A/N: Yoooooooooo! Been forever right? Sorry about that, life has been hectic for me as usual. Finally got some time and busted out this chapter. And guess what? There's another chapter ready too! I'll post it a few days after this one after I'm done putting some final touches on it. My way of saying sorry for taking so long and making it up to you. No response this time, I feel like it's not very relevant to reply to something that was said nearly 3 months ago.

Previously: Naruto and Kurama have a heart to heart about his mother, Kushina. Kurama explains that the dark entity living inside of him named Menma is a mass of negative emotions and a combination of their two chakras. He also explains how Uzushiogakure fell and hints that Renge could give him more details into how it happened. At the same time, Madara explains his plan of his attack on the Hidden Leaf—both his initial and hidden plan.

Chapter 31: Message Received

The first thing Hinata noticed when she started coming around was the strange tickling sensation on her hand. The second thing was she was laying on something very soft and comfortable. She would've stayed just as she was in that comfortable warm spot, but the weird tickling she felt was bothering her. So she opened her eyes, or at least tried to. However her eyes decided that after a long hard day of training with her father they were perfectly content with remaining leaded. After about a minute longer though, her body started to come around and her hand that was tickling twitched.

Suddenly the sensation stopped and the first thought that ran through her head was, "Oh god, SPIDER!"

However, before she could move again she felt another sensation—this one was firm but soft and caring, and enveloped her whole hand. It made her feel at ease and she relaxed into the roughness that caressed her skin with a content sigh.

"You know Hime," Naruto's voice teased, "you keep sleeping and we're gonna have to find you a prince to wake you up."

"Mmm, but I've already found mine." She replied as her eyes fluttered open and settled on the man before her, the sunlight coming through the window bathing him in a golden light as he sat there holding her hand and rubbing it with his thumb.

Naruto's eyes widened for a second before he suddenly looked away and blushed. A slight frown reached Hinata's lips as she watched this happen. The Naruto in her dreams never blushed and looked away; he always would give her that small charming smile before leaning in and kissing her.

"I-I think you need a second to wake up Hinata." Naruto coughed as he released her hand.

Hinata stared at Naruto for a split second before what was really happening sunk in. This was not a dream. This was real life. And she had just called Naruto "her prince" to his face. There was only one logical explanation to do in a situation like this.

Hinata gasped loudly before sitting up and backing away from him, pressing herself to the wall. "I-I d-didn't—I m-mean—wh-what are y-you—where a-am I?"

Naruto cocked an eyebrow before letting out a laugh and scratching the back of his head. "Well, you're in my room because you fainted silly."

Hinata's eyes widened and then darted around the room to verify it before settling back on him. Slowly her face became redder and redder and her heartbeat steadily got louder in her ears.

"A-Alone in y-y-your r-room?" She squeaked while squeezing her legs to her chest.

"Huh? Yeah I suppose so." Naruto said rubbing his chin in thought. "Obaa-chan and jiji are out right now and Karin-chan is in the bathroom taking a bath."

Hinata let out a smaller gasp as her thoughts began to race. "I'm in his room! I'm in Naruto-kun's room. I'm in his room alone with him! What should I say? What should I do?!"

Her thoughts were sporadic, her face burning, and her blood roaring in her ears. Yet through all the internal chaos one small little command seemed to make its way to the front of her mind and answer her question. "Take him!"

Hinata froze only for a split second at the thought before her body was moving on its' own. She pushed off the wall and scooted across the bed before stopping on the edge directly across from Naruto. Her cheeks burned as she reached out and took his hands in hers, causing him to blush as well at the sudden forwardness she showed. Her heart beat so loud in her ears she swore Naruto could hear it. But she pushed forward, slowly, trying to close the distance between them.

"Naruto-kun…" She said breathlessly, staring into his eyes.

"Take him!"

"Yeah, Hime?"

"Take him!"

"I-I…" She stuttered out as she leaned slowly in.

"Take him!"

"J-Just wanted t-to…" Her eyes shifted to his lips.

