Author's Notes: IMPORTANT - Ladies and Gentlemen who have enjoyed this story thus far: There comes a time in every author's life in which they have to pause and admit that they cannot do justice to the story that they have nursed from its infancy to it's current point. And at that admission they can either give up or press on doing the best they can. And alas, I'm sorry to say...

I'm gonna have to cut down on the number of updates because I just got a job. Go to the forums at http:/ magi-tower . forum-free . net/ if you want to talk with me, and for more content than what I'm allowed to get away with on FFn... also post something of yours.

Naruto was pleasantly surprised at how quickly his four slaves gathered together, kneeling before his desk expectantly. Oh how nice it was to have slaves that wanted to please him. Taking a moment to enjoy the view of the top of their heads, he signaled for them to rise. "I am not sure when you last ate, but I suspect that the four of you are hungry like myself. Unfortunately I do not know which of you can cook the best, if at all."

The young master had to fight down the urge to chuckle as Tenten and Haku both flinched slightly at the mere mention of cooking. He knew from experience that Haku while being a brilliant, even wonderful combat slave, she lacked any skill for cooking. As about a pound of charcoal in his and Kakashi's stomach could attest to. It had been a long trip back to Konoha after that, especially as the even Kakashi's best could only make a bland porridge.

From her reaction, he guessed that Tenten would be similarly effective in the kitchen.

Like well trained slaves they quickly schooled their features and remained silent until addressed. Watching them silently he weighed his options carefully, thinking how to show them that he understood their limits, but not insult them. Finally, he chose something that he hoped would convey the message. "I do not know what is in the kitchens, but I will trust Haku and Hinata to lead the rest of you in making something for us. I'd prefer ramen if possible, but make what you can."

"Yes master," came the ragged chorus of the four voices. A smile spread on his face as he noticed the wheels turning in the heads of the two he'd singled out.

"Hinata, Haku... have you heard the term... Right-hand slave?" Naruto asked neutrally while adjusting his chair. The stupid thing was set far too low for his liking, but what do you expect? The Supreme Master was at least two feet taller than him. As he returned his attention to the group, he fought down another chuckle as the two blushed brightly while their eyes were huge.

"Yes, I am considering instating that honor with you two... unless you do not feel up to it..." Naruto commented neutrally while watching steepling his fingers and leaning on his elbows casually. His eyes sparkled with mirth as they worked their jaws in order to find something to say. Instead he simply waved them out. "Go on, you can let me know later if you'd rather not be my right-hand slaves... but for now how about that supper?"

The quad of slaves bowed to their master before scrambling out to find something to make for a late supper. Leaning back into his chair he finally let the chuckle he'd been holding escape. Oh this was going to be fun.

After a moment, he pulled out a pad of paper and a pen, before writing down some notes on what else he had to talk to them about. First there was the incoming office slave, Yuki, that he'd have to tell them about. After that there was the simple matter of finding out about the current political clime through Hinata... Haku should probably be in on that so she was prepared. Especially once they got into the topic of the thirteen clans, and any of the minor ones that should be noted.

Beyond that he'd have to see about getting them trained in the fields suited to them. Hanabi seemed to be more suited to household tasks from what he could see in her moves. Tenten was more sure and solid yet fluidly graceful, much like Haku's movements. He'd have to train all them in the basics at the very least, but he wasn't going to just assume they were untrained, as something was tickling the back of his brain that the Hyuuga sisters had a combat style all their own.

Beyond that he had to set up a shopping trip, that would have to wait until after he got his paycheck from the last mission. That meant he'd have to ensure the paperwork is completed promptly and correctly to make certain he got the money due.

Adding a note, he suggested that the girls grab a bath before his, and then they could all go to bed.

An hour later, the meal was finished, and with it the topics he could cover in the the short span before bedtime. At least he thought it was an hour, but without a clock present it was hard to tell time. He'd have to get a watch out of that first paycheck if possible, since there was no windows to view the sun with. The other topics could be covered in the morning after everyone was rested and refreshed for the new day.

