Kin's POV

I smiled happily at the pile of exhausted gennin. It was funny that they would be the next generation of great ninja.

"Hey, how did you get that strong?" asked a breathless Naruto.

"When you're a wandering nin your competition is missing nin. So you have to be able to defeat them if you want to live. Do you guys know a good place to eat by chance? I'll pay for the food to pay you back for wearing you out."

"Really?" inquired the suddenly energetic Naruto.

"Yeah."

"You're gonna regret it. Naruto eats a lot." Said Sakura , looking even more tired at Naruto's endless energy.

"I already offered. You coming Sensei?"

Kakashi nodded, apparently absentmindedly, from behind his orange book, and we proceeded to Ichirauku's.

"Ah, Naruto, back with your team again I see. Who's this?" asked Teuchi interestedly.

"I'm Kin, I'm here to take the chunnin exams. And I volunteered myself to pay for the meal. I hope I didn't get myself into too big of a mess."

"We'll stop Naruto before he eats too much." Said Ayame jokingly, as Teuchi moved into the back of the stall to prepare Narutos' usual order.

"HEY!" he shouted in indignation as his friends broke out in laughter and Kakashi gave his empty ramen bowl an eye crinkle.

"I knew you'd be here little brother."

"Nii-sama."said Sasuke.

I flipped around and promptly fell off of my stool, gaining the attention of the shop full of shinobi. Whoever said cats always land of their feet was lying. I then looked up into the amused obsidian eyes of the current head of the Uchiha clan.

Letting of a string of mild curses I turned to Sasuke.

"You didn't tell me you had an older brother. Any other relatives I should know about?"

"Hn."

"He has a really annoying cousin named Shisui." Piped up Sakura.

"Thank you Sakura-chan. I don't suppose he applies to my promise to pay for lunch does he."

"I prefer being spoken about as though I was present."

"Most people do Uchiha –san. In return for my annoyance I will pay for lunch."

"That is not necessary."

"Judging from the irritated tick you're getting, yes it is. Naruto, that is your sixth bowl! You're supposed to savor it!"

"But, Kin-san! I'm hungry!"

"I knew I would end up regretting this. One more bowl."

"Yeah!"

I sighed and rubbed my forehead in exasperation.

"Sasuke, Mother wants our help."

"With what?"

"We'll find out when we arrive."

"Hn. Thank you for the food, Kin-san."

"I would say 'anytime' but that would mean I'd have to pay for the resident loudmouth as well. See you later Sasuke-kun."

The two Uchiha left, but not without a suspicious glance from Itachi on his way out. I let out a sigh before I turned to finish my own, now cold, bowl of ramen. I looked at for a moment before I pushed it over to Naruto. The ramen vanished mysteriously soon after.

"Ayame-san! Can I get the tab please?"

"Yep!" she chirped, only too happy to accept the generous offering from my now skinny wallet.

"Thank you Kin-san!" said an overly jubilant team seven, sans Sasuke of course. I could feel a cloud of black depression beginning to form behind me.

"Naruto-kun," I said weakly, "could you show me to my apartment?"

"Sure! Sakura-chan, would you like to come too?"

Sakura gave an exaggerated sigh before nodding once and rising slowly from her seat.

We proceeded away from the ramen stand and down the road. After we were about halfway to Narutos' apartment complex I heard a scraping sound from behind us. I looked around and noticed a rather, square, rock attempting to be discreet behind us.

"Naruto, are those friends of yours?"

"Huh?" He turned around and looked down at the "rock", which was soon revealed to be Konohamaru and gang. While the two groups interacted I turned around and waited for Temari and Kankuro.

It turns out I didn't really have to wait, they were looking blankly at the scene, at least until Konohamaru ran into Kankuro.

"Well, what have we here?" he said as he lifted Konohamaru by the collar of his shirt. I was instantly next to him with my hand grasping his to the point of breaking, the claws of my neko-te extended into the tendons of his hand.

The pre-gennin dropped to the ground and crawled backwards as blood dripped from the puppet users' hand.

"We have three Sand gennin in a foreign villiage. Kankuro-san, Temari –san, and Gaara-san, allow me to introduce my temporary team and their friends. This is Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, and Sasuke Uchiha. The pre-gennin you were holding is Konohamaru, the grandson of the Hokage, and his friends are Udon and Moegi."

Sasuke dropped down from his position in the tree as sand condensed and formed into the shape of the sand jinchuriki. I smiled at the both of them in greeting and stepped back to check on Konohamaru.

"What are you?" asked Temari, her eyes narrowing angrily as her brothers' blood continued dripping into a tiny, glistening pool.

I smiled happily at her, and purred my reply.

"I'm a demon, partially at least."

Temari's eyes flicked to Gaara and I could feel the corner of my mouth twitch upwards.

"Naruto, I'm going on ahead. I'll see you at the apartment complex."

I jumped to the top of the nearby fence and darted along its' length until it ended, leaving two stunned teams of gennin behind me.

"You enjoyed that didn't you, kitten?" slurred a drowsy Kohaku.

"You have no idea."

…..

I'm so sorry for taking so long with my updates! School has decided to take charge of my life, with or without my approval. *Sigh*This chapter has been pieced together from various times of day and even more dubious amounts of sleep, so it might not be up to my usual standards…

Anyway, REVIEWS ARE LOVED! Thanks for sticking with me thus far,

Sety