"Take him!"

"T-T-To say…" She continued in a whisper as her eyes grew heavy and she parted her lips slightly—his breath tickling her cheeks and sending her chest into flutters.

"Take him! Take him! Take him!"

"I'm…sorry." She finished as she ducked her head quickly and placed it in the crook of his neck.

"Coward."

"…I know…" She bit her lip.

"Ah, don't worry about it Hina-chan." Naruto said with a laugh as he wrapped his arms around her and shifted up, onto the bed next to her. "You gave us all quite the scare when you showed up but I'm just glad to see that you're alright and everything's been cleared up."

Hinata peaked up at him and was met with his foxy grin before he leaned down and whispered conspiratorially into her ear, "Between you and me, I kinda like the feisty Hinata when she isn't scary."

Hinata let out an 'eep' before ducking back into his chest to hide her blush, causing him to chuckle.

"But I gotta know," he said after a pause, his face growing thoughtful. "Was breaking down my door really necessary?"

If Hinata hadn't wanted to faint from embarrassment before, now she definitely wanted to as the string of memories resurfaced, and leading them was the memory of her firmly sending the poor door into oblivion.

"I-I am s-so sorry!" She began to splutter. "I'll p-pay f-f-for it I prom–"

"—Don't worry about it," Naruto interrupted as he pressed a finger to her lips and smiled. "I was just joking."

Hinata blinked once before she gave a small scowl and her cheeks puffed out in a mixture of frustration at being teased and embarrassment. "N-Not f-funny Naruto-kun!"

Naruto gave her a squeeze as he leaned back against the wall and gave her a small genuine smile. "Sorry, Hinata. I couldn't help it."

"W-Whatever." Hinata huffed as best she could while slapping him lightly on the chest. "J-Just don't m-make a habit o-out of it."

Naruto gave her another squeeze and she nuzzled closer into his chest while her hand came up instinctively and loosely gripped his shirt. They remained that way, in that all too perfect comfortable silence they knew so well. The light coming through the window slowly fading was the only indication of time passing them by, the oranges and reds cascading across them and the bed—painting them with the colors.

"I wish it could stay like this." Naruto said softly after nearly a half hour of silence.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked looking up at him.

He nodded towards the window, and then looked around the room before his eyes came to rest on hers. A small smile graced his lips but it was different from the usual ones he gave her. This one seemed tired, exhausted, and burdened beyond compare.

"This moment right here." He said looking out the window again. "I wish it would never end. I could live my entire life in this moment—not having to worry about tomorrow. About what could go wrong, who might get hurt, what bad might happen. Just…right here is where I want to be…"

"…with you." He finished.

It was while his thoughts were wandering he felt it. The warm feeling of something wet being pressed softly against his cheek. His eyes widened in shock and he looked down to see Hinata looking up at him wide eyed as well, almost unbelieving at what she had just done. The blushes dusting their cheeks lit up with a fiery red passion, painted on by the crimson skies that were slowly fading away into purple and blues. Their defenses down and hearts open in this one fleeting moment of peace they shared together.

"Hinata." Naruto whispered slowly leaning down to her.

"Naruto-kun." Hinata panted back breathlessly as her eyes began to close and her lips parted.

This was it, the moment she had always waited for! They were finally going to kiss. All of her nights spent dreaming, her days spent imagining, they were all about to come true in this one, single, perfect moment they were sharing together. Their lips were just centimeters away and she could practically taste him!

But a sudden repeating burst of chakra sent her jerking back.

"What was that?" Hinata asked alarmed.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me!" Naruto groaned as he slammed his head back against the wall behind him.

Suddenly there was a loud crash from down the hall followed by the footfall of wet feet before Karin suddenly burst into the room panting, dripping wet, and towel thrown around her haphazardly.

"What's wrong nii-sama?!" Karin shouted in panic, searching the room. "I felt the pulse of chakra and then heard a bang! Is everything okay?"

"What? Yes, everything is fine Karin!" Naruto said exasperatedly before going red and looking away "Gah! Towel Karin! Fix your towel!"