It was while Naruto was reflecting on the changes in his life that the girls enjoyed the baths that they had cleaned earlier that day. It was easily large enough to fit all of them five times over, and seemed to have many warming seals to keep it just the right temperature no matter where they sat. It was impressive, luxurious, and more than the slaves ever dreamed of having once the collars were snapped into place. But it seemed that Naruto, and the previous owners, considered rewards to be a better way of training a slave than punishments. However, they'd seen more than enough evidence that there were punishments aplenty for a slave that tried to buck the system.

Oh, Hinata knew that Minato Namikaze was known as being a master beyond compare, but there were only two problems with that little fact. One, Naruto was not his father, even if he was living up to him in all ways. And two, she couldn't tell the others about Naruto's parentage.

Once she'd taken up Naruto's collar, she had made a silent vow to herself to not reveal to the other slaves anything that would make them see Naruto as anything other than what he was. A kind, gentle master, with a heart big enough to fill the entirety of the Elemental Nations with hope and love, but with a will of steel tempered in the fires of his past.

She knew that he was destined for more than she could ever have hoped to achieve as a mistress, but somewhere deep in her heart, she felt a tiny glimmer of hope that when Naruto is at the end of his journey, she would be at his feet, ready to serve him however she could.

It was a selfish dream, but it was all that she wanted. His love.

During the days while waiting for Naruto to return from his mission, she took and wrote a final message to her father as a mistress. In it she wrote about her desire to be Naruto's slave, and her hopes that one day he would give her the gift of a child and heir to the Hyuuga clan. That she wouldn't be happy as a mistress, and only did so to protect her little sister and Tenten from becoming Neji's slaves.

A day later her father sent her mother's diary with a short reply. He was happy that she'd found someone for her heart to follow, and that the diary would explain more than he could ever say in words.

However one part of his letter finally made sense to her now. At least father would know his neighbors upstairs indeed. Now if only she could work up the nerve to confess her love to the man whose collar she bore.

A splash of water brought her back to reality, as the impish grin of her younger sister flashed into view. "Come on Hinata, stop dreaming about playing with Master, and pay attention."

The blush that sprang up on her face traveled down along her neck and colored even the tops of her breasts that were floating just under the surface of the water. "S...Sorry... w...what were we t...talking about?"

Haku's eyes were glaring at her, or rather she noticed they were glaring down at just under the water level where her... oh... Covering her chest with an arm she shrunk back from Haku's jealous glare, as though the girl had just turned her eyes jade and screamed that she was going to steal Hinata's breasts from her.

That seemed to snap Haku back into the present as well. "We were talking about Master Uzumaki's rapid rise... I have never heard of such a feat, and neither had the others... have you?"

"W...well th...there was one legend in the academy..." Hinata answered while playing with the surface of the water timidly, her eyes fixed on the tiny ripples she was making. "I... I remember something about the m...Master of Six Whips' sons..."

At that name, the slaves all bowed their heads, closed their eyes and fell silent in honor and respect for the first true Master. It was rumored that he had even had slaves from other nations that followed him. But even more than that, his teachings had been passed down through his sons and founded the Guild, which brought about the order and structure their world needed.

After their heads were raised, Hinata continued her tale. "The younger one, the one of his body... filled with the love and hope of peace was rumored to have in only a matter of a few years co-founded and was elected the leader of the Guild. Twelve generations later a young master out of Whirlpool was rumored to have risen through and beyond the ranks of the Guild we know today... I... I do not remember the name. Sorry... But... he was rumored to have been a true master on par with the younger son... and rose beyond the Guild in a matter of a decade..."

"In his first year he had already made it to the top ranks of Lord Masters, and was toeing the line to be a Grand Master," Hinata finished quietly, while the others all took on a thoughtful look. Hinata couldn't help but notice that Haku seemed to have some solid idea whirling more-so than the others, but she didn't want to ask about it so publicly.

