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

31. Land of Snow Arc - Country of Snow

NARUTO

Drifting

To The Country of Snow

That afternoon…

Once the closing ceremony was over and done with and the village leaders had thanked everyone for participating in the prestigious event, everyone was free to vacate the premises. The teams that had taken part in the competition itself waited for all of the people in the stadium to file out before deciding to leave as well, with most of them heading off in their respective groups back to their hotels while some of the others chose to lag behind.

Being amongst that latter group and having recovered from the shock of being jump-promoted straight to Jonin, Naruto took it upon himself to steadily make his way out of the building via the stands themselves. Heading up to the middle row to sit in the now empty stadium, the boy looked out over the arena to see just what everybody else had been able to see from their positions when the matches were on. While he did have a good idea of what it was like from his spot up in the competitor's balcony and when he managed to pull that fast one over Tsubaki in their fight, it had still been a little low for his taste. From this position though, it seemed so much more impressive.

The rounds had been so intense he'd almost forgotten how big this damn place was.

Breathing out a sigh of relief, the boy adorned in his new flak vest, which he now wore over his orange jacket and had both of them unzipped showing off his chest and stomach, stood up after a good, long rest and rolled his shoulder.

"Tired?"

Blinking at hearing the familiar voice, Naruto glanced towards the isle, where he saw a still bandaged up Tsubaki standing there with her arms folded and her eyes set firmly on him. Smiling when he identified the newcomer as a friend, the jinchuriki slipped his hands into his pockets and stretched his back, "Yeah. After all the fighting I had to do today, I'm beat. You kicked me around quite a bit in our fight… and so did your teammate. Actually, I think you got in more decent hits on me than anybody else in this whole damn tournament."

Tsubaki chuckled at his statement and looked ahead of her, "Likewise. After fighting two high-level back-to-back battles like you did, an ordinary person would be out for days. But after only an hour of rest, you were able to get back to your feet looking better than ever. I guess that's mostly thanks to the tenant who's renting out the living space inside of you."

Naruto rubbed his neck with a sheepish grin in response, "Heh. True. I wouldn't be able to do a third of the things I'm able to do without him, otherwise I'd either be bleeding out or dead right about now. He's a real life saver… and a good health insurance agent to have around too."

An amused grunt in the back of his mind sounded the Kyuubi's answer to his comment.

"You seem to be holding up pretty well, Tsubaki, but… is it okay for you to be walking around now? I wasn't exactly going easy on you."

The Kirigakure kunoichi glanced his way and smiled, "I'm a genius and a wielder of one of the rarest kekkei genkai in the world. I get more than a few benefits from my abilities, even though I'm still in a bit of pain from the incredible thrashing you gave me." Her tired gaze averted momentarily when he looked at her curiously. "I still can't believe that there is someone in my generation who is stronger than me… and I was already a shooing for a jump-promotion." But she got Chunin instead.

She was actually lucky to get promoted at all. Thinking back on her performance and comparing it to some of the others she'd seen, it hadn't been that clean, nor had it been that impressive. In her opinion, it'd all been choppy and straight-forward. It was only thanks to her abilities and strengths that she displayed that won her the vest at the end of the day.

Tugging at his jacket, Naruto gave it a moment of consideration. "So… this isn't some kind of joke?"

"Why would you think this is a joke?" Tsubaki asked him, at first giving him an incredulous look until her face became serious once more. "This exam is one of the toughest trials a young shinobi can possibly face in their life. The fact that this one was the biggest ever held and involved all five of the great shinobi nations meant that the stakes were much higher than the previous ones as well. Because the level of it was so advanced, and the route that each competitor had to take was filled with danger, I'm not surprised that they promoted three of you over the others. It shows our strength as individual shinobi and our worth to our respective villages."

Laughing a bit, Naruto walked over to the isle and onto the steps. "Yeah. You got a point there. I guess I'm still a little bit shocked about all this. I never expected to be promoted straight to Jonin."

Tsubaki smirked, "Count the points you've earned. You defeated a prodigy Hyuuga who would've beaten all of the other competitors including my teammates effortlessly in the same area of expertise as him, you conned an intelligent and high level wind user into falling for a trap without breaking a sweat, you defeated my teammate who was considered impervious to all forms of physical damage, you out sprinted me, the fastest kunoichi in Kirigakure in a clash of speed and affinity, and you defeated another jinchuriki who was halfway transformed into their biju. I think you've more than earned the rank you have."

Upon doing what the kunoichi suggested for him to do, the blonde shrugged casually, "Meh. That's just an ordinary day for me… I guess."

A lighthearted laugh came from Tsubaki after that, who then turned heel and gestured over her shoulder, "Hey. I think you've got a couple of shadows on you."

Looking in the direction the girl pointed, Naruto saw at the top of the staircase the entire Sunagakure team arranged into a bundle and looking down at them. Surprised to see the group was still in the area, he then watched as Temari moved down to see them, leaving Kankuro and Gaara up near the exit. When the golden haired kunoichi strode by Tsubaki, giving her a momentary glance and a respectful nod, the fan user then stood before Naruto and seemed to glare at him.

A little bit concerned he may have upset her Naruto took his hands out of his pockets and assumed a sort of meek stance under her gaze. "Uh… hey." Wow. Even after facing hell he was still edgy around certain people. "What's up, Temari-chan?"

At that moment, the golden haired kunoichi's glare softened and she pressed her fingers together nervously. When it seemed like she was going to back down from whatever she wanted to say, the fan user stepped forward and gave him a hug.

Surprised, having not expected to receive such a gesture from the cool girl he'd fought in his second round, Naruto accepted her offering gladly. They remained that way for a moment, her arms tightening around him before she decided to pull away, holding the boy at arm's length and smiling. "Th-Thank you. For everything."

"Huh? Oh… umm… you're welcome," Naruto replied, returning her gaze with his usual, cheerful grin. Opening his eyes to stare into the girl's after that, the jinchuriki tilted his head as he started looking over her face and beamed warmly at what he was able to take in. "You know… you really are incredibly beautiful. I didn't have much time to admire it while we were fighting, but now…"

Not used to being complimented so often, especially by one particular person, Temari blushed slightly and backed up, hands returning to her sides. Taking a deep breath, she then mustered up her usual confident expression and smirked across at the kid who'd put her through hell. "If you're ever in Suna sometime, I want a rematch with you… one on one… no tricks." She pointed at him, "That last play you used against me was a cheap shot, so you owe me."

"Owe you?" Naruto shook his head sharply in reply, wondering if he heard that right. "Hey. We were trying to kill each other. Can you blame me for it?"

Temari turned side on and winked at him, "We live in the Kage mansion in the main village. I'll be waiting for you." With one last exchange of gazes, she then proceeded quickly back up the stairs, where she joined her brothers at the top and led them out through the tunnel, disappearing from sight.

Naruto watched the girl take her leave, followed by Kankuro. He continued watching as Gaara, who'd also been with them, stared down at him for a moment longer, before deciding to turn and follow his siblings out. It was a moment of pause that the blonde in orange acknowledged as an interesting turn of events, after which he then pulled his attention back to Tsubaki to see the girl was looking at him again. When his eyes met hers, the orange haired kunoichi gave him what he initially believed was an inquisitive look before she smirked in a very mischievous way.

"Playboy."

"Hey! I resent that," Naruto pointed at her.

Tsubaki giggled, "You have a strong, magnetic personality that people just can't resist. I think that's an admirable quality worthy of a shinobi of your strength… and also a big advantage for you in terms of developing relationships."

"Stuff like this gravitates towards me. I can't help it," the jinchuriki answered while making various gestures toward his person. "Is my personality really that positively attractive… or am I emitting some sort of weird pheromone like I'm in heat or something because of the Kyu-?" Stopping when he realized where this was going, an action that had Tsubaki raise an eyebrow at, Naruto then turned to glare at his stomach. "OI! FURBALL!"

"If you're inferring to what I think you are, brat, you can forget it." The nine-tails replied while his tails swished behind him at random. "I'm a demon of pure chakra and an entity of absolute malevolence. Trivial matters such as those are quite honestly the least of my concerns."

In other words, he was a part-time pervert. That was comforting.

Shaking it off as just something he would need to discuss with the fox later, Naruto breathed out and looked across at the orange haired girl again. He gestured to his stomach and shrugged, "It's all me apparently."

Tsubaki smiled and then looked behind her again, "Am I to assume she's one of yours too?"

Puzzled, Naruto spun around again, where he then saw another familiar face strolling down the stairs towards him, her colorful kimono fluttering on the wind and her raven black hair caught in the same updraft. It was a person he recognized all too well. "Haku-chan!"

The abovementioned ice user strolled to a stop, coming face to face with the jinchuriki with a smile on her face. "Naruto-kun. Congratulations." First words out of her mouth.

Naruto shone brightly in the face of the familiar kunoichi, "Thanks. Wow. I never thought I'd see you in this village. What are you doing all the way out here?"

The teenage traveler stepped closer to him while running a hand through her starlight kissed hair, "I was traveling west and coming back around to head towards Kumogakure through the mountains… and heard about the Chunin Exams taking place here. I became curious, stopped by here on my way through and heard you were participating." Her smile grew as she looked the boy's now vested form over from head to toe. "And it looks as though my words of support were not wasted. You got promoted to Jonin."

"Yeah. That came as a shock. I never expected to get this far in the tournament… or even in a month of nothing but back-breaking training," the youngster chirped, plucking at the zip. His vest was well padded, stiff and needed to be broken in. However, he was sure that after some time of training in it, it would be fantastic. "I only did what I knew what I had to do and just went with it."

"And you did it all with poise and confidence. Everyone fought brilliantly, even Tayuya-san," Haku said, before suddenly looking across at the orange haired kunoichi still standing in their presence. Seeing Tsubaki's stare fixed on her intently, the raven haired teen looked her over once before beaming. "And you're the one that fought him in the second to last match."

Taking especial note of the girl's sword, Tsubaki raised an eyebrow, "That blade…" She focused her complete attention on the teen, "Who was your mentor, if I may ask?"

"My master and instructor was a great man with a big heart named Zabuza Momochi. He found me on the streets and raised me to become a strong shinobi that could help fulfill his ambitions. My dream is to help realize my master's dreams… and that's to make Kirigakure a better place."

Raising an eyebrow, Tsubaki glanced at the sword again, "So… you were Zabuza-sensei's apprentice?" Briefly noticing the nod she returned, the lightning user smirked. "He was a true warrior and a powerful swordsman whom I looked up to. Though I should be upset like everybody else that he left the village behind… they were turbulent times back then, so I cannot reprimand you for his or any other actions he took on that day. I wouldn't even want to since you aren't an enemy of me or the village."

Haku blinked at the orange haired kunoichi's words and then gave her a serious look, "Is Kirigakure… recovering…?"

"For the most part, the entire nation is still trying to piece itself back together. After so many years of fighting and disputes, we've introduced a new council and Kage to help clean up the mess. It's a start… but it's still going to take a lot of work."

Sensing an opening, the raven haired shinobi looked over at a curious Naruto and then back towards Tsubaki, before stepping towards her with her hands firmly at her sides. "If it is possible… I would like to return to my country and to the village someday to help the Mizukage rebuild the nation."

She wanted to follow through with her master's wishes and to make sure that the promise she made wasn't an empty one.

Tsubaki smiled at her, "I don't see why not. Since you were not originally a shinobi of a village it shouldn't be too much of a problem to have you enlisted. Mizukage-sama's doors are always open."

Smiling warmly, Haku bowed, "I'd appreciate it if you were to put my name forward for consideration. There is still some business I need to attend to… so I will return to the village as soon as I am able." This got an understanding nod from Tsubaki, before the raven haired teen turned back to Naruto to speak with him once more.

Noticing the pair's intent stares and smiles, Tsubaki chose this moment to bow out. "I'll… leave you two to catch up."

"Oh, sure thing Tsubaki-chan. Hey, I really appreciated talking to-" Naruto began to say as he looked in the girl's direction, only to find that she was gone, "you. Damn. She's as quick as ever."

Haku also jumped when she noticed the girl had disappeared and giggled at the memories that came from the unexpected event, "And you fought that in your semi-final match."

"It's so much different in a battle situation. Out here, it just catches you off guard if you're not paying attention," Naruto chuckled. That girl was just super quick. I guess if you could turn yourself into an actual bolt of lightning it would. Shrugging, he glanced back at Haku. "So… what's been happening with you over the past couple of months?" Eyes panning up, he then spotted Samui appear at the exit to the stands, apparently having been waiting there and watching his interactions with the various people patiently and discreetly. He thumbed in her direction when they traded smiles, "We can walk and talk. This day calls for a celebration."

Giggling, Haku appeared receptive to the idea at first, but then backed up and began making her way towards the exit before Naruto could take the lead. "As much as I would like to catch up with you Naruto-kun, I unfortunately cannot. I have business in another village that I must attend to… and I'm afraid I've put it off long enough. However, it is good to see you again." Seeing the inquisitive look on the boy transform into a happy one, the ice user bowed respectfully to the teen before giving a final wave. "I wish you all the best."

With that said and done, the ice user sauntered up the stairs and through the exit, passing Samui on the way out. The kunoichi from Kumo regarded the raven haired beauty momentarily before turning to face Naruto when he marched up the stairs and joined her at her side. Hands on her hips, the blonde from Kumogakure nodded after the older girl and gave her companion a curious once over. "You have friends in a lot of places I see. I… do not believe I've met that one."

"That was Haku, a girl I met in the Land of Waves when I wound up being dragged there in the back of a wagon," Naruto quickly answered. "Stuff like that happens to me a lot. We got into a bit of trouble with some bad guys that were causing problems over there and ended up fighting them together as a team." Seeing her understanding gesture, the jinchuriki then held a hand out to her. "So… as I understand it, I believe we had some plans for tonight."

Thinking it over for but a moment, the kunoichi of the hidden cloud quickly sauntered over and looped her arms around Naruto's. She then beamed at him fondly when his eyes rested on her, "Yes… I believe we do."

The jinchuriki laughed. "You got pretty bruised up in your last fight. Are you sure you're up for a night on the town?"

Apparently it was a question that didn't need to be asked. He already knew her answer, which came in the form of the girl siding up closer to him. Boy, how much more trouble could he get into? That's what Naruto wondered as he walked out of the stadium with the cool kunoichi hanging off of his arm.

OOO

Much later…

Outskirts of Yugakure…

Having left with the crowds to conceal their movements, the two cloaked figures that had stood in the shadows throughout the entire tournament wasted no time in getting out of that village before anybody noticed them. Seeing as that their uniforms were sort of becoming known throughout the shinobi nations, they needed to leave before any prying eyes caught sight of the red clouds emblazoned upon their black ensembles and sounded the alarms.

Thank goodness they were in Yugakure territory. Owing to the village's change to neutrality, they had little to fear from the shinobi walking around and standing guard at the gates, seeing as how they were a bit out of touch with most of the affairs going on outside of their walls.

Looking through his straw hat and paper streamers, the taller of the two individuals smirked down at his partner, "That was some tournament. I never thought those kinds of battles could ever be fought in matches between green-as-grass Genin, but I guess I was wrong," Kisame chuckled, eyes flashing mischievously. "From what I could gather, it looks as though we've got some promising competition for the future, eh, Itachi?"

