A/N: Shout out to TheDarkRanger1160 who brought up some excellent points that I plan to use as the story continues. Thank you! Just in case my dear readers are wondering, Naruto is 18 by this point in the story. Y'all might recall that she was 16 when she graduated from the Academy this time because an entire yearful of graduates was killed in the field within months of graduating a few years before hers. Just in case you're wondering, Naru doesn't like to celebrate her birthday at all. –It's a little sad, but understandable, right? Maybe that will change in the future.

ALSO, this chapter is broken into little pieces that are quickly leading up to big things!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything from the Naruto universe.

Thinking (+ flashbacks, "Naruto speaking to Kurama in her mindscape," etc.)

Emphasis

Bijuu, etc. speaking

Bijuu, etc. thinking

It took over a month to bring this insanity to fruition. Naruto stood with most of the villagers in a red-haired (and minus the whisker marks: always) henge next to Kakashi, gripping his hand that was hidden inside the long, wide sleeve of her formal and bright kimono, looking up at her father who was making a big mistake.

She loved him and his charismatic ways for what he was trying to do, but this didn't seem like a good idea no matter how Naru looked at it.

"...For nearly two decades the people of the Leaf have hunted even fire foxes, Hi no Kuni's national animal, in their need for vengeance for what happened on October tenth," her father continued after greeting everyone. Naruto shuddered and, pitiably, wanted to leave. Fortunately, her husband was there to ground her. He also might have put a gravity or weird sticky seal on her because she'd tried to take off twice but was unsuccessful.

"He knows what he's doing." Kakashi raised an eyebrow at a few civilians who turned and looked at him as if he was mad. Kakashi was unaffected: people had been looking at him like that since he was a child. He didn't like being packed in the crowd like sardines but Naru-chan had refused to stand up near her father and they were required to be there for certain parts of the festival, this included.

"I fought the great Kyuubi no Kitsune that October night: the night of my child's birth. The night my wife was attacked by a rogue shinobi and killed." Even though the wind was blowing dead leaves through the air, Minato would guess he'd still hear a senbon drop. "I know as well as anyone how terrifying and powerful the fox was that night. The destruction… The deaths… The horror… But the fox was controlled. HE didn't intend to do any of that." The crowd's murmured musings grew and he lifted his arms to quiet them.

"I absolutely meant to destroy every single shinobi and sink this entire country into the Earth's core the first time I was released from that damned seal. What a liar!" Naruto let out a little snort at Kurama's outrage and Kakashi pinched her finger for it.

Minato, once again, felt like an orchestra conductor. This was a part of the Hokage's job that he seemed well-suited for; something he always found odd and a little unsettling. He hadn't been looking forward to making this speech to start off the Kitsune Festival but things were going well now that it was finally happening. Konoha's citizens were still with him and hadn't pulled out pitchforks and torches yet, so he continued.

"You are my people, and I am yours," he said more softly and to a wild ovation. He grinned and looked down at his daughter - her real appearance somewhat hidden but next to his apprentice, she looked even more like Kushina's daughter with that very bright red hair. She and Kakashi were the only ones he knew that didn't cheer what he'd just said. Fair enough. "I will not oversee a village filled with deceit and hatred - even if that is against the great fox that protected Konoha for generations before being - for a single night - controlled by a madman."

Naruto thought she might've tossed the cookies she'd eaten earlier had Kurama not pretended to do just that within her mindscape.

They were in the middle of what could easily turn into a lynch mob - a familiar but hazy, horrible memory of a real one from one of her early childhoods ate at her - and Naru was barely henged. Additionally, not only did she think her father's words were familiar (and nauseating) but if her senses told her anything, the people surrounding her were drowning in emotion.

Thus, drowning me.

"...I would not knowingly allow any of you to be persecuted unfairly. Unjustly. …And I will not abide by blind hatred of the great fox who had no choice; no ability to stop himself. I will CERTAINLY stop anyone from persecuting the person - and great Kyuubi no Kitsune - keeping this village safe."

