Sooooo apparently not a lot of you guys pay attention to warnings at the beginning of the chapter. I got a lot of you guys 'ew'ing of the watersports at the end, but there was a warning at the beginning of the chapter. None the less, I guess I'll try to post it right before.

A lot of you were also concerned about love and sex not being the same thing and if Naruto was just going to be a passed around whore or not.

Let me say again:

THIS

STORY

WILL

HAVE

A

HAPPY

ENDING.

K? now calm down and let me handle this.

Also, I'm pleased to announce I got my first ever flame the other day for the last chapter. I'm disappointed that the user blocked me so I couldn't reply and therefore tell them how excited I was to finally get one.

It's like a rite of passage, you know?

0o0o0o0o0

Naruto awoke to the sensation of being shifted. Exhausted, he could barely slit his eyes open.

"Shh Nao-kun," a sweet voice whispered. "I'm just cleaning you up. The poison must have been worse than I thought for you to lose control of your…facilities."

"Mmf" Naruto tried to talk, but his throat was still sore and rough.

"I'll be done in a minute." The voice sounded again, accompanied by a wet washcloth that gently began washing his body. The voice hummed softly and he soon found himself lulled back into sleep.

He was awoken again as he was shifted on his stomach and the sheets pulled from under him. While the voice still hummed, he couldn't seem to find sleep again and so he just lay there, enjoying the sensation of being rubbed down with warm water.

He was rolled back onto his back as the sheets were changed out and finally a face entered his vision. Long brown hair was tied up into a bun and a gentle smile greeted his tired eyes.

"Good morning, Nao-kun" Haku greeted gently.

Naruto opened his mouth to answer, only to start coughing. Smiling as gently as ever, grabbed a nearby glass of water with a large straw and gently placed it by Naruto's mouth. Feeling useless, Naruto sucked the water down in large gulps until he felt satisfied. Clearing his throat experimentally, he opened his mouth to talk.

"Ohayo" he said back though his voice was still weak it was getting better.

"How do you feel?" Haku asked as he dabbed Naruto's brow.

"Mm, tired" Naruto murmured, enjoying the cool cloth.

"The poison is almost completely out of your system," Haku informed him. "Just bear with it a little longer."

"You are far too kind for a shinobi, Haku." Naruto informed him tiredly, a sad smile emerging on his face.

"Perhaps", Haku agreed with an absent nod. "Or perhaps you are too used to the cruelties of man." He almost whispered as he began combing out Naruto's hair.

Naruto's face scrunched into a frown, an unusual look for the Uzumaki heir. In a way, Haku was right. From birth he had been hated, despised and spit upon and so for him, kindness was a hard concept to understand.

"For people like me…kindness…" Naruto huffed in sadly.

Haku said no more as he continued to clean Naruto and take care of his needs.

"Your meal will be up shortly. As long as you manage to keep it down, you should be cleared for light duty within two or more days." Haku said as he left the room, closing the door behind him softly as to not disturb the drifting patient.

Naruto hummed in reply, succumbing to sleep once again.

O0o0o0o0oo0

Naruto was cleared for duty the next day, his wounds healing over completely and no trace of the poison could be found in his system. He immediately set towards the Hokage's tower to report his findings and to learn of any relevant happenings that he had missed.

The Hokage's tower was a mess, parts had been blown off on the outside of the tower and the inside was in shambles as well; plaster and papers littered the floor, pools of blood painted the walls and people (civilian and shinobi alike) were scrambling about trying to clean up or do some assigned task.

Naruto tried to shuffle through the mess, but it wasn't long before he was seemingly lost in the sea of people. Just as it was getting bad enough that he was contemplating if walking on the ceiling was worth it, a familiar voice called out to him.

"Oy! Nao!" Genma's bandana gave him away as he flagged down Naruto from atop a desk. He appeared to be replacing ceiling tiles and checking the wiring in the ceiling's crawlspace.

"Genma-kun", Naruto greeted as he smiled warmly. He pushed harder through the masses until he finally managed to make his way to Genma's footstool-sans-desk.

"Glad to see your up and about", Genma smirked down at the man. "Heard you got a bit of a bug," he added jokingly.

"Something like that." Naruto agreed amenably. "What have I missed while I've been out?"

"Mah, a lot actually," Genma's face grew serious. "Actually, I'm due for a lunch break with Iruka. If you like, you can join us and we'll catch you up."

Naruto hesitated, he really should see the Hokage first thing but with how crowded the building was, he had no doubt the old man was swimming in work and meetings as it was. A few hours wouldn't hurt.

"Sure," Naruto smiled friendly.

O0o0o0o0

After a quick stop by the mission's office to grab a more-haggled-looking-then-usual Iruka, the three comrades found an isolated table at a quite café to lunch at.

"Let see, did you see any of the Chunin exam?" Genma asked as he absently played with his noddle dish.

"All the way until the genjutsu was cast," Naruto acknowledged.

"Ah, well then…Shino was the only one to receive a promotion to Chunin, quite the insult considering that both Neji and Lee were more experienced." Genma absently waved his chopsticks about.

