Hi everyone! Thanks for waiting patiently for this next chapter: I hoped to get this up much sooner than my last, and here it is. I hope you are all having a wonderful summer! So sit back, relax…and enjoy!

Also, I send my condolences to all the families who lost a loved one in the Aurora shooting. Bad things can happen any time, any where, and when they do, it leaves a profound impact on all of us. May all the victims rest in peace.

3 years have passed since the war between the Iwa and Konoha villages, and things couldn't have been better for the later. With Kumo, Iwa and Kiri out of the picture and in dire straits for now, the village as well its ally Suna were experiencing an economic boom like never before. It wasn't paradise by any means, but things haven't been that good for the village in a long time.

Of course, this new income came from a large amount of missions which for Tsunade was a mixed blessing. She was happy for her village to be going through such good times, and it was good for her politically. But all of that meant more paperwork for her. Tsunade sighed as she made her way towards her office, looking groggy and tired as usual.

"Good morning, Hokage-sama." Another blond kunoichi chimed pleasantly. Ino became Tsunade's new assistant, replacing Hinata who had left on maternity leave. Tsunade personally would have liked to have Sakura as her assistant, but she was needed out in the field more. So, she had to do with Ino. "Morning, Yamanaka-san." Tsunade replied as she plopped down into her chair without any of the grace ninja were normally associated with.

"Another wild night with the ero-sage?" Ino asked out of the blue, flashing a mischievous grin.

Tsunade's face turned red at the question; if anything, it sounded more like an accusation. "You!...how…" Tsunade glared at her. "Your mind-reading is not to be used that way. Understand?" she growled.

Ino chuckled. "Nothing psychic about it. You're easy, that's all." Tsunade grumbled as she got her mountain of paperwork organized and pulled out a jug of sake. "I'm shocked that one of the most prestigious medical-nins of our time drinks before the day has even started, every day of the week…" Ino groaned with disgust.

"A little sake now and then is good for you." Tsunade mumbled. Ino quirked her eyebrow, thinking that stuff was practically opium for the Hokage. "Just tell me when Hinata's pregnancy will end." Tsunade muttered, missing an assistant that didn't point out her flaws.

"Any day now; however, you should know that it will be many more months before she's ready to return to work once the baby is born…"

"I know, I know…" Tsunade answered. She knew shouldn't ask such silly things; it was like a child asking "Are we there yet?" over and over in a carriage. Tsunade decided to preoccupy herself with the whereabouts of some other young shinobi. Kakashi had left with some other jonin on an espionage mission. Sakura would be back any day now from a medical conference made up of traditional doctors and medical shinobi from allied villages. "How's Team 12 doing with their mission?" she then asked.

Ino shrugged. "You can never tell with them. I guess their reputation has spread so fast that now even experienced ninja are cautious to attack them. We haven't heard from them, but we have every cause to believe they're still with us…"

Tsunade sighed. "That worries me. It means the Ookamigumi is probably trying something even more underhanded than usual."

In another part of Fire Country, a group of samurai moved. Their mission was to show the local lord what happened when one double-crossed the yakuza group known as the Ookamigumi. Soon, they spotted the mansion. They were not about to just rush in and announce their arrival; if they were going to kill him and his family, they needed the element of surprise. The captain called one of his men. "Makoto. Check the perimeter for defenses."

The man chosen dashed across the forest, crouching low. Once the mansion was in reasonable eyeshot, he quickly looked around to see anything out of the ordinary. In a way, he did. He found a ninja. That in itself was to be expected; after all, ninjas were samurai's biggest competitors, and often their greatest fears (though their code would never allow them to admit that). What was surprising about this ninja, however, was that he was asleep. Not resting his eyes while sitting up; he was sprawled on the grass, snoring, and if he did manage to get up, it would be too late to take the defensive. Still, ninja were deceptive warriors; it was best to not take chances and check with the leader. Tapping into his radio, he whispered "Taichou, I found one ninja sleeping like a baby. It would be opportune to kill him, but I fear that there may be some kind of trap. How should I proceed?"

"Eliminate him, quickly and silently." His leader responded.

Nothing more needed to be said, and the rogue samurai drew his katana. Sneaking up on him as quietly as possible, he raised his katana to impale the young ninja's heart…and was immediately hoisted up into the air. The sudden change in orientation caused him to scream and drop his katana.