"Imagine being controlled…"

Naruto took a few deep breaths but her nerves nearly caused her to drop her henge: not that it seemed like it would matter right now. Everyone's eyes were trained on her father as he seemed to easily weave a tale between truth, fiction, and a lot of folklore. He didn't tell the civilians who had attacked her family (something Kurama found presently unforgivable) but Naru knew that the real tale would be told in events ranging from simple puppet shows to long dramatizations performed by henged shinobis and singers for the next couple of nights until the merchants and real actors took over.

Naruto assured her fuzzy partner that by the time morning came, "the man in the mask" would be infamous even among civilians. Finally. She did not tell him that by the end of the week, Shisui and Itachi would (hopefully) be seen as heroes who saved the village from being devoured by a civil war that would've surely been followed by other villagers attacking them when the Leaf was at its weakest. –Although Naruto doubted that the Uchiha's vote to declare a coup would be mentioned.

She wondered exactly how a half-assed press alert about the Uchiha Massacre would roll out.

"Hey," Kakashi said while still looking up at his sensei. He lightly shook Naru's long, pretty, manicured fingers. He'd gotten a little concerned - Naruto's chakra was all over the place and he could understand why. They'd heard Minato's prepared remarks before this but his sensei was really winging it up there, instead. "It's time."

"...I ask you to put your faith in me," her father was saying as Naru tuned in again.

"Oh geez."

The crowd gasped as a very large aquamarine fox walked up next to her father. It looked down on Naruto and smirked. We're all going to die. – Yeah, maybe she was being a drama queen but then again: maybe Naru was right on!

"Relax! We're going to enjoy this!"

"'We,' huh? Why hasn't my shadow clone you're possessing popped? It's been a while!"

"It won't dispel for possibly weeks. I put a seal on it and with my abilities, no one will come close to it unless I wish them to."

"Stingy asshole: not showing me your cool seals."

Kurama seemed to think that was funny. Naru was still pissed off about it, though.

She blinked a few times when she realized that the Daimyo and her godmother were here, too. That was a surprise and proved how muddled her senses were when so many people were packed together. –I need to work on that.

She hadn't seen Madame Shijimi in a LONG time, and the woman was supposedly very aggravated about it. Her father had been running interference for her, telling the woman that "a madman" was after Naruto - which was both true and an excuse for why she couldn't travel to the capital.

It's not like she and her godmother were close at all - and sadly, Naru found that she wouldn't particularly care if not for the knowledge that the woman had watched over her mother sometimes. That's wrong of me but there's so much going on. Naruto certainly missed doing missions outside of the village. The royals appeared next to her father and… Oh geez, Tora is up there, too.

- If anything would turn the village's shinobi against her father, it was Tora the Demon Ninneko. What is he thinking?

Naru supposed that she should listen to Daimyo-sama. Idly, she wondered if he had a first name. Meh, I don't care. Man, she didn't care about a lot of things lately! Kakashi yanked on her index finger again before tickling her palm.

"...kitsunes are well known to be lucky: to bring fortune and favor! Their home was once the Land of Fire and I'm proud to say that they've decided to give our fair people another, singular chance to show them who we are. Without fear or prejudice!" The Fire daimyo cooed and batted his fan in front of his face wildly again.

Surprisingly, the crowd seemed to reluctantly agree and then began to get excited.

Foolish humans, Naru thought.

Kakashi dragged her through the crowd and back toward their home. "Relax. I've got a genjutsu over you so you can drop the henge. You know you have to go out sometime tonight as yourself."

"It's insane."

"They've promised to keep their tricks 'light' during the festival," Kakashi said, wondering how long it would be until a villager pissed off one and then the entire tribe of foxes. Hopefully, the village would still be standing at the end of the week. "Your father will protect you and - Maa - I'll kill anyone that's foolish enough to mess with you." Naruto let out a sad sigh. "C'mon. Let's find a place to watch the fireworks."

"I'd kill anyone who touched you, too, ya know."

