"Ahhh, that hit the spot." sighed Naruto, patting his stomach after finishing the spaghetti. Normally he could eat five times as much noodles, but he needed to take it easy for his body's sake, and show some manners to his host.

"I'm happy you liked it so much." smiled Rainbow Sherbet with her hands folded together on the table. "I don't like to toot my own horn, but I can whip up some good grub."

"Grub?" Naruto looked at her confused. "I thought it was spaghetti."

"It was, grub is just sailor talk for food."

Naruto had a thought bubble that briefly showed small grubs before it popped away with him shaking his head. "Never heard that before."

"There's all kinds of terms sailors use, like how we say ahoy as a greeting." she informed with a smile.

"That's confusing." he tilted his head, making her giggle.

"Trust me, that's nothing. I've got loads more words you might not have heard."

He sweat dropped as he realized this would be no different than learning at the academy. "Uh, do we gotta go over them all right now?"

"No, I can teach you them over time."

"Oh thank Kami." sighed Naruto in relief.

"Relax Fishcake, I'm not that brutal." she teased, making him huff.

"The name's Naruto, Rainbow Sherbet." he remarked, before feeling something click in his head as he held and rubbed his chin in thought. "Hmmm, ya know, your name's kinda long."

"It is?"

"Maybe I could call you something shorter. Like…Rain-chan!"

"Rain-chan?" she repeated in confusion.

"Yeah, where I'm from it's natural to add 'chan' to the end of a girl's name."

"What does chan mean?"

"No clue." he shrugged bluntly. "That's just how I learned it."

Rainbow looked at him with a blank look before snickering and burst out laughing, slapping the table before Naruto broke out laughing at the same time. "You're funny!"

"Heh, well I do have that effect." he boasted with his hands behind his head.

Both of them shared in the laughter for a bit. After some time, they slowly stopped with Rainbow standing up and wiping a tear away.

"Wooh, I needed that." stretching her arms above her head, she rotated her arms. "Well, I better get to work."

"Eh? What work?"

"I need to clean up my boat, it's a bit messy." she remarked while looking around the messy floors and rails. "I've been so busy sailing around I haven't had time to keep it shipshape."

"Eh?"

"Tidy."

"Oh!" giving a look around the area, he got an idea while looking at her. "So you're gonna clean it by yourself?"

"Of course, you still need to recover so I couldn't ask you."

"And how long would it take?"

"Don't know, might take half a day. It's fine, it's not the first time I've tidied it up on my own."

Naruto smirked before standing up and cracked his knuckles. "Well then you're lucky I'm here. I can help get this place cleaned up in no time."

"Naruto," she frowned with her arms crossed. "I said-"

"Yeah yeah, but I'm not useless. I recover pretty fast." he gave a devious grin. "Besides, now I can show you something else I learned."

"What's that?" she asked, watching as he put his fingers in a cross position.

"Watch closely, Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"

Instantly Rainbow Sherbet saw him consumed in a cloud, making her eyes widen at the unexpectedness. Before she could speak up, she went silent and slack jawed as it cleared to show a grand total of six Narutos standing right there in front of her. All of them looked exactly alike.

"Tada!" they chorused with the same grin as Rainbow raised a finger up.

"W….W….How did…"

"This is called a jutsu, and you can call it extra hands." the real Naruto turned to the others. "Alright boys, it's time to clean house. Let's make this boat spotless!"

"Right!" they chorused with a fist pump before scattering around to find the mop, broom, any cleaning tools they could find.

Rainbow herself stood there, watching them move over the place, her jaw still hanging open while holding her hands out and trying to understand what she was seeing. Naruto stood beside her with arms crossed and a wide smirk.

"Pretty cool huh? They can get the job done way faster, and the best part? This isn't even close to my limit. I could make hundreds of these guys if I was recovered."

"H-H-HUNDREDS!?" she gaped at him as he nodded before she turned back to watch the clones move around and start cleaning the place up after finding the needed tools. "This…This…This is…..COOL!"

"Yeah, I am pretty cool." boasted Naruto with his chest puffed out. "First jutsu I learned too."

"What else can you do?! Can you show me? Please?!" she asked with her hands together as he rubbed the underside of his nose.

"Heh, well there's this pretty cool technique my sensei taught me on my first mission." he walked over to the rail and moved over it.

