-AN-

Hehehe, Deidara gets to fanboy out, we get a quick peek at Konoha, and Naruto has made something new and terrifying? What else is new.

-Story Start-

Many were still getting used to the newest addition to the city skyline of Uzushio, the large airship jutting out from the Uzumaki tower made for an impressive conversation starter but it was a bit of an eyesore to the locals for now. However, to tourists, it was fairly impressive to see such a ship docked there so peacefully in the sky. Having gotten the go ahead to come and visit, Konan and Deidara were two such visitors to Uzushio. Being escorted by an outwardly chipper Ino, they step onto a waiting trolley while looking out towards the city. Almost right away Ino can tell that Deidara is the one to keep occupied, Konan very much the quiet type who has been putting up with the louder and more animated man. That was fine with her, gave her opportunities to build a psych profile after all.

"So, Deidara right? You're originally from Iwa?"

Nodding enthusiastically, Deidara focuses completely on Ino, "Yes yes. From their blast corps. But, they didn't appreciate my art, so I took my show on the road so to speak." Here he spread his arms out a bit with a wide smile that showed a lot of teeth, "Leader let's me show off my art to the masses, and I couldn't appreciate that more. Though of course, my art pales in comparison to your leader's. Truly he is a visionary and an once in a generation genius. His work outside of Tanzaku? Truly just, mwuah, chef's kiss perfection." Physically kissing his fingers, Deidara was very proud of himself at the moment.

"I'm sure he would love to hear you appreciate his work." Eyebrows raising a bit, she was beginning to worry that this guy might have more than a few screws loose. Maybe it was a trait of explosion users.

"Appreciate? No no. His work is awe inspiring. Breathtaking. Chilling. There aren't enough words to describe how his work makes me feel. But I've never been more inspired! Truly, even just a moment with him and I feel like I could improve just that much more. Reach new heights I've never even thought to reach. I won't go so far to say that I worship him, no, I'm not that idiot Hidan. But it's close."

Ino couldn't help but smile and chuckle, knowing that from experience, this guy was acting a lot like a fan girl about to meet their celebrity crush. Just great. "Well you'll be able to meet him for a bit today to relay your message to him. Though of course, the usual warnings apply."

It is Konan who chimes in, happy that someone else can entertain the demolition expert who to all who met him seemed a few marbles short of a full bag, "We should not be long. I would just like to reconfirm his beliefs and extend an invitation to him to visit our own village. Then we will depart."

Deidara tries hard not to pout, and fails, "Couldn't we stay a bit longer? You know, so we can swap stories, experiences? Notes maybe?"

Konan levels bored eyes at him, "Really?" Seeing him nod, the powerful woman sighs and shakes her head, "This is a mission, not a field trip."

"This is for my art, I shall not let anything stand in my way of that."

"I'll have to remind Pain of that when we return."

"Eh?" Deidara paused as he thought about that. Push for more time for his art, or piss off leader and probably die. "Well, I guess, if that's best then."

As the two talk, Ino sits back and watches them for a bit, taking in their dynamic. While Deidara boasted explosion skills and amazing feats, Konan was very much the one in control. And further, this leader of theirs now identified as Pain was apparently very powerful. If for no other clues that the willingness for Deidara to back down and give up on his guest to improve his art. A little alarming considering, but Naruto would know what to do with that information later. More so too, remembering her notes and the third member of their team waiting in a hotel room back in Wave. Because who would have ever thought that Itachi would not only give his real name, but so easily as well. Granted, almost no one had believed it when he did, so there was that. It did however link these two to Akatsuki as well and that had put everyone in Riptide on high alert. Were they here to capture Naruto then, or were they really just here to talk? This group had apparently been running around hunting biju for a long while, only to suddenly stop. Ino and the others had voiced their concerns to Naruto only for him to wave them away with a grin. He assured them all that Konan wanted to talk and that was it. In his mind, why come all the way to his village so publicly just to start a fight. Especially in a village known once upon a time for its mastery of seals. Fighting on his home turf was suicide. No, Uzu had nothing to fear today.

That said, all of the members of Riptide were on high alert, keeping their distance but watching the two from afar. Karin and Honoka were down in their computer room and lab, monitoring things with the city golem more personally. Naruto may be confident and back to full health, but the girls needed to reassure themselves as well. As far as the rest of the general Uzushio ninja knew, a pair of powerful ninja were visiting and to be on their best behavior. Ino and the rest knew that the Uzu ninja were a very protective bunch, and didn't need to be riled up with the knowledge that Akatsuki were in town.

