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

33. Takigakure Arc - Sound of a Waterfall

NARUTO

Drifting

The Sound of a Waterfall

A day later…

Nighttime…

Standing inside of a dark chamber, in a structure many, many miles out of the way of Yuki no Kuni, a very sinister procedure had just come to an end, allowing the doctor performing the checkup and the patient under his watch to leave the bench and return to their regular lines of work.

Stepping away from his office desk with writing pad in hand, leaving a whole assortment of documents and scrolls behind, an elderly man with long, flowing grey hair, muttonchops connected to his beard, yellow eyes, and wearing a black shirt, white gi with brown and blue edges, a sleeveless red jacket and blue pants, approached another table positioned in the middle of what was apparently an enormous laboratory. With electricity zapping off of large Tesla coils and enormous vials filled with bubbling liquids set up all over the place, the man took to the scenery like he belonged there, focused on his current task at hand and approached the person standing behind the center station.

Seeing the individual finish adjusting the glove on his arm, the patient doctor smirked as he then went over the information one last time before glancing back at the tall shinobi with orange, spiky hair and wearing the blue shirt, battle robe and white vest. "Well Ishidate, I went over your test results again. It was a tedious process and there were a few outside factors I had to take into account, but after crunching the numbers and taking a closer look at the notes we were able to compile, I think you'll be very happy to hear about the numbers I was able to pull from your specs."

Adjusting his coat, the man identified as the former Wandering Ninja turned to face his host once again and smirked, "And? How did I do?"

The doctor smirked, "Fantastic. You're adapting really well to your body's new modifications. Comparing this to the information we were already able to acquire from you and thousands of other subjects across the continent, I'd say you're about as strong as Itachi Uchiha now. That is magnificent progress."

Ishidate grinned at that and turned around again, closing his eyes and giving a satisfied nod. "I was already more powerful than that man before I volunteered to go through with the procedure. If I am being completely honest with myself, the boss was only improving upon greatness."

Hearing this had the medical specialist chuckle in amusement. "Careful, Ishidate. Don't let that superiority complex of yours get the better of you. It might actually come back to bite you in the ass."

"Ah. I'm only speaking the truth, Shinno-san," the suave shinobi replied cockily, slipping his hands into his pockets and turning to face the assistant once again. "In any case, I was given a chance to push the limits of my abilities and overcome my shortcomings, and I did just that. But I don't intend to stop here. There's so much more I have yet to accomplish before I can even think about retiring from this business."

"You and me both," the doctor, now identified as Shinno, stated, flipping through the documents he was holding and looking down at the stats listed. "I was able to fix the splicing made to your body so that the changes blended seamlessly into your genes. Now it's like you never even went through with the operation."

Ishidate chuckled, "Excellent. Good to know that I won't have any hideous scars left behind once I get out there and start raising hell." He then gave the old guy a curious stare. "Have you fixed it so that I won't have to go through with the boss's weird fusion techniques against my will? I know he's done it for Ichi, Ni and San… but I'm not really comfortable with the idea of room-sharing with a couple of his other cronies should push come to shove in the foreseeable future."

"Don't worry. It's all taken care of," the old doctor and scientist replied good-naturedly. "That particular drawback has been completely cut from your system, so you won't have to worry about going through any unplanned and gruesome transformations." He then propped the pad under his arm and looked back at the mercenary glaring at him. "You'll be able to gain full access to your latent capabilities and the skills granted to you through your newly integrated kekkei genkai thanks to your increase in stamina, chakra control and strength." He then took his pencil and pointed it across at the mercenary. "Your Petrification abilities are now bonded to your body and are a completely open book for you. The proficiency you have over it will increase through continued use and practice of it, so don't be afraid to go nuts."

"And I'm to assume that this won't end up blowing up in my face?"

"Not at all," Shinno chuckled. "The boss is as good a medical specialist as I am. If there was any problem with your body or your performance, he'd be able to pick up on it with just a quick glance in your general direction, which I can assure you he will not, because there will be none."

Pulling a hand out of his pocket, said mercenary then looked down at his palm and flexed his fingers. After testing it several times and getting a feel for his newfound strength, he grinned. "With this… I'll be able to surpass even the strongest shinobi in history." His hand then balled into a fist and tightened with the sound of popping muscles echoing all around.

Appearing proud at his success, Shinno turned and began to walk back over to his previous station. "In any case, now that your ordeal is over I can finally concentrate on the modifications I plan on applying to your teammates. I assume Karenbana still wants to ditch that child-like body of hers and replace it with something more… older and risqué… right?" The man stopped and grinned lecherously at the ideas that sprang to mind.

Ishidate laughed at this and looked at the professor's back in amusement, "The woman knows what she wants."

"Then I'll get right to it. The master was able to work with a similar modification with Ni in the past that gave her the ability to control animals… so I shouldn't have any problems fixing the same stuff with your kunoichi counterpart."

While Ishidate remained standing in place and Shinno was back at his desk working on his next design to bend the laws of the natural world, the sound of approaching footsteps had the former turn to the entrance of the lab, where he then saw the familiar forms of his partners Karenbana and Kongo step into the light. The two former wanderers came to a stop in line of the orange haired man, who nodded in greeting to his friends who took their time in looking him over and getting a feel for his new person.

The white haired, incredibly young looking Karenbana surveyed the taller man momentarily before then giving him a wide grin when she was done breaking down her partner's new aura. "You look good."

"Though not much has really changed from what I originally was," Ishidate replied before nodding towards her, "Did your expedition to Yuki no Kuni go smoothly?"

"Swimmingly. Unfortunately though… the negotiations didn't turn out so well for Doto and his lackeys," the kunoichi replied while waving at the man's words dismissively. "They got their butts handed to them by a group from Konohagakure and lost everything in the process. Only one of the dictator's men actually made it out alive."

"And… what happened to him… or her?"

Karenbana snickered and thumbed over her shoulder, "I took her down to the prison system. The guards will escort the wench to her cell once they've given her a thorough check up. She took quite a nasty beating in her fight. Makes me think I should have gone easier on her." Sure, she only received one hit from the Konoha brats that knocked her out, but the snow kunoichi didn't exactly make it easy on the wandering ninja taking her back to this fortress. She had to knock some sense into her during their return trip when she wanted to play hard ball.

The newly beefed up Ishidate then gave a hearty laugh and looked away, eyes panning up to the window inside of the lab unveiling the night sky high above them. "They should have taken up our offer for an alliance when they had the chance."

"You're telling me," the kunoichi exclaimed while stretching back and giving a satisfied groan. Upon doing so, she then beamed and looked across at the doctor she could see writing stuff down at his table, surrounded by his reading material and documents. "So… now that that's over and done with, what do we do now?"

"We wait for new orders," Shinno replied, not even bothering to turn around as he fixed his attention on the wall of graphs and information in front of him. Feeling the eyes of the Three Wandering ninja on him, the man gave an affirmative nod and returned to his work. "Now that the boss has gotten his hands on a few more toys to play around with for the next few months, I expect he'll want to get his hands on a biju next. That should be a lot fun for you guys."

The grins that formed on Ishidate, Kongo and Karenbana's faces were all the answer the doctor needed on that matter.

It was then when the idea of 'toys' was thrown onto the floor regarding their master's terrifying interests, the white haired, child looking kunoichi perked up and stepped into the light. Reaching behind her and into the satchel on her back, the girl pulled out a scroll she had stashed away and held it up to Shinno, who sensed her approach and turned to face the young woman from his spot by his writing desk.

Giggling excitedly, the girl laid the item out on the operation table, "Speaking of a lot of fun, there's something else from Yuki no Kuni that I managed to find lying around in the uncharted wilderness when the snow melted away. I figured it might be something of great interest to the boss, since it is after all… a former relic of that group." Seeing the doctor raise an eyebrow at her, Karenbana then wasted no time in unfurling the roll and, performing a few hand seals, slapped her hand on top of the length of sheet. A puff of white smoke later, and the entire room was suddenly filled with the sounds of profuse cursing and shouting.

"I KNEW YOU WERE GOING TO LET ME OUT EVENTUALLY, YOU SCRAWNY, FROG FACED BITCH! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU? COME ON OUT AND FACE ME! I WILL RIP THE EYES OUT OF YOUR HEAD AND PISS IN YOUR DEAD SKULL! I'LL TEACH YOU NOT TO KICK ME AROUND LIKE A BALL!" the voice of the disembodied head of Hidan shouted with spittle flying from his mouth and his eyes cutting around the dark room he now found himself in. Sitting on top of the scroll, the recently unfrozen immortal cursed as his gaze then fell upon the surprised looking Shinno. "Damn it… where the hell am I? And who the fuck are you?"

Registering to the familiar face and ignoring the slightly bewildered expressions of Ishidate and Kongo in the background, Shinno then approached the table and stood before what was left of the bloodthirsty Jashin worshipper in full view.

"Well, if it isn't the infamous and unkillable Hidan… former shinobi of Yugakure and member of the Akatsuki organization," the doctor chirped, at the same time leering at the seething mug. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you face to face. How are you feeling today?"

"How am I feeling today? I'm in FUCKING AGONY, you dumb fuck! That's how I'm feeling today! I'm a severed, bloody head sitting on top of a fucking pedestal in some fucking S&M dungeon in the middle of Jashin knows where!" the grey haired, slightly bruised up cranium shouted before snapping his teeth up at his host. "God damn it, I just want to die and get this whole thing over with! What the fuck do you want from me, grandpa?!"

Shinno chuckled at his rough inquisition and shrugged casually, "Oh… not much." He then reached out and picked the head up by his hair, ignoring the curses that came flying at him afterwards as he then held him out. When the doctor's gaze fixed onto Hidan's own hateful one, a sinister grin then spread across the old man's mug. "We were just… well… let's say my boss was wondering if you would like to answer a couple of questions for us."

"Questions?" Hidan repeated, his scowl deepening, "What kind of fucking questions?" He'd been frozen in a block of ice on top of a mountain for the past however many months have come and gone, and didn't even have a body to take a piss out of after all that time. You could say he was not really in the best mood to be answering questions for anyone, as indicated by his foul looking expression.

The doctor smiled in amusement, as did the other three mercenaries in his midst, "First… you're going to tell us everything you know about your organization and its activities, its current members, and what their little plans are for the future of the five great shinobi nations. Next, after you're done spilling every last bit of information you can about the Akatsuki, we will then take you down to the lab and dissect you for everything that you're worth, and put you to work for our organization's leader. And then, when the day finally arrives that you've given every last bit of yourself to helping our nation's cause… and this entire continent has been razed to the ground in preparation for the new utopia to be born… THEN… and only then…"

Shinno's eyes flashed dangerously and blasted enough killing intent into Hidan's surprised face that it had the man sweating bullets, if that were even possible in his state. After which, he then finished his final statement with a voice low enough for every person in the room to hear.

His words resonated with everyone, especially the victim he was directing all of this towards.

"You have my permission to die."

---

Three days later…

Following the defeat of Doto and his men at Rainbow Glacier, it didn't take long for word to spread across the entire country of Snow, which had now taken on a new spring setting, to all the villages spread far and wide that Princess Koyuki had returned. Apparently, Sandayuu and his platoon of soldiers hiding out in the mountains hadn't been the only ones who had been waiting and hoping for their rightful ruler to return, and in just a few hours since learning of her survival the people came together and welcomed Koyuki back to the throne with open arms.

There had been an enormous rally at the newly built castle's main courtyard, where the coronation ceremony took place. The camera crew was on hand to capture the final scenes of their new movie, where they had the pleasure of filming the entire formal procedure, complete with the princess being transported onto the grounds in a royal carrier and then led up to the balcony to appear to all of the people attending the session.

It was a grand gathering, with flags, banners and streamers flying all across the quad. Naruto and his team were incredibly thankful to be a part of such a spectacular event, as they stood in the background watching over the actress being welcomed back into her homeland, as per the terms and conditions of their contract.

They had to admit, the princess really did look good in her robes.

Once all the official proceedings were over and done with, everyone then moved to the main garden to finish off the celebrations of the day with a banquet. Command of all the guards and the returning staff was quickly handed over to Koyuki, who knew that with the end of the ceremony that there would be long and busy days ahead of her. However, she expressed little fears over them despite her new position, as she knew she would be able to handle them. For now, she needed to become acquainted to her renewed responsibilities as the princess of Yuki no Kuni.

She did this while settling her business with the shinobi that had tagged along with her throughout their wild and crazy adventure, and gave them all a final rundown on the situation. "As it turns out, the generator wasn't even fully developed yet. It was the last thing my father spent the remainder of his days building, but never got around to working out all of the kinks," Koyuki informed with a small smile as she gazed at each of the young members of the team.

Sakura gave an apologetic smile, "I guess it will be back to winter soon, huh."

"No, not really," Koyuki responded quickly and with a hopeful glimmer in her eyes, "If we take what we know, continue researching, and add the remaining touches left to the machine, before you know it Yuki no Kuni (Land of Snow) will become Haru no Kuni (Land of Spring)."