"Neji was deemed to be too immature; the judges feared his disregard for his own team would carry over to missions. Lee almost was promoted, but he didn't show any willingness to quite a losing fight." Iruka informed him.

"I was more concerned with the almost-war then ninja politics if you please." Naruto informed them both, munching contentedly on his sushi.

"Of course, of course," Genma nodded in a knowing way. "After the genjutsu was cast, everyone's orders kicked in. The clan did as they were designated well enough and the ANBU and Hokage in coliseum focused their attention on Orochimaru. Thankfully the seals that had been placed on his chair did the work and over half of his chakra had been slowly drained without him noticing a thing."

It had been a random but brilliant idea; painting in invisible ink seals along the 'guest' Hokage's chair that slowly drained chakra. It took such small amounts that no one would notice and generally wouldn't have made a difference, but with Orochimaru already pulling on his chakra to hold up his illusion and to cast the genjutsu the effect was much stronger as his body couldn't replenish its stores.

"That isn't to say the fight was easy. The Hokage's personal ties with Orochimaru made it harder…" Genma trailed off as he shoved a large clump of noodles into his mouth.

"Teachers and students should never have to battle until the end." Iruka finished sadly, shaking his head.

"So Orochimaru is…?" Naruto trailed off leadingly.

"Dead but not without cost; he caught the Hokage off guard and managed to do something to his arm. It appears to be rotting and it's spreading." Genma informed him.

"If nothing is done…" Iruka seemed to tense even as the words left his mouth, "…he has month, maybe two."

"…I see" Naruto murmured quietly, unable to make eye contact.

"The council has ordered him to name an heir just in case; meanwhile the legendary Jiraiya has been asked to find Tsunade, right Iruka?" Genma asked.

"Mm. I hear he's looking for Naruto-kun too. Something about training…actually Nao-san, have you seen Naruto? I haven't seen him since all the commotion…I'm worried."

Not able to stand the force of Iruka's doe eyes, Nao scrambled for an answer.

"Naruto-kun has been living with me, knowing what was going to happen…I had him hide within the forbidden forest. He wasn't to leave until I fetched him."

"Thank goodness," Iruka seemed to relax before their eyes. "I'm glad I'm no longer the only one who watches after that little imp."

Genma meanwhile rolled his eyes. "Anyways, that Sand kid ended up joining into the fray of the main fight, killed quite a few Sound-nin. His siblings ended up going out into the main part of town and helping out there. We only suffered about 50 causalities, mostly low-level shinobi who had something to prove…they're still digging some of the more stubborn civilians out from the rubble; those who didn't want to evacuate…" Genma trailed off thoughtfully again.

"Ano, our last total was 208 injured I think, both shinobi and civilian. The fact that we planned ahead cut our losses significantly." Iruka admitted, scratching his nose. "Most shinobi not only had the advantage or surprise, but many made sure to travel in small groups…"

"Many of the civilian council perished as well unfortunately." Genma commented flatly. "They held up in the Hokage tower and were slaughtered. Only three remain alive, two small merchant families and one blacksmithing family. Several shinobi heads also perished, apparently their age hindered them. Replacements haven't been named in all the chaos."

"As happy an ending as one can expect, I suppose." Naruto mumbled thoughtfully. "So who do I turn my report into if the Hokage is…ill?" Naruto asked finally.

"Mah, I'd just wait. Currently the council is taking reports but if it's really sensitive or not that important I'd wait" Genma answered, leaning back in his chair.

"Current orders are to help rebuilding. You can either help as you see fit or go to the mission's office for a specific assignment. No pay is being given unfortunately, but given the circumstances…"

"We're a village." Naruto stated.

"Ah." Both Genma and Iruka agreed. They were a village.

O0o0o0o

Nao quickly and quietly slipped into the Hokage's quarters. It was well past nightfall but the old shinobi was still awake, smoking his pipe contently as he stood in front of a large map of Konoha in his main foyer.

"Naruto", he acknowledged, not even bothering to turn around.

"Hokage-sama", Naruto bowed formerly at the waist.

"Ibiki has already filled in me in on much of what you will have to report and seeing as my council numbers has almost decreased by half, I expect you'll report will be full of success." The Hokage exhaled the fragrant smoke.

"Yes, Hokage-sama" Naruto agreed as he began filling in the details of his mission. After he finish the Hokage nodded contentedly, taking a seat in an overly stuffed chair. He seemed to have no remorse in regards to the deaths of his previous teammates.

"As I'm sure you've heard Jiraiya will be sent out shortly to track down Tsunade. Her services are required by both me and her village." At this comment, Sarutobi revealed his previously concealed arm. It was a black and purple shriveled thing, no longer really resembling an arm and the flesh seemed to be crumbling off in pieces.

"There is a rumor that Jiraiya is looking for me?" Naruto commented.

Propping the decomposing arm up on his knee Sarutobi nodded.

"Yes, I will be summoning both of you tomorrow morning to send you off. I'd suggest showing up with a shadow clone version of Nao as well. I will be 'assigning' him a long term mission to bring in more revenue while you're gone through his mission will last significantly longer."

"Understood, Hokage-sama" Naruto bowed at the waist.

"That's all for now, you are dismissed."