And here's Chaper 6. I'm going to really get into the swing of things with Naruto's training starting next chapter. This one gets the ball rolling with his relationship with Temari and provides a sneak peek at his training regimen. Hope you guys like it. Readers, Reviewers, thank you...Sidewinder.

CHAPTER SIX

Lunch with Gaara was always a blast, one way or another. Usually Naruto would just talk and Gaara would listen while doing paperwork, but occasionally he would ask Naruto's opinion on a document. That always brought a smile to his face. Currently, however, said blonde did not have a smile on his face and was quite displeased with how Temari's report was going. Apparently none of his friends thought he was cut out to be a teacher. That didn't make his day any better and from the sour look on Temari's face while she was relaying it to Gaara, she hadn't appreciated it either.

"And that's that Gaara. The exams will be in Kumogakure this time and any eligible students are welcome. I'd personally rather not send any genin to Kumo. I don't trust them."

"Yes, I quite agree with you. I think we'll withhold from sending any teams this go around. Naruto, I'm sorry, but I think you need to return to your class now. I might come over this evening, but more than likely I'll be stuck here."

Naruto nodded and left to finish out his day. He had plans for this weekend, plans that included Temari and reading some more of those scrolls. Hell, he needed to learn how to do the rasengan one-handed, so he'd send a couple hundred clones out to the desert to work on that. Hell, he'd make clones to read those scrolls while he was on his date with Temari. He had so much to do here, why not utilize his greatest advantage? And why the hell hadn't he thought of it sooner? He'd lost over two weeks that could have been put to use. The two siblings heard him growl in frustration as he left, but chalked it up to having to deal with the students the rest of the day.

Temari turned back to Gaara and sighed. Hopefully Naruto would be in a better mood by the time their date rolled around.

"I think you deliberately left out some of your report while Naruto was here Temari. Care to explain why?"

"Well…I wanted to tell him those parts personally. They don't really affect the mission…it's more what his friends told me what they thought of him personally. Several of the people in that room caught me at different times during my stay in Konoha to ask about his development here and what I thought. I'm going to have to get a different hotel next time. They wouldn't leave me alone."

"I see. Well, Konoha is of no consequence to Naruto anymore. He is of Suna now. I'm sorry Temari, but I have other matters to tend to. If you'll be so kind as to write up your report and turn it in later, you are excused."

Temari nodded and left out the door, headed to the compound. Her thoughts were running to her date with Naruto and what she should wear. She didn't have anything beyond her normal clothes really. Well, she had a couple exquisite kimonos but aside from that she didn't have anything. She was never one for formal dresses or suits. She didn't like pants, they constricted too much of her movement with the fan. Battle style kimonos or her old battle dress were her favorite clothing. They allowed her full range of movement and in her opinion, made her quite the looker.

She sighed as she walked through the compound's gates. Suna was her home and she never wanted to live anywhere else, but she loved the flora of Konoha. If only they had a garden in Suna, a park, something green. Her own experiments with gardening had ended on a low note. Even the desert flowers hadn't been able to grow under care. She laughed lightly at her misfortune. She was less nurturing than the desert. Yeah, that would attract the guys…

Opening the door, she was greeted by the sight of two of Kankurou's puppets swiveling their heads to look at her. She raised an eyebrow in annoyance at her brother's actions. He knew he wasn't supposed to bring his 'toys' into the living area.

"Hey Kankurou."

He peeked around from a new puppet he was building and grinned at her.

"Hey sis. How was your trip?"

"Aggravating. Any problems while I was gone?"

"Nah. You missed a bunch of good meals, but other than that, no. Naruto spent most of his time cooped up in his room, muttering something about land and making it fertile. He has some plans for the property he's trying to acquire apparently."

"Really? I hope he remembers we're in the desert. There's not much you can grow beside cactus out here. Ah well, he'll figure it out soon enough. Not like there's enough of a water source to support a garden anyway."