These words had Kaede's heart soar and, to go along with these feelings of euphoria, the boy struck a pose with stars sparkling all around him, a sight that had Tenten lean away from him warily, "Ah, from winter to spring. Such beautiful poetry."

After stepping sideways from the glowing child, Tenten looked across at the new ruler while rubbing her shoulder in an uneasy manner, "It's a bit of a shame though. You're such a big star and a talented actress. Are you really going to retire from acting?"

A sly grin formed on Koyuki's face at that as she stood up off of the table she was leaning against, "Who said I was retiring? Ruling Yuki no Kuni and acting… I think I can handle it? I mean…" She then pulled out a script from behind her, "I would have to be out of my mind to give it up now." Pressing it against her chest, the team was able to get a good view of the title emblazoned upon it.

Sakura's eyes widened and she pointed at the familiar words of Icha Icha in plain sight, "Th-That's…"

"No way," Tenten also choked, baffled by her selection of her next role.

Koyuki giggled at their collective expressions, "Well, I'll be seeing you guys. And… Naruto…" Just as she was stepping away from the table, she stopped in front of the jinchuriki and grabbed his attention. When the blonde looked at her, he saw the teen star gazing at him with a warm shimmer in her brilliant gaze. "Since the role of rebuilding and preserving the peace in Yuki no Kuni has fallen into my hands, I would… like to borrow some help from Konohagakure."

The young Jonin blinked, "Sure. Whatcha' need?"

Koyuki smiled, "To be more precise… I would like your help." This surprised all of the shinobi present in the area as the raven haired young lady moved closer to the boy. "I would like for you to work with me as my advisor, so that I can make Yuki no Kuni a country again and help extend our relations to your home and to all the other nations. You can work for your village from here and help out wherever you can, and with you next to me I know we will be able to do a lot together." She then gazed more brightly and gestured over to the director and his DOP standing nearby, "There might even be a chance for you to star in some more movies if you're interested. The director loved all of the footage he was able to get of you and was really impressed with your work."

Though Naruto would like to say none of his performances were an act, as he'd been fighting some really serious battles, he didn't let this fact overwhelm his current train of thought. He stood there for a moment in silence, watched on by his surprised teammates, all of whom were wondering whether he would accept the offer or not.

Sakura, Tenten and Kaede all knew that their best friend was passionate about becoming Hokage and serving his village. He was a good shinobi who stuck to his guns and saw all of his missions through to the end with both flare and fortitude, while also making sure that all of his friends were happy. However, they also knew he was free spirited and adventurous, and was always eager to see the world.

In all honesty, it was a really tough choice. This was a really big opportunity being presented to the jinchuriki; to work alongside a star as an advisor and, by extension, a guard, who would still be able to function as a shinobi for his village. After all, it was a common practice for a lot of the big villages with ninja to loan some of their own shinobi over to some of the other, smaller countries for certain periods, and since Koyuki was determined to reshape her country's image, this made Yuki no Kuni a potentially strong ally for Konoha. The group honestly had no idea whether the jinchuriki would take it or not, but just as it seemed like Naruto was about to turn her down, the blonde responded with a smile and a nod.

"I would love to work here with you, Koyuki," the blonde said, seeing the princess's expression brighten, "But… I'll need to go back to Konohagakure and clear this up with my friends first. I still have some work I need to have settled over there… so as soon as I've finished it all, I will return."

Thrilled, the actress breathed in deeply and nodded in understanding, unable to contain her joy at his decision. "Then I will be seeing you soon, Naruto-kun. You can get in touch with the director and let him know you're coming in." With a bow to the boy and to the rest of his team, the teen then scampered off, heading back over to the director and his group, where she was then swamped by a crowd of excited children asking for her autograph.

Instead of turning them down like she used to, she gladly accepted their pads and pens and signed away.

Naruto grinned as he watched her, before hearing a sigh and turning to see Tenten looking at him with a cheeky smile.

"Look at you, Mr. Popular," the girl chuckled, elbowing him in the side, "You're so hot, movie stars and princesses want you."

The jinchuriki shrugged, "What can I say? I try my best."

It was then Kaede and Sakura stepped towards him, with the former pulling an envelope out from his pocket. Holding it out to the team captain, all eyes trained on it to see the youngster beaming across at the receiver of the gift. "Koyuki-hime gave this to me, Naruto-san. She said that she wanted you to have it."

"For me?" Naruto murmured, taking the letter from Kaede and cracking it open, "Hm… why didn't she give this to me herself?" Wondering aloud, he then pulled the photo that was inside of it out and blushed to the roots of his hair at what he saw, "Oh, that's why." A similar, visible response was held by Tenten, Sakura and Kaede, all of whom were now staring wide-eyed at the picture.

Sometime before the coronation ceremony, Koyuki had managed to take a photo of herself in her new bedroom. At first blush this seemed just like something a normal person would do; posing in a chamber that would serve as their sleeping quarters for the next few years. However, the fact the picture was of the world famous actress laid out on her bed, on her side, facing the camera in lingerie that was way too risqué for someone like her made the shot completely gob-smacking. She was looking at the camera seductively, with her signature inscribed above the image next to a lipstick-stamped kiss reading, 'To my hero, Naruto. Koyuki Kazahana.'

This had obviously been meant for the jinchuriki's eyes only, but unfortunately the blonde had opened it in the presence of his company. Whether this snapshot was meant to be a joke or not, Naruto couldn't really say. Either way, it was quite clear to all those that had been involved in this whole kafuffle that Koyuki was more than grateful for everything the blonde had done for her, which prompted her to express her appreciation through this one and solid gesture.

A picture spoke a thousand words after all.

After getting a good view of the photograph and having it unintentionally engraved in her mind, Sakura wasted no time in throwing her best friend a dirty look and flicking him in the ear. "Naruto… you're a pervert…"

Said blonde gulped and gave a sheepish grin, "Sorry."

XXX

Three days later…

The trip back home went by a lot faster than the young group of shinobi figured it would. Maybe because they weren't surrounded by the endless clatter of the film crew and were finally able to get in some down time that the length of the journey went by pretty much forgotten. Upon making landfall, their immediate task then involved them marching the rest of the way back to the village, which from their point of view didn't take very long either.

Reporting at the front gates to whoever was on duty, they then began moving across the hidden leaf to the Hokage's office to make their report. Since this was Naruto's first mission leading a team, he needed to inform his boss of all the trials, tribulations and successes that they'd encountered on their expedition, as well as to keep tabs on and assess his progress. It was also now part of his routine as a leader of a squad to report in whenever he was required to, which the boy was still trying to work his head around and immerse himself completely into his new look.

Upon hitting the main building as a unit and climbing the stairs, they started for the main office, where the four youngsters of the Yuki group engaged in further conversation over their overwhelming success.

"Naruto, you defeated Doto and saved another country from a tyrant. Do you know what this means?" Sakura asked the boy with an excited smile, "With the right press, you can be as huge as Kakashi-sensei. Well… almost… if you find a big enough wig…"

Naruto blinked in bewilderment, "Kakashi-sensei doesn't wear a wig!" He had silver hair that stood upright and flowed in the direction of the wind.

Wait. Come to think of it, nobody's hair was like that. Not even Jiraiya's was that out of this world. Maybe Sakura was right on the mark about it being fake.

"Oh, come on. Nothing on that man is real. He probably bought his entire face from a thrift store."

The jinchuriki and his other two teammates walking alongside them down the hall laughed at that. "Does he even have a genuine face?" He'd hate to think the man had that mask of his sewn into his skin.

"Not sure," Sakura murmured before slamming her fist into her open hand. "That settles it. I'm going to find out what's underneath that mask. I'm sick and tired of that creepy eye-smile he keeps giving me. I'm still his student as far as my rank is concerned so I've got plenty of time to try and catch a glimpse of his mug. I'll bet he has a pointy nose."

"Good luck with that. Sensei is a shrewd guy, so don't expect it to be an easy mission," Naruto informed, also wondering to himself what the man's face actually looked like, but choosing to dismiss these thoughts in favor of more pressing matters. He had information to relay to the Hokage regarding some important details he'd picked up on in his latest mission.

This material plagued his mind to the point of his arrival at the front door. Seeing the guards were excused, Naruto entered along with his team, with Hiruzen Sarutobi being the very first person they saw as soon as they stepped into the room. Crossing the threshold, the four teenagers stopped before the head honcho's desk and stood at attention when the man finally acknowledged their presences.

"Ah, Naruto-kun. Welcome back," the Hokage chirped with a smile, shutting one of his logs to lace his fingers together and rest his elbows on the table in front of him. "I trust your first mission leading a squad on an A-Rank mission went well."

"Oh, it went great," Naruto chuckled, slipping his hands into his pockets, with one of them pulling out the scroll he'd managed to fill in on the boat ride back to the mainland. As soon as it came into view, he approached the desk and placed the document right in front of the elder, his smile remaining in play, "You'll find enclosed a complete account of all the events that transpired over in Yuki no Kuni right here. Koyuki Kazahana. Man, I tell yah Hokage-jiji, the people you meet out there in the world."

It was at this statement, Hiruzen's eyebrows disappeared under the brim of his hat as he gave his full and complete attention to the Jonin, "Wait… Koyuki… surely you're not…"

"Yep. As it turns out, Yukie Fujikaze was in fact Princess Koyuki Kazahana of Yuki no Kuni. She took on the name Yukie after managing to escape the country following a coup that took place there years ago and has been hiding under the guise of an actress ever since," Naruto replied, a small smile appearing on all those team members present. "As much as I'd like to ask more about the events that took place there, I think I've heard enough of that story for one adventure."

Retaining his surprised visage for some seconds longer, the Third Hokage soon shook himself out of his stupor and cleared his throat. Adjusting his hat, the man went on to looking across at the young shinobi professionally again. "I understand that your… assignment didn't all go according to plan then?"

Naruto shrugged as Tenten stepped forward with her hands behind her and chest puffed out, "Certain circumstances called for us to deviate from the original mission parameters in order to ensure the safe passage of Yukie Fujikaze to Yuki no Kuni. Other than stretching the boundaries of our contract from an escort mission to one that involved saving an entire continent from a tyrant… nothing else happened."

The blonde grinned and nodded to the girl, "What she said."

An even longer silence fell as Hiruzen attempted to process the things that were being thrown his way. The revelation that the world famous actress Yukie Fujikaze had in fact been little Princess Koyuki Kazahana all along was one thing, as the entire incident of her disappearance had been a well-guarded secret even from the other villages, but to hear that a young shinobi team, consisting of a newly promoted Jonin, Chunin, and two Genin, were responsible for liberating the entire country from strife, was another. It had the Third rubbing his head as if nursing a migraine before looking back at Naruto again.

"It's settled then."

"Hm? What's settled, Hokage-jiji?"

The elder pointed at him, "You're literally a magnet for trouble."

Naruto balked at this before deflating, earning a giggle from Sakura, an amused smile from Kaede and a laugh from Tenten. "It's not like it's my fault."

"Things were going so well at the beginning and then problems just started to appear, Hokage-sama," Sakura added while raising her hand meekly. "We didn't even know what the things that were going on were about until it was too late."

With this added support, Naruto straightened back up and placed his hands on his hips. "We would have sent for additional support or called off the entire expedition altogether, but due to the events that took place partway through the assignment it didn't leave us with many windows. We continued on with the mission and finished it based on my own judgment, and my teammates did extremely well."

"Well… that's good to hear," Hiruzen responded with a sigh. "I'm going to have to read the report for a more thorough retelling of the events. But from what I can tell thus far, you're settling quite well into your new positions Naruto-kun… Tenten-chan… well done." He saw the two teenagers beam with pride and nodded courteously to each of them as he retrieved the scroll and placed it next to him beside the others he was sorting through. "Was that everything?"

"Yes. I think the fees and all that other technical nonsense has been taken care of now. As far as job satisfaction and payment goes, everything's in order," Naruto responded, before his expression became dead serious once again. "However… there are a couple of things I need to tell you about regarding this particular mission, Hokage-jiji. They're things I've listed in detail in my report, but I think… now is a better time than any to tell you about a problem that has come up."

"Problem?" Hiruzen repeated while looking on inquisitively. "What kind of problem?"

Rolling his shoulder, the jinchuriki clenched his jaw nervously, "The former daimyo of Yuki no Kuni had hired three snow ninja as his personal bodyguards to perform missions for him. Aside from the country's foot soldiers that he also had under his command, I also ran into another enemy who was in no way affiliated with the country." This quickly had the elder's attention as Naruto thought back to his encounter. "When I busted Yukie out of her cell in Doto's fortress, we were stopped by a kunoichi with white hair, wearing strange battle attire and a blank headband. She knew who I was and said that she was visiting the country on behalf of her employer… her boss. I think she was expecting to run into me there."

