The Fox and Crow. That was their nickname among the ANBU elite.

Ever since Itachi's appearance, Naruko and her new partner had been taking harder and harder missions. Their teamwork was impeccable, and many teams requested them since they were able to work with practically anyone and they always managed to get the really good missions.

Some complained, until they found that Naruko had learned when to approach the mission desk or board to nab them. By the time her younger self was three, she had already amassed a reputation among the village.

However there was a bit of tension that very few noticed between them. And during the second girl's night out (lead by Kushina) with Anko, Naruko, Kushina, Mikoto, Hitomi and Kurenai (Anko had been invited by Naruko, and by extension Kurenai who idolized Kushina and the others) Naruko hit on the one sore spot with working with Itachi.

"It just sucks! Here I am, stuck repeating various events and not once have I ever been asked out on a date! And now I'm working with one of the hotter jounin and still nothing! How's a girl supposed to get any love around here?" complained Naruko.

Kushina nodded sagely.

"It was a real bitch getting Minato to take a hint the first time around. But I can't see why no one hasn't asked you out yet."

"The only people I'm close to and near my age are either A) like family to me and likes someone else, B) is a total prick and my rival or C) wants to use me because I happen to be one of the best looking girls and a total powerhouse that can gain fox ears on command. Not to mention working with Jiraiya off and on for a year..."

The other girls nodded sagely. Working with Jiraiya did tend to give people the reputation of a pervert. When it was girl, it just said you were open and most likely to be very kinky.

And it was common consensus that Itachi, the mystery jounin who appeared out of nowhere in the village (and had apparently mastered the new Sharingan eyes Naruko had given him in less than a day, to the anger of the Uchiha who had no idea who he was) was one of the hottest young jounin in the village. The fact that he could use the Sharingan (which everyone assumed was just a fluke) so well only made him a better catch.

Though Naruko was still fending off demands from the Uchiha and the council as to exactly HOW many Sharingan she had on her. She had alluded to the fact she had more than ten, but less than fifty. Hearing that was enough to anger the Uchiha, because there weren't that many missing clan members.

And all attempts to find said scroll (which they knew had the eyes) were met with frustration.

This was because of a simple trick she employed. She had a triple sealing method. One was the generic seal, Two was the Blood Seal, and Three was the Chakra-specific seal. Getting past the first was easy enough. Getting a sample of blood, hard but doable. Copying her specific chakra signature?

Not going to happen.

"What's a girl gotta do to get some lovin' around here! We have needs too, dammit!" cried Naruko with anime tears streaming down her face.

The married women sweatdropped while the younger kunoichi (who were only there because Naruko knew of them and suggested it) nodded in agreement.

Anko couldn't get laid either because of her past association with the newly minted traitor Orochimaru (who had been busted by Naruko almost a week after Minato became Hokage) and since Kurenai was so close to her (Best Friend in fact) she couldn't get a date either.

Too bad Asuma was with the Fire Guardians, or Naruko would have started to push those two together and hopefully help one of the few Kunoichi willing to train the demon brat in the arts only females could use.

Kushina suddenly had an evil idea...and it didn't take long for Mikoto and Hitomi to start cackling evilly with her.

If Naruko wasn't so annoyed with her predicament, she would have started to back away in fear at the look in the women's eyes.

Itachi walked into his new apartment (which he shared with Naruko as his roommate), took one look at the sight before him, blinked, and walked out of the room and stabbed himself with a senbon before walking back into the room.

His new eyes weren't deceiving him. Naruko was in fact sitting on the couch with nothing but a sheer nightgown (almost transparent!) with a large plate of pocky and mochi (his two favorites) watching a movie that she knew he would like.

One 'kai' later, and Itachi was still having trouble with the sight before him.

What Itachi didn't let anyone know was that he was attracted to Naruko. He always had been ever since he figured out that she was in the same position he was in, yet she never let it get to her.

He had always been keeping an ear out for her, even before the first repeat. Every time, she got back on her feet and tried another tactic to beating Madara. Not to mention the physical attraction any straight male would have for her. But he was too professional to let those feeling show.

However with this display it would be a trial getting through the movie without letting her on to this fact.

Too bad for him Naruko had other plans.

Naruko sat there, and hid a smirk as she saw Itachi's reaction. He didn't react too badly, but then again she did spend a lot of time around Anko Mitarashi who was a bit of an exhibitionist. It stood to reason that she could care less if a guy saw her practically naked from the waist up.

