a number of chapters to go. Only Echoes is actually close to its end.

Took a break to play Overlord 2, otherwise would've had this done a lot faster. Fun game, but the Yeti was way too accurate with its explosive barrels.

-o-o-o-

Naruto whistled happily as he strolled his way towards his target, completely ignore the looks sent his way as his coat dangled off to one side as he walked along the wall. Smiling happily as he made his way to one window in particular, he carefully grinned as he rapped against it. For a moment, nothing happened, and the boy was left to grin patiently in expectation.

After a moment, he rapped again, before again waiting in place. Finally, a frown marred his lips and he let off a slight sigh of disappointment. "Ah, lazy, lazy, lazy."

"Ahem." Naruto glanced over his shoulder to make note of the purple haired, cat masked ANBU woman standing behind him.

"Hey, what's new, pussy cat?" Naruto offered with a bemused grin on his lips as he lightly stuck his hands in his jacket.

"Not terribly much." The woman responded easily enough as she glanced back at the window before studying him carefully as her head canted to the side. "Do I want to know why you're at my squad leader's window."

"… He's your squad leader?" Naruto winced in sympathy and sighed slightly. "My condolences."

"… What'd he do?" The woman could feel her stomach dropping as she looked at the boy and fought back the urge to let a frightened whimper escape her lips.

"Volunteered his squad to help me with my training up until the third exam?" Naruto offered helpfully.

"… Let me rephrase." The woman paused a moment, before taking a deep, settling breath. "What the hell did that idiot do this time to piss you off?"

"Oh, that what did he do."

"Mhm."

"Sure you want to know?"

"Kinda need to know here, kid."

"Well it is a touch embarrassing, I wasn't in the best of moods you understand." Naruto almost blushed as he lightly scratched the back of his head. "You see, I'd just gotten back from a particularly illuminating discussion with the Hokage of a sensitive, personal nature…"

"He told you who your parents were, got it, moving on." The ANBU pressed as she crossed her arms about her chest and lightly tapped her foot on the wall.

"… Did EVERYONE know but me?" Naruto grumbled slightly as he mildly glared back at the woman.

"I don't know WHO they are." The woman countered as she seemed to be glaring down at him. "I just figured that'd be about the only thing that the Hokage could do to piss you off."

"… Oh, that's different." Naruto nodded his head in understanding before he glanced over towards the window. "As I was saying, I was having that discussion with the Hokage of a sensitive, personal nature, then…"

"Plus, you only call him the Hokage when you're upset with him." The ANBU interrupted with a shrug, some how conveying an innocent smile on her masked face. "Just figured I'd let you know."

"Thanks." The boy responded sourly as he paused a moment, then gave her a patient look. "So, anything else you'd like to add before I continue with what your squad leader did?"

"No, but I reserve the right to interrupt you when it'd be funny." Hands fell to her hips, before she gestured negligently with her hand. "So, please, do continue."

"Hmm… I think I like you." Naruto responded with a grin. "After I left the Hokage, I stopped by the Hyuga compound and had a meeting with Hiashi for close to 2 hours. I then returned to my apartment to find my guest and Kin-chan calmly sipping tea and smiling innocently at me."

He paused a moment, before smirking a bit. "Naturally, I immediately knew that they'd been up to some manner of mischief."

"Mischief?" She seemed amused at his choice of words as she crossed her arms about her chest.

"Yes, well, it seemed a more mature thing to say than to refer to it as pranking the hell out of someone." Naruto responded back with grin as he shrugged a bit. "Anyway, Kin and Gaara, you know, red head, son of the Kazekage?"

"Walks around with bubblegum attached to his arm?"

"Bubblegum?"

"What, you think you're the only one that's allowed to give people nicknames?" She seemed mildly offended at that, leaning forward as her hands came down to rest on her hips.

"No, simply clarifying that you were referring to the cherry flavored type." He responded quickly holding up his hands in mock surrender. "As I was saying, I come home to them having their best 'I did something but you don't know what' smiles on, before I get a knock on my window."

"I take it he wasn't exactly tactful?" The woman offered with a chuckle.

"… Putting it more than a little mildly that." Naruto responded quickly as he shook his head. "He demanded I tell him where I'd been the last hour. I mean, seriously, he tried the whole tough bad ass act with me. I know this sounds egotistical, but, seriously, with ME!"

"You're right, it does sound egotistical." She agreed with a nod of her head. "Doesn't make it any less true, but still, egotistical."

"Thank you." He shot back dryly as he chuckled just a bit. "Well, after that attempt, which I was willing to ignore, because to be honest, I completely wasn't in the mood to play the avenging prankster just then…"

"Gracious of you."