The sword landed a hair's breadth from the teenager's temple, causing him to shoot up violently, confused and somewhat alarmed. "What! Where…"

He then looked up, finding the samurai hanging upside down by the ankle. "Ingrate! Cut me loose!" Makoto demanded.

The teen only looked at him skeptically. "Uh…how about no?"

"I'll kill you, you son of a bitch!" was the samurai's response.

"Definitely no then." The teen was fairly thin, but had lean muscles on him, indicating fairly intensive exercises. His hair seemed out of control, like he never bothered to comb it, and a long portion was tied in a ponytail. He had the standard ninja attire, with a dark cloak and metal gauntlets on his wrists He also wore glasses; among the warrior classes on the continent, this was considered a sign of weakness. But in the shinobi world, nothing was as it seems. "Yuji to team…" he said into his earpiece. "…I think they've arrived."

"Copy that." Another voice spoke into his communicator. "Stick to the plan for now."

Inside the castle guarding the family was Naruto. He hadn't changed much over the years, as he essentially stopped growing. He did however, have two long bangs that further enhanced the resemblance to his father. His team had grown though, and he had them out in the field by themselves. They were experienced chunin now, and up against samurai, so it shouldn't have been any trouble. Just in case though, Naruto stayed with the family in the unlikely event anyone got through. "Iori, Shiguri…" he spoke into his earpiece. "…get to work."

"They know we're here!" The captain shouted as he drew his katana and pointed it at the castle. "Hurry! Kill him before he escapes!" The other samurai drew their katanas and charged.

Yuji, meanwhile, just sighed. Multiple opponents all at once were always a pain in the ass, even for experienced ninjas. "I was hoping they'd retreat. But I guess samurai are just too stupid for their own good." He flexed his fingers, and charged.

"Slice him in two!" The commander shouted.

The first samurai to reach him first brought his katana down…and was stopped by Yuji's two fingers, and proceeded to use them to snap the blade in half. Before the samurai could gawk at Yuji's work, the ninja kicked him into his comrades, knocking them down like bowling pins. It didn't look like those caught in the line of fire would be getting back up. One samurai, however, sneaked through the tall grass, ready to slice Yuji's carotid arteries. He sliced…and Yuji vanished. The samurai looked up to see that Yuji flipped above him. "Good try…but no." Yuji then pressed the switch on his spider gauntlets and wrapped the samurai up in wire. Upon landing, he lifted the swordsman like he was nothing…and swung him around like a mace, taking out more samurai. While Yuji had improved over the years, he still preferred not to work alone. "Uh, guys…I'd like some help here!" Yuji called into the trees as he delivered a counter-elbow to another samurai. If he stopped for one second, the blasted swordsmen would dogpile him!

"On it!" two voices said as they descended from the trees.

The first, a young woman touched down. Her hair was crimson, but its long length and wavy pattern conveyed a sense of gentleness. Her blue eyes seemed gentle at first glance, but also conveyed a fierceness that made some of the more cowardly samurai stop in their tracks for a second. The fact that she had some nice curves under her shinobi outfit had a similar effect as well. "So, that's how many…?" she asked as she counted as many as she could see. "30? 40?"

"I counted 60." Yuji replied, trying to hide the fact that he was also transfixed by her beauty.

"20 for each of us then." Iori mumbled. "You could have set a few more traps; the job would be easier then." Before Yuji could offer a retort, Iori charged the samurai head on. The first samurai to reach her raised his sword in a vertical slash, just like before…and Iori punched the samurai hard enough to shatter his chest plate, sending him flying a good 4 meters. Two more approached her from the side, their katanas moving forward in a stabbing motion towards her kidneys. Iori quickly pulled out her kamas, their curved blades catching and deflecting the swords. When the two were open, she split-kicked both of them in the face.

However, one snuck up behind her, and this time his sword reached her heart from behind. "We can do this! We can win!" he shouted in excitement. With that, his prize seemingly poofed out of existence…and he got a shuriken in the eye.

The real Iori leapt from the tall grass, and brought him down by impaling his knee with a kunai. "Stupid samurai! All pride, no brains!"

"Iori, look out!" Yuji suddenly shouted as he spotted something that could give them trouble.