A soft ding of an egg timer borrowed from the kitchens rang out, alerting the girls that bath time was over. After all, Master had to bathe yet tonight, and they needed to prepare his bedchambers.

In all the rush, it was rather easy for Haku and Hinata to forget about their rivalry for Master's favor, instead focusing on serving their master as best as they were able. However, something deep in the recesses of their minds told them that they would be better off working together, instead of against each other.

Maybe it was time to listen to that voice?

The next morning found Naruto digesting his breakfast of eggs and rice over several piles of paperwork easily as tall as his own desk. Now all he had to do was sort through the paperwork, and get it turned in promptly so he didn't have to fill out more paperwork just to ensure he got paid sometime this decade, or worse yet, have to fill out the paperwork to explain why he'd lost the paperwork to do with the paperwork.

Oh how he wished that Yuki was already here, for he just knew that she'd be a lot faster at this than he could ever hope to be. Instead he picked up his pen and began sifting through the endless forms awaiting him. Just as he was about to sign the first part of the message, he was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Enter!"

Hanabi walked in with a deep bow before taking a kneeling position with her forehead touching the ground in supplication. Setting aside the pen, he sighed and leaned against the desk actively welcoming the interruption. "Rise Hanabi, what is it?"

In a smooth, practiced motion Hanabi regained her feet and approached the desk timidly. "Master Uzumaki, I apologize for the interruption, but Lord Master Hatake has arrived at the elevator entrance and requests an audience."

"Send him in, and get us some tea... ask if he'd like some snacks," Naruto ordered before moving the form he had set on his desk back onto the pile he'd pulled it from. The seven piles of forms could wait until after his meeting. It wasn't like Kakashi was much for taking his sweet time or anything once he finally made it somewhere.

"By your command Master," Hanabi answered before bowing again and walking out of the room with a silent grace that made Naruto smile. She was certainly a good one for being in a house or dungeon.

A minute later, Kakashi walked into his office, and studied the observed the décor in a single glance. "Not bad kid... not bad at all... it looks like your inheritance paid off," Kakashi mused while sitting down in a chair opposite of Naruto. "Wish I could link my dungeons with yours... stupid contract... Anyhow kid, I though you'd like some help sorting through the paperwork... Supreme Master Namikaze helped me, and well... I kind of think you are my student as he was my teacher..."

"So... you're returning the favor dad did to you, but doing it to me? Makes sense..." Naruto commented while rubbing his chin. "So what is the trick?"

Kakashi's knowing chuckle signaled that Naruto had guessed right in that he knew the truth about Naruto's parentage. After a moment he simply reached over and plucked the top three sheets off each pile and set them on the desk. "You only have to fill these six out, nick your thumb and press it on the seal in the lower left corner. That will fill out all the other forms."

Naruto blinked slowly as he looked at the forms in front of him. It was literally less than one percent of the paperwork that he'd been expecting to fill out. "Why do they have so many pages if you only need these thirty?"

"Simple, redundancy and bureaucracy," Kakashi answered dryly as he pulled out his book and began reading. "This is supposed to be an emergency measure, so don't go around telling everyone. Okay?"

"Sure..." Naruto answered while filling out the forms that he'd been given from Kakashi. In a matter of ten minutes he had his thirty pages finished and ready for the activation. A quick nicking of his thumb with a letter opener later and he had the copying processed. After he finished, he found himself surprisingly drained of energy, like the day he had created as many chains as he could. "Woah..."

"Yeah, that's the other reason... it drains you of some energy real quick. If your office slave uses it, don't let on that you know or else they'll have to stop..." Kakashi explained before a quiet knock on the door caught their attentions.

"Enter," Naruto commanded. A moment later Hanabi glided in, carrying a tea set with cookies on the platter. "Ah good work Hanabi, thank you..."

Clearing a space on the desk, he smiled as Hanabi set the tea set on the desk, bowed and walked out quickly. Waiting until the door was closed before continuing, Naruto poured out some tea for Kakashi and himself. The plate of cookies were set in easy reach of the two of them. "So... how long before I can turn this in?"

