A/N: Kudos to NorthSouthGorem for serving as my beta-reader—with a glass of 2007 Woodbridge Cabernet Sauvignon, I toast to our partnership; may our collaboration be the best combination since the formation of the all-woman artist circle, CLAMP!

…

[Streets of Konoha, night time…]

The two of them never did manage to get on their lunch date earlier—but it was a moment well worth every second in both of their opinions. And Naruto made good on his promise to take Meilan out to eat—not for lunch, but for dinner. As they walked through the streets dressed in better clothes, Meilan could not help but wonder as to where her boyfriend was taking her, in her white and sleeveless qipao with embroidered lotus blossoms. "Where are we going, Naruto?"

She could only watch as her boyfriend led her by the hand, in his orange kimono and navy-blue hakama, with his katana and short sword tied in the obi. She was used to seeing him shirtless (which was the case here, as he wore nothing under the kimono), but that did not make him any less attractive in her eyes. "Just a place we happened across—when I first passed by it, I thought it smelled familiar. I only hope the people there are willing to welcome me."

"Why does it smell familiar to you?"

"Because Choji smells like he lives there."

Now she was astonished. But then again, Naruto was sort of in 'bloodhound' mode. This was because he was guiding her by his sense of smell. All the same, she wondered as to how sharp his senses were. Before long, the two of them had reached a building with the kanji for 'food' on the sign and placed between the lines 'Chouza's' on top, and 'Bar and Grill' at the bottom. Yep, this was an Akimichi-owned restaurant…according to what she understood of many of the ninja clans, a good deal of them owned businesses when not on shinobi-duty; a case and point being the Akimichi clan—a good number of them owned and operated many of the restaurants in the entire village, in addition to some of them working the agricultural farms and the soldier pill factory they owned in the outskirts. All that aside, she too hoped that the Akimichi were among the friendly clans towards her lover.

The two of them started walking towards the double swinging doors of the bar and grill. All sorts of scents and sounds began to assault Naruto's senses the second he walked in; he could smell sake shots being served along with the smell of tobacco being smoked…he could hear the bickering of several patrons as they gambled over several mon, and waitresses taking orders from customers. Meilan however, found this place to be a bit questionable—and yet, it seemed to have an air of class about it.

"Hello, can you pleas…" The receptionist at the counter froze upon seeing who it was that had arrived…his attitude soon changed from genial to outright spiteful. "We don't serve your kind here, Kyuubi-brat! Now take your sl…"

Before he could finish the word, the receptionist found himself being held at sword-point by a short sword—the tip of which was directly aimed at his larynx. "I can take insults quite well, so you can insult me all you like. But when you're talking about my girlfriend, you will keep a civil tongue in that mouth, or I will sew it shut. Is there an understanding between us?"

The receptionist could only gulp in fear—the demon-child was finally using lethal force! That feeling was momentary, as he realized that he can now go to the Hokage and have that monster executed…hell, maybe he'll be seen as a hero! For now, he could only nod in acknowledgement…he'll get his chance later—the demon-brat would regret not killing him! "Very good, now if you'll be so kind as to get us to a table, we'll be out of your hair in a jiffy."

"I'm sorry…but the bar is full up. Ninja or not, you'll have to go elsewhere."

Naruto's frown had only intensified…he was far from amused at the amount of time this man was wasting. "Now we both know that is not true. I can say with all certainty that there is in fact a small table for two somewhere in the restaurant."

"Are you calling me a liar?"

Upon hearing something interesting, Naruto could only grin. All he had to do was keep on pushing. "I don't have to. You've already done so yourself."

The receptionist could not hold it any longer. His yelling could be heard as he brandished his pen like an ice-pick used for murder. "You stupid demon-brat! Why I ought to…"

Once again, the foolish receptionist was interrupted…this time by a gigantic fist crashing into his face, belonging to a man that looked a good deal like Choji…only older and larger. As he looked up pathetically at the owner of the fist, the receptionist could tell that Akimichi Chouza was not happy—no, not at all, and the rage was clear on his face as he cracked the knuckles of his right hand which had some blood on it while he was gnashing his teeth. "Ginta, have you forgotten that we have a policy around here regarding no discrimination against customers? On top of that, you break the Third Hokage's law, and expect me to let this slide? You're dumber than I thought! Fuji! Hiei!"