(Not that Minato would dare let her do such a thing. Talk about overprotective, sheesh!)

She noted with joy that Itachi's eyes did have a tendency to stray quite often and she pretended not to notice. Her reputation as being oblivious didn't hurt this. She pretended to rub against him, noting with great amusement that Itachi would stiffen up and appeared to count mentally in order to calm down. Halfway through the movie he was a bundle of nerves.

About three-quarters of the way she pounced on something she had noticed.

"Care to explain the hard on, Weasel boy?"

The deer-in-the-headlights look was so damn funny she was having great difficultly not laughing. The fact he had been trying to edge off the couch and head towards the bathroom for the past fifteen minutes hadn't escaped her notice either.

"I can explain..." he said hesitantly.

"Save it. Now there are two options Weasel boy. One is you either act on your natural urges...or I let Kushina know you were too much of a damn coward to do anything and get Mikoto to give you the Talk. Your choice."

Itachi was trapped and he damn well knew it. And that particular talk had been mortifying enough the first time he had to hear it from an equally embarrassed Fugaku. Hearing it from his mother would be a hundred times worse and he would honestly rather fight the Kyuubi bare handed and naked than go through that again.

By the time the credits rolled Itachi and Naruko were finally taking a step forward in their relationship. They had been dancing around each other for months now and there was a betting pool as to who would jump the other first.

Odd were on Naruko, amusingly enough.

"Kushina-nee, you rock."

"It worked?" she cackled.

"You better believe it worked! A few subtle moves and he had a hard on about three-fourths into the movie! I caught him before he could flee to the bathroom and gave him the choice between acting or dealing with Mikoto-nee!" said Naruko gleefully.

"Oh that is priceless! What look did he have on his face when you caught him?"

"Nara-male-captured-by-troublesome-wife number three!"

(Which in normal terms means deer-in-the-headlight look.)

Kushina howled with laughter.

"How did you get him?"

"I pointed out that yes, I noticed he had a hard on and that he had better do something about his 'natural urges' or I would throw him in the deep end with his own mother. The look on his face! He almost looked like he was prepared to fight the Kyuubi buck ass naked before he would even contemplate not following my suggestion."

"From what I understand Fugaku was the one to give him the Talk last time. And no teen wants to hear about that sort of thing from their mother!" cackled Kushina.

"Unless they traveled with Jiraiya and didn't know their mother anyway," snorted Naruko. Kushina had sat her down for the talk, only for the two to debate hentai books instead.

Minato had been torn between mortification or killing his old teacher for exposing his daughter to the red lights district.

He had no idea Naruko already knew what went on in there since she lived right across from it and knew all the girls from the best brothel in Konoha by name. It was where she learned to garden, apply make up, and do her hair.

"So you two finally got to it? It's about damn time!" said Jiraiya.

"She trapped me. Thank god Hokage-sama refuses to let her join the seduction division or she'd have them eating out of her hand by the end of the third day..." muttered Itachi.

"So how did she get you?"

Itachi gave him a bland look.

"Ask her, she'd probably give you better details."

Jiraiya cackled as he left and went to do just that. When Minato learned the latest Icha Icha was based on his daughter's seduction of her teammate, he nearly had a coronary.

Naruko and Kushina merely laughed their asses off.

Minato was currently banging his head against the wall. Why? Because seven years after the incident with the Kyuubi appearing (and for some reason NOT attacking Konoha) Naruko had begun to help her younger self with her jutsu. Naru was a natural at manipulating chakra...and unfortunately for Minato, Naruko had chosen to help the girl with her henge first.

Specifically her first creation, the Oiroke Jutsu, which Kushina enjoyed springing on him without notice during council meetings. While it did make for a wonderful distraction, it also gave most of the males there a good idea what his wife looked like under the clothes.

And now his seven-year old was pulling it on the teachers for the hell of it. All because her older self had taught it to her while cackling like the new special jounin Anko.

He could still see people shivering at the thought of Anko with an accomplice...and the way Naruko practically ripped those who tried to separate them a new one just because of Orochimaru.

Anko practically worshiped her for the simple fact Naruko happened to know the counter seal for the crude Earth Seal Orochimaru placed on her...and didn't hold the man against her.