She would, too. May all the gods and the Sage himself try to protect anyone who took Kakashi from her because she wouldn't spare them, either.

Konan strolled through Konoha's streets a few nights later, henged and close to her old sensei. She stopped cold when she saw a puppet show depicting the end of a happier, child-friendly version of the Akatsuki's victory over Hanzo.

"And then, beautiful Lady Angel vowed to take the Akatsuki's good name back from those who tarnished it."

Konan dragged the much larger man away and scolded him soundly. "Propaganda to influence me to stop our plans?! … I would've thought you smarter than that, sensei!"

Jiraiya smirked down at her with his hands in his haori pockets and leaned back against a small restaurant's alleyway he'd allowed her to drag him off to. "Have you tried it in Ame? –Festivals and stories can do wonders for your citizens' morale." Konan's expression turned thoughtful although she was still clearly angry. "You missed the part where Konoha's Great Toad Sage trains three amazing students who would save Ame from the SALAMANDER," he said scarily, adding wiggling fingers for an extra creepy effect.

Konan glared at him but almost smiled when she heard the nearby children applauding and cheering the end of the puppet show. "You are ridiculous."

"So I've been told. …How long has it been since you've been to a festival, Ko-chan?"

Konan blew out her breath through her nose as she considered that. "I've only been to one before tonight: the one you took us to in Yugakure all those years ago."

"A beautiful woman should be escorted to every festival possible." Konan rolled her eyes: Jiraiya figured that would be her reaction. "Would you like to meet him?"

"Please." Jiraiya escorted her to the Hokage Tower, treating her almost as if she were a noblewoman. Konan felt that she was certainly not that! Once they reached a large conference room, she nodded in respect to two blondes: the reincarnated Yondaime Hokage and Kyuubi jinchuuriki. Her eyes darted to her sensei. What are you thinking?! BOTH OF THEM? What if Nagato were here?! Before anyone had a chance to do anything, the jinchuuriki had thrown herself in front of her, her forehead pressed to the floor. She was apologizing but so upset and speaking so quickly that Konan couldn't understand her.

Uzumaki Naruto's father helped his daughter stand, regain control of herself, and move to a seat. He then bowed to the Ame delegate and directed her to a chair. Konan let her henge go (rather dramatically, she could admit, as paper unfolded all around her only to reveal her true self.) Introductions were politely made but Konan couldn't take her eyes off the miserable jinchuuriki. "You seem to know me, Uzumaki Naruto."

"I do. Ero… Jiraiya-shishou said that he's told you that I am living a different version of a life I've lived before."

Konan tilted her head as she tried to figure out the younger woman's game. "You must realize how ridiculous that sounds."

"It's more ridiculous to explain than it is to live. I mean, things are so much BETTER for me now in this life… I'm so grateful for what we have - for what I have - but we still have all these challenges that want to stop a peaceful alliance of the shinobi nations. –Of our entire continent."

Konan hummed and continued to stare at the younger kunoichi. "Jiraiya-sensei claimed that such an alliance was possible - that it once happened - but only when the shinobi world was united against the Akatsuki." She felt a smirk crawl up her features. "This was always Nagato's plan."

"And yet you're here. You seek another way: a more peaceful way, one in which far fewer people need to die! I want to save lives, too!"

Konan's eyes darted toward her sensei, who just put up a hand and shrugged in a "what can you do" gesture. "I didn't tell her anything other than that you would be here."

The paper user believed them so far although back at home in Ame, Nagato was quite doubtful. To Konan, if the man in front of her had come back from the dead, who could say that others couldn't? Who knew what this man had seen in the afterlife? "What say you, Yondaime Hokage?"

Minato wasn't as eager as Naruto for peace with Ame (at almost any cost) and was keeping certain things hidden and at his immediate disposal in case he needed to take this powerful kunoichi down. "I think I've made my intentions clear in the treaty I'm seeking with your village, Konan-sama."

Konan hoped what the man had provided to them in writing could be upheld, and importantly, she knew that Nagato was quietly hopeful about the treaty if nothing else.

