Brianna nervously rapped her fingers on the table top as she waited for her sisters to get back with Naruto. 'What are we gonna do? We are in so much trouble, those guys better have come back with some loot we can sell!'

Chapter 6

As the Ginamobile finally came to a stop under the Digger girls home, Brittany and Gina looked back at Naruto. The young shinobi had passed out almost immediately when he had sat down and with good reason too. Massive usage of chakra caused his body to almost shut down completely to conserve and renew his power, the only reason he even made it back to the entrance of the Arctic dig on his feet was through pure will power and determination.

Gina grinned at her sister and jerked a thumb towards the backseat. "Wanna help me carry this lug and put him to bed?"

Brittany giggled and gently lifted the their sleeping protector out of the back and gently put him over her shoulder. As the two carried their cargo to the elevator Brittany turned to Gina and said, "So, how do you think Brianna will react to this?"

Brianna gaped at her two sisters, the young woman staring at the comatose form of Naruto as he hung limply over Brittany's shoulder. Reigning in her anger, Brianna calmly looked at Gina as the eldest Diggers sister chuckled nervously. "What. Happened. To. Naruto?" Gina put her hands behind her back as she glanced at Naruto's still form.

"Well, you see... during the dig, we kinda, sorta... woke up an ancient snake guardian and Naruto used all his chakra to get me to safety, so now he's in a coma till he recovers his energy, according to my scans he should be..." Brianna palmed her face, groaning loudly before stalking towards her sisters. Gina nervously began to backup but once she hit the wall she was faced with the furious gaze of her younger sister.

"You let him get hurt." At those words Gina's embarrassed/scared look evaporated, her glare directed at her younger sister as she fought back.

"Hey, I didn't let him get hurt, the other people that tried to claim the dig site at the same time that we did are the reason this happened. We were about to make our way out when those no good Montara twins yanked us back inside of the chamber with the guardian snake thing, we had to make a quick getaway and this is the result of that." Brianna sighed as she fussed over the state of Naruto. Looking back at Gina she paused.

"What did he do to make this happen anyway?" Both girls turned to their older sister as she chuckled weakly.

"I promised not to tell?" Brianna and Brittany glanced at each other, narrowing their eyes at Gina before Brianna sighed loudly.

"Fine, but only because I respect Naruto's privacy." Brittany smirked at Brianna and nodded her head.

"Sure you do, that's why I saw you trying to break into his room the other day when he went out to pick something up downtown." Brianna began to whistle innocently as she turned away saying,

"I can't hear you!" Before she could leave the living room she felt a hand on her shoulder and she looked back into the serious eyes of Gina.

"Brianna, we really need to talk. Alone." Brittany nodded as she carefully took Naruto back to his room. Brianna and Gina watched as Naruto disappeared down the hallway, the two sisters looking back at each other before they began to talk.

While the girls were arguing, they had no idea that Naruto was actually listening to everything that they were saying, Smirking as he leaned against the Containment cage, Naruto heard another lock cycle open.

"Well, that's it for the third ring, 9 more to go." A small stream of red chakra was passing through the small hole, enough to help get his chakra system jump started on the regeneration process to bring him back to full strength, drastically cutting down on the time it would take for him to wake up. Naruto settled back as he thought about what happened during the latest dig, the situation demanding that he have a wild card that no one knew about just in case he had to do something similar later on. After a sufficient amount of Kurama's potent energy was used his jump start his own chakra system, Naruto began to guide the rest of the energy he was able to siphon to a unused portion of his mindscape, the former holding area of Kurama's chakra before they became partners. Naruto watched as a small sphere began to form, knowing it would not be as plentiful and long lasting as before but it would give him a quick boost in a pinch.

As all of these things were done he heard a low growl from behind him and smirked. "Just be patient buddy, you'll be out and causing mayhem soon enough."

The growling stopped as the sleeping beast heard his friend and accepted that he still had a while to wait.

After Gina and Brianna were done their discussion they called Brittany back into the living room as Brianna had an important message to share with them both.

