[A/N]Here comes Chapter 6. Once again, if you're going to review, PLEASE make an account so I can properly reply to you. They're free to make, last I checked, so you don't have to pay for anything. ^_^ [A/N]

~~~KONOHAGAKURE TOP-PRIORITY PRISON, MAXIMUM SECUIRTY ZONE FLOOR THREE~~~

It took the three an hour and a half to return to Konoha from the Forest of Death, but only because of Naruto's lack of chakra and physical exhaustion from overuse of high-level jutsu. Despite his Rasengan bottoming out after a half hour of constant activation, Hinata managed to keep Guren in line by threatening to "take away all feeling in her body". Guren paled at that, picking up on the subtle implication of Hinata's threat:

"One precision strike to a VERY specific part of your body, and you'll NEVER FEEL AGAIN."

Once they returned, Naruto immediately had Guren imprisoned in Konoha's highest security center: Essentially the cell she was placed in was a small bunker built within a much larger one, buried over five hundred meters underground. The ONLY method of collecting fresh air for the inmates was a series of expertly-placed chakra strings, courtesy of a particular master puppeteer from Konoha's ally, Sunagakure.

Given that Konoha hadn't been able to capture any of their more formidable criminals before Naruto came along, Guren was the only prisoner of this facility, and, thus, had no company. Moreover, with the facts being that she not only crashed the newly-appointed Hokage's wedding, but also kidnapped his new bride and attempted to murder her, her treatment in this facility was anything but pleasant.

Naruto's first set of orders included the addition of a powerful chakra-sealing fuinjutsu array on her back, which locked up ALL of her chakra; however, in order to "brand" her with this array, she had to be stripped down to a complete lack of any clothing. Not that she entered the place with any semblance of clothing to begin with; most of it having been blasted or sheered away by Naruto's various attacks in the forest.

That being the case, Naruto had at first refused to do the sealing at all. It was only after Hinata suggested they use the link between their eyes and chakra to seal Guren in his stead. Naruto had agreed to this idea. Therefore,, in Hinata went, her vision relayed by chakra pulses and electric signals to Naruto's retinas, while allowing him enough control of her body to draw the seal himself from a distance.

Had one had walked in at any time during the seal drawing, they would have believed that Itachi Uchiha was in the building somewhere, sending out a genjutsu that would have made even Jiraiya and Kakashi's jaws drop.. Naruto sat with his back back to the bars of the cell, his head lolled off to one side with his eyes closed. Meanwhile, inside the cell was Hinata, sitting on a stool in front of Guren, who, stripped to nudity, was roped up by her wrists to the ceiling and left to hang helplessly while Hinata, controlled by Naruto, drew a chakra-sealing array on the green-haired woman's back in ink mixed with Naruto's blood. To the naked eye, Naruto appeared to be in a deep sleep.

However, Naruto wasn't unconscious.

"So," Naruto said, his voice echoing in the empty stone facility, "How much of my stories did you hear in the forest while you were encased in that blasted crystal coffin of yours?" Guren jumped a little, if that were possible.

"A-all of it," she replied, her voice shaking a little. Naruto nodded a bit.

"Since this has to be the most boring thing Hinata and I have ever had to do, what say I continue? I haven't had anyone besides Hinata who's ever heard my stories and been so… for lack of a better term, interested in them before," Naruto admitted, his voice lowering an octave as his finished his sentence. Guren tensed a bit, but with a single poke from Hinata, relaxed again, fearful of what the indigo-haired woman behind her would do to her if even one character was wrong. Guren could tell that this wasn't a question… it was a statement. Naruto was outright telling her to sit back and listen to what he had to say. It wasn't as if Guren really had a choice in the matter, given that she was bound by rope to the ceiling with her hands back-to-back to prevent her from casting a jutsu. She solemnly nodded.

"As you would," she replied, unsure of how to address her captor. She feared he'd yell and interrogate her violently if she referred to him by name, or else subject her to painful, inhumane tortures if she referred to him by title.

"Alright then," Naruto said, taking a breath, "And, for the record, you can just call me "sir"." Guren gulped audibly; had he just read her mind?

"Y-yes sir," she said quietly. Naruto nodded, a small frown creeping up on his face.

"Alright… Where did I leave off, Hina-chan?" he asked passively.