Narrowing his eyes at this information, the Third Hokage linked his fingers together and rested his chin in place. "That… sounds troublesome."

Naruto shook his head and shrugged, "I don't know what this means… but… it's got me worried. Since she managed to get away, I'm pretty sure I might run into her again."

It was then Hiruzen, upon pondering his databanks for a moment, looked back up at the young Jonin in slight surprise before frowning once again, "Blank headband you say?"

The other teens standing alongside the jinchuriki flinched at the serious expression the leader of their village threw them. The squad was quick to recover however, and their temporary captain and squad leader nodded affirmatively, "That's right. You know something about it, jiji?"

Murmuring uneasily, the elder's eyes quickly cut between the sides of the room and back to the group, particularly toward Naruto and Sakura, who were standing there waiting for the old man to give them a response. He was leaving them in suspense, whereas the jinchuriki had given him the brief of the issues he'd encountered in the Country of Snow. However, from the glances the village leader was now throwing him, it seemed that he had something even more problematic to regale them with, and it had him restless.

"Naruto-kun… Sakura-chan," the elder spoke, earning blinks from the abovementioned, "I was going to break this to you later but… I don't think it can wait…"

OOO

Several minutes later…

Quickly rushing down to the hospital as fast as their legs could carry them, Naruto and Sakura barreled into the facility at top speed, with the kunoichi flying off the handle. However, remembering to keep a low voice and much of her panic in check, she and her teammate ran up and down the various corridors of the building before eventually arriving at where they knew Sasuke was being held.

Weaving past a couple of orderlies walking in the opposite direction from the room itself, the pair shuffled into the white chamber, where they were quick to push past the curtains and find themselves at Sasuke's bedside. Panting as she looked in with a fearful gaze, both Sakura and Naruto were caught a little bit by surprise when they saw another face standing beside the bed as well, with the latter recognizing the person immediately.

"Sh-Shizune-neechan?" Naruto chirped, alerting the older kunoichi to his presence.

Looking up from her writing pad, the brown haired woman in the dark robes looked over and smiled when she saw the familiar smile of the blonde and his teammate standing there. She greeted them kindly with a nod, "Hello Naruto-kun. Back from your mission?"

"Y-Yeah… just got in," the blonde stated, before then turning his attention to the bed she was standing beside.

It was there both he and Sakura saw the current state of their teammate for themselves. While the initial report from the Third led them into believing that their teammate and friend was in serious condition, from the way he looked now, he seemed perfectly fine. Knowing who it was that was currently checking up on him the jinchuriki had no reason to see why the Uchiha shouldn't have received the best treatment possible at the hospital. If the apprentice of the Legendary Sannin Tsunade was here, then you could say all was well.

Aside from having the few physical injuries he'd sustained recently patched up and mended, the pair's main cause for concern immediately rested on the boy's face. There, they saw gauze and bandages had been wrapped around his right eye, whereas his left was open and looking across at them in a cold stare.

It quickly dawned on the members of Team 7 that there teammate was awake, alive and well, and it eased their rattled nerves somewhat.

At first shocked at the teen's appearance, Sakura took in a deep breath and quickly moved over to the boy's side. "S-Sasuke-kun." Shaken, the pinkette lifted a hand up to him, only for the boy to shrug away her gesture out of discomfort of having her probing his face with her fingers, "W-What happened to you?"

"What happened?" Sasuke murmured, before glaring ahead of him distastefully towards the end of his bed, "I got beat… that's what happened, Sakura." He then glanced up at Naruto, where he saw the boy looking in with a serious expression of his own and concern reflected in his blue eyes. The raven haired Uchiha returned it with a tight scowl, showing how much face he wanted to save in front of his rival before nodding towards him, "Did your mission go alright?"

Remaining silent for a moment, Naruto eventually dignified his friend's question with an answer, "More or less." Hell, he didn't even give the boy his usual business that he was known for gracing others with. After all, this was not something to be laughing about. Not now at least.

Breathing a sigh, Sasuke then responded with a gesture of understanding, "I see. Well… as you can probably guess, mine didn't go as well… at least, not on the return trip." Reaching up with his right hand, the teen pressed his palm against the patch and gauze wrapped over that part of his face and head. Even with his lids shut and hidden underneath the bandages, the boy knew without even having to continue probing that the eyeball that was supposed to be in there no longer existed.

It was gone. The very asset of the kekkei genkai that made his clan famous had been taken away from him, which had the Uchiha ponder over this realization in silence for several minutes. After which, his miserable expression then scrunched up into one of blind fury before, without warning, he suddenly and unexpectedly lashed out and smashed the bedside table over, lunch-tray and all. His scream of anger and sudden attack on the piece of furniture caused Sakura and Shizune to back up, the former giving a startled cry while the boy then slammed his fists onto the bed he was lying on repeatedly.

"GOD, DAMN IT! FUCK!" Sasuke swore loudly, not even caring he was in a hospital as he clenched his teeth together before shutting his one good eye and shaking his head furiously. "Fuck! This isn't fair! If only I was stronger. If I was, then I would have torn that bitch to pieces! But now…" Gesturing to his missing eye, the boy growled and shook his head once again, allowing another yell of rage and frustration to escape him, with tears slowly flowing from the one orifice that hadn't been covered.

Hearing the boy's expression of despair and seeing his stress, Sakura slowly edged back over to him and laid a hand on his shoulder. Looking at the Uchiha intensely, the kunoichi breathed in and out slowly before speaking, "Sasuke-kun… it's okay."

"No it's not," the boy growled, his gaze turning to the girl next to him and hardening. His expression had his friend freeze, but failed in getting her to back off. "After all this time, after all those missions we went on as a team and all those training sessions we had together, I thought I was actually getting somewhere with this… that I was actually getting stronger and moving closer to my goal. But after months of nothing but hard work, not only did I lose in the tournament against that Tsubaki girl… I also lost outside, on the battlefield, where all of my fighting strength and skills should have counted the most." Huffing in anger, he glared across the bed again and cursed. "I'm weak. I'm still weak."

"No. You're not," the voice of Shizune spoke up, drawing the group's attention to the woman to see her seriousness fixed on the boy lying in his station. Eyes narrowed, the woman stepped towards him, "I saw you compete in the tournament, Sasuke. That Omoi boy you fought was really strong… one of the strongest Genin to come out of Kumogakure, and you defeated him without exerting much effort at all. You also fought a good round against Tsubaki, but because you didn't know what she was fully capable of, you were at an extreme disadvantage. Had you been paired up against anyone else on that chart, you would have progressed much further in. There's no doubt about that."

Continuing to stare at the woman who'd helped treat him following his operation, the Uchiha considered her words carefully for several seconds before then turning his attention to Naruto. It was then he focused completely on the young Jonin standing at the end of his bed and gave a statement that had everyone blink.

"But I wasn't the one who beat Tsubaki in the end."

His hard words earned a glare from Naruto, who stared back at the boy with a serious visage and an intensity he only ever showed to an opponent.

"What do you mean by that, teme?"

The Uchiha fixed his one good eye on his former squad mate and spoke, "I want to fight you." These words had the group that was present recoil in surprise and look on as the raven haired teen's jaw tightened and he focused his full and utmost attention on his academy rival standing at distance from him. "I'm good for one round. If there is any way of seeing if I've actually gotten anywhere on this team, I want to find out for myself. One on one. If what everyone is saying is true and that I've actually gotten stronger from what I was before, then I want you to fight me to prove it."

Glaring across at one another, both Naruto and the hospitalized Sasuke squared off, leaving everyone standing in silence. While Sakura and Shizune wanted to protest, neither of them said a word as they waited for a response from the jinchuriki, to see how he would respond to the challenge.

Eventually, after leaving everyone holding their breaths for a good long minute, the blonde responded to the call with a chuckle and a smile. "I would like to fight you, Sasuke… but not right now. Not as you are." Seeing the surprise that came to the Uchiha's face, Naruto became serious again. "You lost an eye. That means your depth perception has changed, and even with the Sharingan you still need time to adjust to the new conditions. Not to mention you're still in no shape after your battle with the people who did this to you. It would be unfair to fight you now and I don't want that. I want to fight you at your absolute best." The blonde crossed his arms and looked at his teammate firmly. "Once you get out of here and you've gotten your shit together, then we can have our match."

Hearing this, Sasuke considered the boy's words momentarily before nodding in understanding, "Alright."

It was an opportunity he wasn't going to pass up.

Upon reasoning with the raven haired teen and calming him down, the jinchuriki then came around and stood by his friend's bed with his arms folded. Along with the two kunoichi present, with Shizune remaining out of concern for her patient's condition and emotional wellbeing, the blonde haired boy began to speak again. "Now… since we're all here, I want to ask you a few things about the people you, Neji and Kotetsu ran into on your way back to Konoha," Naruto said, getting the genius to stare at him. "I want to know everything about them, who they were, who the team leaders were, and the one that was wearing the blank headband on his head."

Questions out, the Uchiha steeled himself and nodded.

With his audience of three present, the injured boy then relayed to them everything he remembered of his encounter with the rogue group. He told them all about how his squad was ambushed on the road and were split up by the mercenaries. Kotetsu was driven off by a squadron of flying shinobi using gliders as their main weapons in their arsenal, how he himself was isolated by two women wearing pink and green armor respectively and could transform themselves into monstrous creatures that granted them increased strength, and how Neji was forced to fight an enormous, brawling shinobi with a hulking frame. The latter of the three groups was the one that had the blank headband on, with the description and first glance being basically all the information Sasuke was able to give on him before being chased off by his adversaries.

The enemy had been there for him, or more accurately, his Sharingan. Exactly who they were working for or what their real numbers were was uncertain. But Sasuke clearly reiterated to the three people listening to him that the enemy wanted to conquer the entire continent and to glass every inch of soil that made up the Five Great Shinobi Nations. This was the information the two women who attacked him let slip before stealing his eye.

Remembering the day brought back the painful humiliation of defeat as well as all of his other miseries, which inevitably led to the Uchiha gnashing his teeth, clenching his fists and snapping angrily at his audience again. However, thanks to the company of Sakura and Naruto, the boy was quick to calm his fury and return to his previously melancholic state.

His anger suppressed and his outbursts quelled, the group was once more left in momentary silence after Sasuke had spilled everything he could on the matter.

Upon processing the information for himself, Naruto scrunched his brow and looked at the patient on the bed with a serious demeanor in play. "On our mission, we also ran into someone with a blank headband; a kunoichi who was in Yuki no Kuni negotiating with the leader there and asking whether they wanted to join their organization." This info had Sasuke's eye cut to the blonde quickly, who looked down at the floor in deep and troubled thought. "I think that she and the group who attacked you are in league with one another, and that they're all working for the same master."

Running this through a couple of times, Sasuke nodded in agreement, "I think you're right."

Appearing nervous at this, Sakura then looked between the two boys worryingly. "S-So… what you guys are saying is that there's some group of bandits out there attacking people on the roads and making deals with various dictators… for… what? An invasion? World domination?"

"World destruction," Sasuke answered, getting his former teammate to freeze up while he glared down at the fists he'd formed around the sheets of his bed. "That's what the woman in the armor said to me."

Shizune, hearing the discussion being thrown between the children, tightened her arms around her writing pad and looked at them seriously as well. "World destruction could just be another way of them saying world domination. You never know. They could be saying one thing, but mean something else completely different." She looked over the kids talking about their separate encounters and how they could be linked, and for what purpose, which allowed her to draw upon her own conclusions from past experiences. "There are all sorts of tyrants out there with all sorts of ideas and motivations. They could want anything from precious valuables to getting their hands on an entire country. Wanting to tear down the five great shinobi nations could also fall under that category."

Sighing and rubbing his head, Naruto panned towards the older kunoichi again, "At this point, there's nothing much we can say, except that there are a bunch of dangerous shinobi and mercenaries out there gaining power in the shadows. For what reason exactly we don't know… but… I think we should keep an extra eye and ear open for more on this matter." This earned nods of concurrence from Sasuke and Sakura, before the jinchuriki stepped back and leant up against the wall behind him. "Damn it… I hate complicated shit like this, especially involving cults, mafias and secret organizations."

"Solving mysteries was never your strongest point, Naruto," Sakura said, beaming across at the Jonin in a cheeky manner. "Fighting? Yes. Strategy? Unorthodox… yes. Problem solving? Not in the slightest."

Holding up a finger, the blonde waved it in the air while biting his lip in contemplation, "Look, I'm working on it." Seeing the girl stick her tongue out at him teasingly, the blonde then pointed in her direction. "Don't get smart with me young lady or I'll have no choice but to report you." He then pointed toward Sasuke to see his rival looking across at him in slight amusement, "And you, teme. Get better so I can have that scrap with you. If you want me, knock on my front door. If I'm not available, I'm probably out training or on a mission."

"Sure. Whatever," the Uchiha replied, relaxing somewhat at the conversation finally rolling to an end.