"I want you to live this time, Konan-chan," Naru said, sitting up on the edge of her chair more and more. "I want the people of Ame to live and for my clansmen, Nagato to live, too!" She pulled out the Tales of The Gutsy Ninja and began showing Konan her favorite parts.

Konan recognized the main character as a young Nagato - with an awful lot of Yahiko mixed in. "I am not the one you need to convince, Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto nodded and thought about Nagato - her clansmen - as her father, Konan, and Jiraiya began negotiating possible terms for peace and the protection of Ame. What could convince him?

"You said that uniting the shinobi world against the Akatsuki was Nagato's plan. But what then? And are you sure that was Nagato's plan? –That Obito didn't manipulate him from the get-go?"

"Madara," Konan corrected her - even if she wasn't quite so sure, herself.

"I refuse to call that repulsive man anything other than what his name really is." Naruto looked to her father, silently daring him to say something to excuse what his traitorous student had done but fortunately, he stayed calm and silent. "Obito didn't exactly ingratiate himself to me when he killed my parents or kidnapped me. Or when he…"

"I'm sorry," Konan interrupted, needing to clarify this. "He KIDNAPPED you? When did this happen?!" He didn't tell us! The nine-tails was in our hands and yet he kept it a secret?

.

Kakashi frowned as his wife drifted away from him while he was speaking to her. He was just teasing her about an assignment when she gasped and began walking away but he didn't like the direction she was going or the way she'd looked like she'd just been genjutsu-ed when they'd walked back into HQ.

"It's really him, isn't it?" she asked Kurama.

"Seems so. He's not as sick this time but there's still something… off about him."

"I didn't know that you knew he was sick before. Ha: you're not even bitching about him."

"He and his clan are still despicable, Naruto. Watch yourself with him!"

"Hi," she said in an incredibly small voice when she reached him.

"Naru-chan," Itachi smiled from under his mask. "It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

Naruto thought she might cry. "Yeah. Okay… I'm probably going to hug you now." Itachi laughed - an incredibly attractive low and chocolatey chuckle that came from his chest as he gestured for her to follow him into a conference room instead.

Kakashi glared at his not-cute, not-little kohai as he escorted his wife into a conference room far across the main stretch of desks and closed the door.

"YOU," Naru yelled, instead, once in the partially-sealed conference room.

Shisui held up his hands and stood up, only to bow. "I'm sorry, Naruto-hime. I was ordered to look into any seals I could find in your mind and should have told you what I was doing first - rather than dived right in."

"Yeah! You could've told me what you wanted to do!" Itachi chuckled and Naru looked up at him - her irritation melting away. "Ah… I suppose I can forgive you. …I'm super glad you have two eyes in your head, Shisui-san." Shisui snorted. Naru noted that he had a scar over his eye just like Kakashi did: it was a bit thicker and not quite as long, down his cheek, but his scars didn't take anything away from his very good looks.

Itachi accepted the hug Naruto finally gave him. "Rather than dive into your mind like a brute, may I ask what you remember, hime-sama?" Naru seemed surprised but Itachi continued giving Shisui a wry, dirty look for frightening and nearly attacking the blonde kunoichi with his Sharingan months before and then smiled as he looked over the young woman whom he'd once guarded as a child. More like bowed to her insane whims as Shisui chased after her, dragging me along for the ride. "You've grown well, Naruto." He smiled more as Naruto lit up in a pretty blush.

"What a pervert," Shisui groused, ruining the mood.

Naruto clicked her tongue. She was getting no perv-vibes from Itachi and wasn't sure that she'd mind if she had - although such a thing would have been very weird. Either way, she could handle it. "Um. I don't know what you mean by remembering things. I… lost my memory as a result of a pretty nasty head injury when I was a child." She looked between the Uchiha cousins as they gave each other meaningful looks. "Maybe you can fill me in?" She took a step back when Itachi and Shisui bowed to her again. Idiots: stop bowing!