"Hey, you never know sis. That kid's surprised us all before. Maybe he can do something. At the very least, he might have a window box."

"And I say that the area is too acrid and dry to sustain anything. But we'll see. Now if you'll excuse me, a hot shower and a good night's sleep are in order. Oh and you missed another good lecture by Naruto today. I caught him giving one on loyalty to one's village."

"And you missed several good ones while you were gone. You know he has other teacher's recording what he says to use for future classes? It's a totally new teaching system for Suna. Maybe we should share it with Konoha…"

"I don't think we should share anything with those assholes."

Before he could ask what she meant, Temari was up the stairs and had the shower running. Kankurou shrugged and went back to tweaking the traps on his newest puppet. His sister had always been an enigma to him, why should anything be different now?

Temari calmed as the hot water cascaded down upon her. She moaned as she felt her muscles loosen and she did what she always did while in the shower. She sat down so that the hot water fell like rain and crossed her legs, letting the warm feeling wash over her. It always helped her to think to do this and it was relaxing. She closed her eyes and thought about her current situation.

She'd heard talk since Naruto was staying with them that he was one of the best-looking guys in Suna. No arguments there, but these women didn't even know him. They knew he was a jinchuuriki and she had heard more than one say they'd like a go at the demon. That pissed her off. People like Naruto and her brother were not sex toys. What they wanted, more than anything, was to be loved like a normal person, not touted and revered for the demon in them. They especially did not want to be fucked simply for their stamina.

Most jinchuuriki seemed to stay away from relationships and physical contact if at all possible. Naruto was an exception, but even he had problems with public affection. A simple hug could leave him disoriented and confused if it wasn't a person close to him. She'd have to break him of that. She shook her head to rid herself of the depressing thoughts. Now then, what should she wear for her date? She nearly squealed with anticipation. She'd never actually been on a date date. Eating out with Shikamaru had been about the closest she'd ever gotten to it. Hopefully, nothing would ruin it.

She sighed happily and washed her body off. She felt better than she had in days. Amazing what a hot shower could do to help one's mood. Wrapping a towel around her torso and rubbing furiously at her hair, she glanced at the clock. She'd been in there for over an hour. Naruto should be getting home in a couple hours, but he probably wouldn't want to go out tonight. Best to wait for the next night. It was a weekend after all, and they'd have all the time in the world. Really and truly, she just wanted to crawl into bed and sleep. In fact, that was a hell of a plan. If Naruto was cooking, she'd smell it and bolt downstairs anyway. She dove under the covers and snuggled against her pillow. She'd just take a quick nap.

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Naruto watched with pride as his students left the room. They were coming along nicely in his opinion. One of them had managed to make it onto the ceiling that day and stayed for all of three seconds before plummeting to the floor. Yes, they were coming along nicely. Henge was quickly becoming their favorite pastime and he had begun to send them out to infiltrate the other classrooms. He placed a clone in the hallway to watch for any students going to the bathroom and would wave over a random student to go and replace them in the classroom. This had become a favorite game of his students.

One of his students had managed to not only infiltrate a classroom, but to disrupt it as well. The teacher, one of the one's Naruto didn't get along with, had chased the student out and was trying to punish him, but he'd run back into Naruto's classroom and dropped his henge, while taking his seat. The teacher had come crashing through the door and demanding to know where the kid was. Naruto just shrugged and politely asked the man to leave before he made him. None of his students had left the classroom all day. As the man left in a fury, Naruto turned and winked at the kids, sending them into giggle fits.

He'd become a favorite teacher at the academy and the children loved to hear him speak. They said he made everything interesting. He hummed as he walked home. He still needed to ask Gaara for an assistant who was good at Taijutsu and Genjutsu. Oh well, he had an entire weekend for himself now. No reason not to get a little done. As soon as he crossed through the gates into the compound, he summoned a couple hundred clones, give or take a few, and split them into three groups.