"WE'RE BROKE!?" Brianna nodded sadly as she collapsed in the nearest recliner.

"When you were gone we got a call from the IRS, remember when you both had that, uh, 'stretch of bad luck'*? Well there was a double audit cause of it and they seized all our assets so we bounced almost half a MILLION in checks, including the one for this years taxes! Their gonna take the house next!" Gina sighed as she rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"Well, we can use my emergency fund to get us out of this. It'll be a little rough for a while but we'll make it."

"Ummm..." Gina and Brianna both slowly looked at Brittany, her terrified look not giving them hope that they would like whatever it was that she had to say.

"It's... it's gone" Gina cocked her eyebrow at Brittany and said,

"What's... GONE."

"The emergency fund."

Naruto jerked in his sleep as Gina's extremely angry scream pierced all the way to his mindscape. Even Kurama whined a bit as he heard it. "Oh, that can't be good."

"Brianna, lemme go, lemme go! I'MMA GONNA KILL HER!" Brianna grunted as she tried to stop Gina from attacking Brittany and she was losing her grip. 'How the hell is she so strong, I can barely hold her back!'

Cheetah was just sitting in her chair, tears slowly trailing down her cheeks. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! All I do is shop and spend your money, since I go on the adventures with you I never think of where it comes from or how much we have, I just spend and spend! I'm just mooching off of you sis, I'm so sorry!"

Gina took a deep breath as Brittany said her piece, feeling some guilt at how she reacted. Brianna started to cry from her sister's words and that's what finally got Gina to calm down. "Look, I'm sorry, your not a mooch Brit, I'm just... I'm just really frazzled right now, with Naruto out of commission, being broke and still owing money, not to mention the situation with me, her..." At this last statement Gina cocked her head and jerked her thumb in Brianna's direction. "... and Naruto, well I just snapped... I'm sorry sis."

A sniffling Brittany nodded her head and wiped her tears then looked back at Gina. "So, what do we do now?"

Gina sighed and shrugged her shoulder. "Hell if I know, I suck at saving money, why do you think I try and go on digs that have a big payday?"

Brianna crossed her arms under her breasts and looked at Gina. "And what about our... situation?"

Gina smirked at the youngest Diggers and said, "Depends, you in or not?"

Brianna grinned slowly and nodded, knowing that for here there was really no choice. "You bet, sounds like fun, for both of us."

Naruto slowly opened his eyes, the late morning sun shining thorough his window and letting the shinobi know that it was another beautiful day that he was missing. Rubbing a hand across his face and groaning, the shinobi got dressed slowly then walked downstairs, his feet thumping loudly as he scratched the back of his head. As Naruto passed the living room, he noticed how quite the house seemed, as if he were all alone. Closing his eyes, Naruto reached out with his senses once more, and smiled as he felt their presences in the front yard. Looking down, Naruto appeared that he was appropriately dresses so he walked towards the front door and looked outside. Naruto blinked at the scene before him, wondering if it was another crazy dream that he was having. Reaching over to his forearm, Naruto squeezed the skin there and sighed when he continued to see the chaos in front of him.

"Shit, how long was I asleep?" Naruto sighed as he watched Brittany screaming at Gina, the were-cheetah pounding on her older sister's forcefield, while Gina was screaming back, her hands gesturing wildly at her younger sister. Brianna was off to the side, the youngest sister not knowing what she could do to stop her raging sisters. All of the neighbors that were standing on the front lawn were gawking at the spectacle before them, many of them whispering about how violent the girls were. Naruto groaned, dropped his head and sighed.

"DAMMIT, KNOCK IT OFF! I'VE GOT A KILLER HEADACHE!" Everyone froze and slowly looked towards the irate shinobi. Brianna smiled brightly and ran over gently hugged her blond hero, Naruto returning the hug absentmindedly as he focused on Gina and Brittany. Letting go of Bri, Naruto crossed his arms over his chest as he looked at the yard, noticing multiple tables that were covered with inventions, knickknacks and all kinds of bizarre items. 'Why do I need to deal with this kind of shit just after I've woken up? Did I do something to anger you Inari-sama**?'