"You saved our clan, Naruto. I will forever be in your debt," Itachi said, his left hand twitching.

"I don't… I don't understand." It was too terrible to say "your clan is (almost) dead" as much as the Uzumaki clan was. "And please stand: you're being overly nice but weird."

"Maybe it's better that she doesn't know, Itachi," Shisui warned.

"I am in her debt," Itachi countered.

Naru blinked up at him. "You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to, Itachi."

"I am here, ya know," Shisui groused as he sat down and leaned over the desk he'd been writing up mission reports on. "You always ignored me in favor of that Pretty Boy, I guess." Itachi raised his eyebrow at him with a look that promised payback. Naru, though, was blushing: it was almost like the old days except that Naruto had grown up into the real looker that he always knew she would be one day. "SO, Itachi! Bet you're mad that she married Taicho, eh?"

Gosh, how he loved to screw with Itachi.

"Commander," Itachi reminded him in a hot whisper. He willed away the blush on his cheeks. He had thought it mad that his mother wanted (almost demanded) him to one day marry Naru-chan because of their age difference at the time. Commander Hatake and Naru had twice that age difference, however. "Stop giving me a hard time about that…"

"So does all this talk mean that you guys are not too involved with anyone? I'll definitely help you find that special girl or guy if not," Naruto said, quite uncomfortable with this whole new topic. She shook her head and huffed out a breath of disbelief over it while the men she barely and only hazily remembered as being "my Uchiha boys" as a child bickered. If it hadn't been for Kakashi, she probably would've liked the idea of marrying someone like Itachi which was INSANE considering that he'd once fake-hunted her and murdered his family: orders or not.

Plus Kurama would've utterly destroyed both of them: No Uchihas Allowed.

A knock on the door was perfect timing. Both Uchihas put their new masks back on as did she.

"Commander. How can I assist you?" Itachi asked. His boss was glaring at him, seeping KI and making him silently sigh. Shisui had told him that Kakashi was a jealous, possessive man - and what did Shisui do? He brought up things that would make Naruto uncomfortable when he finally was able to speak with her after all this time. Granted, they used to discuss this nonsense when she was a child but poor Naru probably didn't remember laughing at their expense back then.

"I require Fox."

"Hai! Hai, hai, hai!" Naru turned and smiled happily at the Uchihas. "We'll talk more later, eh?" Kakashi grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the room. "Oi, Commander," she hissed at her husband. "Don't…"

"Please. Everyone here is under me and you're about to be, literally…" A couple of his subordinates heard him and choked but Kakashi didn't care. "And everyone here knows of our relationship."

Naruto groaned and pulled her hand away but followed him anyway. He locked and sealed the door and was all over her, sucking and biting every bit of (more and more) exposed skin he could find after knocking her mask away. "You look so hot in uniform." Naru tried to slow him down when he fully unzipped her bodysuit but Kakashi wasn't having it. "I'm going to pump a baby into you, Naru-chan."

"Not in here, you're not… Wait! Kash!" A hot and hungry mouth devoured her shouts and laughter. It wasn't long until she gave in: he was way too good at this stuff... Naru had taken her temperature today, anyway, and the chances of her getting pregnant were incredibly low if not nonexistent.

Kakashi stopped, though, startling her as he raised his headband and frowned at her. Shakily, he tried to ask a key question but the words didn't come out quite as he'd intended. He cradled her cheek in his hand, petting it softly with his thumb. "You didn't say 'no.'"

Naruto had said (somewhat) recently that she wasn't ready to start working on the rest of their family and before that - marriage or no, CONTRACT or no - Naruto was too young to have a baby safely. —That was true of civilians at least and after reading about the risks, he'd gone to Tsunade for help.

"Well," Naru began uncomfortably, not wanting to express that she really hadn't been trying too hard to prevent pregnancy for a little while now because what if she couldn't have a child for whatever reason? What if she disappointed him? They'd both agreed that Jazu the golden retriever ninken puppy had turned out pretty well: that had been a good sign but the fact that with all their activities, she still hadn't gotten pregnant? That was a bad sign if there ever was one.