Smiling at seeing the team recover a bit and watching Sakura shuffle over to sit comfortably beside the slightly better looking Sasuke, who now seemed excited at finally being given an opportunity to fight his rival, Shizune then turned to said blonde challenger and beamed at him when he backed up toward the gap in the curtains. "By the way, Naruto-kun: congratulations on your promotion to Jonin. I never got the chance to say this to you earlier because Tsunade-sama and I had to leave so quickly, but now that I'm here…"

Brightening up at her words of praise, Naruto waved towards the woman in a show of appreciation, "Thanks, Shizune-neechan. I never thought I was going to receive a promotion straight to Jonin… but… if the judges thought that it was appropriate, than I'm not complaining." He'd come to terms with this fact during his mission to Yuki no Kuni. If he had the skills and brains necessary to lead a squad on a mission like the one he just came back from, then he was going to face his future with confidence and poise. While considering that note, the youngster then looked towards the woman curiously. "Wait, so, if you're here… in Konoha… then… does that mean-?"

Giggling, Shizune gave a quick nod before pointing out the door. "Tsunade-sama is down the hall in exam room six. Hokage-sama put her straight to work as soon as she stepped into his office."

"Ah," Naruto grinned and gave one last nod before running off.

Seeing her teammate on the move and not wanting to be left out of this one, Sakura gave Sasuke one last reassuring pat on the hand before following after the blonde. This left the raven haired teen under the care of the Sannin's apprentice, who proceeded on with her check-up, while also calling for an orderly to help clean up the mess.

A quick skip and a hop down the hall, and Naruto soon found himself at his next destination. When he arrived outside the room, he gave a brief, spirited knock and waited for the inevitable 'come in' to follow, giving him permission to enter. Passing through, he first spotted the familiar blonde hair and back belonging to one Tsunade of the Sannin, until she stepped to the side and revealed another all too recognizable face sitting in front of her. This came in the form of Isaribi, who was currently sitting comfortably under the gaze of the legendary kunoichi doing her scheduled check-up of her.

Spotting her roommate standing in the doorway, Isaribi straightened up sharply and beamed, "Naruto-kun. Welcome back."

"Isaribi-chan." While raising his hand to wave, Sakura's head popped out from behind him and looked into the room curiously.

"Oh, it's you brat," Tsunade spoke up, sounding a little bit surprised as she turned toward the exit with her hands on her hips and a smirk pulled across her full, gorgeous lips. "Still alive and kicking I see. That's good."

"Yep, and kicking ass at the same time. You're happy to see me?" Naruto asked curiously, stepping into the room at the same time. "Wow. Isn't that a little bit out of character for you?"

Tsunade gave a small laugh, "I'm just being nice. A habit I think you should consider taking up."

"Hey. I'm nice. I just act like a pain to people who pick on others for no apparent reason."

"Yeah, well, you'll be happy to know that I've passed that stage in my life," Tsunade responded, before giving a slight shrug in his direction. "It's been a while, so I'm still getting used to it. Don't make this process any harder than it already is, you troublesome brat."

As Sakura stepped into the room to hang behind Naruto, the jinchuriki approached the table where Isaribi was sitting on and stood by the purple haired girl, who gazed fondly at him in kind. "So what brought you all the way back here to Konoha, baachan? I was under the impression that you didn't like this place… like Ero-Sennin."

The woman balked a little at that reference. "Ero-Sen-… oh, Jiraiya?" Tsunade snorted before frowning again, "That old pervert doesn't hate this place. He just likes his own company and not being tied down to one home. I on the other hand… well… I'm not going to deny I didn't despise this village at one point in my life, but after thinking about it some more after the tournament I decided to let bygones be bygones and just popped in to say hi to some old friends." The Sannin chuckled and ran a hand through her hair. "Sensei also asked me to come in and stick around for a little while when he ran into me in Yugakure … something about having some work for me to do and all that nonsense."

"Did he now?" Naruto asked with a wicked grin. "That's pretty cool. What did he need you to do… and why?"

"Aside from being a former ninja of this village, I'm also the strongest kunoichi on this continent and, in my own humble opinion, the greatest medical specialist you're likely to come across. Any village would pay big ryo to have me come in to do some work for them," Tsunade replied while placing her hand on the table beside Isaribi, before turning and moving over to the desk where she had all her notes. Picking up the pad, she began scribbling more information down from her most recent scan of her patient prior to the intrusion. "I'm just surprised sensei didn't call me in sooner."

"Maybe he just wanted you to have some space," Naruto replied, giving a small smile as he knew a about the stuff the woman had had to go through in the past. "Everyone needs to get some fresh air every once in a while. It's good to get out in the world and stretch your legs for a bit." He'd heard everything from Jiraiya, about how her career as a kunoichi had screwed her over and how she developed this fear of blood.

He was actually surprised to see her in the hospital, a place where she was bound to come across a lot of blood.

Tsunade, sensing the sincerity in the young Jonin's tone, smiled at that while her back was turned. "Yeah. I guess even the super hardcore can understand idiotic stuff like that." She then glanced briefly at the blonde standing beside his friends, looking over him momentarily before turning to face her writing pad. "In any case, he offered me a lot of money to come around to do a couple of jobs for him, so I took him up on his offer. Got in just two days before you did."

"Did you lose all of the suitcases of cash you managed to make betting at the tournament already?" the jinchuriki asked inquisitively.

Aside from all of the other important stuff, Naruto also remembered some of the woman's other interests Jiraiya had told him about during his month of training.

"What? No," Tsunade scoffed, keeping her back turned to hide the nervous sweat that appeared on her face. "What kind of brain dead idiot do you take me for?"

From the way you could see her expression from the angle the three teenagers standing behind her were at, even with no face to give away any tells, you could tell that was exactly what she'd done.

Clearing her throat after she felt the sly grin from Naruto and the head shakes from Sakura, the slug Sannin Tsunade turned back around and approached them again. "I only lost two-thirds of it at the tables. I'm back to where I started from, but at least I was able to return everything I owe." Shaking her head after finishing up her writing, she then rested her hands on her hips again and gazed across at the jinchuriki. She then gave a brief smile towards the boy, one that was deep and meaningful, "Besides the money I… also had some other things I needed to consider. I would never have come back to this place if I didn't settle up with some of the old ghosts from my past. You really helped me out on that last one, Naruto."

Since her last bit came out in a bit of a mumble, Naruto looked at her strangely. "Uh… what was that, baachan?" Isaribi and Sakura also shared his confusion.

The woman waved at him dismissively, "Never mind. I tend to ramble every now and then." She then decided to focus her attention back on Isaribi and turned to the girl with full intent and focus, "Well, after looking you over for myself Isaribi, I can say with absolute certainty that it's definitely possible to fix you up." Seeing the girl's expression brighten up, the woman continued unimpeded. "It's all a matter of removing the excess membranes from your skin and adjusting the formula so that the human skin takes over. The stability between the two strains that gives you your amphibious capabilities in your cells is fine. All we have to do is operate to remove the additions you do not want showing on the outside, isolate the areas and cover them up."

"R-Really?" Isaribi asked.

"Yes," Tsunade answered, slipping her clipboard underneath her arm. "It's a delicate procedure. If you want it done correctly and to not have scars showing at the end of it, it's best that I perform the operation myself. Though it's been a little while since I last operated on a patient to this extent, I'm sure I'll be able to do it. No sweat."

Naruto, feeling a little put off by this information, stepped forward. "Are you really sure, baa-chan? Because… if anything happens to Isaribi-chan when she's under…"

"Don't worry, brat," the Sannin spoke while looking toward the young Jonin in amusement, "I won't hurt your friend. When you've done this for as long as I have, operating on patients becomes as natural as breathing. Just give me a month to get all of my material and resources together, and I'll have her fixed up in just two sessions." She turned to face all of the teenagers fully and nodded to them. "As it turns out, this was one of the few jobs that Hiruzen wanted me to see to first, as it required somebody of my level of skill to perform. With the list he gave me and the numbers of assignments he had lined up, I'm expected to be here for quite a while, so you can count on seeing my face around the village for the next half a year or so. I'm not going anywhere."

Blinking, Naruto smiled and folded his arms in relief, "Was the paycheck he wrote you too much to resist?"

Tsunade shook her head at that, "There's more to this line of work than just money, kid." She tilted her head and beamed in the boy's direction, "A medical nin is someone who helps people in need, someone who provides aid and comfort to their comrades when they're in dire straits, and someone who helps those who have fallen to the ground, find their feet again. A good medical shinobi can save hundreds of lives on the field, and is a person that most people will turn to when they get hurt. It is our job to give aid to those fighting to recover and to heal from their wounds. While it is indeed important for a shinobi or kunoichi to be good at fighting, there is always going to be a need for those who are able to put their friends back together when they fall apart."

These words struck a chord with Isaribi and, while Naruto was listening intently to what the woman had to say, also struck a chord with Sakura. The pink haired girl gazed up at the blonde haired woman as she went on, keeping her eyes trained on all of them as she opened up to the youngsters with her ideals, which she'd formed in her time as a kunoichi of Konohagakure.

With the way she looked now when not glaring down at them in a competitive or negative way, she definitely looked the part of someone worth following in the footsteps of. Right now, she appeared as someone any kunoichi would want to aspire towards.

Though her expression reflected a grim reality, the Sannin still held a determined smile. "When you made that bet with me back in the tournament and won it, you made me remember a lot of the things I thought I'd forgotten a long time ago, and I'm grateful for it." Chuckling, Tsunade brought her clipboard back up again and set it on the table next to her. She then gestured for Isaribi to hop off, indicating that she was done with her checkup. "You can say I… also got a lot of my old self back."

Upon listening to her sincere words, Naruto then shot her a bright grin and nodded his head enthusiastically. "It feels good to smile again, doesn't it?"

Tsunade chuckled and scratched her cheek, "Yeah. It does." She then opened her eyes to look at the blonde, but then noticed the kunoichi standing behind the jinchuriki step forward and come to stand in front of her. Blinking at the appearance of the pink haired teenager, the Sannin raised an eyebrow curiously. "Oh, you're… Sakura, right? Sakura Haruno?" The girl nodded. "You're the one who fought the fan user in the first round of the exams. Even though it was a short bout, you gave us quite an impressive performance."

Gulping under the gaze of one of the most powerful kunoichi in the world, Sakura stood at attention, bracing herself firmly before speaking, "T-Tsunade-sama… uhh… I've heard a lot about you and your work and… for a long time I've been looking to do something of worth for my team. After hearing what you just said about medical ninja being able to help people… I just… I'm just wondering."

"Hm? About what?"

Putting her hands in front of her, Sakura took in a deep, uneasy breath and pressed her fingers together. "I know you're busy and everything… but… if it's possible… I would really like to learn from you, Tsunade-sama… about how to become a strong medical ninja." Feeling the surprise come to Naruto and Isaribi's faces behind her, the kunoichi stiffened and bowed lowly. "Please. I want to be able to help the village and my comrades as much as I can… and to provide aid to my friends whenever they get hurt. There are a lot of dangers out there in the world and if I'm going to be put onto a team that's going to be sent on a mission far away from the village, I want to be able to carry my weight onto the field." She gave a moment of pause and straightened herself up even more so. "I would… really appreciate it… if you took my name into consideration."

Looking a bit surprised herself Tsunade then stared down at the girl for a few moments. Her eyes narrowed and gaze hardened as she considered the girl bowing her head to her, before seeing her glance up to stare firmly at her.

She was an interesting character. Aside from her teammates Naruto and Sasuke, she had a different air about her person that reminded the Sannin a bit about herself when she was younger. She wasn't brash, but she was hot-tempered and had confidence. On the field she also displayed somewhat of a fierce spirit, unafraid to come to blows with the opposition and had some very unique talents in both ninjutsu and taijutsu. From what she'd seen of the girl, even on first glance, Tsunade saw quite a lot of potential in her, and that was saying something.

Intrigued by this prospect, Tsunade considered Sakura's request for training even harder. What she was asking from her was just a few lessons. She wanted to learn medical ninjutsu under her so that she could help her teammates on the field and become someone who was needed, somebody who could do something more for their group. While this was certainly commendable, after considering it some more, the Sannin then came to an alternative decision.

Smirking at the end when she once again fixed onto the youngster's determined face, Tsunade straightened up a little more and spoke, "So… you would like me to take you under my wing, is that it?"

"Yes," Sakura nodded. "I want to train to become stronger… strong enough to be able to support my teammates and my friends, and to help others in need."

Tsunade's gaze hardened even more and she crossed her arms. "Are you sure about this? Because I'm going to tell you right now that my training isn't going to be easy. You have to be incredibly committed and focused if you're going to be learning jutsu and theory under my guidance… and my physical exercises are no walk in the park either. To be a strong medical ninja, you need to have a strong body and a strong mind. I'll have a lot of work and responsibilities lined up for you, and in order to get your skills to be as razor sharp as my own, I'm going to be putting you through hell on earth."

