Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto… rant… rant… rant… you get the idea…
A/N: This is sort of a filler chapter, but I hope you like it. And yes the next chapter is on the way.
Chapter 18 – Events unfold
Two weeks later in Iwagakure no Sato…
A man knelt before an aged and short man. "Tsuchikage-sama, we've gotten word from Konoha that the Fourth Hokage has returned from the dead, but Tsunade of the Sannin has taken the mantle of Hokage as the Fifth Hokage," the man explained.
The Tsuchikage rubbed his chin, as if in thought, but then asked, "Was there a reason for Minato not taking back the mantle of Hokage?"
"The public was not informed of anything other than he was angry and that he didn't want to take it back. I'm sorry Lord Tsuchikage," he said in a conciliatory voice.
The Tsuchikage chuckled and then said, "Good thing we have a treaty and an arrangement with Konoha so that we don't have to fight him again."
"As you say Tsuchikage, but I'm afraid that some of our younger and more eager shinobi will want to make a name for themselves and try to take down the Fourth Hokage," the man explained.
"Hm… you may be right. I order that no Stone shinobi shall take up arms against Namikaze Minato. His listing as 'flee on sight' is to be maintained. Do I make myself clear?" the Tsuchikage asked.
"Very clear, my lord. I shall pass along your orders. Shall we institute the contingency clause and send Ari?" the man asked.
The Tsuchikage shook his head and said, "No, there is no evidence that there are any heirs to the Namikaze and Ari isn't ready to have a boy pop into her life. Even if there were one, we should only approach it if it is deemed necessary."
"As you wish, my lord, by your leave," the man said and then left the room.
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"No! No! A thousand times, no!" Naruto yelled at his father.
"But Naruto, you don't understand. It is only a political marriage," Minato tried to explain, while Tsunade giggled in the background and the girls glared daggers at the former Hokage.
"I've already got two beautiful women and don't need another. And since they don't know you had an heir, I refuse," Naruto said in a voice that said he was done with the argument and crossed his arms.
"Don't be like Kushina…" Minato said only to find a fist impacting his face.
"What do you mean like my mother? Huh?" Naruto asked angrily.
Minato rubbed his chin and then replied, "She was as stubborn as you're being now."
"I'll bet she stopped you from having more than one wife, right?" Naruto asked.
"That and I loved her dearly," Minato said in a far off tone.
"Good, because I don't want to have to deal with another political marriage, no offense Hinata-chan," Naruto said to Hinata.
Hinata nodded and replied, "It's alright Naruto-kun. I understand and agree."
Naruto sighed and then said, "Look dad, I'm in love with Hinata-chan and Haku-chan. I don't want to short change a girl who I don't even know and for all I know might hate my guts because of you." He then tilted his head to the side and asked, "What were you thinking and how many of these 'arrangements' did you do?"
Minato took on a thinking pose and then said, "Hm… Iwa, Suna, Hyuuga, Yamanaka, Uchiha, and Karama, I think that was all of them."
Tsunade, Naruto, Hinata, and Haku all were speechless. Minato had made arrangements with no less than six families.
Minato looked at the group in confusion, and asked, "What? I thought Kushina and I would have a large family. You Naruto would have wed Hinata-chan and I believe Sabaku no Temari. The next child would have married the Iwa girl and the next would have married an Uchiha girl, and finally the next child would have married a Karama child. See it would have all worked out."
Tsunade growled and said, "Of all the hair-brained, not thought out… I bet Jiraiya put you up to this."
Minato scratched the back of his head and nodded, while laughing nervously.
"Oh Jiraiya-kun…" Tsunade called into the kitchen sweetly.
Jiraiya stuck his head out of the kitchen smiling from ear to ear and not suspecting a thing. "Yes hime? What can I do for you?" he asked happily.
"You're sleeping on the couch tonight!" Tsunade exclaimed.
Jiraiya fell backwards, as his face fell, and then asked, "But why, hime?"
"You gave Minato-kun bad ideas. Like marrying off Naru-chan off to six or so girls across the elemental nations," she explained.
Jiraiya came out of the kitchen and scowled at Minato. "You got Kushina to agree to all of those families?" he asked angrily, only to have Minato to nod. He rolled his eyes and then said, "It was a joke, no one man could deal with that many women with differing temperaments and survive. Not unless it was a harem and the girls knew about it, even then it would have lots of problems. Some student…"
Minato's shoulders sank. "But… but… Kushina-chan liked the idea…" Minato said in almost a pout.
Tsunade raised an eyebrow and asked, "When did you ask her this?"
Minato immediately turned jovial and replied, "During her sixth month with Naruto-kun."
