(Sits out in front of RPR; having full confidence in her safety) Hi all. Sorry bout the delay. I got this out as quick as I could. Review responses got a bit long so they're at the end of the chap. Enjoy:D

Please read and review. I love reviews! Thanks!

"Come on, Naruto...please!" Tsunade whispered strongly, her face wet with fresh tears.

Hinata didn't speak. She knew if she did, she might lose control of her emotions.

Suddenly Naruto took in a huge breath and his eyes wearily opened. "What happened?"

An immensely relieved smile graced Tsunade's face. "Don't scare me like that," she chided as she gave him a hug.

Once he was released from the hug, Naruto turned his face toward Hinata, who fell onto his chest, sobbing with relief.

Tsunade sighed heavily. "Alright, we can't wait any longer. Naruto, you're going to have to release the jutsu now."

"But it's not finished yet," Naruto replied as he gently pushed himself and Hinata up to a semi-sitting position.

"It doesn't matter, I...I think we almost lost you a minute ago," Tsunade explained.

Naruto was shocked at the look of utter fear in Tsunade's eyes. "But you said I had a month!"

"Obviously, we miscalculated," Tsunade said.

"Okay," Naruto replied. He put his hands in the tiger seal as Hinata moved back a bit to give him room. "Souzou Saisei No Jutsu!"

It was certainly a sight to behold. Hinata had never in her life seen such a beautiful chakra. "Naruto-kun..."

The colors spun in an intricate web around Naruto's body. Not long after, it began to fade and then disappeared altogether, at which point he fell forward a bit. Tsunade and Hinata caught him. He looked up at them with tired eyes. "Did...did it work?"

Hinata instantly put her hand into her usual seal. "Byakugan!" She saw the size of the chakra veins had been greatly reduced and most of the cracks in them were gone. After a tense moment, Hinata smiled and tears of joy rolled down her face. "It worked!" she exclaimed before hugging Naruto tightly.

Naruto smiled widely, laughing through his joyful tears.

Hinata sniffled. "I th...think he should do it one more time though. There was still some damage."

Tsunade nodded. "But for now I think he should rest."

"No kidding. I could sleep for a week," Naruto said with a slight chuckle. He tried to get up but his weakened body simply wouldn't allow it. Tsunade's face broke into a lopsided smile and she picked up her son. "Baa-chan!"

"Deal with it," Tsunade replied. She laid him in his bed and pushed some hair out of his face. "Get some sleep. I'll be downstairs if you need me." She turned to Hinata. "You're welcome to stay for a while if you wish."

"Arigato, Tsunade-sama," Hinata said with a short, polite bow.

Tsunade nodded and then left. As she quietly shut the door she smiled. "Thank Kami-sama."

Naruto stared in the mirror at the new diamond on his forehead and sighed. "Just one more day and I can get rid of this dumb lookin' thing," he complained to no one.

He threw on his outfit, for which he'd gotten the cuffs extended after his growth spurt. His pants were fine though, they'd been a little too long to begin with. He checked over his hair. "Glad I didn't do the ponytail thing. It's just not me." Once he was finished with his grooming, he went downstairs for breakfast.

"Ohayo," Naruto said as he sat down at the table.

"Would you like ramen, Naruto-sama?" Izumi asked.

Naruto yawned. "Hai."

"How long until you finish the jutsu?" Tsunade asked.

"I'm gonna release it tomorrow."

Tsunade leaned forward and looked at the diamond. "I think you can do it today."

Naruto perked up. "Really?!"

"Yeah. I think it's big enough to take care of the rest of the damage," Tsunade said with an approving smile.

"Yosh!" Naruto happily exclaimed.

"So, you're okay then?" Sasuke asked of the newly 'diamond free' Naruto.

Naruto smiled widely. "Yeah."

Sakura grabbed her blonde-haired friend in a crushing hug.

Sasuke sighed in relief. "I'm glad." Slightly embarrassed at showing so 'much' emotion in front of Sakura, he added with a smirk, "Now I don't have to waste my time kicking your ass."

Naruto shook his head with a small laugh. "Thanks, Nii-san."

Lee walked by the trio, then back peddled till he was next to them again. "You guys are going to be late getting your mission," he chided.

"Oh. Thanks, Lee-kun," Sakura said with a warm smile. She put a friendly hand on Naruto's shoulder. "We gotta go. See you later."

