So here's the quick update you guys wanted and the sixteenth chapter. And it seems many of you guys have problems with the pacing of this fic, so I'll try to improve it with 'try' being the key word since there are many things that are pending before the finals. And also the current harem is final, no other female would be added. And also-

"Bijuu/Bijuu", this indicates that Ayumi or Naruto or anyone are 'talking' inwardly.
'Bijuu/Bijuu', and this indicates that Ayumi or Naruto or anyone are 'thinking' to themselves. (Note the quotes)

So with nothing else to explain, enjoy-

Chapter-16-Flashback

Flashback-Around Six Hours Ago

"Enough to notice you before you applied that genjutsu. But please think about it Kurenai-chan, I want to see your bright smile every time I meet you and not those cold expressions. It really gives me the creeps", said the clone while comically shuddering at the image whereas Kurenai giggled at his expression.

"Thank you Naru-kun...I will think about it", she said with a smile while Naruto nodded with a smile, the cool breeze brushing them as their hair flew in sync with the nature making both of them blush as they watched each other, both of them averting their gazes from each other. Naruto's eyes suddenly widened when he remembered something.

"Kurenai-sensei...what about Hinata-chan?", he said in a concerned tone while Kurenai smiled warmly at him for caring for Hinata so much. She had known about Naruto's & Hinata's feelings for each other for a long time, and she had to admit that she was very jealous of her student that Naruto possibly returned her feelings. But once she came to know about the CRA and Naruto having multiple wives, her heart had instantly lightened up. Earlier she had accepted that she had no chance with him, and her heart clenched whenever she saw Naruto talking with Hinata, although that was rare but still it saddened her greatly. But at that time, she knew that Hinata would be good for Naruto but now, seeing that he had to take atleast ten wives, she had this competence urge to prove to herself and others including Naruto that she was more than capable of being his wife, if more so than Hinata.

So with Hinata, she had this awkward relationship, which included a student-teacher one, a sister bond and a thread of competition between them for the one they loved, but that didn't mean that she didn't care for Hinata, it was just complex for her to even explain to others.

"Hellooo...back to Konoha Kurenai-chan", he said while waving his hand in front of a far-away looking face of the genjutsu mistress. Zooming out of her thoughts, she blushed in embarrassment before she remembered the past events concerning Hinata. Naruto watched her as she adopted a thinking pose, her ruby lips slowly curving upward before she burst out laughing. He blinked comically while standing there as she continued to laugh at something.

"I think she has lost it", he said inwardly with a sweat drop.

"She...sure is strange sometimes", said Ayumi with an amused face while Naruto nodded with her.

"Ahm...care to share with me what's so funny Kurenai-chan", he said with a raised eyebrow while Kurenai raised her hand in front of her, palm facing Naruto as if asking him to wait. Tapping his foot patiently, he waited...waited...and waited...and her laughter seemed to be getting louder by the second as tears came out of her closed eyes while she held her stomach.

"I'm running out of my patience Kurenai", he said using her first name, his eyebrows twitching dangerously as her laughing subsided considerably, but she was still snickering to herself.

"Wait...hehehe...AHAHAHA...you should've seen...hehe...Hiashi's face when he saw her new Byakugan...", she said in between her barely restrained snickers while Naruto raised his eyebrows, well this should be interesting. Taking out a photo from out of nowhere, she gave it to Naruto who had one thought running through his mind when he took the photo.

'This...definitely should be interesting', he thought before he look at the photo. His lips slowly curved upwards, his eyebrows shooting upwards before he too burst out laughing comically while Kurenai too joined him.

"Oh man...this is gold...a true gem...w-where did you...get this?", he said in between his bombardous laughter.

"I...hehe...accidently had a camera that time", she said still snickering to herself after controlling herself before she squealed when she found herself being lifted in air.

"You're sooo awesome Kurenai-chan! Do you know the possibilities of the ultimate prank I can pull with this?", said Naruto as he lifted her in air while hugging her, her hands on his shoulders while her soft locks of black hair fell on his face, her melodic giggling making Naruto's heart flutter as he gazed at her glowing white face.

'I never noticed how beautiful Kurenai-chan is...well I did before, but now she's beautiful more so than ever', he thought with a dreamy gaze while Kurenai noticed him staring intently at her, a light blush forming on her beautiful face as she abruptly stopped laughing making Naruto snap out of his daze. He blushed furiously as he realised what he had thought and the intimate position they were in while Kurenai too had a cute blush on her face, her hands tightly holding onto his muscular shoulders like she never wanted to let him go, her warm crimson eyes piercing his oceanic blue eyes making him entranced by her beauty.