"Tsunade-hime, I ask that my bed privileges be returned. It was my son's idiocy, not me who made this mess," Jiraiya said authoritatively.
Tsunade nodded her head and said, "For your stupidity, Minato-kun doesn't get lunch."
Minato grumbled and said under his breath, "I was hoping to make him happy…"
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Danzo watched, as Sasuke was working with several of his men. 'He has potential, but I have to be careful or Tsunade will come back and destroy what I have worked for,' he thought to himself and remembered his conversation with Tsunade.
(Flashback)…
Tsunade was rubbing her temples when Danzo walked into the Hokage's office. "You said you wanted to see me after the meeting, Hokage-sama?" he asked respectfully.
Tsunade nodded and then said, "I know that you're going to train the Uchiha boy, but let me tell you something. You will either straighten him out or I will confine him to the mental ward and use him for artificial insemination under the care of the Senju clan to recreate the Uchiha line. He is to fulfill his sentence of going to back to the academy and he 'will' learn to work with others. Do I make myself clear?"
Danzo bowed and nodded. "Abundantly, Lady Hokage. I will attend to his training personally and make sure that he understands the errors in his ways. Is there anything else?" he asked respectfully. She shook her head, so he left only to find Kakashi sitting outside the office as he left. "Be careful Hatake, she's not in a good mood right now."
Kakashi nodded and entered the office. Danzo left to ponder what he was going to do to train the Uchiha boy since it would be suspicious if he were to be entered into the 'Foundation' and subjected to the normal training regimen.
(End Flashback)…
He looked on with his single eye and scowled. "No, Sasuke! Work with the others, so that your coordinated attacks are more effective. If you go into a fight with another who is not as skilled as yourself, but has better teamwork, that team can be victorious and take yours down. Now try again!" he said angrily. Sasuke nodded and returned to his drills, not noticing the three ANBU that the Hokage had sent to keep an eye on Sasuke.
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"There… that should do it," Naruto exclaimed happily.
Hinata woke suddenly from her position on his lap. She had fallen asleep while Naruto, Minato and Jiraiya all talked about seals on the couches in the Senju's main family room. Naruto noticed her jump and lightly brushed her hair with his hand and smiled warmly down at her. "I think we have the problem solved, my dear hime. We figured out how to remove the seal and put a new better one on, and the best part is that it doesn't allow for people to abuse those with the seal. So are you ready to have that nasty seal removed?" he asked happily.
Hinata nodded, but then became apprehensive. "Will it hurt?" she asked timidly.
"Not sure, but I hope not. We need to get your father to help with this, so that we don't do any damage to you. Do you want the improved seal?" he asked with a wry grin.
She shrugged her shoulders and said, "I don't know…"
"We can put it on at any time. Heck, I'm going to get one along with Haku-chan to keep our Kekkei Genkai protected," he explained.
"Sure if you're going to do it than I will too, Naruto-kun," she replied happily.
About twenty minutes later and a boring, at least to Hinata, discussion on how to remove the 'Caged Bird' seal and then discussion on how apply the new seal and what it did, Hiashi agreed to get the new seal himself. An hour later Hinata was lying on the bed in the medical ward in the Senju compound with a minor headache and a smile that wouldn't stop. The 'Caged Bird' seal had been removed. There was some pain during the removal, but it wasn't as bad as when it was applied. The new seal was on her back and didn't hurt during its application. The lingering headache from the removal was all she had to deal with now and was happy to see Haku and Naruto both sitting beside her bed and holding her hand.
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Naruto spent the next day working with Hashirama on his wood bloodline ability. Hinata and Haku worked with Tobirama, while Tsunade and Minato spent the day at the Hokage's office taking care of the paperwork left after the invasion. Minato also had to avoid Baika on several occasions, since the woman still hadn't gotten over her infatuation with Minato. A slug summons informed the five that they had a visitor. Naruto and the girls went to the front of the complex to find Sakura there. She was sporting a bruise on her face and an angry look on her face.
"What do you want Sakura?" Naruto asked in an annoyed tone.
"I'm here to tell you to make your mother train me," she said in a frank tone.
Naruto began to chuckle and put his fist up to his mouth to cover his grin.
"What? Why are your laughing, Naruto-baka?" Sakura asked angrily.
"So, who gave you the shiner?" he asked in a jovial tone.
"Sasuke-kun punched me and told me to get lost. He said that he couldn't train with the team since he had been suspended and that it was your fault," she explained.
Naruto immediately went cold on the girl and said angrily, "Did he also tell you why he was suspended?"
Sakura shook her head and replied, "He only said it had to do with you and why are all three of you wearing chuunin vests? If Sasuke-kun wasn't promoted, you guys shouldn't have been."
