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

36. Land of Water Arc - Dangers in the Mist

NARUTO

Drifting

Dangers in the Mist

That same afternoon…

"Wow… that's umm… that's quite the proposition, Naruto," Kin chuckled from her place at the bar that she and her friends had wound up going to after their big day out, looking across at the blonde to see him weighing his beverage between his hands considerately. "I mean… getting a job offer from the Yukie Fujikaze… who is also the leader of Yuki no Kuni (Land of Snow), Koyuki Kazahana. If you ask me, it doesn't get any better than that."

Naruto breathed out a weary sigh, at the same time glancing back across at the raven haired girl when she offered him her opinion on his lingering dilemma. It didn't escape his notice that they were also accompanied by Tayuya, Sasuke, Sakura, Shikamaru and Kiba, all of whom were lined up along the same bar they were seated at and purchasing alcoholic beverages. While it was a first time for a couple, it was a recurring event for most of them. With the entire group consisting of registered shinobi, save for Kin who was able to get a buy-in because she was undergoing a probationary period and knew the owner of the joint, the group of teenagers as a whole were allowed to drink peacefully at their own leisure.

Being a recreational period for them and their companions, it appeared drinking seemed like the perfect thing on the minds of the Uchiha and the Nara. However, in spite of the alcohol, the teenagers left just enough space for conversation between their group's members, allowing them to listen in to the woes currently befalling one of the two Jonin among them. Considering the contents of the subject question, it was definitely something worth investing their attention in.

"I just don't know what to do," Naruto said, bringing both hands up and weighing them like a set of scales. "On one hand my conscience is telling me to accept her offer; to pack up all of my gear here and to move over there to be her advisor for a couple of years. The career opportunity, the chance to hone my skills, my thirst for adventure and the opportunity to see the world is practically screaming at me to do it."

Sasuke grunted, at the same time picking up his cup and holding it in front of him, "You always did have a habit of running around like you were on some kind of epic quest when you were in the academy. It makes sense that your baser instincts would be trying to push you into making this decision."

"Yeah." Scrubbing his head at his friend's input, the jinchuriki then continued on while changing the weight on his metaphorical scales. "But on the other hand… I'm a newly promoted Jonin of Konohagakure. Not only do I have my duties and responsibilities as a ninja here, I also have the chance to excel my career as a shinobi under the Hokage and to start a team of my own. Plus I have you guys to support me. I mean… I wouldn't want to take you, Tayuya-chan or Isaribi-chan away from here if you guys don't want to leave… especially when you're just getting settled. But there's no way I'd want to leave you guys behind either."

Sakura smiled at this and, while holding a glass of sake in her hand, beamed across at the blonde, "That's sweet, Naruto."

"Believe it or not, but the world can't always move in the direction you want it to. It's one of the many problems a shinobi has to face in life," Shikamaru spoke up, turning to the jinchuriki to see him throw a dejected look his way. "To this point, you've done a fantastic job in manipulating the events leading up to where you are now and have been in full control of your destiny ever since you slipped on the headband. But the life of a ninja will inevitably require you to perform one thing, while at the same time ask you to sacrifice another. Just like with this situation. While you have the chance to go out and see the world, to follow a different path very few would have the opportunity to walk, you also have to leave many other things behind, including your friends and your village. I know it sounds harsh, but that's how it is sometimes."

"Ugh. Talking all philosophical like this always gives me a headache," Naruto groaned, rubbing the affected area and resting his head on his hand and his elbow on the desk.

"Look on the bright side. It's not like you're going to be leaving us forever, you know," Kiba said helpfully while staring across at his friend with an encouraging smile. "I mean, you said you would only be gone for a couple of years. That's not too bad. A lot of other people would leave for much longer than that."

"Yeah. Like Asuma-sensei when he joined the Twelve Guardian Ninjas and worked as one of the Daimyo's bodyguards," Shikamaru added, recalling some of the other senior shinobi and their various track records. His teacher was probably the most noteworthy of individuals he could think of to take up a career path outside of the village, and follow-through with it for well over a few years.

Naruto tilted his head at the helpful bits of information being thrown his way by his friends. "Hmm… you have a good point there. I mean… it's only two… three years away from the village. That's not very long." Still… for a ninja… that would mean he would be missing out on a lot more than a few things here in the village. He cared for his friends and he loved his home. The potential memories he could make here and the ones closest to him that he would be leaving behind, they were people and effects that were proving to be the hardest to let go of as the jinchuriki tried thinking of a few different ways around his predicament. "Still… I wonder how long I'll be able to hold a Kage Bunshin for. Maybe that could solve my problem?"

Catching onto what the boy was implying, Kiba gave a snort of amusement and looked his way again, hood down and a smirk worn across his face as Akamaru sat comfortably atop his head, "If you ask me, I think that's pushing it, mate. I doubt even someone like you would be able to hold a clone for that long." A bark of agreement came from his partner, who went back to lying across his crown.

"Well… I'll never know unless I try." Naruto honestly wasn't sure if there was a time limit on his shadow clones. His doppelgangers were sentient to an extent and could function in his place when the original body wasn't around. Considering each clone required him to split his chakra evenly between each copy, it wasn't much of a stretch to believe he could pull off something like that.

He would need to invest some time in learning a bit more about his shadow clone technique. Considering how well it served as a way to accelerate his learning and training regiments, the jutsu had a whole range of other potential functions. It brought somewhat of an intrigued look to the blonde's face as he dawned on the question for several moments longer.

However, with the topic of his group's conversation still hanging in the air, Naruto could no longer ignore the elephant in the room, and glanced across at Tayuya to see the girl staring down at her drink silently, with the most downtrodden look you would ever seen on her. Concerned that his offer to move to the Land of Snow may have upset her, Naruto fumbled with his glass for a bit before locking his full and complete attention on the redhead sitting right next to him.

"I know I promised that we would be able to go on a lot more adventures together… and that eventually we would be able to travel the world. Just like you said to me months ago, I'd be willing to go anywhere with you… even to the ends of the earth." His statement had the musician look up at him in surprise, as he reminded her of their past conversation with one another and how they both said they would stick together, no matter what. The talk brought somewhat of a wry smile to the jinchuriki's face, as he then nodded towards the kunoichi. "But… if you don't want me to go, Tayuya-chan… all you have to do is say so." Naruto's face became firm before the girl's very eyes, showing his sincerity. "Just say the word and I'll let Koyuki know that I won't be able to go to Yuki no Kuni. I'll stay here and continue doing missions with you and everybody else."

Visibly recoiling at the certainty echoing in his words, everyone looked towards the musician to see what the kunoichi would say next. They wanted to know how she would respond, the girl who'd been with Naruto the longest and lived with him under the same roof. As she was the closest person to him in his life and vice-versa, everyone wanted to know what she would do and say.

For the next few minutes the group of teenagers sat in silence, all of them watching and waiting for Tayuya to give them her answer. Eventually… she did, but not in a way they expected the normally brash and tomboyish girl to do.

"We've already done so many things together, Naruto-kun. We've hung out, went on dates, trained together, and performed many missions on the same squad," the red head spoke in a low voice, swirling her drink around as she could feel her boyfriend's eyes fixed squarely on her. Wrapping her fingers around the cool glass, the girl then chuckled as she stared into the reflective contents and continued to speak. "We kept our promise, stuck by each other's sides whenever we could and did so many great things. There was the time we hunted down an ostrich in Training Ground Zero, escorted the daimyo's relatives across the country, worked at various farms herding cattle and fixing machinery, kicked the crap out of a group of imposters that captured us and tried to pass themselves off as you, me and Kiba, cleaned up the Uchiha's house-"

Sasuke groaned at that recollection and glared ahead of him. "I didn't ask for you guys to come and clean my house. You just barged in unannounced and started rummaging through my stuff." This drew a snort from Kiba and a giggle from Sakura at the face the genius made, as he had obviously not liked Naruto and the rest of his gang busting down his front door just to perform a raid on his premises as a prank.

Undeterred, Tayuya continued on. "Not only that, but we also went looking for that weird bug thing for Shino, carried supplies to another village, went to the Land of Sea, and stopped that legendary ninja from using his explosives to blast Konohagakure into oblivion. If I'm being completely honest, I'd say we've already done a shit load of great stuff together… and there're still so many more adventures we can have." She then grinned and glanced across at her boyfriend. "But we both know we're not going to be able to do everything together. I mean, sure, I'm not too thrilled at finding out you've been handed an invitation to go work in another village a whole fucking country away, but it's a chance you and only you have been given. If there's an opportunity for you to leave Konohagakure for a little while to get stronger, to do good elsewhere and to improve your skills as a shinobi, and you really want to do it… then I won't stop you. It's one of the many choices we have to make as ninja… and very few of those chances ever come around."

Baffled by her willing acceptance of the situation, the jinchuriki gazed across at the redhead in silence for several moments, before he then saw the musician breathe out and, upon giving a small grin, turned to face her drink once again.

"And also… as much as I would like to drop everything I have here and go with you to Yuki no Kuni for that time… I don't think I'll be able to, because…" Taking a moment to catch her breath, Tayuya continued, "A few days ago, the Hokage said that he would like for me to sign up for the ANBU. He told me that I had a lot of potential as a kunoichi and that I should join the program to improve my skills, and that I would be able to do a lot of great things for the organization."

This information had everyone stop and stare at the girl in shock, with Sakura and Kiba's jaws dropping when they finally processed what the kunoichi had said to them. Joining everyone in their surprise and allowing the silence to linger, Naruto grinned and leaned forward, taking his girlfriend's hand in his own and squeezing it happily.

"Tayuya-chan, that's awesome!" His exclamation drew a blush from said girl when she felt his intensity baring down on her, "Hokage-jiji wants you to join the black ops? Damn. That's so cool."

The redhead chuckled uncomfortably while running a hand through her hair, "He gave me some time to think about it. Considering how you've been given the opportunity to go to Yuki no Kuni to work as an advisor for the nation's ruler and as a shinobi outside of Konohagakure… I'm… really tempted to sign up."

