Drifting

by AlphaDelta1001

Naruto is many things; troublesome, wild, unpredictable, adventurous, untamable, unique. But there's a benefit to being wild and unpredictable; no one has the faintest idea what you're going to do next. NarutoHarem

21. Training Arc - Party Planning

NARUTO

Drifting

Party Planning

The very next day…

It was late morning, and things up in the hospital where the new addition to the village Kin was currently posted were a little bit hair-raising at the moment, due to the presence of one particular individual.

Along with a couple of other Chunin sent to keep an eye on things, Inoichi Yamanaka was trying his best to ignore the pair of eyes boring into him from one Naruto Uzumaki standing over his shoulder. The jinchuriki, who'd apparently arrived here way before any of them, was giving all of those posted in the room the thousand-yard stare, particularly the head of the Konohagakure Intelligence Division as he was performing his final diagnosis on Kin's head and gathering up the last of any and all data he could hope to divulge from her. Unfortunately, due to the amount of hostile intent being emitted from the boy should any foul play be detected on their part, he was finding it awfully hard to concentrate on his task.

Even the Chunin could feel the intensity coming off of the jinchuriki standing by the windowsill behind the Jonin, and it was unsettling. Who knew that a child still in his early teens and was only a Genin could produce potent enough presence to flood the entire room?

Breathing a sigh, a broken sweat Inoichi craned his head around at the blonde staring at his head with an unflinching glare. "You can ease up, Naruto. I'm not going to hurt her." Saying this got the kid to lighten up a tad yes, but he still maintained eye-contact. This got a smile from the Yamanaka. "It's okay. Hokage-sama explained everything to me before and after my first appointment. We had plenty of time to discuss all of the facts we were able to uncover so far and I don't see any reason to hold any grievances towards this girl. You can take her out of here once everything's been cleared."

After a few moments of silence, Naruto nodded and allowed the man to return to his work peacefully.

Inoichi currently had his hand over Kin's head and the girl's eyes were closed in a state of utter repose. Though the operation he was performing on her wasn't situated in a proper facility where he could gain full access even to restricted information, this girl really had nothing to hide from them, nor was she that hard to circumnavigate. All she really had, as far as he could tell, were several bad chapters in her life as well as a pretty decent career. By extension, Inoichi was also able to gain a certain measure of her true intents and feelings over her situation; sort of like a general feedback he normally got when wandering through a person's head. This gave him further inclination not to hold suspicions over this person, since the girl seemed to have picked up some manner of camaraderie with the boy watching over her.

He wasn't able to get much of anything on Orochimaru though, aside from the fact that he was a real asshole when it came to training and that he only ever met up with his students outside of any of his facilities. The snake was a really cautious character, no questions there. He was like a modern day Moriarty. Inoichi couldn't even pick up any clues as to where exactly any of the guy's hideouts were from this girl's memory. Nothing.

With him sitting directly beside the kunoichi on the bed and both their eyes closed, the man continued to tiptoe through Kin's brain and absorb all of the information he could find. You'd be surprised how quickly you could cycle through a person's hard drive. It was a quick process when the subject wasn't putting up any kind of resistance and Inoichi was grateful Kin was letting him browse the confines of her head so easily.

Eventually, after about half-an-hour of skimming through the metaphorical scrolls making up all the data collected inside her cranium, Inoichi relinquished his hold over her mind and leaned back with a sigh. Rubbing his eyes, he then asked for the clipboard from one of the Chunin on standby and began writing down everything he'd found.

Both Naruto and Kin waited patiently where they were sitting or standing, until the Yamanaka clicked his pen and pocketed it.

"You're all clear," Inoichi informed while smiling up at the girl. "Aside from the usual hooray a shinobi of your age has to go through on a day to day basis, along with one or two notable differences, there's really nothing I was able to find that can be considered incriminating by Konohagakure standards on your record."

Kin, still feeling a little bit nervous in front of the powerful looking shinobi, twiddled her fingers as she looked across at him, "But… my history isn't exactly clean. Are you sure it's okay…"

Inoichi shook his hand and head dismissively, "Everybody's history is different." He slipped the writing pad under his arm and shrugged, "Our memories are what make us who we are today and what helps define us as individuals. It's a concept I'm trying to teach to my daughter, but she's so focused on other things right now I can't really get her to sit still for a second to tell her properly. Hopefully she'll be able to pick these things up when she stops chasing after boys who are just not interested in her."

Ha.

The jinchuriki couldn't help but snicker on his corner of the room, which went on unnoticed by the others as Inoichi rose from the hospital bed and readjusted the notes under his arm. Along with his escort, he made his way over to the exit of the room where a doctor and a couple of nurses were waiting patiently for their session to finish.

"I'll be seeing you around," Inoichi said, waving to the raven haired girl before stepping out into the corridor. "And good luck in the exams, Naruto."

Said blonde waved back with a pleasant grin, the departure of the Jonin and his lackeys marking the arrival of the hospital staff, who immediately moved to Kin's bedside. The kunoichi in question remained seated where she was, still covered in bandages and casts, and looking altogether quite at ease as she panned across to the troublesome youngster responsible for bringing her here.

Kin smiled when Naruto's eyes fell upon her, "Your village has a lot of nice people living in it. But I guess they're really like that when off the clock and not out on missions. It's quite an interesting change for me."

Naruto chuckled, "Wait till you get out onto the streets. You're in for a real surprise."

"I'll bet," Kin replied, watching the doctor check her condition and lift up her bad arm to examine her shoulder. "Is everyone in Konohagakure a goodie-two-shoes like you?" She had to ask because in her village everyone was either terrified or a real asshole.

She was leaning more towards the second than the first.

The jinchuriki shrugged. "It's not just the people living in Konoha. I believe that people all over the continent have the capacity to be nice. Not just certain villages. The way I see it, a person can choose to either be kind or cruel, and some can even sit comfortably in-between. I know there's a better way of saying this… I just haven't figured it out yet."

Kin smiled pleasantly in his direction, "The way you said it is fine."

After getting a closer look at the girl's injuries, the pretty mediocre looking doctor then noticed that the girl's visitor was still there and smiled across at him. "I know you two are good friends and everything, but… do you think you could skedaddle while we finish things up here with her, kid? We just have one last operation to perform to close up the last of the cracks and puncture wounds, and then we're done."

"Huh? Oh… right," Naruto nodded when he was able to process what he was being told. Upon which he then hopped off of the window sill and quickly began shuffling his way out of the room. If the staff were here to check on her, finish the procedure they'd left off from yesterday and change out her bandages, then the blonde didn't want to be anywhere near the room to get an eyeful of that performance. He already got plenty of close-calls with Tayuya when he caught her short on a weekly basis; he didn't need a second on top of that. "Sorry. I'll leave."

One of the nurses in the room helped harry him out and said he could wait outside until all their work was done. It was an instruction Naruto was all too happy to follow and soon enough, just like the night before, the blonde found himself waiting out in the hall as vigil as ever.

OOO

The final operations took a little bit of time but much faster than what Naruto was expecting. From start to finish, the jinchuriki had plenty of space in his schedule to wander the hallway, in which he was able to drop in on a still hospitalized Team 8. They were looking well for the most part as they were no longer wearing bandages, except for Kiba who still had some wrapped around his head and jaw, but at least he was able to talk now. The group of three really appreciated the visit Naruto gave them, with Kiba and Shino having a quick chat with him about his training and Hinata asking him how he was. This filled in one of the many gaps the blonde had in his temporary stay here, after which he then returned to Kin's door to wait for her.

All in all, it was a good start to the day so far.

Vacating the hospital shortly thereafter went pretty smoothly for the pair following the operation. The doctors instructed the boy to take good care of her and for the girl to get some much needed rest. They'd managed to plug-up all of the wounds she'd sustained and healed all of her internal injuries. Due to the intense sessions she had to go through the past couple of days though, her strength was pretty much sapped. That meant she wouldn't be able to move excessively for another week or so until her condition was back up to a hundred percent.

Finally being allowed to leave the hospital walls allowed Kin to get some much needed fresh air. She along with her escort hobbled there way off of the grounds and out into the village streets, where the jinchuriki promptly began leading her back to his place. Along the way the kunoichi took the time she had given to her to look around at all the shops, businesses and estates they passed by on their way to the outer districts, as well as time to contemplate on the prescription medication she'd been given by the nurses.

Sure, both the Yugakure doctors and Konoha shinobi were able to patch her up through the miracle work of chakra scalpels, the mystical palm technique and various other medical related jutsu, she still needed to replenish the minerals in her body used in the healing process.

Kin sighed as she walked along, her right arm wrapped in a sling due to the largest hit she'd taken to the shoulder, and the bandages around her left thigh and waist. She also had a brace on her leg to help with support, eliminating the need for a crutch, and was currently looking at the pill bottle in her hand and the information slapped across it. "It could have been worse. At least I'm still able to walk."

"You're lucky you were able to get away. That's what you should really be saying," Naruto replied with a smile. "I can't imagine what would have happened if you didn't." He then held his hand out, which Kin responded to by placing the pill bottle in his hand and allowing the blonde to take a look at it. The jinchuriki whistled with a smile, "Wow. Lucky. You get the best stuff."

The girl gave him an amused smile, "Being sick and having to take medication isn't something you should be excited about. It's supposed to be something you should try to avoid at all costs."

"Yeah. Good point," Naruto replied while handing the box back over to her and slipping his hands into his pockets. "I never get colds, flues, infections or poisonings of any kind, so I'm kind of out of the loop in that area."

Kin squinted at him, "And you're saying I'm the lucky one?" She shook the pill bottle in view of the boy. "Geez. When did someone like you get the killer immune system?"

"Honestly, I have no idea," Naruto shrugged, "I used to get sick a lot when I was younger, but after a couple of years of colds and flues, I stopped getting sick and started feeling better than ever. I guess I'm just weird that way." Somewhere inside his head, he swore he heard the Kyuubi grunt at his comment, due to the fact that it was the fox who was chiefly responsible for his invulnerability to illnesses today.

"Sort of," Kin said while making a gesture with her fingers to visually indicate his minute discrepancy. "But you shouldn't be upset over not being able to get sick. You should be happy. I know tons of people who would kill to have your immunity if it was possible to actually steal it."

Naruto laughed, "Really?"

"Yeah. I mean… who wants to get sick? It's a very unpleasant experience," Kin replied. She then gave him a smirk, which he spotted out of the corner of his eye. "Don't think so lightly of it. Be grateful that you have that gift."

The boy grinned back at her and nodded, "Sure thing, Kin-chan."

Pocketing her medication, said girl continued to limp alongside the jinchuriki as they moved down the various roads making up his neighborhood. Looking left and right at all the shops that were open before them with people walking in and out of view, Kin smiled and turned back to him. "Is it always this lively?"

"Every day," Naruto nodded. "Was it like this back in your village too?"

"No. Not really," Kin replied while looking ahead with a rather dissatisfied look in play, "It was always quiet and dank everywhere I went. The people always kept to themselves and stayed the hell away from anyone wearing a shinobi headband, which made sense because a lot of the Chunin were bastards. Even the places where there weren't any people walking around were miserable. We didn't even have a capital." The kunoichi said this with a tone that expressed even her amazement. "It was just a bunch of towns scattered all across the countryside from the lowlands to the hills. I only ever really stayed in one place, and the normal company wasn't all that good either."

"I see," Naruto nodded, sort of getting the picture of what things were like for her back home. He wished he could do something about it, but unfortunately he couldn't. He was just one kid with a habit of getting involved in other people's business. What happens outside of his village is way beyond his control.

He made a note to fix that later on down the line.

"It was pretty awful, huh?"

Kin shrugged, "You get used to it. Besides, this place is a hell of a lot better than my old neighborhood." She smiled again as she looked up from her downcast state. "So… where's your place? It can't be that much further away, otherwise you would have said something?" Her feet were getting tired. She couldn't help but ask.

After a few glances and a turn later down the street they were following, Naruto looked up at the building ahead of them and pointed it out. "That's my apartment, up there on the third floor with the railing sticking out."

Noticing the structure down the new road they'd stepped onto, Kin lifted a hand to get a better look and nodded approvingly. "I bet it's got a great view from up there."

"Oh yeah. I can see all the way to the Hokage Monument from my kitchen window," Naruto replied proudly, resting his hands behind his head. "I've been living there ever since I was able to… so… ever since the orphanage kicked me out. It may seem small and it may seem cramped, but you'd be surprised how many people can fit in there."

"So you… really don't have any parents or relatives living with you?" Kin asked, looking at him in inquiry. He'd said a couple of times that he grew up all on his own, she just wanted to clarify. The nod of his head gave her the answer she needed, and she gave him a bit of a sad smile. "You grew up all alone… like I did?"

Naruto mustered a grin, "Like you said; you get used to it."

He wasted no time in leading her up to his flat. Due to her condition, the jinchuriki helped her to climb the stairs to reach his floor, even going so far as to carry her bridal style. Sure she got flustered and it was a little embarrassing for her when they were caught by the landlady walking down from the second floor, she nevertheless went with it. When they arrived at the front door, Naruto, gentlemanly as ever, let her in first.

Kin immediately looked around the corridor as Naruto kicked off his sandals. "Nice place."

"Thanks," the jinchuriki exclaimed, smiling across at her. "Being the newcomer, it's customary that I warn you that most of everything you're going to find in this place is brand new. A lot of…'accidents' happen around here, so you're bound to notice a lot of things out of place."

"Oh?" Kin exclaimed.

Naruto shut the door behind him. Almost a split second after doing so, he heard a knock and both kids stopped in their tracks. Turning around, the blonde cranked the knob and opened it again, coming face to stomach with the familiar tall figure of Jiraiya. When he looked up, the blonde saw the man grinning down at him childishly while raising a hand in greeting.

"Hey, brat. How-"

SLAM!

Door shut, Naruto did a perfect about-face and robotically made his way down the corridor, "Well, let's give you a tour."

A startled Kin looked between the retreating Naruto and the closed front door several times, making a pointing gesture with her good arm before following after him. "But… aren't you… who was that?"

"A stray cat. Probably lost its owner," Naruto replied immediately and quickly, stopping at the first archway and pointing in, "This is the living room. It's blown up eighteen times, caught fire fifteen times, flooded eight times, collapsed to the second floor seven times, and for all I know, suffered a temporal spatial displacement when I woke up one morning and found a whole section of my apartment just gone."

"Spatial displacement?"

"You should have been there that day. That was one hell of a scavenger hunt."

"Uhh… okay," Kin nodded, looking around the quaint little room when she chose to ignore the big, white haired hermit standing outside the closed door. She looked at the boy in question, who was currently smiling in the direction of the lounge, "Question: why haven't you moved out of this death trap yet?"

"It's home. Plus I like it here. If I was going to move out it would have to be for one of two reasons. One; too many people end up living here, or two; when I feel like it," the blonde said firmly. Since he always spoke with so much conviction in his voice, it made even this statement more powerful then what he intended it to be.

"Okay. Sounds fair," Kin exclaimed with a nod before being moved on to the next room. From the smile on her face, it was easy to tell that this little, brisk lap around the complex was becoming both an enjoyable and enlightening experience for her. From the number of recently repaired walls and such, she could see that this apartment was a really exciting place when the residents wanted it to be. "What kind of stuff do you do in your off time?"

Naruto grinned, "Oh, the usual." After showing her the kitchen and dining table, he then led her down the hall passed his bathroom, laundry, and right to his bedroom. "Training, hanging out with teammates, shopping, hot springs, card games, cinemas, theatre… well… sneaking into them, testing out new devices, watching television, library, walking… usual."

"Cool," Kin responded.

They then stopped outside the jinchuriki's bedroom door, the blonde grinning as he pointed at the wooden barrier. "And this is where the people staying in the apartment sleep. To put it simply, welcome to the sleeping quarters." He then opened it up, both expecting two different things but both believing the room to be empty…

They never expected to see a red haired girl standing in the middle of the room naked and in the middle of getting dressed for the day. The moment the door was thrown open, all parties froze as one side looked in and the other looked back, a full minute of silence passing with nothing, not even an attempt to breathe, being made for fear of shattering the delicate equilibrium that had formed.

It was quite the sight. For illustrative purposes, Tayuya had actually been in the middle of pulling her underwear up her legs the moment the door opened, so when everything froze in place she was stuck in a bent over position.

Eventually, after a not so comfortable silence drifted across the room, the penny hanging in the air finally dropped, and both sides' expressions slowly transformed from confused and bewildered, to shocked and bright red when Naruto realized what he was staring at and Tayuya realized who was staring at her and what her current state of dress was.

Her face became so red the jinchuriki was sure that if it were night he'd have been able to see her glowing from the other side of town.

"SHITHEAD!"

The moment her enraged cry filled the air Naruto let out a girlish shriek and slammed the door shut, a split second before several dull thuds rapped against it on the other side. Body sprawled up against the wooden barrier, the now panicking boy held his position firmly as he listened to the sound of footsteps running around the bedroom behind him, moments before he heard his roommate's fist slamming against the door.

"WHEN I GET A HOLD OF YOU, I WILL RING YOUR FUCKING HEAD DRY!"

"TAYUYA-CHAN, I'M SORRY! I DIDN'T KNOW YOU WOULD BE IN THERE!"

"WHAT?! DID YOU THINK I'D BE OUT TRAINING SO EARLY AFTER YESTERDAY'S SESSION?!"

"YES!"

"I SLEPT TILL TEN! WE SHARE THE SAME ROOM, DUMBASS! KNOCK BEFORE YOU ENTER!"

"ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT! I'M SORRY!" He then blinked when he remembered something else and glared back at the door, "AND STOP CHUCKING SHURIKEN AT MY DOORS! YOU'LL FUCK UP THE WOODWORK!"

"OKAY! SORRY! AND STOP YELLING!"

"ALRIGHT!" Breathing hard, Naruto turned to Kin to see her staring at him oddly. He gazed back for a second before grinning and pointing between him and the door, "This is… sort of our thing…"

Kin stared at him strangely for a few minutes before raising an eyebrow, "You have another girl living in your place?"

"Sure. Tayuya-chan. She's my best friend and roommate," Naruto said brightly.

