Just to warn you guys, there's been a bit of a timeskip, so if you were expecting a detailed account of Genkai's training regimen, just recount everything Yusuke went through...or use your sadistic little imaginations.

Also, apologies for taking so long, but writers block, and coursework, are evils that take time to vanquish.

Chapter Eight

Several months passed since the dissapearance of the Kyuubi no jinchuuriki, several, long, glorious months, which the residents of Konoha spent frolicking, drinking and generally getting completly shit-faced. The only thing that seemed to have any sobering effect on their 'happy-time' was some pessimistic bastard pointing out that the brat was coming back, and that the Hokage HADN'T , in fact, labled him a missing nin.

Said pessimists were usually ignored, or silenced for their 'blasphemy'; the public had little desire to recall that the blonde horror could be walking back through the gates any day now, let alone the fact he would be coming back stronger than ever, as quite a few had heard rumors of Genkai, including that she was one of the few people that could take the Hokage in a one-on-one fight.

(This was, of course, before she surrendered most of her power to Yusuke, but there's no need to tell THEM that, eh?)

So as it was, the villagers had adopted the old 'when the cat's away' addage and were partying hard, several husbands actualy having to spend time on the couch just fr getting a little TOO rowdy.

Unfortunately for them, there is an older, more profound addage which they really hould take into account, and that would be the fact that if a cat comes back, it's usually hungry.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gekko Hayate, the chunin guarding the gate, yawned. He'd just let some sand-nins in a while ago, and quite frankly, he didn't appreciate the job of 'gatekeeper' any more than he liked having to pay for cough medicine. And trust me, the last thing you wanted was to stop buying cough medicine in his condition. Now two figures in brown traveling cloaks was walking towards him, and he didn't like the way the taller of the two was covering his face.

The shorter of the two, an aged woman with a piercing glare, looked up at him and sniffed. "Genkai and student, returning for the chunin exams." She said, frowning slightly as she held out a passport, "Here're our papers, now hurry up and let us in." she growled, the trip hadn't been an easy onbe on her old bones and she truly despised paperwork in all it's forms.

Hayate, taking the time to check the papers, frowned at the name on the other. 'So, the nine-tails kid is back huh?' he noted neutrally, not really having anything against Naruto personally, 'Better, let the Hokage know.'

"Actually, I'll let him know myself." The taller figure said, causing Hayate to jump, "Can't have you deserting your post, now can we, Hayate-san?"

While the startled shinobi could only stutter in shock, Naruto marched past, a grin hidden under his mask.

'Did...did he just read my mind?!' Hayate wondered, incredibly alarmed at this thought, before evaluating the survival rating of the local populace once news had spread of the blonde's return, 'We are so screwed.' he deduced, though it was with a weakm grin.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I trust the boy wasn't too much trouble?" Sarutobi asked, pouring some sake into a saucer for Genkai. The woman snorted and sipped it, sighing as she enjoyed the soothing liquid.

"He's fine," she replied, "actually a lot better mannered than my last student, and the fox is a positive influence in that regard at least." she acknowledged, taking another sip of the beverage.

Sarutobi sighed in relief, he'd been worried that Naruto and Genkai would bump heads, something that didn't sound appealing no matter how far away you were. Looking around the office Genkai snorted, "Room hasn't changed since the last time I was in here." She looked around, "First time I met you, you'd just been appointed." She shook her head, "You asked me out, in front of Toguro no less," she smirked at the Hokage, "that took balls."

Sarutobi chuckled, "My skull still has the stitches from the thumping you gave me" he admitted, "though I really had no idea you two were an item."

"'Were' being the decisive factor here." Genkai muttered, sighing slightly in her seat, a shadow crossing her aged features.

Sarutobi shifted, knowing these were dangerous waters, and that any a man had suffered a painfull beating for putting the wrng word forward."For what it's worth, he was a good man," he stated, catching her attention, "we didn't see eye to eye, literally," he grumbled the last part, recalling just how damn tall the younger Toguro had been, "but a more honorable fighter I'd never met."

"Would it be that he STAYED like that." Genkai muttered, chugging down the sake before getting to her feet with a sigh. "I'd better be going, my apartment isn't going to get any closer."

"Allow me to escort you." Sarutobi muttered, raising a hand defensively as he caught the look in her eyes, "Not that I think you need the protection, but…well…"

Genkai frowned at him for a few minutes, before snorting and shaking her faded pink head, "Same old Saru," she muttered wrly, "even after all these years…your a hopeless flirt."