"Woah there! What are you-" she was cut off when she saw Naruto fall over the edge. She let out a surprised yelp and ran over with worry and looked down, only for her eyes to widen even more when she saw Naruto crouched down before he slowly STOOD UP ON THE WATER!

"Took me a while to get it, but when I did? I felt on top of the world. Or in this case, the water." he chuckled, not realizing her gobsmacked expression with his eyes closed.

"You….You're on the water! You're floating!"

"Huh? Oh no, I'm not floating, I'm right on top." he clarified. "I'm using chakra to stay above it."

"W-Wait, what's chakra?"

"It's what I use to use jutsu. It's sorta like an energy all shinobi have inside."

"...woah." she let out, too stunned to utter anything more concrete or long winded. "You're so lucky, I wish I could walk on water…" she muttered, feeling jealous as Naruto gave a smile.

"Well I better help out my clones." he started to walk back up the side of the boat to get back onboard before he grabbed a broom and got to sweeping, all while Rainbow Sherbet watched.

'I wonder what else he can do?'

The work from the clones allowed them to cover more ground faster and easier, from cleaning up the living room area inside the boat, tidying up the windows, with two even working on putting a fresh coat of paint across the wood.

In no time, the chores were taken care of with the boat looking brand new. Rainbow Sherbert walked around and marveled at it all, unable to stop smiling.

"Wow Naruto, it's beautiful!"

"Well I'm just that good." he chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. "It'd save you time and it's my way of saying thanks for the meal."

"Oh it's no problem." she replied as she looked at the spotless counter. "Man, I haven't seen it this clean since the first time I got it."

"How long have you had it?"

"A couple years." she replied while giving the counter a rub. "I've always wanted to adventure around the world, so when I finally got my hands on my own ship? I went off to see the world and I was hooked. The thrill of seeing new things and people is what I live for. I even picked up a little musical talent."

"You play? What kind?"

"Pipe and trumpet, I guess I was pulled into them to pass the time and listen to the notes across the cool sea air."

"Eh, never really been a musical guy." remarked Naruto with a blunt tone and shrug of the shoulders.

"If you want, I could show you."

"I don't know…"

"How can you tell it's not you if you don't give it a try?"

"Call it a hunch."

"Well that hunch is about to get fixed." smiling, she walked over to a small case beside the wall and opened it, reaching in and producing a freshly polished trumpet. Putting it to her mouth, she started to blow and let out some easy and basic notes without a single mistake. "See? It's not so bad."

"Eh, still not sure." he replied as she walked over and held it to him. He saw her giving him an innocent smile which made it hard to say no to. Giving out a sigh, he grabbed it and tried to situate his fingers on the same spots she had it. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

"I'm sure you'll sound great." she reassured him as he inhaled and blew, only for an ear greeting and toe curling sound to come blaring out, making her tense up and cover her ears as he blew as hard as he could with his eyes closed, the notes sounding like a drowning cat getting skinned alive with the windows shattering. Any animals around the pond perked up before running away with horrified cries.

Naruto himself kept on playing, figuring he had to keep going until he ran out of air. Before he could keep going however, he found the instrument pulled back from him, confusing him as Rainbow Sherbet gave a forced smile.

"That was…a good try for your first time."

"Really? You thought that was good?"

"Uh….let's just say you have room to improve." she replied before she reached over and tried to move his fingers around. "Try adjusting your placement, the smallest misplacement can have a different sound."

"Sounds complicated."

"I said the same thing." she chuckled before stepping back. "Ok, try now."

Naruto brought it to his lips and inhaled before blowing as he kept his fingers on the parts, this time the sound coming out wasn't as bad, but it was far from what an expert would make.

Rainbow flinched, but didn't feel the urge to cover her ears this time. "Ok, that's a little better. See what I mean?"

He stopped playing and handed the instrument back. "Kinda sorta, but it's not my talent. Pranks though? That's a different story."

"Oooh, pranks you say?"

"Heck yeah! Back in the village, nobody could catch me." he boasted with a grin. "I use to pull off so many pranks on so many people, I was pretty much the king of all practical jokes. I'd even get chunin try and chase me down when I painted on the hokage monument. Never caught me."

"Chunin?"

"A higher rank of shinobi."

"Oh!" she nodded in understanding as Naruto chuckled.

"I had so much free time, I had to pass it somehow, and seeing the look on their faces was too good."