"Actually, Baa-chan says I'm back on duty," Naruto said with a grin.

Sakura smiled. "Let's go then."

The three fell in step with Lee, and Sakura held his hand. Naruto's eyebrows went up in surprise when he noticed Lee had been growing his hair and that he now had a three inch long braid in the back. When they reached the Hokage tower, he also noticed that Lee had grown out his bowl cut a bit and now had curtain bangs similar to Sasuke's, only a lot shorter. "Huh. Weird how things can change so much in six months."

Naruto smiled when Hinata waved at him from the front of the assignment line. After a few moments, he saw team eight move to the far side of the room and seat themselves in some of the chairs along the wall. He found it odd, since normally they would be leaving to bring the mission to Kurenai.

Once they had reached the front of the line, Tsunade handed team seven a mission packet. "Okay, here's your assignment. Please wait for me over there," she instructed as she waved her hand at the remaining empty seats next to Hinata's team.

Naruto's team wandered over and sat down. "Hey, Hina-chan, do you know what's going on?"

Hinata shook her head.

Once the final assignment had been passed out, Tsunade stood up and walked over to the two teams she had sidelined. "Your jounin instructors will be here shortly."

"Are we in trouble, Sensei?" Sakura asked.

"Not at all. Your teams are joining together for a mission," Tsunade explained.

Naruto and Hinata smiled at each other. "Where are we going?" Naruto asked.

Just then, Kakashi and Kurenai poofed into the room. "Yo," Kakashi greeted.

"You're going to Suna," Tsunade said.

Kurenai was confused. Fellow hidden villages didn't call on help from each other often, due to the fact that they usually had enough of their own forces. "Suna? Is something wrong?"

"Well, nothing is entirely certain yet, but there is a possibility of an Akatsuki attack." Eyes widened all around. "Most of their teams are out on missions and that leaves Suna largely unguarded"

Kakashi was the first to speak. "If it's Akatsuki, why are you only sending two gennin teams?"

"As I said, nothing is certain yet—not to mention that if the Akatsuki really are on the move we can't afford to spare a large number of jounin and anbu. You eight will suffice for the time being. Kakashi and Kurenai will be doing any real fighting, should there be a need. The rest of you will mainly be there as extra eyes and ears."

Kakashi nodded. "I'll give you guys an hour to pack. Meet me at the front gates."

Team seven nodded and left. After Kakashi vanished Kurenai looked at her team and sighed. "I suppose we'll do the same. Dismissed."

"Neh, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked as they walked.

"Hm?" Kakashi answered from the open pages of his book.

"Do you know what happened to Gaara after we got Sasuke back?"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Gaara, huh?" He looked off into the sky. "From what I've been told, he'll be taking his jounin exam soon."

"NANI?!" Jounin exams?! I haven't even made Chuunin yet!" Naruto sputtered.

"He gained a field commission just before you left with Jiraiya and insisted on taking the jounin exam early. It will be interesting to see how he does," Kakashi explained before sticking his nose back into his book.

Kurenai wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Do you have to read that horrible book in front of children?"

Kakashi looked genuinely insulted. "I'll have you know that this is a great literary work."

Seeing that there would be no winning the argument, Kurenai simply shook her head and sighed.

Naruto, meanwhile, was busy grumbling to himself. "Why the hell does the one who used to be psycho get to be Chuunin before me?"

Hinata saw Naruto's incredulous expression and giggled to herself. "Neh, Naruto-kun?"

"Hm?" Naruto asked as he hopped over a large rock.

"When we stop for the night, do you think you could show me the rasengan?" Hinata asked with a slight pink tinge to her cheeks.

Naruto cocked his head to one side in confusion. "Eh? You've seen it."

"N...not with the niji chakra," Hinata replied in a small voice.

Naruto walked closer to her. "Why does the niji chakra make a difference?"

Hinata's blush deepened. "I...I think it's pretty."

Now it was Naruto's turn to blush. "Oh..."

Sakura fell in step with Naruto and Hinata. "So did Tsunade-sama finish studying your chakra?" she directed to Naruto.

"Hai." A bird interrupted Naruto's thoughts for a moment as it flew overhead. Once it was gone, he turned back to Sakura. "She said it's still more chakra than normal, but that it's...compact, denser. She also said I probably have more chakra than any ninja alive," he answered with an unsure tone to his voice.