"Thank you, so glad someone understands." He took a moment, his brows furrowing before he sent the woman a questioning look. "Where was I again?"

"Post ignoring his tough bad ass act." She supplied in a helpful tone.

"Ah, yes, thank you." He nodded his head in gratitude before taking a slow, cleansing breath. "Well, as I said, after I had oh so graciously let his stupidity slide, I mean I even let him go on trying to demand to know what the meeting was about!"

Now THAT sent a response through the woman as she stood, ramrod straight and looked at him as all jovial familiarity faded away. "He tried to request the information of your meeting?"

"Request? No, When I said demand, I mean that exactly." Naruto responded with a sour growl as he crossed his arms about his chest. "Then after I pointed out to him that any ANBU should know that such a thing is confidential."

"And he should, he really, truly should." The woman agreed, her own voice growling slightly.

"After I pointed that out to him, he asked me what I did after my 'alleged' meeting with the Hokage! Alleged!" Naruto growled slightly as he threw his hands up in the air and shook his head. "I mean, seriously! As if I hadn't been going to his office since I could walk!"

"The perverted giggle fits you've inspired are legendary."

"Hey! I take no responsibility for any perverted giggling. Any and all such occurrences are Icha Icha inspired and cannot be proven otherwise!"

"He was last seen holding a copy of your book."

"He was obviously thinking about the smut peddler's work while reading mine! That bastard, despoiling Sweet Silky Nights with such thoughts!"

"Is that your official stance on things?"

"Officially I disavow any knowledge of how the man got his hands on my books and I've never heard of any perverted giggling save from Jiraiya when he's not stalking me."

"I am NOT stalking you!" A voice protested above the before both figures turned their heads to see a glowering Jiraiya on the walls above them. "You're just avoiding me, and I've been trying to talk to you."

"Save me ANBU-chan! He's trying to corrupt me to his evil Icha Icha ways! He wants to drain my manly powers and reduce me to a shriveled husk of a man…" Naruto paused a moment, before shuddering violently. "He's trying to… to… Turn me into Kakashi!"

"… Did you actually expect that to work?" The ANBU woman just stared down at the boy with absolute incredulity as she shook her head.

"Well it would work if Anko-chan or Kurenai-sensei were here." The boy shot back with the slightest pout to his lips.

"… Has Anko-san stopped attacking him on sight?"

"… Kurenai-sensei said neither of us are allowed to anymore." Naruto pouted softly as he crossed his arms about his chest. "Something about property damages not being anything compared to the therapy bills."

"I can believe that." Jiraiya muttered slightly. "First time the kid realized who I was, he threw a damned butt plug at me."

"Best way to shut up an asshole." The words came from the ANBU's mask as Jiraiya turned his head and stared at her in shock. "What? You say it like you're the first person he's done it to."

"… I'm afraid to ask."

"Kankuro, that one sound guy… various people who don't know when to keep their mouths shut…" Naruto lightly tapped his fingers and shrugged just a bit as he grinned. "I get a discount because I buy so many."

"… And they don't find you buying your butt plugs in bulk odd?"

"Oh no, not after I send them the pictures of what I use them for." Naruto shook his head with a grin. "Why, I think they even made a full page advertisement out of them. 'Butt plugs, you know a better way of shutting up an asshole?'"

Jiraiya buried his face in his palm and sighed softly before chuckling just a bit. "I still stand by the fact that it's a good joke."

"Yes, but it's MY joke, thank you very much!" Naruto responded defiantly. "And if I EVER hear that you used it in one of your books…" His eyes glinted with dark promise as he growled softly. "I'll track down Tsunade and put on the best poor innocent act you've ever seen and tell her all about how you're trying to corrupt me."

"You, poor and innocent?" Jiraiya rolled his eyes slightly as he smirked back at the boy in amusement.

And wordlessly, the boy gestured, and transformed into a slightly younger version of himself, his eyes a bit wider, glistening with tears with his cheeks smudged slightly, dressed in a ragged grey yukata that had seen better days. "B-b-big sister! This… This big, smelly, scary guy keeps chasing me around with these big scary toads, he keeps trying to force me to read this pervert book! Everywhere I go, h-he pops up! I can't sleep, otherwise he'll show, trying to force it on me!"

"… He's good." The ANBU woman said with approval as she studied the boy sniffling before her. "I know he's completely full of shit and I'm STILL tempted to protect him from you and beat you to a bloody pulp."