Blushing a bright crimson, Karin adjusted her towel making her slightly more decent. It was during this that Hinata noticed something.

"Karin-san is that a razor?" Hinata asked innocently.

"Huh? U-Uh maybe?" Karin said suddenly putting it behind her back and blushing in embarrassment.

Naruto suddenly grinned catching on to what Hinata was getting at. "Kar-chan, were you going to try and rescue me with a razor?"

"S-Shut up n-nii-sama! S-So what if I w-was?" Karin whined as she inched for the door.

"I'm flattered." Naruto said with a smile before he looked at Hinata and they both burst into laughter.

"W-Whatever!" Karin huffed as she turned to leave.

"Hang on Karin." Naruto said wiping a tear away. Shifting off the bed he stood up and walked to the closet and grabbed one of his spare orange jackets. "I'm going to be leaving so you'll be home by yourself."

"Where are you going?" Karin asked, suddenly scared at the idea of being left alone. Naruto didn't reply which worried the Hyuuga heiress as well.

"Naruto-kun?" She asked quietly.

Naruto slipped the jacket on but left it unzipped, his black t-shirt with the Uzumaki symbol in red left for the world to see.

"I can't tell you where I'll be." He said solemnly turning to look at the girls. "But I'll be home later okay?"

"H-Hai, nii-sama." Karin said a bit saddened.

"Hey, none of that now." Naruto said with a smile and a wave. "You need to relax and Renge shouldn't be gone for too long. If you get hungry there's food in the cabinets." His reassuring smile managed to get a small one out of the red head before she nodded and left. He then turned his attention to Hinata who was still sitting on his bed and gave her a smile. "Hime, I could escort you home if you'd like?"

Another rapid set of chakra coded bursts caused the blonde to grimace before he pressed a hand to his shoulder and sent a reply.

"On second thought, I can escort you to my front door." He said with a sheepish grin.

Hinata giggled and stood up, taking a second to press out the wrinkles in her jacket. "That's f-fine Naruto-kun." She then looked at him worriedly. "Just be c-careful, okay?"

Naruto grinned and took her arm in his as he escorted her to the front door. "I'll be fine; you just promise that you'll be careful Hime."

Hinata gave him another cute pout, something she was quickly realizing was easy, as he opened the door for her and said, "Y-You think I'm n-not s-strong enough t-to d-defend myself?"

"I think we both know the answer to that." Naruto chuckled as he locked the door behind him before turning to her. "I just can't help but worry for the people I care about."

Before she could say anything else he wrapped her up in a hug that had her melting into his arms. "Keep in touch Hinata-chan, no need to be a stranger."

Hinata pushed back after a moment and gave him her best serious look. "S-Same goes for y-you Naruto-kun."

Naruto laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "I suppose so, huh? I'll do my best Hime."

Hinata smiled and nodded content with knowing that they would be seeing each other again soon. That's all she could ask for. It was all she wanted, really.

"Again!" Jihibiki's voice roared through the cave.

The sounds of pants and gasps echoed off the walls as four shinobi in the center bent over doing their best to recover. Sweat poured off of their bare skin and their clothes and hair clung to them in messes.

"I…I don't think…I have much more…left in me." Shikamaru tried to get out, falling to his knees.

"Dig…deep!" Naruto gasped as he pushed himself up.

"We're…out of…time." Shino wheezed as he readied himself.

"We have…to get this…right." Sai panted.

Jihibiki stood there in front of them wearing nothing but pants, his bare torso scarred and dripping with sweat. His long white hair was pulled up in a pony tail and shifted behind him with every turn of his head. His muscles tensed and he readied himself.

"On my mark." Jihibiki said. The four of them nodded in response. "Three…"

The four of them reined in their breathing.

"Two…"

They tensed and Naruto grabbed a kunai from his pouch.

"One…"

All four of them brought their right hands to in front of their chests.

"Go!"