"You left off just after you woke up from your "enhancement", Naru-kun," she said happily.

"Alright… Let's see then…" Naruto said, taking another deep breath.

_
CHAPTER 6: SEALING & TEAM ASSIGNMENTS

OP: "SOUL DYNAMITE" - ACCESS

~ It took me about two weeks to recover and get used to the improvements made to my body while I was unconscious, for lack of a better word. Kozu-kun hadn't lied: I was stronger, to the point of being able to break a glass just by holding it too tightly. Unfortunately, for me, this happened to EVERY glass I picked up for almost two weeks after.

I was also faster, both in foot speed and in mental situations. Where I could have spent on hour working out a complex math equation, I now took less than ten minutes. I could even outrun the fastest Jonin, which I did on a constant basis thereafter, if only to get in a decent workout in the morning.

Overall, it became that much harder for Sasuke to keep up with me. For the next three years, I was working constant D-rank missions, and ALWAYS the same ones: painting, trash collecting, and hunting down that poor, mistreated cat… It was no surprise to me when the clients refused to pay me on the grounds of my being a Jinchuriki, but once Jiji-san started issuing a payment-up-front policy, that ended quite quickly; they'd be stuck paying me regardless.

It was after yet another hunt for that poor cat Tora That I decided to have a talk with Jiji-san about upgrading my mission ranking… and maybe even taking that poor cat in.~

Since the day Naruto collapsed, he'd been much the same person he'd always been, save for having more spring in his step every day. He also had gone to a store the day after he woke up in order to get new clothes, opting for a shirt with soft shades of red and yellow with orange stripes and a simple pair of black pants.

It had been three years since his incident, and since, he'd been assigned numerous D-rank missions; he was in the middle of reporting in from what had to have been the thousandth time he'd been sent out to hunt down a wealthy woman's cat. After the first time he'd seen how the woman treated the cat, Naruto continually thought of giving her a clone of some sort and keeping the poor cat himself. He had finally figured out how he'd word it right.

~ It too all the courage I had to even think of asking Jiji-san to abduct the cat, but, as it turned out, he'd known of my plans longer than I thought he did.~

"Jiji," Naruto said as he strode into the elder Hokage's office, "I have a couple questions for you, but they can wait until after I give my report of my mission status!"

"Naruto… I already know. You succeeded in your mission, you want to keep the cat for yourself, and you want to know why you haven't gotten anything above a D-rank mission, right?" Sarutobi asked.

~No matter how many times he did that to me, I always managed to react the same way: like Choji when you show him a bag of chips in a flavor he's never tried. ~

"How did you…" Naruto started. Sarutobi simply smirked and motioned to his crystal ball, which sat on his desk not two feet from his idle left hand.

"There is nowhere you can hide from me, Naruto," Sarutobi said with a mysterious tone, "I can read lips. For the past few weeks, you've been idly mulling about in your free time, trying to figure out why you haven't seen anything more than the same D-rank missions you've finished time and again. Well, that and trying to figure out how you can keep that poor cat Tora for yourself." Naruto stared at his surrogate grandfather with a strange look in his eyes.

~ That wasn't the first time he'd all but read my mind, but it was also not the first time I'd felt mentally violated since my eyes awakened. It was a hard thing to do, but I felt I had to call him out. ~

Naruto gave the elder man a look.

"So let me guess… I can't keep the cat, and you won't let me have anything over a D-rank because you're afraid of what might happen; because you're afraid of my cousin's warning, right?" Naruto asked. Sarutobi winced; Naruto had hit the nail on the head, but only halfway.

~ It felt bad to say it the way I did, but… it was the only way I could think to say it on such short notice.~

"Partially correct, Naruto; there MAY be a way to help you get that poor cat away from his current owner, but I'll leave you and Hatake-san to hash out the details on that one. The reason for the missions, however, is… a touch more than what you're giving me credit for," the elder Hokage said, "As per laws, I am not allowed to hand out any mission over a D-rank to any genin who isn't a part of a three-man cell. And even then, I can't just out-and-out hand you the mission; I'd have to hand it to your Jonin sensei and allow him to brief you and your team. I'm doing this not just because of the law… but because I don't want any unneeded risks to your life right now. You know who your father is… I promised him before his death that I'd protect you with my life. If I suddenly started throwing C and B-rank missions at you for solo duty out of the blue… let's just say your mother had a special list of people she'd be more than willing to kill for hurting you when they die. And if I let you do something that got you killed, I'd be right at the top of her list."