"You should go for it," Kiba spoke up, reaching over and patting the girl on the back in an encouraging manner. "If you're being handed a chance to join the elite on a silver platter, then you should take it. If you do, then you'll be able to do a whole lot of stuff ordinary guys like us wouldn't be able to do, like go on top secret missions and train your ass off in their program. You get to wear an awesome mask and a sweet-ass uniform as well."

Shikamaru shook his head while taking a sip from his sake, "It's not that simple, Kiba. There's a lot more involved in that group then just covert operations and ninja wear."

Drinking in everything that everyone had to say about her own career opportunity and beaming excitedly, the red haired musician looked across at the blonde to meet his smile head on. "This is my choice to make and mine alone. We only live once after all. If I'm really going to do this, then I'm going to put everything I have into it and do my fucking best. And if you really want to go to Yuki for a couple of years, train and work over there until you're satisfied, then I won't stop you." She clenched her drink between her fingers and drummed it nervously. "So, are you… are you cool with me joining the ANBU? I know it's all very shady and secretive with them, but… I think it'd be a great opportunity for me to learn some more, and get in a lot more training and experience on the field. Hell, I might even make captain some day." She was obviously excited about the prospects, something that Naruto was easily able to pick up on from her tone of voice and the look in her eyes.

"Yeah. If you think it will be good for you, then I won't stand in your way." Naruto nodded with a bright smile forming, "And… you're cool with me going and hanging out in Yuki no Kuni for a couple of years, yeah? You won't miss me too much?"

"Sure," Tayuya also answered with a positively ecstatic look for her character. "I mean, I'd miss you heaps, but it's not like you're being exiled or some weird crap like that. You don't need to worry about us, shithead. We'll be fine. This village isn't going anywhere and we can all take care of ourselves. And like I said, we can do heaps more fun stuff together when you get back and I'm done with my work." She then looked ahead of her again and, with a shade of red on her cheeks, looked down at her drink with an uncharacteristically nervous smile in play. "I'm… actually looking forward to seeing how you'd turn out after being away for three years. I know it's weird and everything, but… I always love those kinds of surprises." Her anxiousness was not missed by any of those at the table, which brought odd looks from Sasuke and Shikamaru, and an amused one from Kiba.

The only ones who actually responded with any sort of curiosity to the idea were Sakura and Kin, both of whom thought about how Naruto would turn out after a three year period of training. Imagining him a few years down the line and what kind of a man he would become inevitably drew blushes to their faces just as it had done to the musician, which they hid when they could still sense the jinchuriki looking across at them.

Still red in the face, Tayuya grinned both fondly and mischievously, "I can wait."

Finally having his head set on straight, Naruto gave a nod and squeezed his girlfriend's hand once more. "Thanks, Tayuya-chan." His attention then cut to his friends across from him. "To you guys as well." He then turned back to the musician on his right. "I… think I know what I want to do now." Smiling at the girl fondly and giving her a look that said he was firmly set on his decision, he was able to formulate his answer. "I'm going to Yuki no Kuni… and that's it." In response to his words, the flute player gave the boy a kiss on the cheek. Upon returning her gesture of affection, the boy and the redhead then downed their drinks and slapped their glasses atop the counter.

"Isaribi-chan is going to kill me when she hears about this, isn't she?" Naruto added as an afterthought, a look of dread coming over him when he considered the other girl sharing their apartment.

Tayuya snorted. "Kill you? She'd drag you down to the cellar underneath our apartment block while you're asleep and tie you to the wall to stop you from leaving."

A nervous chuckle soon followed that, "Yeah. I'm… going to have to give her some space when I inevitably break the news to her."

Run like hell after breaking the news. That usually seemed to work.

Kin smiled from Naruto's left and good-naturedly jabbed him in the arm, "We'll be sure to hold down the fort while you're away, orange boy."

Positively beaming at this point, the blonde gave his friend an understanding look, "I know you guys will be fine. Tenten-chan and I had the exact same talk about me being switched on twenty-four-seven and fussing over every little detail while we were on the mission escorting Yukie. I've got to learn to relax and stop worrying so much about everything."

"Stress can lead you to an early grave, Naruto-kun," Sakura pointed out with a fond look thrown in the blonde's direction. Being well aware of how energetic and thoughtful the young Jonin was, since he was a selfless freak and everything, she expressed noticeable and extreme concern for his wellbeing. He was her best friend too, so she wanted to be there to watch out for him whenever she could. "Try not to let all of it get to you and interfere with the more important stuff in your life. That kind of weight is unnecessary for a ninja."

"Yep," Kiba nodded with a grin of his own. "If you're constantly worrying about all of your problems, you will either die from the overwhelming pressure or get caught up on the field and stabbed in the back by an enemy you just didn't know was there." He then nudged Sasuke in the side incessantly for a second opinion. "Right, buddy?"

Groaning, the raven haired boy glared back at the Inuzuka. "Please don't do that."

Shikamaru smiled slightly as he too looked across at Naruto, "Even though I think this is all a drag, you have my full support in whatever decision you make." He raised a glass to the blonde. "Good luck."

Expressing enthusiasm and delight at the banter between his comrades, the jinchuriki then had the most excellent idea and signaled for the barkeep to get them a few more drinks. When the man came around, he returned to his post carrying several bottles of alcohol and a batch of shot glasses, each of which were given out to the teenagers lined up along the counter. Upon throwing the items a questioning look, everyone then turned their attention to Naruto to see him hold his up and pour himself a shot.

"This calls for a celebration, to commemorate me and Tayuya-chan moving down our chosen paths, and to wish all of us the best of luck for our future endeavors and careers as shinobi," Naruto declared, giving everyone an encouraging smile. "In other words… grab your drinks people. It's time for a game!"

Immediately deciding to join in on the festivities, Kiba, Tayuya and Kin all poured themselves a glass as well, with Sasuke and Shikamaru soon following, albeit with a little bit of hesitation. The only one who didn't pour herself a shot was Sakura, who gave the batch of alcohol they had a momentary pause before turning her gaze towards the blonde calling for them to take up arms. "What kind of game?"

"It's simple," Naruto said with a sly grin, "No stopping, no passing out, and no puking. First one to do either of those loses." He then shrugged their way when he saw everyone consider the bottles once more. "Since this is the first time having alcohol for some of you, let's make this afternoon a memorable one."

"I highly doubt that that will be possible," Shikamaru said, looking at his shot questioningly. Since this was alcohol and the first thing their friend was proposing was a numbers game, the boy seriously doubted that they would be remembering any of the coming night.

All the more reason why he didn't want to get involved. The chance of inebriation was made doubly certain due to the fact that they were all novices to the art of downing alcoholic beverages. However, for the sake of hanging out with his companions, he was willing to have one or two for the sake of participating. As to what would happen afterwards, he was going to leave that to future Shikamaru to handle.

"What is this stuff, anyway?" Kin asked, at the same time giving her good friend and roommate a raised eyebrow. "It smells really strong."

"It doesn't matter," Naruto quickly said with an excited grin, "As long as it gets the job done."

As to what kind of job nobody could say for certain. However, immediately after spring boarding off of the hot springs to this place once everyone had been cleaned up from the scrap on Training Ground Three, most notably Naruto and Sasuke, both of whom had patches and band aids from their fight slapped across random parts of their faces, you could say their spirits were plenty high for them to dive right into this.

The gap before this had also allowed them plenty of time to cover all of the questions everyone had wanted to ask them regarding their match on the training field, like why they chose to use the moves they did, the strategies they executed and the number of elements the two of them could use. While Sasuke said he didn't use any lightning based attacks because Naruto could nullify them completely, Naruto also said he didn't use his wind cloak technique or his flight capabilities excessively because if his opponent had caught him with any fire release techniques, with his jutsu still under development, he would have set himself alight.

All of this discussion and talk inevitably boiled down to this. A party.

Keen to join in on the festivities, most of the teens there were eager to participate, with only Sakura and Shikamaru pausing for thought.

Sasuke on the other hand, being one of the most competitive of the group contrary to what others thought of him, was excited at the idea of another 'fight' with his rival. Though he didn't show it on his face, his actions of pouring his shot and holding it up in a firm yet eager grip, while keeping his gaze set solely on Naruto, was all the proof one needed to know that the Uchiha was all for this.

Sakura gave her drink a wary scowl before tentatively wrapping her fingers around the glass, "I'm… not too sure about this." She had a meeting with Tsunade tomorrow. The last thing she wanted to do was end up late or mentally stricken for it.

"Don't worry, it'll be fine," Naruto exclaimed, looking between Tayuya and Kin to see if they were all for the proposal. When he saw the two girls grin at him, the blonde then took up his shot and raised it in the air. "Alright guys, are we ready?" When he saw Kiba, Sasuke, and eventually Shikamaru and Sakura collect their glasses and look in his direction, the boy nodded. "One, two… three…!"

And that's all any of them remembered before their worlds went black for the rest of the night…

OOO

Meanwhile…

Hokage Tower…

"It seems that no matter how many times we try to fix things, more problems just keep popping up all over the place," Hiruzen spoke, looking up from underneath the wide brim of his hat to stare seriously across at his former student standing on the other side of his desk. It was worth noting that not only was Jiraiya present in the room and under the complete attention of the Hokage, but he was also accompanied by Tsunade and Kakashi, both of whom had been called in here for this very meeting. "I honestly hope that this is just rumor, Jiraiya."

His person falling under the eyes of the old man, the Sannin breathed out a heavy sigh as he stood there with his arms folded before answering as best as he could on the matter. "I wish I could say that it was. Unfortunately… it appears that we have more than just Orochimaru and his former colleagues to worry about. There's some other group out there that's not a part of either of those factions that's causing a stir in my network. I only started hearing about it a few weeks ago, but apparently they've been active for much longer."

"I seem to recall going over this before," Kakashi murmured, hands in his pockets and his one eye trained on the Toad Sage across from him.