Looking up as they entered the city center and the tower loomed above them, Ino hopped off and waited for the pair to do the same. Konan was the first to speak up again, "Certainly there have been rapid advancements here. Lots of samurai and an airship. Does Naruto truly seek peace? This seems more like a ninja state building up its military assets in preparation to continue the same wars that many others have and do." It would be disappointing but predictable if that was the case. Like she and Pain had learned, power corrupted even the best of them. By the feel of the people around them, Naruto had a lot of power here.

Ino took in the area around them, the main tower plaza a little empty due to the early morning hour though the city streets were busy and shops were already open, she had to remember that to an outsider it would look more military than it actually was. Maybe she'd recommend to Karin to toning down the samurai golem in the future. "I can't say Uzushio doesn't project an image of a normal military state. Rest assured though, in terms of operation and our mandate, that's the furthest from the truth." Pausing as she reached the first destination where she really wanted to gauge their reactions, she stands before the memorial monument. "Best I can say, we do not want a repeat of the original Uzushiogakure." This month saw a mix of orange and red flowers of various species populating the space around the monument. Several people walked by, giving the group looks while Ino nods to many of them who greet her quietly.

Both Akatsuki members stand before the memorial and read its inscription there. Konan is quick to bow her head, clapping her hands and offering a silent prayer to those slain. While not a heavily religious person, she still believed and hoped that those who died were allowed to pass on peacefully. As she took in how well cared for the memorial was, she considered that maybe she could do something like this in Rain. Well, if the people cared enough for it. What surprised her however was Deidara. Next to her the usually spastic and loud man had dropped to his knees, bowing his head to the ground and offering his own quiet prayer before sitting up straight and rifling through his clothes.

"What are you doing Deidara?" Konan's voice was quiet, but questioning. He was beginning to attract a bit of a crowd after all. Curious onlookers weren't saying anything and no was was stopping him, as he finally unseals and removes a roughly 20cm wide piece of thick glass.

Deidara smiles as he looks down into the surface of the dirty material. Refusing to clean it from where he had taken it from the crater just outside of Konoha, now deemed glass lake, there was half of a seal burned into its surface. He considered that he should explain himself a bit however as he finally stood slowly, "My art. It's all about love and expression of the perfect moment. I consider the explosion to be just that, the ultimate expression of beauty in a moment. And I can tell, Lord Naruto believes the same. But…" And here his voice quiets down, almost reverent as he nestles the jagged and cracked glass against the monument and among the flowers, reflecting light and catching attention. "His art also shows that there is beauty that can last, in freezing a moment in time, of leaving a lasting impact on the world around you. A loud statement that shouts, I was here!" Voice raised for only a moment, Deidara stands back and looks up to the tip of the memorial, "The Maelstrom showed me that explosions can be both a fleeting moment and leave a lasting memory. A testament to their creator. So I give this back, one everlasting piece of the Maelstrom's first major artwork, come back home to show that he and Uzushio are here to stay."

Behind him, Konan's eyebrows go from raised to softening, a gentle smile on her face, "Perhaps I have misjudged you, Deidara."

Next to her, Ino nodded with much of the same sentiment but did not voice it, seeing a quiet pair coming to join them.

From next to Konan and apparently unnoticed, Naruto hums and internally chuckles at the light jump from the older woman, "That's a well thought out offering. I'm sure many of our citizens will appreciate it." Holding out a hand to Deidara, Naruto was all grins while Hinata stood quietly off to the side, "Thank you. Having this piece of my past returned is pretty touching." It reminded him that while he had nearly killed Gaara during the invasion of Konoha, he had come out of it with a loyal friend. It had helped solidify early that not everyone was to far gone, that some could be talked back from the edge of their darkness.

Deidara reached forward and took it, firmly shaking Naruto's hand with a grin, "As one artist to another, the honor is all mine."

Looking towards Konan while Deidara pumped his arm furiously, Naruto sent her a questioning look. She smiled and shook her head, "He's my guard for this time around."