"All right, this group I want working on making the rasengan one-handed. Don't stop until you're out of chakra. This one I want working on making the rasenshuriken more complete so it doesn't kill me. And you last few, I want reading the scrolls I brought."

One of the clones asked him what he was going to be doing.

"I'll be cooking for tonight and trying to convince Gaara to let me have a plot of land if he comes over. Now get busy, there's a lot to cover. And if any of you exhibit certain 'fox like traits', destroy it. We don't need any unnecessary episodes."

The clones all saluted and disappeared to do their assigned tasks. Naruto walked inside, waved to Kankurou and walked to his bedroom. He couldn't wait to get his own place. Not that living with the Sand siblings was a bad thing, he just wanted more space. And he wanted to try out his mother's ideas for raising a garden. Deserts, after all, used to be places that were teeming with flora and fauna but died out for some inexplicable reason. Most of the natural water sources were far below ground now and would need to be brought up by other means. Before he cooked anything, he wanted to read a little more on that scroll.

The more he read, the more intrigued he was. The first Hokage had been a mokuton user, but no one really knew where the ability had come from. It was an unknown ability. His mother had been able to duplicate it, to a certain extent, to make her garden massive and the most beautiful in Konoha. He'd noticed several unidentifiable species of flowers when he'd visited his parent's home, but they were wild now, and untamed from years of lack of care. He just needed the land to try his luck…

Naruto looked over at the clock and decided it was time to get up and cook supper. As he opened his door, he felt that slight jar in his mind as a clone dissipated and the memories came to him. He smiled and lifted his right hand, trying to form a rasengan without help from a clone. It began to form but then disintegrated. He was getting there though. Just a little while longer and all his efforts would pay off. He sauntered into the kitchen and turned on the stove. Teriyaki chicken and stir-fried vegetables sounded good tonight.

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Naruto watched as Kankurou appeared nearly instantly and began wolfing down his food. Naruto waited in his seat for Temari to arrive but after a couple minutes he began to worry.

"Hey Kankurou, Temari is here right?"

"Yeah, she's probably asleep. She was tired when she got in."

Naruto sat there picking at his food. He just couldn't eat if they weren't all there and Temari had probably been asleep for several hours. He rose from his seat and Kankurou stared at him, confused.

"Where ya going?"

Naruto turned back to him and his head jarred again as another clone released.

"I'm going to wake her up. She needs to eat it while its warm. It doesn't taste good reheated."

"Well, tell her to hurry up or I'm eating her portion."

Naruto nodded and headed up the stairs. As he went he tried another rasengan. This one was a little bit more developed but he still had little to no control over the shape.

'Soon, soon.'

He crept up to Temari's door and cracked it slightly. He'd never been in her room before and had no reason to be in it before. He pushed it open further when he heard the soft sounds of her rhythmic breathing. She was in a deep sleep, obviously tired from her trip. She still needed to eat though. He took in the surroundings and a small smile found its way to his face. Temari, although she prided herself on being one of the 'toughest bitches you'll ever meet' was still a little girl at heart. She apparently adored stuffed animals, since several adorned the walls. Beyond that, she didn't have much. It was a standard ninja bedroom; jutsu scrolls, her battle fan against a wall, weapons hung on racks.

Naruto crossed the room and stood beside the bed. Temari had not put her hair into the familiar ponytails and with her hair flowing around her, she looked more beautiful. A soft smile came across his face. Perhaps dating someone who could look so angelic one moment and be a complete tigress the next wouldn't be a bad thing. First, he had to get past their first date though. Rousing himself from his whimsical thoughts, he shook her shoulder and softly told her to wake up.

Temari had been having a dreamless sleep and it was very relaxing. Usually, her mind was so all-over the place that she couldn't sleep. She groaned when she felt something soft touch her shoulder and begin to shake her. The voice calling out to her was very gentle and it reminded her of days when her mother was still around. Thinking of those days made her heart ached and she latched onto the familiar feeling.