The kunoichi frowned. "You never mentioned you had somebody else staying with you." Her voice sounded a little bit peeved. She then did a double-take on the last bits of information she was able to pick up. "Wait! You share the same room with her?"

"Yeah. Because there's only one bedroom, we decided to just lay out tons of mattresses and pillows across the floor to crash on, since we're usually so exhausted after training we just fall asleep wherever we drop," Naruto exclaimed sheepishly while thumbing over his shoulder. "Plus the pillow fights are awesome."

This had Kin's face turn red a little as less than pure thoughts started to fill her head, "P-Pillow fights?"

Naruto grinned, "Yep! Tayuya-chan is ahead sixty to fifty-seven, so I really need to make up for lost ground."

"You're keeping score?" Kin asked. Wow. Even in their off time this boy was pretty competitive. She then gave him another look over, "I guess it makes sense, considering the type of person you are." Another amused smile crossed her face; "A man not bound by rules or conventions and secretes weirdness from every pore on his body."

The boy opened his mouth to object, but then shut it when he thought about it some more. He then grinned and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Yep. That's me in a nutshell."

Naruto was then interrupted by the door behind him opening and he fell back, looking up to see Tayuya glaring down at him, cheeks flushed and dressed in casual clothes consisting of a red singlet exposing her midriff and khaki shorts. Fearful of a beating, the jinchuriki grinned sheepishly. "Not the face?"

When it first seemed like she was going to beat the snot out of him, the musician smirked and stepped on him as she walked out of the room, pushing the air out of his lungs, "I'll let it slide today, shithead. Next time you won't be so lucky." Upon stepping through the entrance, she then noticed Kin standing beside the wall and looking at her with a puzzled expression, earning one from the newcomer in kind. "And who's this broad?"

Naruto chuckled and raised a weak hand from the floor, "Introductions. Tayuya-chan, Kin-chan. Kin-chan, Tayuya-chan. Be nice."

The red head blinked, tilting her head, "Isn't this the girl from that Otogakure team that was participating in the Chunin Exams?"

"Bingo," Naruto replied.

"Why is she standing in our hallway in our apartment?" the girl asked, maintaining her flat tone of voice and causing the raven haired kunoichi to lean away a bit in worry.

The blonde chuckled, "She's going to be staying with us for a while."

Kin blinked as she looked back at the red head sizing her up, a tense silence falling over them save for the thoughtful yet seemingly dangerous growl echoing up from Tayuya's throat. After looking her over a couple more times, the musician locked eyes with her to see her back down. "From the looks of it, she just got out of the hospital."

"Yeah. Her team took quite a beating in the second stage of the exams and because of that she's not allowed to go back to her village, so I brought her here."

Tayuya nodded in understanding, folding her arms. "Has she been through customs?"

"Do you think I would carry anything through our front gates without declaring it first?" Naruto asked, only to pause when he thought about it again and frowned deeply. "Wait, scratch that. Do you think I would bring anything back to our village without good reason?"

"No, I suppose not," Tayuya replied before a small smile crossed her lips. She saw Kin blink at her and nodded politely, "Well, I guess even I can't turn down a person in need. Welcome to our home, nickname pending."

Kin blinked, "Umm… thanks?"

Grinning mischievously, the musician patted her on the shoulder before turning to see Naruto sitting up on the floor. "I assume you told her all about the lounge room?"

"I left no stone unturned… save for that last one," Naruto responded with a half-grin.

"Well, make sure she deposits her shit where she can find it later and has something good to eat for lunch. I'll be sitting on the couch catching up on my musical material," Tayuya stated, slinging her hands behind her head before sauntering off down the corridor with a smile on her face.

Once she was out of sight, Kin turned to see Naruto back on his feet. The boy quickly beckoned her into their room, in which she was finally able to see the cave that was there domain.

It was just as he described it to her; mattresses, pillows and blankets thrown all over the place. The only thing that retained any form of order and cleanliness was the desk shoved up against the wall, where Kin was able to see a whole mess of items on top of it. Aside from photographs and schematics, she also saw a random collection of souvenirs including a curved kunai and a samurai sword propped up on a stand. It was tied at the base so that it couldn't be drawn, something she assumed her host did in order to preserve it. There was also a couple of sets of women's undergarments, though the kunoichi didn't feel like inquiring about them.

Kin blinked as she looked around, "So this is where you two sleep?"

"Like it?"

"It reminds me of a mattress store… or a mattress warehouse. WHY are there so many mattresses?!" the girl asked loudly in bewilderment.

Seriously, those things couldn't have been cheap. What? Did they do part-time work next to all their shinobi stuff? What kind of person was she talking to?

"We needed a battleground for our pillow fights, so we made one," Naruto replied with a shrug.

Giving him a strange look, the girl then smirked before breaking out in laughter, "You really are weird. I doubt there's anyone else out there in the world who can match your level of peculiarity."

"Well, there's Lee… and his teacher… and Shino, Shikamaru, Kaede, Ino… and I think Sakura-chan too, but I haven't seen what her dark side is really like yet. Still, I bet it's terrifying," Naruto listed off of his fingers. From his guest's point of view it sounded sort of like he was redeeming himself, but it was more like a side-note as he turned to smile back at her. "I'm just one of a few, really…"

Kin smiled at him, resting her free hand on the one she still had in a sling, "I… think I'm going to like it here."

The smile on Naruto's face couldn't have been wider.

After Kin became acquainted to the bedroom, the jinchuriki then started leading her toward the kitchen. However, just as they were approaching the archway, both of them were surprised when they bumped into another person coming down the hall from the front door with a bag of groceries in her arms. The purple haired teen in bandages blinked in surprise when she intercepted the pair at the kitchen entrance, smiling warmly in Naruto's direction before then noticing Kin and looking her way.

"Hey, Isaribi-chan!" the jinchuriki exclaimed.

"N-Naruto-kun? Who is this?" Isaribi asked in surprise as she surveyed the stranger.

Naruto smiled and gestured towards said kunoichi. "This is Kin-chan. She just got out of the hospital and is going to be staying with us for a while. Since she doesn't have anywhere else to go, I offered her a place to stay."

It was then after looking each other over, the raven haired Oto ninja was startled out of her timid state when Isaribi suddenly swooped towards her and stared hard into her face. Eyes cutting over the newbie's expression, the diver then pulled away while still glaring sternly at the kunoichi.

"Who is she and where did she come from?"

"She's a kunoichi who was participating in the exams. Her team got killed in the second round and I saved her. She's from Otogakure."

"Naruto-kun… you do know who the leader of that village is, don't you?" Yeah. She explicitly told the shinobi charged with questioning her when she first came to Konohagakure exactly who the person that had been pulling the strings over in the facility of Wave was. She told them everything she knew about Orochimaru, including the village that was supposedly under his control.

While the claim of course had been a strong one and the intelligence she passed on was equally powerful, it still wasn't enough to convince the gathering of villages to not permit the small Otogakure community from entering the Chunin Exams. After all, this year's event was a peaceful gathering between all the villages on the continent, in which all of the nations, great and small, came together to participate in healthy competition. It would have been bad press for the higher powers if they had not allowed one of the smaller countries to enter the festivities.

"Yes, I do," the jinchuriki stated in response, knowing full well who he was currently harboring.

This had the diver glance across at him in concern. "Then you should know that we can't trust her."

Naruto's expression became serious as he looked back at Isaribi. "Kin-chan was trained by the Sannin, yes. She was taken in by him and was taught by him several times. But when her team was beaten in the second part of the exam, she said that she wouldn't be able to go back to her home village because her master doesn't take kindly to failures. If she returned, she would have been killed." He shrugged towards the girl and poked himself in the chest. "Do you think I'm the kind of person who would stand by and let that happen to someone?"

Blinking, Isaribi looked back across at the raven haired teen to see her massage her injured arm and turn her head away anxiously. After several moments of thought and consideration of her own situation, the purple haired girl nodded in understanding. "No. You're not. You're a good person, Naruto-kun."

The blonde smiled. "Then let's try to make her feel welcome, okay."

"Okay," Isaribi exclaimed, but then frowned when Kin looked at her again and she stepped toward her a second time. When she stopped directly in front of the girl, the purple haired girl's expression became challenging and dangerous as she looked Kin straight in the eyes. "She can stay. But I'm going to keep a close eye on her. She seems very suspicious."

"W-What?" Kin choked, appearing a little bit bewildered as the girl leaned over more to hover beside her ear.

"I can see what you're trying to do, so don't think I will just sit back and watch it happen," Isaribi stated quietly. "Tayuya-chan I can accept because she's known Naruto-kun the longest and is a good person, but you however… you're a different story." She wasn't as worried about her being from another village as she was about losing the jinchuriki to this raven haired newcomer, especially one as good looking as her. Since Isaribi has known Naruto for a while now and had acknowledged her feelings for him to an extent, she wasn't just going to sit back and let him slip into the hands of some stranger. She had enough competition in the apartment's resident musician, but the red head was more tolerant of the other girls vying for his attention. Isaribi was not. To illustrate this, the purple haired teen pulled back a little and spoke in a much firmer voice, "Naruto-kun is a wonderful person. If you upset him in any way or even think about stealing him from us, I won't hesitate to hurt you. Understand."

Baffled and growing red from the implications being thrown at her, Kin then glared back and stepped forward, her forehead barely brushing the equally tall girl's. A stunned Naruto looked between them in confusion. "I don't know what you're trying to say, but I'm not the kind of person who would stab someone who went out of their way to help me in the back… and I'm also not the type you want to try and muscle over." She leaned closer with danger reflected in her own eyes. "If you're challenging me, you'd better watch yourself. I may be injured, but I'm still perfectly capable of going toe to toe with you."

Isaribi frowned, "Want to test that theory?"

Not wanting a cat fight to start up between the pair, mostly because Kin was new here and was still recovering from serious injury, Naruto quickly intervened, separating the two teenagers from potentially clawing each other's hair out. "Hey, hey, be nice now. Look, I don't know what's gotten you two girls so riled up, but don't fight in my apartment. This place is our home. In here, we're all friends. Okay?"

Glaring across at the other girl for a moment, after hearing Naruto speak the pair quickly settled down and backed off. After a few moments of breathing, Isaribi calmed herself before smiling over at the boy who'd invited her here in the first place.

She owed him a lot and cared deeply for him. Therefore she was willing to respect his wishes.

"Okay, Naruto-kun."

The raven haired kunoichi did the same and turned to the blonde, "Since this is your home, I won't cause you any trouble here."

Relieved to see the pair ease up, Naruto closed his eyes and exhaled, missing the two girls glare at each other one last time and deadly sparks fly between them.

"You think you can take Naruto-kun all to yourself? Forget it," Isaribi growled in her head as she confronted the girl.

"I don't know what your problem is with me, but I won't be put off by the likes of you," Kin growled back. "If me being with Naruto pisses you off, well tough luck." As far as she was concerned, the jinchuriki was a good person worthy of her time. She was just that stubborn about repaying favors with friendship.

Seeing the two girls in the archway glowering at one another had Tayuya, who was standing over by the kitchen desk, grinning in amusement. Excitement growing at the hostilities she could feel escalating in the air, the red head licked her lips in anticipation. "Things just got a little more interesting around here."

Oh yeah. There was that bad girl Anko characteristic that had rubbed off on her.

OOO

Meanwhile, across the village at the local dango shop, Anko was quietly indulging herself in a packet of her original favorites, when she suddenly felt a disturbance in the force and had her gaze drawn upwards and away from her food.

Reading the vibes traveling along the invisible slipstream that was her seventh sense towards her, the woman wearing the trench coat grinned in amusement before chuckling heartily.

"Oh yeah. I finally got to one of them."

XXX

A few days later…

Waking up in the morning to go train with Jiraiya out in the woods near the waterfall and lake became a regular thing for Naruto over the next few days, something that he was planning to do for the remainder of the month in between other things. For the most part he went to meet the Sannin alone to fulfill his apprenticeship with him, but today Isaribi had decided to tag along to watch the boy she liked work and to get some much needed swimming in.

Being away from the ocean for so long had left the purple haired girl with a small gap in her life, something that she couldn't really live without. The lake where some local girls from the village often came to prance around served to fill in that empty space inside of her. Currently, the former diver and chimera was sitting on the edge with her feet in the water, her bandages on as she smiled across the glittering surface of the pond being fed to by the waterfall by the cliffs. At the same time, she would often glance in the direction of the clearing where Naruto was training under the guidance of his Sage mentor.

Arms folded, Jiraiya watched on intently as his student skipped around on the spot, running circles while shadow sparring with a pair of incredibly heavy dumbbells in hand. The silver weights flashed through the air as he punched and kicked with a variety of moves, often performing incredibly elaborate techniques that would have otherwise been impossible even without the weights on. His attacks cut through the air like blades, his actions a blur as he performed a string of chain punches before leaping back with a right overhand.

His punches causing heavy whooshing sounds to echo out over the field, the boy eventually performed one last swayback using a left hook before skidding to a stop and breathing out exhaustedly. Wiping the sweat from his brow, he then dropped the two heavy dumbbells to the ground, which punched two craters into the earth as he walked a circle away from them, limbering up and stretching out his arms.

"Three hours. I think that's enough of that for today," the jinchuriki chirped, before practicing some shadow punches, his attacks slashing the airspace in front of him with lightning precision.

Jiraiya smiled as he watched the boy move, "You did all of the exercises I set for you perfectly. Good job. Working on your legs as well as your arms is really upping your speed, kid." He then furrowed his brow as his thoughts trailed off onto another topic of interest. "Still… is there any particular reason why you're so focused on increasing your body's acceleration patterns and combinations?"

The jinchuriki's reflexes were already incredibly high, but the Uzumaki was still insisting on improving them even more. It puzzled the Sannin greatly that his student was so focused on this area as opposed to a lot of the others in his ninja handbook, so what had his nerves tied up in such a knot.

Expression becoming serious as he threw a series of consecutive jabs that shot through the air like bullets from a machinegun, Naruto responded by looking across at the man sternly. "In the exams, there is this girl named Tsubaki from Kirigakure. From what Kiba and his team told me after they fought her in the second stage, her speed is absolutely ridiculous. She moves instantaneously, almost like she's teleporting, and uses this weird intangibility in conjunction with her agility that makes physical attacks pass straight through her, except for when she's counterattacking. While I'm not too concerned about her ninjutsu, it's her speed I'm more worried about." He then continued to bust out more taijutsu combinations, only to cringe when he watched his right straight. "Damn it… even if I train the entire month increasing my speed this way, I don't think it will be enough."

The Sannin saw the concerns etched across his student's face and frowned, continuing to watch him shadow spar in frustration. "You're already quite quick, much faster than all of the other kids in your year and a lot faster than most shinobi I've met, but judging from your tone you're still incredibly worried about this person." He then rested a hand on his chin thoughtfully. "Agility is a killer advantage for any shinobi. While clocking accelerated speeds of an incredibly high-level isn't exactly my forte, I do know ways of circumventing that advantage if not using it as an unexpected surprise. Your father was one of the fastest men in history, if not the fastest. On his own, his reflexes and movements were fantastic, but when using his Hiraishin technique, his speed was almost God-like. It was a teleporting system unique only to a couple of individuals in Konoha, but with your fighting style I don't think it would work out as well."

"How come?" Naruto asked curiously, still sweating as he looked at the man curiously.

"The technique requires pinpoint precision and understanding of five different dimensions, as well as a firm grasp of fuinjutsu and spatial concepts. Though your style mixes in all sorts of elements, including deadly accuracy and cutting edge attacks, it's not really something you would favor. You're more of a power and brawling type than a teleporting type," Jiraiya informed with a smirk. "It's also ridiculously hard to learn. Even with your shadow clones, if you started learning it now, you'd be twenty years old by the time you master it."

Gritting his teeth, the jinchuriki kicked at the ground before resting his hands on his hips. "Damn." Shaking his head, he then began thinking hard about how else he could possibly accelerate himself.

Agility through pure muscle alone could only get him so far. Though he had yet to explore any alternative boosting system through it, it was not something he believed he could cover in the time for the exams. The blonde had other techniques he was working on in his off-time too when he was not out here on the field, and he didn't want to sacrifice that time due to the fact he had a few other weaknesses to cover up.

He had his tricky taijutsu style and feints, but those were only a couple of strengths he believed weren't enough, and should his new wind release technique fail him then he needed something else to fall back on.

Gritting his teeth, Naruto then began thinking back on other people who've displayed a form of ridiculous speed where he simply lost track of them. It was a short list, but he was able to come up with a few individuals. Neji was quick in his own right in his style but nowhere near as fast as him. Iruka from the academy back in the day, and the students he'd seen perform the Kawarimi no Jutsu (Replacement Technique) where they switched with something in the area at an untraceable speed, which seemed like a sure thing at first but was actually really unpractical if you didn't have anything to perform the ability with. Then there was Kakashi and his stupid disappearing in a-

Head perking up at that, Naruto looked over at his current instructor with a renewed sense of hope and vigor. "Hey. What about the Shunshin no Jutsu?" (Body Flicker Technique)

Hearing this surprised Jiraiya. However, after quickly thinking on it some more, slowly began to speak again. "The Shunshin accelerates you at an untraceable speed and is one of the fastest forms of movement in shinobi practices. The top speed is anything you're limited to. Depending on your level of skill with it, you can either use it in short bursts in a single area or transport yourself across long distances in an instant. Normally, for safety's sake, it's only used in a straight line because it causes serious tunnel vision. The only people who were able to master the jutsu completely were Shisui Uchiha, the current and previous Raikage, and I think maybe your father. Shisui's Sharingan eliminated the disadvantage of tunnel vision, and his strength with it made him one of the most dangerous shinobi Konoha ever produced. The Raikage on the other hand mixed it up a little more. Their use over their lightning release ninjutsu accelerated their reflexes and movements, allowing them to use the Shunshin at a moment's notice across wide areas, continuously, and move in various directions just like Shisui. It's essentially a major part of their battle style." Seeing Naruto's expression develop a confident smirk brought a smile of his own to the Sannin's lips. "I've noticed your senses are well-equipped for high-speed acceleration across ground, as well as built for sudden and unexpected directional changes."

Naruto chuckled, "Damn right."