"Now, would someone please tell me what the hell is going on here?" All three girls started talking at the same time, loudly and rapidly as they tried to talk over each other. After several moments Naruto closed his eyes, rubbed the bridge of his nose and raised his hand to stop them all. Once the girls stopped talking he made his trusty cross hand sign and two clones appeared.

All of the neighbors gawked at this and began to mutter at the three identical men in front of them. Of course, after many years of seeing Gina's inventions and experiments they were kinda jaded and just shrugged their shoulders, thinking it was business as usual at the Diggers home.

"Ok, Brittany, you go with this one and tell him your part of the story. Brianna, you get the other clone and do the same. Gina, please explain to me, what is happening. And the love of Inari, do not raise your voice, I have a really bad headache and I still feel like shit."

Gina muttered, "Sorry." Naruto sighed and pulled her into a hug.

"S'ok, I've regened about a quarter of my chakra but I haven't been this drained in years, I forgot how much it sucks. Now, tell me what's wrong?" As Gina looked at Naruto with tear filled eyes, the story spilled from her lips, from the seized assets to the missing emergency fund and finally her explanation ended on the the yard sale to raise the needed money. Gina finally ended on how Cheetah was selling all of her collectible cards and comics that she had been saving for years, stuff that was worth a fortune and was going for mere pennies. Gina looked at the man that was still holding her, her eyes pleading with him to help her in her darkest hour.

Naruto sighed as his resistance crumbled. Gina had pulled out the secret weapon and used it without any mercy or remorse. 'Damned puppy dog eyes... Well played Gina, well played.'

"Ok, who bought the stuff, where did they go?" Gina sadly motioned at the group of teenagers behind Naruto, telling him that she had tried talking them into returning the items they bought but they just laughed in her face. Naruto sighed, kissed the top of Gina's head and walked towards the young teens, missing the fierce blush that Gina was sporting after the kiss. Once Naruto was standing in front of the assembled teens, the shinobi raised his hand in greeting.

"Hey guys, there been a big mistake made here, someone put out this stuff when they weren't supposed to. It was the same person that sold all of these items to you, she had no idea how much they are really worth so they were sold for next to nothing. I'll give you your money, back but I need everything returned." Each of the teenagers in front of Naruto looked at him like he had grown a second head, they then looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"Right, like we're going to give'em back, that'd be stupid man! If they didn't wanna sell'em they should have paid more attention!"

Naruto sighed as he ran a hand over his face. "Well, I guess there's nothing I can do if... WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!"

Naruto pointed behind the group dramatically as a convenient(heh, yeah right) blast of smoke suddenly appeared, causing every teen to turn around to see what the disturbance was. Grinning evilly, Naruto made the ram seal and disappeared. Moments later the teens turned back to mouth off at the blonde 'idiot' but saw that he had turned around and was walking away. "Stupid idiot, trying to distract us... huh? What the hell..."

Naruto grinned at the sounds of outrage behind him and pocketed the scroll he had been holding. "Never try and cheat a shinobi, it always turns out bad for ya in the end."

Several teens ran up to Naruto, demanding that he give them back the items they had bought but the blonde just looked at them in confusion, raising his empty hands and shrugging at the allegations. All of them began to swear violently as they stormed off, cursing the blonde haired man under their breath. 'And they're gonna be so confused when they find their money in their pockets, heheheheheh.'

Gina grinned as she jumped into Naruto's arms and kissed the blonde on the cheek. "Did you just..."

Naruto winked at Gina and placed the scroll in her hand. "All safe in the scroll, don't worry. Now, what are we going to do to solve this problem?"

"Hey girl, I think I got the answer for ya." Gina turned around and grinned.

"ACE!"

Meanwhile with Brianna

Naruto-3 grinned as Brianna refused to let go of him as she let him know what was going to happen.

"And when will she be here?" Brianna giggled as she checked her watch.

