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Chapter One:

It would have been a comparatively boring day for Naruto, had Tsunade not summoned him to her office. Since his six-month mission had just ended, he was supposed to be enjoying a few free days, only he wanted some action.

Anyhow, the young blond was training in his usual spot when he was summoned. Still the same Naruto at heart, he had however changed a little physically and mentally. He had matured, yet he held the same cheerfulness and naivety, not to mention the denseness. He was muscular and taller, yet he could still be as gentle as a lamb (A/N: LOL!). Oh, and his outfit had changed. He now wore a chuunin vest over a black shirt and black pants with the regular shinobi sandals. His headband was still black. The only thing orange in his outfit were the stripes, one running down his arms and legs each.

As he tore apart the sixteenth tree, he caught a chakra signature appear near him.

"Naruto-sama." The ANBU said tonelessly.

"Oh, hey Hawk." Naruto replied.

"Hokage-sama wants to see you immediately."

"Right." Naruto nodded, and was gone in a burst of orange leaves.

Hawk scowled. Gone were the days when these kids would wonder how jonin did that.

Naruto, meanwhile, appeared in Tsunade's office.

"Hey, baa-chan." He said cheekily.

Tsunade scowled, but then smiled helplessly.

"You know the news, I hope?"

"News?" Naruto cocked his head to a side, confused.

"Yeah, a new civilian council has been elected."

Naruto looked a little apprehensive now, "Do they hate me too?"

"Hate you? The Orange Sage? The Bringer of Peace? Warrior of Light? Savior of the Shinobi World?" Tsunade repeated all the titles he had been given, "Oh, and Boyfriend of Hyuuga Hinata?"

Naruto laughed at the last one, rubbing the back of his head modestly.

"No, they adore you." Tsunade had a much softer look on her face, "They want you to announce your lineage to the village."

"Everyone already knows, baa-chan!" Naruto argued, "I told Hiashi when I asked for his blessing to court Hinata, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember." Tsunade replied with a laugh, "But not everyone knows, Naruto. They want you to make it official, see."

"Oh. Cool!" Naruto smiled.

Tsunade smirked, "And…"

"And?"

"They want me to declare you my successor."

"N-Nani!?" Naruto's jaw dropped.

"Oh, I'm not retiring for a few more years until you're mentally ready, gaki. But yeah, I wanna name you my successor."

When she got no response, Tsunade became worried.

"Naruto? Naruto?"

But Naruto was down on the ground, unconscious.

When he'd recovered, he immediately asked her for confirmation of what he had heard before he passed out. Upon receiving it, he gave her a huge hug and a grin.

"Arigatou, baa-chan!" He said loudly.

Tsunade smiled, "Don't tell anyone just yet. We'll announce tomorrow."

"Can I tell Hinata and Sakura?"

"Absolutely not."

"Oh all right." Naruto grumbled, but then grinned again, "Is that all, baa-chan?"

"No. I have a mission for you."

"Goodie!"

Tsunade laughed at his childishness, "You're being given a genin team."

"Nani!?"

She smiled, handing over a scroll to him, "New graduates from the Academy. You're not the only one."

"Who else?"

"Shikamaru, TenTen, Lee, Ino and you."

"Oh. That means fifteen genins?"

"Yup."

"All right." He glanced down at the file, "Their bios, I presume?"

"Yeah, you get the honor of picking them out yourself."

Naruto smiled, "Right then. Thanks. I'll check these out and give them back by tomorrow, ne?"

"All right."

"Bye, then."

He jumped out of the window, grinning when he heard Tsunade yell behind him.

The small area was quite near the Hyuuga Compound, built on top of the original Uchiha Compound. It could be called a Compound too. It consisted of a moderate-sized four bed-roomed house (Each room with an attached bathroom) with a living room, a kitchen, and a drawing room or parlor; a beautiful, huge garden, hot springs, and a considerably small training ground. It was known to most people as the Uzumaki Compound, and to some as the Namikaze Compound.

Since Naruto-sama himself could not possibly tend to a place this big, Hinata had hired a young woman as a housekeeper. This young woman who went by the name of Akira, had lost her entire family in the war, and was very grateful for being given a job for the great Naruto-sama, as she wouldn't accept a home for free, though she had been offered one repeatedly.

The woman in mention was currently cleaning Naruto's bedroom. She was short and a little round, with pale skin, dark brown hair and green eyes, and in her late twenties.

Naruto's bedroom was the biggest in the house, and the most cozy and warm. The walls were painted yellow and orange, and there were pictures of Team Seven, the Konoha Eleven, Naruto and Jiraiya, and the entire village on the walls and one of Hinata and Naruto on his bedside table.

Only when nice, warm, bubbly, energetic, yet strict, protective and possessive Akira came into his life did Naruto realize what having an older sister felt like. She fought with him, quarreled with him, scolded him, took care of him, worried about him, and gave advice to him. Sometimes he thought he never would have survived his relationship with Hinata if it weren't for her.

Humming quietly, Akira dusted the picture of Naruto and Hinata and paused when she heard the door open.

"I'm home, Akira-nee-san." Naruto called.

"I'll be down in a bit!" She called back, "Please dust your feet and wash your hands! I already made lunch."

"'Kay!"