"… I swear, you're going to be the death of me, kid." Jiraiya grumbled slightly as he eyed the boy who smirked so easily back at him. "You're down right evil, you know that, right?"

"Who, me?" The boy stared up at the man, wide eyes glistening even more before he turned towards the purple haired woman. "Big sister! Did you see that! He called me EVIL!"

"… I'm starting to agree with him." The ANBU woman noted

"Yeesh, you're no fun." The boy pouted softly before reverting back to his normal form in another quick flash of smoke. "Now, I really do need to get started on tormenting her Squad Leader."

"Why don't you leave that to me, Naruto-san?" The woman offered carefully. "I need to report his breach of protocol to the Hokage as it is."

"But… But… What'm I supposed to do for training then!?"

"Do you really get that much out of it anymore, Naruto-san?"

"Who said I'm the one getting trained?" The boy responded cryptically before releasing his grip on the wall and bouncing away.

-o-o-o-

"... You know, really, seriously, stalking me is creepy." Naruto growled slightly as he glared back at the white haired man easily keeping pace with him across the rooftops. "Shouldn't you be off, you know, giggling pervertedly as you do what you call, and I use the word only because you do, 'research?'"

"No, not really." Jiraiya responded as he grinned back at the boy and chuckled a bit. "Actually trying to think what I could teach you."

"Not interested." Naruto responded back, not even looking at the man.

"Not even Toad Summoning or one of your father's techniques?"

"I'm not my father, remember?" Naruto shot back, lightly glaring at the man as he looked back over his shoulder for only a second. "I'm following my own path."

"... Could you at least learn them so that you can pass them on one day, to someone that could use them?" Jiraiya asked in a soft, almost silent voice. "The Rasengan deserves to not be lost."

"Then teach it to someone." Naruto shot back, growling softly. "I told you, I'm not interested in anything you have to teach!" And with that, the blonde boy speed up, even as the toad sannin slowed down, eventually coming to a stop as he watched the black fluttering coat vanished into the distance.

"Kami, did I ever screw up." Turning his head, Jiraiya studied the stern face of Minato staring back at him from the Hokage monument and for the first time in years, he could feel the weight of his age on his shoulders. Lifting up his hand, a sudden glowing blue sphere swirled into existence and for the longest time, he simply stared down into its depths, hoping that perhaps he could find the answers he sought in its depths.

"I'm sorry Minato." Letting the orb slowly disperse, he lifted his head for an instant, almost daring to meet the face's eyes, before his gaze fell once more and he shook his head. "Looks like Orochimaru was right about me."

Turning his head, Jiraiya reached out, pulling out the familiar notebook in his hand, the cover lightly flecked with pink paint, before he tossed it into the air and with a blur of hand signals sent a stream of liquid fire blast across it. "Not until I can meet your eyes again, Minato." Standing there quietly, the sannin watched as the ashes of his work slowly danced away, carried off where ever the soft wind would take it.

-o-o-o-

Shikamaru grumbled slightly as he was forced to continually dodge and weave around absently flung kunai from Tenten as the girl was deep in a discussion with Kankuro.

"See? If you start having your puppet carry sealing scrolls..." She was pointing out, a wicked grin curling upon her lips as she flung a kunai at Shikamaru. "We can increase the number of weapons it can carry exponentially!"

"True." Kankuro admitted, before he paused a bit. "Hey, isn't Jiraiyas-sama a Seal Master?"

"Supposed to be, I think." Tenten agreed as she quickly fired off three kunai in rapid succession. "Why?"

"Because of this!" The puppeteer pulled out a scroll and showed her the various diagrams he'd put together for his idea. "Its too bulky for me to carry it around like I do Karasu, and it completely ruins his mobility, but if we could get it sealed onto his back..."

"Oh, sweet mother of all things sharp and pointy..." Tenten's breath hitched in her throat as her eyes widened. "Is that... is that... an automatic kunai launcher?!"

"Plus, there's this one..." Kankuro added as he showed her another diagram. "It uses an explosive seal inside the spheres that's timed to go off roughly 3 seconds after launch."

"..." Tenten paused, and stared a kunai falling limp from her fingers as she twitched slightly before speaking. "Exploding balls of sharp, pointy destruction?"

"Yup!" Kankuro agreed with a grin. "Normally, kinda useless against high level nins who'd dodge out of the way... but showering enemy ranks with them during a battle?"

"Excuse me a moment." With that, Tenten rose up and stalked over to Shikamaru, leaving Kankuro to pull out various other designs he had on him and begin to run over them as he fiddled around with the configurations he'd prefer for Karasu.