As if on cue, two Akimichi members appeared at both of Chouza's sides. "Make sure this idiot does not escape. I'll punish him myself later!"

With a single bow, and a 'Hai, Chouza-sama!', the two Akimichi members grabbed poor Ginta by the elbows, kicking and screaming profanities before they were forced to knock him out with a punch…and then dragging him down to the pantry in the basement. Once that exchange was done, Chouza turned his attention to his two newest customers with a sincere and friendly smile. "Well Naruto, it seems you've got yourself a little date. The last Baihe, am I correct?"

Upon knowing that she was speaking with the clan head, Meilan bowed low from her waist. "It is an honor to meet you, Akimichi-sama."

Chouza waved in a gesture of noncommittal…it was very clear that to him, it was truly no problem. "The honor is mine. Now please excuse the foolishness of my former employee; in compensation for his rudeness, I will see you to your table personally."

Now this little snippet Naruto heard had piqued his curiosity; was it just him, or were a lot of the ninja clans on his side? "That's awfully kind of you Chouza-sama…may I ask why?"

"Don't worry about it. You're pretty much welcome in any Akimichi-owned restaurant…it's probably not much but I hope I can help you out."

Knowing that he was probably not going to get another word out of Chouza on the matter, Naruto was led by the hand to their table while Meilan followed. As two of them walked between the chairs and tables, his thoughts were swimming as to how many people actually wanted to adopt him; and judging from the Akimichi head's reaction towards him, he could tell that he was one of the people that tried and failed to do so—all thanks to the manipulations of the Civilian Council. Ah well, he'll ponder more on it later…for now, he had a date to enjoy; although for some strange reason, he could not help but feel this brief chill that ran up his spine…

…

[4156 Snake-Tongue Way, Apartment 12…at the same time…]

Animalistic moans were heard in the apartment as the scent of sex was present in the air—and unfortunately for Anko, she was missing the partner required for that scent to be legitimate. But that was okay. She did, after all, have material to aid in that—it was not exactly the sanest or most hygienic thing to do; then again, she was known for being crazy. In one hand and pressed against her nose, she held a small towel that hadn't been washed yet—a towel she had observed Naruto using to wipe off his sweat just a little while after he met the Hokage's grandson. The other hand was under her pink underwear—moving in a clockwise elliptical direction up and down along the slit of her pussy…she was getting closer!

She then started thrusting her fingers inside while bucking her hips…her movements ensured that she would be massaging her clit in the process. Yes, Anko had found herself turning into a stalker—no better than the Hyuuga brat before she started hanging around her favorite little fox more often. She was also glad she got this small towel before she did…she knew how hard it was to kill a habit, and if Hinata were anything like her mother, she'd be doing the same as she was. But in either case, she kept it pressed against her nose—inhaling the smell of high-quality steel from a sword that had just been sharpened against a whetstone…the sweetened scent of camellia oil used to protect it from rust…and the ever-dominant smell of foxes that belonged to Naruto. The more she thought of him, the more she wished that instead of her fingers was the length of his manhood that was shooting electrical signals of passion up her spine…that instead of stooping so low as to steal things that had his scent on it, he was pressing his weight upon her as she embraced him, behaving like a cat with its nose directly in front of a large pile of catnip…but above all, instead of listening to him say 'I love you' in her head, she would get to hear his voice as they made love at this very moment.