Naruto thought it over and smiled.

"I get it… It's the law… MOREOVER, you're covering both our butts. Smooth one, Jiji!" Naruto said. Sarutobi smiled back at Naruto and nodded.

~ For him to be able to think that far ahead wasn't that surprising, really. It was just a bit of a surprise to hear that my own mother held grudges that long. ~

"That brings me to something I wanted to discuss with you as well, Naruto," The elder man said, "The class you graduated from last year is coming to their own graduation soon. You're in the pool for viable genin to be placed in teams. I've already drawn up the lists… would you like to see where you are?" As Sarutobi reached down to open his desk drawer, Naruto smiled and leaned in closer. The boy watched as the elder man unrolled a large scroll. Sarutobi turned the thing towards him to let him read at his own pace, and watched as Naruto's eyes lit up.

~ Jiji-san made me promise NOT to mention what I read, but it was interesting. To this day, I don't know what prompted him to switch up the teams at the last minute. Maybe it was just to mess with my head. I'll never know. ~

Over the next week, Naruto began planning his actions for the classroom. Naruto knew he had to thank Sasuke for his concern when he passed out and he still had to find a way to make it up to Hinata for scaring her half to death.

Therefore, after the week passed uneventfully, Naruto found himself back in the old classroom, in the seat he'd occupied for the last few months of his academic career. He'd been smart the night before and gone to bed early so he could get to the academy ahead of the rest to reserve his seat. It only took him one glance at the clock on the wall over the teacher's desk to realize he'd made a BIG mistake

"Why did I set myself an alarm for six in the damn morning?!" he asked aloud, fully aware that NO ONE was awake to hear him.

~ I don't know WHAT came over me at that point, but I felt like being a bit… mischievous. ~

It was at THAT moment that the idea for a prank hit him. He smiled and pulled out a pack of chewing gum from his pocket. He looked around the room until he found an eye-washing station near the door and a bucket underneath. He went over and started filling the bucket with water with one hand; at the same time, he set about removing the sticks of gum from their wrappings with his other hand, one at a time…

~ It certainly wasn't my BEST prank ever, but it still went down in the record books as a real winner. ~

About thirty minutes later, Naruto sat back in his seat, smiling to himself. His latest prank was not nearly the greatest one he'd ever come up with, but it would be enough for today. He kept a steady flow of chakra around the room, keeping the small, trace amounts of water in the now soaked pieces of gum, which he'd hidden with a jutsu on every seat except his own and the teacher's chair, so that they'd stay mostly dry until the students came in. With no more than a simple smirk, he sat back in his seat and relaxed. He knew he could rely on the Kyuubi to keep up the chakra flow; right now, he felt like paying his parents a bit of a visit.

~ I spoke with my parents for about an hour and a half, and got to know them a little better. They'd asked the Shinigami for a TV to watch my daily life on, and he'd been happy to grant their wish. ~

To Naruto it felt like a good three-hour nap, but in reality, he'd only been asleep for roughly an hour and a half. He said goodbye to his parents after a nice conversation about Sarutobi and his mother's "list", and then awoke to the sounds of soft voices around the room. All around him, the other students were whispering, "How long has he been here?" He smiled in his "sleep", keeping only one eye partially open to survey the students. As soon as he heard the sound of one chair being moved over, he cut the flow of chakra and allowed the water in the gum sticks to seep through, soaking the things through thoroughly, thought with JUST enough chakra left to keep them hidden, but just enough that he wouldn't be detected.

~ I'm still glad to this day that you and Sasuke never got my prank, Hina-chan. I'm glad I was smart enough not to include you in the list of victims. ~

He continued his feigned "sleep" until Iruka walked in with an exuberant call of "GOOD MORNING EVERYONE!" At this, he made a simple motion of waking up, but did not stretch or fake a yawn. He didn't want to seem… suspicious.