Sakura's eyes widened before her face settled into a slight frown. "That sounds a little scary."

Naruto looked worried. "You're not scared of me now...are you Sakura-chan?"

Sakura shook her head. "No no—that's not what I meant. I mean it must be scary for you."

"Why?"

Sakura sighed. "Maybe it's just me. It's just that having that kind of power inside myself would be...I would be terrified of losing control."

"I was a little scared before Ero-sennin helped me, but I'm totally fine now," Naruto answered with a grin.

"Really?" Sakura asked.

"Totally," Naruto reassured her.

"I'm glad," Sakura replied.

Hinata stared at the ball of swirling colors and white light in wonder. "It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," she said softly.

Naruto smiled. "Thanks." He stopped the jutsu and fell backwards onto the soft grass of the hill they were on. "I could just fall asleep right here," he said with a sigh.

Hinata smiled and laid down next to him. "I love the stars. I used to wish on them...a lot."

Naruto rolled over to look at her. "How come you don't anymore?"

Hinata turned her head toward him. "I got my wish," she said happily.

Naruto's only answer was an ear to ear grin. Suddenly, he closed the gap between them, put his left arm and leg over her and snuggled his face into the spot where her neck met her shoulder—sighing happily.

Hinata froze. She had absolutely no idea how to address her current...situation. She knew he didn't mean anything perverted by it, but it still made the blood rush to her face until she was as red as the crimson liquid itself. "N...N-N-N-Naruto-kun? A...ano...?"

At Hinata's stuttered words, a flash of Tsunade entered Naruto's mind. ((I want you two in separate sleeping bags.)) Naruto suddenly realized what he had done and jumped off the confused girl like she was a poisonous snake. "AH! Sorry, sorry, sorry!" he said, waving his hands franticly in the space between them.

Hinata swallowed. "N-no. I'm sorry. I sh-shouldn't have reacted like that," she answered as her fingers reverted to their old habits.

"No! Totally not your fault. I shouldn't have done that in the first place."

Both teens were quiet for a moment before Naruto broke the silence. "Hina-chan?"

"Y-yes?" Hinata answered softly.

"Do...do you think it's perverted...to hold you that way?" Naruto asked with shaky voice.

Hinata thought for a moment. "N-no...not as long as nothing else h-happens...I think," she said before swallowing down her nerves.

"Then...then can I?" Naruto asked with great trepidation.

Hinata considered this for a moment before nodding with a small smile.

Naruto smiled back and, while taking great care to make certain his face didn't wind up anywhere indecent, resumed the position he had a moment ago.

"Naruto-kun?"

"Hm?"

"I think I would like it better if we switched places," Hinata said softly.

Naruto smiled. "Sounds good."

After a moment of rearranging, Hinata had her head on Naruto's chest. His right arm held her tight as they stared at the blanket of stars in the night sky.

From his hiding place, Kakashi's face crinkled into a smile. "Looks like Tsunade-sama had nothing to worry about after all."

...TO BE CONTINUED

Figured you guys could use some happy after the last two chaps. Lol. Next chapter I will attempt to write Gaara for the first time. Do me a favor and pray for my sanity? Lol.

Witcher CO- how come Kyuubi's training did not help any? It did (He mentions it in chap 2). In fact, if he hadn't been using it when he felt pain over those six months he would've died. You gotta remember that Naruto is not a medical nin and he was really just throwing metaphorical aspirin to the place it hurt and hoping it did something.

BakaHammerGirl- Wow. It's been a long time since a review made me laugh so hard. My sides still hurt. Lol

678yui-julie-and-kiki-kitten- The monkeys will eat your sock if he dies. That is in the top ten for weirdest review ever. LOL. (Hides her socks)

KingOfShippers- (Head explodes in a shower of sparks) Ewwwww.

Elellon- I understand that Naruto is currently learning the Sozo Saisei, but from what I could understand of the technique, it speeds up cell division so the user will have a shorter than normal life. This could be counteracted with Naruto having a longer-than-normal life because of the abnormal chakra he has now, but I'm still interested in what you are planning. Honestly, I hadn't even thought about that. I suppose I should do something with it. Lol

Dragon Man 180- who spread the news of his condition? Sakura mentions it when she's telling Naruto about why she was yelling at that Chuunin.

And thank you so much to everyone else who reviewed:D