"Not so loud, Kisame," the raven haired boy replied quickly and in his usual tone of voice, "There are ears and eyes everywhere. Try to keep your excitement to a low."

"Yeah. Sure. No problem," the blue-skinned shinobi responded with a sigh, "Still, I can't believe how tough little Tsubaki has gotten over the years. Though she's still many leagues behind me, after seeing how far she's come since the last time I was in Kirigakure, I have a feeling that she might actually surpass me someday. And that whole thing with the Ichibi nearly transforming in the middle of the last round, man… that would have made my day."

"The audience can consider itself fortunate that Naruto-kun was able to stop his opponent before he took it too far," Itachi spoke up.

It was then at that moment, a brief minute of silence was held as the pair contemplated the events that took place in that last match. From their spots at the exit to the stands, they were able to see the whole of the tournament from start to finish. Granted that explosion of wind was one hell of a finisher to have in your arsenal, it did give them something pressing to consider. After everything they'd witnessed in the past two days they'd been here, Kisame just felt he needed to address the matter one on one with his partner.

"Hey… that brat's the jinchuriki of the nine-tails isn't he? Your target?" the swordsman asked, glancing down at the raven haired boy curiously. "Those wind techniques that he used… and the ones he used to fly… you don't think…"

"That he was the one that killed Hidan?"

"Yeah. I mean… call me crazy, but from what Kakuzu described to us at our last meeting, the jutsu that was used to send his partner on a one-way trip up north looked very much like the ones that runt used in his fights." Itachi didn't say anything in response to what his partner was telling him, allowing the pair to stew for a moment as they invested a little bit more time in the subject. "Wave Country… The Great Naruto Bridge. It smells kind of rotten, don't you think?"

Running this new information through his head, Itachi looked up and narrowed his eyes. "We report back to Leader-sama with all of the information we were able to acquire, particularly the Intel regarding the capabilities of the Ichibi, the Rokubi, and the Kyuubi."

Kisame smirked, his fist clenching underneath his sleeve, "When do you think Leader-sama will want us to start moving?" Watching all of those rounds play out had gotten the swordsman seriously worked up. In other words, he was excited and hyped for battle.

Sensing his partner's enthusiasm growing, Itachi lowered his head, "Not for a while. However, I'm pretty sure he will have some other work for us waiting once we relay our data."

Chuckling, Kisame rolled his shoulder, a loud creaking echoing out from his muscles popping. "Hopefully it will be something that will at least get me to stretch my legs." He then looked back curiously at Itachi once they made it through the main streets and through the entrance to the village. As they started to leave the gate far behind, the man gave his fellow compatriot a sly grin. "By the way, what did you think of your little brother's matches? I thought he did pretty well for someone fighting as reserved as he was, especially against Tsubaki-chan."

"…"

Not getting anything but silence from the young man, Kisame looked up again, "I'm glad I know you don't need to speak in order to have a decent conversation with you. Your expressions say more than words ever could."

"It's like I said before," Itachi replied simply, closing his eyes, "He still has a long way to go."

Laughing a little, Kisame continued moving alongside the young warrior and keeping in step with him, "You always had such high standards about everything."

"Let's just focus on getting where we need to go. We've got a lot of data to sift through before finalizing anything."

"Cold as well. A genuine scary person," Kisame continued on without skipping a beat. "It's always a joy to hang out with you, Itachi."

OOO

On the other end of the village, exiting through one of the other main gates, two more obscured figures keeping low under the watchful eyes of the guards vacated the village as quickly as they could. Still reverberating from the awesomeness of the tournament that had just come to a close, the two figures walked side by side, with the cloaked one wearing the glasses glancing over at his boss to see him staring ahead of him intently.

Pale skin glowing and purple lined, snake-like eyes piercing the way ahead of them, a slow smirk slid across his lips. "Interesting… most interesting." It was hard not to notice the excited gleam in the Sannin's expression. "That was, by and large, the most fascinating Chunin Exams I have ever witnessed."

Kabuto blinked before turning to the road as well. "There is certainly a lot of potential in those youngsters; there's no arguing that."

"Of course. It is truly a magnificent lineup of potential candidates and test subjects. I can hardly wait to get started," Orochimaru murmured while licking his lips ecstatically.

Used to his master's little quirks and physical habits of conveying his delight, the glasses-wearing spy allowed his own smile to grow as they sauntered forward, following the dirt road out of the country. "I have to say, I really did enjoy the fights. While Sasuke-kun's battles were most enlightening in their own respect, I was most impressed by young Naruto-kun's performances." Yes. Even the still unknown right-hand man to Orochimaru was admitting that there was indeed a candidate who'd particularly caught his attention. "He truly is something extraordinary."

"I agree," Orochimaru murmured, eyes glinting with intent. "Naruto-kun… what an intriguing fellow."

OOO

Later that night…

Needless to say, the time Naruto spent well after the closing ceremony of the Chunin Exams was some of the most fun he'd ever had outside of his village. Just like he expected from the audience during the course of the tournament itself, the entire village was in full party mode. After all the fun, terror and excitement that had been experienced and witnessed in the ring, everybody was now out cooling their jets or living it up in every way they knew how at the festivals. It was like a whole night on the town and everybody was getting drunk.

The restaurants were booked up and so were the resorts. The streets were crowded, the booths were loaded, and it was just hustling and bustling all over the place. This really didn't do anything to upset the mood Naruto had on though. In fact it only seemed to enhance it. It was the best setup he could have possibly asked for as he took Samui out around the village and the pair had some one on one time together.

First he treated the girl to dinner to celebrate their promotions. For the hour into that afternoon, Naruto spent his entire time talking with the kunoichi, who in turn spoke with him and together they went on telling each other everything they could about what they'd gotten up to in the last month. While Samui confessed all of her time had been spent training in preparation to face him in the Third Stage of the Exams if they were to possibly meet up some time in the later rounds, which sadly did not pan out how they'd wanted it to, she was nevertheless pleased at the ultimate outcome of the proceedings.

Samui then talked about the places she'd visited and went on missions to, enlightening Naruto and giving him a further glimpse into what other places outside of Konohagakure were like. He even regaled her in a couple of his more memorable escapades, which involved a couple of the items he kept as souvenirs on his desk back home. They were exciting tales and nothing too risqué; he was saving those ones for later. Eventually once dinner was done, Naruto paid for the bill and left with date in tow.

This then led to the pair wandering the streets, where the jinchuriki, as promised, took her out to the gaming booths for some lighthearted action. It was definitely a night out the Kumogakure kunoichi appreciated, where she was able to see the jinchuriki completely cut loose and allowed her time to relax as well. He took her to play some games, try out some fireworks, and even went shopping for new clothing, seeing as how theirs was, for the most part, ruined. She had a ball trying on stuff with the jinchuriki offering his opinions on the outfits she'd picked; even the ones she chose that would specifically catch his attention. To go along with the fun, Naruto also slipped on some stuff from the men's section that revolved around his symbolic color, just to mix things up a little.

At the end of their run the girl then insisted on taking him to the hot springs with her, which he was a bit hesitant about due to her asking of him, but was quick to concede. The facility Samui chose was a mixed one, so it was safe for both parties to enter the ponds as they spent the time after that relaxing in the hot waters from the tough day they'd both had. It certainly was an enjoyable experience for the blondes as the kunoichi rested up alongside Naruto and eventually got him to wash as well as massage her back.

Sitting on the stool in front of the shower heads, Samui moaned approvingly as the spiky haired boy kneeling behind her worked his magic, albeit nervously, with his hands running over her shoulders and neck. The girl arched her back into his firm yet exquisite hands as they glided over her, at the same time she held the towel she had to her front securely and kept her eyes shut, allowing her mind and body to register to all the sensations that came from the boy's efforts.

"Right there. Ahh… that's it," Samui sighed with a content smile in play, "You're nailing it, Naruto-kun."

"Tell me again how you managed to talk me into going through with this?" Naruto asked while his hands soothed over her upper back and he started working certain spots along her muscles. "Usually I'm the one who plays the role of the snake charmer. This is a completely different experience for me." Yeah. Weird too. There were very few people out there who could actually hypnotize him, in the metaphorical sense.

"Well… now you know what it's like to be hit by your own weapon of choice," the Kumo kunoichi replied in a mischievous tone before giving another moan of pleasure when the boy worked over a particularly tender spot. "Oh yes… right there."

Blushing a bit, Naruto grinned wryly at the girl eagerly leaning into his hands, "Man, you've got quite a bit of knots in you, Samui-chan. This competition has really taken a sledgehammer to your back."

"Blame my opponents… and all of those days of training I had to do."

"You know, I think I will," the jinchuriki chirped before cracking his knuckles and going back to her left shoulder pad. "Now hold still and let me work some more of these kinks out of you."

Samui smirked at his statement, "Am I to assume that you're done complaining?" She then let out a loud groan when the boy went over a particularly sore spot and worked it out of her. Because of the intense feelings she received from that particular area of muscle being rubbed out, she nearly lost her grip on her towel, earning an amused look from the Jonin behind her. "Oh, you are a real miracle worker, Naruto-kun. Ooh."

"Thanks," the jinchuriki replied happily, glancing over her shoulder to grin at the girl and the blush she now had on her cheeks as she leaned further into his touch. "I try."

"I know you do," the girl moaned again, not caring at some of the amused and strange looks they got from the men and women in the springs behind them.

As it turned out, it was a pretty damn great time for Naruto as well.

When the time eventually came to call it quits, the jinchuriki escorted Samui back to her hotel where her team was staying at. Upon arrival, the boy handed his fellow ninja her gear, having been a gentleman and carried all of it for her, and thanked her for the time they spent and vice versa. Being the one to have asked him out, the girl offered her sincerest appreciation with another kiss, which he returned welcomingly and stayed like that for over a minute at the front of the hotel. When they eventually parted, Samui left with fond wishes to see him again and, much like the time at the waterfall, made a show of her departure by swaying her hips to hold his attention completely on her, and brought about the desired reaction of red to his face.

Naruto returned to his district with the biggest smile ever seen on him, his time with the foreign ninja psyching him up enough to meet up with Tenten at the ramen booth. Having reserved this particular period for last, the blonde did as he promised her and took her out for even more spirited contests, this time at the gaming stands and gambling spots. Their hours out on the town turned out to be a much more energized time compared to the date with Samui, where it had been more relaxing and easygoing. The pair had fun nonetheless, and this turned out to be an enjoyable round of enjoyment too, with Tenten taking home the most wins.

Payback for her early and unfortunate loss in the tournament.

Like on the night of their first arrival, Naruto took her back to her room. Setting their gear down at the front they then surveyed their prizes and scratched their heads, with the jinchuriki giving a nervous chuckle.

"You're going to need some serious help taking all of this back home."

The shuriken user laughed and waved a hand dismissively, "I'll just stuff it all into a bag and get Gai-sensei to carry it… call it an exercise, challenge or something." Oh yeah. There was no way he was going to say no to that.

Amused by that thought, Naruto grinned across at the girl, "Satisfied?"

"Immensely." Tenten jabbed him in the arm gratefully. "Thanks for another wicked date."

"No problem," Naruto responded, seeing the girl beam at him before rubbing her arm meekly. He'd seen that expression before, so he could guess what his friend wanted to say next, which didn't bother him that much. "Got something on your mind?"

"More or less. I don't really think a punch to the arm is a good way of telling you how I feel… how I really feel anyway."

"Funny. A lot of problems for shinobi revolve around hitting each other with stuff. But I guess you're talking about stuff like this."

Tenten smiled at him and stepped forward, "Though I'm not exactly sure how you feel, I want to make this as clear to you as possible so… here goes."

Just as he was figuring out what the kunoichi was trying to get across and getting ready to respond to the girl's words in kind, Naruto was caught off guard by Tenten stepping forward and kissing him on the cheek. It was brief and only lasted for a moment, but the blonde felt every bit of emotion that came out of it and could only watch in surprise as the kunoichi pulled away and tucked some hair behind her ear.

Stepping into the light, Tenten then giggled at the look of surprise on the youngster's face and gazed at him with intent. "Yeah… that should do it."

Remaining silent for a few seconds, Naruto smiled, "Heh. I think that works just fine."

With that exchange completed, Tenten then grabbed her bags, kicked her door open and backed up into her room. Smirking at the jinchuriki still standing out in the hall, she winked at him one last time and closed the passage behind her.

Once the teen had returned to her room to turn herself in for the night, Naruto took a moment to kick at the floor absently until he eventually turned heel, slipped his hands behind his head and marched off whistling jaunty tune, all the while delving deep into the whirlwind of thoughts his mind was now conjuring up.

Tenten liked him as well. That was interesting. Though he figured something like this would be more problematic, Tenten didn't seem to mind his turbulent relationships with the other girls at all. In fact, she seemed accepting of it.

Although, this being so early on in the game, Naruto wasn't going to put it past the girl to put up more of a fuss over this later onwards. Who knows… maybe she was the competitive type?

It was a basket of different fruits the blonde figured. There were a lot of people out there with varying tastes and characters. Some people were less tolerable with each other when it came to chasing after a person they liked; Sakura and Ino were a good example of this. Then there were others who didn't mind stepping around others to get to where they wanted to go or simply went with the crowd to eliminate the exhausting effort of fighting to get right to the heart of the matter; Tayuya and Samui being other examples. Then there were other people who dove in no matter the circumstances… and Tenten seemed to live up to that by shanghaiing him whenever she could get him alone.

It made the jinchuriki wonder if he was just an attractor of that type. Sakura deviated away from him and Karui, from the time he'd spent with her, hated his guts. But he'd warmed up enough to those two to be at least on friendly terms with him. Must have been part of his contract.

As soon as he got back to his room, he wasted no time heading over to his sleeping area and crashing onto his mattress. It wouldn't be a minute after sprawling out over the sheets that he turned to see Tayuya lying their next to him on her side, her head propped up on her hand and an inquisitive smile on her face. Acknowledging his unexpected intruder, the jinchuriki grinned.

"Big day, huh?" the redhead asked.

"Oh yeah. Big day," the boy sighed, lying back as the girl snuggled up next to him. "A whole three rounds of hell and two dates. I think I'm going to die." He then blinked and looked across at his girlfriend in worry, as he didn't know what bringing up that subject would do to the redhead. "By the way, Tayuya-chan… about me and Samui… and Tenten… I… I don't really…"

Sensing his nervousness, the redhead giggled and shuffled closer to him, at the same time wrapping her arm over his chest to stop him from stammering. "I care about you a lot, Naruto-kun. But if you're worried about hanging around with the other girls and me, it's okay." She then smirked at the look he gave her next. "I talked with Samui about it when we were alone. She said how much she was interested in you and how much she admired you, and after hearing her out and saying what we had to say to each other, we both agreed that we would share you."

Hearing this statement had Naruto give his girlfriend an owlish expression, face turning momentarily red when he imagined the talk that probably went down between the two. Head spinning for several seconds, the boy pondered over the content and the outcome that came with the illustration, before grinning somewhat when his mind eventually worked through it. "Okay… firstly… that's just about the most awesome thing anyone has ever said to me, period. And secondly… are you sure about this?"

"Positive," Tayuya replied, nudging him affectionately before giving him a sly look and licking her upper-lip in a very Anko-like manner. "In any case… I think it would be quite fun… hanging out with you and the other girls."