Nodding and eventually getting his hand back, Naruto turns and motions down the road, "Follow me, let's go on a little tour and we can talk." Konan fell into step next to him while Hinata walked just slightly behind them with Ino and Deidara who again seemed to want to wax poetic about the meeting. Not far away and shadowing them is a relaxed En, keeping a respectable distance. Looking back, Naruto turns a grin towards Ino. "Would you mind going and checking in on Karin and Honoka?" Here he winks and hooks a thumb towards En, "I think I have enough guards for today and I'm sure they could use the company."

Not even hesitating, Ino bows to Deidara and Konan. "It's been fun meeting you. I hope we can continue to be on friendly terms." Waving as she turned, she jogged back towards the tower while En took her place.

Konan raises an eyebrow as they continue along on the right side of the street on the sidewalk, everyone easily giving them a wide berth upon seeing Naruto. "You seem to command a lot of respect from your people."

Naruto nods, waving to a shop owner who tries to entice him with a early morning bowl of ramen, "It's easy I think, when everyone knows you'll fight tooth and nail for them." Naruto watched a large golem lumber by shaped like a giant lizard and carrying about a dozen children on its back, "At one point or another, I've helped or saved a good portion of people in this village. I have their trust, not because I have power, but because I've put my money where my mouth is so to speak." Naruto grins and looks directly at her now, "I want to build a peaceful world, or at least, as peaceful as it is ever going to be." Naruto did not fool himself on this. He couldn't change a lot of things, but human nature was not on that list.

Thinking his words over, Konan does internally smile as the young man she had met before does not seem to have changed very much. Still the optimist with a loyalty streak a mile wide. "My leader says he is willing to meet with you, but, due to limitations on his body it would be easier for you to come and meet him instead." Push came to shove she could summon Nagato's main body here, but that could cause its own issues. Right now she knew him enough to know if there was a chance for talks to go well, he at least needed to be on comfortable ground. Hopefully Naruto didn't take offense to this.

Which he didn't, Karin having updated him before he came down to meet with Konan, "Must be hard. I'm sure Akatsuki members are having a more difficult time moving around freely these days."

Surprise clear on her face, Konan schools her features and mentally berates herself. Of course he knew by now who she was, coming here with Itachi of all people practically screamed it for one. Still, she felt compelled to ask, "So you know. And allowed us entry anyway."

Chuckling and nodding as the area around them becomes less business oriented and more entertainment district, Naruto just smirks at her, "Itachi was more than enough proof. But your wording was a clue too. You keep calling him Leader, but never Kage. So it wasn't a village head, but with as powerful as you are, it had to be quite the organization. So, I made a guess and Itachi showing up solidified it." Here Naruto shrugged and folded his arms behind his back, "So long as he remains peaceful in Wave there will be no problems." Though Sasuke might be pissed off with him later when he found out about it. He'd still tell him regardless, he had made a promise which was also why he wasn't flying off to kill Itachi right away. That was Sasuke's vengeance, not his.

Konan can only shake her head, "In his own way, twisted though it may be, Itachi does love his little brother."

"Of everything we can negotiate and talk about, Itachi's fate isn't one of them. That's between those two brothers. If Sasuke still wants to kill him, I'm sworn to help with that." Naruto stares ahead, continuing to smile for the benefit of people around them. Didn't want to give the impression this little tour wasn't going well after all.

Konan can understand where he was coming from. "You'll not have to worry about retaliation if you end up killing a member or two depending on who they are. We're more of a loose collection of strong individuals. Most are here because leader pays them, while some are more personal reasons. Not everyone believes in Pain's end goal, and that's okay."

Nodding and saying nothing for a moment, Naruto continues to lead the way and offers waves to several curious citizens. Now firmly in the loud and boisterous district, Naruto motioned to brightly colored signs and busy looking venues. Even early morning and people were finding time to relax and find ways to de-stress, "Welcome to the party district. We may still be a military, but Uzushio's capital is meant to be more focused on the civilians. So it is here that an entire district is dedicated to entertainment and fun, whichever flavor that may be. From family stuff to the usual, more seedy."

"Very cavalier about that. Are you not worried about your people's reputation?"

Shaking his head, Naruto waved at a burly bouncer trying to wave him and his group inside a quiet looking bar, "In one way or another everyone gambles or drinks or smokes. At least we can give em a safe place to do so."

"You truly love your people." Konan can see it in all of the faces that return greetings or offer shouts to the young man, "Admittedly a lot of the freedoms you allow your people seem reminiscent to Konoha."