The air around the four started to drop significantly. Naruto's eyes blazed a frost blue, while Haku's eyes turned light brown with a cold fire burning behind them. Hinata also glared at the girl, but also took several steps back. Sakura visibly shivered at the drop in temperature and glared at Haku.
"You have no clue who you're dealing with Sakura. Your boyfriend attempted to kill me before the exams and attempted to abduct Haku-chan for breeding purposes. Yes I said 'breeding' purposes. No love, just popping out little Uchiha children against her will," Naruto said angrily, as Sakura noticed all three of their breaths were coming out as steam.
She began to rub her arms to try to create warmth and said, "Your ice bitch should be honored that he would choose her as chattel for breeding. I know that Sasuke-kun would love me and not use me that way."
Naruto laughed and brought his fist up in front of him in a threatening manner. It was covered in ice, much to her surprise. He then swiped his hand down and away from his self as he exclaimed, "Love? His brother saw to it that he doesn't know what love is. Look at yourself. He hit you for Kami sake. He isn't a good seed and needs to have his head put back on straight. He is right now an academy student for the next six months, so that he learns to get a long in a team and be able to work alongside his fellow shinobi. And as for you, you will stop the disrespect of your superiors or you will be on report."
Sakura laughed at Naruto even though she was shivering in almost spasms. "You're not my superior, you're just a baka and don't know anything," she exclaimed.
"For the smartest person in our class, you sure don't know anything. I was excluded or given bad training from the teachers in the academy, thus the reason I was so far behind the rest of the class. As for being your superior, I am a chuunin and you're a genin. Your request for training from my mother is denied. Oh don't worry yourself, you will be reported to the Hokage for disrespecting two chuunin openly," he explained with a grin that sent a chill down her spine, even with her feeling the effects of the reduced temperature.
"Naruto-kun, you and Haku-chan are freezing the ground, could you please ease off a little?" Hinata asked in a worried tone.
"Oh and the timid bitch to round out the group, so are you doing him ye…" Sakura was asking, but fell to the ground with several senbon sticking out of her body.
"I let my team fight their own battles, but if you want to bring me into this fight, then fine. You were already out classed by Naruto-kun, but you had to insult and aggravate Haku-chan. Not a good idea on a good day. Both of them are stronger than I am, but you're weaker than me. Now remember this, Sakura-teme, while you recover from your wounds today in the hospital. Why would Naruto-kun's mother want to help a person who doesn't treat her son nicely?" Hinata asked, as she summoned a slug. She turned to the slug and bowed, while asking, "I apologize for giving you this menial task, but could you take this insufferable girl to the hospital and have her injuries looked at?"
The slug did the best it could of bowing to Hinata and replied, "Of course Hinata-sama, I would be glad to help you in any way I could." Naruto and Hinata placed Sakura on the back of the slug and it took her to the hospital.
Not two minutes later did Kakashi and Sai show up. "So the bi-sexual chuunin has his harem with him," Sai said to the sighs of everyone there.
Haku glared at Sai and said, "For the last time, I'm a girl, not a boy."
Kakashi smiled and said, "Naruto-san, have you seen my wayward student, Haruno Sakura?"
Naruto sighed and shook his head. "Yes we did, she is on her way to the hospital and going to be on report for insubordination," Naruto said in an annoyed tone.
"I hope you didn't order her to do a foursome…" Kakashi said with a leer in his eye.
Naruto growled and said, "No, she was demanding that I have my mother train her and then went into a tirade about Sasuke beating her and it being my fault."
"It wasn't?" Kakashi asked in an almost quizzical tone.
"Oh, that right… you're still on probation for that incident too," Naruto said in a jovial tone.
"Hey, I was only trying to protect my student," Kakashi said in his defense.
"Yea, all the while I was bleeding out and Haku-chan was being abducted by said student. Let's just hope this doesn't come to a clan war, it will be short and fast," Naruto explained.
"Just because you're the son of the Hokage and the son of my sensei, doesn't mean that you can insult my students," Kakashi exclaimed.
"I'm sorry 'sempai', but your students are trouble. Sasuke, has been a thorn in my side for years and Sakura… I'm just glad I don't pine after her anymore," Naruto said.
"You liked 'no chest'?" Sai asked with a smile that looked rather faked.
Naruto frowned, but nodded.
"I don't see why. She's violent and has not appeal as a female," Sai said without any feeling or remorse.
Naruto began to laugh, until Kakashi knelt down and inspected the ground. "Did you turn her into an ice sickle?" he asked in a joking way.