Sensing opportunity to further craft the boy into something remarkable, Jiraiya looked down at his nails snobbishly before rubbing them against his vest. "I also happen to know how to use the Shunshin no Jutsu. Though I'm not exactly on the same level Shisui Uchiha used to be, perhaps if you were to practice it enough using your shadow clones… I'm sure you'll be able to reach the desired speed you're looking for."

Looking across the field towards Isaribi, whom he could see was watching them from the lake curiously, Naruto then turned back to his instructor and grinned mischievously.

"Teach me."

XXX

One week later…

"Are you serious, Naruto?" Sakura asked, turning away from her recent dispatching of an entire field of grass. The grounds she had previously been facing had all been scorched, but the damage done to the earth wasn't caused by a fire ball. Not even close. She'd just been in the middle of testing out her newest jutsu on an open field, when she was unexpectedly interrupted by the words being passed around by her blonde haired teammate, who was currently sparring with a Kakashi clone. "You're getting lessons from Jiraiya of the Sannin? That's pretty neat."

"You think so?" Naruto asked, dodging a jab and circling the older man, who kept a close eye on the jinchuriki when he zipped around him. When he skidded and jumped at him, the copy ninja was ready, and parried the swift combinations to follow. The fact that Naruto was also talking to Sakura meant that he was half concentrating on the spar, but he was still doing a pretty damn good job. "Well… his lessons aren't half-bad. I learned the summoning technique under him… even though I can still only summon Gama and Saito… and he's helping me out with working on some more ranged techniques I can use with my Jet Hand."

Sakura blinked curiously as she watched Naruto push Kakashi back with an impressive attack before responding, "Can't you already use Hien?"

"Yeah, but it's not perfect. It needs to be faster and more constant. He's also helping me to make it stronger."

"That's good," the Kakashi clone he was currently fighting responded as the boy came in with a jumping kick, which he blocked and tried to grab his leg, only for the blonde to hike off of his over-reaching arm and launch a body blow for his side. The Jonin dodged it by a hair before retreating some more, "Concentrate on highlighting the areas where you are strongest. That's the best way you're going to impress any potential clients out there. While it would be more prudent to work on the material where you're weakest, in the time that we have available we would only be performing a patch job at best."

"So all we have to do is cover up our weak points with our strengths? Like make our punch stronger or our best jutsu faster," Sakura asked across with a smile, "Right, sensei?"

"Yes. Focus on that. But don't just make them stronger," Kakashi replied, blinking in surprise when his swift little opponent lunged at him with a right overhand, which he dodged and attempted to kick at him, only for Naruto to spring over his roundhouse and move out of reach, "Try coming up with more creative ways to use them and ways that can make your opponent uncomfortable. Think about how they're going to defend and attack, keep them moving and don't give them an inch. Whoa!" The man jumped away when Naruto spun at him with a butterfly kick. "Like so."

Sakura nodded affirmatively, "Right." Turning around, she focused back on her material and continued practicing her jutsu. Flipping through hand seals, she then took aim and inhaled, before bringing two fingers over her lips like she was holding a cigarette and exhaling with a mighty gust. "Ninpo: San no Kumo!" (Ninja Art: Cloud of Acid) A thick purple cloud with a consistency close to liquid then blasted out from her lips like a jet.

The thick wall covered the ground and enveloped the air in front of her, the girl continuing to feed it for as long as she could until it reached the edge of the clearing and touched the forest. A loud hissing sound filled the area as the effects of the technique immediately took hold. Sakura stopped feeding fuel to it to take a look and analyze the results.

Through the thick of the clouds, she could see the already scorched ground boiling and bubbling as it was literally dissolved. The creaking and snapping of trees indicated the same effect was happening to the wood, as the cloud of acid particles melted everything it came into contact with. Moments later it dissipated, leaving an even more ruined battlefield then before and a pleased Sakura, who was sweating from having to exert so much chakra.

"Not exactly a fireball, but it will do," the kunoichi exclaimed, clenching a fist victoriously.

Meanwhile, the Kakashi-clone Naruto was fighting against was having a tough time of his own trying to keep the deceptively quick kid away from him.

It had been good sport at the beginning, where the shadow clone initially planned on focusing most of his existing time and energy towards getting a feel for his student's increase in strength, speed and ability. This 'test' however, quickly deteriorated into an alarming and almost preposterous situation, where the Kakashi-copy was now trying to stay alive long enough and not get beaten to a pulp by the boy's fists, which felt like someone trying to smash a sledge hammer into him with every swing.

It was impressive at first, but then started to get creepy when the clone used a shunshin to put space between them, only to have Naruto hone right in on him like a missile.

Blocking another onslaught of punishing blows, the man frowned and tried to perform another shunshin, but wherever he tried to displace himself the blonde was either right on his tail or already there to cut him off. Kakashi quickly found himself going nowhere fast as he was forced to back away hurriedly for the thirtieth time this session. He parried and blocked a series of quick jabs before trying to counter with a right hook, but the boy swayed under it and hit him in the side at the exact same time.

Grunting from the force of the clean hit, Kakashi leapt, but the boy just kept right on coming. "Damn. He's relentless." Dashing to his right in a sprint, the Jonin shadow clone skidded to a halt and brushed a bead of sweat away from his temple, before turning and watching the jinchuriki skip on the spot, arms at his sides and a serious look on his face. "I can't believe how much faster he's gotten. Now I can see why a lot of the other kids were uncomfortable sparring with him back in the academy."

Sure, his unorthodox fighting style and awkward movements was a troublesome thing to deal with. Kakashi knew this much. But his speed… his speed was and had become something else entirely.

When Kakashi first took him on as a student all those months ago along with Sasuke and Sakura, the kid had displayed quite a remarkable level of agility for a child his age, but nowhere near enough to keep up with a Jonin. This was made glaringly obvious to the squad leader during their training sessions all the way up to the tree climbing exercises and when he disappeared to Wave for a week. But after he returned, started training even harder than before and started doing the water walking exercises, what should have only been a minor increase in his abilities turned out to be a magnification of them, in which Kakashi saw his agility multiply several times over.

While it was only natural a ninja's collective strengths would increase if you focused on a core aspect of training and worked on polishing their skills, the way Naruto developed came as quite a shock to him and his teammates. It seemed that the more he worked on the physical aspects of training, for example chakra control, the stronger his body got and the more it started to respond to his liking.

It was as if all of his training in strengthening his jutsu was helping to enhance his true strengths.

While Kakashi was certain his stamina and physical durability were his main advantages, he never figured his speed would increase so much as well. Did Naruto even realize how fast he could actually move now?

"This is becoming quite a workout for me. My arms are going numb from blocking all of his hits. If I take one to a vital point, I'm finished," Kakashi thought, shaking his right out and watching Naruto respond with a buck to the side. The shadow clone blinked at his instinctual movement and narrowed his one eye on the boy. "It's strange… while he has such an uncouth fighting style bordering on wild, there's something about his speed that seems familiar." Without actually needing to perform a shunshin, the jinchuriki's instantaneous movements made it look like he was actually teleporting from place to place. But that was impossible…

No way…

He couldn't be… was he using…

Deciding to test his theory, Kakashi reached up and pushed his headband out from over his other eye, surprising Naruto at his sudden action.

The man smirked. "Whenever you duck in to attack you always go for my blind spot each and every time. I never expected you to be so sly, Naruto-kun."

Confused, the boy gave a smirk as sweat dripped down his head, "Are you actually getting serious with me, Kakashi-sensei-clone?"

"Not yet. But I am a little bit concerned about taking a hit to a spot where I can't see it coming. I'm supposed to be training you after all." This was sort of true. While Kakashi didn't really have anything to be scared of, Naruto was showing a lot of clout right now that was forcing him to take their training up a notch, much to his surprise. "I never thought I'd have to use my Sharingan to test my students so early, even though I'm just a copy. My team's really something else…"

He could only imagine Gai got a lot of this from Neji during their spars, since he'd heard a lot from the man in green spandex about how strong the Hyuuga genius really was… you know… when he wasn't spouting nonsense about youth and expressing both his pride and joy in his other prodigy Lee. Apparently both of their students who were considered the best in taijutsu could really give the two Jonin a hard time when the situation called for it.

"The main aspects about his taijutsu are his misleading hand movements and footwork, and he always aims for a soft spot." That was something he'd noticed much earlier in their time as a squad. Whenever Naruto sparred with his teammates, if he couldn't aim for the head he would always go for the liver, the spleen, the stomach or the heart. Targeting these can lead to cyanosis in a victim, and Kakashi had a feeling Naruto knew how much it actually hurt getting hit in those areas. "His evasive tendencies and spontaneous movements also make it impossible for me to predict his next action and make an effective counter. I used to be able to hit him if he came too close or catch him off guard, but he's apparently learned from past mistakes."

His students really did absorb things quickly. This brought a smile to his face.

"Let's see how much of your father you've managed to pick up, Naruto-kun," Kakashi exclaimed before gesturing for the boy to bring it.

As Naruto opened up again with Kakashi continuing to exchange blows with him, they were watched on closely by a surprised Sakura, who blinked when she saw her teacher begin matching her teammate's hits with counters that just would not hit their mark.

"Sensei… is actually using his Sharingan?"

Even if it was a clone, it was still something else to see their teacher use his doejutsu.

Meanwhile, an entire clearing away, another Kakashi clone was having it out with their other student and putting his abilities to the test. Already sweating from working so hard and gnashing his teeth at the difficulty he was experiencing, Sasuke dropped to his knee and glared up at the copy, which had also pushed up his headband and revealed his Sharingan in order to deal with the Uchiha's. While the genius looked like he had taken a few lumps and scrapes, his instructor didn't have any bruises on his person whatsoever and simply stood in place with his usual, unreadable expression.

The masked Cyclops smiled pleasantly, "You've done well, Sasuke-kun. But try not to overexert yourself. It'll take a while for you to get used to that move and even longer to use it multiple times."

Breathing out, the abovementioned raven haired prodigy then grinned and formed the necessary hand seals, before dropping his left and grabbing his wrist with his right. "Don't take me lightly, sensei. This is nothing for me." The atmosphere around him then suddenly lit up in a bright blue aura as the sound of birds chirping filled the air. "I need to push myself if I have any chance of beating the bigger players in the next stage, and even more if I want to beat Naruto."

Kakashi blinked when he saw his student's hand light up again and electricity begin crackling from it, coursing up and down his limb like a sheath. After a moment he gave a sigh, "You two… it's incredible how far you're willing to go to prove yourselves."

"Call it stubbornness… something I picked up from him," Sasuke chuckled, before springing from the ground and trailing a path of electricity as he charged at the man standing several meters away. Making sure to weave slightly in his dash, as soon as he closed the distance between them, the Uchiha reared his arm back and with a yell, lunged at the Jonin. "Take this!"

Already familiar with his speed, Kakashi, with his hands at his waistline, quickly side-stepped to avoid the initial blow, watching his student land and slide, before spinning around and coming back at him. With the boy's arm still imbued in lightning, the Jonin did his best to keep out of reach of the deadly blade as his student lashed at him with it repeatedly, pacing circles as well as every so often gripping his melee limb to keep the current of chakra steady. Even with his body shaking and on the verge of collapse, pouring sweat, Sasuke was still pushing forward as he shouted with every attack he attempted, using only his new technique to try and strike his opponent down.

The Kakashi shadow clone stepped around hurriedly to avoid a fatal hit when Sasuke tried for another blow, but instead of simply dodging him altogether, the man chopped down at him with a left.

Before his counter could fully descend, Sasuke's eyes locked back onto the man in a flash. Using his shoulder to batter Kakashi's blow away, the teen then spun at him with his lightning covered hand, cutting a fine arc through the air when his teacher leapt back to dodge.

Sliding to a stop after avoiding, the Jonin breathed a sigh of relief and looked up to see Sasuke stumble. When he finally collapsed to his knee after a full minute and a half of holding it, Kakashi smiled again.

"Like I said, it will take a bit for you to get used to it," the man exclaimed.

Just from hearing Sasuke's ragged breathing Kakashi knew he wouldn't be able to muster another one.

The first one was impressive enough. A second one though?

If he was to go into the ring now and use this move more than twice in a row, he'd drop like a stone and won't be getting up till the next day.

Feeling like he'd just run across a desert, judging from the amount of sweat pouring down his face, the huffing and puffing Uchiha looked back up. The moment he did, his Sharingan vanished and Sasuke allowed himself to become immersed in his exhaustion. He gripped the knee of the one foot he'd managed to hold up, and rocked from side to side as he slowly recovered his strength and regained his bearings.

"And I… agree with you," Sasuke chuckled.

Kakashi gave the boy a proud eye-smile, reaching up and pulling his headband back over his own Sharingan. "I was right in thinking you'd be able to use the Chidori, Sasuke-kun. It's the ideal technique for you to wield should you suddenly find yourself pushed into a corner with no way out and your friends are in danger." He then rubbed the side of his head as he watched the boy sit out his fatigue on the ground. "It's a move that takes a lot of chakra to perform. Even with genius level intellect and the ability to copy any technique, without practice a jutsu like this can be more detrimental to you than beneficial. Everything comes at a price. However, I have full confidence in your ability to be able to master it and use it when the situation calls for it."

The day dragged on after that as Team 7 continued to use the training grounds provided to continue their work. After sparring with Naruto, the Kakashi clone then moved on to work with Sakura's taijutsu, with the former sparring partner moving to battle with his own legions of shadow clones. Sasuke spring boarded off of his Chidori training to working on his stamina and speed, which he would need to improve on if he was to use his new technique in battle without getting exhausted in the first few minutes.

While this was all going on down on ground level, the real Kakashi Hatake who had produced the clones to help his students out in their separate patches, was sitting high up in a nearby tree and looking over their progress from afar.

Trademark book in hand and laidback as per the usual routine, the man smiled when he saw how well they were all doing.

"All three of them are growing up so fast."

Both of his clones only had one-third of his chakra and each of them had been coaxed into using their Sharingan for one reason or another. That alone said they were doing extremely well.

At the end of the round, in which all of the kids were finally allowed a moment of reprieve, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura sat around the logs of the training field with towels and bottles of water in hand. While they were recovering, basking in the silence and enjoying the cool air of the open ground, the jinchuriki of the trio glanced across at his kunoichi teammate and beamed with a rather inquisitive expression on his face.

"By the way, Sakura-chan… how's Eris doing?"

The question earning a moment of pause from the pinkette in mid-sip of her drink, something that also got a few curious blinks from her instructor and the Uchiha prodigy nearby, Sakura then swallowed the water in her mouth and wiped her lips. After which she then looked across at the teen in orange with a raised eyebrow. "Before I answer that… how'd you know I brought her home with me?"

Naruto chuckled and rested back against his stump, "I can sense key signatures in an open area, Sakura-chan. I can easily pick up a fox's signature inside a sealed bag."

Having the decency to look sheepish, Sakura glanced ahead of her again with a bright grin on her face, "I approached the proctors at the end of the testing period and asked if I could take her off their hands. They said they had no problems with it and I smuggled her back home in my traveler's bag; the same one we used to catch that rabbit that got away that one time. I wanted to surprise mum and dad, since I figured they could use the extra company back home while I was away on missions."

"And… how are they coping with the new resident?" Sasuke asked with an interested look of his own.

"Oh… they're managing," Sakura responded off-handedly.

OOO

Meanwhile…

"Eris!" Kizashi called out, whistling as he pulled up the cloth hanging over the kitchen table and looked under it. Expression becoming puzzled, the man with the pink, blossom cut hairstyle and wearing blue robes then straightened up and scratched his head as he glanced around his home. "Eris! Here girl! Man… where could that little scrap have gotten to this time?"

"Honey… what are you doing?" the voice of another resident of the home spoke up as woman with golden blonde hair and a white dress carrying a basket of clothing strolled in from the lounge room. Looking across the kitchen at her husband, Mebuki raised an eyebrow in question of his actions before being hit with the realization of what was happening, "Wait… don't tell me."

"I lost Eris again, honey," the man replied with a defeated whine in his voice. "I was going to take her out for a walk… and she just disappeared on me."

"Damn it, Kizashi, how the heck can you lose a snow-white fox in our home… again?"

"I don't know. She's an adventurous little tike. I can't be expected to have my eyes on her twenty-four seven." He then waved his hands above his head in an exaggerated manner, "That would make me like, some kind of, woo… super-dad or something."

"Well, save the super-dad antics for later and just concentrate on finding her. She's a member of the family now. We have to look out for her and take care of her like we would our daughter." Putting her foot down on the matter, Mebuki then returned to the living room to sort out the clothing in her arms. She had enough on her plate to worry about already, and finding a lost fox was not something she would be able to squeeze into her busy schedule.

Sighing, Kizashi dropped his shoulders and hiked his way over to the laundry to resume his mission. "Maybe she's hiding in the shirt basket." When the man disappeared around the bend, he failed to spot the top cupboard above the sink in the kitchen where all the snacks were stored open up, and Eris step out with a bag of potato chips in her mouth.

Smiling when she saw the coast was finally clear, the little vixen then hopped down gracefully from the upper floor and then sauntered her way into the living room. Once she got there, she took her seat on the single couch to watch the television playing the first Princess Gale movie, while Mebuki folded the laundry next to her in peace. The woman spotted the fox quickly and giggled when she saw the little animal crack open the snacks with her little jaws.

After seeing Kizashi move to another room in a panic, the blonde haired mother smiled at the sly, little critter and waved a finger at her, "Stop giving my husband such a runaround, Eris. You do this to him every time."

The fox yipped quietly in response.

Rolling her eyes, Mebuki returned to her task, "I'm not sure what you said, but as long as it is all in good fun." At least the man was up and about, and not lazing around the home in his off time like he normally did.

XXX

Over the next couple of weeks, every Genin taking part in the up and coming exams were working their butts off getting all the training they needed into the days between now and the final bell. This went double for a lot of the kids in Konohagakure because they knew this competition was going to push them, and they needed to be at their absolute bests if they were going to have a hope in hell of beating their opponents.