Finally shrugging while trying not to dwell on thinking about that place, Naruto keeps going, "I am originally from that place, so I wanted to use as many good qualities while trying to avoid the bad. It's not perfect, but we keep striving to improve."

Case in point, not far in front of them double doors burst open and two men go flying out into the street, exchanging fists while grunting and yelling at each other. Behind them and holding one of the doors open, a waitress in a fairly short blue yukata was yelling at them both.

"Don't you come back! Either of you! You cause too much trouble!"

"Wait! Keiko my sweet! Let me explain!"

"Explain this fist shitball!"

"Screw you asshole! That's my girl you were getting handsy with!"

Naruto and co watch as half a dozen Samurai jog into the street, quickly pulling the men apart and slapping cuffs on their wrists. Not ninja at least, Naruto was relieved about that. Preprogrammed as they were for certain conditions, the Samurai were quick to finish restraining both men and carry them away. "Yeah, not perfect, but working on it."

Konan offers him a bemused grin, "If those are your biggest issues, count yourself lucky."

"I do." Naruto continued the trek, the main road curving with its designed spiral, "Always my biggest worry is corruption. Power corrupts, and I want to prevent that as much as possible."

"Power is the most dangerous drug."

"I'd like to build up as many allies as I can and then. We'll experiment with different ways to run our nations. I'd like to build a system where we talk about our issues first. Force should never be necessary between friends."

"And those who aren't your friends?"

"If they can at least stick to not being violent I can do the same. But if they want to get violent, well, I have something for that."

Konan nods, "I think Pain would like to talk with you. I can't promise that he'll join your growing alliance, but well…" She pauses as she considers her longest and oldest friend, "Maybe I'm hoping for a bit of a miracle."

Naruto nods, pulling free a temporary Hiraishin tag and handing it to her, "When you return, add some chakra to that and I'll appear or one of my clones will. We can figure things out from there. I'm usually good for one miracle." Watching Konan accept the tag with a slight bow Naruto continued, "Just a heads up, attempting to copy that doesn't end well. It's a one and done sort of thing."

Konan sighs internally, as she had been thinking about copying the seal with her unique paper based abilities. She didn't want to think about what nasty traps an Uzumaki seal might have on it however. "I'll make sure leader is the only one to have this seal."

"Oh, also, it can only be used outside, keep that in mind."

Behind them Deidara tries to bring Hinata into conversation, "Truly Lord Naruto is a visionary and a true artist. It's no surprise that has carried over into truly inspirational leadership qualities as well."

Hinata smirks, "He is truly a one of a kind man. No one could hope to replace him in our hearts here in Uzushio. We would march on the gates of hell if he so asked."

Both watch each other quietly for a few moment gauging each other while En watched on before Deidara bows to her, "Only a truly remarkable woman can see a visionary for who he is. I can only assume that you are an artist as well."

Shaking her head but smiling, Hinata returns the bow, "You are an, interesting, individual. You must have incredible skill to be able to see Naruto's greatness from only seeing his explosions. Though I must admit, I do not boast the same proficiency that he does."

Deidara nods, "Fret not. Maybe I can help inspire you and help with your art as Lord Naruto has done for me. I hope that one day I have the chance to spar and exchange ideas with him if time ever allows." This young woman had a good eye and deserved respect for it.

Looking back, Naruto can't help but grin, "We can make that happen today as I have plenty of free time." He only grins wider as En and Hinata both sigh heavily. He adjusts their course regardless and they begin making their way to his training ground, because every day needed an explosion or two. With the main conversation out of the way, there was nothing else holding them back after all.

-b-

Far away nestled deep within its forest, Konoha continued on with its own daily routine. Safely behind her desk, or as safe as she could be in a world where Naruto knew the Hiraishin, Tsunade handed over mission details to Team seven while Jiraiya stood off to the side.

Tsunade rests her hands on her desk while watching the group as calmly as she could. "In light of more political shakeup between Uzushio and Konoha, we're trying to keep away from their area of influence for a short while. We're already on thin ice with the Spring Daimyo, what with Sai trying to bomb their newest and largest capital city." Tsunade sighs and relaxes back in her chair, "You'll be going very far south, to the island of the Crescent Moon Kingdom on a protection and escort mission. I'll just say that this mission is extremely important for our reputation right now. Iwa and Kumo both have been sniffing around as well and we have to continue to show that we can and will continue to be as strong as ever." Not that they could do much anymore. While Iwa had lost their jinchuriki a long time ago, Kumo still boasted two of theirs. Konoha was obviously out of their own, even if they were still allies. But Kumo didn't know that, and with recent pokes at their borders, Kumo seemed willing to test them.