"Any moment now, Gina's not going to be happy." Naruto-3 nodded his head but shrugged his shoulders.

"True, but what other choice does she have? She'll get over it, she's a strong girl. Um, did.. did you talk with her about what happened during the dig?" Brianna gave Naruto-3 a sultry look as she pulled him closer to her.

"Do you mean when she took advantage of your weakened state after this mystery technique nearly sucked you dry?" Naruto-3 chuckled weakly as the clone rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. He calmed as Brianna giggled and kissed his cheek. "S'ok, I'd probably would have done the same thing. I'm not mad, at you or Gina. Trust me, everything's ok." Naruto sighed in relief and relaxed when Brianna suddenly leaned in for a deep kiss. Several moments later Brianna let the clone go and grinned at him as he fell flat on his ass in shock. "Later stud, got a few things to take care of."

This said the half were-cheetah sauntered off, the clone's eyes following her swaying hips and Naruto-3 had a single thought running through his head. 'I'll never understand women.' Naruto-3 popped, knowing that the original would want to know what was going to be happening.

Over with Cheetah

Naruto-2 sighed as he tried to get a bawling Brittany to stop crying and tell him what was wrong. Every time Brittany started to explain the situation she dissolved into tears, causing Naruto-2's headache to worsen. Finally the clone just gave up, holding onto Brittany while she kept crying into his chest. 'Dammit, why do I always get stuck with the shitty jobs!'

And Finally Back with the Original

Naruto grinned as he watched Gina nearly collapse in embarrassment, she even tried to hide under a paper bag at the appearance of her rival, Penny. Grabbing the paper bag and pulling it from her hands Naruto put his arm around her neck and chuckled. "Gina, come on, she came all this way to talk with you, at least hear her out. Please, for me?" Gina glared at Naruto, the tears in her eyes reflecting the betrayal that the archeologist felt at the words Naruto uttered. Naruto mentally pumped his fist at his victory as Gina glared at him before turning back towards Penny. 'HAH! Revenge is mine! Take that Puppy dog eyes!'

Gina sighed and looked back at Penny and nodded. "Fine, but only cause Naruto asked. What do you want?"

Penny took a deep breath closed her eyes. When she opened them again she had a resolute look as she began her explanation. "Gina, we've been going back and forth for too long, it's time to let this feud die. I'm willing to help you all get back on your feet, pay off the back taxes and make sure your setup for your next expedition, all interest free. You can pay me back where ever you can, no time limits. I really want to help you out here."

Gina narrowed her eyes as she considered what she had just been told. "What's the catch?"

Penny grinned as she said, "Well I'll give you two choices, first option is to give me something I want, the second one is you do me a favor and we're even."

Gina glanced at Naruto, Naruto glanced at Gina and shrugged his shoulders. "So what is it that you want exactly?"

Penny pointed at Naruto and smirked. "Him."

Brianna was whistling happily as she made her way towards Gina, thoughts of the kiss she stole running through her mind. Just as she arrived at the front porch, Bri heard Gina ask what Penny wanted and paled as she saw Penny pointing at Naruto saying, "Him."

Naruto-2 had finally managed to calm Brittany down and was leading her back towards her sisters when he heard the tail end of the conversation. A low growling beside him made him face palm as Brittany stalked towards Penny. "Oh fuck me, I am outta here."

One popped clone later and Naruto's head whipped over and saw the furious were-cheetah stalking towards Penny. Naruto closed his eyes as he shook his head while laughing softly. Gina immediately wrapped her arms around Naruto's waist, Brianna pulled a gun from... somewhere, while Brittany stopped beside him, growling at the girl that had the audacity to try and take Naruto from her family.

Naruto, deciding to play peace maker, stepped in front of the visibly shaking woman as she realized maybe she had taken her joke a little to far. "Now now girls, I think she was just joking, right Penny?"

Penny rapidly nodded her head and waved her hands in front of her, hoping none of the girls attacked her. "YES! I was only playin! I just want you to do a favor for me, that's all I want!"