Raising an eyebrow at her personality quirk, the jinchuriki then gave a hearty laugh and shook his head. "Man… now I think I really am going to get kicked to death by a horse."

"Save dying for later. There are much more important things you have to worry about," Tayuya teased, at the same time kicking him lightly in the leg. "Besides, dying before your time is so not your style."

"Yeah. You're right. It would be un-cool of me to cop out early before winning the big seat. I'm already halfway there. May as well see it through to the end," Naruto said, closing his eyes when he felt the musician rub her cheek against his chest. After a full minute of silence and hearing the crickets and the bustling of the village streets filter into their room, the blonde breathed out in relief. "I can't wait to get back home."

"Same," Tayuya yawned.

Moments later the two kids were out like a light, completely ignoring the sounds of celebration outside and the fireworks that lit up the sky minutes later.

Yep. It had been one hell of a day…

OOO

Meanwhile…

Standing out on the main road alongside hundreds of other villagers, a still awake and alert Sasuke and Sakura, who had previously been en route for their hotel to turn in for the night, had stopped to survey a very peculiar sight. Standing just a few feet from them, they saw the whole Kirigakure team and the Hyuuga member of Team Gai standing and staring at what they perceived was the inn that they'd stopped by for a bit of a celebratory drink and a good time.

Or… what used to be an inn, because all that remained of it was a pile of charred, black wood still smoldering from an obvious fire that had been started inside of the complex and burnt the whole thing to the ground.

Yugakure shinobi responding to the emergency had arrived in time to put out the fires, but not before seeing the entire building collapse in on itself from a freak accident that had everybody scratching their heads over. Sure, all the people that had been inside had managed to get out in time to avoid being burnt to death, including the bar owner and his waitresses. The question of what started the blaze however, was still hanging freshly in the air.

That was until Sasuke and Sakura heard the commotion coming from the two familiar squads present on the scene.

Both on crutches and completely wrapped up in bandages from serious burns, Tsubaki and Kiyoko stood side by side nervously while being scolded by an annoyed Utakata.

"Why the hell did you burn down that poor man's business?" the boy asked irritably, having assisted in putting out the flames when he came around trying to find his team. "Kiyoko?"

The blonde jumped at being addressed and laughed uneasily, "It wasn't my fault, Utakata-kun. I was just spending some time hanging around with Neji-san and talking with him about our different fighting styles. I got hungry, so I decided to break into the storage area and look for some food."

Eye twitching, the jinchuriki glared at his teammate, "That's called trespassing, you little thief." He then turned his ire on the lightning user. "Tsubaki?"

Still feeling ashamed at herself for her actions, the new Chunin looked back at the boy glaring at her, "It's like I keep telling you, I was only there playing the arcade games they had lined up against the side of the bar. I saw Kiyoko disappear around the back and followed after her. When I got to the basement it was dark so I lit a candle." She then took on a far-away look and stared ahead of her vacantly, "And before I knew it there was a fire raging all around me."

It certainly explained why both of them were wrapped up like mummies. They'd both gotten caught up in the latter's blunder.

Gritting his teeth, Utakata broke his composed character and shouted at the two girls like a father scolding his children, "THE CANDLE STARTED THE FIRE FROM YOU TO THE ROOM!"

While Tsubaki received a tongue-lashing from an obviously pissed off Utakata, who went on to say how immature she still was, Kiyoko nervously turned to Neji to see a slightly burnt boy standing there with his arms folded and glaring at the pile of black ash that had previously been the building. Shuffling on the spot, the girl smiled at him fondly and got the boy's attention by nudging him in the arm.

Despite being patched up from nearly getting cooked, she was surprisingly in a very chipper mood. "That was an interesting night, huh, Neji-kun?" Her expression conveyed a hit of admiring and affection for the boy she'd openly admitted to having a crush on earlier that day.

Responding with his usual, hard stare to the girl that had been following him around since his hotel like some weird stalker, the Hyuuga closed his eyes and looked away. "In a way."

OOO

The next day…

Konohagakure…

Strolling down the streets along with the rest of the contingent that had traveled to Yugakure for the third and final stage of the exams, Naruto's eye twitched uncomfortably due to the overwhelming prickly feeling on the back of his neck. After several miles of experiencing this particular sensation and having it throw him off his game and attempt to socialize with other members of his squad, he eventually felt the need to address it and looked to his right swiftly. "Okay, why is everybody staring at me like I've got something growing out of the side of my face?"

When his eyes landed on the rest of the team next to him, as well as Team 10, he saw Shikamaru, Choji and Sasuke look away casually, with the latter grunting indignantly. Sakura of course grinned nervously when she saw the blonde's questioning gaze fall on her before stepping closer to her teammate just ambling along with his hands in his pockets.

"We're still trying to get over the fact that two of us were promoted straight to Jonin in the exams, Naruto," the pink haired girl chirped, scratching her cheek nervously while glancing at the vest he was now wearing. "It's… a little bit strange."

"He earned the promotion. There shouldn't really be anything strange about it," Choji said with a small smile in play. Even though he said that, he still couldn't help but feel a tad bit beset at the incredulity of the situation.

Sensing the kunoichi's concerns, Shikamaru glanced over at Sakura again and spoke, "It's new and somewhat interesting, sure, but things like this have happened many times before."

Taking this as fact, Ino looked over at the Nara. "People have jumped rank before?"

"A lot of times," the bored new Chunin said while yawning. "ANBU do it for some of their programs. There are even individuals who were just promoted to Chunin and kept that rank for about a week or so, before being promoted straight to Jonin. But those were for the regular exams. Naruto just breezed past that necessity and got the promotion straight up. It shows how exceptional his performance was on the world stage."

Sakura smirked and nudged Ino in the side, getting her attention, "He literally fought through the toughest of the competition in this tournament and came out alive on the other end. I'm pretty sure anyone would have gotten leeway into another league after going through that same stuff." Seeing the Yamanaka blink then prompted both kunoichi to look back at Naruto and stare at him admiringly, earning yet more distain from the already uncomfortable youngster.

"Still… to get promoted to Jonin, man," Ino awed.

"That makes you like… Kakashi-sensei, doesn't it?" Sakura asked pointedly.

Blinking and looking up momentarily at that piece of information, Naruto made a thoughtful noise as he fully processed his friend's statement before eventually responding in kind. "Huh. You're right. I guess it does kind of make me like Kakashi-sensei."

That was some big news right there. Naruto was just surprised he wasn't hit with this realization earlier. Since starting out on the team, he'd quickly come to understand that the rank of Jonin was a prestigious award given to shinobi of high levels of skill, intelligence and leadership qualities. Dawning on this for a minute or so, the blonde quickly summarized that because he was bumped up to this rank, it meant that he not only had the combat skill necessary, but all of the other qualities that made Jonin level shinobi who they were; people recognized for skills that could be passed on to the next generation and used appropriately on the field.

This train of thought filled Naruto's heart with a little more pride. It wasn't enough to gloat over, since he wasn't really in the mood too, but enough to swell him and give him more to look forward to for the future. There were expectations he needed to meet, therefore he had to be organized, assertive, productive, and focused.

It was while he was mulling these many things over in his head he suddenly felt an arm wrap around him and a hand place itself on his shoulder, causing him to look to his left to see his silver haired instructor looking down at him. The sight brought a curious gaze from the teen as he fixed on the taller man that was his teacher, who cracked his characteristic eye-smile in a bright and cheerful manner.

"Since you've been promoted to Jonin, Naruto-kun, that means you're technically no longer my student and are pretty much capable of taking on a team of your own now," the man informed, getting the jinchuriki and a few others to blink in surprise. "Everyone who was promoted to Chunin as well can consider themselves no longer required to be on the learners' track, but that doesn't mean the squad is completely broken up. You can approach me for advice, train and take missions with us whenever you like, my little kouhai."

Naruto inwardly shivered at that and the creepy vibe he got from his teacher's all too pleasant 'grin', "K-Kouhai?" Okay, now being promoted to Jonin was no longer an issue.

Being called a kouhai however was something else entirely different.

He then felt another pat on the back and looked across to see Asuma pull up beside him, cigarette lit and an amused grin on his face. "You're one of us now, kid. Be proud of that. I look forward to working with you in the future."

Feeling more stares, Naruto looked behind him to the other adults and teams following close behind. Completely overlooking the sly expression from Tayuya and the thoroughly entertained one in Tenten, his attention fell on a present Anko, Gai, Kurenai and Genma, all of whom were looking at him with a mixture of approval and enthusiasm. The former of the four of course gave him a lecherous look and ran a tongue over her upper lip in an excited manner.

"Oh yes. We're going to have loads of fun together," the snake mistress spoke up.

This comment had a cold chill go down Naruto's spine as he looked ahead of him with tears flowing freely from his eyes.

He hadn't even been a Jonin for a full day yet and already he was starting to hate it.

Seeing his expression had Sakura giggle. "What a baby. But I guess that's what you get for trying so hard." It was a consequence bound to affect anyone willing to ride the highway of ambition. He was promoted just like many of the others were, and while he'd probably been mentally prepared to face the trials and challenges of a Jonin, it was clear he wasn't prepared to deal with the attention that came along for the ride.

Everyone apparently found amusement in his situation and expressed it equally from Choji to Neji. Even Sasuke smirked to himself at his rival's sudden realization of misfortune as their troop marched down the main road towards the administration building.

However, that was not their destination. Their destination came in the form of a meeting at the center of the village.

When the convoy rolled to a stop on the main highway, the instructors dismissed their teams, telling them to take a few days off to rest and recover from their ordeal. It was an option they gave to the new Chunin as well.

Just like how Kakashi explained it to Naruto, those that had secured promotions were no longer required to attend group meetings or go on missions as a Genin squad anymore. They were now allowed to take on whatever missions they pleased and could go on them at their leisure, but were still required to report in as shinobi whenever the higher-ups demanded their presence.

The lecture was brief on that and soon everyone was on their way. The only ones who remained behind at the end were Naruto and Tayuya.

After receiving personal congratulations from Tenten and pats on the back from his friends, including Ino who approached him with a little more intent than what he was used to seeing from her, the jinchuriki breathed a sigh of relief and gave a smile. "Well… I guess that's that." He quickly looked over at his roommate, whom he saw was smiling as well. "So… what do you plan on doing now that you're a Jonin?"

"Easy," the red head answered and looked over at him determinedly, "I'm going to kick back, relax and go on as many missions with you as I can."

Naruto grinned, "You really want to stick around with me?"

The red head laughed and playfully leant against him, "It's like I said to you before, I'm willing to go wherever you go, even to hell and back."

"Well then, welcome aboard to Team Awesome, Tayuya-chan," Naruto held a fist out to her and they bumped knuckles, before they then set off at their own pace, with his hands in his pockets and the red head strutting alongside him. "I'm going to rest at home for a couple of days and then I'm going to take on a mission. I should be more than ready by then." He looked down at the girl to see her strolling along still wrapped in bandages. "You on the other hand might want to stay in the apartment for a little bit longer. You're still in a pretty rough state from your last fight."

Rolling her shoulder, the musician nodded, "Yeah. My bones and muscles are still sore, and the medics told me to take it easy when I got back. Guess that's what I get for fighting against someone who doesn't play nice." Gaara had been one mean customer… for everyone.

"He was a one in a hundred of an opponent. Hopefully the next job you get won't involve someone as dangerous as him," the jinchuriki replied, marching on and taking to the streets bound for his comfortable home.

As the pair walked down the roads for their neighborhood, they were met with applause and gazes of approval from the surrounding villagers. Though they were the same sights and waves that they received when they first entered the village through the main gate, they'd been too distracted at the time to thoroughly appreciate all of it. Perhaps it was thanks to all of the shinobi being together that the adulation wasn't so focused on two particular people. But now that they were outside of the platoon and finally given time to be by themselves, the sights and sounds of the civilians' praise washed over them in their fullest.

It was a sense of recognition and accomplishment Naruto and Tayuya returned full force, both of them waving to the people and receiving thanks from the children that also ran past to congratulate and meet them.

"You look awesome, boss! I knew you could do it!" a familiar shout came from behind as Naruto was soon set upon by Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon, all three of them circling the pair as they strolled along. "I expected nothing less from my rival for the title of Hokage!"

"Yo, Konohamaru," Naruto greeted, stopping in his tracks and returning the adoring gazes and grins sent his way from the three with his own. He and Tayuya then spent a moment getting high fives from the youngsters, before quickly moving on with business, "Did you guys see all the matches?"

"The whole thing!" the brown haired boy with the matching goggles chirped. "We didn't miss a single second."

"We went to see the fights on both days and everyone watched the finals," Moegi also spoke, beaming up at the blonde with shimmering eyes filled with wonder. After acknowledging the jinchuriki with a blush of joy and a brushing aside of her bangs to convey her response to his presence, her gaze then fell upon Tayuya whom she also gave her complete attention toward. "You two were incredible."

Tayuya chuckled and patted the girl on the head, "Thanks."

"I'm a really big fan of yours, Tayuya-san. You were the top kunoichi to graduate from the previous group, and many of the girls from my class admire you as well. How did you become so strong?"

"Through hard work, training," the red head answered, placing her hands on her hips and posing before the academy students, "never giving up and always aiming high. That's something I learned from this troublesome bastard." She thumbed over at the blonde next to her, who waved off her exclamation as something ordinary. "Just do the best you can and work hard on your skills."

Smiling, Moegi giggled brightly and swayed on the spot from the advice given to her from the amazing girl she'd seen battle.

Udon also stepped forward, wiping his nose as he faced the jinchuriki firmly, "We knew you could do it, boss. You defeated every single person that came after you and all of them were scary strong."

"Oh yeah, they were scary strong alright. Especially Tsubaki."

"What about that Gaara guy? He was pretty creepy," Konohamaru asked, throwing his arms out to illustrate his point. "He transformed into this massive raccoon thing and started stomping all over the arena. What was that? Some kind of demon?"

Naruto chuckled, "Yeah… you can say that." He was close. In fact the kid was right on the mark. But the jinchuriki didn't really want to talk in detail about it, not until the boy was probably older and more knowledgeable about that sort of stuff. "It must have just been one of his secret sand techniques. It was pretty impressive… but not good enough to scare me."

He swore he heard the Kyuubi inside of him grunt in amusement.

After receiving praise from the three kids and telling them a bit about their matches, Naruto and Tayuya soon had to excuse themselves. They were beat from the journey and they wanted to just crash back at their apartment as soon as they could. Upon getting this across to their young fans from the academy, the group of troublemakers then parted as well, having did what they'd set out to do to intercept both of them and offer their best wishes to the two new Jonin. With Moegi and Udon scampering off, Konohamaru lagged behind momentarily to shoot his rival a look as well as a point of his finger.

"Just you wait, boss. I'll catch up to you soon and when I do… we're going to fight… and I'm going to win!"

Naruto smirked back and waved as the child left, "Looking forward to it, squirt!" Seeing him disappear around the same corner his friends did, the jinchuriki and the musician then continued on for home.

Their hearts fluttered under the respect paid to them by the villagers as they entered their familiar street, passing the local shops and convenient stores before shortly arriving at the familiar corner, looking up towards the third floor where their dominion was. Ascending the stairs two at a time, they reached the front door, with Tayuya pulling out her key to open it.