Kakashi folds the mission scroll away and puts it in a pocket in his jonin vest, "Rest assured Lady Hokage, we will complete this mission no problem and return quickly. I'm sure Sasuke and Sakura would love to join in on the upcoming chunin exams and would be more than happy to put on a good showing for Konoha."

Sasuke can't help but grin, "That could be fun, beating around some wannabes."

Sakura shook her head, "I don't wanna sound cocky, but by this point it'd almost be too easy."

Kakashi shook his head and motioned for them to leave, "I feel like you both are compensating for Naruto not being here. That's…concerning."

Sakura shrugged, "We've gotta keep you on your toes sensei."

"Better than meddling in my love life."

"Oh we can still do that, we have plenty of time." Sakura was still on a mission to convince Shizune and Tsunade to migrate to Uzushio instead. It was slow going, but she could tell she was breaking Tsunade down slowly but surely.

Kakashi turned to Sasuke as they made their way through the door, "Can't you stop her?"

"You wanna take one of her punches head on? No? Okay then." Leaving Tsunade and Jiraiya alone as the door clicked shut behind them, Jiraiya couldn't help but chuckle as Tsunade sighed heavily.

"Just what will we be unleashing on the world if we let them take the chunin exams?"

Grunting as he sat in one of the chairs facing her desk, Jiraiya waved her concerns away, "You want a show of force? Those two will get it done. Out of all of the rookies, they're leaps and bounds ahead of everyone else in terms of skill and strength."

Tsunade can't help but relax back further, leaning in her chair and watching the ceiling, "Every generation improves and climbs higher than the last. To think they would be so strong so quickly. By the time they're Kakashi's age they'll easily be as strong as us."

Jiraiya shook his head, "Most likely stronger. You know how motivated they are to catch up with Naruto." The old man pauses at the calm look on his teammate's face and grins, "You've been in a good mood lately. Things must have been going well for you."

"Yeah." Tsunade nodding absentmindedly, "Danzo hasn't been around much to make my life hell. Apparently he's taken a bit of a sabbatical to attend to issues at home. Didn't even know the old bastard had any family left to worry about." He had only stopped in to check in with the council once, and after that had been rather shut in. Only a few sightings of the man here and there in the village. At least people knew he was alive.

"Huh, weird." As far as Jiraiya knew, he didn't. But he wasn't going to say anything about it.

Focusing back on the moment, Tsunade sits up and locks her gaze on Jiraiya, "So, I've got a job for you."

"Oh ho, finally giving in to this pervert's charms maybe? I'll warn ya, I'll have you up for days if you let me."

Waving him off with a blush, Tsunade pulls free another mission scroll, "Shut it you old goat. It's a mission." Seeing the pervert clam up and wait, the Kage can't help but smirk, "You need to get in touch with Naruto, quickly. Head to Uzu and let him know that something has changed recently with Anko's curse seal and it has begun to act oddly. I've had to pull her off missions in the meantime. And because outside of Orochimaru the only people on the planet who have enough knowledge on these curse seals are you and Naruto, you can understand why I'm asking him."

Jiraiya understood very well. He could suppress the seals, but Naruto could full remove them. Cheating punk. "I'll convince the kid to come then. Well, either that or we can take Anko there. Gotta make it easy for the kid since we're asking him for something."

Thinking on that, Tsunade knows that Jiraiya is speaking the truth. While on a personal level they were all still friends and allies, tensions between Konoha and Uzushio were still high. Sending Anko to Uzushio wouldn't be a horrible idea. She was already off missions and she didn't have a team to train. "Sure. Go ahead and take her to Uzu with you then. She might appreciate the break. Hell, take Iruka with you, make it a diplomatic good will mission." That particular thought led her to rifling through her desk for a few moments before coming up with another slightly larger scroll and handing it over to Jiraiya. "That is another payment that we owe to Uzushio. Don't touch it. We're making this an official goodwill mission in full. I'll file it accordingly."