"That there's another organization of unknown origin and strength attacking people on the highways in various countries and kidnapping them," Tsunade led on, folding her arms as she switched back over to the Hokage with a troubled glimmer reflected in her gaze. "It's not uncommon for bandits, armed renegades and rogue ninja to be targeting convoys traveling along the roads. Usually they're after something that the group is transporting with them, like valuables or treasures or something along those lines. Maybe you're getting your information mixed up with an everyday problem."

The Sannin shook his head, "That's what I originally thought as well; that there has been a sudden influx of bandits and mercenaries in recent months attacking people on the highways journeying across the countryside to rob them. It's not like the nation is in recession or anything like that. We haven't been experiencing any problems with companies going out of business. In fact, the Land of Fire is the most economically stable nation on the entire continent."

"You don't need to tell me that," the Third Hokage remarked, lacing his fingers together in front of him.

At that, Jiraiya's expression then steeled once more and he became even more serious. "But what I initially believed were common thugs causing the row in my intelligence network is actually something far more dangerous and sinister… a dark shadow that goes beyond the likes of Orochimaru and the Akatsuki. I found this out when I was traveling to the villages along the coastline to check out some leads that have gone cold… and I discovered that an entire town I often stopped by on my trips to the Land of Water had just up and vanished."

Silence prevailed immediately after the Sannin informed the group of this finding, leaving Hiruzen, Kakashi and Tsunade staring at the man for a full minute, before either of them chose to speak up again.

Processing the information, the Slug Sannin gave her former teammate a hard stare, "What do you mean 'vanished'?"

"As in, 'poof'! Gone. No longer there," Jiraiya stated while throwing his hands up to illustrate the ridiculousness of the event. "I walked into town and found that the entire population of over a hundred and fifty people had just disappeared. There was even food still on the tables of homes I checked out. It was like every single villager had been spirited away."

"Does the town have any ceremonies that the villagers need to attend that would require them to vacate their homes and streets prematurely?" Kakashi asked, trying to find a logical explanation behind the troublesome phenomenon.

The Toad Sage shook his head. "No. From what I gathered, the entire town had been emptied out some time ago and has been like that for a while now. The food was going stale and some of the stores and properties were looking like they hadn't been tended to for weeks. Upon looking a bit more into it and searching the homes, I found some clues linking the disappearance of the villagers to some of the other cases I'd heard about through my contacts. Apparently, a person with a very rare kekkei genkai was living in that town, a detail that's shared with various other incidents that have taken place in different parts of the continent. But for some reason, instead of just taking him, the culprits decided to kidnap the entire village." He then gave a confused shrug, "For what reason however is beyond me. Maybe they didn't want to have any witnesses and just took everyone."

Nodding his head in understanding, Hiruzen looked down at his desk, "Whoever they are, they're getting bolder."

"First individual shinobi outside of their villages and homelands turn up missing," Kakashi began, bringing his hand up and counting on his fingers to help form the order in which this bewitching process has taken. "Then small groups of civilians and convoys, the most recent case being the sudden disappearance of an entire team of shinobi from our village transporting three kunoichi prisoners to the main facility on the outskirts. Then we have individuals inside of villages disappearing… and finally an entire town." Lowering his hand, Kakashi looked across at the Hokage anxiously. "This isn't the work of common bandits or thugs. These are all coordinated attacks being mounted by somebody with a great deal of experience and knowledge of the hidden villages."

"Not even Orochimaru is that audacious… nor is he this thorough," Tsunade said, looking at Jiraiya to see the nervous bead of sweat running down the side of his face. "You said you weren't able to pick up any traces of the villagers or anything?"

The white haired Sannin shook his head, "Not even a follicle."

Murmuring to himself, the Third Hokage paused silently for several moments longer. After pursing through all of the information he'd been given, he looked back towards the shinobi standing before him and spoke up once more. "These disappearances of villagers and shinobi… they're all connected to the people Sasuke's group encountered on the way back from their mission and the person Naruto ran into on his mission to Yuki no Kuni. That tells us that there is a force working in the shadows of the five great nations that means to bring this entire continent to ruin. They intend to throw the delicate peace we have established out of balance. As of right now however, they're just poking at the surface… picking at whatever prey comes their way… building up their strength."

"What should we do about it then?" Tsunade asked, placing her hands on her hips and giving the village leader a questioning look. "Since we don't know who these people are, we can't say for certain who exactly is responsible for this and take action against them. Hell, even the description young Kotetsu gave to us of his encounter with the gliding ninja and the armored women doesn't give us anything, especially since the survivors collected the remains of their fallen before retreating."

Thinking on it, Hiruzen gave a stern nod and glanced over at his student on the far right. "Jiraiya, I want you to continue keeping tabs on these people, as well as the Akatsuki and Orochimaru. Dig up anything you can on their organizations, and should anything else major take place, I want you to inform me right away." Seeing the man nod, the elder then turned his attention to the others. "We're going to need to be prepared for whatever's waiting for us around the corner. I suspect the enemies hiding and watching us in the dark won't try anything big for a while, but just to be safe, I want our forces to be ready for a fight."

"We should inform the other villages of this development as well," Tsunade added while nodding towards the old man in the funny hat. "Call it a gesture of good faith. We wouldn't want them getting any bad ideas if they catch wind of us preparing our forces for a war. Considering these incidents have also taken place inside of their borders and on their soil, they'll want to be as ready for this as we're going to be."

"I agree," Kakashi said in support of the Slug Sannin.

Meditating on their words, Hiruzen then graced them with a nod of understanding.

With plans being formed before his very eyes, Jiraiya decided to have his own little input added to the mix. After all, he believed this to also be one of the items in his most important category. "While we're on the subject of preparation and all that noise, what about Naruto's predicament? Word on the street is that he received an offer of temporary employment from young Koyuki Kazahana, the ruler of Yuki no Kuni he'd recently helped return to the throne, and intends to move over to her country to serve as her advisor for the next couple of years."

Looking towards the Toad Sannin momentarily, Kakashi thought on the subject of his apprentice and beamed. "My former student is really moving up in the world."

"Should we let the brat go? I mean… what with all the disappearances and the business with Akatsuki… it's quite a risky venture, don't you think?" Tsunade asked uneasily. "That's not even counting the fact that the country is so far out of the way."

Dawning on this addition to the list for but a moment due to its level of importance, considering Naruto was not only a new Jonin of Konohagakure but also the jinchuriki of the Nine Tailed Fox, supposedly one of their village's most significant military assets, Hiruzen then twiddled his thumbs thoughtfully and gave a warm smile. "I say let him go." Seeing the surprise come to Tsunade's face, the respected leader of the hidden leaf elaborated further. "He told me all about the offer Yukie gave to him and explained to me exactly what would be involved with his endeavor, and taking into account everything that's taken place in and around the countries, I believe that this would be a good learning experience for young Naruto-kun to have. Not only will it be good practice for him and a way for him to acquire more knowledge, if he intends to work as Koyuki-hime's advisor and, by extension, a shinobi outside of this village, he'll be able to perform missions on behalf of Konohagakure with a certain level of anonymity. The opportunity for travel to different states and nations with her will also mean he won't be sticking around one place, making it difficult for people outside of the hidden leaf to keep tabs on him."

Kakashi smiled at this, "That's actually a good idea. By keeping him busy and keeping him moving, it'll be really hard for outside forces to track him down, especially in a country so far out and under the employment of a woman renowned for traveling incognito outside of the reaches of this continent."

"And he won't be going alone either," Jiraiya spoke up while at the same time stepping into the spotlight. "If he chooses to head up to the land of snow to go through with this, he'll have me to watch over him. I'll train him up and make sure he doesn't get into too much trouble while he's away. Can't be too careful with something like this."

"If it's not too inconvenient for you, then I will allow it," Hiruzen said pleasantly, before then turning his attention to the Copy Ninja standing quietly on the sidelines. "I'm sorry if we're taking your student away from you, Kakashi. I know that there is a lot you still want to teach him… being the student of his father and everything, and even though he's a Jonin now… but I think it would be best to let him go on this one."

The man in the mask nodded with an eye smile, "I understand."

Looking between the men in conference, Tsunade also allowed a smirk to cross her lips and folded her arms. "This brat has already turned quite a few heads as the shinobi he's already become. I'm sure he'll have a lot more surprises waiting for us when he gets back." She glanced over at the white haired Sannin smiling at the end of the line. "Whip him into shape, you old fart. It'll be a waste of good ninja if he's off goofing around the entire time he's away."

Jiraiya chuckled, "Don't worry about it, hime. Ever since the tournament, news on Akatsuki activities across the continent has dropped like a rock. I suspect that the group has broken up and that its members are, for the time being, keeping their heads down. But if they should show up again, I'll make sure that the kid is ready to face them." The man looked ahead of him again. "He'll need all the training he can get if they're going to be coming after him."

"His friends too," Kakashi added, folding his arms and closing his eye. "I'll take Sasuke-kun under my wing and continue training him. I have no doubt he'll want to get even stronger now after what's happened to him. I'm sure that my other half Sakura-chan will be well taken care of as well, right Tsunade-sama?" The man looked towards the blonde haired kunoichi, whom he saw smile and nod.

"Don't worry. I'll make a new woman out of your student, Kakashi… that's a promise."

Hiruzen beamed at the gung-ho attitude those in attendance were now showing him. Having faith that things would go well from now on, he decided to put all his confidence in his students and the people of his village. "Well then. It seems that that business is settled. Let's just hope it all pans out in our favor." Lacing his fingers together again, the elder then pulled up a scroll from his desk drawer and set it on the table. When the three people in front of him saw him roll it open, they each took a slight step forward, while the leader of the village stretched the sheet and looked up at them again. "On another note, we've received a mission offer from Kirigakure."

"They're asking for our help… or to be more precise… they're asking for help from our resident firebrand…"

XXX

The very next morning…

Naruto's apartment…

Roused from his slumber by the sound of incredibly loud footsteps echoing in from his corridor, a partied out Naruto Uzumaki looked up from his sprawled out position on top of his futon with a low groan. Blinking away the rays of sunlight hitting him from beyond the window, the boy slowly sat up from his spot and looked about his chamber with a drowsy expression in play. Gaze half-lidded and obviously worn out from the wild night he'd just had, the jinchuriki gave a tired yawn as the engines to the enormous factory that was his body started to churn, and scratched his chest absently.