While Kankuro worked, the bun haired girl grabbed Shikamaru by the back of his jacket and dragged him off behind a tree. After several, long moments, a grinning Tenten returned, dragging a disheveled Shikamaru with her, his eyes glazed and dazed in confusion. As he was brought up to Kankuro, lucidity finally seemed to return to his eyes as he half glared at the Suna teen.

"What the hell did you show her?!" Shikamaru twitched slightly and grumbled as he crossed his arms about his chest and released a slow sigh of annoyance.

"Just some weapon designs I've been toying around with that I need a Seal Master to help me with to make em viable for Karasu." Kankuro responded with a shrug as he lightly pushed some of the designs towards Shikamaru.

The Nara paused a moment, and frowned slightly as he studied the designs, his brow furrowing even as he looked at the teen boy. "... Do you have the base design for Karasu?"

"Yeah, why?" Kankuro arched a brow curiously as he pulled out a scroll and offered it up to the Nara.

"Because, if we put these two together, we get a much better anti-infantry model... you can use these to herd them into place, then..."

"Use this to cut em down?"

"Mhmhmhm... but if we add this with this... it stays lighter, while..."

"Close combat specialty." Kankuro quickly agreed as he paused a moment and then frowned. "We REALLY need to talk to Jiraiya-sama... if we put our heads together..."

"MWAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHA!" Tenten was cackling, eagerly as she nodded her head, her eyes shining, before she paused, looking at Kankuro. "You're teaching me puppeteering."

"Err.... sure." Kankuro agreed quickly. "But let's wait until after things get going in the Third round, ok?"

"Right... Let's see about getting the full ideas about what attack modes would work best with Karasu first before we talk to him, so we can present him with the results we're trying to achieve."

-o-o-o-

"So..." Inoichi looked down at his cheerfully grinning daughter and arched a brow slightly. "You want me to teach you what again?"

"The group mind/body confusion technique of course!" Ino chirruped back as she grinned at her father and lightly lay her hands on her hips.

"But... it's a one on one tournament." The man blinked slightly as he stared back at his daughter.

"Oh, wait, you haven't been informed yet, have you?" Ino blinked slightly and then sighed as she crossed her arms about her chest. "Damned lazy old bastard."

"... I'm going to pretend you weren't referring to our Hokage." Inoichi muttered as he lightly settled into his seat. "All right, honey, why don't you explain it to me?"

"Can't." Ino grumbled slightly as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "The old man has to."

"... You've been spending entirely too much time around Naruto, you know that?" The older Yamanaka sighed slightly and shook his head as he lightly slumped back down into his seat. "How're you planning to win your match?"

"I can't tell you that." Ino responded simply with a slight smirk on her lips. "That would ruin the surprise!"

"You've got something planned, obviously." Inoichi sighed slightly before shaking his head. "You're going to drive me to turn into Shikaku, you know that, don't you, Ino?"

"Hmph, I kinda doubt that." Ino countered with a slight smirk on her lips as she mildly tapped her lower lip. "I just can't see Shikaku getting away with showing up all pimped out in front of young, impressionable genin."

"You're not going to let me live that down, are you?" Inoichi groaned slightly before shaking his head a bit and smirking slightly. "Of course, I don't think that Shikaku gets laid anywhere near as much as I do these days."

"Ewwwww...! I do NOT need to know about my father's sex life!" Ino whined softly and shook her head, shuddering just a bit. "Look, if you have to, go run to the Hokage and ask him, but I really think I need to learn that technique."

"You think I won't?" Inoichi arched a brow lightly as he studied his daughter.

"Actually, I think you should, along with Shikaku and Chouza." Ino responded as she shrugged slightly. "I'm kinda surprised he hasn't started..."

An ANBU suddenly appeared outside of the window, as he peered inside. "Yamanaka-san, the Hokage requests your presence at the tower as soon as you're able to come."

"See?" Ino responded with a triumphant smirk on her lips. "Told you!"

"... You know, you've just made her insufferable for the next few days, right?" Inoichi glared mildly at the ANBU.

"Um, sorry?" A sheepish response left the crane masked face before the figure jumped back and vanished in a swirl of leaves.

"Well, this better enlighten me about what's going on, princess." Inoichi grumbled a bit. "Mind the shop while I'm away, will you?"

"Uh huh, sure." Ino responded, grinning as she rubbed her hands together thoughtfully.

"... This better be good." The man grumbled softly under his breath even as he vanished in a swirl of leaves himself.

-o-o-o-

"Yosh! You are most excellent at long ranged attack, Temari-chan!" Lee grinned broadly as he did his best to race out of the way of hurricane force winds that she launched his way.