For Team Gai it was business as usual. Gai and Lee, for the most part, did their own thing where they ran laps, sparred excessively and took their daily exercises to the extreme. It became so hair-raising in fact that Neji and Tenten found it exhausting to be around them for long periods and, in times when it became particularly unbearable to be in their teacher and teammate's presences went off to get their own work done. The Hyuuga genius had asked his kunoichi teammate for some help on one of his new techniques, which she was happy to give as it allowed her to get her own practice in. Having to spar and train by yourself, especially with her skills, didn't provide her the best workout she could get when fighting with another person, so it was a welcome offer that Tenten gladly accepted. All three of them wanted to win this thing, and it showed at the end of every single day how hard they were willing to grind to realize these goals.

Asuma spent his time divided up training his students individually whenever he could get his hands on them. This was so because he'd found that Shikamaru, Choji and Ino were also splitting their time working with their parents to help improve their existing techniques. While the Jonin made sure to stay out of their way when they were working exclusively with their fathers, on the days he actually had them, he spent those hours giving them some of the toughest exercises he'd ever had to dish out so far in their tenure as Genin. Sure, while it was difficult getting one or two of them motivated, when he got them rolling he got them rolling. There was no way he was going to let them crap out in the first round.

This went especially for Genma as well. Since he had a team of his own to look after, he did everything he could on the days he got them together. While Kaede and Tayuya were fine and had plenty of techniques to improve upon, his main focus was primarily Shiho. The girl wasn't especially brilliant in taijutsu or ninjutsu, nor was she good in genjutsu, but she was smart. REALLY smart. It was easy to explain things to her and she soaked theories up like a spounge, but the main problem was applying these theories to the actual physical side of things. In order for her to at least have a chance in the coming stage and make it to the next round, Genma focused on working on her taijutsu and ninjutsu skills. He gave her a couple of techniques she could work on, so that she could include them in her repertoire of tactics. He knew how the Chunin Exams worked, having been a proctor for a few of them, so he knew what he needed to do for her. Just like every other Jonin, he endeavored to make his students shine, and shine they shall.

Team 8, in the following days, spent their time recovering. They were released from hospital at the end of the first week once their strength was back up to full and were permitted to go on their way. While all three of them were dejected at not making it to the third stage of the exams like the rest of their graduation group and fearing they may have disappointed their team leader, much to their surprise, Kurenai wasn't upset at all. In fact, she was relieved that they had all made it out of the second stage in one piece and didn't die like some of the other teams. Even if they weren't going to participate in the next stage, she didn't intend to let them take it easy, oh no. Like with every other team, she spent the time available to them training and taking missions so that they could stay on the level as their companions. They were strong enough as a team to begin with and strong individually, and she was not going to let their skills go to waste.

She could also see they weren't deterred in the least. They wanted to become Chunin as badly as their former classmates and as their instructor, it was her duty to get them to that level.

After all, there was always next semester.

Everywhere else… other people were also training their asses off… save for one or two…

OOO

"Damn it, Temari! Stop messing up my puppets!" Kankuro shouted from on top of the boulder he was standing on, hands held out and chakra strings attached to his favorite marionette, which he had just watched get flattened by his sister's fan. "Geez. I know you want to get better at taijutsu, but do you really have to use my stuff to help you practice?"

"Why are you complaining?" the girl shouted as she spun her massive, folded-up war fan around like a baton, flipping it around her neck and allowing it to land gracefully across her shoulders. Hand bracing it tightly, she grinned across at her sibling as his puppet pulled itself back together, literally. "You're getting a good workout too, aren't you? I need to get my body up to speed for the first round and you need to improve on your own maneuvers."

"Yes, but I don't need you damaging my goods just to tone up your muscles. Do you know how much work I've put into these? It'll take me all night to fix Crow if you fuck him up," Kankuro shouted back, his puppet flying back to him through the air to hover in front of him like a limp doll, its joints clicking loudly. The boy with the war paint sighed, "How did I wind up in this mess in the first place?"

"Because you were spending all your time hitting training stumps and messing up the sand dunes all by yourself just to get your aim right. That's not really going to help you get stronger if you're going to end up fighting against a close-range specialist in the next round and they keep doggedly chasing after you," the kunoichi shouted back with a grin. "You think you'll be able to trip em' up with your wire play when push comes to shove?"

"Well, yeah. That's how a puppet master is supposed to fight," Kankuro argued.

Temari slammed her war fan down into the sand, burying it a couple inches, "It sounds to me like you're just wussing out. What if your puppet gets destroyed and you're forced to fight with your bare hands? What will you do then?"

The boy smirked, "I'll just use the pieces that get scattered and take advantage of the situation." He thumbed his chest proudly, "Works every time."

Hearing this had the older girl sigh, "Oh, good grief." She then took her fan up into another hard stance and glared across at the man in the black garb, "Too bad. You're stuck training with me until further notice so prepare to get your ass kicked. I'm coming for you."

"What? Oh, come on!"

"Stop whining Kankuro!"

While the two older siblings bickered between each other on the training field, Gaara, who was further out on the desert plain and standing firm with his arms folded, spent his time glaring out over the horizon, gathering his thoughts and feeling the hot winds of his environment beat against his skin. The boy's ringed eyes narrowed when he continued to hear the commotion going on behind him and closed his lids, keeping his composure as cool and as level as possible.

The voice in the back of his mind was currently grinding him with gentle whispers, telling him to 'kill'. However, he silently reasoned with his 'mother' to be patient, and that the bloodbath would come soon. He would only do it when he was allowed to and not threatened with disqualification from the tournament.

Of course, the words of the voice in his head were easily drowned out by the shouts and calls of his two family members, which had him growl irritably. But again, he wisely held his patience, and made certain his repertoire was not broken.

"Nuisances…" he mumbled. "Both of them…"

OOO

Over in Kirigakure, teammates Utakata and Kiyoko looked across the treetops in awe as they saw, heard and felt yet another explosion rack the landscape. A blast of smoke bellowed up from across the way and threw debris up into the atmosphere for the eighth time, indicating that their other companion had just used another jutsu. The destructive power behind her abilities was nerve-rattling, as they could feel the force of each explosion all the way back in their training area, which was a field surrounded by stumps.

The laidback Utakata blinked as he saw the smoke cloud bellow out and the blue embers that were the aftereffects of her technique die down, before turning back to his pipe and blowing out more bubbles. "She's restless today. Maybe Tsubaki's getting nervous about the third stage coming up."

Kiyoko grinned across at her teammate as she continued flipping a rock the size of a basketball in her hand, "You think so? She seems okay to me."

"Even the strongest Genin can get anxious when the title of Chunin is on the line. We've seen it many times before," Utakata replied, blowing another bubble out and watching the thing expand before floating up into the sky. "Though I have no doubt that the Mizukage will definitely promote Tsubaki, the question I really want answered is; to what rank?"

"I'm betting Jonin!" Kiyoko exclaimed with a salute, holding the boulder up above her head, "Tsubaki-chan is so strong it's scary!"

"That statement lands both ways," Utakata smiled, looking back up at the cheerful girl to watch her juggle the stone from hand to hand, "But if that's what you think, then I'll put all my cards on her."

Beaming the blonde haired girl then caught the boulder in her right hand. Holding onto it for a few seconds, she then clenched her fingers around its base and clamped them shut, the stone literally shattering into gravel before she shook her limb out. Kiyoko smirked as she gazed down at her now enclosed fist. "My Tekken (Iron Fist) is good and I'm increasing my speed. I'm going to walk right through the first few rounds no problem."

Her teammate didn't say anything against it. He knew his friends well and how powerful each of them was, as he'd had the privilege of sparring with them many times before. There was no doubt in his mind that they were going to get promoted.

Meanwhile, over the rise and the tops of the trees, in the area where Tsubaki was training, the orange haired girl could be seen standing at the beginning of a massive trench plowed into the earth, which was the end result of her latest attack she was experimenting with. The landscape she was currently using as well had suffered the main brunt of her jutsu and the foundations, for the most part, had held up pretty well from the battering they had taken. However, the seemingly all powerful kunoichi wasn't alone in this area of the training grounds…

Nor was she in any good condition.

Battered with cuts and gashes drawn all over her, the girl stumbled backwards before collapsing onto her knees, spitting up blood from an attack she'd tried to avoid but failed. Panting both exhaustedly and painfully, the orange haired girl in the bloodied state gritted her teeth and looked up through a blurred vision, where she saw the concerned form of her temporary training partner for the day standing in front of her with his hands pressed together at his chest.

Seeing the person he was sparring with collapse to the floor and bleeding heavily, the young boy around a year younger than the kunoichi with tuft blue hair, square glasses and pin-striped top and camouflage pants freaked out and rushed forward. He stopped a few feet from her, noticing the scattered shuriken he had thrown lying around her and the fact her damage had come from the very attack he'd just used against her.

"Oh my gosh, T-Tsubaki-chan… I'm so sorry," the youngster panicked, "I… I didn't mean to… I…"

Raising a hand, Tsubaki waved away his apologies while groaning painfully, "D-Don't worry about it, Chojuro. I'm fine." Yeah. She said that but in reality, she wasn't. That had been a stupid attack and a blinding mistake on her part. "I was the one that told you to go all out, so don't sweat it."

Immediately after getting home from the second stage of the exams, Tsubaki and her team had gone about training in the usual manner in preparation for the third round. While Kiyoko and Utakata had split to do their own thing for the day, the orange haired teen had decided to bring in an old friend she knew well to help her out. She'd plucked the Genin from his team to get some outside and unbiased opinions from him regarding her skills, as well as to work with him on some of her faults.

Chojuro wasn't just a good friend of hers and someone she trusted on the same level as Kiyoko and Utakata, but Tsubaki also chose him to help her out because he was talented in using his chakra. Though he wasn't the strongest Genin in the village or the most confident, and was primarily a water release specialist, he'd dipped his brush in with several other affinities too as part of his training to become one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. While she respected this dream of his and encouraged him to work hard on achieving it, she respected his skills even more so and valued his input greatly.

Because of his flexibility in the ninjutsu department, she'd called him in to spar with her for a few sessions. In the brief skirmishes she'd engaged him and spent the past few minutes moving around trying to get in some hits, well… she kind of messed herself up a little.

She walked right into a counterattack from her fellow Genin that damn near hospitalized her.

Looking behind her at the shuriken that had got her, the kunoichi bit her teeth together before slamming a fist into the ground in frustration. "Damn it! Even after all my years of training, I still can't get rid of that fucking weakness!"

Gulping, Chojuro pushed up his glasses as he saw the girl continue to kneel on the ground, gripping at the massive gash in her shoulder. Whatever she'd been hit with made it look like she'd been thrown into a shredder and spat out. "Your attacks are powerful… and you're super fast, T-Tsubaki-chan… probably the fastest I've ever seen. B-But you use a very repetitive pattern in your combinations… and you can't completely dodge an attack like the one I just used on you… especially a…"

"I know. I know," Tsubaki groaned, spitting up more blood before picking herself up, at the same time yanking a shuriken out from her side. Tossing it away, she breathed out her frustration and shook her head. "Shit. I can get around opponents fast enough, but I can't avoid techniques that encompass a whole area or have a wide spread to them. And it was a damn C-Rank move too." She staggered out of the strike zone and went to lean against a nearby boulder to rest.

The damage racking her was just ridiculous. It was almost embarrassing.

Chuckling to herself, the girl glanced weakly up at Chojuro to see him looking at her with concern. "I could've been killed by you if you were serious. You should stick around a little longer, Chojuro-kun. I can really use you as a sparring partner to work on my endurance." She then pointed at him with a smile, "You… you're bloody dangerous, in spite of your appearance."

Blushing bashfully and scratching his ear in a timid manner, the boy smiled up at his friend. "We should take a break. You look like you need it."

Looking at herself and seeing the cuts still present, the girl sighed as she felt herself recovering slowly and nodded. "Yeah. I agree."

XXX

Three days later…

"Come on, boss! You gotta have something else to teach me! I already mastered the Henge and Iruka-sensei isn't teaching us anything cool. Come on! Please," the loud voice of one Konohamaru filled the air as he and his two school mates Moegi, a girl with orange hair tied into high knots, wearing a pink shirt and shorts, and Udon, a boy with brown hair, thin glasses, large blue shirt and shorts as well, followed after their blonde haired idol down the main street of the village. Despite being smaller than him, they were keeping in time with each of the jinchuriki's steps. "Help me out here."

"If I taught you everything I know or something new to add to your list of techniques you are eventually going to learn in the academy, then wouldn't that sort of put Iruka-sensei out of a job?" Naruto asked the kid with an amused grin in play, looking down to see the three academy students pull up beside him and gaze at him in interest. "You can't rush things like this, Konohamaru. Training to become a shinobi takes a lot of time and effort."

Konohamaru's cheeks puffed out indignantly, "Time? But that's boring."

"Well… deal with it. We all had to go through the same stuff you're going to go through, and there's a lot you have to learn. It's grueling and can be unbearable sometimes, but in the end, after endless hours of study and exercise, it's all worth it."

"What about you, boss? You said to me you learned everything you could outside of the academy, from watching other people and all that stuff."

"True, but that's how I learned. The way I trained was much different from what everybody else in my year did," Naruto stated while pointing between them. "You guys have parents and teachers to give you lessons. I had next to no one and had to learn everything by myself; like how to cook and what plants were poisonous."

Udon blinked in awe at hearing that, "Whoa."

Feeling overcome, the orange haired Moegi stepped toward Naruto when they stopped in the middle of the street and smiled up at him, "But you became strong like everybody else in your class, right? Like Sasuke and all the other clan members?"

"You can say that. I killed myself trying to get to where I am now, and I bet everybody else did too. The point is, everyone has different ways of learning and getting stronger, but all of them have to work hard to get anywhere. Everything you gain comes at a price, and you pay for it with blood, sweat and tears," Naruto informed while slipping his hands behind his head, looking down to see the three kids pale a little bit. "Believe it. Being a shinobi isn't some children's game. Eventually you will meet an enemy, one who may not even be a shinobi, and depending on where he or she comes from or what his or her intentions are, they will try to hurt you… even kill you."

Moegi shivered slightly, "That's scary."

"But… you probably won't see any of that stuff, not until you go on your first C-Rank mission. That's a long ways down the road," Naruto added cheerfully, waving a hand in some random direction. Probably D-Rank, but that was a super rare occurrence. This got some curious glances from the kids listening to him, which made the jinchuriki glad that he was at least holding their attention.

Even though all three of them wore different clothing and had their own magnetic personalities and characteristics, the one thing they had in common between them was the goggles each of them were wearing over their foreheads. They were the exact same brand and color as the one Naruto always wore, which immediately affiliated them with him. Though it flattered the boy knowing he was inspiring shinobi in some of the younger faces around the village, he had to admit it was a bit of a drag leading them along the way he was.

Konohamaru wanted to learn something more from him. Another jutsu that was cool.

Now while Naruto was sort of for it, wanting nothing more than to show off his new skills, he didn't want to for a couple of reasons. One: it was Iruka's job to teach his students, with one of the lessons being taking responsibility for their own training. While Naruto did say to Konohamaru to train himself and to become strong at his own pace, apparently ambition needed a little bit of reminding. Two: Naruto had his own training to worry about and was really just taking a moment off to grab some lunch before heading back out to exercise. He'd run into the kids on his way to his favorite restaurant, but after chatting with them for a while, had decided to change his preferences a little.

He intended to fill his belly. Wherever and with whatever it didn't matter, so long as his body was set on the appropriate course.

Hearing his stomach rumble, Naruto smiled and pointed towards a curry store. "Come on, I'll buy you guys something for today. We can talk more in there."

Grinning Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon all nodded affirmatively, "Yes, sir!"

Wow. What was he, a drill sergeant?

If he was, then he was certainly the most likable one.

XXX

Naruto's apartment, evening…

A couple nights later…

"Wow, this is really good," Kin exclaimed, chewing slowly on the pieces of lamb and stew from the plate in front of her that had been made for all three of them that night. She moaned in delight on her next mouthful, which had Tayuya across from her roll her eyes at the cheerful look on her face when the raven haired girl panned over to the blonde standing nearby. "You made this yourself?"

Naruto, mixing the stew in the bowl, grinned back at the three girls sitting behind him, "Yeah. Why do you think I've been standing here all this time? It's an Uzumaki ultra-secret recipe; the best of the best."

"He always says that," Tayuya replied, waving her hand towards Kin dismissively while Isaribi indulged in her own meal, "Only half of his so-called 'secret recipes' are true. The other stuff he's either pinched from the cook books he finds in the library or the material he grabs from the owners of the Ichiraku Ramen Bar every so often."

"They're still good, aren't they?"

"We love your cooking," Isaribi exclaimed, voicing her support for the blonde.

Tayuya nodded back with a cheeky grin, "Of course. We would have said something if your stuff didn't taste good, shithead. Your cooking is badass."

"So is yours. I friggin' love your soups, Tayuya-chan," the jinchuriki grinned.

Tayuya smirked back at him. "Okay, stop brown-nosing you lug," the redhead replied, shaking her head while taking another bite. "I'll make you the chicken special tomorrow."

Kin looked at the two of them, a little bit confused, "Chicken… special?"

"It's her chicken and corn stew," Naruto said, pointing between them. "She makes it so much better than what they sell in the restaurants. The taste is better, the smell is better… it just comes together so well, it's crazy." The blonde grinned across at the pair. "That's why I like her so much. She's talented."

Tayuya blushed and glanced away, trying her best to hide her expression from the boy, but failed in keeping it from Kin, who looked across at the girl curiously.

"Isaribi's meals are terrific too. You haven't tried fish soup or salt and pepper squid until you've tried hers," Naruto added, pointing across at the purple haired diver, who blushed under his compliment just as the other did. "She makes it herself from scratch. It's outstanding."

Said raven haired kunoichi glared back at the purple haired teen, who stuck her tongue out at Kin before turning to her stew again. Shrugging her expressions out of the way, the new girl and the rest of the 'guests' sitting around the table eventually returned to eating and were shortly joined by Naruto, plopping down with his own serving in front of him.

Over the past few days all of the residents of the third story apartment used the time that they had to adjust to the presence of the newcomer. Due to the unfamiliarity of her environment, the former Sound Genin also took her time to, in turn, adapt to her surroundings as well as become accustomed to the new faces surrounding her. While Isaribi remained strangely competitive and suspicious towards the kunoichi following their introductions and stayed up a few nights to keep a close eye on her, the diver eventually let her discreet spying of the stranger slide when nothing out of the ordinary took place. Tayuya had also expressed some concerns over a couple of nights, but after finding nothing abnormal or underhanded going on around the raven haired girl, eventually went back to being her usual self.