It turned out one of the samurai was an experienced kyuudo practioner; the samurai's accuracy with a bow rivaled that of ninja with shuriken, and unlike the projectiles ninja often used, the arrows were intended as killing weapons. The samurai took aim…and just then, a long chain of metal wrapped around the bow, and twisted, taking both the bow and samurai with it. Stunned by the unexpected attack, the samurai released his twine, sending the arrow into the neck of one of his own comrades. The one behind the chain finally leaped into view. He bore spikey, long black hair, and his face had a tattoo of a dragon on the left side of his face. In addition to his shinobi uniform, he also wore small sunglasses; an unusual feature for ninja, as they were said to do their best work in the dark, where such optics would be a detriment.

"Shiguri, you jerk!" Iori shouted. "We could've used your help 5 minutes ago!" Yuji could see a vein beginning to protrude from her forehead.

"Hey." Shiguri shrugged nonchalantly. "You guys can take care of yourselves." Turning around to throw a shuriken, he said "Besides, you left a lot of openings for some stragglers to get through to the castle. I was a bit occupied with them." He then turned his attention to a charging samurai. In an instant, he whipped his Dragon Tongue towards him and sliced his Achilles tendon, rendering him unable to stand. Another leapt from the bushes, convinced Shiguri could not defend himself. However, his other Dragon Tongue extended from under his sleeve, wrapping and slicing the samurai's wrists. Pulling, the samurai's hands went numb and he started to bleed out, forcing him to drop his sword. "Listen." Shiguri told him, all the while keeping others at bay with random shuriken. "I know you samurai are very partial to bushido, but I'd get out of here if I were you. You're not much use with your wrists the way they are. Besides…I'm an opportunistic predator." He told him in a low voice. "I have a tendency to go after the weak and wounded." The samurai shakily stood up, using only his legs to stand, and ran as far as they would take him. "As annoying as cowards are…" Shiguri then sliced another one under the armpit, severing his brachial artery. "…9 times out of 10, they're the smart ones." One rushed at him with a wakizashi, but Shiguri caught him with ease and redirected it into his femur.

He did a quick backflip to join his friends, who gathered in a circle to protect one another. The samurai stopped; it seemed that they wanted them surrounded, but wouldn't risk giving up the defensive position. "Well, this is certainly a pickle." Shiguri commented.

Yuji took aim with his gauntlets. "Nothing we can't handle though."

Naruto observed the battle a best he could from his position. It looked like his team was doing well so far; but one mistake could mean their death. And if he came out to help them, the family would be in danger. For now, they were on their own.

"Daddy, I'm scared." The little girl said to her father.

"Don't worry, Ayame; the Konoha shinobi will protect us." He said as he gathered her in a hug. Though he put on a brave face, Naruto could see he was just as scared as she was.

"Can they really do it?" his wife asked. "They're only children…"

"They're practically adults now, mamm." Naruto assured her. "And they've been through much worse as kids." He then took a peak outside, making sure no one would spot him. "Still, there's too many of them." He commented.

"You mean, they can't beat that many!" The lord asked, alarmed by his slip of the tongue.

Naruto decided to clarify what he meant. "Sorry; not what I meant. I was thinking more about how many they can pick off as opposed to meet head on in battle. If those samurai's goal was my team, numbers wouldn't be a problem. However, their goal is to kill all of you, not engage in a battle. Even if they defeated us, as long as you managed to escape, they would be dishonored and the mission would be considered a loss." Naruto replied.

"Which means…?" the lord asked, still not getting it.

"While my team is fighting the majority of them, a couple will slip past their guard and reach the mansion. It can't be helped; as sharp as our senses are, we can't see everything going around us." Naruto told him bluntly.

"What will we do?" The wife exclaimed, nearly panicking at the notion of being killed despite their protection.

Naruto only grinned smugly in response. "Don't worry about it; you've got me." He exclaimed, pointing to himself.

Yuji back fisted another samurai, who went down like a sack of potatoes. "We need to wrap this up!" he shouted to his teammates. "I don't think we can afford to hold back! Not if we're to protect the Supattos!"

Iori gave him her two cents. "I don't think that's a good idea! What if they have someone stronger!" she shouted as she back kicked another who tried to sneak up on her from behind. "Besides, I'd rather not go all out against these weaklings!" she exclaimed as she blocked a katana aimed for her head.