'Snap out of it mothafucka...you've got other things to do', came an irritated voice inside his head making his eyes widened before he abruptly put Kurenai on her feet making her 'eep'. If not for the genjutsu, and if anyone would've seen her squeal and 'eep', they probably would've fainted from shock. Yuhi Kurenai NEVER associated herself with these type of girly things, she was a cold professional kunoichi who didn't waste her time in these kind of silly things, that was the kind of image she had created in any common villager's or a shinobi's mind.

"Naruto-kun...is something wrong?", asked Kurenai as she noticed his faraway look but he didn't respond, which she deduced he must be talking to Ayumi.

"Oi...what the hell! How the hell are you still able to contact me from boss's seal?", he said inwardly before he heard an annoyed grunt.

"Shut up bitch! I am me, she is she...the shadow clone technique along with chakra, divides the user's soul into small fragments and since the seal is now weakened...hey watch it fox punk or I'll clobber you (she's saying this to a baby fox in the forest mindscape)...ahm as I was saying you sucker, and since the seal is weakened the original me's soul is divided too', said clone Ayumi while Naruto sweatdropped at her rather peculiar way of explanation

'Hmm...it seems that Ayumi's personality changes too...but I never thought she had this side too', he thought amusedly before replying.

"Okaaay...", he trailed off to signify he understood most of it.

"There's nothing 'okaaaay' about this monkey butt...now shut up and do something useful with your short lived existence for once before the boss dispels you", she said with irritation in her voice while the clone's eyebrows twitched, his face red fuming in anger before he took deep breaths to calm himself much to the confusion of Kurenai.

"Naruto-kun...what's wrong?", she said while he zoomed out to see her amused face.

"Just my crazy tenant..", he muttered as he explained her the situation while she giggled at his situation.

"Oh...well that's...troublesome", she said mimicking our lazy someone while Naruto nodded with her.

"But if you're a clone...then where's the original one?", she said with a raised eyebrow.

"Well...I can't tell you right now Kurenai-chan...but you'll know very soon, it's a surprise for you, Anko-chan and the other two who I still have yet to meet...thanks to you", he said with annoyed expression at the last part making her grin sheepishly.

"Well the main reason I came here was so that you could meet them...but seeing as Naruto-kun is busy somewhere else...it can wait a little bit", she said with a smile while the clone nodded with her, a smile itself on his face at seeing that she cared for him so much.

"Hmm...I'm really eager to meet them...but it seems that that'll have to wait. But still, you haven't told me about Hinata-chan. How is she?", he said with a concerned expression while Kurenai nodded.

"Well I was training my team before I decided to go see you. And I have to tell you...that there has been tremendous improvement in Hinata that I've noticed in these two-three days of training, both as a person and as a kunoichi & her abilities. She now barely stutters, takes participate in team decisions, is a bit more confident but each day, she's improving at a tremendous rate...and the most important thing is that she's dying to meet you Naruto-kun. I think she has visited your apartment & your hospital room upto twenty times now", said Kurenai while Naruto couldn't help the smile that was now etched on his face. It would seem that his pre-lecture of the preliminaries along with the activation of her new Byakugan did some wonders to her persona.

"Seeing you fight...and the crazy display of power you put in the preliminaries keeps pushing her everyday to become stronger", she said with a smile while Naruto rubbed his back head sheepishly.

'Thank Kami Hinata-chan...I'm so happy for you', he thought before another question appeared in his mind.

"But what about her clan...how did they take to it? More importantly, how did Hiashi take to it?", he said while Kurenai signalled him to slow down making him blush in embarrassment.

" Well...this part would surprise you. It would seem that the Hyuga clan now practically worships her as the rare prodigy which comes in a hundred years or something. Seeing her do something which has never been done before, made their pride for their clan sky rocket making them more arrogant while Hinata has become their pride", she said with an offhand expression while Naruto's expression remained calm, well this was something he found logic in but it still surprised him and angered him and they changed their opinion of her so suddenly just because she was now stronger than before.

"What's more, after she was discharged from the hospital, Hiashi being a stuck up idiot forced her into a match with Hanabi hoping to see Hinata's new Byakugan in action. And the results? Well Hiashi's jaw dropped when Hinata was able to defeat Hanabi without using the upgraded Byakugan...hehe, it would seem that she was just lacking the confidence & the will to fight", said Kurenai while Naruto nodded with her with a proud smile.