This warning had Naruto and Isaribi shiver, as her expression matched the tone of her words.

The pink haired girl however, was unfazed. All she did was frown, steel herself even more, and planted her foot into the ground, "I'll be willing to go to hell and back if it means protecting my friends." And this she meant.

After seeing what happened to Sasuke, she was determined to make this big step forward.

At that, the Sannin's intent increased tenfold, "Are you absolutely certain about this?"

Unwavering in the face of her seriousness, Sakura nodded. "Yes. I am."

And that was all Tsunade needed to hear.

A smile returned to the Sannin's face as she acknowledged the youngster's words completely, "Very well then." Uncrossing her arms, the woman stepped forward, "Starting right now, Sakura Haruno, you'll be learning medical ninjutsu from me as my apprentice." This declaration had everyone present in the room look at her in shock, as they did not expect the woman to just come out and say that. To give a few lessons yes, but for her to openly state she wanted to take on a student. Nevertheless, it still brought a joyful glow to Sakura's face. "Work hard."

"Yes, sensei!" the teen responded with vigor, bowing once more.

Smiling at the girl's excitement, Tsunade then noticed the smile on Naruto and Isaribi, and turned to them in acknowledgement.

"What?"

Hearing the question thrown his way, Naruto chuckled, "Nothing. We're just surprised, is all."

The Sannin shrugged, "I'll be stuck in this village for a while, so why not? Besides…" She nodded towards Sakura to see her almost literally bouncing on her toes where she was standing with her hands at her sides. "She's a tough girl with a lot of potential, definitely someone I wouldn't think of passing up. And you yourself are also learning under Jiraiya. It would be incredibly unfair to keep her out of the loop and learning from one of the best in the nation, don't you think?"

Naruto stepped forward and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder, catching the pink haired kunoichi's attention and smiling in her direction, "If she wants to do this, I won't stop her." He tightened his grip around her reassuringly and nodded. "Good luck, Sakura-chan."

Said team seven member beamed back at her friend and acknowledged his words of sincerity. "Thank you, Naruto."

Words of kindness shared and business settled Naruto and Isaribi eventually took their leave. Tsunade arranged with the purple haired girl to come visit her as soon as she had all her notes and material finalized, and promised her that she would have her fixed up ASAP. This brought no ends of joy to Isaribi, who practically bounded out of that hospital after everything had been put in order. The jinchuriki followed her out as well, deciding to take her for a celebratory lunch before heading on home.

It had been a long day for all of them and Naruto had every reason to believe that more of these days were waiting for him just around the corner.

XXX

Sometime later…

Naruto's Apartment…

Plopping down on the couch and sprawling out on top of it, Naruto groaned languidly as he gazed up towards the ceiling of his lounge room above him. Kicking off his sandals and placing his heels on top of the coffee table in front of him, he then allowed his body to melt into the cushions of his favorite seat in the house where his buttocks fitted comfortably into the groove of the bear's throne, like pieces to a puzzle. Hell, he was so content with finally being back in the village that he'd readily tossed his vest onto the couch next to him without a second thought or care.

"God, even after over a week of being away, you end up missing your favorite den," Naruto murmured.

Hearing a giggle of a voice behind him, the blonde craned his head around to see Isaribi standing beside him and looking at him in amusement. With a big smile on her bandaged face, the girl slowly stepped over and plopped herself down on the seat next to the blonde. When she sunk into the cushion, she beamed toward the home owner, whom she'd obviously missed over the course of his entire mission.

"You weren't the only one who was missing things," the diver informed him.

"Oh? You too?" the Jonin asked while tilting his head with a cheeky grin, "What were you missing, if I may ask, Isaribi-chan? My company? My roguish charm? My jokes? My casual wit? Hanging out with a good friend? Playing games with me?"

Isaribi laughed and playfully slapped him in the arm, "You, Naruto-kun… and all of that stuff. This place isn't the same without you around."

The blonde breathed a light chuckle as he lay back in the couch under the kind stare of his second flat mate, "Yeah, I figure it would be pretty dull and dreary."

"Not to mention eventless," the purple haired girl replied, at the same time shuffling over to him and grinning. She was clearly excited, especially after the good news she'd heard come from her doctors today. In only a few weeks time, she was going to be fixed up and made to look normal again, a dream she'd thought was only going to remain as such. "But I did miss your company the most. It makes me feel calm and happy. And that's always a good thing."

"Of course," Naruto beamed. "I get the same thing from you guys."

Blushing a bit at the warm smile he threw towards her, Isaribi brushed her hair behind her ear and gazed at him once again. "So… are you… going to tell me and the others about your mission? You did promise that you were going to tell all of us about your adventure when you got back."

"I did, did I?" the jinchuriki laughed as he then adjusted the metal guard over his head. Pulling off his goggles and setting them aside, he then wrapped an arm up and over the couch so that it hung over the girl. Though Isaribi paid it small mind due to the gesture, she nevertheless accepted it for what it was and got comfortable. "Well, seeing as how it's going to go public at the release of the next Princess Gale movie anyway, I have no problems in telling you every little detail about what happened on our trip." He then threw her a cheeky smile. "You may want to get some popcorn for this. It's going to be a long and exciting tale."

Isaribi giggled, "No thanks. I'm good."

"Alright then. So… it all started about a week ago when my team for the epic quest assembled at the front gate to head off to where our clients would be waiting for us. We had to hang around a bit for Kaede-kun to show up because he was preparing snacks for the journey, bless his heart. Too bad he has no taste buds whatsoever and nearly ended up assassinating the entire film crew. Anyhow… when he finally decided to turn up, we-"

Unfortunately, before he could go into further detail about his recent and most epic venture outside of Konohagakure thus far, the two teenagers were interrupted from their alone-time by the front door to the apartment clicking open and footsteps approaching the living room. Glancing in the direction of the archway when they heard the door open and close, they then saw the familiar face of Tayuya pop into view.

Expecting her at first to be exhausted from a day at the office and from undertaking an easy mission, Naruto was surprised to see the girl was sporting a ton of bandages and looking like she'd run for miles. Her clothing was also slightly ruffled from an obvious conflict she'd been involved with, an event she was obviously still aggravated over from the miserable look on her face. However, when her eyes landed on her jinchuriki roommate, she cheered up considerably. "Shithead!"

"Tayuya-chan!" Naruto greeted with a smile before his expression became puzzled, "What the heck happened to you?"

Blinking at the question, the redhead then looked her body over and chuckled at the various band aids and bandages covering her. "I went on a mission with Kiba and Hinata to the Land of Tea to escort a member of the Wasabi family through some annual race against the Wagarashi family. We ran into some problems and, well… one thing led to another and shit started to hit the fan." She then threw out her arms in amusement before placing them on her hips. "It was a fucked up mission, shithead. I hope you had a much better time on yours than I did on mine."

Expressions reflecting excitement, Naruto and Isaribi quickly waved the girl over, with the former patting the space beside him.

"I want to hear your story first," the jinchuriki stated, seeing the redhead look at him incredulously. "Come on. Details. We need details."

"Don't leave us hanging here, Tayuya," Isaribi chirped as well.

Looking between the two beaming faces gazing in her direction, Tayuya then breathed out a sigh and chuckled. "Alright. Alright. Fine. If you guys really want to know." Smiling at their simply positive expressions, the redhead marched over to them and sat herself down right on Naruto's other side.

Once she was comfortable and everyone had taken a seat, the red haired musician began regaling them in her own tale from the past week. Her story took place about a couple of days after Naruto left on his, but hers was completed around the exact same time his came to an end. No detail was spared on any part of the journey, as she told them both about how the person they were assigned to escort on his race wouldn't stop badgering her, how they encountered enemy ninja on their journey, including shinobi from Amegakure and a shinobi formerly of Konohagakure named Aoi. She said how the guy gave all of them a tough time and used this cheap-ass Raijin no Ken (Sword of the Thunder God) to fight them, before kicking his ass and sending his body over a ravine.

It was one hell of an exciting chapter and definitely one Tayuya could walk away proud of, as the good-guys won not only the battle but the race as well. It brought smiles to everyone's faces as they talked well into the hour Kin eventually returned home and into the night.

Not a bad way for two newly promoted Konohagakure shinobi to come back from their first A-Rank missions as Jonin.

XXX

Four weeks later…

Sitting inside of a yakisoba restaurant across from one another, Naruto and Tayuya were enjoying a nice, delicious lunch of noodles with a side of chicken pieces after a long and taxing morning of training. You could tell that they were both famished and tired… well… one of them was. While the jinchuriki was still in relatively clean and good condition, the exact same condition he'd started the day as indicated by the sun-kissed smile he had on his face and the delightful reflection in his eyes, his girlfriend had a couple of band aids slapped over her cheeks with a bit of swelling and bruising on the side.

She was cheerful too; there was no doubt about that. However, she was clearly the one that was the worse off as an end result of their exercises.

Nevertheless, instead of talking about the training and how the blonde haired jinchuriki practically held the exchange in his favor throughout all of their close-range engagements, they were a lot more interested in talking about something else on their date.

To count the number of lunches and dates they'd already been on together would have been pointless, since they'd practically lost count of all the days they'd spent in each other's company for personal them time long ago. What mattered most was what they did during their sessions as a couple and how they used the minutes. It was enjoyable for both parties and though they would have worn out the number of topics they could have discussed as a pair, being the people who they were, they had a lot to talk about.

"I don't think the First Hokage could dance," Naruto shook his head, "Not at all."

"Why do you say that?" Tayuya asked with clear amusement reflected in her expression. "The guy is a fucking legend. He's, like… God-like, if you want to put it in that way. He could practically do anything… even grow an entire fucking forest of giant, man-eating flowers out of his ass. The fights he got into changed entire landscapes."

"Yeah, especially that big one he got into with his other half, Madara Uchiha," the blonde said while looking up thoughtfully and appearing slightly impressed at whatever gossip he'd been able to pick up on that event from years past. "Man, I wonder what that would have been like; standing on the sidelines of the biggest grudge match of all time? It must have been a battle between titans… or monsters… or something."

"It must have been pretty damn terrifying, if you ask me," Tayuya said, continuing to speak with noodles hanging from her lips and a thoughtful look of her own as she gazed across at the jinchuriki. "I read some of the recounts I was able to dig up at the library."

"You actually went and found stuff on that?"

"Hey, a girl can have hobbies outside of musical theory and training too, Mr. I–can-talk-to-animals and gets-into-trouble-on-every-single-mission-he-goes-on. Getting in touch with my village's history can be one of them."

Holding up a hand, Naruto prepared a retort to that last jab but hesitated. Thinking it over a few times, the youngster then pointed at the girl now sporting the shit-eating grin. "That last one with the flower mission doesn't count."

"Doesn't it?"

"How the hell was I supposed to know the flower's pollen would suddenly come to life and start attacking me out of the blue?" the jinchuriki asked in a hysterical tone while throwing his arms about.

That job had had to be some kind of prank. Not too long ago, Shizune had sent him, Lee and Shiho on a mission to the mountain areas within the Land of Fire to pick up some herbs from a medical ninja working out in those parts and researching the plant life there. Apparently the area was said to be cursed or haunted or some such fiddle-faddle, and the boy had went in there with a spring in his step and a smile on his face, as if the whole horror movie theme didn't mean anything to him. Deciding to take a short cut, he and his teammates had cut through the woods along the road and into the supposedly ghost-infested forest, where they unwittingly stumbled upon a grove with flowers that glowed in seven different colors.

Naruto then went and picked one for the road to give to Tayuya as a present, along with Lee and Shiho, but the second they did and managed to get their hands on a bunch of them, all hell broke loose when the pollen from the clearing gathered around the center and transformed into an exact copy of Gaara, and started attacking them. It took the jinchuriki and his taijutsu teammate combined to take it out without completely destroying the area, but things turned out well in the end.

The woman in charge of watching over the grove was pissed at them though. Even though they successfully completed the mission, Naruto still ended up getting scolded for his curiosity.

Tayuya giggled at his sour expression and waved at him, "No matter what you say, it still counts, shithead." She then poked him in the chest for good measure. "You got side-tracked and got your ass beat. Straightforward cause and effect."

Naruto grumbled childishly, "That thing wasn't even alive. How the hell did it even know I was hiding underground?" He tried popping up and nailing it when its back was turned, but apparently it was quick to learn and flushed him out of the hole he'd dug to try and get the drop on it. He then shook off the memories of that day and pointed back at his girlfriend, "Anyway, you read up on Senju Hashirama?"

Nodding as she stirred her noodles, Tayuya smirked, "I researched his last fight with Madara Uchiha, and I learned about the amount of damage he and his opponent caused in their final spat. Apparently Hashirama created entire forests and moved the earth beneath his feet more than once while fighting his opponent, whereas Madara was absolutely leveling the countryside. Hell, he even sliced the tops off of the surrounding mountain ranges with just one attack." She then nodded at the blink of surprise the jinchuriki responded with, "Sure, he had the Kyuubi with him and everything, but slicing the tops off of mountains? Fuck. If that's not overpowered, then I don't know what is."