"Well you know what they say," Sarutobi chuckled, opening the door, "You're only as old as you feel." he loked around and fronwed slightly, "By the way, where did you say Naruto-kun weant?"

Genkai shrugged and walked out the door, "Said he was taking a walk, he'll be fine."

'That's not what I'm concerned about' Sarutobi muttered,' sweatdropping at the thought of Naruto wreaking havoc on his onetime tormentors with Genkai's techniques.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Naruto was currently lightening the pockets of every villager he bumped into as he made his way to the Ichiraku ramen stand. Apparently, the place had gone downhill since he'd left, and they we're having a hard time coping. "Hey, Oyaji, I'd like to place an order." He called out, tapping the counter for emphasis.

Ichiraku turned and nodded, "What'll it be?" he asked, then stared flummoxed at the amount of bills on the table.

"Enough Miso Ramen that this'll pay for, and a couple of Ichiraku specials." Pulling his hood back, Naruto's eye's twinkled mischievously, "I've been away for a while, and I missed the taste of home."

"Naruto-kun!" Ichiraku roared, reaching around the banner to clasp the boy by the shoulders as if he were the man's own son, "Ayame! Come out here! Guess who's back!"

"Dad? What are you-?" Ayame came round the curtain and blinked, before breaking into a smile and dashing forwards, "Naruto-kun!"

Naruto was glad of the mask that covered his face, as he felt it wouldn't do to be barred from Ichiraku's because of the grin he had on as Ayame hugged him close.

'Ah...nothing like home' he praised, sighing and taking int he scent of broth and flour that the older girl had been making, before returning the hug and smiling up at the duo, "Guess you missed me, huh?"

"Missed you?!" Ichiraku stated, "How could we not! You're like familly to us!"

Ayame slapped him on the shoulder, "Don't ever leave like that again!" she chastised, "You didn't even write!"

Naruto merely smiled and waved his hands apologetically, "Suman-suman...now about that ramen?"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After a joyous reunion with the Ichiraku family, Naruto gorged himself on a veritable mountain of ramen, enough to make even an Akimichi wince. Leaving a VERY generous tip, as well as a gift for the two, the latest issue of 'ramen monthly' and a beautiful pair of earrings, Naruto decided to check out his old haunts. These included the library, the hokage monument, the academy and the park, but since there was no one there, he figured better than to stick around.

"Are you not going to look for her?" Kyuubi asked, breaking into the boy's thoughts.

'Maybe later,' Naruto repleid, 'after all, rushing spoils the mood, right?' he sniffed the air and caught a familiar scent, "Speak of the devil…"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hinata had just waved goodbye to her teammates, who'd gone off home ten minutes ago, and was still training in the field. Ever since Naruto had left, the shy Hyuuga had motivated herself to become stronger. If she ever faltered, the memory of his last words and their…kiss…usually brought her back on track.

"Don't you think that hitting a defenseless tree is a bit…well…unfair?" a familiar voice whispered in her ear. Squeaking in shock she spun round, only to find no one there.

"Over here."

Turning around to face the tree she'd been pummeling, she saw the faintest hint of a shadow flit through the bushes.

"Over here."

Hinata spun around; watching as the branches moved and the shadow disappeared. "B-byakugan!" she called out, trying to catch the intruder in the dojutsu's infamous field of vision, the image seemed hazy, as if the Chakra wasn't there at all, and then she saw something move behind her.

"Jyuken!" she yelled out, slapping her palm into the shadow and sending out a stream of chakra. The shadow poofed out of existence, revealing itself as a shadow clone, and as Hinata spun to look round a pair of arms embraced her from behind.

"Did you miss me…Hinata-chan?"

Hinata felt herself freeze at the voice, scarcely daring to believe it. "N-Naruto…kun?" she prodded cautiously, shivering at the chuckle that replied.

"I go away for almost a year, and that's all you can say?" The arms wrapped around her possessively. "I'm hurt." He purred in her ear.

Hinata felt the infamous flush creep up her face, wondering if it was all just some exhaustion inspired dream, when he turned her around to face him. The blonde was taller than the last time by at least a foot, and his hair was longer, as he needed a ponytail to tie it back. But his blue eyes twinkled as mischievously as ever as he lowered his mask to reveal his bandaged face.

"You've grown." Naruto noted, rubbing a hand down her cheek, "Your even cuter than the last time I saw you." He leaned foreward and nibbled the tip of her nose, earning a squeak of protest, "Stronger too…it makes you all the more appealing." Leaning foreward again he smiled, "Shall I continue where we left off?" he asked in a purring tone "The choice is yours."