"Fat lotta good it's doing me." Temari muttered slightly as she glared a bit at the thick browed boy. "You keep holding back, so I'm having trouble figuring out how much to compensate for."

"Ah, but you keep getting closer and closer to catching me!" Lee grinned back at her, his teeth shining as he danced out of the way of a cutting wind that scarred the tree behind him. "Most..."

"Lee-kun." The words were syrupy sweet as they left her lips. "We've talked about your use of THAT word."

Gulping, audibly, Lee rapidly nodded his head, his face visibly pale, he'd already learned very, very quickly, and rather painfully to pay VERY close attention when she made use of that suffix and tone. "Yes ma'am!"

"Good boy." She smirked back at him, before sighing slightly and shaking her head. "This is no good. I'm not going to really improve that much doing things this way..."

"If I might make a suggestion?" A new voice spoke up as Gai popped up. "While it is good to see you and my most...MMPH!"

Temari smirked slightly as she watched Lee quickly slap his hand over his instructor's mouth, silencing him before he could complete his sentence. "Gai-sensei! Temari-chan is most adamant about word choice!" The teen paused a moment, removing his hand from the man's mouth as he bowed his head slightly. "And... I must admit, considering what happened during the preliminaries..."

"Lee, surely you do not believe..." Gai began before he heard the soft cough interrupting him from where Temari leaned against her now closed fan.

"Look, Gai, right?" Temari was glaring, mildly at the man as she leaned on her fan. "I honestly don't care about you personal preferences in things. My brother is a pathetic pervert himself, but in spite of it, I still love him." Her glare intensified then as her eyes narrowed into slits. "I do however, draw the line at pushing your deviancy onto Lee."

"I am NOT...!" The Jounin immediately began to sputter and protest as he stared back at the girl.

"Let Lee can develop his own deviancy, thank you." Temari shot back as she lightly grumbled. "And we'll see how compatible they are with mine."

"Your deviancy, Temari-chan?" Lee blinked slightly, as if unable to fully wrap his mind around the concept.

"Look, Lee, any ninja worth a damned has some kinda deviancy, insanity, quirk and/or kink that stands out. It's how we handle the stress." Casually stretching out, the blonde girl shouldered her fan then sauntered up to the wide eyed boy and casually ran a finger along his jaw. "And if you're good, and show me that I can trust you... well..." She leaned in, and whispered quietly into the boy's ear.

As Lee immediately went crimson, a small trickle of blood began to drip from his nose, before he stared back at a slightly blushing Temari. "... Really?"

"Mhm." Temari smirked slightly back at the boy before shrugging a bit. "That's an if though. Completely conditional on YOU."

"Yosh! If I cannot..." Lee's eyes were burning as he pumped his fist, reflexively starting in on his rant before he could feel Temari's finger pressed against his lips, silencing him. "If you can't, then I'll find someone who can. I don't want to hear about how hare you'll work for it, Lee. I want you to SHOW me that you can do it." Her finger pulled back at that and she cocked her hip to the side. "Got it?"

"Yes, Temari-chan!" The boy responded quickly, nodding his head before he turned his attention to an unreadable Gai. "Gai-sensei, you said you had some ideas on how we can train more effectively?"

"Ah, yes." Gai responded nodding his head quietly in an almost subdued fashion, his eyes almost conflicted as he debated the scene in front of him. "Lee's training... I'm sure you've seen the results of it, yes Temari-san?"

"Mhm." The blonde agreed quietly, nodding her head. "However, I'm not looking to become a taijutsu monster like he is."

"Of course." Gai nodded his head solemnly as he fought down the urge to raise his thumb in approval. "Now, the question becomes, do you use strength or your chakra to create your winds?"

"A bit of both." Temari admitted as she shrugged slightly. "I more use my chakra to enhance what I'd normally be able to do without it."

"Ah, then what we should do is get you a training fan!" Gai grinned happily and nodded his head as he considered the implications. "I'm sure you're familiar with such a method, now, have you gone through elemental training?"

"The original fan I was trained on channeled chakra easier." Temari responded with a slight shrug of her shoulders. "After I got old enough I graduated to this one. And... Other than a test to verify that I was a wind type..."

"Ah! Then I have an idea of just what to do for you!" Gai grinned happily before pausing just a moment and cupping his chin. "Though, it is likely the short term results will not be overly spectacular."

"Eh, long term training regime works good too." Temari admitted as she shrugged a bit and continued to lean against her fan, eying him slightly. "I'm not going to wear one of your green suits though."