"So… two of the strongest shinobi in existence remade an entire country in a good, old-fashioned alpha male pissing contest while at the same time comparing dick sizes. That's fun," Naruto said while twirling his chopsticks between his fingers. "I'm sure a lot of jokes would have come out of that if the two of them weren't the most powerful ninja in history."

He wasn't sure if he could call them ninja anymore if they could take out entire mountains with a single attack. A shinobi was supposed to be a warrior or person who operated under cover, infiltrating villages and countries using stealth, assassinating people and completing secret missions under the noses of the general public.

To scrap over a continent while reshaping an entire area of landscape at the same time is not exactly shinobi-like. In fact, it was something else entirely.

"If I was comparing the First and Madara to anyone, they would have to be… two kids fighting over a colony of ants at the park, with the ants in this case being ordinary people like you and me," Naruto said, pointing between him and his girlfriend, who proceeded to listen to him intently while eating her yakisoba. The blonde then went on to hold up his left and right hand, "While one of the kids wants to squash and kill every single one of the insects in the colony, either because he hates them or because it's fun, the other kid wants to take those ants, put them onto a farm and watch over them, organize them and protect them like they were his own." A moment of silence then followed when he placed both examples on the metaphorical set of scales, a single blink coming from the teen before he grinned and pointed at her. "That's actually a good metaphor of today's ninja society. I'm keeping it."

Tayuya snorted before laughing, "You know… that really is a good example. Sounds almost like something Shino would come up with."

"Yeah. You're right. Man." Naruto shook his head, "Maybe some of that insight and seriousness that comes with the territory of being a Jonin is finally starting to bleed onto us. The power of the vest is strong." He tugged on his set of clothing to illustrate his point.

"True. For a piece of deft ninja-wear, it sure is moving," Tayuya added, poking herself in the chest and pulling on the hem of her uniform. "I think I'm actually starting to get used to this rank. Yesterday I popped into the office again and stood at attention alongside a couple of other Chunin. I didn't even know the guys, but I felt like I was part of their group and that I could work with them like they were my equals, despite being a few feet shorter than most of them."

"Not to mention you're technically higher in rank than a Chunin, so you're their superior," Naruto added with a grin. "We all adjust to our new positions at our own paces, don't we?"

"Yeah. But we're all going to continue getting tougher and upping our skill levels no matter what," Tayuya replied, slurping more noodles into her mouth before looking across to see her boyfriend do the same. "Hell, you could be a Genin and become as strong as a Kage."

"Damn right. But that strength is a lot more meaningful when it has an appropriate rank attached to it. Ero-Sennin is technically still a Jonin of this village, but he gets to call himself the Toad Mountain Sage and one of the Three Legendary Sannin on a regular basis, and is super strong to boot. He's got so many epithets I don't even know where to start." In Naruto's mind, the more titles you had bestowed upon you by others, the better your rank and position in the eyes of the general population became. It brought you more respect and had people take you a lot more seriously when it came to certain situations and discussions.

Though, in Jiraiya's case, Naruto highly doubted that about the man sometimes, in spite of his impressive history.

Tayuya, picking up more noodles and chicken with her chopsticks, continued to smile as she added her next bit. "I want to become as strong as Senju and Madara one day," the red head said while looking towards her boyfriend. "I don't care how damn long it takes. Whether it takes three years or a hundred… I'll get there someday. I want to be right up there with you when you take up the mantel of the greatest Hokage in history." She was so excited about the idea that when she took her noodles up in her chopsticks and devoured them, she made a bit of a mess as sauce splattered down her chin and onto her plate.

Chuckling a little at her exclamations and seeing her stress at her blunder, Naruto pulled up a napkin and, reaching over, wiped the stray bits of sauce from her face. Taking her head gently in his hand, he made sure to wipe away all the excess pieces as his gaze met hers. The two of them remained like that, even when he lowered his napkin back to his side.

"I'll make sure we both get there."

Taking in his smile, Tayuya blushed under his radiating intensity and ran a hand through her hair. When he pulled away, she took his hand and squeezed it, before they returned to their food. All the while smiles remained on their faces as they sat in the quiet restaurant, listening to the environment playing out in the background and the music chiming over the speakers.

"You're so cheesy, shithead."

"Ah, be quiet, Tayuya-chan."

XXX

A week or so later…

"No, no, you're getting it wrong."

"What? How? I'm doing exactly what you showed me, Isaribi-chan."

"You're supposed to cook the fish this way for this kind of meal. Not that way. You'll end up cooking only one side if you do. Stuff like this is very important if you're going to make this dish, Naruto-kun."

"Ah, man. This bites. I'm much more used to open flames. If I could do that in here, I wouldn't be having so many problems."

"Do that and you'll end up burning down your apartment again," said diver and second resident of the apartment giggled while showing the troubled youngster exactly how to fry the filets he had over the hot plate. While Naruto wasn't too shabby in the cooking department and he was able to cook a better than decent meal on most days, some of his methods went completely out of left field. Thankfully the purple haired chimera was there to help him out for this lesson. "I don't see how lighting a camp fire in the middle of your living room was in any way a good idea."

Abovementioned blonde chuckled and rubbed his head in a nervous manner, while at the same time allowing his other roommate to take the wheel of their shared frying pan. "It seemed like a good idea at the time. But I learned the hard way that you can only light camp fires in well ventilated areas and dugouts. My apartment's lounge room is definitely not a well ventilated area, especially if you want to make a bonfire afterwards. I'd take it up to the roof, but it'd attract too much attention."

"You're such a weirdo, Naruto-kun," Isaribi giggled.

"Yeah. That's exactly what the squad of Chunin said to me when they came around to put out the fire in my apartment… for the fourth time." Ramen burned surprisingly quickly. Who would've thought?

Ever since he got back from the Chunin Selection Exams and started immersing himself into his new responsibilities as a Jonin of Konohagakure, normal days like this where Naruto had some time off to himself had been pretty routine and, in his opinion, rather enjoyable. Whenever he wasn't training or finishing up a report from his latest mission, he was either going out on dates with Tayuya or hanging out with his other friends spending quality time with them. Tenten would often stop by to see if he was available and drag him away for some one-on-one time with her blonde haired hero and crush, with the same being said for both Kin and Isaribi. Whenever the two girls weren't working, they were dividing up their time taking care of the apartment and spending a day hanging with Naruto, as well as fighting over him.

While the jinchuriki loved hanging out with his musician girlfriend of two years plus, he also found it a joy to hang out with Kin. Tayuya was tomboyish and shared a lot of the same interests and tastes as Naruto, on account of their upbringing and longtime living together, and Tenten loved to train and fight, something that she clearly had a common interest in with the jinchuriki and his magnetic personality. Kin on the other hand was a great friend. She was witty, sarcastic and tomboyish as well, and since she'd had a harsh upbringing like Naruto, the two of them connected well on a much deeper level. Even though she was once on a rival team from a supposed enemy village, she was still a nice person when you got to know her and could have fun just like everybody else.

This supported Naruto's belief that you couldn't judge a person based on what social group or community they came from. It was really the individual that counted. If they were nice, they were nice. If they were assholes, then you didn't need to speak with them.

Then there was Isaribi and her days spent with Naruto. It didn't escape the blonde's notice that the chimera had become increasingly fond of him over the weeks and that she would always come to hang around with him whenever he was in the apartment. One of the odd quirks she'd picked up since she moved in was lie down next to the blonde whenever he was resting and just watched him while he napped. She'd also taken on some more feminine qualities about her person as well, which she further accentuated from the various articles of clothing she read about from the magazines she bought. It was a change Naruto had easily noticed in the teen, but kept his mouth closed over it as he reasoned that all she wanted to do was change her mental and physical image before going through with the operation she had coming up shortly.

Isaribi was so excited about it that she couldn't sit still, and the jinchuriki couldn't help but feel happy for her.

She was much livelier now… and being lively in Naruto's book was always a good thing.

It was a little bit tough fitting in quality time for all of his friends, and that's not even counting his teammates. Naruto would always bump into people on the streets, especially those of the Rookie Nine from the academy and Team Gai. Whenever he was not making unexpected rendezvous on the village streets, he'd also see Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke every now and again. While his kunoichi friend was undergoing the opening stages of her apprenticeship under Lady Tsunade, the latter Uchiha was also coping well with the loss of one of his Sharingan.

The experience had affected the raven haired genius emotionally as well as physically, but his friends and teacher were doing everything that they could to get him back on his feet and back up to speed. He was still crabby whenever they fussed over him, yet he was making good and steady progress over his new circumstances.

He was still determined to fight Naruto and was making regular visits to the training fields, almost as many as the jinchuriki was making in the very early mornings with Tayuya. That too was another plus.

Watching the fish crackle and pop on top of the frying pan, Naruto hummed to himself in a clearly cheerful manner while Isaribi stood beside him smiling as he shifted the fish over the hot surface. "See. It's so much better this way. You're not only getting a good fish out of it, but you're also keeping your apartment intact."

"Ha-ha," Naruto replied jokingly while rolling his head around. "It's a quality stove. I can always count on it for heating up water for my cupped ramen." He then pointed down at the fillets. "We may need to flip it more regularly so that it doesn't burn too much on one side, like you said."

"Mm-hm," Isaribi chirped, before proceeding to watch the jinchuriki expertly toss the fish. She beamed at him when he cheered at a successful triple flip and threw her a grin in kind. Seeing his smile, the purple haired chimera tucked some hair behind her ear and placed a hand against his arm tentatively. "I really enjoy hanging out with you, Naruto-kun."

"Yeah. Same here, Isaribi-chan."

Gaze softening and eyes shimmering, the girl's cheeks became a little heated as she faced the boy firmly and looked him right in the eyes. Taking in a deep breath, she started to speak, albeit a lot more nervously than before. "N-Naruto… I… I just wanted to say… uhh… w-what I want to do… umm…" Clearing her throat and looking incredibly anxious, the girl struggled with the words she wanted to say next that she hoped would best express her feelings. Seeing the boy waiting patiently for a response, Isaribi quickly settled her nerves and puffed out her chest. "I want to go on a date with you, Naruto-kun. A real date."

Naruto blinked in surprise, "R-Really?"

"I… I know that you're with Tayuya-chan already and you spend a lot of time with her and Tenten, but I… I want you to know that I like you a lot too, Naruto-kun, and I would… really like the chance to go out with you and have some fun, just the two of us… by ourselves," Isaribi said with an assertive tone of voice. Staring up at him, the girl nodded, affirming the fact that that was her final answer, "W-Will you go out with me?" She was almost immediately expecting him to say no.

Not even needing to think about it, but still a little bit surprised at hearing what his other roommate had to say to him, Naruto smiled and gave the girl a kind look, "Sure. I'd love to go out with you, Isaribi-chan."

Expression brightening at his answer, the purple haired teen got onto her toes and pecked him on the cheek. Rubbing the area where Isaribi had made the gesture of affection, the jinchuriki grinned at her before realizing he was probably burning the fish, and quickly went back to cooking, this time with the girl's arms wrapped securely around his.

Isaribi didn't even realize how attached she was to the boy right now, but didn't spare a second thought to her unconscious response and went on to spend the rest of her time with the boy as close to him as she could.

XXX

Three days later…

Early morning…

When Naruto looked up his latest stats in his personal records, he was thoroughly pleased at the number of points he'd been able to accumulate. In his close to ten months plus of being a shinobi of Konohagakure, he'd performed about 42 D-Rank missions, including the missions he'd done with his team, 36 C-Rank, 21 B-Rank, 24 A-Rank and 0 S-Rank. What with the crate of assignment scrolls he'd received from clients interested in hiring him following his epic conquest of the Chunin Selection Exams, he'd been able to crank through dozens upon dozens of jobs, and this was no joke.

Naruto had never been so busy yet so happy before in his life. The wide assortment of missions he'd gotten, presented him with more challenges he wanted to fight and overcome. Some of his missions involved a lot of trivial things, like work that needed to be done around stores or hunting stray animals down when they'd escaped from their owners. Those were all bottom of the barrel stuff, material people were confident he'd be able to perform.

Then there was work at the academy whenever he was called in to assist during lessons, jobs outside of the village, overseeing constructions and harvests, escort missions and delivering important documents. Then you got the more heavily involved jobs, chief among which included entering danger zones, taking out mercenaries, infiltration and protection jobs. These were the more classified and for-his-eyes-only types of tasks. His favorite among the ones he'd been on so far was the extra long excursion to Yuki no Kuni when he was protecting Yukie, with a close second being the mission where he helped to protect a construction crew in building a highway up in the mountains close to Kumogakure, where they were ambushed by a group of mercenaries wanting to disrupt their operation.

That was a terrific few days of blowing off some steam.