"So, ultimately Hanabi became enraged but Hiashi intervened. And you wouldn't believe it, he smiled at Hinata...SMILED! I've never seen him do that. After that, the next day he himself fought Hinata and to my surprise too, she was able to last three minutes against him going all out, while she used her new Byakugan. In the end, she had hit some chakra points, which had not only disturbed his chakra flow but also there was partial paralysis in his right arm", said Kurenai with a faraway look on her face while Naruto's jaw dropped, he definitely hadn't expected that.

"And that Neji kid had an angered look on his face after seeing the match. It would seem that the title of the Hyuga prodigy went to Hinata making him jealous, and add to the fact that he saw you fight Lee in the preliminaries he's really pushing himself in training every day, if anything Guy told was close to truth", she continued while he nodded with a serious face, it would seem not only Neji, but other genin too would be much stronger in the finals, he too would have to start his training as soon as possible.

"What about the those stuck up Hyuga elder advisors?", said Naruto while Kurenai sighed.

"The first thing they demanded was for Hinata to get married and prevent her from going to missions to preserve the sacred Byakugan as they call it. And that's where I was thrown for the loop...Hiashi straight out refused them making the elders shout in rage and what not, but ultimately it was decided to give Hinata her rightful freedom as the future heir of the clan", she said while Naruto looked at her in suspicion.

"How were you able to listen in their meetings? I heard that they don't let any outsider participate in it", said Naruto, his arms crossed over his chest while Kurenai smiled at him.

"I'm not called Genjutsu Mistress for nothing Naru-kun. There's a reason I'm a jounin at such a young age. I've some genjutsu techniques which not even Byakugan or Sharingan can penetrate through", said Kurenai making Naruto look at her in admiration, talking to her with such familiarity & closeness had made him forget just who he was talking to.

"Ah..gomen Kurenai-chan", he said with an apologetic smile while a mischievous glint took place in Kurenai's ruby red eyes.

"A sorry will not do Naruto-kun", she said with a devious grin while Naruto tilted his head sideways in confusion.

"Then what do you want me to do?", he said questioningly while a blush formed on her cheeks as she started fidgeting much to his confusion.

"Well?", he again asked while the blush on her cheeks darkened.

"W-Well you s-see...maybe you c-could...take me out for dinner?", she said out of nowhere with a hopeful look in her eyes while Naruto just smiled at her.

"Of course! That's the least I can do for you...and oh I know...we can invite Anko-chan & Hinata-chan too, and also Shikamaru & Chouji", said Naruto with an innocent smile making Kurenai sweat drop at his soberness. Though Naruto was a genius in most of the things, he was a bit dense when it came to females seeing as he had so little interaction with him. And the books he read in the library or by stealing, they were always about training or anything related to being a shinobi & their history, and the only way he picked up about Hinata's crush on him was because that she was painfully obvious. But he was dense enough to not pick up subtle hints that Kurenai & Anko were giving him. And he picked up Kushina's possible feelings towards him because she too was being obvious with her blushing & all, but here Kurenai was expertly hiding these things. Moreover, he didn't know about how these dating, boyfriend-girlfriend customs worked. So he had no idea what Kurenai was asking, if he had, he probably would have stuttered & blushed like crazy. But one thing he knew was that if you take a girl out alone to eat with you, then it was a date.

"N-No...what I meant was that we go o-out alone"...bull's eye, now he understood.

"W-What?", he stuttered, his eyes wide as a dark blush formed on his face.

"It's okay if you don't want to...it's not like I wouldn't forgive you or anything", said Kurenai with a visibly saddened look making Naruto's heart clench at the sight. She had always taken care of him, watching out for him even when the hokage had prohibited them, those crimson eyes always had that caring look in them along with a shadow of love which warmed his heart every time he looked in them. Moreover she was very beautiful to boot, and the fact that her gentle smile could always brighten his day.

"No! It's not like that Kurenai-chan, of course I'll go out with you", he said with a frantic look on his face while Kurenai's face instantly brightened up before she hugged him.

"Oh thank you Naruto-kun...you're so cute...how about we go to Ichiraku's day after tomorrow as tomorrow I have a solo mission?", said Kurenai with a megawatt smile while Naruto nodded with a grin, Ichiraku's ramen was perfect for him.

"Sure I guess", said Naruto with a smile while he was all nervous inside.