The man gave her an almost puppy dog look, before bowing his head and sighing as he gave her a nod. "Very well, though I would recommend getting something tight that will making it harder for you to move." At her reluctant nod of understanding, the jonin carefully continued. "All right then... For the first few days, we'll have you working on our elemental training, but I will need your fan."

"... My... fan?" Temari reflexively tightened her grip on her weapon, as she glared mildly at the man.

"Yes, I need to present it to the appropriate shop so they can match the size and balance of it to the specifications I have in mind. Once that is done, I will happily return it to you... Though you will want to use the one I'm having you made until a few days before you're planning to take a mission." Gai smiled at her again before he walked over to a tree and plucked a leaf off it. "In the mean time, you'll be working on this."

"... I know you guys are the Village Hidden in the Leaf, but, a leaf?" Temari stared back at the man who chuckled softly then picked up another leaf and held it up in front of her eyes.

"This is how we do our elemental training to begin with." And with that, the leaf in Gai's hand burst into a flame. "What you'll be working on doing is cutting this with your chakra. Just the leaf." He paused, grinning softly at her. "If you can get past that before your fan is ready, I will show you the next part of the training."

"If?" Temari glowered slightly at the man as she took the leaf and glared at it mildly.

"Yes, if." He agreed with a smile. "It does normally take 6 months to get that far."

-o-o-o-

"… Chouji, aren't you going to go out and help your friends train?" Chouza Akimichi put forth delicately as he looked down at where his son was quietly munching away at his chips.

"Might be." The boy agreed as he munched another chip, savoring it with a half smile as he leaned back a bit against another chip.

"Weren't you in the group given special information about what's coming with the finals?" The man put forth carefully.

"That is a rather distinct possibility, yes." Again the boy agreed with his father.

"Then, would you mind telling me why you're here, instead of helping them train?"

"Because Tenten scares me and she's always around Shikamaru these days." Chouji responded quite reasonably. "And I'm not going to be around Ino without Shikamaru there was a buffer because otherwise then she scares me too."

"Ah, and your other friends?" That the man understood. Nara men did tend to attract some rather scary women into their lives.

"… Weeeeeeellllll…" Chouji began before rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Hinata's gonna be working with her father, not really much I could do there other than being a training dummy…"

"Ah." Chouza winced slightly and nodded. "Not a pleasant thing that. I remember when Hiashi's wife used the three of us as training dummies…"

"Which brings me to Naruto." The boy agreed, nodding his head as he rubbed his chin just a bit. "Well, I suppose I could always see about helping him drive the ANBU insane with paranoia. I'm pretty sure he doesn't know anywhere near as much as I do about spices and poisons that could be placed in their food…"

Chouza paused a moment, opening his mouth as if to speak, before pausing as he lightly clamped it shut again a moment later. "Well, we'll leave that as a possibility for down the road."

"Yeah, I didn't think it was a good idea either. Kami knows how the hell Naruto gets away with it."

"Fear of escalation." Chouza responded simply with a slight shrug. "You've seen how bad he is when he's just having fun. When he's actually upset with someone, well… The results aren't pretty."

"Worse than chunin flag baby?"

"Mhm."

"Right, Naruto's out."

"Well at least for this month." Chouza admitted, before grinning slightly with a twinkle in his eyes. "It could still be good training."

"… Damn." Chouji muttered slightly and sighed as he bit into another chip. "Well, Lee's working with Temari, and Gai again I'd imagine…"

"No." Chouza put his foot down as the glare in his eyes rippled into his voice. "You do NOT want to expose yourself to that."

"I'm more worried about what he'd expose in front of me honestly." Chouji responded with a shudder as he thought back the prelims. "Besides, I've seen what happened to Lee, I'm in no mood to repeat it."

"Yes, well… right." Chouza nodded his head in understanding. "What about Team 7?"

"Spanky and Co all headed out." Chouji responded with a shrug.

"Spanky?" A slight twitch rippled around the older man's face.

"Sasuke." Chouji clarified. "He and Haku are working with Kakashi, and I think Kiba's helping out. Shino's working with his clan to expand on things with his bugs."

"Ah yes, I see." Chouza didn't actually, but he wasn't about to say that. "Then… Huh… is that all of your friends?"

"Well, I'm not sure if I'd call them friends, more acquaintances I've recently made, but Gaara's doing… something with Sakura." Chouji actually blushed slightly as he almost buried his face in his chips. "Considering how well Gaara gets along with Naruto, I'm not sure that it's actually training." Tapping his lower lip, Chouji paused a moment. "I THINK that's everyone…"

"Ah, right…" Chouza nodded, blinking slightly as his mind was caught up in a slight daze. "Well, what about we do a bit of father and son training?"