"And my record just keeps on growing with every successful job," the blonde chuckled, as he sat back on the large couch in the Jonin standby station of the Administration Building. While he was sitting there, comfortable in his spot, he spared a long, furtive glance toward Tayuya, who was currently lying across the same chair as him with her head resting on his leg and a content smile on her face, while at the same time playing a game of Old Maid with Asuma in the chair across from him. After poking the redhead resting on his lap on the nose, getting a giggle out of her, he turned back to his cards and grinned, "I'm aiming for the top spot in this village… so I'll just keep stacking them up and letting them grow in value."

"Seems like you're enjoying yourself a lot on these assignments, kid," Asuma spoke up, going through the motions of the game as he picked another card from the boy across and smirked when he set down another pair. "I heard all of the scrolls you took on were finished at an incredibly high-standard, right down to the last second. Are you pushing yourself to finish each of them within a set time limit?"

"With every fiber of my being," Naruto responded affirmatively. "I like a good challenge. You don't get that many on D-Rank assignments… unless they involve floor scrubbing. Then I can really get my wax on."

"Missions aren't supposed to be challenges, Naruto-kun," another voice spoke from across the room, with all eyes turning to see Kurenai standing by the fridge and picking out a cool drink from it. When she cracked it open at the cap, she straightened up and shut the door. "They're jobs meant to be taken seriously. After all, you're in charge of safeguarding people's lives on them, and this goes double for A-Rank missions."

"I know that. But stress can be a real killer in our line of work, so I try to make all of my assignments as simple and as cheery as possible," the jinchuriki responded with a smile.

Seeing his charming grin, the raven haired woman chuckled and sipped her drink, "Well… I shouldn't be too worried. After all, Gai is just as eccentric as you when it comes to incredibly tough mission and he's insanely good at what he does."

"Heh, I think this kid could give Gai a run for his money back in his days in terms of eccentricity," Asuma added, watching his opponent take a card and set another pair down.

Hearing this had Naruto frown animatedly, "Well that's not true. Lee more than fills out that area."

"Hm. Good point," Asuma replied, the two of them trading cards for another few turns before he looked at the boy and his companion again. "So… what mission are you waiting for next?"

"Oh. I got a job from the village of Takigakure to escort their leader's son back to his home. Since his old man is away at a meeting with a neighboring country, they want him to take care of the villagers until he gets back. He was on an excursion out of the country and needs protection on the return trip," Naruto responded with a shrug. "It's a simple task. All I have to do is get him to the rendezvous point, wait for his people to pick him up and that's it."

"C or B Rank?" Asuma asked.

"B. They asked me to go it alone on this one, since they feel that a large number of tagalongs would warrant suspicion from us and make them uneasy, which isn't something I would want upsetting the job," the jinchuriki said straight out without hesitation. "They just needed one person to go on the escort so that they could keep all of their eyes on the one foreigner, as opposed to four."

"Ah. That's right. Even though we're allies, Takigakure isn't too comfortable with letting people know where the exact entrance to their village is," the bearded man nodded in understanding. "It's been the hidden waterfall's most well kept secret for decades. Nobody has the faintest idea of where the entrance to the heart of their community is, which explains how they've been able to survive through so many conflicts in the past. They're pretty much the definition of a hidden village; able to keep their home out of sight of prying eyes."

"And I'll bet their shinobi aren't pushovers either," Naruto added with a smile. "Man. I'd really like to meet some of them. Seeing as how I'm only dropping the client half-way, I might actually get the chance to shake hands with a couple on the road."

"Good luck with that then," the older Jonin expressed with an encouraging smile. "And have a blast. Just… try not to get into trouble on this one."

"No problem."

For the next few minutes Naruto played around with his adversary in cards, all the while cradling his girlfriend's head. After seeing Kurenai leave for her mission with her team and seeing another Jonin enter the room to take a seat and wait around for his next orders, a Chunin then popped open the door. Looking around momentarily, he spotted the blonde over by the large couch and gestured him over.

"Your client is waiting for you up in the mission office, Naruto-san," the man said.

With Tayuya moving out of the way and off of his lap, the jinchuriki was free to stand. Stretching out, the blonde turned to the redhead gazing up at him and grinned. "Well… see you in a few days."

"Don't keep me waiting," the kunoichi replied, standing up and pecking him on the cheek before shoving him away from her roughly. "Now go. Get your ass out of here, shit-for-brains."

"Okay! Okay! I'm going! I'm going," Naruto laughed, waving back at her before disappearing out the door, leaving a thoroughly amused redhead and Asuma behind and staring after his shadow.

XXX

Mid-day…

For Naruto, the beginning of his next mission started off how it normally did. He would greet the client at wherever he was instructed to meet him, make introductions, trade momentary pleasantries, and collect the paperwork he was required to have on his trip out of the village. This being a B-Rank mission the blonde made sure he had everything packed and in order before setting off with his package in tow. Things went great following his exit from the safety zone known as Konohagakure, and as he headed north along with his client, things proceeded on rather smoothly.

After a few hours of nothing but marching along the dirt road towards the distant horizon constantly in sight, the pair passed into another thick forest covering the countryside. With rays of sunlight breaking through the trees and beating down on top of them, Naruto and his client, a young Chunin a few years older and taller than him, with ink black eyes, dark brown hair, grey pants, green shirt and bandoleers of gear, continued on their journey without hindrance. During which time, as they crossed the borders into Takigakure later on that day, making incredibly good progress between the two states, the shinobi from the allied village decided to share small talk with his escort.

Considering the blonde traveling alongside him and the fact he barely had anything inside of the orange running pack he had on his back, which practically matched his choice of garb, Shibuki spoke up clearly and confidently. "You know, after seeing you fight at the tournament and watching how you brought down each of your opponents one by one in your matches, I thought you were a pretty terrifying ninja. The way you stood through all of their attacks, getting busted up, talked down to and ripped to shreds… you were like a whole other person… someone who was not afraid to get into a fight. But looking at you up close, you're not that intimidating at all."

Naruto smirked and looked up at the older teen, "You'd think so with this kind of face. But between you and me, I think we can both agree that even though people can look unremarkable on the outside, they can be a real pain to deal with when they suddenly come out and show you that they're not some pathetic looking pushover. Appearances can be deceiving, you know."

The Chunin smiled, "Yeah. You got that right."

"Even though you look pretty ordinary, I'd say you're a pretty tough guy yourself, huh, Shibuki?" Naruto inquired with a grin. "I bet you've got some killer moves hidden up your sleeves."

The young man chuckled at that and massaged his neck, "Ah, I'm nothing special. I'm actually pretty useless compared to the other shinobi of my village. Even though my father is the leader of our people, I'm nothing like him. Not even close. I've still got a long way to go before I'm even able to live up to his name."

Staring across at the Chunin for a moment, Naruto then broke a cheerful smile, "You want to become the leader of your village as well?"

"It's among my list of plans, yes."

"I think that's a pretty awesome goal to live up to."

"Well, if I want to become strong, I've got to have something lying in wait for me up ahead, don't I?" Shibuki said with a smile.

"True. Everyone's got to have goals and stuff. I know this one girl just down the road in my village who's aspiring to become the greatest chef in the world. After trying out some of the stuff she makes at her stall… I honestly believe she has a shot of doing it."

"What about you? What are the things in your life that make you strong… that make you want to keep moving forward and do better?"

"Me? Well… aside from wanting to prove a point to people, I have a lot of friends I want to protect… and a dream of my own I want to achieve." He then nudged his company in the side and widened his grin. "Just like you, I want to become the leader of my village too… one that surpasses all others."

"Really? You want to become Hokage?"

"Yeah. It's right up there at the top of my list," Naruto stated firmly while looking ahead of them again. "If you have an objective in your life, the confidence to achieve it, and the balls to do what is right, then you can definitely become strong."

Shibuki considered the younger Jonin's words before smiling again, "I can definitely see that your words live up to your actions. After the stuff you pulled during the Exams… I shouldn't be surprised."

Scratching his head, Naruto beamed, "I'm a bit of a pushover at heart. It kind of ruins my whole plan of changing my appearance to an intimidating one."

Chuckling at this, Shibuki then raised an eyebrow at him while folding his arms. As they marched along, he then popped a rather interesting question that has been nagging him for some time, "Hey, I'm just curious. What was it like facing off against that Gaara boy in the final match?"

"Oh, it was absolutely terrifying."

Naruto then began talking about his personal experiences during the tournament, which entertained Shibuki throughout the rest of their trip across the country Takigakure resided in. Eventually, their trek along the main highway led them up a rise, where the jinchuriki then heard the distinct sound of a rushing waterfall nearby.

Blinking curiously at the sound, the blonde then hurried up to the top, where his sense of smell and hearing proved him right and that they were indeed traversing near a waterfall. And what a waterfall it was!

The thing was enormous. Not only did it stretch all the way to the top of the cliff it was running down from, it was wide as hell. The width and height of the thing would have shielded the entire Hokage Monument from sight. The thunderous noise of millions of gallons of water plummeting into the lake bellow filled the entire area with a calm background noise, which soothed Naruto quite a bit as he'd never visited a waterfall area that had such a good feng shui vibe going on. The steam rising from the pool masked most of the base features of the cliff, but it was clear the lake ran out of there via a massive river, and it was producing quite a strong current too.

Kids could play around safely in the shallows, but go anywhere with any significant amount of depth and you were fucked.

Naruto whistled at the sight of the monolithic falls, "Damn that's a good view." He then raised his hand above his eyes and looked up to the top of the massive cliff. "Man. I didn't even think it was possible to see a waterfall like this."

"That's why we're called the Village Hidden by a Waterfall," Shibuki responded with a proud smile, "We live and breathe around it. Even though it is our most impressive landmark, it also contains our village's most well kept secrets. Though you are from an allied village and I've placed a great amount of trust in you, we still can't risk unveiling these secrets."

The jinchuriki then scrunched his face up as he measured the drop from the top of the cliff to the bottom before clicking his tongue, "Hey, if I was to hock a loogie and swan dive from the top of that thing, would I be able to beat it down to the lake?"

Shibuki raised an eyebrow at him, "Interesting question… though… I highly doubt you would."

"Is that a challenge?"

"No," the older boy replied before smirking at him, "But I would like to see you try."

"You're on!" Naruto shouted.

However, before the jinchuriki could remove his pack and prepare to scale the thing, he suddenly stopped when he heard a rustling of bushes behind him and looked around. At first confused, the young Jonin then frowned when he sensed a concealed presence enter his radar from its hiding place, until the leaves at the top of a nearby tree exploded outwards. Before either he or Shibuki could react to the danger, a green blur unexpectedly shot out of the canopy and tackled Naruto to the ground, only for the blonde haired youngster to plant both feet against his attacker's chest and kick the person over and away from him.

Springing to his feet, the jinchuriki spun around and assumed a stance, where he then saw the figure he'd managed to deflect land on all fours several feet away, shake her hair, before looking up at him with her familiar, cheerful grin.

"Naruto-kun!"

"Fu-chan!" the jinchuriki replied with equal vigor, straightening up excitedly when he quickly recognized the face of his friend, "Long time no see! How have you been?"

"I've been great!"

"Getting into trouble?"

"Oh! Tons! Running around. Training. Exploring the world. Going out on missions. It's been fantastic," the green haired kunoichi chirped while rising up to full height. Brushing her hair back, Fu then sprang forward and skidded to a stop directly in front of the equally cheerful blond. As soon as she did so, she looked him over once more and nodded her head approvingly, "Oh yeah. You're definitely doing great. You even got yourself an awesome vest! Jonin?"

Naruto grinned and tapped his nose, "Yep. Jonin."

"Thought so. I watched your broadcast. Your matches were awesome," the girl chirped while placing her fist against her chest and puffing it out. "I on the other hand have been promoted to Chunin… going on Jonin once I get enough A-Rank missions under my belt."

"Seriously? Wow. Congratulations."

"Thanks. Battlefield promotion. Got it for my first fifty high level assignments," the girl murmured while leaping away and throwing a few swift punches. "I got myself enough credit that I managed to get a promotion without having to participate in the exams, which is a really good thing when you're in a village that likes to shuffle their teams around a lot. It's great."

"Yeah. Tell me about it. Wait…" Naruto then held up a hand and pointed at her, "Were you waiting around here the entire time for the chance to tackle the escort helping Shibuki home?"

The mint haired jinchuriki beamed childishly, "Yep!"

Naruto actually laughed at her answer. "I'm guessing you would have went for it even if it wasn't me, right?" Seeing her nod, the youngster shook his head, "Man, I've got to think about doing that the next time I'm waiting for an intercept. Although… I think I might end up pissing off the person I would be blindsiding… especially now that I'm a Jonin." Man. That sucks. If he was still a Genin, something like that would have been considered cute or tolerable. Now that he was an elite ninja however… it would just be considered immature.