"Alright, class, and Naruto," Iruka said with a smile, "It's finally time. With Naruto having been passed along already, that leaves eight of you to pass. As I call your names, please step into the other room and show the instructor within your best Bunshin, which you have to hold for a full minute." Naruto smiled wide and cancelled his jutsu just as the first name was called.

~ I never really liked Kiba that much. I know he's SUPPOSED to be an Inuzuka, and therefore one of the best trackers we have, but he's too loud and rambunctious. He's no good as a ninja. We're supposed to be quiet and sneaky… not screaming bloody murder going into EVERY mission. Even a deaf man would have heard him coming and gotten out of the way. ~

- HAH! That's unlikely… The deaf man would have heard him coming and stuck his foot out to trip him up on purpose! -

~ You're right… That deaf man would want to teach him a lesson. Anyway, for OBVIOUS reasons, I chose HIM as my first target. ~

Kiba Inuzuka, the rowdiest and most annoying boy in class next to Naruto, had no idea why the rest of the class started giggling as he stood and moved toward the front of the class. He suddenly discovered why when he turned around sharply to yell at his classmates, only to be met by a wet smack to the eye that, strangely, sent him flying backwards on his rear. He rolled around for a minute or so, trying desperately to get the small, moist attacker off his eye… only to soon notice that his fingers were getting sticky… and that there were bright, pink strands of something equally sticky attached to them.

Even Iruka couldn't hold himself back after Kiba fell back and hit the floor. He fell into his chair, laughing, just in time for the rest of the students and the two other chunin examiners to fall back in fits of hysterical laughter.

~ It's always amused me how utterly stupid Kiba can be. Iruka-sensei REALLY needed to let loose, so I did the prank more as a favor to him than anything else. ~

By the time the graduation exam was over, however, almost all of the students, save for the few Naruto could stand, had found themselves victims. Meanwhile Iruka and his two aides stared dumbly at them, as one by one each and every student, minus the Uchiha boy and Hyuuga girl, became victims of the "Phantom Gum Prank". Iruka already had an inkling of who was behind it…

Unfortunately, he would NEVER know the culprit's identity. He had team announcements to go through.

~ This was it: team announcements. The day I'd been waiting for. Of course, first we had to get the other students out of the way. ~

"Alright," Iruka said, "with Team Nine in circulation from last year, nine of you are about to find yourselves in a team. As per the laws, you'll be placed on a three-man cell with one sensei who will oversee your progress henceforth. As I announce your teams, your jonin sensei will walk in and claim you. Teams are in groups of three. Team 7 will be comprised of Kiba Inuzuka, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno, and … Oh wow… why did the council pass that one through… It appears you three will be training under Anko Mitarashi until another jonin sensei can be found. So trust me when I say this, DO NOT DO ANYTHING to make her angry… you may not return otherwise."

Immediately the sliding door slammed open, revealing a moderately tall woman in her early twenties, wearing nothing more than a brown trench-coat over light clothing, which was in turn over top of fishnet armor. The woman's short, violet hair was pulled up in the back to form a short, spiky ponytail, while her brown eyes, devoid of pupils, stared across the room.

~ Anko=san and I were kindred spirits, in a sense. I had the Kyuubi, and she had Orochimaru-teme's Curse Mark. I really wanted to help her out, but… at the time, I couldn't. For one thing, I wasn't well versed in practical applications of healing jutsu, besides the one I used for myself after the mobs. And since that jutsu was meant solely for healing one's body of PHYSICAL injuries, it wouldn't be useful for helping remove her Mark. For another… she was just WAY TOO SCARY, sometimes. I think she demonstrated that quite well the moment she arrived, and cemented her status to everyone when she called for her team. ~

"ALRIGHT TWERPS, WHICH OF YOU ARE MY TEAM?!" The woman shouted. The reactions she got from her genin varied. Kiba stood and walked over like a womanizer after his prey, though his legs were shaking in time with his ninken, Akamaru, as the frightened puppy riding in Kiba's shirt quivered visibly. Sasuke rose with that arrogant swagger that the whole class had come to hate, and he strode up with a snide look on his face. Sakura, on the other hand, slowly got up from her chair and made her way toward her sensei with caution, holding her hands balled into fists while shaking visibly.