"Actually, I was waiting for Yuji to agree to that!" Shiguri exclaimed as he whipped his dragon tongue across another unfortunate soul's face. "Let's do it, Yuji!"

"Majority rules!" Yuji exclaimed as he leapt further into the horde of swordsman.

He quickly glanced at the samurai around him, trying to weed out a higher ranking member among them. His kekkei genkai slowed everything down for him, allowing him to get a good look at his attackers. He then spotted one with a katana that had a pearl-white hand guard. Only high-ranking samurai were allowed to carry such fancy and expensive weapons. "Bingo."

Quickly, he dodged all slashes aimed at him by a margin too close for even experienced ninja like it was nothing. Without getting a single cut, he made his way to his target. The samurai tried to pull out his sword with battojutsu, but Yuji placed his foot on the hilt, preventing him from doing so. Before he could knock the teen off and try again, Yuji flipped over him and snared him with his wires. Leaping high enough to mount a branch, he hoisted him up. His comrades rushed to his rescue, just like Yuji planned. "Flies never do learn to watch out for webs." With that, Yuji launched more wires around as many samurai as he could get.

Soon, all those that charged him were entangled in his webs. "Men!" the lieutenant barked. "Break through them! They're too thin to be used for proper binding!" The samurai began to cut or force their way out.

Yuji shouted "You should've thought about WHY those wires are so thin! It's for better conduction!" He made the proper hand signs and grabbed the wire. "Raiton! Raikumo no Jutsu!" Electricity charged the wires, which began to blow blue and sizzle. Soon, the samurai twitched like mad; to Yuji, they looked like ragdolls in the hands of a hyperactive child. When Yuji began to smell their hair burning, he quickly undid the jutsu, and his victims dropped to the ground in a heap. While Yuji had long ago accepted killing as part of the shinobi life, he believed it was better to do as little as possible to stop the opponent.

Suddenly, Yuji's kekkei genkai warned him at the last minute of an attack from behind. He spun to the side just as the samurai behind him raised his katana with a battle cry. Before the samurai could realize Yuji had side-stepped him, he swung his sword down. Yuji then used the opportunity to hit the swordsman's femoral nerve right under him. He placed his fingers on the spot and the samurai cried out in pain.

He collapsed, dropping his weapon. "What…AHHHH! Wha…!" The samurai could not stop gritting his teeth and moaning in pain.

Yuji got the gist of what he was asking; he believed he owed the poor guy an explanation. "I hit your femoral nerve; when I did, I used my chakra to cause it to fire continuously." Yuji explained. "I can stop the pain. But…" He placed both hands on the back of his victim's knees. As he said, the pain stopped…but then the samurai felt one moment of sharp pain as his tendons were torn. "I can't allow you to move." Yuji sighed. "Sorry."

Without warning, Yuji casually threw a smoke pellet behind him, and another samurai leapt out the bushes, clutching his throat and running away from the toxic cloud. "Next time keep in mind I'm aware of my surroundings at all times." Yuji told him nonchalantly. "Maybe then I won't have to give you a dose of organophosphates."

The samurai only collapsed and foamed at the mouth in response.

Iori charged with her kamas and kicks. All that encountered her were stunned by her strength and speed. However, in the confusion of battle, even one as strong as her could become careless. Almost too late, Iori had noticed a katana had entered from her blind spot! Quickly, she blocked with her kamas, but the force behind the sword surprised her; it knocked the kamas out of her hands.

"You're mine!" The samurai stabbed, and Iori blocked with her forearm. It should have been a futile block, but the katana stopped dead at Iori's forearm. "Wha-?"

Before he could attempt another attack, a whirling tonfa emerged from Iori's sleeve, and she proceeded to knock him across the head. Another emerged from underneath her other sleeve, and the kunoichi shoved the short end into her opponent's solar plexus. "I'll have to thank Ten-Ten-sensei for the weapon lessons!" Iori quickly rushed to retrieve her favored weapons, knocking out any attackers cold along the way.

When she retrieved them, another one caught her off guard and knocked a tonfa away from her. "I guess Yuji was right; looks like their best soldiers have arrived!" She quickly tucked her kamas under her vest…they were too precious for her to risk losing again…and another samurai, wielding both his katana and wakizashi, pounced.