"Ah! Home, sweet home!" the jinchuriki sighed.

However, before his friend could put the key into action and let them in, the locks on the other side of the barrier suddenly clicked, seconds before the door unexpectedly flew open and Naruto found himself tackled by a purple blur nearly the same height as him.

Hitting the ground with a loud crack, the dazed blonde looked up with a start to find a grinning Isaribi straddling him. The jinchuriki actually blinked in astonishment at how fast and hard she'd managed to crash into him, and remained frozen and helpless beneath her, "Whoa. Hey… Isaribi-chan…" The conk he got to the head after that had him seeing two, but it didn't affect his view of the girl's expression at all.

The teen in bandages leered at him as she leant forward, hands atop his chest and placed upon his new vest, "Welcome home, Naruto-kun!" Her cheerful disposition then gave way to an unexpectedly dangerous one, with a bloodthirsty aura starting to waft off of her back to choke the atmosphere above her. The sight had Naruto and Tayuya react in slight alarm, "You have a lot of explaining to do… regarding your blonde haired friend from Kumogakure."

Yep. Just as he thought.

Any action he took in his life had consequences. That was the true nature of his world, even if he couldn't help it.

Being Naruto Uzumaki was a bitch.

The jinchuriki responded with a weak grin, "Well… first of all, do you think we could take this conversation somewhere where we're not outside where people can hear us and you're not on top of me?"

"I'm perfectly fine with this spot."

"Good. Then… let me begin my three part apology by saying you're a beautiful girl who has an incredibly kind heart that would prefer to settle disputes with her voice rather than violence. Secondly…"

As Naruto mumbled on, trying to ease the tension of the demonic aura of chakra coming off of the girl pinning him to the floor, he failed to notice Kin standing in the doorway of his apartment looking down at the scene in amusement and Jiraiya standing further along the walkway with his draft book out and pen scribbling notes across its pages furiously. Though he was making himself as invisible as possible to the three girls and boy in the same district so as to not disturb the chapter playing out, he was making no effort to conceal his brainstorming, which was accompanied by the enormous, lecherous grin on his face.

"Oh kid, you are by far the most entertaining student I've ever had."

Tayuya gave a laugh and scratched her head, while Kin stepped out to also look down at the blonde choking out his apologies under the drowning intent of the purple haired girl keeping him floored.

"All of that ridiculous strength is wasted on him," the raven haired roommate breathed out, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Still, she was unable to get rid of the fond smile she had on as she rested her hand on her hip and gazed at the orange wearing boy beneath her line of sight. "But… I can think or worse people that can have it…"

OOO

Later that night…

Sitting on his couch in front of the television, which was currently on and playing through an old romantic comedy Naruto remembered seeing a long time ago, the jinchuriki had his feet kicked up on the extensions of the enormous seat in front of him while at the same time lying as still as possible, watching the screen's main characters run through their dialogue.

After managing to ease the tension between himself and Isaribi, which he'd found extremely difficult to do since the girl was quite scary for someone with such a timid character, the group eventually took their reunion inside, Jiraiya and all. There, the two girls of the house finally congratulated their two roommates for a job well done, with Isaribi being the most vocal in her response while Kin offered her respects reservedly. It was then Naruto sat them at the dining table and regaled them in all the events and experiences first hand.

Hell, he wasn't even able to cover everything along with Tayuya by the time dinner time rolled around, which they celebrated with take-out. For people living in one apartment with a limited income, the best they could really do for now was that. However, none of them had any problems with it as they bought tons of fried rice and a whole butt load of side dishes, which they indulged in around the table. Naruto actually got Jiraiya to pay for them, seeing as how it was his sensei who wanted to treat him to it as a way of rewarding him for his successes. The man made no protests. He just slapped his money on the table, paid for their meals and that was that.

Though he questioned why they didn't let him pay for a five-star joint, Naruto and Tayuya simply stated they were tired, preferred to eat at home, and have something that was reasonable and would be within their own budgets were the circumstances different.

In their celebratory meal within their domicile, Naruto learned Isaribi had managed to get a part-time job at a local butcher store to help pay for the bills. Since she was so good with oceanic types of food sources, she was put in the seafood section and given charge there. It was an area she had absolutely no problems in working in and had already started on a roll. She sprang this surprise on the others that evening, assuring the jinchuriki who'd taken her in that he shouldn't need to stress about taking care of all of them, even if he insisted.

Naruto didn't argue. Though he made it abundantly clear that most of his mission pay went to the apartment, as the administration staff shaved the necessary amount off of his every paycheck for the mortgage, electrical, water, gas bills and more, he made enough for himself and everybody to live off of. Tayuya did so too, so that they were able to split the responsibility of taking care of their home, and with Isaribi now working and both ninja of the household promoted, they could start earning and saving up a lot more.

This wasn't even counting the bounty Naruto had given to Tayuya all those years ago from Crow. The sword sitting on his desk was a big reminder of that.

It was a good thing they didn't spend in excess. All they really got was food, clothing and the occasional movie as part of the deal. Aside from the occasional changes of pace, that was really it.

The time they spent together around the table was mostly used to talk about the exams, their promotions, and the future adventures the main pair of the house were planning on having. Even Kin was incredibly supportive of the duo, especially Naruto whom she couldn't help but view with much more friendliness and respect than before, much to Isaribi's chagrin. Eventually, the group settled down for the night and decided to watch a movie, with Naruto in the center, Tayuya on his right, and Isaribi on his left, who spent the entire prologue of the film fighting with the raven haired newest member of the household for the spot. About halfway through the event and after everyone had gotten comfortable, almost all the teenagers on that seat had fallen asleep, leaving Naruto the only one still conscious.

Running a hand over Tayuya's bangs and hearing the girl murmur peacefully, the jinchuriki gave a content sigh and looked towards the entrance of the living room. When he did, he saw Jiraiya standing there in the corridor looking in with his arms folded.

Smirking at his apprentice, the Sannin stepped into his midst, "You really are a one of a kind, kid. The only other person I knew who attracted this much attention back in their young years who was like you in any way was your father… but he was a one-woman man that one."

Naruto rolled his eyes, "What about you, Ero-Sennin? Were you like my father as well?"

Jiraiya chuckled and sat himself down on the single couch next to theirs, "Me? Well… I'm a lover of many women, kid. A fantastic, terrific… GREAT lover. Oh yeah. You won't be able to even count the number of women I've had relationships with. Where do you think most of the inspiration for my books comes from?" Ignoring the displeased glare sent at him from the blonde and easing up, the hermit then panned over the three girls huddled up against the boy and began to count on his fingers. "So… how many does this make so far? You have Tayuya and that Samui girl for certain if the shots of the balcony were correct… Isaribi sneaking up from behind and on the sidelines this fetching, raven haired beauty you've also managed to snag with your womanizing gun. Who else have you got, if you don't mind me asking?"

Damn, for an old pervert that seventh sense of his was damn accurate. He could detect sensations of the female presence from miles away.

Naruto was pretty sure the letch navigated the shinobi nations using women as magnetic points.

Nevertheless, picking up where Jiraiya left off due to him being unable to think up anymore names, the jinchuriki continued counting for him, if with a bit less enthusiasm, "There's also Tenten-chan. She likes me because I fight great and that my personality fits well with hers. Now that I think about it, we do get along extremely well." He shrugged in confusion at the grin that was thrown at him by the white haired wanderer. "Stuff like this just happens when I go places, Ero-sensei. I can't help it. I just… don't… really know why I'm so interesting to begin with. I'm not exactly the best looking guy in the world…"

"But you're certainly the most charismatic and approachable," Jiraiya finished with a flicker of wisdom in his gaze. "It also helps that you're a bit of a selfless freak too. A lot of girls really like that quality in a man. Some like jerks, some girls only look for the physical attractiveness in males… but then there are others who like guys like you.

Breathing out, Naruto rested his head back and looked up towards the ceiling as he felt Isaribi rub her cheek against his vest. "I was always such a dunce when I was younger. I tried making friends, but everyone just kept leaving me. Soon no one, not even the kids at school, wanted to be around me. The girls especially recoiled whenever I came close to them. It was like I had the plague."

"Consider this your big comeback then… with interest," Jiraiya responded, crossing his arms as he looked the boy over. Deciding to put this talk on the backburner now and allow this string of luck he had to run its course, the Sannin's grin deteriorated to a pleased smile as he focused his full attention on the youngster. "But seriously, I'm really proud of you kid. You jumped rank to Jonin and got your name out there. This means you're one step closer to your goal."

The change in topics brought a smile to the blonde's face as well and he looked back down to face the screen of his television. "I still have a lot of things to do though. I'm not going to let it stop here," Naruto said with a firm voice. "I've still got to do missions for the village, I've still got people I need to protect… and I've also got a world to change. As long as I'm wearing this headband…" He flicked the plate with his finger, causing an audible ping to ring out. "There's always going to be something waiting for me around the next corner, whether it's a package I have to deliver or a battle I have to fight."

Jiraiya smiled, "I take it you're ready for the responsibilities of your position then?"

"More than ready," Naruto replied affirmatively.

"Heh. Good," Jiraiya chuckled before giving the boy an even more serious stare and leaning forward in his seat. Lacing his fingers together, he gave his apprentice his utmost focus. "Since you know what the promotion actually means to you, I'm sure you also know why you need to be extra careful from now on."

Looking across at the man and seeing his glare, the jinchuriki was then reminded of another matter concerning his current position. While it didn't directly involve his promotion, it was still an issue that needed to be addressed, as this had existed even before he took the exams.

"My missions will become a lot more dangerous in the future… and if it comes to it, I'll be forced to fight even stronger opponents then what I'd find in the lower categories."

"That much is a given. But you also have to take into account the potential enemies who will actually be gunning for your life… and I'm sure you know exactly who I'm talking about. They wear black with a particular symbol on each of their persons."

Oh yeah. There was no need to remind him of that. Naruto more than remembered his first A-Ranked experience out there on the field. It was what helped get him here in the first place; the very thing that gave him the added incentive to become even stronger than he was before.

"Akatsuki…"

Jiraiya nodded. "Old-man Third told me about your little adventure to the Land of Waves. If I'm recalling it correctly, you encountered two of them there."

"Yeah. Kakuzu and Hidan."

"You defeated one of them. That's an incredible feat, especially for someone of your age and experience. But that one you got wasn't the strongest of the group… nor was he the most dangerous," Jiraiya informed, his stare becoming even narrower. "The Akatsuki organization consists of a total of ten members, a number which I believe has changed recently… and we know the names of a few of them. My old teammate Orochimaru was a former member of that group, but he left when he attacked one of his comrades and tried to take his body for his own… Itachi Uchiha."

Naruto looked up in shock. Sure, hearing that one of the Three Legendary Sannin was previously a part of that group was one thing. Hearing that he tried to get the best of one of them, especially that person, was another surprise entirely. "Itachi… Sasuke's older brother?"

"It's good that you know him."

"Yeah. Tayuya and I have a lot of conversations about that bastard. The guy is supposed to be monstrously strong and ridiculously talented," Naruto replied, scratching his head uneasily. "Shit… so what happened?"

"Well, to put it to you simply, Itachi chased the snake away," the hermit replied with a careless shrug, as if a clash between S-Rank shinobi for him was just a normal occurrence. This didn't fill the orange wearing jinchuriki with much confidence, but he continued to listen in nonetheless. "And that's only a small slice of the cake I'm cutting for you. Here's the icing on top of it. Most of its current members are more than capable of going toe-to-toe and possibly killing Orochimaru. That just shows how strong these guys are compared to you. After sparring with me for a whole month, I'm sure you have an idea as to exactly what level these jokers are at."

Overwhelmed by this information, Naruto clenched his teeth and his fists tightly, before glaring back up at the Sannin. "And they're all going to be coming after me in the future, for the guy that I have living inside of me… the biju?"

That was serious, boogie man stuff right there. Even though his personality said otherwise, Jiraiya was an incredibly powerful shinobi, even when he was just messing around. Naruto knew he wasn't anywhere close to being able to defeat the Toad Sannin, as the man had proven time and again during their many training sessions over the month just how easily he could flatten his ass, no matter how hard he fought. Hell, not even Tsubaki or Gaara could hold a candle to him.

He had a seriously long way to go before he could even come close to touching the title of Hokage.

Jiraiya nodded, letting out a sigh, "The nine jinchuriki are their targets. I've been chasing up on any leads regarding their organization for months now… and even after all this time I've only been able to get this much. Your little expedition to the nation of Wave was the most noise I've heard from them in weeks. The second most noise was the gossip I heard coming in from Yugakure. Apparently two men flying the organization's colors were spotted leaving the village after the tournament."

Shit. So they were actually there, in the village, to watch the final and third stage of the exams? That was seriously close.

"So not only are they after the Kyuubi… but the others as well. Utakata… Gaara… Fu-chan…"

"And what's more, if it's true that there were two of them there at the exams and they saw what you and the other jinchuriki did in your matches, then they probably now know what you're all capable of," Jiraiya said, nodding to the boy affirmatively when he saw the concern reflected in his gaze. "That means you're going to have to get stronger faster… and develop your skills in time to face these guys. The best thing you've got over them is your unpredictability, so the next time you come up against someone of their level and ability… you're going to have to surprise them big time."

Hearing this, Naruto took a moment to process all of his woes and thoughts into one idea, before giving a smirk and looking back up at the Sannin confidently. "That was my original plan from the start… and I already said I didn't plan on stopping here. I've got a lot more work to do before I can become Hokage."

Chuckling and assured at the spark he saw reignite in the boy's eyes, the man stood out of the chair and stretched. "It's good to see you're up for this then." He then began leaving the room. "I'm not exactly sure what your plans are for the future, but I still intend to train you. As far as we're both concerned, you're still my apprentice. Just because you're a Jonin now doesn't mean you've reached the physical peak of your abilities yet. I'm sure I can get a lot more out of you… and transform you into something amazing. All I have to do is lay down the brickwork for yah."

Naruto smirked as he watched the man stop at the entrance to his living room. "When do you want to do this then? Weekends? Every second day from now on? What?"

"Though it pains me to say this, I unfortunately can't take you on any serious training regiments right now. I had time before the third stage of the exams, but now I've got more pressing matters to deal with. You just concentrate on getting as much experience and missions under your belt as you can, while I chase up any leads regarding your red-cloud friends. They haven't made any big moves in any of the countries yet. For all we know they're just poking their heads out of the ground to take a look… maybe because there's something else going on that's causing them to stir. The amount of chatter I'm getting in regards to the kidnappings of kekkei genkai users across the continent has got me worried," Jiraiya said with a smile and a nod of assurance. "You don't need to worry too much about them at this point. Just keep your eyes open, enjoy your youth and make the most of it."

"Hey. You know me. I always do," Naruto responded, feeling Tayuya and Isaribi snuggle in closer to him and interrupt his train of thought.

Jiraiya gave a small chuckle as he saw the girls' unconscious responses and waved, "Have fun with your little harem then… and keep me posted." He then flashed his trademark mischievous grin and left, leaving the jinchuriki with a bit of red in his cheeks as the front door to his apartment opened and closed with a 'thump'.

"Oh, very funny! I knew you were going to bring that up sometime, Ero-Sennin! I knew it!" What a jackass.