"Free time? But weren't you busy being a ninja?"

"Think of it like keeping my skills from getting rusty." he remarked as he stopped laughing and looked around, something clicking in his head. "Hey, you've been sailing by yourself, right?"

"Yup, just me, my boat, and the wonders of the world."

"What about your parents?" he asked, seeing her lose her smile and look to the side.

"They….They're gone." she replied, making Naruto go wide eyed before his expression turned somber.

'Damn it!' he thought, realizing he just messed up. "Sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"No no, it's ok, you didn't know." she held up a hand reassuringly. "I've gotten use to it."

Naruto looked at the floor, the realization that he might have brought up old wounds made him feel like a huge jerk.

Noticing his look, Rainbow cleared her throat and put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, no need to worry about it. Besides, I've got something really great you'll love." grabbed his hand, she started leading him into the boat and down some stairs, mindful not to yank too hard as Naruto followed. "Since you'll be staying here, it only makes sense you have your own room."

"You sure? I don't mind sleeping on the floor."

"Not on my boat mister." she lead them to a door at the bottom of the stairs and opened it, revealing a spacious room with a bed and window on the side. "This is the guest room."

"Wow, thank you." he smiled, stepping inside to get a feel for the area.

"You can decorate it however you'd like."

"Well I got some ideas, but I never really had much of a decorating bone. I mostly just used what I could find, or was allowed to buy." he muttered the last part so Sherbet couldn't hear.

"Don't worry, take your time. In the meantime? It's time to set sail, I still need to find the perfect spot after all." she walked up the stairs, heading to the wheel of the ship while checking the wind with her finger. Satisfied, she spun the wheel as the boat started to head off down the canal.

The voyage for the two was a bit of a let down for Naruto. Not because of Rainbow, but because all he saw while they sailed on the sides were the same. Nothing but sweets as far as the eye could see with more suckers, ice cream, and even more suckers sticking out of the ground. It was making him tempted to jump overboard and swim to land and see if any of them were edible. Spaghetti was good, but those treats were looking pretty good.

Looking down at the liquid the boat sailed on, he wondered if it was edible and tasted good. I mean if everything around smelt so sweet and good, than chances are it was some kind of syrup, right?

Rainbow herself whistled an old sea shanty tune to herself as she held the wheel, navigating the boat around turns without missing a beat and evading any obstacles in their way without flinching or looking worried. She gave it a hard right, making the boat lean slightly, but nothing too dangerous as Naruto held the rail firmly. "See anything out there?"

"Nothing but sweets! It's making me hungry again." he grumbled as he rotated his arm, his body feeling more and more better. With how fast it was going, he might be all healed up in an hour or so.

"See any good spots?"

"Not a clue." he replied plainly. "It all just looks the same to me."

Rainbow Sherbet held a hand over her eyes as she looked all around the coast. She hated to admit that Naruto had a point, but her eyes widened before steering the ship near the coast, a feeling in her gut telling her this is the one. "We've found it."

"Eh?" he let out, noting the ship slowing down before the anchor came down and splashed down.

"I can feel it, this spot right here is the perfect spot for me." she smiled while jumping down beside him. "It might not look any different, but call it sailor's intuition."

"Well….eh, you're the captain." he shrugged, going along with it since he didn't have much room to complain. He looked down, only for his eyes to widen when he spotted a horse standing near the shoreline. It had blonde colored mane and tail with a light-ish orange coat, and seemed to be staring at him with surprise. "Uh, hey?"

"Goodness me! Whoever are you?" it asked in a woman's voice, making Naruto's eyes widen while Rainbow Sherbet smiled down.

"I'm Rainbow Sherbet, and he's Naruto. We just set anchor here because this spot looked perfect."

"My word, you mean to say you'll be moving here then?"

"That's right."

"Then pray tell, what are you two like?" asked the mare with a tilt of her head. "I'm curious to know myself before I let the others know."

"Well I'm the captain of this great vessel, and Naruto here is a ninja."

"Shinobi." he clarified with a raised finger. "It's a much cooler name than just saying ninja."

"Goodness, the others will be excited to hear of this. I need to let them know immediately!" the mare turned and trotted off with gusto as Rainbow turned and giggled.

"Let me guess, first time seeing a talking horse?"

"Yeah, I'm more use to talking toads." he remarked, snapping out of his momentary surprise.

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