Oh, and because she enjoyed forcing people to team with a chunin by the name of Maito Gai and making them suffer his flames of youth rants. The insane cackling over the victims sent everyone who heard it immediately into therapy.

The fact that Naruko found Lee (who surprisingly enough had been an orphan BEFORE the Kyuubi incident as it was called) and immediately introduced him to a very enthusiastic Gai had only made things worse.

She knew Lee couldn't mold chakra worth a damn, and the two had practically been father and son anyway. This just made it official.

When he couldn't take it anymore, he let Naruko and Itachi go to Ame to confirm reports of someone with the Rinnegan.

The repercussions of that mission would cause Madara to swear as violently as the times people brought up his battle with the First Hokage.

Naruko practically dragged her boyfriend to the first ramen stand in Rain. Itachi put up with it for one reason only...he liked ramen too. Just not as much as his girlfriend did.

Within half an hour, someone from Ame came to see why two foreign shinobi had come into their village. And it took less than an hour for them to be summoned by the new village leader.

Why? Because Naruko had sent a message through the Ame shinobi for Pein personally.

'Either you get off your high horse and meet with us, or the Seventh Path is going to be missing his balls.'

Needless to say Pein was rather eager to meet this kunoichi who knew where his seventh Path slept.

Nagato blinked when he met the blond girl and her boyfriend. She...was nothing like he expected. Though to be fair, he was expecting someone with either bright red hair or a serious extortionist.

Instead he found a bubbly blond with blue eyes who was more interested in why he wasn't dating his assistant yet. Konan was more amused than he was at this point.

"Before I have you two killed, I want some answers. How do you know about the Seventh Path?" he demanded.

"Same way I know Jiraiya has a monster crush on Tsunade. We're from the future. Coincidentally, if you even think of trying to unite the nine demons to create the tenth, I will personally come and kick your ass, Rinnegan or not."

Nagato blinked.

"How do you know..."

Naruko decided that she had wasted enough time, so she activated her Rinnegan. To the surprise of Itachi, it could be turned off like the Sharingan. It was just that Pein in his time never bothered to because he didn't want to learn how.

"How...?"

"Long story short, the bastard in the mask who helped you kill Hanzo has a Sharingan that unfortunately can manipulate time. He proceeded to piss both of us off to the point where we're more than happy to kill his ass because of multiple repeats. Watching Jiraiya get killed four times is not my idea of fun," said Naruko bluntly.

"You mean Madara can send people back in time?"

"Yup. Oh, if you want, we can ship Danzo to you two for what he did to Yahiko. He doesn't have an Sharingan in him yet, though from what I remember he is taking some sort of gene therapy to get the Mokuton."

"Why are you telling us this? What's in it for you?"

"One, you happen to be my cousin believe it or not. Two, having someone who knows how to use the Rinnegan when I've barely started to learn how will help us both out in the long run against the ancient relic. And three, if we help get you on our side it will piss off Madara beyond belief, and that only serves to amuse my boyfriend and I."

"Wait, cousins?"

"Kushina Uzumaki happens to be my mother. And for some reason I inherited my father's blond hair instead of the Uzumaki red."

"That explains it. So you want to form an alliance between us to defeat Madara?"

"We're really, really sick of being thrown back in time. It was pure luck and a really pissed off Fox spirit that caused us to actually have a chance this time."

"This coming from the woman whose entire life is based on dumb luck...and who can walk into a casino and walk out with millions..." muttered Itachi. He winced when Naruko gave him a swift jab in the side.

"I can hear you as well as any Inuzuka, Weasel."

Konan looked at her friend. She really, really wanted him to go along with this. Madara gave her a bad feeling all around.

"What in it for us?"

"Contact with your remaining family, blackmail on your former teacher, and killing off a man who should have died years ago. Besides, his idea of peace is nothing more than controlling the world via an illusion."

"What?"

"His idea of peace is fake. He plans to use the Juubi to create a permanent illusion of peace and control the world. Something about the statue requiring the sacrifice of a live Uchiha with the Mangekyo Sharingan or something."

"It's the reason I kept trying to kill him," Itachi added.

"I will think about your offer. In the meantime, where will you be staying?"

"In either a hotel or just outside the village. Konan, if you want to hang out for some proper girl time away from the boys, I'm available," said Naruko.

The blue haired paper master grinned. She had been sorely missing girl talk.