"Sure, might as well." Chouji agreed, before he glared darkly at his father. "Just lay off my chips!"

"Ah heh…" Chouza rapidly snatched his hand back from where it'd been inching towards his son's bag and did his best to look innocently. "Right."

Else where, Kankuro wondered exactly why it was he again felt like he'd been completely ignored.

-o-o-o-

"Again." Hiashi spoke in a quiet voice as he watched his daughter as she moved swiftly and surely against the dummies, hitting the small points on them with a light, tap and a spike of chakra.

With a slight twitch of annoyance, Hinata lightly glared at her father, before she moved through the dummies and making certain her hands hit a specific set of points not labeled on the dummies, causing Hiashi to wince slightly and lightly press his legs a bit closer together. "Hinata, I'm not doing this to punish you. You need to be able to hit the points rapidly and move to the next opponent as fast as you can."

"Hence, why I hit where I did." Hinata smiled sweetly at her father as she crossed her arms about her chest. "And, let this be a lesson to you, a cranky Hinata is not a nice person to be around."

"Cranky?" Hiashi blinked slightly in confusion as he stared back at his daughter.

"You sealed your room against the byakagan." Hinata responded with a glower as she crossed her arms about her chest. "Not to silence the noises from getting out.

Hiashi blinked a moment, then paled, visibly in between reddening brightly. "I… see."

"Next time you're gonna bang Kiba's mom, please do it at her place." The younger Hyuga offered with a grumble. "Should give Kiba a nice bit of mental trauma."

"… You're not upset about it?"

"What I'm upset about, is her being so damned loud that I couldn't sleep." The pale eyed girl shot back before she blushed brightly. "At least when I don't have Naruto-kun, Ino-chan or Kin-chan around to help distract me."

"I'll… keep that in mind, daughter."

"You do that." Hinata agreed with a smirk. "Just remember… please dear Kami use protection! I'm sure Tsume's a wonderful woman, but I do NOT want to end up related to Kiba!"

"Hmmm… Inuzuka traits with the byakagan…" Hiashi was stroking his chin in a decidedly disturbing fashion as Hinata glared back at him.

"Oooooh, don't you DARE!"

"Why, my dear daughter, I have NO idea what you could possibly mean!"

"… Fuck."

-o-o-o-

"You have developed… intriguing new friends." Shibi Aburame noted as he glanced down at where his son was spreading his beetles around with a growing precision and control.

"They're insane." Shino noted in a simple fashion, even as he struggled not to smirk. "But, entertaining, and powerful."

"Ah, any chance that…?"

"They're all taken." Shino paused, hanging his head with a sigh. "Every, single girl, all taken."

"Don't worry son, you'll find a girl soon enough."

"I hope so, I'm getting tired of being nagged about it." Shino agreed with a slight grumble.

"Ah, your hive?"

"Worse, Mom."

"… You're on your own there, kid."

"Coward."

"No, simply smart enough to know which battles to not engage in. Let me know how it turns out."

-o-o-o-

"… Why did you bring HIM here?" Haku grumbled softly and huffed as he crossed his arms about his chest, his black eyes sending daggers towards Kiba before turning to his boyfriend.

"Easy." Sasuke responded with a smile as he wrapped up Haku about the waist. "I know you hate training with me because you don't want to hurt me. So…"

"Oh, that's so sweet!" Haku's eyes lit up with realization as he grinned back over his shoulder. "You got me a training dummy!"

"Wait… Training dummy?!" Kiba's eyes bugged out as he stared at Haku in horror. "But… but…! I'm allergic to being punctured!"

"Mah, then really Kiba, why're you a shinobi?" A new voice offered up as Kakashi popped into existence behind him.

"You! … You're on time?" Kiba stared in absolute shock as he looked at an amused looking Kakashi.

"Why, I suppose I am." Kakashi agreed and frowned as he lightly tapped his lower lip. "If you'd prefer, I could come back later."

"NO!" Kiba responded quickly as he latched onto Kakashi. "Train us! They were going to make me a pin cushion!"

"Ah, I see." Kakashi nodded his head. "Well, Sasuke, we'll be working on your speed, pushing it as far as we can in the month we have… Haku, you've gotten a little rusty with your senbon skills, so you'll be going through target practice… Kiba…"

"Yeah?" Kiba put up hopefully, his eyes shining.

"You're going to be training your agility and reflexes!" Kakashi grinned back at the boy as he pulled out some weights and a new jacket. "Put these on!"