"What would boss say when he knows about this?", he unknowingly groaned inwardly.

'Probably will shove a Rasengan up your ass', said the alternate Ayumi making his eyebrows twitch inwardly.

'Shut up Ayumi! And what the hell's a Rasengan anyway?', he asked inwardly in irritation.

"You'll know soon clone-baka", she said with a smirk. Concentrating outside, he saw a dreamy sigh escape Kurenai's lips as she giggled to herself, probably thinking about the date making him sweatdrop.

"Um...if you don't mind, I have to go get some ramen", he said while getting stars in his eyes at the mention of ramen making Kurenai sweatdrop this time.

"Oh sure, I too was going to meet Anko, Yugao & Hana", she said as she prepared to take off before Naruto suddenly hugged her warmly.

"Stop wearing these stupid masks Kurenai-chan and tell Anko-chan to avoid her psycho mask as much as she can, let the world know who you truly are. And if someone has a problem with them, you four can gang up and kick their asses", he said with a grin before releasing her and jumped off in the direction of Ichiraku leaving her just standing there, as she smiled warmly at his diminishing figure. Sighing to herself, she chuckled while shaking her head before she dispelled the genjutsu and took off.

Konoha-Ichiraku's Ramen Stand

"Anybody here? Oji-san?", said the clone with a bright smile as he entered the stand and sat down on the stool, eager to see his two precious people who had fed him since he himself didn't know. Last time he saw them, they were killed brutally in front of him, making him sad as he remembered that horrifying event, even though it was only a genjutsu it was still etched deep into his mind. Shaking his head out of those thoughts he concentrated on the voice that came from the back, or rather the increasing sound of footsteps before he was greeted to a sight of a brightly smiling Ayame.

"Naruto-kun!", she exclaimed in glee before jumping over the counter, and engulfed him in a tight hug, while tightly clutching him.

"How are you? Are you alright? We heard that you were in the hospital and were injured badly. We went there to check up on you, but those Anbu idiots wouldn't let us see you! But, are you okay now?", she said non-stop, her voice drenched in worry for her little brother-like figure as she closely examined him for any injuries making him blush in embarrassment, but he was thankful for the curtain which provided some privacy for the customers.

"I'll be fine if you stop worrying for so much Ayame-chan", he said with a teary eyed smile whereas she glared at him.

"I wouldn't if you weren't so reckless", she chided him while he just smiled brightly at her with a lump in his throat, before he suddenly took her in a bone crushing hug.

"I'm just glad that... I have you and oji-san", he said in a chocked voice as a lone tear streamed down his face while he clenched his eyes shut. Ayame face turned into a mixture of red & blue, red because Naruto had never displayed such affection to her and blue because he was choking her.

"Naruto-kun...what's wrong?", she asked in a concerned tone while he just shook his head when she noticed his white trench coat.

"Hey...your clothes...your hair...Naruto-kun, what happened?", she again asked, this time forcefully as she grabbed his shoulders, a mixture of stern & a concerned expression on her face as she watched a few more tears stream down his face.

"Nothing Ayame-chan...I'm just happy...really, it's nothing", he said with a chuckle as she wiped his tears, nodding hesitantly. She wouldn't push the subject if he didn't want to, besides he always shared everything with them, so she knew he would tell them in time when he was ready. Now backing off a little bit, she noticed his transformed form before the slightest shade of pink dusted her cheeks.

'Wow...he's so handsome...and cute too...that's a pretty rare combination', she thought as she smiled at him warmly.

"I don't know what happened to you Naruto-kun...but one thing I know is that you have become really handsome...so tell me, how many girlfriends do you already have?", she asked with a teasing grin while he blushed at the question.

"A-Ayame-chan...there's nothing like that", he stuttered while she nodded with an all knowing smile before she went behind the counter while whistling to herself and shouted for Teuchi to come who apparently hadn't recognised Naruto's a bit more baritone than before voice.

"But promise me one thing...when you go on a date, the first place you bring her will be here...I too wanna see who will be the lucky girl...hmm, I will bet on that cute Hinata girl", she said with a thinking face while Naruto blushed heavily as he coughed to regain his composure. Well, he had been thinking of asking Hinata out on a date but lately, he hadn't got the time to do it. And besides, he & Kurenai had a date after tomorrow, what was he supposed to say? How was he going to explain this to Hinata, he knew it would break her heart if she caught wind of it. He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard a familiar voice.