Hinata couldn't even speak, she looked up at him, and the look said it all. The blonde brought his lips down again and met hers, rubbing his tongue over her lips until she granted him entry with a surprised squeak. Hinata, shocked out of her gourd, slowly relaxed into the kiss, and moaned.

After dueling with their tongues for a minute, Naruto finally let her come up for air. "Are you taking part in the chunin exams?" he asked, earning a nod in reply, he smirked, "Tell you what, if you make it to the finals, I'll take you out on a date."

Hinata almost fainted from shock, but surprisingly rallied herself, and stared into the teen's eyes. "A-and if I d-don't?" she prodded, squeaking again as Naruto leaned foreward and nipped her earlobe.

"Oh…I'll leave that to your…imagination." the blonde replied huiskily, a playfuly light dancing in his eyes.

If anything could have motivated the Hyuuga into action, those words did it. Just as she was about to faint he captured her lips again. "Don't faint on me now Hinata," he prodded, "you've come so far on your own." He nibbled her lower lip, "Don't lose the moment."

Hinata nodded slowly, then he released her, walking back a few steps. "I'll see you at the exam then," he stated, "and afterwards as well." With that he stepped backwards into the forest, blending into the shadows, the last thing to disappear being his vulpine grin.

"Who knows," he teased, "we may go all the way…"

And with that, Hinata's last dredge of self-control gave in. She fainted dead away, face redder than the setting sun, little bursts of steam rising off her forehead.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"That was cruel." Kyuubi muttered, though there was a note of approval in his tone, "You shall be the death of that girl one day."

'Hinata's tougher than that.' Naruto countered, nose deep in his beloved porn, 'She just needs to realize it herself.' He cocked an appreciative eyebrow at a passing Kunoichi with purple hair, 'Hmmm…wonder if the fishnets would work…'

"She would die of blood-loss if you even suggested it." Kyuubi countered, "Stick with the natural look."

Naruto nodded, then blinked at a familiar sight in a windowsill, "Hmm…what the hell, I could do with a laugh." He walked into the shop, somehow managing to do so without setting off the little bell next to the door, and made his way up the rows of plants to the desk, where a familiar blonde kunoichi was dozing on the table. "Ahem."

Ino's head shot up with the ease of long practice, her sales-face on in a matter of seconds as she smiled at him with her eyes closed cutely. It was such a shame she hadn't noticed the drool on her cheek. "Welcome to Yamanaka-Hana! The best flower store in Konoha!" She greeted, "I'm Ino, can I help you?"

"You have any Damiana?" the masked blonde asked, a palyful light in his eyes as the kunoichi blinked in confusion. "Or perhaps some Ginseng?"

Ino blinked, wondering what on earth the teen was talking about, "Um...sir?"

Naruto tilted his headd to the side , pretending not to have heard her, "Hmm...Hoodia gordonii may come in handy too, I don't suppose you have any Maca root?"

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Ino yelled, looking decidedly put on, "This is a flower store! Not a Greenhouse!"

"Oh really?" Naruto asked, internally gloating at getting such a rise out of the Kunoichi, "Suman-suman, must have got the wrong address." He turned and walked to the dorr, opening it and setting off the bell.

Ino blinked, wondering why the bell didn';t alert her the first time before shrugging and looking up as her dad walked in, "Something wrong precious?" the Yamanaka patriarch asked, smiling at his 'precious little flower who could do no evil'.

"Dad, what's Damiana?"

Later that day, Yamanaka Inoichi had to be rushed to the hospital, as he had the misforutne of suffering seven consecutive heart attacks.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning, Naruto marched into the academy, grinning at the graffiti that now adorned the walls. 'I see Konohamaru's been keeping the prankster tradition going…I knew I chose well in teaching him a few tricks.' Spotting a familiar glare of pink in the crowd he winced.

"Unbe-fucking-lieveable…" Marching forward he tapped Sasuke on the back of the head, "I can't believe the pink haired freak actually made it this far, I thought for sure you'd have slit its throat by now."

Team seven spun round, staring at the blonde in shock, before Sasuke grinned and clapped a hand on Naruto's shoulder, "When'd you get back?" he asked, glad to see his closest fried after such a long time.

"Yesterday," Naruto replied, "thought I'd do a little sight seeing", he looked around, "Where's the other guy, Tomo was it?" The other two looked down, and he nodded, "I'm sorry…"

Sasuke shrugged, "He managed to buy us time to beat this tough guy from the mist," he explained, looking at the ground reverently, "I'd have died otherwise."