It was then that she let out a final moan of pleasure as she felt that one jolt of pleasure from her orgasm shoot from her spine, up to her brain, and then back down, transferring the electrical current of her high to all other parts of her body along the way. It wouldn't be long now; she'd run into him as herself, and then if his harem allowed, she'd make her place soon enough in his life…but in the meantime, she'd have to satisfy herself with the fantasies she continued to have…

…

[Chouza's Bar and Grill…]

The two of them were seated at their table—this was an ideal place to be…if only some of the patrons weren't glaring in their direction. As the two of them waited for the arrival of the waiters, Meilan put down the menu as she noted the architecture of the place—it was very well-built, and the room was very spacious. Before long, her eyes fell upon a particular structure at the back of the restaurant, opposite of the kitchen…

"So Meilan, what sight am I missing that has caught your lovely eye?"

She turned to face Naruto—he could practically feel the smile on her face. "I see a stage at the back of the restaurant, with instruments missing their musicians."

"What instruments are we talking about?"

At that, she craned her neck out a little to see what was on the stage. "I see three guitars; one acoustic, one electric, and one bass. I also see a samisen, a koto, a set of drums, some amplifiers, a piano, and a microphone."

"Quite a variety…I wonder what would happen if we had to play at this venue."

Once she turned her attention back to Naruto, Meilan could only grin wider. She thought of all the scenarios that would come with them playing on the stage. "Then I'd get to hear your talent with a guitar again."

The light chuckle was worth hearing from her boyfriend. It made her feel happy whenever he was; perhaps this was part of what love was like between lovers. "Not as much as I'd like to hear with that angelic voice of yours, my beautiful lotus blossom."

Before Meilan could answer and defend the blush that rose upon her face, the waiter had appeared. "How may I take your order?"

"Yes, I'd like a chicken breast special, a catfish with rice, and two green teas."

The waiter had taken down their orders on his notepad, and started walking away. As he left, she could not help but notice the glare he sent towards her love. She simply sighed as she knew this would be an interesting night…she only hoped that this was as far as it went tonight—this was supposed to be a happy night, not one where people would discriminate against Naruto again. Unfortunately, her prayers were never answered, as several patrons walked on up to them…hungry looks in their eyes for her, and glares of hate towards Naruto. This was definitely not a good place to be, if the alcohol she smelled in their breaths were any indication.

"What's a pretty little thing like you doing with scum like him, hm?"

At that, Meilan could only glare at the men in anger. "I'm sorry, sir?"

This did not phase the drunkard in the slightest. "Why don't you stop hanging around with that demon brat and hang around with us realmen?"

She could only close her eyes in frustration. She really didn't want to do this, not tonight. This was supposed to be a romantic night, and these drunkards were ruining the moment. With a barely restrained hate in her voice as she grit her teeth, she looked at the inebriate men with fire in her eyes. "Please sir, you don't want to do this."

"I'd listen to her," added Naruto, calmly but coldly as he started reaching for his katana in a subtle fashion, "She can hurt you in ways you can't imagine."

"Hey, shut the fuck up you demon brat! Who the fuck asked for your opinion? Besides, someone as pretty as her is too good for the likes of you!"

Just as Naruto's hand had found itself on the handle of Mizu Hime, he felt a firm grip around his wrist, before he heard the words "Don't worry Naruto-kun, I'll take care of it." It was then that the sound of a seat being pushed back filled the air as Meilan stood up. She had a very disturbing smile on her face. A smile that Naruto knew was there because of the cold aura about her. "Gentlemen, why don't we go outside and discuss this properly?"

Oh, he knew what that voice of hers meant, and to be honest, he was freaked out by that sickly sweet tone of hers. And he could tell that those drunks were ignorant as to the danger they were in. As she led them out the door, Naruto could only follow the seven of them outside the restaurant with a grin on his face. Yes, they were in for it now! The second all six of the drunkards stood outside, their looks of lust were quickly turned to looks of horror as they watched a twelve-year-old little girl land an uppercut into the chin of their apparent leader, land a low kick on another drunkard's shins before following through with a side kick to the stomach, ducked under a punch to throw sand into the offender's eye before jumping on his knee and landing an axe kick to his chin, use his chest as a springboard to spring her into the air—allowing her to stomp on another drunkard's head and then landing an even heavier stomp on his colleague's head, leaving both men in a coma. The last drunk then charged at her from behind with a knife only for her to turn around quickly, jab a fist into his stomach, and then perform a suplex upon him.