In an instant all four of them brought their hands up to their faces and raked their hands across them. As their hands passed by a black smoke billowed out behind and then settled as the masks of the Night Angels. When the masks had completely solidified, all four of them suddenly burst into a dark haze before it resettled around them in loose black hooded robes.

It happened faster than Jihibiki could blink. Shikamaru slapped his hands together and in the next fraction of a second the kunai Naruto was holding was rocketing towards him, the sound barrier breaking from the speed it was traveling. And Naruto hadn't even appeared to move.

The speed was too great for even Jihibiki to react to, but that didn't stop him from defending. Just before the kunai sunk into him seal matrices spiraled out of his chest and halted the weapon before it could even prick his skin—the sonic boom was still reverberating off of the walls as the kunai began to drop. Blurring his hands forward towards the Night Angels, chakra chains burst out and locked on to them.

Reacting in turn, Sai jumped in to meet the chains while Shino leapt back and Naruto and Shikamaru stayed where they were. Tanto blurring from the speed, Sai sliced at every chain as he made his way towards Jihibiki—each chain disappearing into wisps as his blade sealed away the chakra.

"Not bad boy," Jihibiki praised with a grin, "but you're still too slow!"

Sai's blade cut through Jihibiki smoothly revealing an after-image, his gray mask frowning as it looked at the spot where the elderly Uzumaki once stood. The sound barrier broke once again as a chakra chain exploded from Naruto's hand towards the ceiling and a yelp could be heard as the tip buried into the stone where Jihibiki had once been.

"Well done on finding me, even with my chakra completely suppressed." The old man continued to praise. "I take it that was your doing, Shino-kun?" Crouching down and then launching himself from the ceiling, Jihibiki summoned a naginata. "Guess I better take care of you first then!"

Shino had barely enough time to draw two kunai and bring them up in a cross block before Jihibiki was on him. When the blades connected Shino felt himself slide back from the blow and his arms stung as the power behind the attack vibrated his very bones. Even though Jihibiki was ages older than him, he still found himself being pushed back from the older man's flawless fighting style. Realizing that he needed to come up with something fast, Shino sent a wordless command to his beetles and they began to swarm out from his body. The process lasted less than three seconds before lightning erupted from Jihibiki's body and started to fry his insect comrades. Quickly calling a retreat, Shino was so distracted at trying to get his bugs to safety that he missed a parry and found he was wide open for an over head attack—his dark blue mask watched on with indifference as the blade sailed towards his head.

Just as the blade was about to strike him, Sai appeared and blocked the blow. Before Jihibiki could move again the painter then grabbed the blade and twisted it out of his hands, surprising him and leaving him open to a side kick that sent Jihibiki sliding back. As Jihibiki was starting to slow to a stop he was forced to leap back quickly as black spikes burst from the ground and continued to form rapidly in a quick procession after him.

"Is that all you've got?" Jihibiki jeered when he saw the shadows finally taper off. "I'm disappointed in you Shikamaru."

Shikimaru's white mask simply smiled at him, and Jihibiki could have sworn he saw a twinkle in those black eyes. The shadow user responded by making the ram sign and Jihibiki's attention was drawn back to the shadows in front of him. Watching in horror, the spikes opened into a void and from it a ball of explosive tags launched out at him. He barely managed to react as the ball ignited with a concussive blast.

"Earth Style: Dragon Armor!"

The blast sent Jihibiki sliding even further back, but the hardened earth armor that morphed around him protected him just in time. However, just as he was sliding to a stop the warning bells started going off in Jihibiki's head and he looked up to see Naruto's black void of a mask barreling down towards him with a Rasengan in hand.

"Good!" Jihibiki grinned as he summoned a katana. "But not good enough!"

The blade blurred towards Naruto and just as it was about to slice through his mask, he disappeared in a burst of dark haze.

Jihibiki blinked in surprise as he over extended, but movement behind and below him caught his eye. Reversing the sword, he stabbed at Naruto as he reappeared in his blind spot with the Rasengan still in hand.