"Guess I owe him a sake jug up in heaven then." Naruto muttered, causing the Uchiha to sigh. "Anyway, what are you doing on the second floor, I thought test were on the third?"

While everyone began muttering amongst him or herself, a pair of proctors in disguise decided to interrupt the group, if not for the timely intervention of a bushy browed genin in green spandex, Sasuke would have lost his head.

As it was, they weren't to see the last of 'bushy brows.'

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"That was the most disturbing thing I've ever seen." Naruto muttered, shivering at the memory of Gai and Lee's 'Manly hug', "You think it's a genjutsu that causes all those sparkles?"

Sasuke shook his head, "I don't want to know."

As they walked along they bumped into Kakashi, who smiled in that bizarre manner of his. "AH, you're all here," the jounin greeted, "and I see Naruto is here as well."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Have we met?" he asked, runing a speculative eye over the jounin, as if sizing him up.

Kakashi did his one eyed smile and scratched his head, "Well, since teams of three are needed for the chunin exams, the Hokage said you'd be temporarily be joining my squad."

"So I can't compete unless I join a team?" Naruto asked, before shrugging, "Fine, been dying to see how Sasuke turned out." He smirked, "Pick up any girls yet?"

Kakashi raised a finger in the air, a merry little twinkle in his eye. "Actually-oof!"

"We're going, c'mon." Sakura growled, marching through the doors past the unfortunate Kakashi, whom she'd just punched in the stomach.

Raising an eyebrow at a flushed Sasuke Naruto blanched. "Please don't tell me you two hooked up." he pleaded, a note of horror entering his tone, "For the love of god, think of the children!"

Sasuke grimaced, "God no!" he flushed a little, "her names Haku…maybe I'll introduce you later."

Naruto snickered, "Keep this up and you'll have the Uchiha's back on their feet in no time." he goaded, slapping his friedns shoulder, "Tell you what, theres a little somethign that can help you called Maca root..."

Kakashi blinked from his position on the floor, just as the doors shut in his face.

'Where'd he hear about THAT stuff?' he wondered, intrigued at this new little wrinkle in the development of things.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Quite the little ensemble." Naruto muttered, pulling out his book, "I bet those Iwa-nins are named for the rocks in their heads."

Sasuke snorted, before the other members of their graduating year approached.

"Kiba, Chouji, Shikamaru." Naruto greeted; those three where some of the few he'd interacted with at school, Kiba as a fellow prankster, Chouji and he had shared lunches, and Shikamaru was the best damn Shougi player in Konoha. He looked up at Ino, already trying to flirt with Sasuke and smiled sympathetically. "Sorry Blondie, Sasuke's got a girlfriend already," he tapped his chin suggestively, "in fact, I hear she's expecting."

While Sasuke choked in embarrassment, Ino let out a gut wrenching cry of "Nooooooo!" while doing the 'SCREAM' pose.

"I kid, I kid…about the kid at least." Naruto snickered, waving a hand in dismissal of the cruel joke. he sidestepped a blow from Sakurasa, causing her to stumble forwards and crash into her rival for Sasuke's affections. Looking around he spotted Hinata hiding behind Shino and smiled, eyes twinkling in a mischievous way that caused the girl to flush.

'She's so damn cute when she does that!' he thought appreciatively, letting his eyes roam over her while pretending to read, though he didn't think Shino bought it, but the stoic Aburame didn't say anything.

A silver haired genin with glasses then told them to keep it down, before introducing himself as Kabuto, an eighth time entrant of the exam. "If you like," the teen offered, "I can share some of the info I've gathered over the years."

"Do you have anything on Sabaku no Gaara, and rock lee of Konoha?" Sasuke asked, eyeing the redheaded sand nin with trepidation, having had a run in with him and his siblings earlier on that day.

Kabuto frowned and checked the card, "Lee's a year older than you, his team trained for a whole extra year for this exam, so they're pretty strong, I'd say Taijutsu is his strong point." Changing cards he checked the data, "Gaara's from the Sand, he's completed lots of C-rank missions, and even a B rank, reports say he returned completely unharmed from every encounter, other than that, no data." Smiling, the white haired genin looked up, "Anyone else?" he asked looking around.

"Uzumaki Naruto." Shino cut in, surprising everyone. No one expected the stoic teen to speak out. Kabuto, nonplussed, pulled out the card. Naruto frowned at the teen, bt shrugged it off, knwoing there was little harm in humoring the bug users curiosity, they were allies after all.