However, it seemed Iori had even more tricks up her sleeve. The two blades were blocked as they landed inside the grooves of two sais. The samurai was well built, but he couldn't force Iori to budge an inch. Then, Iori shouted and snapped the two swords like twigs. A stab to the samurai's shoulder incapacitated him, and the kunoichi grounded him with a round kick. Noticing out of the corner of her eye another Kyudo practitioner aiming for her, Iori rolled to the side and threw a sai at the would be offender. She had to wince when she noticed where it hit. "If I ever go out on a date, I better not tell him about this."

Tossing the other sai away, as they worked better in a pair, Iori pulled out another weapon: her nunchaku. She charged, knocking any incoming samurai with it and throwing off any close in opponents with the weapons' chain. She blocked a downward strike, but the force made the chain brake. Annoyed, Iori tossed the two sticks to the side and backed away.

She still didn't want to pull out her dad's kamas; it seemed she wasn't having much luck with melee weapons today. "I guess I'll have to wind up wasting chakra on these guys after all." Quickly, she made hand signs for an incoming group that rushed towards her. "Katon! Gokakyuu no Jutsu!" Iori unleashed a fireball at the incoming attackers. The first few to approach her got burned and others collapsed from the heat.

However, one who was lagging behind used them as shields from the flame, as well as a good method to plan a sneak attack. As he discarded his unconscious (if not dead) comrade, he prepared his sword in a thrusting motion. However, the scarlet ninja was nowhere to be found. He put his sword in a guard position, nervously anticipating an attack anywhere from the side. Others circled around him to protect one another. But none couldn't defend what was coming next from above! "WakuSeiRasengan!" Iori, descending from above, held a rasengan the size of a cart above her. She then slammed it onto the unsuspecting swordsmen, leaving a large crater in the ground. The samurai looked like they had been nearly torn to pieces, but their twitching indicated they were still alive, if just barely.

Iori's breathing suddenly deepened, as she got down on one knee to catch her breath. "Whoa. I think I overdid it a bit."

Shiguri spun around, his dragon tongues keeping any would-be attackers at bay. Some had the clever idea of severing his achilles tendon from below, but Shiguri anticipated such tactics and jumped up, finishing out anyone who tried that with a round kick. However, Shiguri was beginning to get bored, and figured it would be more efficient right now to take out a large group of them "Doton! Hadanahadasshi Anma no Jutsu!" The ground underneath an entire group of samurai approaching him began to undulate, protrusions of earth going in and out like in a game of whack-a-mole. Everyone in the immediate area fell over. Once they kissed dirt, it felt like hammers were hitting their body all over underneath them. Most lost consciousness within a few seconds; those that didn't found themselves in a world of hurt and unable to move after it was over.

"AHHH! HELP!"

Shiguri looked behind him to see a samurai flailing his hands in the air, still clutching his sword. Shiguri's face nearly paled at the pathetic sight.

"What's with you!" one of his partners asked.

"A bee! I'm allergic to them!" he shouted, seemingly forgetting he was in the middle of a battle field.

Shiguri saw that he indeed did have a bee that refused to get out of his face. Shiguri only grinned evilly as he got an idea. Biting his thumb, he shouted "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Wasps the size of rats appeared in front of him, and he gave out a single command. "Go get him, girls."

They flew over to the samurai, who dropped his sword and ran away screaming, his comrades only staring in disbelief.

"Listen, you guys really aren't worth my time!" Shiguri told them as he picked up some shuriken from his pockets. "So, I think it's about time we wrapped this up!"

Team 12 looked over the crowd of samurai they had defeated and neatly placed into a pile. "Well, that was a lot of work, but at least there were no casualties." Yuji said, sounding rather cheerful.

"We were too nice, if anything." Shiguri argued, kicking one of them for good measure. "This group of samurai have been associated with human trafficking and assassinations of politicians in other countries. The world is better off without this scum."

Yuji replied "I won't argue with you on that; however, I'd rather play protector and not executioner if I can help it."

"Always the nice guy." Shiguri said, rolling his eyes. "But, our objective has been completed, and that's more important at the moment."

"Are you sure about that?" Iori asked, looking amongst the fallen. "I don't see their captain among them; I think he snuck past us in all the confusion."

"No big deal; that's what Naruto-sensei stayed behind with the Supattos for." Yuji assured her with a confident smile.