Realizing he was only sleeping in his boxers, the youngster looked down at himself to see two lumps lying on either side of him and hidden by a sheet. Curious, the blonde slowly reached down and pulled the covers away, revealing to his surprise a still sleeping Tenten wearing his jacket lying against his stomach with a content smile on her face and Kin lying on his other side drooling into the mattress. At first blinking bewilderedly at seeing the two girls, one of which he was fully aware hadn't been at the pub when they started their evening celebrations, Naruto eventually smiled and ran a gentle finger through their hair.

Sitting in his place momentarily and regaining his bearings, the boy eventually rose from his place, allowing the girls to roll off of him before staggering out of his pillow and mattress fort of a bedroom. Just as he reached the exit however, he heard the door to his closet open up and, looking back over his shoulder, saw a sleeping bag tumble out of the unit with Shikamaru bundled up inside it, and had seemingly been set standing up inside the cupboard. When the Chunin hit the pillows waiting for him on the ground with an audible 'oof', the boy looked up drearily and across the room, where he saw a half-naked Naruto staring at him.

The jinchuriki, considering his friend momentarily, gave him an upward nod, "Sup?"

Breathing out, Shikamaru shrugged, "Not me, for obvious reasons."

Yawning his second response, Naruto then left, allowing the Nara to lie tied up in his room for a little while longer. When he eventually slogged his way into the kitchen, he found Tayuya, Kiba, Sakura and Sasuke all sitting around his dining table looking absolutely hung over, and a very pleasant looking Isaribi making them breakfast. Scratching his head at seeing all of his friends in his apartment complex, the jinchuriki spotted a chair and slowly dragged his feet over to it.

Glancing about at all of his companions, Naruto noted that most of his comrades in arms were all looking frazzled and exhausted, and obviously still in the process of waking up. Tayuya was in an oversized shirt and panties, Sakura's hair was all over the place and she appeared to be very tired, Kiba was nursing a dozing Akamaru in his lap and, hilariously enough, had a penis drawn on his face next to one of his clan marks, and Sasuke was wearing a white singlet, Chunin vest, and boxers as opposed to the black spandex uniform and full ensemble he had on the other day.

When everyone eventually noticed Naruto and saw him enter their midst, they all groaned and waved toward him in their respective manners.

"Morning, dobe," the one-eyed Sasuke breathed out while sipping the coffee in his hand. "Try not to make any sudden movements. My head is killing me."

"Likewise," Sakura also said with a groan.

Beaming, Naruto finished his approach and took up his place at the table. Immediately finding a seat between Tayuya and Kiba, he gave a peck on the lips to a patiently waiting former and a fist bump to the latter, before assuming his seat. Getting comfortable, he fixed his stare on his red haired roommate and thumbed over his shoulder. "Hey, did something happen between me, Kin and Tenten last night?"

Contemplating on the question for but a moment while everybody else balked at the boy's casual response to the two other girls in his room, Tayuya then grinned and fixed a lecherous gaze upon her boyfriend. "Not much… except you spent the entire last quarter of the night in the apartment trying to beat Tenten in a game of darts, failing miserably and making out with her until she passed out in your arms. After that you played a game of shogi with Kin using shots of sake as pieces, and after she beat you she wanted to do the same thing to you as Tenten did, but fell asleep the moment she sat in your lap. I helped carry them into your room where we crashed."

"Ah. Well… that explains why I woke up and found both of them sleeping on top of me… and why my lips are so chapped." This statement drew a bright blush from Sakura at the thought of the three girls bedding with her teammate, whereas Kiba snorted in amusement and Sasuke shook his head at the ridiculousness of his rival's romantic life.

Eyes then landing on his fellow male teammate of squad seven, Naruto took a moment to look him over before raising an eyebrow, "What happened to your clothes?"

This drew another snicker from Tayuya, as she seemed to have held out quite well after all their hours of partying on the streets. "Apparently we set fire to them last night," the redhead chuckled, looking quite chipper despite her unkempt state as she drank the coffee from her mug. "Something about us wanting to sacrifice it to the Moon Goddess, thanking her for the many bountiful harvests she has allowed us to produce from our fields over the past year."

"Ah," Naruto nodded, immediately buying onto that explanation as it sounded the most feasible. They'd apparently all gotten smashed last night and had gone on a raid of the town. Setting fire to things would have been among the few things they would have done during a complete memory breakdown. When he sensed a person stop next to him, the blonde then looked up to see his chimera roommate beaming down at him, a sight that coaxed a smile in response from his tired face. "Hey, Isaribi-chan."

"Morning, Naruto-kun," the girl chirped, leaning down and kissing him on the lips, which he returned without a second thought. The teens sitting around the table looked across at their exchange of affections with interest, but then dismissed it as one of the odd things the blonde haired Jonin normally did. "That was a great party last night. I had heaps of fun." Setting a plate of toast and a fried egg in front of him, Isaribi then went on to making herself some breakfast.

"Yeah. We all did, didn't we?" Naruto chuckled, his mind finally starting to come around and beginning to piece together the broken vase that was his recollection of last night's events. Chuckling as he leaned forward on the table, the blonde then looked across at his friends, particularly Sakura and Sasuke. "It's all coming back to me now. Sakura-chan… you were an animal."

Recoiling in shock, said girl then blushed all the way to the roots of her hair and looked away shamefacedly. "Sh-Shut up, you idiot." The increase in blood in her cranium then brought out a wince and a groan from the kunoichi afterwards, who gripped her hair and laid her forehead against the table in front of her. "Ugh… this isn't the time to be getting me flustered. I've got a meeting to get to in an hour."

Sasuke, staring ahead of him blankly, absently picked up a piece of toast and held it to his lips, "I think one of us should try breathing on a mirror."

"Right… but do it quietly, please," Kiba murmured in a feeble voice, at the same time stroking Akamaru on the head, who gave a cute yawn immediately afterwards. Smiling at his friend, the young man then looked up with a chuckle. "Anyway… it's great that we were able to cut loose for a few hours. I haven't been able to go out to have fun like that for a while now… not with the sudden jump in the number of missions we've been getting lately. It was a great way to relieve some stress."

The Uchiha, thinking about that for a moment, then allowed a small smile to cross his face as well. "Yeah. It wasn't too bad of a night." After the shitty month he'd been having, he felt he'd needed this. Perhaps one of the most effective ways to get over a miserable experience was to burn it out of your system and just go crazy for one night. Playing the role of a shinobi as a career pretty much called for it.

It'd been stewing in the back of his mind and eroding his mood for some time now, the feelings of hopelessness, doubt, frustration, anger, rage and hatred, especially towards the people who'd caused the most pain in his life. After everything that had happened to him to this current point, it made him grateful to have friends like Naruto and Sakura to be there to pick him up whenever he got let down. Perhaps that was the main reason they were put into the teams they were assigned in the first place; to let each of them know that they weren't alone in this world and that they were each there to support one another. At least that was the conclusion Sasuke reached, not including the ideas of teamwork, watching your comrades' backs and working hard to become stronger.

They were also there to get you back on your feet emotionally. It was something that had the most impact on him, but was also something he chose not to express outwardly. He still had an image he needed to maintain after all. Thankfully any and all incriminating evidence to the contrary had been lost in the madness of last night.

Most of it anyway.

Sakura, having remained relatively silent up until that point, beamed across at her jinchuriki teammate when she managed to lift much of the head pains banging against her noggin. "Thanks for letting us stay over at your place, Naruto. I don't think our parents would have liked seeing their kids coming back home from a night out all blitzed, stumbling about, and mumbling all sorts of nonsensical words."

"Yeah, dude. Thanks a bunch," Kiba also spoke up, raising his coffee glass to the blonde to let him know of the enormous gratitude he had towards him. "Your couch cushions are really soft by the way."

Grinning from ear to ear and massaging his neck bashfully, Naruto returned their thanks and nods of appreciation with gestures that suited each of their respective acknowledgements. "No problem guys. You can crash over here anytime. I don't mind." He had enough mattresses in his place to fill up a hotel. If he had the building to accommodate such an amount and allowed him to spread the number of stations throughout the many rooms provided, then he would undoubtedly be able to live comfortably for the rest of his life on the revenue. Unfortunately, all he had was his little apartment, so that dream was a little too far away.

Kiba, thinking about the structure of Naruto's bedroom and the arrangements he had made to it, looked up at the blonde curiously, "Why did you buy so many pillows, mattresses and futons anyway, dude? Your room is chalk full of them,"

The jinchuriki chuckled and glanced across at his friend, "Well, Tayuya-chan and I had gotten so busy with training when we started living together that we sort of dropped wherever we fell at the end of every day because we were so exhausted. So we came up with the idea to buy a ton of things to sleep on and dumped it in our room. Basically, my entire room is a bed fit for a sultan."

"That's pretty smart," the brown haired kid remarked while scratching his cheek.

"It's also insanely comfortable," Tayuya added from her end with a pointed nod. "Imagine walking on clouds and sleeping in them. Just falling asleep wherever we crash is awesome, since the arrangement is different every single day."

Sakura looked up from her breakfast inquisitively. "That actually sounds very nice."

"I should think about setting up a den for myself. Maybe I'll mix it up a little and get an enormous pillow to go along with it," Kiba added as an afterthought, receiving grins from a couple of the other kids around him before returning to his breakfast. When he looked up again though and saw Naruto and Tayuya awkwardly trying to keep their eyes from landing on him, as if they were also trying to suppress laughter, the Inuzuka stared at them momentarily before speaking with a forced smile. "There's a dick on my face, isn't there?"

The snickers and laughter he got from Naruto, Sakura, Tayuya and Isaribi in the end were all the answers he needed. He still had a black marker drawing of one right on his cheek, and it was beginning to grate on him.