"Give it three hours, then a Justicar will stop by asking for completed forms," Kakashi explained while somehow sipping his tea through his face mask, causing some part of Naruto's brain to twitch angrily about it being physically impossible. He told that part to shut up and pointed to what they'd learned about Dominates creating illusions.

Another part of his brain told him to stop arguing with himself, and just enjoy the break Kakashi had kindly granted him. And that he should remember his manners. "Thank you Lord Master... if there is ever something I can do in return for this favor..."

"There is kid..." Kakashi cut in with his trademark eye-smile that caused Naruto's brain to start twitching again. "See... there's the trials coming up, and I'd like you to gain my clan's contract from under Sasuke Uchiha."

"That teme? Why the hell does he have your contract in the first place?" Naruto burst out without thinking, at least having the good graces to blush as his brain caught up. "I mean... well..."

"No, you're right," Kakashi answered with a heavy sigh. "When I was younger, one of the younger members of the Uchiha clan was a subordinate under me. We got into a bad situation during a mission, and he saved my life... sacrificing himself in my place. I was given the Sharingan as his final wish... however his used that to gain control over me and my family's clan holdings."

"I see... so I challenge him at the trials for your contract?" Naruto asked curiously while leaning back in his chair. "I don't want to sound rude, after you helped me so much... but... what if he refuses?"

"He won't... he refuses to believe anyone could be better than him. However, you the lowest rank of his graduating class are currently ranked higher than him by a few levels," Kakashi explained with a smirk to his voice. "I suspect that he'll find you shortly after the start if you compete."

"So it's more that you want your contract out from under him than you want me to face him?" Naruto asked for clarification as he sipped tea. He'd seen the Supreme Master doing it before and it seemed to impress people when he did it, so why not try it himself?

"Basically... if you can get the other contracts without messing up those slaves that wish to be under him, I'd say go for it, since none of us enjoy being under him... Especially since he is among the two anti-guild clan leaders... many of the rest are stuck voting along with him as his subordinates..." Kakashi explained while pulling out a chart of the thirteen clans of Konoha. "The red ones are under Sasuke, the lavander were the Hyuuga controlled clans, the brown are the ones controlled by the Sarutobi clan... and the white is your clan before you took over since the votes were being ran by a judgenatrix until you became a master."

Naruto took a moment to read over the list, and their affiliations in regards to the guild. "It was a dead heat in the pro and anti guild race until I came in..."

"That's right... and from what I've seen..."

"I've been mostly pro-guild..." Naruto answered while frowning as something occurred to him. "Shimura... that's Danzo's clan isn't it?"

Kakashi blinked at the odd question before looking at the part of the list Naruto was indicating. Letting out a heavy sigh he leaned back and thought about it. "Yes... Danzo is the current head of the Shimura clan... why?"

"He's the one that called the Free Hunt on me... and if I was captured by him or his subordinates..." Naruto prompted casually while indicating that Kakashi should be gaining the hint he was dropping.

"He'd have tipped the scales in his favor..." Kakashi answered while seeing where the political power would fall. "Clever... clever indeed..."

"Would you mind me bringing in my right-hand slaves? I think that this discussion would be beneficial for them to be in on as well..." Naruto asked the superior master while leaning back in his chair with a heavy sigh. "Hinata was probably taught of the politics by her father... while Haku has a key viewpoint I'd like to include..."

Kakashi gave Naruto another playful eye-smile while waving dismissively at Naruto. "I don't mind... but let's wait until the forms are picked up..."

"Sounds good," Naruto agreed before pulling out a stack of scrolls he'd been putting off reading until he had time. Including the slave scrolls on his growing collection.

"Mah... if you don't mind... mind explaining your using the archaic tradition of right-hand slaves?" Kakashi asked curiously while he pulled up his book to continue reading.

"Just felt like it..."

"Works."