Once all six drunks were taken care of, she had a sincere smile upon her face as she walked towards Naruto. The grin on his face had told her that he was overjoyed. "You have just elevated yourself from your status as my beautiful lotus blossom, to my goddess of love."

As Meilan blushed, Naruto could hear a voice in his mindscape belonging to none other than Kurama herself—he could practically feel the pout on her face in her voice and the playfulness in her false jealousy. "And what about me, am I not one of your mates too?"

"You're another of my goddesses—my goddess of fire."

Oh, he could see her licking her lips now—that perverted fox was going to say something else…and he knew that it would make his nose bleed. "Then why don't you come on down here, so I can warm you up with more of my fire?"

What he heard that, he immediately felt something heavy building up in the front side of his underwear—the second he felt Meilan's hand in his, he could not block Kurama's demands that he grab the former by the ass as she walked them back to their table.

…

[Hokage's Office, the next morning…]

He was definitely not amused—the large stacks of paperwork he was receiving, he could handle; what he couldn't handle was the insane amount of unreasonable requests by the Civilian Council! And the worst part of it was that most of them had to do with the beat-down he'd heard about that took place outside of Chouza's bar, all of them practically ordering him to take the girl away from Naruto and forcing her to marry the 'Last Uchiha' for the so-called glory of Konoha. What rubbish! He'd never heard of such nonsense since Hashirama-sensei's time! Now the request to put the Uchiha twins under Kakashi's tutelage, he could understand: Kakashi had a Sharingan, so he could teach those girls a trick or two, and it was something he wholeheartedly agreed with. But to kick Naruto off the ninja ranks and then putting him up for public execution, now that was getting ridiculous!

As if that weren't enough, Hiruzen began to think to himself that he may have made a mistake…the folder before him held more importance than the stacks of paper that taunted him the very second he sat down. Thankfully, before he could think any more on the possible can of worms he had opened, a knock was heard that broke him out of his thoughts. "Come in."

No sooner than he said that, a female ANBU with long violet hair, and a cat mask showed up. She carried a sword slung over her shoulder. "Ah, Neko, how good to see you! Since I assume you know why you're here, you may now take off your mask."

With a nod, the ANBU reached up to her face, and pulled the mask off. He knew who she was—the fact that it was this particular operative made it all the more reassuring to him…although he could see just a hint of the displeasure directed at him from her eyes under her façade of professionalism. He didn't blame her…after all she and Hayate have tried to adopt Naruto, only to be denied—not only by the Civilian Council and a few shinobi clan heads, but by himself as well. "A pleasure, Hokage-sama…I came as soon as I heard that you've selected me as a jounin instructor."

From the barely-restrained hatred lacing her voice with venom, Hiruzen knew that she was using the word 'pleasure' extremely lightly—and the frown on her face directed at him was what made that clear. It made him want to cry for all the wrongs he had done to Naruto; all the things he should have done, all the things he could have done…instead of allowing the Civilian Council to have its way, and turn him into their punching bag. "Very good, as of your promotion, you will be issued your vest. Two of your students will be Uzumaki Naruto and Baihe Meilan."

Neko's eyes had widened—now this, she did not see coming. Hiruzen had never allowed her or Hayate to adopt him. As a matter of fact, he turned down practically everyone that tried to adopt the poor boy, and now he was letting her be Naruto's jounin instructor? What was going on? "That was fast…I was expecting you to bend over and give Naruto over to someone that hated him. Is there something else I should know?"