"Um… ok…" Kiba stared warily at his teacher before he pulled off his own coat and applied the weights and weighted jacket. "Man… these things are heavy!"

As Akamaru bounded quickly over to behind Haku, Kakashi nodded his head happily. "Yes, they're supposed to be. After a good bit of training, once you've taken them off, you'll be faster and stronger!"

"All right! What do I need to do next?" Kiba asked enthusiastically.

"Oh, just avoid becoming Haku's pin cushion." Kakashi responded happily. "Haku? Have fun and don't hurt him too badly. He's got to last all month after all!"

"Of course Kakashi-sensei." Haku responded sweetly before smiling down at Akamaru. "You might not want to watch this Akamaru, it won't be pretty."

As the puppy put his paws over his eyes, Kiba's own grew to the size of saucers as he gave off a slight whimper. "Oh… shit."

"You might want to start running." Haku responded cheerfully as he pulled out a fist full of senbon."

"SHIT!"

"It's all about the proper motivation." Kakashi told Sasuke with a happy smile on his face.

"… You're evil Kakashi-sensei." The Uchiha responded simply.

"Well, I could've made him wear a green suit and orange legwarmers."

"But, fortunately only diet evil." Sasuke responded quickly. "Low calorie, not evil enough."

"Awww… Now I'm gonna have to try even harder!"

"… To quote Kiba: 'Shit.'"

-o-o-o-

"So, I understand you're having some troubles with Shukaku?" Jiraiya was rather solemn as he looked down at the blank faced red head that was staring back at him with arms guardedly across his chest.

Glancing over at his pink haired companion, Gaara canted his head slightly. "Sakura-chan, are you sure I can't hurt him?"

"Yes, Gaara-kun, we've talked about this." Sakura sighed slightly as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Despite being a complete and utterly irredeemable pervert…"

She pause, waiting for the expected protest or addendum from Jiraiya, only to stare in shock as the man merely continued to stand there with that serious expression on his face as she continued. "He is still one of Konoha's top shinobi."

"And it's only remaining Seal Master." Jiraiya responded quietly as he gave the boy a quiet, knowing look. "Which means, I want to take a look at your seal and see if there's anything I can do to help you with the tanuki."

"… Based on my experiences and understanding, you're acting very out of character." Gaara noted before he locked those unreadable jade eye onto Jiraiya's gaze. "Why?"

"Because I've got a lot to make up to Naruto." Jiraiya responded softly and he shook his head tiredly as he shrugged just a bit. "And since he wants nothing to do with me, or what I know right now, I'm trying to help his friends where I can."

"How long until run off to do your 'research?'" Gaara demanded flatly as he continued to glare at the man.

"Not until I know I could meet Naruto's father's eyes." Jiraiya intoned quietly before sighing a bit. "It's your choice kid… though, you'd probably have to pay for it… Pushing Shukaku further down, would mean you'd have to take control of your sands yourself. Which means you'd have to train yourself back up."

"If you can do anything at all." Gaara noted quietly as he studied the man, before turning his head and glancing to where Sakura bit down on her lower lip. "What do you think I should do?"

"I think… I don't know enough to give any opinion at all, Gaara-kun." Sakura admitted quietly and sighed as she looked at the boy. "It's all about what you want."

"… Fine." Gaara nodded his head quietly then unslung his gourd and began to remove his shirt. "Let's find out what my options are before we do anything else."

"All right, kid." Jiraiya nodded his head quietly and then crouched down as the seal was revealed to carefully begin his work.

-o-o-o-

"Are you ready, minion?" Naruto glanced over his shoulder and smirked towards a bemused looking Kin.

"Of course, my Master." The girl responded in an oh so sweet tone as she casually thumbed through her notebook. "Now, at 1:00 we have your lunch with Ino-chan and Hinata-chan…."

"Can it…"

"They specifically requested barbeque." Kin hastily cut in as she grinned back at the lightly pouting boy. "Now, after that, you have a 3:00 with the ANBU, until 5:30. That gives you enough time to begin testing the security patrols at 6:00. After that, you have dinner, followed by Kin Time."

"Kin Time?" Naruto's lips were quirked up in amusement.

"Well…" Kin blushed brightly as she fidgeted just a bit in place. "I might as well have SOME benefits to plotting out your schedule."

"Right." Naruto nodded his head then chuckled just a bit as he stretched out. "Mmm got what we need?"

"Yes Sir!" Kin nodded eagerly. "And with the information we got from Baki on the attack plans he copied before sending off to Sand…"

"Yessss… Then come, my cute little minion! We have traps to set!"

"Yes, Master!"