Breakfast went on for the next few minutes in relative silence, allowing everyone to get over their headaches and migraines from the night before. Shikamaru eventually joined them shortly afterwards, with Naruto fetching him a cup of coffee that the boy gratefully accepted with open arms and appreciation. As they were all sitting around and chatting, talking about how they could spend another day together and what games they could have on that date, there was suddenly a knock on the door that prompted the blonde haired host to dismiss himself prematurely and go see who it was. Clad in only a pair of pants, the youngster opened up the door to find a familiar Chunin standing outside.

"Oh. Iwashi-san."

The shinobi with the goatee and wearing a Konoha bandana grinned as he saluted the blonde greeting him at the door. "Good morning."

"What's up?"

"I've come with a message from the Hokage," the adult replied while fishing out a folded up letter from his back pouch. Holding it out, he watched the young Jonin retrieve it from him before stepping into attention. "He says there is a briefing that requires your immediate presence. You need to report to the head office as soon as possible."

Considering the paper for a moment, Naruto opened it up. Upon reading through it, the jinchuriki then balked at the information presented before a smile crossed his lips. "That's fine. I'll be there in a few. Thanks." Responding kindly to the delivery man, the Chunin returned his gratitude with a nod before vanishing in a shunshin, allowing the jinchuriki to rush back inside and get ready for the day ahead.

Naruto's hurried footsteps throughout the corridors of his quarters drew inquisitive looks from those still at the kitchen table. For the next few minutes his guests from last evening's parade continued to listen in and watch as the blonde haired youngster scurried about his apartment, collecting material from here and there, and moving like the wind for whatever purpose had been set for him. Once he was done running around, he returned to the kitchen adorned in his regular outfit, complete with unzipped jacket and Jonin vest, and once he stopped in the archway acknowledged the presence of his fellow teammates and comrades.

"Who was that, Naruto-kun?" Isaribi asked.

"Iwashi. He said that I have a meeting with the Hokage I have to attend right away, so I'm heading up to the administration building to see what's going on," Naruto exclaimed, before quickly making his way around the table and opening up the kitchen window. His friends then experienced the odd and hilarious sight of the young Jonin clambering out his less used exit, before grinning back at them when he was about halfway out. "I'll probably see you guys in a bit, if my meeting doesn't take too long. I'm going to try out my awesome new transport system." He then clambered up onto the gutter above and disappeared, leaving the others sitting in his kitchen staring after him.

Chewing on some toast, Sakura looked over at Sasuke inquisitively. "New transport system?"

"Does he have a chairlift up there or something?" Kiba asked, looking over at Tayuya oddly and waiting for an answer.

The redhead shrugged before going back to her tea. "Beats me."

OOO

Hokage's Office…

Pouring over his usual paperwork for the start of the day, Hiruzen busied himself that morning with the business of tending to the needs of his village. Drowning in endless ink and scroll sheets, while every so often stretching out the cramps in his wrist, the Kage was well on his way to finishing up all of his unsigned documents handed in from the sorting office until his gaze was unexpectedly drawn to a knock on his front door. Glancing up from his desk, the elderly man then saw the entrance to his office swing open and the face of a familiar Chunin poke into view. The kunoichi looking around momentarily to see if she wasn't barging in on any meetings, she then beamed across at her white haired boss, who smiled back when he registered to the presence of the young lady.

"Ah. Ai-chan. What can I do for you?"

"Sorry to interrupt, Hokage-sama… but you have a visitor," the raven haired kunoichi exclaimed with a humble bow. "It's the envoy from Kirigakure. She's here regarding the joint mission between Konoha and Kiri you had scheduled for this coming week."

"Oh. Of course," Hiruzen replied, setting his pen aside and waving a hand towards his attendant. "Send him in."

"Hai, sir." The woman then disappeared behind the entrance, allowing the door to shut with a gentle click.

The time the kunoichi excused herself from the office gave the Third enough of a gap to prepare himself to welcome his esteemed guest. Upon pushing aside his various other scrolls and documents, and making sure his table was all straightened up, he then laced his fingers together and laid them on the surface before him. He steadied his breathing and relaxed his shoulders, waiting for the envoy sent from the hidden mist to come in through the double doors of his chamber. The elder didn't have to wait for very long, as he was shortly graced with the presence of said individual and his Chunin attendant, with Ai showed the orange haired girl in before closing the doors behind her. It came as a small measure of surprise to Hiruzen to see who the person sent from Kirigakure was, which he showed by way of the momentary second glance he gave said girl.

"Tsubaki-san." The Third smiled as the familiar face of the young teenager marched into his midst. With a smile of her own worn proudly on her visage, the kunoichi bowed humbly to the leader of the hidden leaf as she strode to a stop in the center of his office. Her hands in her pockets and samurai coat trailing gracefully from her shoulders, the warrior stood before the most powerful shinobi in the village at attention. "I never expected to have you here in my office so soon after the exams. Even though the Mizukage said she was sending over one of her own, she never specified whom."

"It is a pleasure to meet you face to face, Hokage-dono," Tsubaki expressed with a tone of voice that was unlike the one she had during the exams. From the look on her face and the aura she was giving off, it was obvious that she'd gone through a considerable change since the Rookie Nine's first encounter with her. She'd matured and grown quite a lot, giving her a much more welcoming air and appearance. "Thank you for seeing me on such short notice. I trust that word of the mission has already been sent to the requested."

"Yes, of course. I dispatched a messenger to his home just this morning. I expect he will be arriving here shortly," Hiruzen replied kindly, a light chuckle following immediately afterwards. "It's straight to business with you, isn't it? It's just as I expected of someone of your character. Are you sure you do not wish to rest first? You must be weary from the long journey over here." He then gestured to the chair across from him, "I can have some tea brought up for us, if you like."

"Thank you," Tsubaki chirped, beginning to approach the offered seat with a look of gratitude. "It's been a long trip."

"I can imagine," the elder added, knowing full well how far it was to Kirigakure from here. "Would you like green or east leaf?"

Just as Tsubaki was walking forward and about to answer, she suddenly stopped in her tracks when both she and the Hokage heard something drift in on the wind; a noise most peculiar and baffling in nature. It wasn't the sound of machinery or the air-conditioner humming, footsteps, an alarm or anything of the sort. No. It was an echo of some kind approaching them from a distance. Blinking at first hearing its quiet decibels, the pair then looked about silently for a second before the sound came in once again, only this time the words 'Kage Bunshin' was attached to the beginning and made that much more clearer.

Identifying it as a boy's shout, the pair then looked up when the next words echoed into the office from the open window beside them.

"…wwoooOOO! CLONE CANNOOOOOOOOOON!"

A split second later, the approaching yell of warning was followed immediately by a shattering of glass directly over Hiruzen's shoulder, before an orange blur shot past him like a bullet. Tsubaki, standing completely in line of the object's approach, had but a split second for her eyes to bug out of their sockets before she was plowed headlong into by the traveling figure. The wind was knocked right out of her lungs when she was sent rocketing backwards by the human-sized projectile…

And sent straight towards the door where Neji had just stepped through.

"You sent fo-" was the only thing the unsuspecting Hyuuga was able to mutter before Tsubaki's back collided into him. Together, all three bodies then crashed straight into the corridor wall behind them, the impact blasting a hole through the barrier and a loud 'bang' reverberating throughout the entire complex.

Debris and smoke flew in all directions when Tsubaki vanished into the thick of the cataclysm, blocking the landing site completely from view and leaving Hiruzen in a state akin to bewildered. The elder stared out through the ruined entrance of his office to the wall of dust clogging his hallway, where his kunoichi assistant stumbled into view coughing and waving the crap out of the way so as to clear the air space, as well as to try and make sense as to what the hell just happened. When the smog eventually fell, it revealed an enormous hole punched into the other side of the corridor. This was what initial glances brought up.

In actually, there had been several holes bashed in through the many walls of the Hokage tower, and not just the one corridor, all of which inevitably led through to the center of the building where the large lounge, the place where meetings between the village elders took place, sat in plain view.

Upon sifting through the damage, the kunoichi eventually found Tsubaki, Neji and, the cause for the sudden and unexpected disturbance, Naruto, all lying unconscious on top of one another, and all of them wearing stupid looks and swirly eyes on their cataleptic faces amidst the plaster, brick and woodwork they were sprawled out in. Scratching her head at the sight, Ai turned and waved to her boss, who breathed out a sigh and rested his head on his hand.

"Of course… it always has to be Naruto who makes the flashiest entrance."

And he figured Jiraiya was the only one that did that.

OOO

Half an hour later…

After calling some Chunin to help clean up the mess and instructing his attendant to bring in somebody from the workshop to fix up the holes, Hiruzen then saw Naruto and Tsubaki as his next order of business once the pair had regained consciousness. With the kunoichi having her head bandaged up and the jinchuriki looking perfectly alright, despite flying through a window and through several barriers made out of reinforced wood and plaster, the two stood at attention before the leader of the leaf while he collected the documents for their briefing. And hell, he even had tea brought up for all of them.

That was really nice of the Third, considering he had several of his walls smashed in.

It didn't escape their notice that Neji was also lying on the couch setup against the nearby wall, still out cold and with a damp cloth laid over his head and eyes. Since he'd been the one to hit the structure of the corridor first, it was safe to say that the poor boy would be out the longest.

With a happy smile in play and a casual sway in his stance, Naruto panned over to the slightly taller Kirigakure girl and the game face she had on, as was normal for the lightning user's routine, and greeted her with a cheerful exclamation, "It's great to see you again, Tsubaki-chan. How have you been?"

Jerking in surprise at being address so suddenly, the teen looked down at the blonde and nodded back to him in response, while also having it in her to spare him a smile, "I've been good. Our village has been getting a lot of missions lately and I've been really busy with my work. You wouldn't believe how tough it's been the past few weeks."

The blonde giggled excitedly at her answer, "Never thought I'd ever hear those words from you. Aren't you supposed to be this crazy strong girl that can move as fast as lightning? There shouldn't be anything out there that could possibly be jarring for you."