"Goodwill huh?" Jiraiya can't help but chuckle, "In where we ask Naruto to spend some time helping us out?"

Tsunade waves his concern away, "Naruto likes weird problems like this and he'll have fun teasing the hell out of Anko and Iruka."

Jiraiya does have to nod at that last point. Naruto would enjoy teasing his old teacher immensely. "Alright. I'll get a move on then. I'll be back as fast as I can. Don't wanna leave you alone too long." Chuckling as a pencil flew by his head, Jiraiya was out a window and bounding away across the village.

Left alone completely now, Tsunade can't help but consider this some good luck. Sure most of her highly skilled teams were out on missions right now, including most of the rookies, but everyone was giving Konoha space for the moment. While she knew better than to make a bet over it, even with herself, she did want to give thanks. Things were quiet. Nor did she have to worry about some shadowy terrorist organization coming after them anymore. That was fully Naruto's problem now. She knew he could handle himself at least, the explosion junkie.

Down the road and away from the Hokage tower, Team Seven walks along as they consider their mission. The Land of the Moon was a long ways away from Konoha, just the ship journey would be at least a week, maybe a little less. Focused as they are, they miss the blonde haired girl sneaking in among them to wrap an arm around Sasuke's waist. Causing the boy to shudder and Sakura to squawk, they take in the blue capri pants, stretched tight orange t-shirt and a black short jacket before they meet the whiskered face of their old teammate, even if he is currently a she.

Sasuke couldn't help but twitch, twin orbs of soft flesh pressed into his side, "What are you doing Naruto?" This had to be the real one, none of the clones could pull off the transformation this well. "Don't you have a city to run?" He didn't want to think about the fact that it was so easy for Naruto to sneak up on them. Granted, he knew them really well, so it did make some sense. It was still a little freaky.

Naruko however just grins and hugs him tighter, "Hush, call me Naruko when I'm like this. And I missed you guys so I wanted to see you." Mismatched blue and purple eyes bright as always, the sudo girl winks at him, "Aw don't tell me I got you all flustered Sasuke."

Shoving his best friend away, Sasuke shook his head, "Sakura was right, you're somehow even more insufferable than ever. I'll tell Hinata and Ino to bully you the next time I see them."

Puffing out her cheeks, Naruko pouts, "You're so mean." She however does accept a hug from a happy Sakura. "See, this is how it's supposed to be. We miss each other, hug it out, swap stories."

Sakura can't help but jab her friend in the shoulder, "Why are you a girl right now anyway?"

"Call in infiltration practice." Snagging an apple from an unsuspecting vendor, the pigtailed girl grins and takes a huge bite, "I'm usually so in your face, I don't get to practice much."

Sasuke shook his head, "Kinda not fair when you can literally transform into whoever or whatever you want."

Naruko winks at him, a teasing tone in her voice, "Want me to turn into a slightly older Sakura? Bet that could be fun."

Sakura scoffed and crossed her arms, "Should I be worried that your practice is hitting on my boyfriend? I'm telling the Foxden girls."

Naruko leaned forward to look at Sakura from Sasuke's other side, "I can always change into an older Sasuke…" That got the girl quiet in a moment, the blush building on her face telling them all more than enough. "See, my way is more fun."

"I'm not a pervert!"

Sasuke sighed, "No one called you a pervert Sakura."

Kakashi however can't help but watch the three quietly. While it was nice for Naruto to be here as if no time had passed and for the moment Kakashi could pretend like his team had never been broken up. Something was very wrong about this. Something at the corner of his mind was tingling. He just couldn't remember what. "Naru..ko. Why are you here really?"

Shrugging, Naruko couldn't help the shark like grin that stretched across her face as she finished off her stolen apple, "Oh just someone needed an attitude adjustment was all. Then I had some free time and wanted to come see you three." Her eyes turned back to Sasuke, "You should actually come help me ya know. I think it'll be really good for ya." Handing him a scroll from an inner pocket on her jacket, she points at it calmly, "Don't open that until you're outside and on your way with your mission. It's important that you remember that okay?"

Sasuke nods, putting the scroll away, "Sure thing. You'll have to tell me all about it when I get back."

Getting between Sakura and Sasuke, Naruko can't help but widen her grin some more, "Oh don't you worry, I'll fill you both as much as you like when you get back." Here she wiggles her eyes at both of them, "Why, I'll come crash at your place, we can stay up all night, get to know each other all over again. What do ya say?"