When Isaribi and Tayuya gave a quiet moan and gripped his jacket even tighter, with Kin sliding over the former to involuntarily rest her head on the blonde's leg, Naruto leant back and smiled.

Despite the teasing jab, the kid didn't really have any problems with his situation. Right now, he was quite possibly the happiest guy on earth.

XXX

A week and a half later…

Early morning…

Pushing open the door to the mission assignment office, Naruto strode on in with his hands in his pockets, a spring in his step, and a smile on his face.

With the overwhelming hype of the Chunin Selection Exams over, the people of the hidden leaf village had soon reverted back to their normal, everyday lives of business and pleasure. It was almost as if the whole atmosphere created by the buildup to the final stages of the competition never even existed. Perhaps it was just like that because everyone who had been involved in the contest directly had made such a big deal out of it and was so focused on self-improvement that the rest of the village just seemed to have gone with the flow.

Either way, the turbulent times of the testing period were over for the time being. But with the events still fresh in the heads of those who'd watched the matches over a country away, there was still an awful lot of praise and congratulations floating around that had to be given to all those who'd been promoted. Not only was Sasuke receiving more attention from the girls than ever, much to his displeasure and the others' amusement, but so was Naruto. Having carved his name into the history books for not only making it to the end of the competition but for shooting right up in rank, the jinchuriki was having a ball in the aftershocks.

His accomplishment was one many in the village shone grate adulation over him for and for the first time in his life, Naruto found himself walking down streets, as himself, by himself, and receiving smiles from people, as opposed to the frowns and sneers from years before. Though he wasn't soon going to forget the times he was viewed negatively by the residents for what he was, he wasn't one to hold a grudge and wasn't one to hold anything over people's heads. He'd earned their praises and he acknowledged them proudly.

He waved to the people and nodded to them gratefully all the way up to the Administration Building, where he now found himself approaching the front desk for his first job.

When he arrived in the familiar room, he saw Team 8 and all the members of Team 10 finish receiving scrolls from the Hokage. With the paperwork settled and instructions given, Asuma led his group out first along with Shikamaru, who also went along with them wearing his new vest. The squad greeted Naruto as he passed, with Choji high-fiving him, Ino blushing and giving him a warm look, and the Nara just giving a nod. Asuma was the most cheerful with his greeting, and patted him on the shoulder when he strode by.

When Team 8 came around, Naruto got the usual smile from Kurenai, a timid glance from Hinata, and a flash of his shades from Shino. When Kiba strolled past last though, the Inuzuka and his pup partner, who was sitting comfortably on his head, looked the blonde up and down.

Naruto was still adorning his orange pants, goggles around his neck and his orange jacket with the hood, blue trim and arrow symbols on the shoulders, but unlike before he now had it unzipped, had no shirt underneath so his top-half was practically in the buff, and also had his vest unzipped and worn over it. It was the same ensemble, but with a much more surfer appeal to it, something Kiba noticed immediately.

"A little roguish… but not bad. Not bad at all," the feral looking kid remarked before grinning at the blonde, "Makes me think I should do something with my wardrobe when I win a vest at the next exams."

"Good to see you're still your usual self, Kiba," Naruto replied, raising his fist before both boys smacked their forearms together. "I'm really looking forward to the rest of you getting promoted, so give them hell out there, yeah?"

"Damn straight I will," the Inuzuka said loudly, with Akamaru barking approvingly as the pair passed each other. "I'll catch up with you later, dude."

When the teams finally departed, this left the blonde alone in the room with the staff. Hands in his pockets, he approached the desk, where he was quickly met by the Third skimming through the scrolls. Looking up when he sensed the arrival of the youngster, the Hokage smiled and set down the document he was holding.

It didn't escape Naruto's notice that the gate guard Izumo was also present, sitting off to the left, and that there were two other elders sitting to the village leader's right. The closest was a male in his seventies with spiky grey hair, a beard, and wearing green rimmed glasses. The other was an old lady around the same age with grey hair done up in a bun with earrings hanging from her lobes.

"Good morning, Naruto-kun," Hiruzen greeted brightly.

"Hey, Hokage-jiji!" the blonde replied casually, not wishing to allow some of his older habits to die out just yet. Even though his address of the elder was incredibly pleasant and well-meaningful, he did receive a few odd glances from the rest of the staff sitting nearby. "Well, it's a beautiful day, the sun is shining… and I'm here to take on a mission. Whatcha got for me?"

Shaking his head at his spirited statements, the Third reached down under his desk and pulled up a massive box and set it down on top of the table. "I was expecting you to come in sometime." After pushing it into view of the jinchuriki and the rest of the workers present, the man rapped his fingers on the desk in front of him and beamed at the child.

"Do you know what these are?" Hiruzen asked, seeing the youngster shrug. "These are all the mission scrolls we received from various clients after the exams interested in and specifically asking for your services." Naruto's widening eyes was the cue that the Third was looking out for to continue on, albeit with a warmer smile. "Now, there's no need to get excited and rush into them right away. A lot of these don't require an immediate answer, but you'll still need to see to each of them being completed over the next month or so."

"W-Wow…" Naruto murmured while strolling forward and seeing the village leader pull out a few of the scrolls to line up before him. "I knew I moved the crowd with my fights… I just didn't know it would get me this much recognition."

Hiruzen chuckled, "You really surprised a lot of people at the exams, Naruto-kun. There were many out there who believed you wouldn't be able to bring anything of worth or interest to the field and dismissed you immediately. Most of the audience was actually on the lookout for individuals slated with more talent and ability; someone already with a reputation behind their last name. But your approach to each of your battles, your strength and your methods shook the crowd up something fierce and showed them that people should not judge a book by its cover, especially a shinobi. Your name is now famous, and people have finally started noticing you as the boy that saved two countries." The elder tilted his head and nodded. "You're definitely something special, Naruto-kun. I'm sure your mother and father would be proud of you."

Blushing a bit, Naruto grinned bashfully and scrubbed his head. While unbecoming of someone of his station, he was still young. Even if he was older, you couldn't have expected anything more of his character.

Who knows? Maybe he would grow and develop his little personality quirks into something really eye catching. He certainly was one for extreme evolutions.

"Thanks, oji-san."

It was then the elder pulled up his pipe, lit it, and inhaled the fumes it gave off. Breathing out a plume of smoke, he then gazed across at the young Jonin as he began skimming over the handful of scrolls in front of him. "On a side note, I am curious…" A curious expression blinked past his eyes, "How in the world were you able to get two girlfriends at the same time?" This question had everyone in the room either face-plant the tables or sweat-drop at the sudden, yet seemingly innocent inquiry. "It's always been a bit of a puzzle to me as to how some people are able to accomplish something like that. Daimyos and lords aside, Jiraiya won't ever tell me how he does it. He's had two girlfriends in the same place in the past on top of several other flings elsewhere, but doesn't ever tell me what his secret is. Maybe you could shed some light on the subject for me."

Glancing towards the elder, Naruto shrugged, "Honestly… I have no idea either, jiji. I just act how I normally do and approach the girls how I think I should… and they just seem to like it." He complimented them a lot, started up conversations, wanted to listen to them and always tried to lift people's spirits. And like Jiraiya said to him last night, he was also a selfless freak.

Perhaps his words resonated more with some than others and the girls appreciated that.

Maybe it was a combination of several different qualities.

Breathing out the smoke he'd inhaled, Hiruzen sighed, "I see. Well… I guess my search continues…" He mumbled this low enough so that the others in the room didn't look at him strangely.

After going through the list, Naruto then spotted a couple of interest and picked them up. Checking out the summaries, the blonde smirked and pushed them forward on the table, drawing the elder's attention to the documents. "I'll take the C-Ranked mission first and then do the A-Ranked one tomorrow. That should cover two blocks on my timetable."

Upon reading through the details, the Third smiled and gave an affirmative nod before setting them aside and beginning to scribble on the paper in front of him. "Very well then. Report to the academy at ten and see the teacher in charge of that class for the details, while I send a message out to the client that you've accepted the job. You can stop by tomorrow for the second scroll so that I can fill you in on the other specifications involved, and set you up with your team." Upon stamping out the document and then the first scroll, the elder than handed it over to the new Jonin who took it with great enthusiasm and juggled it for good measure.

Grinning brightly, the boy then pointed at the box and slowly retreated. "I'll be back for the rest of those later." With a salute, the youngster turned heel and left the room, trading waves with Izumo before shutting the door behind him.

Feeling somewhat cheered up at the visit, Hiruzen was about to get down to more work when the voice of one of the elders beside him spoke up.

"Was it wise, Hiruzen?"

"To promote that boy to Jonin?" Koharu finished in question. It was obvious from their expressions that they both held a considerable level of concern and uneasiness at the situation.

"Granted, his individual skills and strengths are unquestionable, and the judges were well within their rights to award him the title for such a stellar performance… he's still the Kyuubi's jinchuriki," Homura stated, emphasizing the importance of the last segment.

"He's young and inexperienced, especially in his role as the demon's keeper. He hasn't had any time to train to take control of its powers, which would make him a much more valuable commodity to the village and the nation."

"Due to his importance as an asset to the Konohagakure military, wouldn't it be best to keep the boy at a low enough rank and on a tighter leash? To promote him to Jonin is just…" Homura shook his head in confusion. "While other villages are willing to give certain levels of responsibility to their jinchuriki, ours is in the possession of the most powerful biju in the world. What if something were to go wrong?"

Hiruzen frowned across at his former teammates and their voicing of their concern over his decision. Giving a weary sigh, the elder breathed on his pipe again before looking back down at his documents. "If there was any problem with the seal or with the boy himself, I would have brought it up earlier in one of our meetings. The fact that I haven't means that there have been absolutely no issues with it whatsoever, and should be one of the least of your concerns at this point. Naruto-kun is fine."

"Hokage-sama…"

"Now… I don't know about the two of you, but as the leader of Konohagakure, I still believe in the importance of reason and fairness, and that it should encompass all the civilians of our village, no matter what their class, color or creed. You two always talk about having the village's best interests in mind… well… I think it's high time that I remind you that it isn't the buildings or the name of our beloved leaf that makes the village what it is; it's the people inside of it. Everyone who lives within these walls lives, works and looks after their neighbors for the sake of their families, their comrades and the village, and no one works harder to protect these values than young Naruto-kun."

Murmuring uncomfortably, Koharu looked across at her teammate and commander, "But this boy doesn't have a family."

"True. He doesn't have one that's with us right now. But Naruto-kun has something just as important in this village that he cherishes above everything else, and they are his friends," the Third answered with a smile as he closed his eyes. "These friends are like family to him, and like every one of us, they are a part of this village. Like the branches and leaves of a tree, everything is connected, and while you may see Naruto-kun as just an asset, someone that needs to be restrained, well… I believe he has the right to be free to make his own choices just like everybody else, and is just as important as the person next to him. He is a shinobi of Konohagakure."

Hearing this pretty much silenced any other points Koharu and Homura wished to make on the matter before they quietly went back to work. The speech also didn't go unnoticed by the other people in the room either, particularly Izumo who also sprouted a smile at what he'd just heard.

As old as he was, the Hokage really knew how to talk the talk. Even after all his years of service, he still had it.

OOO

Two hours later…

Ninja Academy…

"Good. Good. You've got the scar a few millimeters too high, the pouch is on the wrong side, the hair is a little bit too long, and the height of the figure is off by a few inches, but a good try nonetheless," Naruto chirped, clipboard in hand as he looked over what was supposed to be an exact copy of Iruka standing in front of him and smiling. However, after marking the differences, in other words, the mistakes and seeing the doppelganger go up in a puff of smoke, the Iruka standing before him revealed itself to be a kid about a couple years younger than the jinchuriki smiling and standing in place holding a seal. "Thank you Kyosuke."

Upon waving away the smoke, Naruto watched the grey haired boy step back and the next person come up, a young girl with brown hair, a yellow shirt and blue jeans, take to the stage and perform the Henge no Jutsu. When she transformed and the smoke of her technique dispersed, it revealed another Iruka standing in place with a slight difference to his appearance. The sight had the jinchuriki raise an eyebrow in interest.

"Okay… wrong hairstyle but… okay," Naruto nodded. Yeah. He always wondered what his old teacher would look like with blonde, spiky hair mirroring his, so this was a pretty effective demonstration, especially from a student of the academy. The kid pulled it off pretty well. Unfortunately that was not supposed to be her intention. Upon marking down the errors in the end product, the jinchuriki then gestured her back into the line. "Try not to get the images of two different people mixed up, Kumi. Focus solely on the person you want to transform into. Leave no aspect out. Take in everything."

The Iruka copy with the blonde hair nodded affirmatively before transforming back into her normal form and returning to the formation. "Hai, Naruto-sensei."

Upon crossing out the name, the young Jonin sighed and looked over his shoulder toward the head instructor sitting behind the nearby desk, who was currently watching his actions with great interest as the young 'relief teacher' went about his assessment. The sight of the fascinated and smiling Iruka, the real Iruka no less, brought an amused grin to the boy's face as he pointed his pen down the line of eager looking children, all of whom were gazing at the jinchuriki admiringly and waiting patiently for him to come around to them.

"This really brings back memories of yesteryear, Iruka-sensei."

The scarred Chunin chuckled while resting his head on his hand, "I'm sure it does."

"All of the times you had us practicing jutsu in front of you and pointing out the mistakes in our forms, I remember I was always in the middle and always making life difficult for the others."

"Yeah. But this time you've assumed the role of the teacher… and this time you're the one that has to put up with the antics of the students. It's… actually quite funny seeing it firsthand."

"In all honesty, I think it's quite creepy." The jinchuriki then looked up thoughtfully. "How long have I been a Genin for… six… eight months? I've only been a Jonin for one night and the job I chose right off the bat was the one to come back here to try my hand at filling in a class. Man… I'll never be able to forget this place."

"No matter how much you try, you can never completely forget your roots," Iruka stated wisely, "They're what started you and everybody else out in life."

It was that point that had Naruto arc an eyebrow, "Why exactly did you specifically ask for me to come teach this class, sensei?" He lowered his clipboard a bit when he saw the man throw him an inquisitive expression. Taking a moment to glance back at the kids listening to the pair speak, the jinchuriki then turned to his old instructor and shrugged, "I was a little bit surprised to find the scroll with your name on it sitting in amongst the others. Since I know you can easily handle any kid thrown your way after teaching me for a record-breaking three years… I just have to ask…"

Iruka chuckled as he looked back at the young man who he once tutored, "Knowing who you are and that you would eventually pop in to see the Hokage about a mission the instant you were up for it; I figured you would have first pick of the scrolls sent to the administration office that were the most eye-catching. I made sure to highlight the document I submitted to the office so that it stuck out the most and would lure you down here."

This answer had Naruto grin, "So that's it. You wanted to bring me here to test me?"

This got a bright smirk from the man in return, "After seeing you get jump-promoted to Jonin, I became a little bit concerned that you wouldn't be able to handle the high-level missions on your own. So consider this your induction into the life of a fully-fledged shinobi of Konohagakure." He plucked the pencil from his ear and began twirling it between his fingers. "So far, you're doing a fantastic job. Keep at it."

Just as the pair were sharing smiles, a hand shot up from the line beside the jinchuriki and the young Jonin pointed at them, "Yes? The kid with the ponytail."