Tsubaki chuckled, "Work is tough and requires all of your focus. No matter what it is or how much time it takes, it'll always require you to exert yourself in some way, shape or form." She then looked ahead of her with a very pleased look reflected in her gaze. "After all, the title of Jonin does carry a lot of weight to it. Responsibilities to the village and rigorous tasks come hand in hand with that honor."

It was this statement that had the jinchuriki recoil slightly in surprise, "H-Hang on a second. Y-You're a Jonin now, Tsubaki-chan?" Seeing the girl throw him an all-knowing smile brought one to his face as well. The blonde literally bounced on the spot when he eventually processed the girl's words completely and embellished her with delight and enthusiasm. "That's fantastic! Congrats. When did you get the official nod?"

Scratching her cheek bashfully, the orange haired kunoichi murmured in response, "Just last week. The Mizukage was impressed with the results of the numerous A-Rank missions I'd been going on and acknowledged my improved leadership skills, so she wrote up the paperwork herself." The grin she formed afterwards was one of embarrassment and glee, "I'm… honestly really happy with it."

"Yeah. I can tell," the blonde chirped.

With the two getting into the swing of their reunion and conversing over their acquired ranks, they were eventually interrupted by the clearing throat of one Hiruzen Sarutobi. Eyes cutting back to the elder sitting quietly in the desk in front of them, the two kids saw the serious look he was wearing as well as all the intent he had directed towards the pair. When they returned to a state of cat-like readiness, the village leader spoke once more with a tone conveying his satisfaction at the situation, "I'm glad to see that the two of you are getting along so well. That means the transition into this joint enterprise between the two villages won't be a problem for either of you, which is great considering the details of the assignment I've read from the scroll." Hiruzen then gave a bright smile, which he directed sincerely towards the duo positioned before him. "It also helps that you guys already know one another. That's good. It'll make the task of moving on with this trade that much easier for both our states."

Naruto and Tsubaki spared a momentary smile with each other, before seeing the elder in front of them pull out a scroll and unfurl it with a single swipe across his table. That was all the signal they needed to tell them that it was game time.

"I know that it's been a while since you last spoke with one another, but I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to catch up on this expedition, so let's get down to brass tacks, shall we," the Third began while again lacing his fingers in front of him. Resting them on the surface of his desk, he then gave the pair his full and undivided attention, just as they did for him. "As you probably know now, Naruto-kun, Kirigakure sent a message to our village asking for our assistance on an A-Rank assignment. Upon reading through the state of affairs and looking closely at the information provided, we've decided to help our fellow shinobi from the mist in hopes to solidify an alliance between our two nations, or at least lay the foundations for one in the foreseeable future. Three if you count Kumogakure, as they're also partaking in this mission."

The jinchuriki grinned at this. "If it's to make new friends and make nice with our next-door neighbors, then I'm all for it, jiji."

"Of course. Of course. That's more or less the answer I expected to hear from you. However, you will do well to listen to what the mission entails, as this will be extremely important to its success," Hiruzen continued, closing his eyes. "A few weeks ago, Kirigakure lost contact with one of its scouting parties on an expedition to one of the many islands on their borders. They suspect that a rebel force from its previous civil war or a mercenary group of unknown origin is held up there and has ambushed the team sent to check out the area. Due to the high volume of missions the hidden mist has received in recent months and most of their forces being stretched across the nation's islands, the village cannot spare anymore manpower to this assignment, and have so asked for our help."

Naruto frowned as he drank in this information and lowered his gaze towards the paper in front of the Kage. "They're that worried, huh?"

"Since this is an internal affair, they wouldn't have asked for our help if it wasn't absolutely necessary. But because they're still recovering, Kirigakure wants to make absolutely certain that every inch of their land is safe to travel again and that their people can rebuild without fear of attack," Hiruzen said with a serious tone in his voice, showing just how firmly he was taking this. "If you were in their position, you would do everything that you could for your village and to make sure that every single person within your borders was safe. Right?"

"Of course," the blonde answered with a nod, earning a brief look from Tsubaki before her eyes fixed on the elder for a second time.

"Then your objective is simple. You will assemble a team of three others from our village to take with you on a scouting trip to the islands where the squad of Kirigakure shinobi went missing. You will search the isle and find out the cause for the sudden disappearance of the team and, if possible, the team itself. Ensure that the people you choose are well-rested and have not already been committed to a mission for today. This job will take them a great, many leagues from here and will take place over a several day period, so I'm counting on all of you to make it back in one piece, understand?" When he saw Naruto acknowledge his statement, the village leader gave another smile and held a hand out to the boy earnestly. "You have done extremely well as a Jonin of the hidden leaf so far, Naruto-kun. You've completed all of the tasks assigned to you and have performed how a shinobi in your position should've. I feel that this will be another good experience for you to have."

Feeling a boost in confidence, the jinchuriki gave another beaming look and brought his hand up to clench into a fist. "You can count on me, Hokage-jiji." He then rapped it against his pegs, ratifying his belief in himself.

Upon receiving confirmation from the young Jonin, the Hokage then finished reading up on the scroll and handed it over to Naruto. The blonde made sure to approach the desk the old man was positioned behind and have the item dropped into his waiting hand. When he stepped away, Hiruzen spoke up once more, "Inform the administration office of the shinobi you will be taking on this assignment. They'll be able to highlight their absence on the roster."

Consenting and nodding gratefully for the scroll, Naruto then gestured for Tsubaki to follow, which she did. The pair vacated the premises quietly and with great speed, at the same time dodging the men at work repairing the holes the boy had busted into the tower's many walls. When the two powerful young warriors left, Hiruzen was allowed to return to his work, pulling up the documents from his unfinished tray to continue sorting. During which time, before the elder could completely immerse himself into his signing and assorted calligraphy, the sound of a young man groaning drew his attention over to the couch, and towards the Hyuuga lying forgotten across the cushions.

Murmuring nauseously, the boy with the bandages around his head and patches slapped to his cheeks sat up, looking around his environment momentarily before then turning towards the Hokage. Realizing he was in the presence of their village's leader, but not in any condition or state of mind to respond to this fact, Neji held his head and looked towards the elder groggily.

"W-What just happened?"

Beaming at the young genius, Hiruzen went back to his papers. "A hurricane, Neji-kun. A hurricane just happened."

XXX

Meanwhile…

Thousands of miles elsewhere…

Inside the towering fortress, in the dark chamber belonging to the lord hidden within the shadows, the man dressed in white robes with bandages adorning his pale, ghost-like form, sat glaring ahead of him through the blackness of his realm. His soulless red eyes piercing the nighttime veil he'd pulled across his throne and court, the man in the high collar coat remained seated, silent, considering the information he'd had enter his great hall from the spy network he had working in the outside world, and the reports detailing the progress of his plans.

Feeling the cold of his natural element embrace him like a sheet, the man stared into the darkness as if it were his very soul itself, until a light murmur escaped his throat followed by a shifting of his feet. He then spoke in a soft voice that was almost kind, but carried the venom of evil with every syllable he breathed as he went on to break the silence of his chamber. "I do believe that an opportunity to increase our power has presented itself to us." A dark chuckle escaped his lips immediately afterwards as he then rested a hand upon his chair's arm. "Oh yes… a most wonderful opportunity indeed."

He was looking east, towards the Land of Water, where the island nation was still weak, its people divided by sea, and its population still in a time of healing and forgiveness. Well aware of the chaos that had befallen the lands in years past, the leader of the faction allowed a small smirk to form under the mask he wore over his jaws before tapping a finger against his throne.

"Temujin." His voice echoed like a shout throughout his empty room, calling forward one of his closest attendants.

He didn't need to wait long for a response.

Marching into whatever light was present in the court, a tall young man with long, pale-blonde hair that reached down his neck, green eyes, and wearing a silver, medieval armor, complete with red cape, a sword and an enormous tower shield shaped like a crucifix with a green gem on its front held firmly on his left, came to kneel before the man in the throne like a humbled warrior of old. Even though he'd entered on his own and had made the journey across the chamber as a solitary figure, the moment the young soldier bowed before the man cloaked in shadow, he was shortly joined by another individual stepping out of the darkness in the form of a shinobi with long battle robes, stone gauntlets on his arms, and spiky red hair.

This person went on unnoticed for the most part by the knight, until he was then seen standing off to the leader's side with his hands in his pockets and a sly smile on his face.

"Master."

The man in white smirked, "I have a mission for you." The leader raised his head to look down upon the teenager, and spoke with a voice that was clear and heard all throughout the room. "Take Fugai to one of the islands in the north easterly regions of the Land of Water. There, you will find a large cave system hidden deep within the rock of an island. I would like for you to confirm for me the presence of the beast that dwells within those parts. I am certain you will be able to find traces of it within its domicile."

"A beast?" the knight Temujin murmured, at the same time looking up towards the man with an inquisitive expression. "What kind of beast?"

"An entity possessing a vast quantity of chakra, one that towers above the highest of buildings, can cause tsunamis with a single swing of its tails and collapse an entire mountain with the same stroke. I believe I have told you about this beast before… one of nine that exist in this world. It is a creature I greatly desire to one day have in my possession," the man continued to speak with absolute certainty in his voice. His eyes narrowing some more, he then allowed himself to rest back into his throne and give the boy his most sincere of gazes. "If it is there… or has been recently, you are to report back to me with confirmation of its existence as soon as possible."

Frowning, the knight then reached for his sword and made to draw it, his blade flashing under the light coming down upon his master's throne from one of the barely open windows. "If you wish to claim it, then allow me to battle and capture this beast for you. I have trained to face these monsters and have worked myself to the bone for the sake of our cause. Allow me to bring this demon back to you as a gift, so that we may continue to do good for this world."