"Naruto! How are you?", said Teuchi as he ruffled his hair affectionately much to his irritation, but he couldn't help but smile at his father-like figure.

"I'm fine now Oji-san", he said with a smile whereas Teuchi adopted a face of shock.

"And...whoa...what the hell happened to you? But...man you look cool in that outfit", he said with a smile while Naruto rubbed his back head sheepishly, whereas Ayame just watched both of them interact with a smile.

"Yeah...I guess. But I'll tell you guys later. I'm in a hurry, so I want lots of miso & chicken ramen with some wakama seeds packed!", he said giddily with a grin.

"Coming right up sir", said Teuchi with a salute making them laugh before he started preparing the order with Ayame. Meanwhile Naruto just sat there, his palm under his chin as he reminisced over the sweet memories he had of this place. He was brought out his thoughts when he saw someone come in through the curtains making his eyes widen.

"M-Mizukage-sama?", he said with a stutter, a blush on his face as he remembered the event which led him to flee from the hospital in the first place.

"Oh...I expected to meet you here Naruto-san, considering the things I heard about you. And didn't I tell you to call me just Mei?", she said with a sweet smile as more people entered the shop, or more specifically females. He noticed more entering the shop out of the corner of his eyes, not taking the time to look at them as he was overcome by a bit of fear.

'Did she brought these women to gang up on me? Well but I did apologized to her earlier', he thought as he gulped while Mei looked at him in confusion along with others.

"Um...hey, if it is about earlier...I again apologize", said the clone as he prayed to Kami to prolong his short lived existence. Meanwhile a blush crept on Mei's smile as she remembered the feeling of his face buried in her breasts.

"O-Oh...it's nothing Naruto-san, there's nothing to forgive. Besides it was only an accident", she said with a smile while Naruto released the breath he didn't know he was holding.

'Though I wouldn't mind if the accident happens again', she thought while her blush darkened before she lightly shook her head. Turning his head, he noticed three females standing there looking at him with a blush, a smirk with a light blush and an amused expression. A light blush dusted his whiskered cheeks when he noticed how beautiful the first two were.

"Ah...seems you have noticed them...these are Yugito-Nii, Samui-Nii and Karui", said Mei as she pointed at them while Naruto was feeling a bit uncomfortable between four women, he was not used to this dammit! Especially when all of them were staring at you intently.

"N-Nice to meet you", said heavily blushing Yugito as she bowed while Naruto looked at her in confusion, before he too bowed to her with a smile.

'Nibi! I swear to Kami...JUST SHUT THE HELL UP FOR ONCE YOU PERVERT!', screamed Yugito inside her head as she clutched her head outside in frustration while Samui was immediately by her side.

"Onee-san, is she troubling you again?", said Samui in a whisper but Naruto clearly heard her due to his heightened senses as he & Mei looked at Yugito in confusion while you could see concerned faces of Karui & Samui.

"Yo fucker, use your Rinnegan & check her out", said Ayumi making Naruto blush.

"W-What! I am not a pervert!", he said inwardly with a frown before he heard a tired groan.

"What an idiot...you motherfucker, asshole, son of a...never mind, I was talking about checking her chakra coils! And besides they have already seen your doujutsu in the preliminaries so don't shiver like a coward and do some work you useless clone", she said, almost screaming while Naruto blushed in embarrassment before he decided enough was enough.

"Now listen here you bitch! YOU are the tenant here and I AM the jailor here. So why don't you take your crap in the corner and shove it .ASS, if you even got ONE!", he said with an inward satisfied smirk when he heard a loud growl.

"You no good stinking shit, HOW DARE YOU TALK TO ME...", her voice trailed as the clone zoomed her out when he noticed that Yugito was gritting her teeth while Mei, Samui & Karui were by her side.

"Yugito-san...what's wrong? Is it her?", asked Mei with a concerned face. Over the span of two days, Mei & Yugito, Samui, Karui had become good friends and formed their own group to stroll around the village while Kirabi, Omoi, Ao & Choujiro had their own group roaming around the village.

"Don't worry Mei-san, it sometimes happens", said Karui with a serious expression while Mei nodded with her. All of their eyes widened when they felt the same calm & peaceful aura wash over the area along with a chakra spike painfully close to them, they turned when they gasped upon seeing Naruto, his Rinnegan activated while he was staring intently at Yugito, who too was looking at him wide eyed with a blush on her face as she felt his gaze. Strangely, the frustration she was feeling a moment ago was no longer there as if someone was healing her mental health.