As the girls were still angrily glaring at Penny, finally it was Naruto that took it upon himself to finish the negotiations. "And this favor is?"

"Well, long story short, my musclebound aunt needed me to cover a shift at Taco Hut for my cousin that's sick. So, I want Gina and Brittany to cover for me. I may be willing to help you all out but I want to get in one last dig, for old times sake."

Naruto hmm'ed, looked down at Gina. When she didn't stop glaring at Penny he grinned as he nudged her with his hip. As Gina's surprised eyes turned back to him, Naruto asked, "Well?"

Gina sighed as she thought about the offer. Looking back at her rival she nodded. "Deal"

"Why did I agree to this?" Brittany smirked at her sister and poked her in the shoulder.

"Because you can't say no to Naruto?" Gina sighed as the next customer appeared. A obviously fake smile appeared on her face as she greeted the newest patron of Taco Hut.

"Welcome to Taco Hut, can I take your order?" Ryan Tabbot blinked rapidly, took in the uniform Gina was wearing and began to laugh loudly.

"So this is why I was told by Penny to come to Taco Hut! Oh, this is hilarious!" Gina narrowed her eyes and gestured at the back room.

"Naruto's in the back grabbing more fries. And thirty seconds after he comes back I can have him kicking your ass from one end of the city to the other. So may I take your order so you can run away before I sic Naruto on you?" Needless to say, Ryan didn't order anything to eat at Taco Hut. Right after he ran away Brittany put her hand on her hip and looked at Gina.

"Since when is Naruto in the back? I thought it was only you and me." Gina looked back at her sister and smirked.

"Yeah, but he didn't know that."

Naruto watched from the roof top across the street from Taco Hut and narrowed his eyes in irritation. Several hours had passed peacefully for the blonde as he watched the fast food restaurant, there was a tense moment as Ryan entered the building but less than a minute later he was running down the street as if the hounds of hell were nipping at his heels. As Naruto looked at his watch, he noticed that the shift the girls were taking was almost over when the shinobi saw a large group of people homing in on the small Taco Hut. "Son of a bitch, I should have known things wouldn't be so easy."

Naruto watched as Ace and Penny walked into the Taco Hut from the opposite direction, not even noticing the throng of people that appeared to be waiting for some kind of sign. Naruto's gaze narrowed as he counted at least 800 people that were about to enter Taco Hut. "Last dig is right. Why did Gina make me promise not to help?"

Flashback

After Penny left Gina looked at Naruto and said, "You can't help, not even a little bit. I mean it this time."

Naruto looked down at Gina as if she was crazy. "Say what? Why can't I help?" Gina rested her head against Naruto's chest and sighed.

"I'm tired of it all, the insults that we trade, the wedgie war that's gotten completely out of hand and not to mention the fact that we bargain with each other when we're in danger. It's got to stop before one of us gets hurt or worse. Penny asked for me and Brit to do this, not you two, so you and Bri are gonna stay here. I want you to promise you won't help us, I know what it means to you."

Naruto let out a irritated growl and nodded his head. Gina smiled beautifully and pecked Naruto on the cheek before she walked off with Brittany in tow. Brianna slid up beside Naruto, her arm wrapping around the blonde shinobi's waist as they watched the pair leave. "Are you really going to stay here?"

Naruto grinned and looked over at Brianna. "Oh hell no, someone's gotta watch out for the girls. After all, I never let someone else hold all the cards in their hand, always gotta have an ace up my sleeve. As long as Penny plays fair I won't jump in, but if she doesn't then everything is fair game."

Brianna quickly hugged Naruto before he leaped towards the rooftops, silently trailing the resolute Diggers heading into the maw of terror... the unholy terror that is fast food service.

End Flashback

Naruto sighed as he leapt from the roof and entered the Taco Hut to give Penny a piece of his mind when he heard, "If going through this four-hour-taco-hell is what it takes for us to make amends, than it was worth it. Friends?" Naruto smiled as he saw Gina put her hand out for Penny to shake. Penny looked at the hand like it was a foreign object, the normally cool and collected woman began stuttering as she excused herself. Just as Penny was about to reach the doors, she looked up, her eyes widening as Naruto focused his cold hard gaze on the now frightened woman.