The captain of the samurai squadron hated to use his men like that, but for the sake of the mission, he was left with no choice. Besides, to die in battle was expected. However, for that large a platoon of samurai to be taken out with little effort…ninjas gave him the creeps. "No matter; I can always get more samurai to serve under me." Quickly, he made his way inside the house while the young ninjas took a body count. He had to think quickly about where the family could be inside, before they went looking for him. Given the architecture and layout of the building, there was only one logical conclusion. "The basement; that is the only place for them to be in this situation."

Individuals who were not trained as warriors would hide when in danger; the problem was that when they did they often dug themselves into a corner. If they were found, that was the end of the line for them. Quickly, he felt the floor for a doorway. When his fingertips brushed a rather wide crevice, he knew he found what he was after. Using all of his strength, he pried the trapdoor open.

Slowly, he descended towards the basement, looking for his prey. When he found the three of them huddled in a corner, he raised his sword, preparing for the kill. "There you are. I'm sorry I have to do this, but as a samurai, this is my job. Though I bear you no grudge, you and your family must die!" He thrust his sword through Mr. Supatto, completing the most important part of his mission. However, he noticed something off. "That felt more like wood… and I can't smell blood…" His suspicions were confirmed when he noticed the wife and child not even flinching. He pulled the kimonos off and wigs off, revealing only logs where his prey should have been.

"If you weren't so eager to get the job done and escape…no, scratch that. Ever since I got here, you had no chance of winning."

The samurai turned around to see none other than the blonde ninja himself. "Out of the way, boy!" He raised his katana up; Naruto got ready as chakra engulfed his hand.

The samurai brought his blade down, and Naruto's hand met it. However, instead of the blade severing the hand, the opposite had happened. Seeing his blade broken, the samurai fell to his knees in disgrace. "You…you're the one rumor had spoken of…" The feats of powerful ninja were followed by many, even samurai.

"I hope they're good ones." Naruto commented. "Either way, surrender. Knowing my team, I'd imagine most of your friends are still alive; there's no need to throw away your life here as well."

The samurai smirked. "A ninja with mercy; you are a rare one indeed. However…" He pulled out his wakizashi, but not to attack; this was meant for seppuku. "You should know, no samurai can ever hope to live in this disgrace…" He aimed the short blade towards his heart, preparing to die.

However, he was never given the chance to commit the act; Naruto rushed behind him and knocked him out with a chop to the head. The samurai captain went down with a thud, still alive. "Samurai always take the slightest of failures so hard." He muttered. Hefting him over his shoulder, Naruto added "Besides, have you even thought about the kind of people you are working for? If there was anything worth committing suicide over, I'd imagine that would be it. At least it would be for me."

He then looked into the shadows of a dark corner. "Alright! You can come out now!"

The Supattos emerged from the shadows, clearly relieved. "Is it over?" Mr. Supatto asked, still afraid of another attack.

Naruto smiled. "Yeah. It's over. At least, the part where we beat up the goons is." He looked at his unconscious companion slung over his shoulder. "Now, we gotta find out about the head honcho and inform Kakashi-sensei…"

"Kakashi!" Gai called from his perch. "Kakashi! HEY! I'M TALKING TO YOU!"

Kakashi finally looked up from his Icha-Icha book. Sighing, he asked "What is it now, Gai?"

"I propose a challenge!" the green beast proclaimed out of nowhere.

"Gai, we're in the middle of a mission…"

"Ah, but that's the challenge!" Gai exclaimed, giving him his cocky thumbs up.

"Come again?" the copy ninja asked, perplexed with Gai as usual.

"Whoever catches Pirania wins!" Pirania was a small-time yakuza boss, who had recently been rising in power. He was also the one who sent samurai to kill the Supattos a few days ago. Naruto's team confirmed that after some interrogation of the samurai. Their mission was to protect the Supattos from the immediate attack; Kakashi's, Gai's and Kurenai's was to eliminate Pirania so he couldn't do it again, one way or another.

"Whatever." Kakashi replied, uninterested as usual.

"Ah, but here's the catch!" Gai announced. "The loser must parade in the street…with a tutu on!"

Kakashi just stared at him, whether in disbelief or in horror, he could not be sure. "Gai…think about what you're doing…don't you think that's a bit extreme…not to mention cliché and CHILDISH?"