"N-Naruto-san...", trailed Mei as she looked at his form with a small blush.

'Wow...he looks even more attractive with those eyes', thought Mei as she looked him over.

'Now those eyes are what you call cool', thought Samui while on the outside she had a stone expression on her face.

'Her chakra coils...there's that mixture of youki & chakra...so she really is a jinchuriki like me. Why couldn't I feel it like in case of Gaara?', he thought before that same annoying but sweet voice interrupted him.

"It's because of that bloodlust the red shit was constantly releasing. But considering her constant blush along with her aroused state, I'd say it's the Nibi", saidAyumi while Naruto nodded with her.

"Yugito-san...you're a jinchuriki, aren't you?", he said out of nowhere in a low voice making the eyes of four of them widen in surprise.

"Nibi no Nekomata I presume?", he said with a serious expression as he closed the distance between him & Yugito, who blushed a bit at the closeness.

"H-How did you know?", she stuttered as she gazed into his eyes along with Mei & Samui while Karui rolled her eyes at their actions. Raising his eyebrow, he pointed his finger towards his purple eyes and to add to the effect, he pulsed more chakra in his eyes which glowed for a second.

'Now THAT is the coolest thing I've ever seen', thought Samui as she gazed into his eyes dreamily when he deactivated them much to her, Yugito & Mei's disappointment.

"I'm sorry kitten...I was just kidding", said Nibi apologetically while Yugito sighed.

"I know Nibi-chan, but please...sometimes your perverseness just gets too much for me", said Yugito with an inward smile.

"I can't help it, it's in my nature... but I'll try to lessen it kitten", said Nibi before Yugito thanked her.

"Talking to her?", asked Naruto.

"O-Oh...yeah...do you talk with 'it' too?", she said with a hesitant expression while Naruto's eyes widened for a moment.

'Must have known from seeing me use Ayumi's chakra or jiji must have told them', he thought before nodding with her.

"How is 'it' Naruto-san?", said Samui with a stoned expression, her eyes icy cold while inwardly she was smiling at Naruto.

"W-Well, you see...it's a she", he stuttered a bit by the look in her eyes but blushed when he noticed her beautiful face & her generous bust before he suddenly pasted his eyes on her face, he knew what was good for him.

"She?", exclaimed Yugito in surprise while Samui & Karui were shocked too before a smiled came upon their faces.

"Well what do you know, the strongest existence on this planet is a female", said Karui with a smirk while Naruto laughed sheepishly, before a look of realisation washed over his face.

"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself... the name's Uzumaki Naruto", he said with his foxy grin making Mei, Yugito & Samui blush while Karui smiled at him.

"Then I should introduce myself too, I am Terumi Mei, Godaime Mizukage of Kirigakure", said Mei playfully as she shaked hands with Naruto, both of them blushing a bit as they felt each other's skin.

"My name is Yugito Nii, jounin of Kumogakure", said Yugito with a smile as she shaked hands with him, a cute blush on her cheeks.

'She's cute', he thought involuntarily before turning to Samui.

"I'm Samui Nii, adoptive sister of Yugito-Nee here", she said with a small smile before they shaked hands.

'I don't know why, but I like that small smile of her', thought Naruto with an uplifting spirit in his heart as he turned to Karui.

"Name's Karui Naruto-san", she said before shaking his hand while Naruto smiled at them when he looked back to see his things were just finished getting packed up. An awkward silence fell between them as none of them spoke anything while Naruto noticed that Mei, Yugito & Samui were stealing glances at him though Mei & Samui were more subtle in it, well he too was glancing at them that's how he noticed in the first place after all.

Trying to start a conversation, he said, "For how long are you guys here in Konoha?", he asked politely before Mei answered.

"Well, we would be leaving in a few days seeing as us kages can't leave our villages for such a long time. But we would return in a month for the finals, after all we can't miss your match Naruto-san", said Mei with a teasing smile making Naruto blush.

"Oh now I remember...you were amazing in the preliminaries Naruto-san, those techniques you were pulling out there were atleast Chunin level, Raikage-sama told us about your red curse seal, so are you alright now?", said Yugito along with Samui, Mei & Karui looking at him questioningly while Naruto rubbed his back head with a smile.

"Oh...not to worry Yugito-san. I'm as healthy as ever", he said while flexing his biceps playfully making them laugh.