Hiruzen took in a long drag from his pipe, and expelled a long puff of smoke from his mouth. "I've been doing a lot of thinking…about the past and all. About what I did and didn't do for Naruto…and after a while, I began to realize that Mikoto was telling the truth about me; I've have in fact become spineless in my old age. I've been allowing the Civilian Council to have too much power to do what they wanted. I've allowed Naruto to be abused for way too long, and even today he is still attacked once or twice by ignorant civilians. Well that ends today. From now on, I'm going to do everything I can to make it up to Naruto. I may be too late in making things right, hell progress may even be too slow, but at least it's a start!"

A bit of a smile had started gracing her features…a slight one of amusement, but a smile nonetheless. "Well, it's about time."

His smile was there for a brief moment, before he turned serious. "Okay then you'll want to sit down to learn who your third student will be."

She looked to the Hokage seriously—something about this third student must bother him. Neko took his advice, and sat down. "Who is the third student I'm teaching?"

Hiruzen did not answer…he simply pulled out the manila folder, and handed it to Neko; the look on his face was that of concern. Whether for her or Uzumaki-kun, she didn't know, but she opened the folder anyway, and started kicking in her speed-reading ability. Her eyes had widened upon reading a particular line…and seeing the portrait next to it. Her shock was very clear in her voice; "Shimura? As in Shimura Danzo…that Shimura?"

"Yes Uzuki, that Shimura."

"What's her relation?"

"She's his granddaughter…by blood."

"Huh, never thought the old war hawk had a heart for kids."

"I know him better than you…and while your claim may have a grain of salt to it, Danzo does in fact have a softer side—he never married, but it was clear to me then that he had a soft enough spot to have a child with somebody…a son if I recall. I think he was willing to do what he did to ensure that at least Konoha had a family loyal to her; loyal enough to do even the dirtiest of deeds and the most unspeakable of evils. Now don't get me wrong, I do not doubt his loyalty…it's his morals I question, or lack thereof."

"Anything I should know about her?"

"I'm not clear on her, but given her lineage, she has to be skilled at something. Otherwise, why would she be working directly under her grandfather? But I did hear a thing or two regarding her; one thing I most certainly know is that she is one of our best hunters when tracking felons that have escaped the law…a shame too; she fetches high prices with the rogue ninja she's been apprehending."

…

[Meanwhile, on the streets of Konoha…]

Meilan and Naruto were walking towards the Ninja Academy with the former clinging onto the latter's demonic left arm. Their date last night was a very good event…true, they had to beat up one or two patrons, but it was well worth it, and it ended with Meilan finally moving close enough to snuggle up to him in the bed they'd been sharing for the past year or so—even a while after the two of them first met and their trust for each other had grown significantly, they slept in separate beds…but Naruto gradually allowed her to come closer and closer to allow her to sleep in the same bed as him, and that was before he was comfortable enough to allow her to hold his hand in hers.

As the continued walking, ignoring the glares directed at them by many of the citizens, Naruto momentarily froze the second he heard a light 'twang' and the whistle of something flying in the air…it was long, cylindrical, had a sharp point, and was travelling at almost 322 kilometers per hour. He didn't need to ask what it was—that much was obvious enough for him to push Meilan away, and draw his short sword fast enough to intercept the flying object and slice it in half lengthwise! Meilan was about to ask why Naruto had pushed her away when she saw half an arrow imbed itself in the ground between her legs…and it was a close call too, because it was just six centimeters away from her thigh. She then noted that the other half of the arrow had already dug itself into the post of a fruit stall behind her.

Quickly turning her attention to where the arrow came from, Meilan saw a sight she never thought she'd ever see—a moss-haired girl with a dark tan and amber eyes with a short bow in her hands and standing on the rooftops…she would have noted more about the archer, but before long she realized that the would-be assassin was not done yet, as she loaded another arrow onto the bowstring, and started firing three more of them in rapid succession—each arrow being sliced in half by Naruto rather quickly using his short sword. The next arrow being loaded into the bow seemed different…and even Naruto could tell that because the second he felt chakra being pulsed through the next arrow, he could have sworn he smelled something like ionized oxygen and traces of burning silver in the air. It was then that he realized that this was a Raiton-laced arrow that was about to be fired, and the second he heard that 'twang' again, the minute he heard the sound of electricity crackling in the air, he knew what he had to do: he quickly touched his katana, channeled some ghostly power into the blade quickly, and drew the sword fast enough to destroy the arrow and negate its electrical properties with the purple trail of energy.