But, as she expected, Naruto came straight upstairs.

"You never listen, do you?"

Naruto laughed sheepishly, "I wanted to show you this."

He held out the scroll in his hand.

She gave it a glance, but did not take it from him, opting to hear it from him instead.

"What is it?"

"I'm getting a genin team."

"Wow!" Akira said immediately, "Naruto-sensei!"

Naruto smiled, "Yeah, Naruto-sensei."

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Akira teased, "We don't want a bunch of genin being demoted because their sensei sucks."

"Hey!"

Akira laughed, giving him a hug, "Congratulations."

"Thank you. I already told Hinata-chan and Sakura."

"Hm. What did they say?"

"Sakura said congrats. Hinata gave me a kiss. She demanded to be taken out. Well, as much as Hinata can demand." Naruto smiled lovingly when he said his girlfriend's name.

"Yeah, she's such a lovely girl. By the way, I'm surprised Hiashi hasn't said anything about, you know… you two tying the knots and all."

Naruto smiled, "Yeah… well… to be honest, I've been thinking about that too."

"You're kidding." Akira's jaw dropped.

Naruto shook his head, lying down on his bed with his hands behind his head. He had a soft smile on his face.

"We've been going out for a while, for one. For another, I know that she's the woman I want to spend my life with. The clan heads are getting impatient. Besides, I'm gonna be Hokage soon! Baa-chan's too old to take the post anymore."

"Don't be cocky."

Ignoring Akira, Naruto continued, "I want to get married before becoming Hokage. And maybe my fan club will leave me alone."

Akira smiled, "Hate the attention now?"

"I love the acknowledgement. I hate the giggly fangirls." Naruto corrected, grinning, "I love the attention."

"You would." Akira rolled her eyes.

"Anyway. I was thinking of proposing soon. I'll go down to ask Hiashi as soon as I can make the proper time. Hinata's going on a mission tomorrow, so I'll probably ask him then. And then I have to find the perfect ring."

"The perfect ring?" Akira repeated.

Naruto nodded.

"Oh."

"But I don't plan on proposing for another two to three weeks, at least. Meanwhile I need to plan her birthday dinner."

"Where are you taking her?"

"The new restaurant. You know, the fancy one."

"Oooh. I remember her saying she'd love to go on a date there."

Naruto smiled, "So what's for dinner?"

"Hmm… sushi."

"I wanted ramen!" Naruto whined.

"Nope. You get what I cook."

Grumbling, Naruto got up, and then asked excitedly, "Wanna see what I got her for her birthday?"

"You got her present?"

"Yup!" He grinned, "Come on."

He led her over to his bedside table and reached inside the drawer.

"I just cleaned that drawer and found nothing." Akira told him.

He smirked, biting his thumb and spraying a little blood on the inside of the drawer.

"Naruto!" Akira said, horrified.

Shrugging, he took a small box out. He opened it and showed it to her.

It was a locket, with a red pendant shaped like a whirlpool hanging from a black thread. Engraved beautifully in black on the whirlpool was NaruHina. Naruto smoothly opened the clasp and revealed the picture inside. (A/N Story photo)

"Wow. It's beautiful."

"Sakura took it. I think it's when we started dating. I just acted on an impulse, carrying her over the rooftops." He said as he recalled the memory with a smile.

"It's absolutely adorable." Akira gushed, "She'll love it!"

"Plus it matches the bracelet she made for me." He lifted it up.

A red whirlpool with a fox's head on top of it hung from a black thread.

She laughed, "Sure does."

Naruto kept the locket back and stretched, "Come on then. I'm starving."

A while after lunch Harry sat in his bedroom, going through the scroll before picking out three graduates. A thirteen-year-old orphan who had barely passed: Masaki Fumio. He had dark blue eyes, curly black hair, and a tall and skinny figure. He wasn't particularly talented, but he had serious determination and will. He was smart, since he caught on things very quickly, but he lacked talent, and was very brash and reckless, much like Naruto used to be. He was also somewhat a loner, being an orphan and having grown on the streets in a civilian village near Konoha. Despite his recklessness and his habit of rushing into situations, he was actually a little shy, timid, and definitely a little quiet.

The second student was a known prankster, someone Naruto respected, not as a shinobi, but as a former prankster. He was the only one able to catch her when she ran after a prank, and he liked getting involved in chasing her. She was actually a relative of Konohamaru, his cousin in fact. Sarutobi Hanako; light brown hair, green eyes, short and svelte. She was speedy and stealthy, but she graduated with average skills. She was a quirky and witty young girl, competitive when she wanted to be. She was friends with Konohamaru, and most of the boys in the Academy, being something of a tomboy.

The last was a loner too. Unfortunately, he liked solitude and hated company. From the personality detail on the scroll, he didn't want friends and thought that they only slowed you down. He had only one person he actually loved, or even liked, and that was his younger sister Fumiko. He was an orphan too, having lost his family when he was ten years old. He used to be a little more open in his younger days, but he became completely shut off after their death. He was a tall boy, muscular, with dull red hair and brown eyes. His name was Inafune Katashi.

'Two orphans and a prankster.' Naruto thought, 'I guess I wanted to find more me's for myself.'

He couldn't wait to meet them.