"You're fight with that green weirdo was great & all, but the most I enjoyed was the uber ass kicking the Uchiha got. Oh man, that made my day", said Karui with a grin while Mei, Samui & Yugito smiled hesitantly at the topic as they watched Naruto's expression.

Naruto was a bit visibly saddened when Karui reminded him of the fight, he was still angry at Sasuke for saying about something he didn't know. Although he didn't want to beat him so much, but that was the most emotional fight of his life. At that time, he was not only beating Sasuke, but also releasing his pent up frustrations & anger, only Sasuke became the scapegoat this time. He still remembered what Itachi had told him when he was telling about his own childhood and about the days when he was called the Uchiha prodigy of the village-

'Naruto-kun, although you're quite matured for your age, Sasuke is still a child on the inside even if he doesn't act like it. His mind can be easily tainted by a master manipulator such as Danzo or Orochimaru, he has one track mind and would do anything to kill me. You are like a brother to me Naruto-kun, and I ask you to try to make Sasuke avoid walking the path of an avenger which he so proudly calls himself. And if the situation arises where you think that he cannot be changed, then... you must kill him for the village's & everyone's sake'

He remembered that by the end, a rare lone tear had streamed down Itachi's face when he talked about possibly killing Sasuke, and he too was in tears when Itachi had called him his brother. He had always wanted an older brother who could look out for him and the Uchiha prodigy was more than willing to fulfil that.

"Naruto-san...", started Mei with a concerned expression on her face as she watched his saddened eyes, which strangely clenched her heart, which was also the case with Yugito & Samui while Karui was looking at him with an apologetic , Mei was interrupted when suddenly Ayame along with Teuchi came out with ten-fifteen bowls of packed ramen.

"So here is your order Naruto-kun...oh, please take a seat, your order will be taken in just a minute", said Ayame when she noticed others standing there.

"Thanks Ayame-chan! See you later", said the clone with a smile which Ayame returned with a caring one as he put the bill on the counter and created some shadow clones who took the bowls and exited the stand. Before leaving, the clone turned to the four saddened figures with a smile.

"Ah...and don't worry Karui-san, there's nothing to forgive...and you three, please don't be sad. You look much more beautiful when you smile. I have to go now, but I'll meet you later. Ja ne!", he said with a grin before vanishing from their sights leaving Mei, Yugito & Samui with a dark blush.

Flashback End

He smiled as he thought about how Hinata was doing, but blushed when he thought about the date with Kurenai. How was he going to explain this to Kushina & Hinata, speaking of his ex-mother, he noticed that she was sometimes deliberately rubbing herself against his back which oddly made him feel immensely good, but he miraculously kept the blush to himself as he kept thinking of the clone's memories. Though he smiled amusingly when he recalled about the clone version of Ayumi, much to the embarrassment of the original one. Now we find Naruto standing on the Shodaime's head with Kushina on his back, a giddy expression on her face.

"Wow...Konoha's as good as new now...no even better than what it was a day ago!", said Kushina with a bright smile as she looked around in wonder while Naruto sweatdropped at her.

"It was all destroyed buildings and rubble a day before Kaa-san", he said with a smirk when Kushina playfully pinched him on the cheek.

"OW!"

"You're no fun Naru-kun...mommy now would have to punish you", she said with a teasing grin making Naruto gulp, when he felt her squishing her bust against his back while she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"K-Kaa-san...s-stop", he said with a furious blush as he struggled to keep himself in control and not have his way with her, and Ayumi wasn't helping him too. Thankfully, the rescue came in the form of distant shouts as he strained his enhanced hearing senses to hear them.

"Hmm...it seems someone has fled the village without the monkey's authorisation", said Kushina in a thinking pose while Naruto's eyes widened before he looked at her over his shoulder.

"You can hear them too?", he said with a surprised expression.

"Of course duh! My senses were already improved before the seal was broken, it's not like the changes would get reversed by itself", she said after rolling her eyes.

"But...who could've fled?", he whispered to himself when he heard her serious voice.

"Let's go meet the monkey...it's time that I settle this with him & the council", she said while tightening her grip on him as he nodded and jumped towards the Hokage tower.

Konoha-Hokage Tower-Hokage's Office

Sarutobi was sitting besides his crystal ball, looking for any signs of one missing Uchiha Sasuke as he rubbed his temples in frustration. He was just discussing with Raikage & Mizukage about the treaty facts when suddenly news barged in that the last Uchiha was missing from his ward. Ofcourse, the Raikage & Mizukage were pretty much happy to help as they were bored of doing nothing but paperwork. So now he was left here alone, doing nothing but observing and giving orders.