Once more thrown a little off, Sakura sputters while Sasuke just sighs and can't help but feel like Naruto has gone even further off the deep end. "I think the explosions have finally rattled your brain a bit too much."

Kakashi however is frowning behind his mask, something finally starting to bug him a bit too much. "Naruko, what is going on?"

Letting go of the pair, fingers trailing along their necks and making them both shiver, Naruko gets ready to blend back into the crowd, "Nothing to be worried about. I mean well enough. Ya know, maybe you should consider taking some time off in Uzu soon. I hear it's amazing this time of year."

Sakura catches the tone in Kakashi's voice, which prompts her to realize with a start that all of this was a bit too outlandish even for Naruto. "Hey, Naruko. Question for ya."

"Hmm, what's up Sakura, I gotta get back to what I was doing soon."

"What's your favorite ramen type?"

"What kind of question is that?" Naruko does look genuinely confused before grinning, "Naruto loves all the ramen." From there she fades away between vendor stalls, and then she's gone. Leaving the rest of Team Seven standing there in the middle of the road. Forced to continue walking, their mood is instantly different.

Sasuke is the first to speak up, "I thought it was a little weird for Naruto to be so touchy feely. But who could that have really been?" Why had they decided to talk in the third person when answering them? It wasn't right.

Sakura however shook her head, "I think it was a clone, the chakra signature was way to close to Naruto's to be anything else. But…that was. I don't know." Personally she was even more freaked out about how easily the blonde bombshell blended in with the crowd. "His clones are as weird as ever though."

Kakashi is the one to voice his own more jarring opinion out loud, "It was a clone for sure. But it was much too independent. It was the eyes that threw me off." Seeing his students look at him and wait, he points to his own covered eye, "There were no ripples there. While last we saw him he had at least two. This might be a clone he made a long time ago and left here to complete some job."

That logic was sound and made sense to Sakura, "Good thing we didn't dispel it on accident then."

Sasuke frowned at that, "Didn't you slug it in the shoulder?"

Stumbling as yes indeed she did, that was more interesting now, "Yeah…and since when do clones eat?"

Kakashi was frowning some more, "They don't." The only way they would get answers would be to ask Naruto himself or track down the clone, but they didn't have time for that. "For now we work under the assumption that Naruto made a more robust clone and left it to do something for him. We check the scroll once we're a day away from Konoha, sound good?"

Sasuke nods, "Yeah." No. Something else was bothering him now. More a feeling than anything else that he could put into words. Which also meant he'd agonize over it for days until he figured it out.

Already putting the interaction out of her mind and worrying on the more direct issue, Sakura pointed at the pocket holding the scroll at Sasuke's waist, "Knowing Naruto. What're the chances it's something crazy that might blow up, hence why he wants us to open it away from the village."

Shaking his head immediately, Sasuke smirks, "It's Naruto. Nutter he may be, but he wouldn't hurt us."

Sakura can't help but agree with him on that, "You're right. Naruto wouldn't hurt us."

Kakashi however now has a different worry. Because yes, Naruto wouldn't hurt them. But he was still on the fence about that being Naruto at all. Because under the feel of Naruto's normal chakra and demeanor was something else. He couldn't describe how it felt, but it wasn't fully Naruto, nor was it the Kyuubi.

-b-

Waves crashing against a rocky beach, sun high overhead, Naruto is bouncing from foot to foot as he and Deidara face off. Deidara openly molds clay in his hands, smirking while Konan accompanied by Hinata and En watch on with exasperated looks on the women's faces. Naruto is beyond fascinated by his technique, coming next to him and watching closely.

"How the hell does that work? Is this a bloodline? I'm guessing they work your chakra into the clay to infuse it with explosives then?" Mind racing, he completely didn't even think to ask about more normal things involving mouths in hands. Though that might come up later as his mind worked through his curiosity.

Deidara nods as his right hand works a small amount of clay over and his left now holds a tiny clay bird, "That's right. I have explosion release, so with these I can inject my chakra into the clay in order to mold it into explosives or other things I need." From his right now sits a small clay spider. With a jerk of his arms, the clay bird flies off into the air to explode while the spider scuttles along the ground before it too explodes and adds a crater to the training area. "One of my favorite things is this though." Dumping both hands into pouches at his waist, it takes a minute but with some work and more than a few gross sounds from his hands, clay is expelled and molded into a giant clay bird that Deidara sends off into the air to fly in a circle above them. "I have a few other forms that I've found useful and deadly, but that's a little much for today. These are just the basics behind my techniques."