The young male in the beige uniform stepped forward with an immediate inquiry, "Naruto-sensei… if you just got promoted to Jonin and Iruka-sensei is still a Chunin… why are you still calling him sensei?"

It was a good question, seeing as how the ranking system in the village went. However, it was one that the blonde had no troubles answering as he pulled up his clipboard again and moved down the line. "Because for the three years I was here at the academy, Iruka-sensei had been my homeroom teacher and my main instructor. He taught me all of the basic ninjutsu skills I know today. Even though I now outrank him, I still respectfully refer to him as my teacher." He then shrugged and grinned at the man in question. "Who knows? He probably still has a lot of things left to teach me."

Iruka waved him off, still smiling and still thoroughly entertained by what he was watching.

"Anyway, let's continue with the lesson. Next… we have…"

"Me, boss!"

Hearing the familiar shout out, Naruto looked up in surprise, where he suddenly saw an explosion of white spoke fill up his entire line of sight. When the air eventually cleared, the jinchuriki soon found himself staring at a completely naked girl with bountiful cleavage and long brown hair that reached down to her hip, assumed in a very seductive pose. The well-endowed girl winked towards the startled blonde, with every boy in the class gawking at her and her shapely curves. Iruka had the most animated response out of all those present, a fountain of blood shooting out of his nose as he fell backwards out of his chair with a manly cry of shock.

"Well, whatcha think?" the bombshell exclaimed before going up in another puff of smoke and revealing a grinning Konohamaru standing in place, "Pretty sexy, aye? I call that my 'double-page spread' model! I figured she would definitely be a real head turner out there on the field."

Amidst the stunned looks from the crowd of academy students, Naruto stared silently at the boy, who waited expectantly for a comment on his newly crafted technique. It wasn't long till his answer eventually came, accompanied by a chuckle and a smirk from the blonde haired overseer. "Konohamaru… you haven't got the idea of it at all." When he saw the child's expression and posture begin to deflate, and it seemed like the boy was about to get shut down completely, the jinchuriki set his clipboard under his arm and rolled his head around. A crack echoing off of his neck, a wicked grin then appeared on the blonde's face as he raised his hands to form a seal. "Here. Let me show you how it's done."

At face value, the students thought Naruto was going to demonstrate the actual Henge Konohamaru was supposed to use for the assessment and not that magazine model catastrophe he just pulled.

However, the second Iruka saw the boy's hands position themselves and the mischievous expression appear across his face, the once semi-conscious male jumped up from the floor where he was lying and yelled across at the blonde, his nose stuffed with tissues. "NARUTO! CLASS! ASSESSMENT! MISSION!"

"Oh, right! S-Sorry, Iruka-sensei," Naruto chuckled nervously, breaking out of his stance and picking up his clipboard and pen again. Looking sheepish for a moment, he then turned back to the youngster and marked next to his name a big 'F'. "Fail."

"WHAT?!" Konohamaru shouted. "Oh, come on, boss!"

"As good as your transformation was it did not meet the criteria of the assessment. There's always a time and place to perform your jutsu, squirt. This wasn't one of them," the young Jonin replied, giving the academy student a firm look and establishing his authority before him.

Upon hearing his role model slam his foot down, the honorable grandson of the Third obediently backed up into line and, albeit a childish pout, watched Naruto move on.

The jinchuriki raised his eyebrow at the next face and smiled up at the familiar, brown haired form of Hanabi Hyuuga standing there at attention. He grinned as he stood before her and placed his hands on his hips as she gazed at him intently, "Well, isn't this interesting. I didn't know you were attending the academy, Hanabi-chan."

Said clan member smiled as she locked gazes with the boy, "My father signed me up at the beginning of the second semester immediately after the Chunin Exams. He said he wanted me to take lessons alongside the other students so that I could be assigned to a team soon." The twinkle in her eyes then reflected a level of hope. "Maybe I'll be assigned to be on your Genin squad one day, Naruto-nisan."

His smile widening, the jinchuriki patted her gratefully on the head. "I would really like that, Hanabi-chan." He then stepped back with clipboard in hand and pen at the ready. "So… let's see how well you fair in your basic ninjutsu."

Nodding affirmatively, the girl stepped forward and formed a hand seal. A split second later and after the explosion of white smoke that followed cleared, she revealed an exact copy of Iruka Umino standing in her place. From head to toe, the jinchuriki looked her over, before giving a smile and stepping away, scribbling down notes on the document provided. Once his assessment was made he signaled the little Hyuuga to cut her transformation, which she did and emerged smiling proudly from the mist.

"Well done. That was the best transformation I've seen today. You must've been revising really hard on your class work, Hanabi-chan," the boy remarked brightly.

The girl smiled in return, "Even talented ones need to work hard to develop their skills. Right, nisan?"

"That's right," Naruto replied, nodding to her. "Good going." He then moved down the line to the next person.

Receiving the boy's praise with a heartfelt smile, Hanabi then felt a weird sensation on the back of her neck and turned to see Konohamaru glaring at her. Surprised at first for receiving such a hostile stare from the youngster next to her, the Hyuuga then glared back with equal intensity. Thanks to her normally collected expression, it made her return even more potent then it would've been had she normally held a face like this.

"What are you looking at?"

Konohamaru lowered his head to her firmly, "Just so we're clear, I won't lose to you. Boss is my mentor and my rival… and he's going to be my squad leader when I graduate."

Hanabi frowned, "What makes you think he'll pick a twerp like you?"

Konohamaru puffed his chest out, "Because I'm awesome… and because boss taught me the technique you just saw me use. It's one of his best moves."

"What you just used was pointless, unnecessary and completely vulgar. I highly doubt he taught something so indecent to the likes of you," the girl exclaimed, sticking her nose in the air, "Naruto-nisan is better than that. He's more interested in people with poise and dignity in their person. Not bothersome loudmouths like you."

"If you think that's true, then you don't know boss," Konohamaru snapped in response. "He always roots for the underdog and for people with a cool personality. I doubt he'd give a second thought about teaching a snobbish princess like you."

"Wanna bet?"

"Of course I do, because I know I'll win."

"If that pathetic excuse of a Henge was the best you had then I doubt you'd win anything, loser."

"Why don't you hit me in the face and prove it then, little Ms. Perfect. I'll drop you in two seconds flat!"

"Well, I'll drop you in one second flat, loudmouth!"

"Flathead!"

"Moron!"

Gritting their teeth, the two kids butted heads against each other and growled angrily. However, just before the two could start throwing fists and kicks at their respective antagonist, and turn their grapple into an in-class brawl, a shadow falling over the two of them had them look up to see Naruto standing there impatiently with his arms folded. When the pair of youngsters saw the boy looking at them disapprovingly, they both peeled away from each other. Immediately upon doing so, the jinchuriki brought his clipboard up and slapped both of them on the head lightly, one after the other.

"Knock… it off," he said between hits, lowering the writing pad to see the two kids rub their heads as if the act of smacking them on their noggins had actually hurt them. "I will have no arguing in my first class, understand?"

"Y-Yes, boss," Konohamaru mumbled, at the same time looking at his feet with a shamefaced expression.

"Sorry, nisan," Hanabi also murmured apologetically.

Nodding, Naruto moved back down the line, leaving the pair standing bashfully for a moment before the pair went back to glaring silently at one another. During which time, Iruka couldn't help but let a light chuckle escape his lips as he watched his former student enact swift discipline upon the two troublemakers. While nothing like what he'd done in the past, the jinchuriki sure knew how to impose his will lightly upon his underclassmen.

It really was ironic, because once upon a time Naruto had been the bane of all the villagers' existences at one point in his life… and he probably still was. It made Iruka's heart swell, in a manner of speaking.

OOO

That night…

"You know, Naruto… you made a much better substitute teacher than Mizuki ever did," the scar-faced Chunin chirped, stirring his bowl of ramen as he glanced across at his student happily, who was currently in the process of devouring his.

Inhaling the contents of his serving of miso in three seconds flat, the jinchuriki breathed out a satisfied sigh before holding up the empty dish and grinning across at the young woman behind the counter. "Keep em' coming."

Ayame giggled and took it from the blonde gladly, "Sure thing, Naruto-kun. Anything for the village's hero."

This comment had the jinchuriki cringe a bit, "No need to go that far, neechan. I'm not the Hokage yet." Seeing the girl stick her tongue out at him teasingly, she proceeded to make him another bowl while the boy rounded on his teacher. With his wallet full from the money he'd been able to withdraw from the amount he'd earned on his latest mission, it was clear Naruto was in high spirits. "You think I did well?"

"For your first solo C-Rank mission? I think you did extremely well," Iruka said with a grin. "It was low-key, yes, but teaching others what you know and what they have to know is usually not an easy task to accomplish. You have to know your processes, what to say, what assessments you have to deal out to them and the limits of their abilities and what they have to set. I gave you an outline in a worded brief and a list… and you just went with it." There'd been more to that day then just the Henge exercise. Following that came basic stealth tutoring and then a practice on a course, which Naruto acted as the target. It'd been an interesting thing to see him lecturing students, perhaps something he'd learned from being lectured to more times than the older Chunin could remember. "I'd say a bit more than just my teachings have rubbed off on you."

"What? Your shining personality?" Naruto asked with a cheeky grin.

Iruka elbowed him in the side for that, "I meant my methods… at least my in-class methods. All of that stuff you did on the field was built upon my fundamentals, but you also enhanced them and the new ones you took on in your own, unique way." Hearing the boy chuckle as he watched his next serving of ramen get prepared, the Chunin gave him a half-smile of pride and folded his arms in front of him, leaving his own food alone for the moment. "Was I… a good teacher… Naruto?"

Surprised at the sudden question, the jinchuriki saw the expression his teacher gave and the hopeful glimmer that shone in his eyes. Giving his question a moment of pause due to how slow he was responding to it, Naruto then gave the man an affirmative nod of absolute assurance and certainty. "You don't need to look so worried. Of course you were sensei."

"Good," Iruka sighed, running a hand over his neck with a wry grin. "I was a little bit worried… thinking you may have forgotten all of it and just replaced everything I taught you with what you now know."

"It's like you said; we will always remember our roots." Typical Konoha shinobi; quoting metaphors using trees.

The man gave him a smirk. "Just out of curiosity, have you already picked out your next mission? I heard from the Hokage that you got a bucket load of jobs from clients interested in hiring you on." After the performance he saw at the tournament, there was no way he was going to doubt the impression the blonde haired wonder had left on the world.

Naruto responded with a slight shrug. "I picked out an A-Rank mission for my second assignment… just to mix my routine up a little. It's nothing big, just some bodyguard work I have to do for this… celebrity… movie star. The job is a little bit out of the way, but I won't be hitting it alone. I'm being assigned a team." He looked up at Iruka to see the surprised tweak in his stare. "Hey, at least it's not an S-Rank mission. I didn't get any of those in the box… at least not yet."

Iruka smiled at the boy's good fortune and nodded his way. "Lucky you. I rarely get to go out on A-Rank assignments. I'm usually just stuck in the classroom." His expression then became a much more serious one, conveying a sense of professionalism. "Who's the target?"

"No one important, just some young upstart from a new television series going to another country with the crew to have another scene shot. Have you ever watched Late by Morning?"

"No."

"Then you wouldn't know her. It's a teen drama… B-list shit… no one you would really care about."

"Ah," Iruka nodded, turning back to his own bowl of ramen as Naruto was handed his and the boy started gorging once again. For the next few seconds the pair continued eating in silence in the company of both a positively beaming Ayame and Teuchi, only for the scar-faced man to crack a smile a moment later and glance back at his student. "You just don't want to tell me who it is you're escorting."

Naruto grinned, "As much as I want to tell you, how do I know you won't spill the beans to somebody else by accident and compromise the assignment, sensei?" The jinchuriki looked over at the man and tapped the tip of his nose. "It's an A-Rank mission. It's need-to-know basis material. I'll tell you all about it when I get back."

Grinning across at one another, Iruka and Naruto then went about eating, with the former patting the latter on the shoulder in a congratulatory manner. "Yep. You definitely soaked up a lot of the important stuff I taught you, even though it didn't look like you had." Not talking too much about a high-level mission was one of them. Now that he was a Jonin, he was really showing the care and mindset of one. "Hopefully this next assignment you've chosen will be a great experience building thing for you."

"I hope so too, sensei."

OOO

Later…

Naruto's apartment…

Lying back on the couch and reading through a magazine she'd picked up, Kin suddenly glanced straight up in surprise to see Naruto grinning across at her. It wasn't his appearance that startled her since he'd practically been standing and chatting with her for a good few minutes already. It was what he'd said that had the girl blink in bewilderment.

"An A-Rank mission?"

"Yep."

"How long will you be gone for?"

"Not sure. Maybe for a week or so. The mission didn't give me a specific spreadsheet or schedule, but I'm going to be paid big time for the job either way. I figured we could use that."

"Cool," Kin responded with a smile appearing on her pretty face. "You'll tell us all about it when you get back, right?"

"That's the plan. I don't intend to leave you girls or anyone else out of this one. I want to fill you in on every little detail from start to finish when I get back," Naruto stated with an excited grin.

"Is there any particular reason why you chose this mission as your second one? Though I understand you want to mix it up a little more, why choose this as your second assignment as a newly promoted Jonin?"

The blonde shrugged. "Not sure. Maybe it was the first A-Rank mission I was able to pick out from the box. I also read over the details and it seemed like an interesting job to take compared to the assortment of D-Rank tasks I was stuck with as a Genin. This'll be the first time I'll be guarding a celebrity."

"A celebrity? Movie star?"

"Yeah. A super famous one too."

"Have I seen her on the big screen recently?"

"Oh I'm… pretty sure that you have… once or twice," Naruto said while rolling his shoulder and stretching out. Stepping around the chair, he plopped down on the couch next to the raven haired girl and watched her pull her left leg back so that her knee was raised. It didn't escape his notice that the kunoichi was wearing a red singlet top that exposed her taut midriff and jean shorts. She had a really good pair of legs on her… something that the jinchuriki couldn't help but acknowledge with a momentary glance. "Anyway, I do plan on telling you all about it when I get back. I'll be leading an entire squad on the mission, so it's guaranteed that everyone will have had a part to play by the end of it."

"Well… knowing your habits, I bet your role in this mission will be the best one out of the entire group," Kin said with certainty in her voice and a sly smile in play. "I've heard your stories and I've seen your souvenir desk; your record isn't exactly the straightest in this village's sorting cabinet."

"It's not really my fault. Blame the crooks that try to get the drop on me each and every time," Naruto chuckled lightheartedly.

Laughing at his response, Kin set the magazine down and looked back at the boy with a more contemplative visage in play. Isaribi and Tayuya were currently out grabbing something extra to eat, as they had a craving for something to nibble on, leaving the two teenagers in the apartment by themselves. This meant that the atmosphere wasn't as nerve-rattling for the raven haired kunoichi, who was still new to the place and was always at odds with Isaribi. Right now, she was able to relax and take it easy alongside the troublesome wonder that'd saved her over a month ago, which allowed her to share a much more comfortable conversation with him.

Scratching her cheek, Kin glanced anxiously in the jinchuriki's direction and beamed, "Hey, Naruto."

"Yes, Kin-chan?"