Additionally, Kin took her time getting used to her new world. At first fearful of attack and attempted assassination while she was asleep, she spent the first few days in the apartment restless and a bit on edge. However, when she realized that Naruto and his roommates weren't out for her life, she began to relax a little and started to enjoy her stay. Once she was able to remove the sling from her arm and the rest of the bandages around her body, Kin spent most of the days lying on the couch, watching television, and reading. Since she was not an active kunoichi anymore and didn't really want to stray too far from the apartment yet, she remained docile and content inside the small home.

She and Isaribi would sometimes get into arguments over the space encompassing their jinchuriki host whenever he wasn't looking, which saw both of them grinding heads during free time in the living room. Of course, whenever Naruto walked by or turned their way, they would quickly revert to being their normal selves again. Tayuya found enjoyment watching some of the fights and would sometimes pull up a chair out of shot to watch the chaos unfold. However, when they weren't fighting, the girls would get along with one another quite well. Kin would oftentimes find some stuff to do around the house to keep her mind occupied such as cleaning alongside Isaribi, and in general, not giving Naruto cause for concern.

Too bad he was actually the cause for all of their stand-offs due to extenuating circumstances, but these were events that he didn't need to know about. At least not yet.

Naruto would often bring by stuff for his new guest to do when she had nothing available on hand, and he, Isaribi and Tayuya would spend as much time with her whenever they were free. Since two of them were training for the third and final stage of the exams coming up, this only gave them the afternoons to keep her company, while she and Isaribi occupied the living room when the latter wasn't out at the hospital getting her regular check-up. But they were good times; nothing negative or disappointing at all. Heck, they had a board game night yesterday that went on for hours, which became a big highlight for them of that week.

Now though, they wanted to do something else that evening… something fun…

Once everyone had eaten their fill and the dishes had been washed, they all retired to the living room where Tayuya and Kin sat on different sides of the table while Naruto's clones and Isaribi puttered around pushing stuff out of the way. Looking around, the raven haired girl watched curiously as the original then came striding over to them. "What do you have planned this time? Another board game?"

"Nope. Better," Naruto stated, slamming his hand down on the table and revealing two packs of cards.

Tayuya smirked at the sight as she knew what that entailed, "Oh yeah. Now that's what I'm talking about." Sitting up, the girl pushed the sleeves of her night jersey up her arms. She was wearing a maroon turtle neck top with black spandex shorts, Kin had on a grey jersey with khaki cargo pants, Isaribi had a blue shirt with shorts, and Naruto was in a white top with orange pants. "I'm going to win so much dough this time I'm gonna spoil myself next week."

"I only know a few of these, but I can learn some more if necessary," Isaribi responded.

"A card game?" Kin queried in surprise.

"Yeah. Since we've been working so hard I figured we should all have a night where we could just relax and forget about training for once," Naruto answered brightly. "May as well take it a step further and test our luck."

"B-But I don't have any money," Kin stammered. She didn't have any with her after getting out of the hospital and didn't need any so far since everything was provided for her by her hosts. This made her think about taking up some part-time work to pay back all of the people taking care of her for all their kindness, but they were quite insistent on continuing to do so without reward. It made her feel bad, and she was previously a rival as well as a potential enemy.

"Don't worry, I'll buy you in," Naruto said, plopping down cash on the table in the form of coins and sliding them over to her. "You can stay for as long as you want. I don't mind paying for two."

"Oh. Th-Thanks," Kin chirped, accepting the funds greatly. She glanced up at him with an appreciative smile, which was met with a grin from the jinchuriki.

Isaribi noticed her beaming and fumed in jealousy.

"Alright. Enough screwing around. I want to win some money from you girls!" Tayuya laughed, slamming her own entry fee onto the wood, "Let's do this!"

"Sure. But before we get started," Naruto rose to his feet, getting the trio's attention again, "We have a few more guests joining this party. They should be here anytime now."

Before the girls could comment on that they suddenly heard a knock on the door. The blonde excused himself from the room and moved down the corridor, where the in tuned girls heard the boy unlock the front gate and greet whoever was outside. Moments later, they saw Naruto return with a few more faces in tow, all of whom looked incredibly familiar.

"Ladies; meet the competition," Naruto stated as he stepped aside and gestured grandiosely toward Sasuke, Shiho, Kiba and Choji who stepped in after him.

The teens glanced with varying levels of interest around the living room as they approached the table, with the Uchiha looking bored as he normally did, Choji and Kiba proceeding with a little more enthusiasm, and Shiho right behind them.

"Yo," a fully recovered Kiba waved, moving around the one person couch in his way and saluting the girls, "Long time."

"Hey fellas," Tayuya replied brightly.

Isaribi beamed at the familiar face of Kiba, "Come to join us?"

"Apparently," Sasuke grumbled, hands in his pockets as he moved around the two-person couch and looked into the center of the room disdainfully. "One of the dobe's clones barged into my home an hour ago and kept badgering me to come over until I agreed. Since it wouldn't go away I had no choice."

"Oh, don't be such a whiner, Sasuke. How will you ever have any fun around here if you don't try participating a little?" Choji chuckled, patting the boy on the back as he passed, earning a twitching eyebrow from him. The rotund teen then sat down beside Kin, whom he didn't recognize at first glance and just assumed to be one of Naruto's friends outside of the regular group. The Akimichi just went along with the atmosphere. "I just came here because Naruto promised there was going to be snacks. That had better not have been a lie."

"Don't worry, Choji, I've got plenty of food and treats lined up, so we're all good here," the jinchuriki responded assuredly, moving past Sasuke as well to sit alongside Tayuya, with Shiho sitting next to him and Kiba next to her. Making himself comfortable, he pulled up the cards and shuffled them. "I hope you guys brought a lot of money to bet, because this is going to be a long night."

"It's still evening," Shiho shrugged, reaching into her pouch and pulling out a sack filled with coins, dropping it beside her as every person in the room became assembled. On the two width-sides of the table Kin and Kiba sat across from one another. On Kin's right sat Choji and next to him sat Sasuke followed by Isaribi. On Kiba's right there sat Shiho, and next to her was Naruto and Tayuya. All in all, it was an odd party of eight, a sight which had the owner of the apartment grinning brightly. The blonde with glasses clapped her hands together and rubbed them enthusiastically, "Depending on how this goes, I think we should make this a regular thing. Let's do this."

Sasuke sighed while Kiba also deposited his funds on the table, at the same time Naruto finished shuffling and began dealing out the cards to each guest one after the other.

"Okay, first ace deals." Once the cards were evenly distributed the jinchuriki heard a groan from some of them when they realized he ended with the ace. "Whoops. My bad."

"Did you cut those cards properly, shithead?" Tayuya asked suspiciously.

"Of course," the blonde replied, collecting them up and dealing out a new set face down. "Alright, five card stud." Once the first cards were dealt out to each of them, he then began dealing cards face up, one each, "Jake, three of clubs, four trees, king of hearts, deuce, five of spades, lady, and a big ace for the dealer, sorry about that." He looked around at the distasteful glares he got from the boys and the amused looks he got from Shiho and Kin. "I bet a ryo blind."

"Okay," Shiho responded, tossing a coin in.

"I'm in," Kiba said.

"Out," Isaribi exclaimed flipping the cards and getting up, deciding to go grab the snacks waiting over in the kitchen seeing as how her first hand was a bust.

"Call," Sasuke murmured, throwing a coin in.

"Go," Choji said, also tossing in his opening.

"Okay," Kin chirped skittishly.

"The winning hand is… folding," Tayuya groaned, flipping her card over and standing up, "I'm getting some coffee. This is definitely going to be a long one." The redhead left with Naruto chuckling at her immediate conceit in the first round.

While the blonde was dealing out another set and the kids started raising the stakes little by little, Isaribi returned shortly afterwards from the kitchen carrying a plate of sandwiches, a bowl of biscuits and a bottle of soda in hand, complete with plastic cups. "Oh look, the entrees," Naruto chuckled, waving his roommate over, who gladly brought the food within reach of the other players.

"Sweet, I'm starving," Choji exclaimed enthusiastically, looking down at his cards and throwing in another coin. Sasuke met his bet with his own, as did Naruto and Kin, while Shiho chose to fold and the Inuzuka fondled his chips thoughtfully. "Come on, Kiba, you're either in or out."

"Very funny. Don't rush me."

While this wasn't a shinobi throw down where they were excessively hurling sharp and pointy objects at one another on the training grounds, the group of Genin couldn't help but maintain that competitive nature of theirs even in the minutest of circumstances. After all, it was their mission pay that was on the line here. This was their big chance to add a little more to it if they were lucky enough, which was why a lot of them had agreed to come in the first place.

For some, it actually took Naruto bribing them with something more to get them interested, which could be said for Sasuke and Choji, the latter of which was only interested in the party food.

Isaribi sat the plate of sandwiches on another table, which she quickly pulled over from the corner to sit nearby. "We've got a good set here. There's ham, chicken… and something brown that just lies there…" the girl said before pouring them all their drinks. Once they were handed out, she sat back down in her place between Kiba and Sasuke, leaving some of the people at the gambling table to stare apprehensively at the sandwiches.

"My guess is something that was meant for tomorrow," Choji shrugged offhandedly, grabbing one of the slices and taking a bite out of it. He gave a nod as the taste hit his tongue, "They're alright. No tomatoes?"

Isaribi, knowing just as well as Naruto what stocks they had in the cupboards from back to front, paled a little bit and gave a weak grin, "Uhh… no."

"Why not?"

"Well umm, I looked at them and… something looked back."

Sasuke nodded in understanding, taking a sip from his soda, "Right." That would have been off-putting for anyone. You had a basket of tomatoes, you reach in to grab one, and a set of eyes open in the batch… yeah… you'll want to stay the hell away from them.

Hearing another bid placed prompted the prodigy to forget about the vegetable problem for now and up the ante as the game was underway.

For the next few hours the group jumped between the games of five-card, hold em' and black jack, with five-card being the most popular of the three for that evening as the variations gave everyone a chance to push their luck as far as it was willing to go, whether or not they could see their opponents' cards. People dropped in and out frequently, and after the first hundred and twenty minutes passed them, it became painfully obvious who had the most luck that night.

Shiho, of all people, was raking in the most wins followed closely by Kin, with the others just stewing in frustration at the hands they were being dealt as the title of dealer moved around in a clockwise direction. Sasuke and Naruto stuck to their guns as best as they could since they wanted to see who out of the two of them would cut out first, and as a result lost a lot in the mid-rounds. In reality, the jinchuriki was merely losing on purpose to give the others who were new to this gathering a fighting chance, whereas the Uchiha was just being stubborn. Isaribi was wise with her cash, choosing to duck out before she could put in a lot and winning big pots whenever she had a great hand. Choji dove in and out regularly to win himself some extra pocket money to spend on snacks over the coming week and, not really being the luckiest of them, Kiba kept blowing his lot for one reason or another.

It was kind of funny watching him cop out whenever he thought he had a good hand.

"Ten ryo," Tayuya said, tossing in some more coins into the stack.

"I'm in," Naruto responded, tossing in a couple.

"Go," Shiho chirped, throwing her bet.

Kiba scrutinized the pot while flipping a coin between his fingers absently, "I wonder what the chances are of my getting the fifth jack?" This inquiry got a few strange looks from those next to him before he tossed a handful of coins in. "Oh well, not to worry."

Rubbing one of her bandaged cheeks, Isaribi sighed and flipped her cards over. "I'm out for this one. Unfortunately, tonight is not my game night."

Naruto grinned at her, "I'm sure it'll come back to you." His exclamation earned a sweet smile from the girl in return.

"In," Sasuke said, also rolling in a few more while keeping a straight face.

Choji sighed and flipped his cards over, unwilling to go any further. "I'm out." He then reached over and grabbed another sandwich, deciding to indulge a little while the rest of them had it out with each other.

"Same," Kin groaned, pulling her coins back and smiling as she watched the remaining ones go for another round.

"Dealer bets an extra five," Tayuya informed confidently when it all came back around to her.

"You're up five, and I'm up ten," Naruto said, tossing in an extra lot.

This earned a mischievous grin from his musician friend as she threw in a few more to keep up with him. "That's mean," Tayuya said with a childish whine.

The jinchuriki wagged his eyebrows at her with a cheeky smile, "I'm going to win the jersey off of your back, Tayuya-chan. Who knows, I might even get a good show after this."

When the redhead stuck her tongue out at him and Isaribi blushed at the words being thrown between the pair, Choji shook his head, "Can you guys stop flirting with each other and get back to the game. I want to win some more money off of you."

"You've been striking out as badly as Kiba all night," Shiho commented, earning a snort from Sasuke as he too matched the pot with his own.

"So? It's not like I'm gonna call it quits now that everyone's win/lose ratio is starting to fluctuate like crazy. My luck's gotta make a comeback soon," the Akimichi retorted, shoving the rest of the sandwich into his mouth.

Tayuya chuckled and, after seeing everyone throw in their final bets, dealt out the last of the cards, "Alright boys and girls, who's throwing in the towel this time?"

Upon seeing all of the cards reach their respective persons, Shiho picked hers up and hissed, "Aya…"

Naruto looked across at her, "What's the problem, poker face?"

The girl turned her cards over and waved her hand dismissively, "I'm commiting suicide…"

"Go out in turn, Shiho," Tayuya responded, looking down at her cards before glancing up and everybody else, turning to Naruto to see him flip his cards over.

"Out."

Kiba, looking down at his hand, raised an eyebrow in interest, "Hey, would you look at that. The fifth jack." He then flipped his cards to face down, "I'm out." Isaribi, looking at his cards, giggled at the pointless gamble he'd made.

He only had one jack. The rest was a bluff.

Everyone then looked across at Sasuke, whom they could see was holding his cards up and glaring down at them challengingly. After a few seconds of silence, he then looked across at Tayuya, whom was the only one remaining in this round. "Check."

The redhead smirked, "Now that's more like it. Dealer bets fifteen ryo." She threw in the set amount and waited for her opponent's response. "Uchiha?"

For the next minute Sasuke spent leaning back and checking his hand. He held several coins in hand and juggled them for a bit, filling the silence with suspense.

Shiho noticed his hesitance and chuckled, "Fondling your chips is very infantile…"

"Not now, Shiho…" the Uchiha murmured. Once an appropriate amount of time had passed, the raven haired boy then bit the bullet and tossed the coins in, fire returning to his eyes, "Alright, I'll see your bet. What have you got?"

Able to breathe once again, the five other faces turned to Tayuya to see the girl smirking widely, before placing all of her cards face up for all to see, "Full house; queens over kings."

When all eyes panned back to Sasuke, they watched as the boy's steely expression tweaked before seeing him lean back and toss his cards face down onto the table, "Damn. Just missed." Picking up his sandwich to take a bite, he left an opening long enough for Kiba to reach over and look at his cards, to which the Inuzuka looked at in amusement.

"A pair of deuces?"

"I don't have to show!" Sasuke practically shouted, grabbing the cluster of cards and putting them with the others. Now that it was out though it was impossible to get back as everyone in the room was now looking at him with wide grins on their faces.

After raking in the dough as well as the cards, the redhead then passed it over to the jinchuriki. "Alright, Naruto, you're dealer."

"Right O'," the blonde replied, beginning to shuffle. "Why don't we raise the stakes a little? I think it's about time we separate the men from the boys around here."

"Whatever you say," Kiba chuckled.

"Hey it's ten o'clock. Should we set a time limit?" Isaribi asked, checking the clock on the nearby mantle.

Shiho, glancing at the board, smiled and pointed across at Sasuke, "Alright, how about this; one week from today we deal once around to me."

The Uchiha observed the cards get dealt between all eight of them and smirked, picking up a coin and tossing it into the center, "You're on." The smile he wore was matched by his competitors and everyone started throwing in more money. Even Kin was getting in on this, looking forward to the next round with great enthusiasm.

Yep, they were definitely going to be doing this regularly…

XXX

Some time later…

Jiraiya sat by the lake, notepad in hand, and wearing a very odd look on his face as he watched the most peculiar sight playing out before him.

Having taken Naruto on for the day again, the Sannin had allowed the kid to work on whatever material he wanted to focus on in their session, while also gently reminding him to continue practicing his summoning technique in order to perfect control over it. Even though Naruto was easily able to summon Gamakichi and toads of Gama's level at this point, he would every so often summon a small toad of insufficient size and purpose, which brought about great amusement to Jiraiya's day whenever the jinchuriki flipped out about it. More focus on chakra gathering and concentration was required.

Naruto did endeavor to perfect this craft, but right now he chose to work on his physical material again, which inevitably led to this.

To mix things up, the jinchuriki was doing leg presses with Gama sitting perfectly still on top of his feet, who also had two other large toads on top of him, and Gamakichi and Gamatatsu on top of them. If you ever wanted to see someone using giant toads stacked on top of one another like weights and used for training, that was it.

It looked like quite a heavy task too, as with every press Naruto would groan, bite his teeth, and sweat. Jiraiya was actually impressed at the amount of strength the kid possessed, because he'd been at this for over an hour now.

Saito, whom Naruto had summoned earlier, was perched on top of a nearby oak tree and was surveying the area alongside Swift and several other regular sized swallows that had been in the vicinity. All of them had flocked towards the big bird and high-ranking member of their kind when they sensed his presence appear in the area, and went about roosting next to him in order to watch the fun.

The giant swallow grunted and ruffled his feathers, "Such an unorthodox practice." Certainly the most unusual human he'd ever come across, and the other swallows around him could only agree.

As peculiar as it looked though, at least they were making good use of their time.

"Wheee!" Gamatatsu cheered happily as Naruto sped up his inhales and exhales, feeling the gentle pull of gravity on his being as well as the motions that went with it. "This is great, huh, nisan?"

"Yeah… I guess it's pretty cool," Gamakichi replied before peering over the side down at the sweating boy. "Hey, bro! Kick it up a little!"

The blonde smirked up at them, "Sure thing." He then began doing presses even faster, fast enough to match the clicks of the winding gears of a clock. "You want speed, I'll give you speed." As he began to push the frogs faster, he heard the loud croak of the massive Gama, which got a strained laugh out of Naruto. "Sorry man, I'll be finished soon."