"No, but maybe we should have," Naruto replied in a happy tone.
"Look Naruto-san, I'm sorry that my students are giving you such a hard time. Could you let this one go?" Kakashi asked, pleadingly.
Naruto struck a thinking pose for a minute and then said, "Not going to happen. Sakura blatantly insulted us and told us that she didn't think that we were chuunin and that she wouldn't take orders from us."
Kakashi took his own thinking pose and replied, "I see, then I guess I'll just have to order you not to report this."
"Is that what you really want to do Hatake-san?" Naruto asked.
Kakashi thought about it for a minute and then nodded. "Yes, those are my orders, chuunin," he said authoritatively.
All three chuunin saluted and replied, "Yes, sir."
Kakashi smiled and motioned for Sai to follow. Both left quickly. Naruto looked sullen at his brides-to-be and sighed. "Guess we can't report Sakura-teme," Naruto said.
All three jumped when a voice from behind them said, "But I can." All three turned to see Hashirama smiling the trio. Naruto grinned evilly and nodded.
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Kakashi left the room with Sai taking a mission for both of them inside the village. Just as soon as they were gone a head appeared out of the floor and said, "Someone would like to talk to you Hokage-sama." The head was a wooden Naruto, much to the fascination and enjoyment of those in the mission room.
Tsunade turned to the others and said, "If you will excuse me, I have a meeting I need to get to. Iruka, you can hand out the mission scrolls, since they are arranged according to whom I want them to be done by and level."
"Yes, Hokage-sama," Iruka said in reply.
Tsunade left the room and entered her office, only to find Naruto's team and her grandfather. "Okay, was that you Naru-chan or you grandfather?"
Hashirama smiled broadly and pointed at Naruto. "He's coming along fine in both his Wood and Ice jutsu training. The Kyuubi allows him to mimic the Ice bloodline," he explained.
Tsunade nodded and then asked, "I'm taking that this isn't a social call to report on training progress?"
Hashirama shook his head and said, "I would like to report an incident with a one Haruno Sakura and also another with a Hatake Kakashi." Tsunade nodded her head in recognition and he continued, "This Sakura girl was going to demand that you train her, but then descended into a bickering match with Naru-chan, Haku-chan and Hinata-chan. Hinata-chan ultimately disabled her and sent her to the hospital, but the girl showed disrespect towards the Senju and the three young chuunin."
"So what does Kakashi have to do with this, other than being her sensei?" Tsunade asked in a serious tone.
"This is why I'm reporting it, instead of them. He ordered them to not report the insubordination," Hashirama replied.
Tsunade sighed, but then yelled, "Shizune, get me the files for Hatake Kakashi and Haruno Sakura, please?"
A couple moments later Shizune entered the room and handed the files to Tsunade. Tsunade opened the files and read them for a minute before she began to write in them. Shizune looked surprised by what was being written, but said nothing. Tsunade finished and then handed back the files to Shizune and said, "Thank you."
Shizune nodded, bowed and then left the room.
"Now that that is finished, you're free to talk about the incident, since none of you reported it," Tsunade said happily.
The next twenty minutes were filled with they're narration of the incident.
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Naruto, Hinata, Haku and Zabuza were happy to get a mission outside of Konoha. Kurenai had her own mission that she had to complete, so they would miss her. It was supposed to be a simple delivery. Naruto believed it was a payment for debt, but wasn't sure, so they kept this much to themselves. All four wore camouflage outfits, but all in their own distinct coloration. Zabuza preferring blues and grays, while Haku liked the earthy tones of browns and greens, Hinata seemed to like molted purple and lavender, while Naruto liked burnt orange, white and dark gray.
The team headed through the woods, jumping from tree to tree, actually aware that they were being followed by a pair of shinobi of immense power. Naruto had picked up their scent earlier and signaled for Hinata to check on their identities. When the group took a rest they were unpleasantly surprised to find out who their pursuers were. They were none other than Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame.
The team finished the delivery and left the village that they had delivered the package too. They were then confronted by the pair just outside of town. "Naruto-kun, please come with us…" Itachi said in a pleasant, but demanding voice.
Naruto sighed, but then said, "Look, Itachi, I'm not that way. I like girls."
Itachi wore a look of annoyance, but said, "I like the female gender too, but I have a job to do and it takes precedence. I'm sorry Naruto-kun."
Naruto smiled a sad smile and said, "Then I'm sorry too, Itachi… KUN…"
Both groups readied themselves for a fight.
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A/N: Sorry for the cliffhanger, but the battle looks like it may be just as large as this chapter on its own. I hoped you liked the filler chapter and I'm hoping to have the next chapter out next week, just in time for Christmas.