"Hah!" Gai proclaimed, his bravado getting to him. "I knew you would be too chicken to…"

"Guys, get ready." Kurenai chimed in on their ear pieces. "Pirania's coming out of the brothel."

"Guards?" Kakashi asked, glad to have his focus back on the mission.

"About 5 of the usual Yakuza thugs. I wouldn't worry about them. However, this weird guy is with them…"

"Weird? How?" Kakashi asked.

"Can't say for sure; he's got a hood on so I can't really confirm my suspicions. However, I can feel a strong chakra from him; he's been trained in ninjutsu from the way he carries himself. Not to mention Pirania seems to be treating him like he would a well-crafted sword. I suggest we approach this with caution."

"Agreed." Kakashi replied. "Let's go, Gai." He told his teammate, both forgetting about the challenge.

Gai and Kakashi made their way from the forest onto the rooftops of the small town, and intercepted Pirania as he made his way down the street. This was the first time either of them got a good look at him: A tall, well built, grizzled man. He was in prison before, and obviously spent most of his time there working out. However, he was nothing to worry about; even if he proved physically stronger than anyone on Kakashi's team, they were far more experienced and versatile fighters. The five thugs Kurenai mention circled him as well; nothing special about them. But the one cloaked in a hood lurked behind them; Kakashi could feel what Kurenai was talking about. "You feel that, Gai?"

"Yeah." Gai replied, not bothering with his usual flamboyancy. He could feel that this opponent was going to be a tough one. "What do you suggest?"

"Kurenai, trap as many as you can in a genjutsu." Kakashi ordered over his radio.

"Should be doable on all of them." came the reply.

In a second, all 7 of the thugs suddenly felt themselves bound. The majority of the yakuza thugs yelled their lungs out while struggling. Pirania, however, wasn't worried; he didn't even bother trying to break free of whatever he perceived held him. "Heh. Looks like the Supattos weren't satisfied with just body guards. That's what you're here for, Seiba Hatora!"

His hooded body guard quickly called "Kai!" and broke free. Quickly, he undid the genjutsu on his boss.

"Hey! What about us!" one of his thugs shouted.

"Sorry! You fodder aren't worth the time!" Pirania sneered. Quickly, all 3 ninja emerged. None of them bothered with introductions or the like; with their mysterious opponent, they had to take him out, now! Before they could get close, the one Pirania called Seiba threw down a smoke-pellet. The fumes wouldn't allow the 3 ninjas to get any closer, so they had no choice but to wait until the smoke cleared.

"So, you must be Konoha shinobi." Pirania said from atop the roofs which his body guard had carried him up to.

Gai looked up at him with contempt. "That's right."

Pirania only sneered as he fiddled with his hair, acting as if the 3 below could never touch him. "Tell me, were you planning to take me prisoner? Or were you actually planning to kill me?"

"Whichever proved easier." Kakashi replied. "And unfortunately for you, thanks to your friend up there…it looks like that will have to be the later."

Pirania only laughed. "I knew ninja would be after me sooner or later. This boy here cost me a good portion of my fortune, but it was money well spent! Much better than a samurai!"

"And what makes you so certain?" Kurenai asked, holding a kunai and ready to attack.

Pirania only grinned in response and grabbed hold of Seiba's hood. "This! What was once your greatest weapon!"

He pulled off the hood, and revealed his prized guard's face. He was fairly unassuming; typical light skin and dark hair. But when he opened his eyes, the 3 jonin below could only look on in shock.

"What!" Kurenai exclaimed.

"It can't be!" Gai shouted in horror.

Kakashi himself was almost too shocked for words. He didn't want to believe what he was seeing, but he knew his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. "That's-!"

"And that's the gist of it, Ba-chan." Naruto grinned smugly as he gave his report. "Still, to be on the safe side, I think it would be wise to relocate them for a few weeks and hopefully Mr. Supatto will be forgotten by the major crime families."

Tsunade wrote the details down. "Okay then. Well done. You're dismissed." Naurto's team left, and Naruto was about to follow them out, when Tsunade said "Oh, and Naruto!"

"Yeah?"

"Sakura's back; the conference was shorter than expected." Tsunade informed him. "She's probably at your apartment now, so go see her. You know how she tends to miss you when the two of you are separated."