"Your lucky I heard that. I think you have something to tell those people outside, don't you?."

Penny nodded as she walked past the blond shinobi, feeling like she had just dodged a massive bullet. As she exited the Taco Hut, Penny yelled out, "OK GUYS, CHANGE OF PLANS! HOW DO ALL 800 OF YOU FEEL ABOUT PIZZA BELL INSTEAD?"

At the deafening cheer Penny pointed to the named eatery and yelled out, "OK! MEET ME THERE IN 10 MINUTES!"

As the mob of people made their way to Pizza Bell, Penny nervously walked back into Taco Hut once more, a sheepish expression on her face as she faced Ace and the Diggers once more. Ace turned on his girlfriend and was about to lay into her for her latest stunt, but Gina's hand on his arm distracted him. Gina stepped forward and extended her hand again, a smile lighting up her face as looked Penny right in her eyes. "Friends?"

Penny sniffled a little and grabbed Gina in an hug. "Friends."

Naruto sighed loudly as he lowered himself into the hot tub in the Digger's backyard, the star lit sky above reminding him of when he was younger and he would stay on top of the Fourth Hokage's head during the wee hours of the night, his eyes focusing on the distant stars above him. Stretching his arms above his head, Naruto grinned as he thought of how Gina and Penny together would make an amazing team, just like him and Sauske when they managed to bury the hatchet and work together. Naruto closed his eyes and relaxed as he let the heat wash away his worries and cares, that is until two soft pairs of feet walked along the deck towards him. Naruto put both arms up on the edge of the hot tub as he felt two curvaceous forms slide into the water and settle in beside him. "So are you two going to take pity on me and tell me what the hell is going on yet? Or do I get to sweat and worry for a few more days until my nerves are shot and I jump at every little noise?"

Gina and Brianna giggled softly as they relaxed in the warm water, both girls snuggling up against the blonde as they let out content sighs. Gina was the first to break the silence, her hand tracing along the sculpted muscles of Naruto's chest. "Well, when we first met you, both of us were prepared to fight for you till the bitter end. You're everything that we could want in a guy, your hot and well built, but that's just the icing on the cake. You're so sweet, caring and you'll do anything to keep us safe, not to mention you saved our lives. We both wanted you so badly we were almost ready to fight tooth and nail for you, our relationship as sisters be damned."

Brianna nodded her head as she continued the discussion, her hand running up and down Naruto's hand that rested by her shoulder. "But after the last dig, when you told Gina you couldn't choose either of us, we talked about the situation and realized why you said that. We also realized that you were right, you couldn't choose one of us over the other. It's completely against who you are to hurt someone intentionally if you can avoid it. We both knew you would keep quiet as we fought over you until one of us went too far or you just left to stop us from fighting. So, we've made a decision. But you need to agree to this too."

Naruto opened his eyes and looked down at both girls, realizing what they were getting at. "You really want to share one guy? That doesn't really seem like an ideal situation for you girls."

Gina and Brianna both smirked as they lightly jabbed Naruto's chest. Gina knew he would say that and had a perfect counter argument. "Uh huh, you'd be right normally, but someone here can make solid clone copies of himself, meaning that he is the ultimate multitasker. So, what's your answer?"

Naruto chuckled softly as he pulled both girls closer. "Heh, if only Ero-sennin could see me now."

Brianna and Gina both looked at Naruto in confusion. "Ero-sennin? As in Perverted Hermit?"

Naruto laughed loudly as he nodded his head. "That's right! Lemme tell you about the Perverted Hermit, Jiraiya, my Godfather. After all, I'm sure he is probably looking down right now and cursing my name at one moment then singing my praises the next. Crazy old man..."

Both girls settled in as Naruto began his tale about his greatest teacher and one of his best friends.