Naruto hadn't been expecting Temari's arm to shoot out and grab his. Nor had he expected her to pull him onto the bed and roll over, hugging him like he was a teddy bear. Although the act was quite comfortable (and maybe she'd be willing to do it again later) the food was getting cold and he didn't want to have to explain to an angry Temari why he was in her bed. He tried to move but she latched onto his waist and snuggled against him, rubbing her face against his stomach. He tried not to laugh at the childish gesture but it was hard. He tried to wiggle out again…no go. She had a death grip on him.

Temari was enjoying the warm sensation. She had been comfortable under her covers, but she had neglected to take something soft to cuddle with when she dove under them. She couldn't quite remember purchasing or receiving this particular toy however. It was soft and yet hard, but not unpleasant. It smelled of…the earth and the forest...and chicken teriyaki. And it kept trying to rouse her from her sleep while whispering softly. Her eyes slowly cracked open to see what exactly she had in her arms. They flew open when she saw the golden tresses and familiar sheepish grin of one Uzumaki Naruto.

Naruto had been trying in vain to escape the kunoichi's clutches but to no avail. He looked down when he heard a gasp and then a growl, straight into Temari's wide eyes. Time to run damage control.

"Temari, before you think what I know you're thinking, I came up here to tell you supper's ready. I was shaking your shoulder and you yanked me on top of you. I couldn't get loose. You have a very firm grip, do you work out?"

He scratched the back of his head and tried to look as cute as possible. In recent years, he'd figured out that the more clueless and hapless he looked, the easier it was to get away with things. He was thoroughly surprised when Temari sat up on her knees and grabbed him by the front of his shirt, shortening the distance of their noses by a couple centimeters. He'd been drug up to his knees as well when she grabbed him and he took note that at the moment her legs were on either side of his right thigh. And she wasn't wearing pants. Or panties for that matter. In fact, if that oversized shirt rode up just a little higher…Naruto blushed at the implications and his gaze snapped back up to meet Temari's.

Temari noticed that his gaze traveled down to where she was essentially sitting on his thigh. She hadn't thought much about it until she remembered that she wasn't wearing any underwear. She fought to keep the blush down and pulled him closer until the tips of their noses touched before she growled out.

"Not only do I expect you never to mention this, I expect my date later to be flawless, you hear? And the one after that better be just as spectacular."

Naruto gulped and nodded before he realized something.

"The one after? But we haven't gone out on our first date yet."

Temari smirked and patted his cheek. It was fast becoming a favorite taunt when dealing with him.

"Why Naruto, I'd be stupid to let such a fine male specimen get away from me after just one date. Besides, I seem to be losing more and more of my clothing every time I see you. Maybe next time, I'll lose everything hmmm?"

Naruto just nodded dumbly and watched as Temari smirked before shoving him backwards, dumping him out of the bed and onto the floor.

"I'll be down shortly to eat, now get the hell out of here unless you want me to kill you."

She laughed lightly as Naruto disappeared without a trace.

'I am going to have so much fun with him.'

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Temari emerged shortly thereafter to find a full Kankurou and a badly blushing Naruto. She sat at her usual seat and began shoveling the chicken into her mouth. It was really good. Hopefully he had a dessert prepared for tonight. It would cap off a most entertaining evening. She waved at Kankurou as he left to begin his patrol. He'd drawn a night duty this time. She didn't envy him a bit. Nighttimes in the desert were always cold as hell.

"Hey Temari?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to offend or anything."

She sighed and shoved her plate away. The guy was too concerned with others' welfare and way too apologetic.

"Naruto, you don't have to apologize for something that you didn't mean to happen. I'm not upset."

"Ok…hey Temari?"

"Yeah?"

"I don't think you told me and Gaara the whole story about your trip. Did something else happen while you were there?"

"If you give me some dessert, I'll tell you."