But Jihibiki was surprised once again as Naruto brought a kunai up and sliced his blade in half. He could only watch as his great grandson buried his father's signature attack into his gut and sent him careening backwards—his armor reduced to dust—and slam into the wall.

As the dust cleared a strained chuckle could be heard from Jihibiki. "Good job boys…that last one…took the wind out of me." Rising up, Jihibiki brushed the remnants of his earthen armor off and grinned. "I think we can call it a night."

"Oh thank god!" Shikamaru gasped as his mask vaporized and he fell down on all fours. Something that was quickly followed suit by his teammates.

"Why are you so tired?" Sai panted looking over at him. "You barely even moved."

"Fuck…You…"

"Go easy on him Sai." Naruto said as he recovered first and managed to make it to his knees. "Shikamaru has it the hardest trying to increase his range of time manipulation."

"It's true." Shino replied quietly, his breathing too ragged to speak any louder. "Out of all of us…Shikamaru is the only one…who is capable of expanding his powers to others."

As if to prove a point Shikamaru flopped over on his back and continued to gasp for air.

"Hey, I'm not gonna have to carry you home again am I?" Naruto asked with a smirk. "I'm pretty sure Temari is gonna skin me alive if she catches me draggin' your ass home again."

"Hmm, his stamina could use a little more work." Jihibiki mused.

"Give him to baa-chan then." Naruto suggested.

Shikamaru's eyes bulged and a high pitched whine escaped his lips before he scrambled to his feet. "I-I'm fine! N-No need to involve Renge!"

He had seen Naruto literally crawl back from one of Renge's training exercises. If she did that to Naruto, the Satan energizer bunny from hell, god only knew what she'd do to him. He was so caught up in his terror that he missed the grins everyone else was wearing and only came to when he heard their laughter.

"Hate you." He muttered, crossing his arms. "Hate you all."

"Aw don't be like that!" Naruto said slapping him on the back. "It is getting late though, how about we all turn in for the night?"

"It would be nice to return home after such an extended leave." Shino said.

"And I do miss your couch." Sai replied with a smile.

Naruto felt a sweat drop forming but chose to ignore Sai's comment and focused more on Shino's. The past two days had been a blur for all of them. They hadn't returned home at all, focusing all of their time and energy on training, eating, and sleeping. They had lived in the cave and if Naruto was honest with himself, he was starting to feel a little claustrophobic.

"I'd say let's go shower up and get drinks, but I think we could all use bed at this point." Naruto said after a moment's thought.

"Sounds good to me." Shikamaru grumbled.

"Right behind you." Shino said.

"Hey where'd Sai go?" Naruto asked.

The four of them looked around but couldn't find him anywhere. Suddenly the door leading to the showers opened and steam poured out into the training room. Stepping into the room, Sai was dressed in nothing more than a towel, shower cap, and holding a luffa and rubber ducky.

"How wants to help Captain Quackers defeat the Kraken and save the city of Bath-topia?" Sai asked, squeaking the duck for emphasis.

The group deadpanned at him before turning to each other.

"It's kinda creepy how much he loves baths." Naruto said.

"How old is he again?" Shikamaru asked.

"A better question," Shino pointed out, "whose turn is it to play with him?"

"I believe it would be your turn, Jiji." Naruto replied with a smirk.

"Oh no, I played with him last time!" Jihibiki yelled, waving his hands.

"Then that means it's your turn Shino." Shikamaru said apologetically.

"I was afraid of that." Shino sighed.

Turning back to Sai, Shino reached into his pocket and pulled out a rubber shark. Giving it a squeak he answered, "Private Fins reporting for duty sir! Let's go save that city!"

They were silent as they walked down the main road. The darkness washed over them and they basked in the faint light of the stars and occasional street lights. Each of them was lost in their own thoughts, and as a group they dropped one another off at home. First the Aburame compound, then the Nara—which had a Temari waiting outside impatiently. She yelled at Shikamaru for taking too long to get home but they could hear the underlying worry in her voice. It was confirmed when Shikamaru draped his arm across her shoulder as they walked back to his house and she quickly clung to his body.