"After everything that's happened, I don't want to put off the rest of our lives - and wait and wait for things to 'normalize,' ya know?" She swallowed thickly because Naru feared that things would NEVER normalize. "If it will make you happy, I'd love to be - um - the mother of your children."

Kakashi, by this point, was framing her beautiful face in his hands. He nodded. "That would make me very happy. …I'll get rid of the seal and –then we'll see, right?" He let out a relieved laugh and felt oddly giddy. Geez; they'd only been married a couple of years but he was actually excited about this! Hell, he'd BEEN excited about this but now she was on board, too? He was over the fucking moon!

"Seal?" Naru asked after several seconds.

"Ah," he smiled before kissing her lips and face several times and hauling her up and around in a circle to do it some more. "Just a little experimental thing Tsunade cooked up to prevent something in the whole conception process. Hehe…" He didn't like explaining it although he understood what it did. Why the interchangeable seal worked on men better than women he'd never know.

Naruto crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at him. "Are you telling me… that I have been Freaking. Out. Over not being able to conceive and you've been wearing a SEAL to keep me from getting pregnant?!"

"No? Maa…Yes?"

In the meantime - while Kakashi and Naru were getting up to whatever they were getting up to in his sealed office - and Kurama was somewhat out of the seal, finally taking revenge on many of those who had abused him or Naruto - a henged Obito pretended to enjoy the Kitsune Festival but saw some things he REALLY didn't like.

.

Tired of dealing with sometimes naked, screeching villagers (much to others' amusement) - those kitsunes and their tricks and deals are really something else - Kakashi tried to repair the concrete gaming structure he and Gai had built near the back engawa again. He had designed the thing to play various games on, but considering the way Minato and Naruto would go bananas competing against each other and flying around in sage mode (even when it was used for things like table tennis,) he constantly had to reinforce it and smooth out the thing. "How are you feeling?" he asked when he heard the door slide open. Naruto had been stressed out ever since the extended festival began.

Minato extended it when Konoha and the Daimyo realized how much money and tourism it was bringing in.

Kakashi also hoped that Naruto would start vomiting or something, proving that she was pregnant no matter how early it would be. She'd cut him off temporarily when he had truthfully answered that he wanted her knocked up to get rid of pretty-boy Uchiha advances. She thought that was ridiculous and a terrible reason to get pregnant. Silly woman. He had other reasons, too, but that was a plenty good reason.

"I'm fine. And I'm experiencing next to no chakra drain which worries me," Naruto said. "Even I'M supposed to be taxed by keeping every single fox, vixen, or kitsune: whatever title each prefers, out of their summoning realm 24/7. –I think they may have revolted. I KNOW they're ignoring me - aside from dumping water on my head now and then." Of course, they were doing that to lots of people.

The villagers were being great sports about their nonsense. And any time something good happened to someone, he or she would shout to the masses that the kitsunes were responsible for their improved fortune. Worse, a small group of villagers had begun worshiping them after winning big in the lottery.

Her father's propaganda was amazing.

Kakashi smiled while thanking Naru for her willingness to help him. Her hands were too delicate and pretty to do manual labor as he was doing, though. (He thought nothing of the way she wouldn't think of pulling punches against a Hashirama tree. –Or against anything else.) "They're having a good time. If they've declared independence, they're not causing too much trouble."

"Konohamaru would say otherwise. Apparently, Rei, the smaller yellow fox? He decided to send a couple of the Academy classes into some kind of 'light pheromone craze.' There were all kinds of love confessions; it sounded absolutely ridiculous and embarrassed some of the kids terribly."