Thinking about it a little more, the jinchuriki then blinked when he saw the girl he was speaking with give him a sly smile and side up next to him, at the same time nudging him in the side playfully. "Whoa. Whoa. What is it?"

"Speaking of the exams, I also saw the other bits of the broadcast that played in between the matches. The… 'highlights' if you would. Two girlfriends?"

"Oh?" Naruto blinked, considering her words for a moment before his head snapped up. "OH. That? Right." Clearing his throat, the blonde grinned nervously. "Well that's uhh… a bit of a long story."

"Uh-huh. I'm sure it is, you lump of desire, you."

It was then the two chatty shinobi noticed the older boy standing beside them and how he was pointing between the pair strangely. Acknowledging his presence following their little reunion moment, the young Chunin gulped and tilted his head in confusion, "You guys… know each other?"

Processing the question quickly, Fu then smiled toward the son of her village leader and visibly brightened, "Yeah. I met Naruto-kun when I saved him from drowning in a river to the south when I was out on a mission. We talked for a bit, played around in the water and learned a lot about each other after I fixed him up. After that, we became good friends. Ne?" She beamed across at said youngster for clarification, who grinned at her and nodded his head affirmatively. "We were so busy fooling around that we completely forgot about our assignments. I never got the chance to visit Konohagakure yet, so I wasn't able to pop in to see him. I was actually planning on sending mail… but I've been super busy with other stuff, I haven't been able to find the time."

"Yeah… but mail normally takes a few weeks to get to and from shinobi villages, what with all the censors and everything. You'd be lucky to even get it in two, even with specialist couriers," Naruto answered with a regretful shrug. "It's one of the downsides of being from different countries as well."

When Fu nodded regrettably at that information, Shibuki also thought about it long and hard for himself. "Yeah. That really sucks."

Shaking his head, the blonde then breathed a sigh of disappointment and turned towards his friends again with a sad smile, "Anyway, as fun as it would be to hang around and chat with you guys some more, I have to head back home. My mission said that I had to escort Shibuki to the rendezvous point outside of Takigakure and that was it. Though I have no idea where the hell the village is, I'm guessing we must be pretty close to it since you came all the way out here to greet us." He gestured toward Fu, who tilted her head curiously when he held out a scroll towards her. "I'll need you to sign this to confirm that the job has been completed and that I can be on my way."

Taking the document from him, Fu popped it open for a moment before turning to look toward the young Jonin again. "You don't have to be in such a hurry to leave, Naruto-kun. Stick around and talk with us for a bit longer."

This had Naruto balk and Shibuki look towards the mint-haired girl in surprise, "Really? You want me to stay?"

"Sure. It's been ages since we last saw each other. I'd really like to catch up with you," Fu chirped, before thumbing over her shoulder and towards the lake. Looking in the direction of said pond, the two jinchuriki and Shibuki saw two kids pop out of the bushes nearby. When they spotted the trio of friendly ninja and familiar faces of their fellow villagers, the boy and girl beamed and waved in their direction, earning a wave from Fu as well. "I'm sure the children would love to meet you. After your live performance, your face has become quite famous around here."

Seeing the beaming expressions of the kids across the way, the hopeful smile on Fu's face and Shibuki's own pleasant visage had the blonde stop and consider his situation for a moment. Since he was technically in charge of this mission and able to make his own decisions, including those that deviated from his course, he quickly reasoned with himself that sparing an hour or so wouldn't hamper his progress any. After all, the longer he was out on a mission, the more chances he had to learn.

It didn't hurt that he would also be able to hang around with a familiar face too, and in getting to know Shibuki the guy wasn't that bad either.

Sparing a smile, Naruto nodded, "Sure. What the hell."

Giggling, Fu then took the young Jonin's hand and pulled him towards the lake; with Shibuki hanging back for a moment longer to watch from afar as his village's resident jinchuriki and 'wild child' introduced the newcomer to the local children. With the youngsters immediately warming up to the blonde, who greeted them with fond smiles and laughs, the Chunin couldn't help but shake his head as he then folded his arms and propped himself up on the ridge.

"He's a completely different person off the field," the young man joked.

Even though he was a Jonin, he still acted like a child. Heck, he was exactly like Fu in terms of personality.

The world of shinobi was such a strange place.

OOO

Meanwhile…

Elsewhere in the same region, at the top of the cliff where the flow of the enormous waterfall started, an area of abnormally large trees stood growing within a dense and heavily grown forest. Perched on one of the many branches of a large red wood, a series of figures could be seen gathered around a single individual leaning up against the trunk at rest. All of these figures were dressed in similar, beige style clothing with markings that did not align them to any of the known hidden villages, as they were a collective of different groups from different walks of life.

The first one, who were the most numbered, were a bunch of generic looking soldiers, all of them adorned in shinobi gear, and all of them wearing the same uniform as the other. These were all mercenaries, and all of them were kneeling on the ground and giving all of their attention towards the obvious leader of the faction.

Standing in front of them were the lieutenants; the main group operating directly under the boss and the people who took orders straight from the head honcho. These three were all wearing a headband aligning them to the village of Amegakure, yet all of them were dressed differently from each other. One of them was a masked man with shaggy brown hair and a single, visible eye protruding from under his locks, and was wearing a dark, grayish blue uniform with a scarf and bandana. The kunoichi in the middle of the formation was a slim young woman with short, light brown hair, earrings, red lipstick, and was wearing a pink tube top with an open, light green shirt, navy blue pants, and ninja sandals. The other male beside her was a muscular, tough-looking shinobi wearing a sleeveless black shirt, ninja sandals, and brown arm warmers, with chin-length grey hair that was spiky on top and had a teal line mark drawn over his nose.

The leader of this group was currently crouching against the side of the tree they were all perched on with his eyes closed and head trained downwards. He was an unremarkable yet gruff looking man with long spiky hair and a goatee. He also wore a dark blue jacket, grey pants, sandals, and a bandana that held his hair out of his face, giving him his roguish appeal.

Of the group, there also stood one that clearly did not belong to any of them, yet had seemingly aligned himself with their lot for his own purposes. He had long, brown hair, a long beard he had tied in strands with beads, and his lips were also noticeably dark. The top of his head was wrapped in bandages and his left eye was covered by a black patch, which sprouted from under his Kirigakure forehead protector, which had an additional, notable gash across it. The man was also wearing an extremely loose, long-sleeved pin-striped shirt and black pants, accentuated by the presence of striped leg-warmers matching his shirt.

Much like Zabuza Momochi, he also wore bandages around his neck, had an enormous sword of an odd design strapped to his back, and had his arms folded all-cool style while he leaned quietly against the side of the tree, on the same trunk as the boss of the mercenaries.

The other shinobi standing in front of the leader regarded this man nervously as he leered at all of them, since he was emitting a presence that was obviously foul.

The masked one spat, "Why on earth are we bringing in rabble off of the streets for something like this? I don't get it. The three of us alone are more than capable of taking this village."

"I agree with Kirisame, master Suien," the grey haired shinobi on the other side of the formation spoke up with an equally annoyed look on his face as he extended a hand towards the swordsman. "It's a simple in and out job. Most of the shinobi from this village are out patrolling the borders and the rest of the country anyway, so why the extra hands?"

The man the two shinobi were addressing, who was now identified as Suien, looked up from his spot staring at his feet with a hard look, which he then fixed on his entire team. "Even though the old man is currently out of the country at a trade meeting, his home forces are still well-organized and fighting fit, and won't be as easy to bypass as you may think. Though I don't doubt your abilities to handle this job and to be able to take the fight to the enemy of this squalor, I had recently gotten word that the village's jinchuriki is still hanging around the area."

"Oh? You mean the Fu girl, right?" the kunoichi in the center spoke with a distasteful frown, "Yeah… I heard the rumors. She may be young and simple-minded, but she's an incredibly troublesome runt… and quite strong to boot."

Receiving this message loud and clear, the masked ninja Kirisame looked up and across at his leader once again, "Who exactly tipped you off to this, boss?"

Smirking, the grey-haired shinobi then nodded towards the trees pointedly, "A very helpful benefactor." As soon as he said that, the group of shinobi was then joined by two shadows dropping down from the tree above, both of them coming to stand a few feet away from the swordsman who remained standing in place and looking on as the procession of antagonists suddenly increased. "They were the ones who set me up with this information and our Kirigakure friend for a little extra boost in manpower… in exchange for a little help of their own."

Looking across at the newcomers, the members of Team Suien saw that the two ninja that had appeared out of nowhere, one male and one female, were a pair of young looking individuals wearing matching uniforms consisting of brown tunics, with the kunoichi having hers exposing her midriff and a scale pattern scarf around her neck, black skin tight shorts, black wrist bands, and purple ropes tied around their respective waists. The male of the two had dark grey hair with long bangs that parted, revealing only one eye with marks around it, and wore on a dark color lipstick. He strangely also had a second mop of hair attached to something else protruding from his back, something that few took notice of. The kunoichi on the other hand looked perfectly normal, was quite attractive for her age, stood at the same height as her companion, and had long black hair, which she had in a hime-style cut, with black, sharp eyes.

"Help?" the grey haired Murasame murmured.

"What kind of deal did you cut with them, boss?" Hisame asked curiously as she looked over the new pair and the swordsman.

Chuckling and catching the group's attention, the boy with the grey hair and lipstick stepped forward with his hands on his hips, "In exchange for our assistance in helping you acquire the Eiyu no Mizu (Hero's Water), once you've done away with all the shinobi trash walking around the place, we wish to claim this village and its 'resources' as our own. In other words, we want you to hand over the deed to this place as soon as you've gotten what you came for, so that we can then pass it on to our master."

"Resources?" Hisame repeated, balking a bit at this answer.

"That's all on a need-to-know basis, sweetie," the raven haired female spoke, at the same time glancing towards the swordsman and Suien with a sly look. "All you boys need to do is deal away with any troublemakers, capture the villagers, get your man to show you to the fountain of youth, and then be on your merry way. No fuss, no muss."

Grunting, the swordsman formerly of the hidden mist leaning against the tree glared back at the pair, "I don't care what you want me to do here… as long as I get to fight somebody."

Suien looked towards the mercenary with a leer, "Patience, Jinpachi-san. You'll get your wish."

"An interesting development has also just come to light that I think you may want to know about," the grey haired newcomer from Otogakure said, drawing attention to him once more as he spoke up. "Apparently, the village's jinchuriki has just popped out to greet the son of Takigakure's leader returning from his out of town excursion. Not only that, but Naruto Uzumaki is escorting him."

Blinking at the scouting news, Suien allowed another smirk to cross his lips after running over the details and laughed, "Ah yes, little Shibuki. Perfect timing. He's just the man we need to lead us to the Hero's Water." He then looked across at the hired help, both the Jonin from Kiri and the pair of elite Sound ninja. "Well then, considering the circumstances, I'd say this works well to our advantage. Jinpachi, you follow us into the village and stay hidden. We'll use the people as bait and lure Shibuki and Fu out when they come screaming in to rescue everybody. Knowing the village's protocols regarding outsiders invading their borders, Shibuki will go in and retrieve the water in case any intruders happen to stumble upon its hiding place." After seeing the rogue ninja step off of the trunk and nod, the rogue Jonin then glanced towards his team. "All we need to do is start the fire."

Murasame, smiling excitedly, jabbed his fist into his chest with a thump, "Let me and the boys take care of that."

"We'll go too," the grey haired informant with the purple band grinned as he gestured to the kunoichi beside him, "Kotohime and I will take care of the unwanted visitor. The two of us alone are more than enough to deal with him."

"It's also quite fortunate since he's also one of the targets our master wishes to have brought in," the raven haired member of the Fuma Clan added, adjusting her purple belt while smiling towards her partner. "We've got it covered, right Sakon?"

"Oh yeah. Most definitely." He then ran his tongue over his upper lip in a very sickening manner. "I'm going to savor this one."

Suien chuckled, "Fine. Do as you will. Return once you've taken care of business on your end." Upon seeing the two vanish in a shunshin, the man then turned to his team of rogues once more and began relaying orders to his troops. "Alright boys, let's get to work. Round up the rabble down below, but please… keep the bloodshed to a minimum. We don't want to make too much of a mess."

The last thing he wanted was to have entire armies of shinobi from different countries bearing down on him.

But after today, perhaps that wouldn't really matter.

TO BE CONTINUED…

---

Author's Note: Well, I hope you all liked this chapter, and the next arc has just begun… with a twist!

The names are clearly up there, so I ask this to my readers: who's the Kirigakure ninja that has joined Team Suien, as well as the two members of the Sound Four? One of them is a character from the Naruto anime so research hard.

If you can get it, then you know Naruto is going to be in for a seriously tough fight next.

Till next time.

P.S – And to all those thinking there's a matrix thing going on (lol), you can scrap that idea out of your heads. The system that Karenbana referred to plugging Fubuki into in the last chapter is obviously a prison system. I'd also like you to try and guess what prison she's talking about. (Hint: Naruto Movie Bonds)