"They certainly wasted no time." Sai commented as he and Naruto walked back to the blonde's apartment. He had started staying with Naruto right after he had recruited him for the black op, and he had been crashing on the couch ever since. However, things changed now that Karin had moved in and the outcome had been hilarious to say the least.

"A bit hypocritical coming from you don't ya think?" Naruto asked.

"I am Samui-chan's escort while she remains in this village." Sai replied evenly. "There's nothing going on between us."

"Uh huh." Naruto replied unconvinced. Sai opened his mouth to give a retort but he was cut off as Naruto continued. "In any case, I'm happy for you."

The comment caught Sai off guard and he had to take a second to register what he heard.

"Happy? For me?" he asked confused.

"Of course. You're a lot like me. We both had shitty childhoods growing up. It makes me happy to know that you've managed to find happiness in spite of everything that's happened." Naruto fell silent for a moment as they continued to walk through the darkness, almost as if he was struggling for words. After a moment he added, "It's reassuring. To know that…someone like me—no—my brother is capable of happiness…"

Sai's eyes widened in shock and his head snapped around to the blonde next to him. "B-Brother?"

They had come to a stop now, and Naruto was shifting back and forth, glad that it was dark out so Sai couldn't see his face heating up. It wasn't everyday he opened up to people completely, but Sai was not only a comrade and a friend—he was someone who was familiar with a harsh early life, experienced loss, and grown from it. They had a rocky start, sure, but what siblings didn't fight. It kind of made him giddy inside to think of him as a surrogate brother, much like he and Sasuke saw each other.

"I…I've only ever called one other person my brother Sai. Please," Naruto said quietly looking Sai in the eyes, "don't make me regret calling you one too…"

Sai was at a loss for words. All you could do was stare at the blonde across from him in shock at the confession he just heard. It made him feel weird. There was this warmth rising up from his stomach and for some reason he could feel his throat starting to constrict. He could feel his face heating up and then suddenly his vision blurred. Startled, he raised his fingers to his face and felt the hot tears running down his cheeks.

Letting out a mix between a choked sob and a laugh he tried to wipe the tears away and replied, "You have the strangest affect on me Naruto. I knew staying close to you was a good thing." Giving him a smile and a playful punch he finished, "Don't worry Dickless, you won't regret your decision."

Naruto scowled at his nickname but soon they both broke into laughter. The laughed the rest of the way home and only managed to regain their composure when they were just outside the apartment door. Still smiling, Naruto undid the lock and seals and opened the door. Walking in with smiles still on their faces, they found Karin and Jihibiki watching TV and Renge in the kitchen making popcorn. The three Uzumaki stopped what they were doing and looked at them before Jihibiki finally spoke.

"You two just did something bromantic, didn't you."

"What makes you say that?" Naruto asked.

"Because I can smell the tears, vulnerability, and embarrassment from here." Renge called from the kitchen before her voice suddenly said, "Oh god, did you just take each other's innocence?"

"What?!" Naruto blanched.

"Gay sex?" Karin asked.

The room fell silent for a solid minute before Sai turned to a speechless Naruto and said, "I'll be your brother, but I refuse to be related to this part of the family."

Naruto laughed sheepishly and rubbed his neck. "Sorry Sai, it's a package deal."

"I'll need to sleep on it then."

"And just where do you think you'll be sleeping?" Karin asked; her voice even as she stared at him with an impassive gaze.

"Why the couch of course." Sai replied.

"Not unless you can answer my question."

Naruto sighed and made for his room, he wanted a shower. He couldn't understand them when it came to the couch. It had been an ongoing battle ever since Karin moved in. For some reason they both insisted on sleeping on the couch—despite the fact that he had a perfectly good spare bedroom! Instead, every night since her arrival Karin would give Sai a question and he would have to answer it. If he got it right, then he could sleep on the couch and she would take the bed. If he got it wrong, then the couch went to Karin. So far the running tally was Karin 3, Sai 0.

"Give it up Sai, you're never gonna win!" Naruto called from his bedroom.