Kono-kun had mentioned something else, too, though: something Naruto had never heard of and wasn't sure whether she should scold him for or not. "Kakashi, I get what pheromones are supposed to be, but what's all this crap about… betas or omegas? Is that what it is when you wish to be a different gender? –Is it some kind of antiquated, insulting term? –I wanted to ask Iruka-sensei plus see what he did to subdue the kids after Rei messed with them; Kono said Iruka-sensei said some other weird shit and I thought I might as well ask him while…"

Kakashi's work had come to a complete halt. He stared at his beautiful wife and had to shake his perverted and innately dissatisfied thoughts off. "No."

"'No?' Aww, c'mon now: you said that you weren't jealous of Iruka-sensei anymore." Kakashi growled and glared at the table/concrete block he was working on.

"I was talking about the terminology you used. I think I've got a banned book about that type of thing: it's old but explains things well enough, I guess. –You shouldn't bring it up, Naru-chan: I'm surprised that someone as young as Konohamaru-chan has even heard of those things."

Naruto hummed. A banned book? -That had to be an interesting read. "Considering the timing, one of the foxes probably opened his or her mouth about whatever it is." She really only brought it up because what had happened at the Academy was one kind of jerkwad example of what her furry summons were running around doing.

The fox's genjutsu prowess was no joke, though - and even without performing a jutsu, those maniacs could talk people into doing almost anything! "Tsunade told Jiraiya that she loved him. –Jiraiya thinks the foxes made her do it: he doesn't believe her."

Her Super Pervert grandfather was also quietly grieving the Sandaime Hokage's death, although Naruto figured that Tsunade-baa-chan was probably at least grieving the better memories she had of the man. She knew that Tsunade had once loved the Sandaime as a fill-in father figure.

"Good riddance to bad rubbish. –Isn't that how the phrase goes?" Tsunade had said after learning of the Sandaime's death.
She got drunk as a skunk after that, though.

Kakashi's lips curled up behind his mask. "What do you think?"

"I know she loves and cares for him as a friend but Jiraiya made it sound like a lovey-dovey confession. –She was supposedly sober, too. …It would be wonderful if they really got together." Two such good yet messed-up people really deserved some happiness.

Everyone did.

I wonder how he reacted. Kakashi knew that Jiraiya was always so confident around women (and anyone really) but he could get flustered around Tsunade. "I find it hard to believe that the kitsunes could pull something like that on Senju Tsunade." She is sharp.

"Kash," Naruto sighed, shaking her head, "Tsunade's been WINNING all week!" Naruto knew just as well as her grandmother did that when The Legendary Sucker began winning, something terrible was about to happen.

Kakashi stood up and took off his sweaty headband, allowing his hair to fall down in his eyes before shaking it back. "Where's she gambling?"

"Here in Konoha. She's got some friends that may or may not be Yakuzas."

"Of course she does. …Stay away from them, Naru-chan."

"Right," Naru said reluctantly. She'd, as usual, been on a winning streak alongside her grandmother, too, so whatever terrible things Tsunade thought were right around the corner were surely only in the Slug Sannin's imagination, right?

Naru wished she could believe that.

.

Sasuke looked at the robe Orochimaru had just given him in disgust. "Why?" Before now, he'd been forced to wear a lavender outfit that he found distasteful but it was at least comfortable. He could admit this black and red clouds material looked cooler but the material and style of it? He didn't like it.

It was also what Orochimaru had been wearing when he attacked his team in the Forest of Death. Those weren't great memories.

Orochimaru rolled his eyes; Uchiha Sasuke was still a disrespectful brat. "Wear it however you'd like - although I believe it's time we talked about going to the next level, Sasuke-kun. …It's past time for a discussion about many things."

Sasuke glared at him. If the Oto leader wanted to "talk," he'd talk, alright. "You want me for my body."

Orochimaru blinked at the younger man twice before breaking out in laughter - so much so that it was almost difficult for him to calm down. "Ohhhhhh, Sasuke-kun. I am no longer interested in baser human needs or feasts of the flesh. Come with me." Sasuke scoffed but dutifully followed him through his base deep within a mountain bordering Lightning Country. He sucked in a breath when he saw the many… floating (?)clones(?) the Snake Sannin was experimenting with. "THIS is my future. …My children."