The man in the throne chuckled at the spirit his young apprentice showed. "You are a powerful young man, Temujin; passionate, headstrong and willing to put your own life on the line for those you care about. But while I do not doubt your abilities or your incredible strength in combat, you are not yet ready to face such a creature on the field. Your control over your Gelel heart is one of the greatest I've ever seen and the skill with a blade is unparalleled. I should know this, as I was the one who bestowed upon you further knowledge of how to control its incredible power." Seeing the boy respond quietly to his words, the boss then continued to speak with the same firmness as he had before. "But this monster is beyond anything you've ever encountered. Even if you were ready to battle the three tailed beast… chances are the creature will not be there… and if my knowledge of this particular one is correct… it will not linger in the same place for too long… nor will it venture there for some time should it pass the region. You will simply be there to confirm that location as one of its many places of rest… and nothing more."

Processing this information and hearing the sternness in his boss's voice, Temujin then gave a nod of acknowledgement and sheathed his blade with a grunt and a click. "As you wish, my master." As soon as his orders were received and filed, he rose up from the floor and, upon giving one last bow, proceeded to leave.

"See Shinno about the island's exact location. He'll know of the place I speak." The master's words reached the young man before he left through the exit of the hall, ensuring that no detail was spared. When silence once again fell within the chamber, the leader of the organization rested his head on his hand for a second time, before looking to his left to the man that had followed Temujin in shortly after his arrival. "I do believe we are making progress."

"Can we trust him though, boss?" Ishidate asked with a skeptical expression reflected in his visage. "Him and his kin?"

The masked man chuckled, "Of course we can. After all, I was the one who freed the boy and his people from that retched Haido's clutches and claimed his resources as my own. I promised them a place at my side once our conquest of this world has come to pass, and as long as they continue to serve me and lend me all of the strength that they are able to muster, then I will continue to live up to that promise. To this point, they've done their jobs splendidly." The glare of the leader then returned and hardened on the former wandering ninja standing by his side. "And… I can continue to have your support in this as my right hand man?"

Ishidate chuckled heartily in response, "As long as you allow me a chance to fight the strongest shinobi in history and prove myself superior to them, you will have my strength."

"Your time will come, Ishidate-kun," the leader exclaimed again, at the same time cutting back to the darkness ahead of him. "Soon… this entire world will be lit by the fires of war and I will see to the end of all things and the rise of the new, as is my destiny."

A grin came to Ishidate's face, as he then turned heel and marched back into the shadows, fully intent on sticking around and seeing where this all went.

He always wondered how the world would end and how the new one would begin. Seeing it burn in the fires of industry as it was molded into the perfect utopia where the strong ruled above the weak seemed like a most interesting course to take.

XXX

Sometime later…

Back at Naruto's apartment…

"So… this is the neighborhood of the great Naruto Uzumaki?" Tsubaki spoke up with a wide smile, at the same time looking out over the village streets they'd just passed from the third story of the apartment complex they'd finally arrived at. Upon getting a good view of the roads and buildings beneath them, as well as a sense of the daily life of the jinchuriki, the orange haired kunoichi then turned back around to see the blonde pull out his keys and crack open the lock to his apartment door. "It's a nice place. Very quaint."

"Were you expecting a hut in the woods, perhaps?" Naruto asked, glancing back at the girl with an inquisitive grin in play.

"In part," the kunoichi murmured while shrugging off-handedly, "Though I suspect any place you'd live in would be bright, sunny and cheerful. Any of those words would be perfect to describe your type of lodgings… as well as your personality." After all, he was the most free-spirited and energetic person you were likely to come across in this world, next to Kiyoko and Lee of course. Where else would you expect to find him? In a dungeon?

Although, considering the adventurous nature of his character as well, it wouldn't surprise the orange haired Jonin one bit to see him behind bars at one stage in his life… and then bust out of there a day or so later.

Finally opening the lock with a quick turn of his key, the blonde swung open his door and strode into the waiting corridor beyond. Upon kicking off his sandals at the entrance's step, he then slowly made his way into the apartment while at the same time giving Tsubaki the customary guided tour. Since the girl was new to the village and they were spending this time also getting to know each other a little better, the blonde felt it logical as well as polite to show the girl around his domain. This way, if the Kiri teen ever found herself away from home and in the village again, she could come and crash at his place if she was ever on an extended trip or assignment.

Ambassadors did need places to stay after all. If there weren't any other quarters available, a bed at a friend's place was the next best thing.

The kids first stopped at the lounge, where Naruto quickly found Sasuke and Kiba sitting there and watching television on his couch. Finding it a little bit surprising to see the two of them were still here, the jinchuriki quickly shrugged it off and figured that they were still recuperating from their long night of partying. Smiling at the pair and stepping in, the blonde stood beside the two person couch and looked across at the two boys giving his screen their complete and utter attention.

"Still here?" Naruto asked with an inquisitive tone.

"Obviously," Sasuke responded without even bothering to tear his eyes away from the television.

Smiling, the Inuzuka also replied. "You don't mind, do yah?" Kiba asked curiously, while at the same time focusing on the program that was playing out.

"Not at all," the jinchuriki chirped with a grin, sensing Tsubaki come to stand alongside him as well to look across at the other familiar faces from her most recent past. "Hey. Quick question. Do you guys happen to have any missions today or over the rest of the week? Just asking."

Thinking about it for a moment, the Uchiha rolled his shoulder before choosing to reply. "I'm being sent on a B-Rank mission outside of the village to take out a thug outpost on the outskirts to the south. It's a two day trip."

Kiba grinned and turned, "My mum and sister have asked me to take care of the kennels while they're away on errands, so I don't really ha-" It was at that moment he then saw who else was in the room with them and, as if a monster had just sprung up from the foot of his bed, the boy's eyes bugged out of their sockets and he let out a yell of shock, "SON OF A BITCH!" The Inuzuka then wasted no time in scrambling backwards and knocking Sasuke right out of his seat and onto the floor. At the exact same time he reached the other end of the couch, Akamaru, who was sitting on the floor, also noticed the presence of the kunoichi and gave a loud growl, jumping to his feet at the same time.

Falling flat onto his face, the Uchiha glared back over his shoulder and up at the terrified looking Kiba, "What the hell? Are you trying to…?" He then glared over at Naruto, and saw the exact reason why the Inuzuka had backpedalled into him so hastily. "Oh…"

Naruto waved, "Hi guys. You remember Tsubaki?" He thumbed over his shoulder towards the orange haired girl, who returned his pointed gesture with a gentle wave and a smile to the two teenagers present.

"How can we not remember her?" a still startled Kiba asked, before feeling Akamaru leap up onto his stomach and hide behind his raised legs, whimpering at the insane amounts of chakra the girl was emitting just as she always did. It was a familiar aura, one that the poor puppy remembered all too well from their previous encounters with the lightning user. "What's she doing here?

"Well…" the jinchuriki breathed out while slipping his hands into his pockets, "I'll be going on a mission with her over the next few days and I need a team of three to accompany me. So… if I heard you guys correctly, you two are unavailable?" He saw the two young males nod their heads slowly, one gulping and the other taking on a hardened expression in the face of their former adversary and antagonist from the exams. "Fantastic. I'll go and see if Tayuya-chan wants to come with me then." With a courteous bow to the pair, the blonde then trotted off, slowly followed by the orange haired Jonin and leaving the boys to get over their 'near-death experience'.

Quickly making their way across the room, the duo arrived at the kitchen. There, they immediately found Isaribi sitting at the dining along with Tayuya and Tenten, the latter of whom was now up and was still wearing the jinchuriki's jacket from yesterday. Though finding it strange that one of the girls was adorned in the blonde's trademark suit, the kunoichi from the hidden mist paid it little mind, and instead stood quietly in the archway as attention from the table was slowly directed towards her. Naruto was the first to wave in greeting, but had to wait a moment while Tayuya and Tenten got over the surprise of seeing the fearsome Kirigakure ninja standing behind him.

Being the first to shake herself out of her reverie, the musician grinned lecherously at the sight of their visitor, "Let me guess… is she going to be living with us too?"

"Huh? N-…. W-…. Tayu-… No," Naruto stammered, giving a quick headshake at the rather abrupt question and puffing his chest out, "Of course not. I can say with absolute certainty that I've well and truly passed that stage of my life now… I think." There was a moment of hesitation in his speech, which had the girls around his kitchen table snicker at his doubtfulness before seeing him log back on a second later. "She's not here to stay. I'm going on a mission with her."

"A mission," Tenten blinked before grinning, "Cool."

"Is it a joint village assignment?" Isaribi asked, looking between both the girl from Kiri and the boy she knew was from Konohagakure. It was no brain treasure, seeing as how they all lived here.

"Yep."

"Oh. Well… that explains it," the redhead chirped while Isaribi waved to the newcomer, whom she remembered seeing fight on the big screen. The orange haired kunoichi responded in kind with a pleasant air about her, allowing the musician to continue. "Where are you heading off to then? I can imagine you guys are going to be traveling pretty far from this place."

"Yeah. You can say that," the jinchuriki responded with an enthusiastic tone and an aura that conveyed his excitement. "The job is set on the borders of the Land of Water, north east of the main village around a cluster of islands surrounding one of their outposts. Since this is going to be my next highest A-Rank assignment, an operation between two villages trekking into seemingly unknown territory where bandits are probably hiding out… I was wondering if you wanted to come along with me to rattle a few heads. I could really use your insight on this trip." The sight of Tenten raising an eyebrow in surprise drew the jinchuriki's attention briefly, whereas Tayuya seemed to stop and stare at the blonde for a good, long minute.

Nothing but emptiness flashing across the redhead's face, Naruto's girlfriend sat there staring across at the boy for several long moments. When everyone saw the telltale traces of meditation over the matter rushing through her head by way of her eyes shifting about momentarily and her fingers absently drumming against the surface of the table, they then heard the girl take in a deep gulp of air before making a fist and slamming it into the table. The rattling of cups and forks had a couple of them jump.

"Fuck yeah, I'm going. Count me in, shithead!"

"Excellent," Naruto chirped, thumbing in the direction of the lounge. "I asked if those two guys were available, but they had other plans, so I wasn't even going to bother." Grinning ecstatically, he then turned to Tenten, and smiled when he saw she was gazing fondly in his direction. "Had a good sleep?"