"Meilan!"

She understood: he never needed to say anything else…but before she could do anything else, she noted that the archer pulled the pin off something, and throw it at their feet—it was clear that this was a grenade, but before Meilan could get Naruto out of the way, she saw smoke being spewed forth from the little black ball. Oh damn! It was a smoke grenade! After a few seconds of coughing up the smoke before it cleared up, Meilan turned her attention back to where the archer was only to see her gone! The little bitch covered her own escape! Now she was going to… "Don't bother Meilan," said Naruto, after grabbing her shoulder gently, "That smoke grenade's scrambled my nose—and with the head start that archer's got, she's probably long gone…for now. And besides, I have a feeling that this isn't the last we've seen of her today."

Upon hearing that from Naruto, Meilan knew that whenever his nose has been scrambled, it meant that it would take some time before he could smell properly again—and in the meantime, the archer had a head-start to flee. With that, she carefully took Naruto's hand in hers, and started guiding him to the academy…unbeknownst to the two of them, the archer watched as the last Baihe and Uzumaki were walking towards the Ninja Academy. Average swordsmen of his age would have been shot dead very easily…a testament to the skill of Uzumaki's teacher. It'll be a little while before they met again…yes, this could be a very good team she's been assigned to indeed…

…

A/N: Can anyone catch the "Firefly" reference? As a scientific fact, just FYI, silver is a conductor of electricity—the second best conductor as a matter of fact, with gold being the best. And Spitfires do not use smoke grenades neither do they use short bows.

…

Dungeon Fighter Techniques (in order of use):

Muse's Uppercut—Striker

Low Kick—Striker

Crouch—Brawler

Sand Splash—Brawler

Hammer Kick—Striker

Silver Bullet—Spitfire

Ghost Slash—Soul Bender

…

Dungeon Fighter Class Intro:

Gunner—as the name implies, gunner-class characters wield guns, and so their main modus operandi is the keep-away game. This is the first class to have a male and a female variant (both with a few different moves and slightly different stats). The weapons that a gunner can use are revolvers, autoloaders, muskets, hand cannons, and crossbows. Gunners can graduate into one of the following subclasses: Rangers (this subclass favors the revolver and is all about the up-close and personal game…male rangers are chain smokers, while female rangers wear dog tags), Spitfires (likes to use muskets and crossbows, this class is known to also use explosives such as grenades and C-4 detonation packs, as well as special bullets…they are identified by the ammo pack on their backs), Launchers (favors the hand cannon, but they use lots of heavy weapons such as miniguns, flamethrowers, and rocket launchers, they are identified by the rifle on their backs), and Mechanics (they favor autoloaders, and rely upon summoning robots to do the fighting for them…they are identified by the small robot hovering near their shoulders). Kikyo fits under the category of Spitfire to a degree…while another addition to the harem will be a full-blown Mechanic in the same vein as the great professor Kokonoe (no she won't be a nekomimi, but she will have her foul mouth).

…

Songs Used:

"Godot – Fragrance of Dark Coffee" from "Gyakuten Saiban meets Orchestra"—date at Chouza's restaurant

"Those Who Fight (Piano Version)" by Nobuo Uematsu from "Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children"—Meilan vs the drunks

"Dispossession (Strings Version)" by Okabe Keiichi from "Nier"—Hiruzen sees Neko

"Samurai 7"" by Kaoru Wada from "Samurai 7"—encounter with the archer

…

Vocabulary/Culture Notes:

Hakama—samurai pants

Qipao—this is the traditional Chinese girl's dress

Fuji and Hiei—both Akimichi members mentioned are named after mountains in Japan, just like Kurama from "Yu-Yu-Hakusho" or "Naruto".