"Bring it on." Sai said as he challenged the red head for the right of the upholstery.

"Well tonight let's change it up, I'll make it an easy one for you." Karin said catching Sai off guard. "What is the perfect nickname for me?"

"The perfect…nickname" He echoed back.

"Yes." Karin said with a nod. "What nickname fully embodies me, the perfect definition, the defining trait that explains my character."

The apartment fell silent as everyone waited for Sai's answer. Jihibiki even muted the TV and from the bathroom Naruto strained to hear Sai's answer over the running water.

Sai thought hard about the perfect nickname for Karin. His eyes went up and down her before traveling around the room. He glanced at Jihibiki for help and Renge for answers, both of which had become oddly silent as the waited on abated breaths—like they were praying for some kind of answer. Or maybe some kind of answer not to be said. And then suddenly the answer came.

Grinning victoriously, Sai turned to Karin. "I have figured out the answer to your question Karin, and you'll be surprised it doesn't just pertain to you."

"Oh no…" Jihibiki groaned.

"It in fact, could be applied to your entire clan as a whole." Sai continued.

"No, no, no!" Renge's voice could be heard as she banged her head against the wall.

"What is your answer!?" Karin demanded.

"FIRE-CROTCH!" Sai shouted while shooting his arm up with a V for victory.

The entire apartment fell silent again. That was, until snickering could be heard from down the hall before Naruto erupted into full blown laughter. A crash was soon followed as Naruto fell out of the shower clutching his sides in pain, tears rolling down his face.

"Our name…" Jihibiki sighed.

"Our curse…" Renge grimaced.

"Our legend…" They both said at the same time.

Sai turned to Karin and smiled. "Looks like I win the couch tonig—"

The rest was cut off as Karin's fist smashed into Sai's face and sent him flying through the door—literally—and down the street.

"Ya can have it if ya wake up in time ta get back here." Karin yelled waving her fist.

"I am not fixing that door again!" Naruto said as he came into the living room and toweled his hair.

"S-Sorry nii-sama." Karin said as she turned around and gave him a puppy dog look.

It took one glance for Naruto to cave. With a sigh he created some shadow clones that went to the closet and came back with a spare door and tool box.

"Pathetic." Jihibiki snickered.

Karin heard this and then turned to him. "Jiji, I hurt my hand when I punched that meanie, Sai. Could you get me a cold drink to help with the pain?"

In less time than Naruto caved, Jihibiki was scrambling to the refrigerator to find a pop or juice that he could give his sweet, precious, little granddaughter.

"Tch, hypocrite." Naruto muttered.

"Don't be salty; all women have that gift." Renge said as she came into the living room with a bowl of popcorn. Sitting down, she then quirked an eyebrow at him. "That was a quick shower, and you're dressed too. Going somewhere?"

Naruto was in fact not in his pajamas but in his typical getup nowadays. His usual orange and black track pants, black athletic shirt with an orange Uzumaki symbol across his chest, and his sage cloak worn over top.

"I am actually," Naruto said. "I've got a meeting with Tsunade-baachan in fifteen minutes."

"It's nearly midnight though!" Karin said.

"Guess that's still early enough to get my ass ripped for the little stunt I pulled earlier this week."

"Sorry." Karin said dipping her head down.

"Meh, don't worry about it." Naruto said waving her off. "I'm heading out. I don't know when I'll be back, so don't wait up."

Walking to the door Naruto stopped just as he was about to exit. "Oh and Karin, let Sai sleep on the couch tonight."

"But he called us fire-crotch!"

"No, he called you guys' fire-crotch." Naruto smirked pointing to his head. "I'm still good."

"Traitor!" All three Uzumakis shouted at him as he shut the door behind him with a laugh.

The quick knock at her door caused Tsunade to jump. Looking up she knew it could only be one person.

"Enter." She said.

The door opened and Naruto strode in. Coming to a stop in front of her desk, he gave a sharp bow before standing at attention silently waiting for her orders. The professionalism actually impressed Tsunade as well as slightly concerned her.