"I know this may seem sudden, but… well… I'm thinking of getting a job around here in the neighborhood at one of the stores," the kunoichi said straight out while gazing at the blonde hopefully. "Since all of you guys are working hard together to pay for the apartment, I figured that I should go out and get some work as well to help fill in the bill. I don't want to have to scab off of you guys the entire time I'm living here. I want to do something more for this place, like Isaribi."

Appearing taken aback at first, the jinchuriki then looked across at the girl more intently. "You don't have to stress yourself out so much trying to get a job, Kin-chan. I'm perfectly happy with paying for anything you need. If you're still uncomfortable with the village, then you don't need to kill yourself just to help pay the rent for the apartment."

"I've already been living here for over a month now, Naruto," Kin said, sitting up and turning on the couch so that she was sitting and facing the boy seriously. "I just feel really bad that you guys are doing so much around here while I'm just sitting around only doing meager chores in the apartment. I want to be able to pull my own weight and bring something more to the table, and not have to leech off of your blood and sweat all the time. Since I can't be a kunoichi yet and I'm still under surveillance… I figured I could start off with something small, just some part-time work to take up the hours."

"Kin-chan…"

"Please. I want to do this," the girl replied with a pleading expression taking hold. "I know how much you want to help people, Naruto… I know because I've seen how kind you can be to others, like at the tournament when you spoke with that Gaara guy instead of beating him into the ground, and when you were speaking with all of the other teams back before the start of the first stage. But you don't have to work yourself to death trying to be the nice guy all the time. You can let other people help you out too."

Hearing this and seeing the sincere look in the raven haired girl's eyes, Naruto considered her words carefully. Considering her gaze fixed on his and noticing she was eagerly waiting for a response, the blonde eventually relented on the subject and relaxed his shoulders. His body language was enough to tell the kunoichi that he'd reached a decision. "Yeah… you're right." He massaged the back of his head tiredly. "Man. I've been so focused on doing all this shinobi stuff and moving forward, I completely forgot about everything and everybody else around me."

Smiling, Kin leaned forward and flicked him in the nose. "Get your head out of the clouds every once in a while, Romeo. Your brain will swell from all the ether."

The boy chuckled and nursed the light bruise, "Thanks Kin-chan." He then stood up out of the couch and gazed down at his friend warmly. "If you want to go out and work, then I won't stop you. You can do whatever you want. If you have any problems, don't hesitate to ask us, alright. We'll put in a good word for you."

Expression brightening, the raven haired girl grinned enthusiastically and in her usual, tomboyish fashion, "Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

XXX

The next morning…

After an hour of traveling across country under the rising yellow sun, Naruto and his team of 'elites' soon arrived at the town that was to be their starting point for their new mission. When word was sent out the day before confirming that the shinobi requested for the assignment had chosen the mission as his next job, the young Jonin was pretty much all set to make his way over to meet up with the clients he was going to be performing errands for. However, while this was all well and good, before anyone could go anywhere or do anything, the jinchuriki still needed to select a support team for the assignment, as the specifications of the document stated that they would be overseeing multiple parties and not just the one.

As it turned out, it wouldn't be the one celebrity they would be overseeing, but an entire crew as excess. These were what the details entailed, and something the Third Hokage felt he needed to address when sorting through the information.

That being said, the village leader of Konohagakure had given Naruto free reign over who he wished to have on this mission with him. He was allowed to choose anyone from the roster who wasn't scheduled for any missions for the following week, which the jinchuriki was all too happy to do. Of course, Hiruzen had also informed the boy that he'd also had a couple of interested parties who'd put their names down for consideration, all of whom wanted to be assigned to his team should the jinchuriki eventually go out on a job requiring a few extra hands.

There was one name in particular that was highlighted on the list, something that Naruto had no problems in selecting, as this was the first person he picked to be on his squad. After managing to scrounge up two other people, he then had them meet up at the front gate. Once the squad was assembled, they were then on their way to the next town.

It had been a quiet trip for the most part, with not much being said between the four members of the troop. It was only once they'd entered the bustling village and they were well on their way to the institute where they were to meet up with their clients that the members of the group chose to speak up.

"It's kind of odd seeing you leading a team, Naruto," Sakura said while looking across at the blonde at the head of the formation, hands in his pocket and a small orange pack strapped to his back. The pink haired girl grinned cheerfully. "I'm not saying it like it's a bad thing. It's just that we're not used to seeing one of us actually leading a squad as a Jonin captain."

"Since we've all been with the same teams for so long, it's somewhat confusing viewing someone so young and someone we all know so well as a leader of a group," Kaede spoke in his usual, excited tone as he grinned towards the blonde when he looked back to acknowledge the speaking pair. "I'm also still getting used to the fact that Tayuya-san has also been promoted, and is able to lead her own missions now."

It was a shame that she couldn't come along with them on this. She'd taken up a job along with Anko in the absence of her roommate to help her around the office and to also take it easy following her rough patch in the exams.

Naruto smiled at the two teens following close behind him, "Believe me, this whole thing is just as weird to you guys as it is to me. I always thought I'd be promoted to Jonin when I was a little bit older… you know, like, Kakashi-sensei old. But I guess everybody else had other plans for me. It'll take some getting used to, but I think I can manage."

"You're a good ninja, Naruto. I'm sure you'll be able to adapt to your new position just fine," Sakura chirped, placing her hands behind her as she put her full support in her friend and teammate, whom she had now started to view with a much greater level of admiration. Gone were the days when they were in the academy and causing trouble for their teachers, and now was the time where they were the ones taking on the responsibilities of the adults. "You and Sasuke-kun are really great leaders in your own ways. You're both smart and you both have really advanced skills."

Smiling at the girl giving him her praise, Naruto then had his gaze drawn to his other flank when he felt the third member of his team nudge him in the side and saw Tenten step up next to him with a grin. "Don't worry too much about it. For better or worse, you've got our full support, tough guy. All three of us are here to back you up, so just point us in whatever direction you want and shoot."

That was pretty much her way of saying 'we're yours to command, sir', but in a less formal way. It suited the jinchuriki just fine either way, who smirked back at the shuriken user before pulling his hand out of his pocket and checking the note he had in his grip. "I'll say this again, just so we've got it straight. Our mission is to guard Yukie Fujikaze, the famous actress known for her role in cinema as Princess Gale. I'm pretty sure you've all heard of her."

"Of course. Who hasn't heard of her? Yukie's pictures are among some of the greatest films ever made. She plays each of the characters she's given for the projects she's assigned to so well that it's almost like she was born to play the parts," Sakura answered with an excited glimmer in her eyes.

"Not just her. A lot of the actors she's worked alongside on her recent films are also extremely talented and well-known individuals. Their performances are pretty spectacular," Tenten also added with gusto. "Even though she's the star of all of her movies, she's also supported by an equally strong cast."

"Every great piece in this world is created through teamwork," Kaede stated with an affirmative nod, rounding out the subject neatly. "One cannot perform at their best without having their friends there to back them up."

"We'll be traveling with Yukie to the location of their next shoot, which they say is quite a ways from here, way outside of Land of Fire territory. Apparently there is some concern over the reliability of the bodyguards that they currently have under their employ and have hired us on to strengthen their muscle," Naruto stated, slipping the sheet back into his pocket and looking around as they marched along. "They want to make sure that their star player as well as everyone in the convoy is well protected."

Tenten blinked as she looked across at the Jonin captain. "So… does this mean we'll also be working alongside the production crew on their shoots?"

"Yes."

"Then that means we'll be watching Yukie performing live in front of the cameras!" Sakura chirped, clapping her hands together excitedly. "Hoosha!"

"I am extremely interested to see how a world famous actress performs on set. I'm sure it will be both an enlightening and invigorating experience for all of us," Kaede led on, sticking his chest out as his stride transformed into a brisk march to catch up with the ones at the front. "Just imagine it; a beautiful actress pouring her heart and soul into a masterpiece right before our very eyes. It's a sight even the faint of heart can appreciate."

Sakura swooned at the idea of being able to meet the many famous people she'd seen in the Princess Gale pictures, with Kaede also relishing in the idea of the experience this high level mission was bound to give him. The shared thoughts made the pair think about how Naruto had approached them regarding the mission and asked them to tag along as his support, which they each gladly accepted. Since they didn't have any other assignments to go on back in the village and their teammates had broken off to take on jobs of their own, particularly Sasuke and Shiho, this left them plenty of free time to fill in.

It wasn't just because of their availabilities that prompted Naruto to choose them for the assignment, it was also because he knew the pair well and knew that he could trust them that were the reasons he'd selected them. He was also happy to have been able to bring Tenten along for the ride. In spite of the epic clash they'd seen her fight in back in the tournament that witnessed the girl taking a big hit from her opponent that left her temporarily hospitalized, the girl was remarkably quick to recover from her scrap and get herself back into the game.

It was obvious that she'd wanted to be healed up as quickly as possible to attend to her new duties as a Chunin of Konohagakure. Not only did she take every second she had available to her to heal up and recover whatever chakra she'd expended, she'd also taken the time prepping her bags and tools for an assignment on a new squad, with the first mission she intended to go on being a team mission alongside Naruto.

Though the boy expressed initial concerns of her condition when he first learned of her submitting her name to be on his very first squad, when she explained to him that she was now perfectly fit for a job outside of the village and was able to carry her weight and more, he gladly took her on as the secondary leader of his team.

In the end, Naruto wound up forming a squad with Tenten, Sakura and Kaede on it, all three of whom he was on really good terms and able to communicate with. Not a bad first pick for his first A-Ranked assignment, one that was sure to be a real blast for all those involved.

"We're here," Naruto said, pointing towards a series of large buildings in the middle of the town. When their sights landed on the tallest of the structures on the estate, the jinchuriki wasted no time in leading his friends across the courtyard.

On their way in, the team passed by trucks, wagons, horses and workers, all of whom were busy carrying set pieces across and loading them up. There was a lot of staff present on the grounds and as the team closed in on their meeting point, they began making out more and more studio equipment lying about. They entered the main building, which they immediately took note had every single set piece you could imagine set up across the floor. It was wide and tall, with railings up above and spotlights, stages and canvases positioned all over the place. There were also walls with backdrops painted across them standing against the walls, with many of them being used as makeshift cubicles for the actors.

It didn't take the team long to find the director and the head of production. Runners were coming and going from the leading group huddled up around the rear wall, which served as the station for all the concepts, artwork and storyboards, and there were a few other staff members around them too discussing important issues over paper. One man in particular from the gathering, the director himself, who was seated in the chair sporting a pair of sunglasses, a hat and a pipe, spotted the four shinobi and waved them in their direction and when the youngsters eventually stopped before the head of the crew, Naruto stepped forward and nodded in greeting towards their clients.

"I believe you received the message from our Hokage's staff that we were coming in," the jinchuriki said with a professional expression in play.

"Yes, of course. Thank you for responding to our call so quickly, Konoha shinobi," the old man in the shades and jumper exclaimed, a smile breaking out across his visage as he looked the blonde haired boy over. "Ah. You must be the new one… Uzumaki Naruto, right? We saw your performance on the television. Very impressive."

Naruto smiled, "Thank you." He then looked around, noticing the DOP standing near the director, a man with a baseball cap, jacket, orange hair and a goatee, as well as a few of the main cast he'd seen numerous times before in the movies. The jinchuriki actually had to hold back laughter when he also noticed Sakura and Kaede ogling the people in front of them, with the former having throbbing love hearts in her eyes as she gazed towards the male lead dreamily, a handsome devil with flowing locks and a killer smile. "It's great to be onboard. I'm supposed to report to a guy named Sandayuu Asama. He's Yukie Fujikaze's manager. Is he around?"

"Ah. Sandayuu," the director murmured, looking up at his head camera man grimly before panning back around. "You've caught us at a bit of a troublesome time."

"What's wrong?" Tenten asked, her expression becoming curious.

"Our little 'diva' and star actress Ms Yukie has run off again," the DOP spoke up, breathing out a heavy sigh while tapping a rolled up script against his shoulder. "This is the third time in two days. Ever since she learned that our next shoot was going to be in Yuki no Kuni, she's been ditching the crew repeatedly every chance she could."

Hearing this, the pink haired kunoichi beside Kaede looked across at the man in surprise. "The Land of Snow?" Sakura murmured before glancing over at Naruto, "Hey. Is that where we're going for our mission? That really is far from here."

"Maybe that's why she's been running away. Not many people are very fond of traveling long distances," Kaede pointed out.

Tenten sweat dropped a little when she looked over at the boy with the penchant for fixing bad tea and gave him a deadpanned look, "Isn't that a little bit extreme?"

"In any case, Ms Yukie managed to slip away from her bodyguards and is now hiding somewhere around town. Sandayuu is currently out searching for her," the director finished, breathing on his pipe and expelling fumes into the air. Looking around at the young shinobi before him, he saw that their expressions had become much more serious. "You might be waiting around for a little while before you can speak with him. I'm sorry that he wasn't here to see you personally, but…"

"Don't worry about it. We've got this," Naruto replied with a smile, stopping the man's apologies short before turning to his team. "Our mission starts right now. I want you guys to search the West side of the village for either one of our clients, Yukie or a guy with grey hair and glasses searching the streets for her." He flashed them a photo from his documentation of the man in question. "I'll take the East side." The blonde then formed his familiar cross-fingered hand seal and produced several shadow clones, after which he then pointed around at the two dozen copies he'd formed while keeping his eyes on his team. "If you find them, one of these guys will dispel and tell me where you are. I'll also send them out to find you if I come across our clients first. Any questions?" He received nothing but stares and head shakes from the others before nodding to them. "Good. Let's get to it."

His squad then vanished in a series of blurs along with his clones, leaving Naruto the only one left in the area. When he turned back to the cast and crew, he saw all of them staring at him in awe, with the director himself being the first to recover from the shock.

The chief of production smiled at the young Jonin and tipped his hat to him. "It looks like we were right hiring you on. You really know your stuff, Uzumaki-san."

Naruto smiled. "If we run into any trouble, we'll take care of it. You can count on us." Nodding his head in return, the jinchuriki also vanished in a puff of smoke, signaling a shunshin exit.

And so began their mission… but not in the way the group had been expecting it to start. Usually their clients didn't take off running before they had the chance to even meet them.

OOO

An hour or so later…

Sitting on the edge of the large river just outside of the village, a lonely figure could be seen staring vacantly out over the water while her white horse drank from the shallows. Dressed in what would easily be perceived as robes fit for a princess, with her legs pulled up to her chest, arms crossed over her knees and her chin laid comfortably behind her arms, the beautiful, raven haired teen sat in silence as she gazed out over the still waters of the stream.

Listening to the sound of the watercourse flowing by and the birds singing all around her, the girl was given the perfect opportunity and milieu to meditate and think back on the life she'd lived or whatever it was that was troubling her thoughts. She was in fact so completely lost in her thoughts and memories that the raven haired young adult failed to hear the sound of a person landing beside her until he spoke up above the sounds of nature.

"You're a really hard person to find."

Blinking out of her daze, the seated teen glanced over her shoulder to see a boy in an orange uniform with a Jonin vest and spiky-blonde hair standing just a few feet away from her with his hands in his pockets. When her eyes panned up from his legs, past the open space in his jacket, which showed off his chest and abs, and stopped at his face, she saw the stranger smile down at her before raising a hand to wave.