Naruto nods quickly, watching the bird flying overhead while thinking on it. So there were more materials out there that could accept chakra being injected into them, and some used them like this huh. Naruto shouldn't be surprised really. But it was cool all the same. He wanted to push to see just how big Deidara could do, but that might be a bad idea. Watching Deidara eventually jump and begin to ride on the wind with his clay bird, Naruto gives him a thumbs up, "That's pretty cool!"

Deidara can't help but preen a little bit, "What about you? I know you use seals, but I've always been curious about how it works."

Naruto nods, flaring his jacket open and unsealing several scrolls of varying sizes. From less than a foot tall to the largest that was just shy of four feet long and a foot thick. "So most of the smaller ones, all of these less than a meter are conventional. Meaning they're basically suped up explosive notes with a much bigger yield that increases as the size of the scroll goes up. But a couple are special." Here he held up a smaller one that was colored mostly in yellow, "This one kills off all life within a certain radius, good for when you can't find you target's specific location or if you want to kill a lot of things but save the structures." Here he sealed that one away before picking up one that had a green color to it with light blue bands at the ends, "This one sucks all of the air out of a specified diameter, good for putting someone down non-lethally." Sealing that one away again, he picks up one that has a light purple to it was Deidara drops down next to him, "This one traps everyone within a certain range within a barrier before blowing them to bits while saving everything outside the barrier." Sealing that one away as well, Deidara points to the largest that's colored in mostly black and grey.

"And this one?"

"Yeah, actually, let me just seal that one away, we don't want to play with that one." Doing as he said, Naruto seals away his latest work before grinning, "That one combines a lot of everything that I've learned up until now. Short version, everything within a 10 mile radius gets captured within a barrier that draws energy from everything within it be it people or nature. Next the seal converts everything within the barrier into energy, breaking it down to its base components like a lot of my other explosive seals, before collapsing in on itself and storing all of that energy for later use in a new reconstituted scroll. It'll change from black to white depending on how much energy is stored away." Naruto did hold up his left arm, where instead of a group of glowing seals that had been there before, was a single tattoo of a red dot on his inner wrist. "You'll need the companion seal to even use that scroll, so it's locked to me and me alone."

Konan along with everyone else overheard what he just described, subtly trying her hardest not to freak out completely by what he just said. "So not only do you kill everyone trapped inside, but you then use them to fuel the next scroll?"

Naruto nods, "Yup. I figured if I ever got to a point to use this scroll that I'd go full on raze it all to the ground."

Deidara has dismissed his bird, dropping to his knees and grabbing Naruto's hand who is too stunned to pull away. "You use the literal blood of your enemies to create a newer and even greater explosion?"

Nodding again while watching the older man who looking ready to weep, Naruto couldn't help completing his thoughts on it, "Well, I figured that sure it'd be easy to kill my enemies in an explosion, but it'd be a lot more fun to force them to protect my home from greater threats later on, yeah?"

Deidara bows his head with no hesitation, "I am yours Lord Uzumaki. Truly you are a once in a lifetime god of explosions that I could never hope to compare. I weep at your glory."

Naruto turns to Konan who looked ready to throw something at her companion, "Does he do this often?"

Konan shook her head, "Never."

Deidara looked into Naruto's eyes as the younger teen turned back to face him, "I do have just one question my Lord, if I may." Seeing Naruto nod slowly, Deidara presses on. "I've only been able to see one of your works, so I have to ask. Why are there depictions of ramen bowls in your fire?"

Naruto can't help but beam as Hinata and En give tired groans, "Someone finally sees it! Yes! I'm finally complete!" He'd deal with an apparent terrorist pledging himself to him later. This guy rules!

-AN-

Won't lie, this chapter was going to go a few different ways, but I decided the conflict, if there will be one, between Uzu and Akatsuki has to brew a little bit. So instead we're going to lay some groundwork for other things first. That said, something odd is going on with Naruto's clones, and Naruto himself gets an invite to see Pain himself. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Heh, who knows.