The large toad was getting cramps. He needed to finish this quick; otherwise he'd have a grouchy amphibian to deal with.

Jiraiya chuckled as he watched Naruto's leg presses blur and the toads on top start croaking in a tone that sounded like they were vibrating. "Hey, slow down there. Keep doing that and you'll turn the lot of them into a puddle… or make them barf, whichever one comes first."

After a few more long presses, Naruto then propped the massive animals on his toes and lowered them back to the ground. He planted them gently, hopping up once they were all safely on land again and breathed a sigh of relief. Looking at Gama and his lot, he could see the toads were a little bit disoriented and pale from being subjected to what could only be described as an earthquake. He patted the biggest one on the side with a grateful smile on his face.

"Thanks, but you're not heavy enough for what I need to have polished up. I appreciate the help though," Naruto exclaimed, earning a slow croak from the woozy Gama. The blonde chuckled, "Yeah, sorry about that. Got a little carried away." Between him and Gamakichi, he had to meet somewhere in the middle to make his companions happy.

"That was awesome," Gamakichi said happily, jumping around in an uncoordinated manner.

"Nisan… dizzy," Gamatatsu murmured, swaying on the spot before face-planting the ground. "Why is the floor moving?"

Naruto grinned, patting each animal on the head once they were all separated, "I really appreciate you guys coming out here. I'll call you later if I need you for anything else, alright? I promise next time will be more fun."

Gamakichi saluted with a grin, "Sure thing, bro!"

Forming a hand seal, the jinchuriki dismissed them with a puff of smoke. After that he unzipped his jacket and wrapped it tightly around his waist, turning to the Sannin with a triumphant smile. "I'll need to find something a little bit heavier to work with."

The white haired man looked at him momentarily before reaching into his pocket, "I've got some weight bands if you'd like to try them out, brat." Pulling out several bead-like braces, he then tossed them over to Naruto, who caught each of them firmly. "These are a little bit different to the dumbbells you've used before. They're color-coded to determine how used to them you get over a period of time. You start off with white prayer beads, which gradually turn over to red prayer beads the more used to them you get. Once they turn red it means your body has completely adjusted to them and, naturally, will signal the end of the training period. You don't have to stop there however. You can always increase the weight of them every time the colors turn over, so they're customizable depending on your current level."

"Wow, that's awesome," Naruto commented, looking at the cuffs by holding them up to level with his eyes "Did you make these things yourself, Ero-Sennin?"

"Yeah. I can teach you how to make them later on if you like," the man offered.

"Sure. I'd love that." The jinchuriki then wandered over, bands in hand, and squatted down in front of the still seated Sannin, who he could see had been writing in his note pad. "So how do I go about using these?"

Jiraiya smiled warmly at how enthusiastic his apprentice was getting over these training tools. Putting his pencil down, he poked at the bands, "These are designed with a sealing technique. You'll need a hand sign combination to activate them. Here, I'll show you."

For the next few minutes the Sannin went on to explain how the technique worked and how Naruto could go about using it to full effect. He showed him how to wear them, how to apply the technique, and the hand seal combinations needed to activate and deactivate them. After all, he couldn't just go about wearing them even in battle. Having something weighing you down while fighting a powerful adversary was a definite no.

After memorizing the seals, Naruto nodded affirmatively and gripped the bands tightly in his hand. "Thanks so much, Ero-Sennin."

"My pleasure," Jiraiya grinned, before dead-panning a little, "But could you please stop calling me Ero-Sennin? I've got a reputation to maintain and it's really messing with my style…"

"Hey! Tayuya-chan calls me shithead, I call Sasuke teme, we're starting to call Neji bright-eyes, and I'm still trying to think up a nickname for Kin-chan," the jinchuriki replied quickly before smiling. He backed up a bit so that he had space to move. "But that can wait, right now let's get back to training." Naruto then saluted to the man, "Ciao. SAITO!"

The giant swallow sitting up in the tree looked at him. "Yeah? What?"

"Let's go! FLY!" Naruto shouted, pointing ahead of him and sprinting in that general direction. Jiraiya and everyone then proceeded to watch as Naruto hiked up a massive boulder, swan dived a good several meters before landing with a loud splat back onto solid ground.

A moment of awkward silence passed shortly after that as the jinchuriki lay sprawled out on the hard ground. Several seconds later, Jiraiya burst out laughing, while the giant swallow still perched in the tree raised an eyebrow, ignoring the laughs from Swift and the other birds sitting beside him.

"Were you expecting me to swoop in at the last second to catch you before you hit the ground and take off into the sky in some outstanding exit from the scene?"

The still miraculously conscious Naruto, who had formed a human-shaped indent in the ground, raised a shaky hand in the air and waved. "Yeah." Too bad his voice was muffled by the gravel beneath him.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, the Kyuubi was also laughing his ass off.

"Well… I didn't get what you were trying to do so forgive me if I was a little bit slow." Yeah. Even if he did know his would-be master was going to do that, he still wouldn't have moved an inch from his spot. It was more hilarious watching him make an ass of himself and plunge to the earth rather than make the save and get out Scott free. He wasn't that kind of partner.

Speaking of which, an amused smirk crossed Saito's face.

Picking his face out of the crater and showing the world his dirty-covered face, the dazed Naruto frowned up at the giant bird. "We're going to need to work on that."

OOO

That night…

Adjusting to the weights was going to take a bit of time, but Naruto didn't care. As long as he went about his day not focusing too much on the fact that his body weighed even more than it did that morning, he would be able to get his original speed, reflexes, timing and flexibility back in no time. Things kind of went a lot faster if your absorbed yourself in something else and, well, Naruto held true to that statement by filling his day with every possible thing he could think of.

What both Kakashi and Jiraiya, as his teachers, encouraged him to do from day one of the training period was focus on his strongest points. Through them he found that his most outstanding abilities were his physical strength, taijutsu, stamina and overwhelming speed. Thanks to the use of the accelerated learning granted to him by his shadow clone technique, Naruto was able to learn the Shunshin no Jutsu quite quickly. Further practice with it over the past couple of weeks saw to him getting used to the technique's capabilities, limitations, speeds and directions, and mastering it to the extent he could before he started what he liked to call the long and arduous task of 'improving it.'

Though Jiraiya had little clue as to what he wanted to actually accomplish from this, Naruto knew exactly what he was doing. He wanted to make it as razor sharp as possible and was also adding his own creative genius to the body flicker jutsu. This being said his training mostly revolved around him working, not only on this and his physical abilities to coincide with it, but also his specialty jutsu.

Sure the shadow clone technique was up there at the top of his list, but what Naruto wanted to focus on as well was his affinity for wind. He wanted to be able to bend the air around him to his will and use the atmosphere to his advantage, which meant that outside of all his muscle training and strength building, he was also absorbed in working on his original technique the Jet Hand.

Most of everyone was still in the dark about that jutsu. This meant everyone outside of his circle of friends and teachers were completely unaware he possessed a technique like that. He could also feel proud of the fact that he and only he would ever know how to execute the technique since it no longer required a hand seal to use it. This was all well and good, but he still wanted to do more with it. Sure, he could brag about his awesome version of the Hien, which he was currently strengthening to give the jets more speed, force and piercing power, but he was also making his Dance of the Swallow technique more full-proof and adaptable in the most extreme circumstances and his newly created Tsubame no Koto (Soaring Swallow) technique more versatile.

He wanted to stun his opponent when he used it. Once it was perfected, he was certain he was really going to turn a few heads in the third exam. He expected to have all of the chinks and errors corrected in the next few days.

That being said, the stronger he made his improvised techniques, the much more powerful his original Jet Hand and the ability to manipulate his chakra became, which was always awesome.

He also had a completely new concept he was working on, but he was going to save that until it was absolutely necessary. The end product was quite… volatile.

After a full day of training with Jiraiya and later on a session on his own that gave him time to play around with his other material, Naruto soon found his way back home where he enjoyed a pleasant dinner from the bento boxes Kin had bought for them from the neighborhood convenience store, a long, hot shower, and then a television session with his fellow flat mates. When the time came Kin and Isaribi fell asleep on the couch on different ends and Naruto pulled the blanket over them to let them lie there for the night, he then retreated up to the roof to, in a word, sleep under the stars.

In fact it wasn't sleeping. Far from it. He just went up there to continue training.

Once again focusing on the control and execution of his favorite technique, Naruto sat there with his hands held out in front of him with a focused look on his face as he concentrated on working his chakra between his palms. Through use of his Jet Hand technique, the jinchuriki willed a vacuum sphere of rotating vectors between his hands.

After what felt like hours of sitting there staring at the visible, floating sphere of air he'd formed, and watching it suck in the oxygen around it, through careful positioning, patience, and precision, Naruto succeeded in forming a perfect ball. Once he was satisfied with the result, the blonde fell flat onto his back and dismissed it. He gasped out in shock and panted when he no longer had to maintain his level of chakra.

"Finally!" the boy shouted, breathing heavily as he clenched his hand tightly, "I thought I'd never finish. Fucking hell…"

"Damn. You look awful, shithead." Naruto looked up to see Tayuya standing behind him and smirking down at him with her hands on her hips. "Didn't you already have a shower? Last I saw you like this was about a week ago after Jiraiya clobbered the shit out of you with his clone while you were trying to take the bell from him."

"That bad, huh?"

"I will say this though; you really know how to roll with the punches." The redhead bent down and tapped him playfully on the forehead, getting him to blink before both of them smiled at each other. "Never giving up, always pushing forward, and never letting anything get you down. Those are your greatest weapons."

"Pretty awesome, huh?" He giggled as he gazed up into the girl's eyes, "Not as great as your war flute though. You're not just the best at it, you look stunning playing it. It makes me wish I can have something like that to make me stand out."

Turning a little red at his compliment, Tayuya straightened up. "Not your style. Besides, do you know how many bruises I had to take trying to get my songs right while in the middle of a fight?"

"Let me guess; a lot?"

"You have no idea."

Hearing her amusement, Naruto tilted his head. "Wanna bet?" He gestured to himself. "This body has been poisoned, stabbed, clubbed, punched, kicked, shot, and as of recent, has been smacked around by a Sannin level ninja and a couple of giant toads. Now look me in the eye and say I have no idea, Tayuya-chan."

The mischievous grin he threw at her next had the girl laugh. "Alright, maybe it's not that much of a stretch for you to imagine my pain. Shit… your record for injuries must be the length of a fucking toilet paper roll."

Naruto shrugged, "I'm still human. I may have a giant tailed beast stuck inside of me, but I can still bleed and I can still get tired." He then pulled at his jacket, emphasizing his current condition before taking more of an interest in it. After a moment of thought he smirked and glanced backwards again. "This reminds me of the time you came home a few days ago looking like you'd been dragged through the mud when all that really happened to you was Anko-sensei giving you a healthy dose of reality." He saw the redhead pale a little and look away at the mention of her previous sessions with the woman, getting Naruto to laugh. "See. You and I really are in the same boat when it comes to having teachers who know how to put you through hell."

"Yeah. Don't remind me." The girl scratched her cheek absently as a way to convey her discomfort.

The blonde laughed weakly as he couldn't be bothered moving at the moment. He was so sore right now it actually hurt to chuckle. "Apparently Ero-Sennin and Kakashi-sensei have it in their heads that taking bells from them is the best way to train a Genin. Judging from how beat up everyone gets after every try, I guess they're sort of right." Who came up with that test anyway? Surely the First Hokage couldn't have when he set up this whole damn system of a village. A guy as hardcore as that would never have come up with such a childish trial after going through all the crap he had to building the Leaf.

Right?

"Still, that's all in the past," Tayuya sighed, stepping across while stretching her arms and fingers above her head. Naruto took that time to sit up and watch the girl as she arched her back to the cool night air. "Right now, all we have to do is focus on the present."

"Which is?"

"Kicking ass in the third stage of the exams," the redhead replied while grinning back down at the blonde. "You think you'll rock it, shithead?"

"You bet I will," Naruto responded, finding his feet again and pushing himself up. Hands slipping into his pockets, he walked up the side of the roof till he passed Tayuya and stood a level a little bit higher than her. From his spot, he got a fantastic view of the village on all sides and the Hokage Monument in the distance. It was spectacular. "Though I've still got a bit to go, I know I'll be ready to face whatever the exam has in store for me." He looked back at his friend to see her beaming. "You too. I know out of everyone from our village participating, you'll definitely get Chunin."

"You have so much faith in me," the redhead murmured, her voice becoming quiet with what she had to say next, "Ever since you met me, you've always believed in me." He'd always been there to help her, to comfort her, to keep her company, and to make her smile. Her heart fluttered when she remembered all the times he'd stuck by her side and made her feel like she was his whole world. After recalling these precious moments, which were numerous and high in quality, Tayuya raised an eyebrow up at him. "I can't even touch you in taijutsu, so what makes you think I'll be promoted?"

"Simple." Naruto poked at the side of his head, "You're smart and you're strong. You're the strongest girl I know Tayuya-chan, so I know you'll do awesome. That's a fact."

"And what about you?"

"Me?" Naruto inquired, pointing at his chest before looking back out at the village. "Don't know. Maybe I'll just use the chance to show the people of the world just how awesome I am. I have a lot of guts and a punch that can rattle your brain, but I don't think that's enough to get me promoted."

"You protect your teammates and the people closest to you, you fight smart, and you have a sense about the world that no other shinobi in this village can even begin to comprehend," Tayuya said helpfully, stepping forward in affirmation of this. "That should be more than enough to promote you. If not, then fuck knows what else you need."

Naruto's grin widened, "Yeah. I guess you're right." He breathed out as he felt the wind of the distant horizon hit him and blow his jacket. "We'll just have to wait and see."

Tayuya giggled as he made a cool pose against the light of the village radiating all around them. Looking warmly in his direction, the girl sauntered over with her hands behind her back and a meek look on her face. "Do you think you'll have all your weaknesses covered by next month?" She stopped behind him, just a step down from the very apex of the roof they were on.

"Nope. Not at all," Naruto said, sticking his head up high. "Rule of thumb; everybody has blind spots, no matter what you do. Even me." Unbeknownst to the jinchuriki, Tayuya had positioned herself directly under his shadow, right over his shoulder.

"Would this be one of them?"

Blinking, Naruto turned around when he heard how close she actually was to him, and was about to say something when he saw her closed eyes blocking out all of his view and felt her lips press against his.

Who knows how long they stood there after first contact; five… ten seconds maybe? Either way, even if the moment did only last for ten seconds, to Naruto and Tayuya it lasted a hell of a lot longer than that. The feelings and sensations that came with that singular moment helped prolong the girl's show of affections, after which she lowered herself back down from her toes onto both her feet, and the musician gazed up at Naruto's stunned face.

Tayuya, through red cheeks, let out a light laugh when she saw the blonde's expression, "Yeah. There it is." She tilted her head at him, "You may want to think about covering that up. It could be a real problem for you in the long run."

"Y-Yeah?" Naruto murmured, before a smile crossed his face. Turning to face her fully, the jinchuriki leant over and, taking her by the shoulders, returned her kiss.

Their lips met again and for the second time that night, time seemed to slow to a crawl. Unlike the first one this one lasted even longer than before, the sensations flooding through them accentuated by Tayuya stepping in closer and wrapping her arms around the boy, with the intimate contact filling them with a warmth that started from the apex of their crowns and flowed to the very tips of their toes. Against the cool night air, set before a background of a sparkly sky, a bright glow from the village below and with a great view of the whole of Konohagakure, the pair stayed that way for several seconds, until they eventually stepped away for air.

Both their faces were red, but the one who was the brightest was Tayuya.

"I think that just about covers it, don't you think?" Naruto asked.

The musician nodded, "Yeah. It does." She chuckled and rested her head against the crook of his neck, both of them looking out towards the Hokage Monument. They slowly immersed themselves back into the world and tightened their embrace around one another, not wanting to let this moment go. "Win this thing, okay Naruto-kun."

"I will. It's a promise," the jinchuriki said back.

Hearing the conviction in his voice had Tayuya's smile grow, "You know… I think there are a couple other girls who really like you."

"Huh?" Naruto blinked and glanced down at his roommate in surprise, where he could see the redhead smiling. "Like who?"

"Well… there's Isaribi, Tenten, Hinata… though you really don't see her that much… and that blonde haired chick from Kumo. You do know she couldn't stop looking at you back at the tower when we were all lined up and pulling numbers out of the hat, right?" Tayuya pointed with a bit more amusement in her voice, as she could sense the jinchuriki's growing shock. "You're turning into a genuine chick magnet before everybody's eyes and you don't even realize it."

The jinchuriki looked up thoughtfully, trying to find reason behind this strange phenomenon, "Is it because of my charming and magnanimous personality?"

"Maybe. But hey, it's not like I can change who you are," Tayuya laughed, massaging his back as she held onto him. "You're you, shithead. You have a kind smile and a big heart… you accept people for who they are and wouldn't hurt anyone without good reason."

Naruto grinned sheepishly and looked away, "I'm that much of an easy prey item, huh?"

Tayuya laughed at the look he had and gave him a peck on the cheek, "That's also probably why people like you so much…"

As the pair grinned and laughed with each other, enveloped in the breeze of the night, unknown to them a familiar figure was perched on a nearby roof and watching the pair with glee. Scribbling furiously in his notebook, Jiraiya looked up towards the distant Naruto and Tayuya with stars in his eyes as he went about fantasizing his new soon-to-be best seller.

"Oh, this stuff is gold! You are a romantic God amongst men, kid! Good on yah!" the toad hermit cried in delight. "And I just came by to see if the kid got home okay. Well, he sure as hell seems okay to me."

Yep, while some would rather preserve the moment and there were some who would choose to destroy it, Jiraiya pretty much did both for the sake of literature.

XXX

Two days later…

It was noon, around lunch time, and Naruto had just finished off a long morning's session of training with Sakura and Sasuke out on the fields. He'd spent most of his time out there with them working on his wind release techniques with his clones, and all of his efforts thus far have proven to be pretty successful. While his Hien and its new variants were coming along just fine, as Sasuke and Sakura could see from all the times they'd seen him practicing with them, his other secret moves were doing even better.