'Great,' Anko thought, 'I've got a twitchy spaz with an over-active sex drive for one his age. I've also got a smug bastard with a duck's behind for the back of his head and a superiority complex. To top it all off, I've got a pink-headed fangirl with the nervous system and reflexes of a quivering LEAF. What the hell else could be wrong with this set-up?" Stepping aside, she ordered the three to meet her on the roof in three minutes before vanishing in a swirl of leaves. The three genin ran off to the roof immediately.

~ I laughed seeing Kiba's reactions. He was obviously trying to act the Alpha in the situation, but his instincts were telling him not to be tough, but to RUN. He was scared and outmatched; he knew it, he just didn't care. ~

Iruka blinked a couple times, staring blankly at the door as the three genin raced through and slammed it shut, before shaking his head violently and saying, "Well… baring that strange turn of events, let's continue. Team 8 will consist of Choji Akimichi, Shikamaru Nara, and Ino Yamanaka. Your Jonin Sensei will be Asuma Sarutobi." At that, a tall, bearded man strolled through the door with a small grin on his face.

"Alright, kids, let's get a move on. Meet me at Training Ground 17 in fifteen," Asuma said before he too vanished in a swirl of leaves. The three genin immediately tore off without a second though. After seeing what Team 7's genin got for a teacher…Well, they weren't taking any chance. Iruka nodded

~ Asuma-san seemed like a much nicer person, but, obviously, we weren't getting HIM for a sensei. ~

"Well, with that done, Team 10 will consist of Hinata Hyuuga, Shino Aburame and Naruto Uzumaki. Your sensei is Kurenai Yuuhi, who should be about to-" Iruka was cut off as the door once more slid open to reveal a tall woman in red clothes, covered in long, tattered white bandages. She had long black hair and red eyes with a single ring around the pupil. Unlike both previous jonin before her, Kurenai was wearing a beaming smile on his face.

"Alright kids, let's get going the sooner we get introductions done, the better off we are," Kurenai said, strolling back through the door without a care in the world. Iruka blinked.

"Uh… Alright, you heard your sensei kids… get on your way and make us all proud!" Iruka said, amending his earlier thought. With that, the three genin stood and walked out of the room after their new teacher.

~ Kurenai-sensei had that way about her… I don't know what it was, but she never seemed to want to hurt us. She just never seemed to know how to word what she said properly. ~

Iruka watched as Naruto walked out of the room and nodded again, thinking, 'I don't know about any of the other genin… but Naruto's team is in for the time of their lives. I get the feeling…'

Hinata nodded as Naruto finished his tale and set down her brush.

"How's that, Naru-kun?" she asked. Naruto's eyes opened slowly, and, as he rose to his feet, he spun on his heels. The smile Hinata saw on his face told her what she wanted to know before he even opened his mouth.

However, as always, she found hearing him compliment her work was better than reading his smiles and thus beamed back at him as he exclaimed, "Hina-chan, that's PERFECT! No one would be able to tell the difference! Are you sure you haven't done this before?!" She giggled a bit at the compliment and walked to the door.

"H-HEY!" Guren shouted, feeling her arms going numb, "YOU CAN'T JUST LEAVE ME TIED UP HERE! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO EAT?!"

Naruto said nothing, but waited until Hinata was at his side and tossed two kunai. Without a second's hesitation, he activated the seal on the handle of the first and teleported into the cell, grabbing the second and applying a single deft slash to cut the ropes. While still in midair, he threw a third kunai, also with a seal on the handle, back through the bars, and, as Guren turned her head, she watched a beam of orange light materialize into Konoha's Rokudaime Hokage in Hinata's arms seconds later.

She barely had time to react before a set of prison clothes flew through the bars, slamming into her face with a dull "thump". Pulling them off, she saw Naruto once again with his back to her.

"Get dressed and sit on your cot; dinner will be shortly. And if you so much as try ANYTHING that involves chakra, that seal on your back will cause you to experience the worst pain you've ever experienced at ANYONE'S hands. Think clearly and carefully before acting unless you're a fan of pain," Naruto saw monotonously as he and his wife stepped back toward the lift to the surface, leaving Guren alone in her cell.

"Uzumaki… Naruto…" Guren said slowly, "just what in Kami's name ARE you?"

~ THE END… FOR NOW… ~

Hope you liked it! ^_^Chapter 7 soon to come!