Sasuke frowned, unsure if he was more disgusted or intrigued with what he was seeing. "Hn."

"Indeed," Orochimaru breathed as he sat down, misunderstanding his apprentice once again. "If you are to improve and reach the level you desire and are capable of, Sasuke-kun, you will need my… additional assistance. You will have to do and submit to things you may not morally approve of."

Sasuke was tired of his riddles; Orochimaru was never direct when they had these little talks. "Such is the life of a shinobi."

"Indeed," Orochimaru agreed. "Explain what Minato did to you, exactly, before you came to me and we can proceed."

Sasuke sighed; this was a problem. Hokage-sama had put a seal on his tongue but Orochimaru was able to override it, at least partially. At one point, he could say little about the Leaf and its leader but now he wasn't restricted. As was his usual tactic since the seal was broken, he chose to direct their conversation in another direction. "You want me for my Sharingan."

Orochimaru bit his tongue. He'd entertain Sasuke's questions for now. "Before I became immortal there was little I wished for more than the Sharingan. 'Why,' you ask? –It would allow me to copy all known jutsus. But your dojutsu is a cheat, Sasuke-kun." He enjoyed the way Sasuke bristled and looked so irritated by the truth he'd just been presented with.

"What do you mean, 'immortal?'"

"I mean that I cannot die," Orochimaru stated simply. "If I cannot die, why would I choose to cheat? Years - perhaps even eons from now - wouldn't I become bored? No… The pursuit of knowledge has always been what drives me, Sasuke-kun. Since my experience with you and your little friends in the Forest of Death, I have had an epiphany."

- That was one way to phrase it. Orochimaru had not enjoyed meeting an unhappy, vengeful Shinigami: the Namikazes and Uzumakis could deal with him.

Because of that experience, Orochimaru had quickly made alterations to himself to ensure the Death God couldn't touch him again. As always, he'd improved himself. He'd also remembered many things since their meeting. One thing he was sure of was that Sasuke-kun could be better - had been immensely better - than he was now, even with his magnificent eyes. "Are you ready to make yourself into a better shinobi, Sasuke-kun? One that is as good or even better than Itachi could ever think of being?"

"Hn." Sasuke wanted to ask the Oto leader if he really thought that was possible; if he had that much faith in him. No one ever had, though, so he wasn't sure that he wanted to know the answer even from Mr. Supposedly Immortal. "I have a loyalty….NGhhhh!" He bent over, gritting his teeth in pain and frustration.

"Minato put a loyalty seal on you," Orochimaru guessed. "Point to where it is and I'll see if I can relieve the pain in which you're unfairly suffering, Sasuke-kun."

When he was finally able to move, Sasuke pointed to his neck. He did not like being controlled so if Orochimaru could get the seal off, he'd let him.

"Excellent."

"He said that he would know," Sasuke admitted.
Would Minato-sama flash to their location and slay them both for messing with that seal?

Orochimaru figured that would be the case but was pleased that Sasuke was being so deferential to him. "Let us use that knowledge to our advantage, then."

.

Temari blinked up at her boyfriend and fellow ambassador through thick dark blonde lashes. "Do you really think your parents will like me?" She was normally bold and self-assured, but she'd grown to really care about Nara Shikamaru. His family was important to him, so they would be important to her, too.

And they had work to do in the Leaf. Shikamaru had been in Suna for far too long without checking in, in person, in Konoha. Hokage-sama wanted them back to discuss the next Chunin Exams and certain security issues.

The Nara heir stuck his hands in his pockets and smirked at his girlfriend. "What's not to love?" He smiled when she blushed prettily and called him a baka. "Got everything you need?"

Temari nodded. "Thanks to your very convenient seals, packing was incredibly easy."

"I do aim to please," Shikamaru smiled.

Kankuro groaned before mock-saluting his brother. "See ya in a week or so, Gaara. –I'll send a bird." He and three Chunins would be escorting his sister back to Konoha where she'd be LIVING for a while. "Let's go!"