These techniques however Naruto chose to keep hidden from everybody else. Whenever he trained with them, it was either on his own deep inside Konoha's surroundings forests or with his teacher Jiraiya, whom had shown to be a big help in that department.

Even though they were techniques he himself couldn't do, the man was incredibly knowledgeable about chakra control, manipulation, distribution and execution. It just went to show that the skills and abilities of a Sannin were not to be underestimated.

Anyhow, after washing off at the lake, Naruto decided to go into town for a spot of lunch. While he was passing by a stall selling dango and an assortment of other treats, he spotted something rather interesting passing him by; a young girl with long brown hair around Konohamaru's age, wearing a purple training gi with a fishnet bodysuit underneath, and a very kind looking face.

From her eyes and expression, she kind of reminded Naruto of somebody he knew. At the moment though, the blonde couldn't help but notice that she was looking a little lost.

Not being one to leave someone hanging, the jinchuriki decided to see what was up and approached her. He saw the girl glance around a few more times, murmuring uneasily to herself until he tapped her on the shoulder and drew her attention up to him.

Naruto smiled pleasantly, "Hey there. Are you okay? You look like you're having a bit of trouble."

Blinking in surprise at the blonde haired boy, the white-eyed youngster jerked upwards when she realized she was being addressed and stammered out a quick response. "Oh, umm. Yes. Yes I am." She looked around her once before glancing back up at the boy, whom she seemed to recognize even though she'd never seen him before. That was weird. "Is there a place called the Ayuri around here? My father sent me out to buy some herbal teas for him… but I'm not sure if I'm in the right area."

Naruto blinked, "The Ayuri? It's… actually a few blocks away from here." He pointed in the direction said store was in. "That way."

"Oh?" The young teen looked where he was pointing, "Really?"

"That's okay. I can take you over there if you like," the blonde grinned.

The girl smiled warmly in response to his offering and nodded, "Th-Thank you kindly." She then bowed in greeting to him, "I'm Hyuuga Hanabi."

"Uzumaki Naruto; the world's most famous privateer and coffee salesmen at your service," the jinchuriki replied courteously with his own bow. He then blinked back up to her in surprise, "Oh, you're a Hyuuga?" He saw the youngster nod back affirmatively. "That means you're related to Hinata and Neji is that right?"

The child nodded, "Yes. Hinata is my sister and Neji's my cousin," Hanabi replied. She then smiled when she finally remembered where she'd seen this teenager before, well… heard of him anyway. It was when he brought up her fellow clansmen that it finally clicked with her. "You're the boy my older sibling keeps talking about. So you're Naruto Uzumaki?"

"Yeah. Your sister talks about me?"

"Not in excess, but she does mention you quite a bit in conversation and when she's mumbling during her training," Hanabi answered while tilting her head. "You must be a really incredible person for my sister to think so fondly of you."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head bashfully. "I'm nothing special. I'm just a blonde haired delinquent who picks fights and causes trouble for the locals on a daily basis." He then beamed down at the girl. "Your family on the other hand, they're something really special. The way you fight, the way you dress, and your mannerisms and doejutsu. Man… I wish I had telescopic eyes that could see through everything and over great distances. That would be spectacular."

Blinking a few more times, Hanabi gaze switched to one of curiosity. His carefree responses aside, he didn't seem like anything remarkable on first glance. He seemed like a unique specimen, yes, what with his color choice, his hairstyle and those whiskers on his cheeks. From the way Hinata had described Naruto in the past, she'd made him out to be an incredible person on par with even the Hyuuga's nobility. She said he was a boy of incredible strength, character and presence, that he was capable of moving mountains at a whim.

Hanabi accepted this at face-value and figured he was some kind of genius with a cool visage and held a personality similar to the monotony of their clan's. However, now that she was meeting this boy face to face, he just seemed ordinary with a touch of peculiarity; not the dashing prince of darkness she pictured earlier in the past.

Regardless, Hanabi smiled and accepted Naruto's compliments and responses with glee, after which he then began escorting her to her desired location.

And that was all there was to it. Naruto didn't want anything in return for this. He just wanted to help out a person in need. If he'd simply let the girl wander around aimlessly the way she was and went home, he'd have felt pretty bad about himself and wouldn't have been able to sleep straight. He'd been in situations like that himself many times before when he was younger and nobody really helped him out. This wasn't so that he could show those people up by doing what they didn't, he was just being nice.

A quick march a few streets down from the road Naruto ran into the girl, the pair arrived at the Ayuri. It was a quiet little establishment, and from what the jinchuriki smelt hanging in the air, had a lot of herbs and tea leaves sitting on its shelves. The scent was simply divine, filling the blonde with a sense reminiscent of his second home. It made him feel good.

"Well. Here we are," Naruto gestured to the building, "The Ayuri."

The young girl smiled, "Great. Now I can buy my father what he asked for." She wasted no time scampering in, with her jinchuriki escort following after her with a smile on his face and his hands in his pockets.

For the next few minutes Naruto stuck with Hanabi as she browsed the shelves and grabbed a couple of bags of tea leaves, and other assortments of herbs and what not. The blonde kept his smile up throughout all of her shopping, watching the girl go about what she was instructed to do and offered to carry her stuff for her. When she was done and she had everything on her list, they went to the counter, where they were then greeted with a smile by the adult Genin working behind it.

Once he'd scanned and marked all of the items on the desk in front of him, the adult smiled down at the two kids, "Is that all for today miss?"

"Yes," Hanabi nodded.

"That will be a hundred and fifty-two ryo then miss," the man replied.

Smiling, the young Hyuuga then went about checking her pockets. "Now let's see… my money is." After several searches through a couple of pockets, Naruto watched as the girl's eyes went a little bit wide and she started to search a bit more frantically, "Huh? My money's gone. B-But how?"

Both the blonde and the Genin working behind the counter looked at the girl with worry, waiting and watching as she searched for a full minute, before deflating where she was standing. It soon became obvious that her search yielded nothing. "I don't believe this. Maybe I dropped it somewhere?"

"You lost your money?" Naruto asked to clarify, earning a nod from the kunoichi in training. He smiled and then reached into his pocket, pulling out his infamous frog wallet and popping it open, "What the heck. I'll pay for whatever you need." He then effortlessly yanked out two hundred ryo notes like it was nothing.

Hanabi looked up at him in surprise. She then stepped towards him out of concern, "I-I can't let you do that." It was bad enough that he had taken her here and had helped her to carry some of the shopping, but now he was offering to pay for her. After all that there was no way she could get him to pay for her.

Naruto grinned, handing the cash over to the customer service agent, who accepted the funds gladly, "It's fine. Really."

And that was it. Upon receiving his change and a receipt, Naruto then helped carry the two large bags of tea leaves out of the store, while Hanabi carried all of the little stuff. While the girl insisted she could carry the goods as it was her responsibility, the jinchuriki rebuked her and said that he would carry it back to her clan compound. It would be several minutes of walking across town later when they eventually arrived at the lavish estate homes belonging to the Hyuuga clan, where Naruto deposited the material inside the main compound on the walkway.

Upon setting her own stuff down on the elevated patio encompassing the main building, Hanabi turned to a still present Naruto and bowed gratefully to him. At first puzzled by her action, the jinchuriki then recoiled a little when he saw the girl beam up at him with a warm smile.

"Thank you… thank you so much."

Grinning, the jinchuriki leaned over and patted the girl on the shoulder, "No problem. It was my pleasure."

Hanabi gazed appreciatively at him, "I would like to repay you for all you've done for me today. Would you like to stay for lunch?" She gestured towards one of the shoji doors, "I can have something specially made for you, if you like."

Enticed, the jinchuriki thought about it for a moment before looking back and tapping his fingers together meekly, "I… wouldn't want to impose. Are you sure it's okay?" He'd never really stayed at a clan compound before. In fact, the only times he'd ever entered a clan compound was either visiting friends or pulling pranks on the residents.

Shit. He hoped he didn't target any Hyuugas with his merciless pranks. Did he? That was just a bad date waiting to happen…

Hanabi smiled, "It's okay."

"Hanabi." Hearing a new voice had both kids turn and glance towards the entrance to a hallway leading out of the main building, where they saw Hiashi Hyuuga standing there with his hands hidden in the sleeves of his robe.

He was a tall man with long, brown hair, the same eyes that Hinata and every other Hyuuga had, a firm expression and wore standard white and beige kimono robes. His arrival warranted an immediate change in the atmosphere, which Naruto instantly noticed and had him look at whom he deduced was the clan head with his own, composed visage.

Hiashi raised his head as he looked towards his daughter, before panning over the boy in orange, "Who is this young man?"

The Hyuuga heiress turned and smiled as she gestured to the blonde, "This is Naruto Uzumaki, father. I met him out on the streets while I was trying to find the Ayuri. He took me there and helped carry the shopping I bought home."

"Did he now?" Hiashi asked with an unchanging expression. He considered the boy again and furrowed his brow, "Is this the same Naruto your older sister mentioned at dinner?"

Hanabi nodded, "Yes." She then stepped forward with a little more assertion in her posture. "I invited him to stay for lunch in order to repay him for helping me today."

Raising an eyebrow, the man remained silent for a few seconds before filling the air with a sound denoting contemplation, "I've heard some interesting things about you, Naruto Uzumaki. Some good… some bad…"

"O-oh," Naruto thought, not really liking where this was going based on the man's tone of voice.

"However… while I should be concerned about the bad things, considering your reputation, it is the good that I would prefer to have sitting at my table today," Hiashi continued, giving the smallest and briefest of smiles and nodding inside. "It would be impertinent of me to turn a blind eye to the kind actions of a fellow villager, who went out of his way to escort my daughter. You're also the first friend Hanabi has brought home with her. I would like to speak with you over a meal, if you would like to join us."

"Oh, uhh," Naruto replied, shuffling nervously on the spot for a moment before bringing up a smile, "Th-Thank you, Mr. Hyuuga… sir."

Hiashi nodded before turning to his daughter, his face once again becoming stern, "Hanabi, please show Uzumaki-san to the table." The man then turned heel and headed on inside.

Once he was gone, Naruto breathed out in relief and tugged on his collar, "Man. That was intense." He didn't know why, but just looking the guy in the eye made him feel uneasy. Maybe it was because he was a dad or something. The fact that he was standing so close to his daughter probably called for such a response.

Hanabi beamed back at Naruto fondly, "It's rare to see father smile toward a guest. He must be grateful to you for helping me."

"Yeah… maybe," Naruto chuckled rather weakly.

Talk about a shaky reception.

Hanabi, smiling a little more brightly, approached the boy and tugged on his jacket, snapping him out of his reverie. "Come, I'll show you around after we drop the tea and herbs to the kitchen."

"Oh. Okay," Naruto nodded, quickly doing as instructed and helping the girl carry the bags inside the clan's main building.

It was a really well put together establishment and was incredibly clean. The jinchuriki felt like he'd crossed a threshold of sorts dividing this place from the rest of the village. The contrast was just gob smacking. The kitchen had to be the size of his whole fucking apartment.

However, he wasn't going to go bouncing off walls just because of all the five-star gimmicks sitting around. No. He was a guest here and he was going to behave himself. No horsing around or any shenanigans. He already did enough of that out among the commoners. Plus he didn't really know how things went on around here, and so allowed himself to be led around by the young Hyuuga and listened in to what the youngster had to say.

It brought a smile to Naruto's face to see young Hanabi slowly start to become more accustomed to his presence and begin to open up to him a little more as she showed him around. To the jinchuriki, the young Hyuuga heiress seemed so much more sociable than Hinata and Neji, but that was something to be understood since she was still young and probably more open as a normal person. She would answer every question he had and would fill him in on all the little details about their home and clan, before finally leading them to the dining room.

There, they met an already present Hiashi and a welcoming set of delectable looking entrees. Though the setup seemed way above what Naruto was normally used to, to ensure he didn't fall too out of place, he simply mimicked what Hanabi did and sat himself at the table next to her. From there, well, he just went with it.

As civil as Hiashi came off and as firm as the man spoke towards Naruto, the boy didn't allow the intensity of the atmosphere to compromise the experience here. In fact, all Hiashi really asked of Naruto was what he did as a shinobi, what his interests were, who was on his team, and really just general questions about stuff he would probably do in his free time. Both Hanabi and Hiashi listened intently when the blonde responded to each question in turn, and with this casual back and forth over a delightful lunch of curry, well…

Naruto actually had a good time speaking with the two Hyuuga clan members. It made his break time really more worthwhile.

Perhaps this was just one of those welcome perks of being a nice guy.

Of course, the meal did take an interesting turn a little later down the line.

While they were still eating, Naruto suddenly spotted a familiar figure walk past the slightly open door on the walkway outside and looked up. "Oh, hey Neji!"

His exclamation stopping the older teen, the prodigy backed up and looked into the dining chamber in surprise. When he recognized the jinchuriki seated at the table alongside Hanabi, the boy with long brown hair in a ponytail nodded to him in greeting. "Hello, Naruto."

Grinning, the jinchuriki patted the space beside him. "Would you like to join us? There's still plenty of food if you're hungry."

Surprised at the question, Neji looked around at the other two members of the clan sitting around the table. Having easily spotted Hanabi, he then turned his gaze towards Hiashi, who was sitting at the end and looking back at him all business-like. When the genius identified the two members of the main house, especially the leader, he frowned distastefully.

It wasn't too prominent that it was incredibly noticeable, but his ire was still felt by Naruto, who then saw the boy look back at him with disappointment reflected in his eyes. "I'm sorry, but I can't join you right now, Naruto. It would be awfully brazen of someone like me to simply sit without being asked by Lord Hiashi himself… plus I have some important errands to run." He bowed apologetically to those in the room, before straightening up once more. "Perhaps next time."

"O-kay…" Naruto murmured as he watched the boy leave, a little bit let down that he didn't want to stay.

After watching Neji leave, the jinchuriki then turned to Hiashi, whom he could see was looking at him.

"You know Neji?"

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, I know him and his team very well. I enjoy hanging out with them whenever I can find the time and I really like their company. Two of them are really friendly and outgoing… but Neji's more of the collected and lone-wolf type. He was a bit of jerk when I first met him a couple months ago, but I think he warmed up a little and is starting to be a little more open towards others."

"I see," Hiashi responded, sparing a glance towards the doorway again.

Noticing the man's puzzlement, Naruto looked down at the table thoughtfully for a second. He remembered back to how Neji responded earlier and then back to when he first met the genius and his previous, 'charming' disposition towards hard workers. After a moment of pondering and thinking over some of the stuff he'd heard about the clan, the blonde looked up. "I think Neji is still a little bit upset because he's had some problems in the past that haven't been fixed yet."

Hiashi looked towards him again, "Why do you say that?"

"Well… he may be friendlier now… but he still doesn't like talking about his family that often. Whenever I try asking him about Hinata or anyone else from the main house of your family, he just clams up, sneers or changes the subject. I don't really know what that's about… but I think it would do him some good if he could just talk about it," Naruto said while also shrugging. "You know… get it off of his chest."

Taking this in, Hiashi averted his gaze briefly again. Considering the situation for a moment, and figuring what the problem might be regarding the troubled teen of the branch family, the man looked up towards the boy and nodded understandingly. "I think I'll have a word with him about it later." When he saw the boy's surprise, the man raised a hand. "It's okay. I won't be harsh. It's just that you've made me realize I have some old material I need to have sorted. Clan business."

"Oh. Okay," Naruto beamed in relief. "Thanks."

Hanabi looked between both Naruto and Hiashi curiously, wondering what this was all about before receiving a reassuring smile from the former. After that, they continued to eat and chat, enjoying what little time they had remaining in this period.

XXX

A week or so later…

"Ugh… that was rough," Ino moaned, stretching her neck out as she stood up from the tree she had previously been slumped up against. Groaning as she looked around at her two male colleagues standing in the same area, the blonde smirked, "But I think I've got my aim down pat. That mouse didn't even see it coming."

Choji chuckled from where he was sitting and munching on a bag of chips, "It was kind of funny seeing you running around in the body of a mouse Ino, especially when you stopped to try and clean out your hair."

"It was covered in dust and its nails had dirt in them," Ino said, checking hers at the same time. "It was kind of gross." The kunoichi looked up towards Shikamaru, whom she could see was looking back at her with the same, close-to-falling-asleep expression he always wore. "I sure hope you guys have actually gotten somewhere with your training."

"Don't worry. We have," Shikamaru replied, letting out an unconvincing yawn at the end.

Ino raised an eyebrow at him, "Are you sure?" She knew the two boys well, so it was understandable why she had her doubts about their current level and progress.

"Trust me. I've been working my butt off the past five weeks just as hard as you two," the Nara stated while picking at his ear. "What can I say? My mum is a very persuasive character. It's kind of hard to take a nap in the middle of the day when you have someone like her breathing down your neck every minute and asking you how things are going. It's such a pain."

"Well, I should come by your place sometime and thank her properly," Ino replied agitatedly, placing her hands on her hips and glaring across at her teammate. "After all, she's the one who's actually pushing your unmotivated ass up the hill. Hell, she's even more concerned about the final stage of the exams than you are."

"No arguments here."

"Ugh, sometimes I even wonder how your clan even managed to last this long."

"By doing the bare minimum, Ino," Shikamaru said with a weak smirk.

The blonde rolled her eyes before throwing a few jabs in front of her, testing out her current level of speed and strength. "Oh yeah. I'm definitely ready for this. I'm going to mash that yellow-wearing klutz into the ground." She looked across at Choji, who was still digging through the packet of chips resting in his lap. "You'd better make it out of the first round, Choji, or I'm going to make your life a living hell."

Pausing before he could put the chips he was holding into his mouth, the teen looked up at his teammate curiously. "How?"

Giving it a moment of thought, Ino considered his current snack item before smirking devilishly in his direction, "I'll suspend your convenient store privileges for a month."

Paling, the boy hugged his bag of chips to his chest tightly, tight enough to crush it. "No… wait… Ino… please…"

"I mean it."

"No. No. Anything but that!"

"So, are you going to make it through the first round?"

"Yes! I will! I definitely will!"

"You'd better," Ino pointed at him, before pointing out onto the field. "Now go work on your jutsu, pronto!"