"Chill out brat, you're making this tenser than what it has to be."

"Easy for you to say baa-chan, I've had shit sleep for the past week waiting on this report to come in." Naruto said relaxing a little. "Has it still not come in?"

Tsunade shook her head and Naruto let out a weary sigh. Giving her a quick hand sign she nodded and activated the privacy barriers in the room.

"Why is this taking so long?" Naruto asked. "Shouldn't the report have come in by now?"

Tsunade was silent for a moment before she let out a sigh and rubbed her exhausted eyes. "I know patience isn't your strongest suit but it's the time frame Sakura designated."

"When is the report supposed to arrive?" Naruto asked.

"Any minute now."

Naruto would have believed her if she didn't sound so unconvinced by her own words. Sakura was a punctual person and always had things done before the appointed time. Understandably this scenario was different but it still didn't sit well with either one of them.

"Baa-chan…"

"I know Naruto…I know…" Tsunade said quietly looking up.

Naruto met her gaze before giving her a reassuring smile. "Ah, who am I kiddin'? Sakura is stronger than me! I'm sure she's fine!"

"Naruto…"

"Don't worry about her baa-chan; I'm sure she's just getting some last minute details into her report." Naruto said while sticking his hands in his pockets. "While we're waiting, do ya wanna talk about the other day?"

Tsunade sat there in shock before she frowned and gave another sigh.

"What you did was such an extreme act of insubordination that I don't even know how to go about punishing you."

"You could always not?" Naruto joked.

Tsunade responded with a glare. "No, in fact if I don't then what kind of message does that send to the village? You rebelled against your leader, Naruto. Other villages would have you imprisoned or even executed for that!"

"But she was innocent." Naruto said folding his arms.

"She may be, but her actions weren't." Tsunade replied. "Look Naruto, I was going to have her released eventually, but not until this whole mess had blown over."

"So there's no problem then."

"There is now!" Tsunade said slamming her hands down. "You went against me Naruto, and to top that off more and more of the village is siding with you every day!"

"W-What?" Naruto asked shocked.

"It's a good thing I plan on nominating you for the position next gaki, because if I didn't you would most certainly have been eliminated by now."

Naruto gulped audibly but then smirked. "So when do I get the hat?"

Tsunade just sighed and leaned back in her chair. "Keep up this Mr. Hot-shit charades and I'll never give it to you." Naruto scowled and Tsunade smirked. "Since I was going to release Karin it's not that big of a deal, but because you flew off the handle and stood against me you'll have to be punished."

Naruto hung his head and sighed. "What's it gonna be?"

"A week of D-rank missions—"

"I swear if you make me try and catch the god forsaken cat I will kill it!"

"Play your cards right and you might only have to do half on good behavior." Tsunade said with a smirk. "I'll give a statement tomorrow explaining how Karin was to be released from prison anyways. She will be considered a citizen of Konohagakure and will be assimilated into the shinobi forces for a determined amount of time to make up for her past actions. After which she may choose to stay or leave."

Naruto was quiet for a moment as he thought everything over and nodded. "That should ease the public's view of her at least."

Tsunade nodded as well. "Tell her that I want her in my office tomorrow morning at 10. Understood?"

"Ya got it, baa-chan!" Naruto said with a thumb up.

"Good, now all we—"

The rest of what Tsunade was about to say was cut off when Katsuyu appeared on her desk in a puff of smoke. Recovering from her shock, Tsunade bombarded the poor slug summon with questions.

"Katsuyu, do you have the scroll?"

"Right here, Tsunade-sama." Katsuyu said regurgitating the scroll.

"Why were you late? Is something wrong with Sakura?"

"I um…that is—she…well…." Katsuyu stumbled out. "S-Sakura-sama is fine. If th-that is all then I will be going!"

With another puff of smoke the slug disappeared leaving a stunned Naruto and Tsunade behind.

After a moment of silence, Naruto looked up at Tsunade and asked, "Was that slug blushing?"