Naruto smiled and left into the kitchen, coming back with an apple pie. Temari stared at it hungrily and held out her plate. He chuckled and cut her a generous portion, which she immediately devoured and held out her plate for another.

"You don't get any more until you tell me more about your trip."

"Fine. I told you everything about the meeting in the office. What I didn't tell you was that all your friends came to talk to me at different times to see how you were doing. Most were genuinely curious and wanted to know how you were faring. The Hyuuga girl was happy that you were getting along so well. Her teammates were happy for you too. The others all just wanted particulars of what you were doing and why you chose Suna, whether or not I was actually going to go on a date with you, that kind of thing. The two most interesting were your former sensei and your teammate, Sakura."

Temari was lounging in her hotel room, enjoying a snack of dango and chilled sake, when she heard knocks on the door. She growled as she got up. Those friends of Naruto's were about to drive her up the goddamn wall! They just wouldn't leave her be. The only ones who had been somewhat pleasant were Hinata, who had treated her to dinner in exchange for some stories about the amicable blonde and Iruka, who had offered to help her with whatever paperwork she might have this trip if she shared some of Naruto's teaching secrets with him. She was shocked to see Naruto's two ex-teammates standing before her. Sakura spoke up hesitantly.

"Um, Temari-san, may we come in? We just want to ask a few questions and then we'll leave."

Temari sighed and gestured for them to come in.

"Sure, why not? Everyone else has come by, I figured you two would be among the first."

She waited until they were situated in the room's two chairs and she took up her station on the bed, sitting cross-legged while munching her dango.

"Well, go ahead, ask away."

Kakashi cleared his throat and ran a hand through his silver hair. Temari did not like the man, she had heard Naruto's story of the chuunin exam and how he had asked Kakashi to stop Gaara's fight with Sasuke, fearing for his friend's life. Kakashi had blown him off and nearly caused Sasuke's death. No, she definitely didn't like the laid back jounin.

"We just think that some of the things you've said are a little…over exaggerated. For one, Naruto can't be a chuunin without passing an exam."

"The Kazekage himself promoted him."

"Very well. But him being a teacher at a school and only having been there for a short time. It doesn't sound plausible and Naruto doesn't have the necessary skills to teach anyone."

Temari narrowed her eyes and sat the dango down. She'd suddenly lost her appetite.

"And why, pray tell, is he not fit to teach? What makes him so unfit?"

"Naruto doesn't even have a good grasp of the basics. How can he teach others something when he can't even do it? It doesn't add up."

"Yes, Temari-san, Naruto was always the weakest at the basics in the academy and on our team. Besides, he can't be around children with him being as…unstable as he is."

"Unstable? How dare you say he's unstable! Those kids love him and the way he teaches is perfect. He teaches practical things, not stupid ass things like useless history and meaningless theory on simple techniques."

"But those things are vital to a ninja's growth…"

"No, what is vital to a ninja's growth is that they realize that they aren't invulnerable, that there are always ways to grow and learn. They aren't bulletproof. Naruto is teaching those kids life skills, not just jutsus and book smarts."

Sakura got a little miffed at the mention of book smarts. That was always her strongpoint.

"Well, that idiot couldn't teach about that anyway. He doesn't know jack about history."

Temari laughed at the two and picked her dango back up, taking a bite.

"You'd be surprised what that guy knows. He's not going to teach them history; he has them learning that at home. He's going to teach them useful things. He's already teaching them chakra control by having them walk up walls. He's teaching them infiltration by using henge. He'll be starting them on kawarimi soon. He's beginning to build up their muscles and reserves by making them exercise. He's a good teacher."

"And how does he keep them in line? I know personally how much of a handful he was to teach."

"He uses Kage Bunshin to teach each one personally. That way no one is left out."

Temari watched with satisfaction as realization dawned on the two's faces. But she also knew that changing an opinion didn't happen in one day. And these two were always some of Naruto's biggest detractors, no matter how well they covered it up.