"Uzumaki Naruto," Kabuto mumbled, shuffling the deck, "odd, no team data other than his supposed sensei, a woman named Genkai. There's no knowledge of his skills outside the academy, though apparently he was ranked second after Sasuke-kun, by a very short margin. The only mission data available is that he completed an A rank mission involving a rogue chunin, shortly after graduating, though he was wounded in the attempt."

Everyone stared at the blonde who shrugged, "Mizuki sensei stole the Hokage's scroll of seals, I bumped into him, bastard stabbed me in the stomach before he fell into my genjutsu." He smirked behind his mask, "Damn fairy must've been mourning the loss of his hair."

Kabuto shrugged, and shuffled his cards, "There's a lot of teams from all the major countries gathered here, the exception being the Sound, since they're only a minor country, recently formed."

Kabuto was interrupted from him ramblings by Dosu from the sound launching a sneak attack. The attack would have been better, if Morino Ibiki hadn't managed to bust things up.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

'Good thing I swiped his notes all those years ago,' the blonde muttered, 'seems Ibiki's trying to force us to quit…two can play this game.'

"And just how do we benefit by not taking the question…Ibiki-san?" he asked, looking lazily at the ANBU captain, "Last I checked, chunin weren't allowed to turn missions down…what would it mean if we did?"

'Kid's got rocks,' Ibiki muttered approvingly, 'I'll give him that much.'

"Nothing really," the ANBU commander admitted, "It's merely a matter of protocol."

"Well, I'm taking it," Naruto stated loudly, "don't know about the others here, but leaf shinobi don't run from a challenge."

Ibiki winced as he noted the looks of rage that crossed the other contestants' faces. 'Psychological warfare…. he's mocking those who're thinking of quitting.' He looked around, 'more than expected, but anyways…'

"Well then, to all those still gathered here," he paused for effect, "you've passed the first exam."

At that moment, Anko smashed her way into the window, startling everybody in the room. "You let this many pass?" she asked, looking annoyed, "I'll whittle them down to less than half."

"If your skills are anywhere near as sharp as your tongue I don't doubt it." Naruto muttered, moving for the door as Anko glared at him, "Lead the way, Madame proctor."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Naruto paid attention to the woman's speech while reading his book, eyeing the potential candidates with distaste. 'Way too many…this next test is gonna be a real bitch…probably like this proctor.' He eyed a grass Nin of indistinguishable gender and shivered, 'That one reeks of snake.'

Anko, spotting the blonde reading, hurled a kunai in his direction. The blonde vanished in a puff of smoke, revealing itself as a kage bunshin as an annoyed voice spoke out behind her. "That was rude."

Spinning around she smirked at the blonde who was twirling her kunai around on his finger. "Aw, what's the matter," she asked condescendingly, "you don't like to play rough?"

"Not outside the bed, no." Naruto replied, smirking at the dumbstruck look on the assorted genin's faces, whilst Kiba rolled on the ground laughing, Sasuke merely snorted, and Anko smirked, waving a hand dismissively.

"Sorry kid, not my type," she goaded grinning at him wryly, "try again in a few years."

"That an invitation?" Naruto asked, the leer actually making the jounin a little hot under the collar.

'Dammit!' she cursed, turning her back on the genin, 'Why's he have to look like Kakashi?!'

With that, she started the second part of the exam, letting out a shriek and socking the poor proctor standing next to her as she felt someone goose her, missing the look on a certain blonde's face as he darted past. As such, she vented her frustrations on the nearest possible target, which unfortunately happened to be a team form Iwagakure, crippling them and denying the earth nins from entering the second stage of the exam.

well, that's it for now, how will Naruto fair in the forest of death?

Naruto: Nothing ever goes according to plan, but, then I never did like predictability.

Sasuke: I'll show you how strong I've gotten.

Sakura: Sasuke-kun! You're the greatest!

Naruto: Hm? Where the hell'd you come from?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kyugan's explanaton corner:

All of the things Naruto asked Ino for are potent Plant aphordisiacs, and the reason the girl wouldn't know about them is that only licensed herbalkists are permitted to distribute them, so it stands to reason that Inoichi's heart attack at her questioning could be charted up to parental shock.

Why is Naruto on team 7? well he DID want to watch Sasuke's back, and Tomo was merely a filler character with little to no plot behind him, his sole purpose in life was to be a meat shield for Sasuke to avoid being killed by Zabuza, other than that, nothing has changed, except that Tazuna's bridge is now called 'The Great Konoha bridge.'