He suddenly whipped his head when he heard a violent sound of his window crashing, along with some grunts.

"Ow my butt...I told you it was not a good idea to crash through his window, but thankfully they're of low quality", said a male voice amidst the rubble smoke while Hiruzen's eyebrows twitched.

'This was the third time I replaced a window this week. And who dares call these top class windows a low quality', he thought as he got rid of his robes to get ready in his battle gear for any possible attacks.

"Well I knew the monkey was an idiot, he's always had such a poor taste", the smoke cleared out for Hiruzen's jaw to drop on the floor when he noticed just who had crashed from the open sky.

Opening their eyes groggily, Naruto's & Kushina's eyes widened when they noticed a skimpy old skeleton wearing battle gear. A chuckle escaped their lips as they clamped their mouth to contain it before they burst into full blown laughter while Hiruzen just couldn't comprehend what the hell was going on?

"K-Kushina-chan...is t-that you?", stuttered Hiruzen as he took a step towards her but a look of confusion crossed his face when he noticed both of them laughing...at him? What was wrong with him?

"AHAHAHA...old man look at yourself, you look like a clown in that gear and what's with that tight clown cap?", said Naruto as he rolled on the floor while holding his stomach making a vein pop on the professor's forehead. Meanwhile Kushina had her own reasons of laughing.

"Ohehehe...you've become so old you monkey...look at you...a rusted kunai", she said while pointing at him while wiping the tears from her eyes making Sarutobi fume in anger.

"Shut up! FOR THE LAST TIME I'M NOT OLD"

"Then how come your hair's so white, did...AHAHAHAHA...d-did a sheep gifted it to you?" said Kushina making Naruto laugh harder while Hiruzen gritted his teeth in anger. Though the shock of Kushina still alive immediately made him serious.

"Kushina...how are you still alive?"

WHAM!

Naruto's eyes widened when the next thing he heard was the sound of a violent crash, with Kushina standing where Sarutobi was, a furious look on her face with the single tomoe of her Sharingan spinning rapidly. Her fist stretched where exactly the hokage's jaw was while Naruto turned his head to see the professor buried deep in the concrete of the wall as he coughed up blood, the debris flying in all directions around the office.

'I really pity you now old man', thought Naruto as he prayed to Kami to have mercy on his old bones.

'Sigh', so did you like it or not? And also, please review you guys the last chapter got the least reviews until now T_T. Here are the current stats of this fic-

Reviews-1079(duh! you can already see it lol ^_^)
C2's-52
Hits-232,327
Favourites-1076
Alerts-922 (Well I know that there are countless other fics there that have much better stats than this, but hey this is my first fic and considering the amount of time & the words in which I got these stats, I'm pretty happy about it...hehe)

Aaannnnd did you notice something odd here?...The reviews are almost equally to favourites which brings me to the topic of the least reviews in the last chapter. Now suppose, 500 out of 1000 people who like this fic read the updated chapter, then what's the cinch if atleast like 70-80 of them review? Now I'm not just greedily asking for reviews, it's just that I like every other author puts so much time & hardwork into putting these chapters and only 45-48 persons are reviewing?...It just makes us feel that our efforts are not enough, and if they are not enough then tell us so. So atleast a comment about if you liked the chapter or not would be reaaalllly appreciated, even one or two words are appreciated in a review. Also I've noticed that the chapter which gets the highest reviews is usually the action packed chapter or where Kushina had reunited, so what about the other chapters which authors strain their asses to write, are they just like...worthless...well they are important for the plot to progress. It's just that I can't seem to understand that out of like 800-900 people, atleast 70-80 of them can review ne? And remember that each & every review matters to authors, it doesn't matter if you're an author yourself or if you're just a reader, and that's the main reason I've kept the anonymous reviews turned on even if I get some flames through it.

Also, I know that the pace was slow in the previous chapters and I thank the reviewers for reminding me of it. So please, a greater response from those who atleast 'like' this fic would be appreciated. But still, I'm happy that so many of you like this fic and if you don't like something in the updated chapter, you can tell me so and I'll see what I can do (but I wouldn't pave my fic solely based on your ideas lol).

So 'sigh', really sorry for the rant there ^_^ and until next time, don't forget to PM if you have any questions or just ask in the reviews and I'll PM you back. And again, sorry for the rant but I just had to flush it out... So take care and Ja ne!

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