"Hello. Yukie Fujikaze, right?" the boy asked for clarification before thumbing toward himself, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, Jonin from Konohagakure and head of your security force. My team and I were hired by your manager Sandayuu Asama to watch over you during your shoots to and from Yuki no Kuni and to ensure your safe passage to the country of snow. Your manager is very concerned about this trip, and has asked us to not only ensure your safety and wellbeing during the filming period but to also watch over you off of the set. I'm really looking forward to working with you."

A moment of silence passed between them after that; with the raven haired actress now identified as Yukie Fujikaze staring blankly at the boy with whiskers on his cheeks, who returned her stare with a straight face. After a minute or so ticked by with nothing big happening between them, the professional looking jinchuriki then breathed a sigh of relief and massaged his neck.

"Woo… I think that was a pretty good introduction, don't you think?" Naruto said brightly, closing his eyes and grinning in his characteristic manner. "Though normally I would exaggerate a little more and add stuff like 'former javelin champion' and 'part-time sheet designer', I think its best that I keep my greetings short, simple and formal from now on. Maybe when I get a little more used to the routine I'll start stretching it out a bit more." Waiting for his joke to catch on the youngster stood patiently, waiting for a response from the girl. However, when all he got was silence in return, he opened his eyes to look across at the actress again. "Not good, eh?"

He then balked when he saw that the princess was no longer sitting in front of him and had in fact hopped back onto her horse and was now scampering off into the distance. Speechless, the boy remained staring after her in shock for several seconds before freaking out and chasing after her.

"God damn it, how the hell did she do that?" He must have been so caught up in trying to start up conversation with the girl he didn't even notice her leaving. "Hey! Wait up!"

For the next minute or so Yukie continued to lead her horse down the main road as fast as she could. Not really interested in dealing with the boy who was supposedly sent for her by Sandayuu, the actress was determined to put as much distance between her and the blonde as possible.

However, after several seconds of feeling the wind whip at her hair and the rice fields streak past her in a blur, the girl suddenly jerked in surprise when she heard a person clear their throat and looked over her shoulder to see that the boy she'd met on the riverside was standing on the back of her sandal and glaring down at her impatiently. Looking up at the blonde as they continued to ride along at speed, the girl saw him smirk.

"You really know how to ride a horse, lady. But no matter how fast you move, there's no way you'll be able to outrun me."

Yukie's brow furrowed as she continued to glare at the boy, seeing him shrug his shoulders carelessly and raise a hand towards her.

"Okay, you've had your fun. But now I think it's time we got you back to the studi-THWAK!"

Naruto didn't even have time to finish his sentence when he suddenly found himself clothes-lined by a low hanging branch.

Looking back at the tree they'd just passed under on their way back into the village with pure, unadulterated surprise reflected on her face, Yukie then saw the boy eventually drop and hit the ground in a very painful manner. After which the girl then turned back to the road ahead of her and continued making her way into town, dodging traffic and eventually disappearing down a side street.

Groaning in agony and covered in fallen leaves, Naruto blinked away the stars he was seeing and glared up towards the ceiling of the tree that'd 'attacked him'.

"That was just embarrassing." He must have looked like a complete moron when he got hit by that branch. Next time he was going to keep his eyes trained on where he was going and duck instead of making himself look like a big-shot.

Considering everything that has happened so far, the mission was off to a great start.

Now all he had to do was send out shadow clones to tell his teammates he'd picked up the girl's trail and chase after her… once he got feeling back into his legs.

OOO

Many hours later…

Sitting at the corner of a bar of a dimly lit pub on the edge of town, dressed in civilian clothing and trying her best to blend into the furniture around her, the world famous actress Yukie Fujikaze could be seen staring in a drunken haze across the counter in front of her. With a bottle of sake sitting on her left and a shot glass on her right, the young super star was currently studying the crystal of a necklace in her open palm, watching the purple gem gleam and twinkle like it were somehow speaking with her.

Eyelids drooping over and cheeks pink, showing just how under the influence she was, the girl breathed a deep sigh and wrapped it back around her neck before going back to her drink, "Ugh. Who'd want to go to the Land of Snow…?" Muttering to herself some more indistinct words, she took another shot of sake, completely ignoring the other two people in the room.

The bartender for starters, a middle-aged man with brown hair, glasses and a beard who was busy cleaning glasses over by the sink, and another patron over in the far corner, dressed in ordinary clothing, a jacket and a hat that concealed much of his face. Under the white noise of jazz music playing through the radio, the latter of the two other people present in the establishment stood up, deposited his money for his drinks on the table in front of him, and began staggering his way over to the exit.

Just as he was approaching the inebriated actress still downing shots, his fingers twitching for a quick pocket search of her person, he was suddenly cut short when the door to the bar was kicked open by a perturbed looking Naruto and cut off by the same kid, who stepped in between both him and the actress and knocked the stranger off course.

As the patron walked on, the blonde haired boy frowned at the girl as he rested his arm against the desk, sparing the drunk man a momentary glance of suspicion at the same time. Knowing full-well he'd stopped an attempted pick-pocketing, Naruto quickly focused his full attention back on the teen, who glanced at him momentarily before then turning back to her drink.

"Hmph… it's you again. Why don't you go bother somebody else, kid? You're kind of ruining the mood."

Expression unchanging, the blonde just stared at the actress for a good, long minute, and watched her take another shot. "You know, while I'm not too sure about other people, I for one don't appreciate being maced and having a ton of scaffolding dropped on top of me, especially by the person I was hired by their friend to protect. It kind of pisses me off." Granted it was the first time he'd ever been maced, it was still an unpleasant experience. Sometimes it sucked being extra sensitive to certain elements of your surroundings. "I wouldn't try that again by the way. That shit won't work on me twice."

That incident with the horse didn't count. It just didn't.

Yukie glared at the blonde momentarily before filling her drink once again. "Why do you keep coming after me?"

Naruto kept a straight face as he leaned against the counter, "Because it's my job, and this being my first A-Rank mission as a Jonin I'm not really too keen on failing it either. I'm supposed to escort you to Yuki no Kuni along with the rest of your crew, so basically that means your ass is mine until further notice." Yeah. He was still pissed. He could still feel the pinch in his sinuses from his face recovering from the blasting on top of the pounding headache from having three-inch wide steel collapsing on top of him. Scrunching his face up when he saw the girl raise an eyebrow at him after taking another shot, the boy thumbed towards the door. "Come on. We don't want to keep your legions of fans waiting by having your next movie postponed for another month. All of us have lives too yah know."

The actress scoffed at his words, "What would a kid like you know about life?"

Oh. So she was playing this card now, was she? Well, unlike a lot of other people this girl was probably used to dealing with Naruto knew how to play this game and was damn good at it. So good in fact he actually smirked across at the actress still drinking sake like it were water, "A lot more than you think you know."

Shooting him a look, the actress chuckled bitterly as she swirled her next shot. "Let me tell you a secret kid; actors are the biggest fakes in the world. It's a dirty, rotten, terrible job, playing a character on the big screen for other people to ogle at and admire. Only the lowliest of the low would ever want in on this profession." Sighing and slapping her glass down, she could feel the blank stare being thrown at her by the boy standing in her shadow. "We're handed lives put down on paper and breathe life into them… it's a sick joke." She then glanced over at the blonde and looked him over, taking note of his exposed chest and abs due to his unzipped jacket. A blink followed her quick yet intent inspection, "Isn't it a little bit drafty with that thing open?"

Naruto just looked back unflinchingly, "It gets a little breezy, yeah."

Taking note of his muscles when he tilted his head, Yukie leered at him, "You're quite the *hick* looker. Do you want to take a shot at this?" She emphasized this point by running a finger down her collarbone and tugging on the hem of her shirt in a suggestive manner.

Blinking, the boy looked at the bartender across from them, where he saw the man shrug with an amused look in play before the blonde turned back to the woman. "First of all, I have a girl… wait, scratch that, I'm thirteen years old and you're, like, seventeen." Yep. That sounded about right. Saying he had two girlfriends wouldn't have helped him any in this argument.

Yukie smirked at him, "Does it matter."

"Not really. Even though you're cute as hell, I've got standards. Picking up drunken women falls under that line," Naruto said, drawing it in the air in front of them. "Second of all, I've still got a mission to do. Now let's get going. Sandayuu is waiting for you back at the studio and he's pretty upset."

"Ah, he's just worried about his next meal ticket. As for me I'm *hick* bowing out as the princess," Yukie chuckled dryly, pouring herself another shot. "Movies switch actors for sequels all the time. Another actress can take my place in the next Princess Gale movie. I'm not going to Yuki no Kuni no matter what you say."

Breathing out a sigh, Naruto sat himself down on the stool next to her. He held up two fingers to the bartender and pointed to the fancy bottle up at the top shelf. The man quickly got the pair the alcohol as requested and poured the contents into the two clear glasses he dropped in front of his blonde haired customer, who paid with a single note. "Keep the change."

Yukie watched him with interest as he grabbed one glass with his palm over it and slid it towards her, which got a smirk out of the actress. "Finally decided to throw in the towel?"

The jinchuriki smirked back at her as his head was propped on his hand and elbow on the counter, "Nope. I just thought I'd share a drink with you." He released hold of the glass while picking up his with his other hand, swirling the whisky looking liquid around. "I'm still sort of new to the whole alcohol thing, so I figured I'd have my second night out at a bar with a world famous actress trying out the best stuff the place has to offer before moving on with my assignment." He raised the drink up as the girl considered hers. "Will you at least honor me with this?"

Blinking, the girl smirked and accepted his offering, her eyes completely missing the sizzling of a small something dissolving in with her glass as she lifted the drink up to meet his. Their glasses chinked together before she brought it back to her, "Cheers." She then took a sip.

As Naruto turned to face the bar, at the same time taking a sip from his glass, he seemed completely oblivious to the actress next to him setting her drink down and turning to the bar as well. After which, Yukie's eyes then became droopier as she swayed a couple of times on the spot, before collapsing over the counter with a thud. The sound of light snoring was soon heard from the now unconscious actress as the jinchuriki skulled his drink and sighed as he set it down in front of him.

"Damn… that's good stuff," Naruto breathed, turning to Yukie next to him with a smirk, "Not that you can offer your own two-cents on it, princess." Smiling as he fingered his empty drink a bit, the boy then pushed it forward before getting to his feet. "Still, I should do this more often." He then picked up the hapless princess and hoisted her over his shoulder. Not forgetting the bottle he'd bought, he saluted the bartender, who nodded right back, and took his leave.

Just before Naruto could vacate the premises, the boy paused only for a moment to hear the door to the establishment open and close, signifying the exit of the drunk that had attempted to pickpocket the princess beforehand. His senses gluing onto the man, the jinchuriki couldn't help but sense something off about that, but chose to keep this little observation on the backburner for the time being as he began making his way to the studio.

He had an out-cold actress over his shoulder and a mission to complete. There was a time and place for everything.

---

Later that night…

Many miles away…

"So… she has the hex crystal?" the deep voice of a large man seated in a metallic throne exclaimed as he set his glass of scotch down on the armrest and smiled up at the film playing before him against the wall. Resting into his seat, the individual spoke with absolute clarity in his return address of the shinobi kneeling on the ground to his right and to the pair in a similar state behind him. "Splendid. This truly is splendid news, Nadare"

"This actress Yukie, there is no question that she is really Koyuki Kazahana," the shinobi identified as Nadare, a man with grayish purple hair tied into a ponytail, marks under his eyes and wearing a thick white snow shinobi uniform with armor and a mask-style forehead protector, stated with a smile of his own. The confidence he spoke with was absolute. "The informant that I had shadowing her for the past month confirmed she is in possession of the gem. She is the genuine article."

The pink-haired kunoichi wearing a similar style of uniform and kneeling to the left behind the head honcho smirked, "I can hardly wait. It was worth the ten years it took to find her."

"Heh," the larger of the two male subordinates, a hulking man with a chiseled chin and wearing notable armor plating to the right of the leader scoffed as he looked towards the screen, "Taking care of one little girl ought to be a piece of cake."

This statement brought a small frown to the man that had made the report, the pony-tailed individual glancing across at his teammates seriously. "She's not alone. My informant also told me that she has Naruto Uzumaki as a bodyguard."

The bulky shinobi raised an eyebrow in surprise, "Naruto Uzumaki?"

"Well now… isn't this interesting," the kunoichi in the room chirped while looking up towards their squad's boss. "If I remember correctly, he was that boy who made it to the end of the international Chunin Exams over a week ago. His performance was truly remarkable, especially for someone so young."

While this had Nadare smirk slightly at the prospects of a battle, the man seated in the throne leaned back with an amused chuckle. "I highly doubt a child like that would be that much of a problem."

"I wouldn't get so confident if I were you, big boy."

Hearing the familiar voice echo into their midst, all four members of the group looked to the left of the room to see a figure step out of the shadows. Her teenage form wrapped in a purple and white robe, with long white, spiky hair framing a cute face and a forehead protector with no symbol on it adorned across her brow, the child-looking newcomer stepped into the light and stood on the edge of the projector light continuing to play a film featuring Yukie Fujikaze as the lead. The pink-eyed youngster smirked confidently across at the group, who regarded her with serious intent and focus.

"In spite of what you may think of him, that brat you're talking about was listed prominently in Gato's black list prior to his death and has an eight-million ryo bounty in the bingo book," the girl informed, placing her hands on her hips as she looked at all four faces slyly. "On top of the fact that he saved not only Idaina Kawa no Kuni (Land of Great River) but Nami no Kuni (Land of Waves) from our former partner twice, he was also able to defeat a member of Akatsuki in battle."

Nadare twitched at hearing this, "Really?"

"How do you know all this, Karenbana?" the man on the throne spoke, his eyes narrowing dangerously on the person. In spite of her size and appearance, the three people in the room were still wary of her, as they had full knowledge of who she was and who exactly she was working for.

The girl, now identified as Karenbana, gave a cheeky smile and wagged a finger in the group's direction, "I have my sources. My boss likes to keep tabs on everything that goes on around the elemental nations… just so that he's informed. He has eyes everywhere, including here." She then dropped her arm back to her side and tilted her head at the group. "If you like, I can help you guys capture the princess. Perhaps my services will help steer you into making the decision into finally joining forces with us. Your contributions so far have been most helpful to our cause."

"Thanks… but we'll pass," the man in the throne replied, turning toward the big screen once more and relaxing into his seat. "I have my eyes set on a much greater prize."

Karenbana shrugged and slipped her hands behind her head, "Very well then. I'll just stick around a little while longer in case you change your mind." The grin that formed on her lips revealed her excitement. "Things look like they're about to get a little more interesting around here anyway."

Nadare smirked at her, "In spite of what you've said, whether or not you're here to support us, in the end it doesn't matter. I'll crush Naruto Uzumaki with my own two hands… and get our sweet little princess to hand over the crystal…"

TO BE CONTINUED…

---

Author's Note: Thanks for waiting everyone and hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Kicking off Naruto's initiation into his new responsibilities as a Jonin, he's taken a job to the Land of Snow. This arc should be wrapped up nicely by the next chapter, but is also important in showing the enemy that's working in the shadows.

Can you guess who it is and who the kunoichi speaking with Doto is?

Hope you're all looking forward to the next chapter.

P.S I apologize for the gaps between updates, but I'm writing ahead in the story before releases.