A slight shade of red appearing, the girl with her hair wrapped in buns tentatively tucked some strands behind her ear and nodded, "Oh yeah. Definitely." She rested her head on her hand and gazed back at him. "Your pillows are really comfortable, Naruto-kun. You've got some high quality stuff in your pad. It's awesome."

"So everyone keeps telling me," Naruto laughed. Resting his hands on his hips, he gestured towards her pointedly. "What say you? Want to tag along?"

"I'd love to," Tenten answered, before giving him a half-smile, "But unfortunately, I've already been assigned to a mission for the next few days, so I won't be able to come along on yours. Maybe next time?"

Hearing this gave the blonde a second of pause before he beamed back at the girl with an understanding look, "Sure thing, Tenten-chan. I'll drop by your place and see if you're free next time." Returning the kunoichi's cheerful grin, he then turned to Tayuya with a firm stare. "This excursion is going to last for about a week, so I suggest we both pack for an extended vacation."

"Sweet," Tayuya exclaimed, sculling her juice down before jumping to her feet and rushing to their bedroom. "Give me a minute to grab my shit, and I'll be ready to head off."

"Cool. In the meantime I just need to find two others to come along with us," Naruto chirped, watching the girl dash down the corridor before glancing over at Tsubaki. "I have to grab my stuff as well, if that's okay."

"Sure," the Jonin kunoichi replied with a gentle nod, "Take your time."

With that opening, Naruto also headed down to his room with the Kirigakure ninja following after him. When Tsubaki eventually stopped at the entrance to his den, she was more than a little bit surprised to find his room stuffed with mattresses, blankets, pillows and sheets, all of which were piled on top of one another in some randomly assembled fort. As Naruto and Tayuya scrambled about the chamber, with the redhead throwing on her uniform in the presence of the blonde just stuffing an extra change of clothing and some medical supplies into a tiny bag that blended seamlessly with his jacket, the older teen then noticed the desk of trophies shoved up against the far wall.

Making her way over to it, the girl took a moment to survey all of the documents and photos featuring Naruto's adventures stapled all about the area. She took especial note of the items he had also collected from these trips, with her eyes eventually landing on the katana sitting across the main portion of his desk and propped on top of a specially made stand. Gazing down at the blade sheathed in the black scabbard, the kunoichi reached out and ran a hand over its length.

It was a beautiful sword. There was no doubt about that. Though the scabbard was of basic design, black with a cord wrapped around it and a gold section on the kojiri that had carvings resembling reeds, the handle and blade itself was also something to look at. Since it was partially unsheathed, it allowed the girl a better view of the base of the blade, the handle and the guard. The tsuba was gold with the same reed and grass carvings in it like the scabbard tip, the handle's braid was night black and intricately woven, and the menuki ornament at the other end of the handle was also gold. The blade itself was wrapped by a gold colored habaki and the blade was sheathed in grayish black that reflected light as opposed to drawing it in.

It was an odd coloration for a blade and not something Tsubaki had seen in many swords. Nevertheless, the weapon did spike her interest and had her look back at Naruto inquisitively. "This is a very fine katana you have."

Noticing the girl looking over his stuff, the jinchuriki smiled and nodded back to her, "Thanks."

"Where did you get it from?"

"I won it in one of the first fights I'd ever been in outside of Konohagakure," Naruto replied, straightening up and strapping his small pack to his back, which fitted snugly with the curve of his spine. "When I was ten, I went on an unplanned excursion to the Land of Great River, where I met Tayuya-chan and fought a samurai named Crow on top of a dam owned by the former shipping magnate Gato. He was the strongest opponent I'd fought to that day… and would have killed me if I didn't have my bag of tricks to fall back on." He held up his hand and wiggled his fingers in emphasis. "He fought using that very same sword… and after I killed him I took it as my own, and mounted it here as a reminder."

"I see," Tsubaki murmured, glancing back at the weapon with a thoughtful expression coming upon her. "Knowing you, it must have been one hell of a battle."

"The man was incredible. He was just an ordinary person who couldn't even use chakra… and lived a ridiculously long life with grievous injuries covering over ninety percent of his body," the jinchuriki added, also stepping towards the girl while wearing a proud visage upon his face. "He fought hard and went out strong. There's no way I'd ever forget a fight like that."

Lowering her head, the lightning user reached out and poked the handle gently. Upon running her fingers over the fibers and gently brushing the back of the blade that was exposed, the girl then leaned away sharply with a small frown forming on her face. It was almost like she found out something unpleasant in the weapon's design and recoiled at its presence, an action that did not go unnoticed by the other two in the room.

Her eyes reflecting her concern, the Jonin continued to regard the weapon with caution. "It's strange."

"What is?"

"The aura I'm getting from this sword is not like any I've ever felt before," Tsubaki murmured. After hanging around members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen for a lot of her years, including her former master, Mangetsu, Kushimaru and Jinin, she'd been able to develop a sixth sense about particular types of weapons, what they felt like and the kind of metal they possessed, both remarkable and unremarkable. She also learned quite a bit about swords under her various instructors. Being someone with her experience and knowing what it was like to have over a hundred blades pass through her when transformed into lightning, she knew exactly what kind of swords were unique compared to others and ones that had seen a lot of battle.

This one however… this one felt different from all the rest.

"This weapon is… old," Tsubaki remarked, looking back at Naruto and Tayuya to see the pair staring across at her quietly. "Very old." She then turned to look at the sword a third time, which had her narrow her eyes even more. "As in… ancient."

Regarding the weapon on the table silently for another minute or so, with even Naruto and Tayuya giving it a hard glare, the group eventually shook themselves out of their pause and returned to the world of the living. Being the first to break the ice, the jinchuriki looked between the two girls standing about the cave before waving at them. "We can worry about it later. For now, let's just focus on getting to Point A." That said, the blonde then led the way out of the room, with Tayuya following after him and Tsubaki after her, the latter hanging back for a second longer to look at the sword one last time before eventually taking her leave.

"Just give me a moment to grab our toothbrushes," Naruto said, gesturing to the Jonin on his tail as they made their way for the bathroom.

When the two girls stopped in the hallway and waited, with the kunoichi from Kiri having her hands in her pockets and the other absently checking her nails, the pair watched the boy wordlessly crank open the handle to his bathroom and swing open the door. They then had the pleasure of watching the blonde freeze up at the entrance to his lavatory and his eyes become locked onto the sight of a completely naked Kin stepping out of the shower, and was now staring across at him while holding out her towel. A moment of awkward pause then followed, with the pair looking back at one another before, in slow motion, Naruto saw Kin's face light up and twist into one of intense shock.

The jinchuriki's expression came to mirror hers exactly, a split second before he saw the former Sound kunoichi's face switch to one of anger, and she pulled out a set of senbon from the shower behind her.

"NARUTOOOOO!"

Screaming, the blonde shut the door and slammed his back against it, at the same time a series of multiple thuds rang out when the girl attempted to take him out with her primary weapons, but ended up hitting the barrier instead. Sweating bullets and sporting a nosebleed, the boy then heard the girl bang against the door with her fist and shout at him through the wood.

"GOD DAMN IT, NARUTO! THIS IS THE THIRD TIME THIS MONTH! DON'T YOU EVER KNOCK?!"

"I'm sorry, Kin-chan! I didn't mean it!"

"YOU ALWAYS SAY THAT!"

Whimpering, the terrified blonde then looked across at Tayuya and Tsubaki. Noticing that Isaribi and Tenten were also watching from the kitchen with amused looks on their faces, the boy trained his gaze on the redhead and his guest, whom he could both see were looking at him with expressions conveying senses of enjoyment and curiosity. "Help me out here, Tay-chan!"

Giggling, the musician went back to checking her nails and fingers, "No thanks. I think I'm going to enjoy watching your ass get beat and letting this whole thing run its course. After all… you did see her naked."

"It was an accident!" Naruto cried out in dismay.

Eventually, the boy had to move away from the door, immediately after which Kin then came out and spent the next few minutes half-heartedly emasculating him in front of his friends with a red face. It was a sight that brought much enjoyment to Tayuya's morning and also had Tsubaki tilt her head in interest as the boy she regarded highly as one of the strongest shinobi she'd ever come across from their age group, was brought to heel by a girl who she figured was nowhere near his level of strength or ability. Nevertheless, the raven haired Kin, who was apparently also a roommate of the blonde's, was quick to give the boy a swift jab to the side of the head for his 'stupidity' and a serious talking to, which made the kunoichi from Kirigakure think more about the person she knew from the exams and was going to be working with, which inevitably brought another smile to her face.

"How can someone so strong be such a pushover?" the girl thought with a slight giggle, reminding herself to invest some more time in getting to know Naruto and his companions.

They seemed like a group of people she could become really attached to.

TO BE CONTINUED…

---

Author's Note: Another chapter come and gone. Sorry if it's a little late, but I'm struggling at the moment to find the buzz to write vast quantities like I did for the exams. Maybe that's because I've got a lot of work, I'm sick or something.

Anyhow, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. We've entered this story's Three-Tailed Arc, the last one before the three year gap. I can tell you all right now that the next few chapters are going to be intense as hell.

This chapter also comes with a homework assignment for anyone who hasn't seen the Naruto movies. To really get this story, you'll have to have watched every single one of the Naruto movies (and a lot of the anime, and not just the manga) to get what is going on in the background of this fic.

To all those reading, they'll probably know who the next character introduced is. Even though I mentioned him in the chapter, I'd still like to know if people were able to figure out what is going on. And Naruto's Clone Cannon mode of transportation. I'm sure people know the game where that came from. That scene I was directly inspired from One Piece when Luffy crashed into the Smoker, who then crashed into Ace and knocked both of them through several walls. One of the best scenes ever.

And what's up with Crow's sword? There's something going on with it, and Tsubaki can tell.

Hope you're all looking forward to my next installment. Until next time, hopefully soon if I don't take too long. If there are enormous gaps in my posts, it means I'm still writing, so don't fret. I'll get back to you all ASAP.