"Yes ma'am!" Choji shouted, leaping to his feet while stuffing his now crushed chip bag down his shirt. Leaving a cloud of dust hanging behind him, he sprinted across the grassy fields and immediately threw himself into training. He didn't care what he did, as long as it looked like he was working hard from his kunoichi teammate's point of view.

Seeing Ino practically threaten Choji with punishment should he fail, had Shikamaru shake his head and scrub his hair tiredly, "Troublesome…"

OOO

Twirling a kunai between her fingers, Tenten fired off one of her roguish grins before letting the blade fly from her hand, impaling a dummy several yards behind her directly between the eyes. Upon seeing it effortlessly rest between several other blades sharing the same space, the brown haired girl then looked across the clearing towards the center of the field, where she saw Neji standing dead center of a recently formed and perfect crater.

Watching the dust settle, the kunoichi was able to get an idea of what the boy had just accomplished, which brought an impressed smile to her face. "I can see you've finally mastered the Kaiten technique."

The Hyuuga, back turned, glanced over his shoulder and deactivated his Byakugan. A smirk appeared on his face, "With this I'll be able to block any technique thrown at me. However, it's not like I'm going to give my opponent the chance to get close enough for me to use it. That's not my intention."

He was saying this because he hadn't just spent all his time practicing his clan's ultimate defense. The genius had also dipped his brush into other areas in which he needed improvement. In order to face Naruto for their long-desired rematch, Neji had focused on increasing his speed, his accuracy, range, and his blocking prowess. In order to throw his opponent off from grappling or getting into a hitting match at extreme close range, Neji had trained himself to unleash timely bursts of chakra from his body to knock foes off balance. Also, so that he could stop Naruto from moving around the area like he tended to, the Hyuuga had also trained himself to cut off space for his targets. With his newfound speed, he was confident he could defeat even the speediest of adversaries.

Naruto was a tricky customer. There was no way Neji was going to give him or any other opponent he was likely to face an inch. If he could beat the blonde haired wonder, then no other Genin in the exams stood a chance.

"Only as a last resort." He nodded towards Tenten's side of the field when Neji spotted the multiple training dummies absolutely covered in deadly weapons. "I can see you're more than prepared."

Tenten raised a fist and gripped the bicep of that arm proudly, "That's nothing. I've got a few more surprises up my sleeve that my opponent will definitely have a hard time trying to counter. I can't wait."

"You sound just like Lee."

"Heh, maybe I've been hanging around him for too long. His daily exuberance has filtered out over both of us," the kunoichi said, slipping her hands behind her head. She then looked off thoughtfully, "Perhaps I should go find Naruto-kun and see if he wants to do something today. Sticking with him might help balance out the tang in the atmosphere." A cheeky grin then came across her face as she looked mischievously over at her teammate, "We still have to cash in on that bet we made, after all."

The Hyuuga chuckled when he too remembered the bet that was made between the three teams, "Right. Almost forgot about that." He nodded toward the kunoichi in inquiry, "What do you plan to get Naruto to do for you?"

"Not sure. Maybe I'll ask him to take me shopping for some new training gear and stuff. That's always fun," Tenten replied enthusiastically.

"All the best then," Neji offered with a nod, looking off in another direction to see Lee suddenly come dashing out of the woods, running on his hands. Despite being the wrong way up, the boy in green was actually making excellent progress with his upper limbs being his main supports. A cloud of dust trailing behind him, the magnificent, miniature green beast charged passed the two other members of Team Gai and disappeared into the woods, leaving his teammates staring oddly after him. "I can see he won't be stopping anytime soon."

Tenten nodded in agreement, "He's just excited about the tournament. Hopefully it will all die down afterwards when he finally has a Chunin vest in his hands."

They could only hope. Unfortunately, they knew better.

It was just physically impossible for Lee to sit still for even a moment. He ran marathons with Gai-sensei in their sleep for crying out loud…

OOO

The massive white cloud filling the entire area of Training Ground Three settled slowly back down into the grass, leaving a slightly ruined landscape and Tayuya standing in the center of it with her flute held up to her lips. With the completion of her technique, the girl slowly lowered said instrument, breathed a deep sigh of relief, and grinned as she looked up and surveyed her handiwork.

With only a few light bruises and cuts covering her, and a majority of her chakra still remaining, the results of her latest training sessions instilled in her a level of confidence that made her believe she had a good chance of making it to the finals in the coming tournament. Her bracket had quite a handful of skilled contenders, but thanks to her hard work, the guidance of her teachers and the confident words from Naruto, she knew she was going to stomp on all of them. She wasn't going to let that swell her head though.

She needed to keep a clear one for this contest.

Spinning the flute between her fingers, Tayuya caught it firmly and smirked, "I've prepared that jutsu just for you, shithead. I want to face you in the final round… and I intend to." If she met him in the last round of the exams, she would be ready for him… or at least as ready as she was going to be facing the seemingly indomitable jinchuriki.

Standing nearby with his arms folded, Genma grinned proudly at seeing Tayuya dispatch all of the giant serpents sent after her by one Mitarashi Anko, the latter of which was perched up in a nearby tree with a stick of dango in hand. "Little spitfire is coming along nicely. With those tactics and that flute of hers, she'll definitely make it to Chunin no problem."

Anko laughed down from her perch as the man reviewed his student's abilities, "You're only saying that because you're hoping that at least one of your students from the first group of Genin you've ever taught make it to Chunin in their first year."

This got a chuckle out of the composed Jonin as he glanced up towards the purple haired snake charmer looking down at him. "Don't get me wrong; I'm proud of all three of my kids. I believe that all of them have a chance of making it, but these exams are harsh. With so many competitors and so many judges, the results can go either way." He pulled the senbon out of his mouth and pointed it towards the redhead out on the field. "Just admit it Anko; you want that girl to become Chunin even more than I do."

"You're damn right I do," the purple haired beauty exclaimed with a proud grin, "I put two of my best years into her. Of course I want her to get promoted. I need a little kouhai around the office to order around and make myself look like a big shot."

Genma gave the woman a raised eyebrow and an amused smirk, "You cover that well enough on your own."

"You'd better watch what you say buddy, unless you want to wake up in bed with a family of cobras."

OOO

Yanking his arm out of the hard surface of stone and seeing a cloud of smoke follow shortly afterwards, coating his wrist, Sasuke gave a confident grin and shook off the crumbs of the boulder he'd just finished skewering. "I'd say that that's enough work for today."

No longer wearing his blue top with high collar and white shorts, the young prodigy was now adorned in a black, one piece version of his outfit with various arm-belts and gauze on his left side, elbow guards, and belts strapping both his legs. The new look gave him an overall darker vibe about his person as well as a sense that he had grown as a shinobi. After all of the exercises that Kakashi had put him through, it was no wonder the boy felt so confident and even more excited for the tournament to come.

Wiping sweat from his brow, Sasuke flexed his left arm a bit before turning to look across at the boulder on the other end of the flat field on top of the Hokage Monument he was using as a temporary training area. Spotting the other hole he'd managed to punch through it, the boy breathed a sigh and slipped his hands into his pockets, walking away from the newly made mark and leaving it all but forgotten.

"I'm limited to two shots a day," Sasuke murmured, taking stock of his ability with his new jutsu and furrowing his brow in thought, "Two effective shots anyway. I can try to put out a third if I really have to, but the chances of success are about fifty percent."

In the five weeks they've had, he'd managed to improve his taijutsu and stamina considerably. His speed was up, his physical strength was up, his aim was more precise, the fire release techniques in his arsenal had grown stronger, and now he had a lightning release ability to add to his arsenal. Thanks to the convenience of the adaptability trait of his Sharingan, it made it easier for him to learn a high level ability like that, no sweat. It was working on getting it right and making it feel natural that was the thing.

Still, his increase in efficiency made him wonder whether he was match enough to beat his arch rival, which brought a smirk to his face.

"I'll see you in the later rounds, dobe."

OOO

Sakura panted and wiped sweat from the side of her face as she looked up and across the small forest clearing toward the Kakashi clone she was sparring with.

Around them the ground was scorched in various ways and covered in craters. The burnt and charred ground was one thing, but it was a question of what caused the massive dents in the earth in the first place that was the mystery. However, this was something that could be covered by others at another time more convenient. Right now, the pink haired kunoichi was finishing up the last touches of her newest technique, something that had her Jonin instructor looking on with interest and with his Sharingan in full view, capturing every second of the attack's execution.

After a couple of hours of practice, the man had learned to stay well out of range of the technique, as it had pretty much decimated everything from its center.

A second glance of the field, above the scorched ground, you could also see the forest around them had pretty much died and the structures of the trees had rotted to the core. It was a shame too, because those had been some very beautiful trees.

"Nothing that nature can't recover from in a month, give or take a few days," the Kakashi shadow clone exclaimed observantly, looking around the area. After which he focused back onto his student, who had placed her hands together into yet another hand seal. The Jonin raised his hand to stop her and pulled his headband back over his eye. "That's enough, Sakura-kun. Don't strain yourself the day before we head off. You're going to need all your strength if you're going to get through the first round."

Frowning, Sakura gave a stiff nod and pulled her hands apart. After which she rose to her feet and brushed her dress down.

She'd gone for a slight change in attire. To go with her short cut hair, a red top with white trim and short sleeves, exposing her midriff, a red battle skirt and black spandex shorts. It was essentially a summer version of her previous uniform, and it suited her well.

"Thank you, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura exclaimed, rolling her shoulder and flexing her fist. "I think that really is enough for now. I'll be able to flatten that girl from the hidden sand with ease with these." She grinned as she looked down at her balled fist, feeling all of the strength she'd gained from both her teammates and her instructor over the course of the month's training.

Naruto had helped her with her taijutsu and finding her niche in the ninjutsu department, both he and Sasuke encouraged her to do better, and her teacher helped strengthen all of her collective techniques. In the five weeks given to them, in an incredible feat of determination and concentration, the pink haired girl had increased her arsenal of jutsu from naught to a handful that would definitely come as a shock to anyone bound to face her. Hell, the girl felt even stronger than she'd ever felt before…

Many times stronger than when she fought that woman that could turn invisible on their first D-Rank mission outside of the village and way stronger than when they all faced that band of mercenaries Naruto hospitalized.

She was ready.

"I'm definitely going to make several heads roll out there," the slightly grungy looking Sakura stated as she struck a cool girl pose, fist in the air. "HOOSHA!"

The Kakashi clone chuckled and gave her his famous eye-smile, "I know you will." The man nodded to the girl who beamed in his direction, which he returned with a salute, "I'll see you, Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun at the gates tomorrow morning. Have a good rest." He then vanished in a puff of white smoke, leaving the kunoichi to her devices.

OOO

Meanwhile…

Exchanging the disk in the player she had for something else from the cupboards underneath the television, Isaribi let out a sigh as she decided to go grab herself something from the kitchen. Ambling down the corridor at a comfortable pace, the purple haired girl was about to arrive at her destination when she suddenly heard the clunking of pipes coming from a nearby room followed by a familiar call that had her stop in her tracks.

"Hey, Isaribi-chan!"

The girl in bandages blinked, "Naruto-kun?" Oh, was he in the bathroom? Figures.

He'd gone out super early that morning to get some last minute training in to file out any rough edges in his form and had snuck back around lunch period while everybody else was out. This had pretty much left her at his apartment all by herself, with the exception of Kin who was airing out the sheets, pillows, blankets and covers in their bedroom and rotating the mattresses out with the news ones.

Now he was back and had just finished having a shower, if the pipes switching off weren't an indication of this fact.

"What's up?"

"Could you grab me a towel from the laundry? All of the old ones are in the wash and there aren't any more in here."

Blinking in surprise, Isaribi gave a slight nod and did as she was asked. "S-Sure. Just a sec." It was the least she could do since the boy was practically allowing her to live in his apartment and was paying for most of all their expenses, and she was making some through any odd job that she could. It would be downright mean of her if she didn't try to contribute to the household.

Not that she was going to say no; she would have done so even if it wasn't Naruto. Common courtesy and everything.

After salvaging a clean and dry towel from the laundry, the girl marched back over to the bathroom door and knocked on it. When she saw the door open slightly, Naruto's dripping face popped into view, which was quickly accompanied by a grin when he saw the girl hold up the towel. "Thanks, Isaribi-chan." Accepting it gladly and pulling back behind the door, he began drying himself out of shot, while the girl stood in place patiently with her hands behind her back. "So, have you got any plans this week? Do you want to come with us to the tournament tomorrow?"

Isaribi smiled at him, "I bumped into Ms Kurenai at the shops a couple of days ago and she asked if I wanted to come along with her team to see the finals. I told her I'd think about it and that I'd get back to her later." She turned side on when she heard the blonde stop drying momentarily to listen. "I would really like to go… but I think it would be best if I stayed here and looked after the house with Kin while you and Tayuya are away. Wouldn't want a repeat of last time." She was of course referring to the time Jiraiya broke in through the kitchen window.

"Oh. That's cool," Naruto exclaimed brightly, the purple haired kunoichi actually hearing the grin sprout back onto his face. He could understand her reasoning. She felt very much at home here, and this being the first village she'd ever gone to where people didn't move away from her in the streets, he could see why she wasn't so set on leaving. This was the reason why he didn't dispute her decision. "If that's what you want to do then that's fine with me. It's gonna be one hell of a party out there though. I'll need to be at my absolute best to win." He was determined to meet Tayuya in the finals, if she was as pumped as he was about the whole thing.

Isaribi giggled, leaning up against the wall and looking straight ahead. "I'll make sure to go watch your fight on the big screen in the stadium here in the village on the day then. Everyone who's not able to go see it live will be gathered there, so I'll be sure to get a front row seat."

"Well then, if that's the case, then I'd better put on the best show that I can and make every damn swing that I throw count. My fights are going to be the best, after all. That's a Naruto Uzumaki guarantee."

Isaribi, rocking a bit from side to side, gazed warmly towards the ground. "I'll cheer the loudest for you, Naruto-kun." Yeah. Even if she wasn't going to be there at the actual event, she was going to make certain that he could hear her. She was sure Tayuya and his friends were going to be doing the same up in their seats, so Isaribi was determined to make her voice reach him. "Because I know you'll be going for the win."

Naruto beamed, wrapping the towel around his waist and picking up his dirty laundry. "That means a lot, Isaribi-chan." He looked down at the ground. "By the end of this week… you're going to have two new Chunin living in this apartment."

"We'll hold you to it," Isaribi exclaimed, looking back up again. "Kin and I both. After all… you never go back on your word."

"Nope. Never…" Naruto opened the door and stepped out, steam following after his half-naked form as droplets of water continued to frame his well-toned body, which came into full view of the diver. Waving his locks out of his face, the whisker-faced boy grinned dashingly, "Believe me, this isn't some dumb play to make myself look cool in front of everyone. When I say I'm going to do something, I mean it. That's my way of the ninja… and the way I get things done. Heh… call it a stubbornness issue."

Blushing to the roots of her hair from getting a better than descent flash of the boy's form, the now red-faced Isaribi nodded dumbly in response, "Uhh… yeah…" Her eyes strayed downwards. "Shoulders… chest… six-pack…" How the hell did he get so chiseled so quickly… and for a teen his age? God, was she drooling? What kind of training did he have to go through to get this healthy?

Every curve on him up close was defined in some way. She was speechless.

Noticing her shock, Naruto chuckled and leaned in to whisper as he began walking passed, "I'll show everyone there how far a strong spirit and hard work can take you. I'm sure a lot of the others will be doing the same. This is a competition, after all." He then left the girl and disappeared around the far corner.

Heart pounding against her chest, Isaribi practically collapsed against the wall and slid down it slowly, her legs barely keeping her up as she gripped the space over her head. Her face still glowing, the girl gulped and looked down the hallway Naruto disappeared down.

"Oh… Naruto-kun…"

Unable to contain herself any longer, the girl fainted, blood dripping out of her nose. The thud of her body hitting the floor called Naruto back over to her again. Having only been able to put on a pair of pants the blonde returned to the hall to investigate the strange noise, and freaked out when he saw the girl passed out in his corridor with a heavenly smile on her face.

"ISARIBI-CHAN! What happened?" he grabbed her shoulders and shook her, "Speak to me!"

Seeing the girl's state for himself the Kyuubi snickered, "Brat, if I could and was able to in my position, I would high-five you right now."

Unfortunately he couldn't; being in a cage and all that noise.

While Naruto was trying to nurse Isaribi back to health, the sound of footsteps from the laundry of Kin returning from using the machines echoed down the hall. Puzzled as to what all the noise was about, the former sound kunoichi came to see what was happening.

"What's with all the screaming?" Kin asked, poking her head around to see Naruto trying to shake a dazed Isaribi awake. "What are you guys doing?"

Hearing the tomboyish voice of the other girl in the apartment, the half-naked jinchuriki turned and stood up. "Oh, great! Kin-chan! You're here. Thank Kami. It's Isaribi-chan… she just fainted."

Unfortunately, he was completely oblivious to still being top bare, so when he flashed Kin a decent shot of him shirtless in all his filed out and slightly damp glory, the response was immediate. Stunned at how the light traveled passed his waving locks, handsome face and fantastic form, the blushing kunoichi formerly from sound tried to hold on as best as she could. However, several seconds of red-face later, the stunned raven haired girl just couldn't take it anymore and fainted.

She joined Isaribi in the thralls of bliss with a dull thud, a serene smile on her face and a bloody nose accompanying.

"He's so… hot…" were Kin's last, conscious thoughts.

The event effectively left two girls lying in the hall, out cold, with a panicking Naruto scrambling about and not knowing what to do.

TO BE CONTINUED…

---

Author's Note: Another chapter… another LONG one. But I'm pleased.

Kin settles in, Isaribi is not happy at all. Team 7 trains. Naruto learns the Shunshin and is modifying it for his own purposes. Contrary to popular belief, Tsubaki is indeed mortal and can be defeated, therefore not invincible.

Naruto has a poker game with friends, which is always fun. I'd like people to guess where I got that sequence from and from what series. It's pretty obvious.

And Naruto meets Hanabi, a scene inspired from a game, something I'd like to see people try to guess if they've got a particular idea of the series.

Characters have patched up problems, covered their weaknesses as best as they could, and are now ready for the competition. Hope you're all ready for the next stage, as things are about to explode.

Till next chapter. Alpha