"Well, I guess it's true that everyone has a niche in life. Naruto was never as strong as Sasuke-kun, so I guess teaching would be more his speed. He's broken his promise to me anyway."

Temari nearly growled at the girl.

"Is that all he's useful to the two of you for? Bringing back that god forsaken Uchiha? Ugh, I don't know why he cares about the three of you, it's beyond me. If you don't have anything else to say, I'd suggest you leave before my fan finds its way into my hands."

Sakura and Kakashi stood abruptly, both rather angry at this point. Naruto was their's no one else's. He was the one that tied their group together and the fact that he had left still stung. Kakashi left without another word, but Sakura was used to getting in the last jab and turned at the door.

"I suggest you rethink your stance on dating him too, Temari. He's not normal you know. There's no telling what he'd do to you in a relationship."

Temari simply shoved the girl out into the hallway and ground out her reply before slamming the door in her face.

"I know that he's one of the best guys I've ever met and you're just jealous of me, because you weren't able to keep him under your thumb. Face it Haruno, your first choice sucked and ran off to play grab ass with a snake and your back up left because all but a few didn't appreciate him. You lose at the game of life and I might actually win. Now fuck off, I need my beauty sleep."

She slammed the door in the girl's face and turned around, but heard her call through the door.

"You can't sleep for beauty if there was never any beauty there in the first place, you bitch!"

Temari chuckled and kept eating her dango before going to bed.

'Yeah, but beauty's only skin deep Haruno. Ugliness goes a lot deeper and I think the blonde idiot finally saw that. That's why he left your village. Konoha's ugliness ran pretty damn deep.'

Naruto sat back and whistled after she finished. Temari held out her plate and he cut her another piece of pie.

"Wow, that's a hell of a story there Temari. I never could really get a good grasp on what those two actually thought of me. Kakashi helped me with the Kage Bunshin trick but that was also Yamato-sensei doing most of the work. Kind of sad, that my closest friends don't really see me as reliable."

Temari nodded and finished off her pie, letting the fork drop with a clink.

"Don't let it get to you Naruto. They're idiots and one day, they'll realize how wrong they were to let you go. But before that, you and I have a date to plan."

Naruto smiled and grabbed the plates, throwing them in the sink before filling it up to wash them. Temari appeared beside him and smiled.

"Whatcha doing?"

"I'm going to help you with the dishes. Besides, I can't let you do everything around her can I?"

"Sure you can. I don't mind and the two of you have more duties than I do. But anyway, what about our date?"

Temari shivered when she heard the words 'our date'. It seemed almost surreal. She smiled as he handed her a dish to dry and put away.

"Since you don't know the layout of the village very well or the best restaurants, I thought I'd pick everything. You just have to show me a good time."

"I promise to show you the best evening of your life."

"And if you don't?"

"What would you have me do?"

Temari put her finger to her lip thoughtfully. The chances of this date failing were slim to none, but hey, it never hurt to have a contingency plan. And he was basically offering himself to her. She smirked as she thought of a fitting punishment.

"You have to be my slave for a whole day, complete with loin cloth and a dog collar. What I say goes, no questions asked. Deal?"

Naruto paled when he heard the conditions. That was a little harsh.

"Don't you think that's a little extreme? And Kankurou wouldn't ever let me live it up."

Temari batted her eyelashes at him and patted his cheek.

'God, he looks so cute.'

"Well, I guess you'd better not fuck up our date then huh? Otherwise, I may get to see a side of Uzumaki Naruto nobody ever has. Or rather…a certain something no other girl has ever seen."

The blood seemed to rush to Naruto's face and he pressed himself against the counter so she couldn't see or get to, his prized possession. Temari fought down a laugh and continued drying the dishes.

'I think I'm starting to like him. He's definitely boyfriend material. And I wonder what he would look like in a loincloth?'

She refused to answer Naruto's question of what the nosebleed was all about.