Naruto's face suddenly cringed. "What's wrong?" Tsunade asked, concerned. "Did you two have a fight?"

Naruto chuckled slightly and brushed off the idea. "No, no. Nothing's wrong! Just stubbed my toe against something! It'll be fine!"

Naruto kept up the demeanor until he was out of her sight. His face then turned back to being scared. "Crap! I forgot to clean the apartment up! What am I going to do! Sakura-chan's gonna kill me!"

Yuji and his team met up with the rest of their rookie generation, all planning to hang out at someplace with exotic food.

"So, shall we hit Jaa's place?" Shiguri asked. "I'm kinda in the mood for Pad Thai."

"As good as Jaa's cuisine is, I wanna eat that pizza food again." Yuji answered as he licked his lips. "That place was so good! I gotta have more!"

Iori absently rubbed her stomach. "Fancy that; I was thinking the same thing." she said as she thought about it. "I think pizza might have even become my favorite food now."

Yuji only looked at her, blushing slightly. "It certainly helps when we have similar tastes."

"So, how are Naruto-sensei and Sakura-sensei doing? Fine, I take it?" Chan asked out of the blue.

"For the most part." Shiguri replied, shrugging.

"They don't get along?" Hanabi asked, somewhat concerned about Konoha's most famous jonin.

"They're still very much in love." Yuji said defensively. "I guess…it's just when you become a couple, both have to make adjustments, and even then they push the wrong buttons from time to time…" Everyone began staring at him, wondering how he could know things like that. "I…it…they…not that I'm an expert or anything!" Yuji shouted, flailing his arms. "I just figured that's how it went by looking at them." he explained, feeling like he had been called out.

"True enough." Iori replied, sighing. "They have their good days, and they have their bad days." As the teens proceeded down the street, they began to hear faint voices. It sounded like two people arguing. As they got closer, everyone recognized it as the voices of Naruto and Sakura.

"…really, you don't have to be so upset…"

"You promised to do it when it was your turn over and over again, and still…!"

"It's not that big a deal…"

"Not a big deal! Look at this place!"

"Really, since you got back before me, I don't see why you couldn't do it yourself!" The argument came to an end with a loud thud.

"Then again, they have really bad days." Iori commented while she stared up at Naruto's floor in shock. Iori then turned to the group and said "Listen, you guys go on ahead; I've a feeling Naruto-sensei is going to need some cheering up."

"And I've a feeling Sakura-sensei's going to need something to vent her frustrations." Yuji groaned. All the other chunin only stared at Yuji with awe as he fearlessly, albeit reluctantly, accepted his role as Sakura's sparring partner. Her strength was legendary; the Hokage was the only other person who would spar with her otherwise. "You go see Naruto; I'll wait down here, see if I can talk her out of it." Yuji told Iori. With that, Iori entered the complex, while Sakura came huffing down.

Sakura, like Naruto, hadn't changed much over the years. The only notable difference was the short pony-tail she had, much like Tsunade used to wear in her youth. She only stared at Yuji with an irritated snort; not at him, but just because she was annoyed in general. "You. Me. At Training Area 5. NOW." She emphasized by pointing her thumb in the general direction.

"Why should I? I'm hanging out with my friends…" Yuji asked, seemingly not intimidated and apathetic to Sakura's rage.

Sakura took a deep breath, and nearly yelled "Because I'm your sensei, I said so, I'm in a foul mood, you have free time as opposed to other people here who have more important things to take care of, I taken out all I could on Naruto, and if you don't we'll have a sparring session right here, right now, and woe be to anyone who gets in our way!"

The other young chunin cowered behind the street corner, amazed Yuji could even stand without trembling. Sighing, he relented. "Okay, okay. I was just teasing yo-" Sakura suddenly grabbed him by the ear and dragged him down the street. "OW! OW! No need to-"

"Just shut up and walk!" Sakura hissed, paying no heed to any passer-byes who gave her space as well as eyes wide with fear. "The more I think about it, the more it pisses me off…"

"Feeling better?" Iori asked her teacher as they waited for their meal to arrive.

"A little, thanks." Naruto replied as he rubbed the bump on his head. "Although, I would have preferred a bowl of ramen to cheer me up…"

Iori cringed at the thought of someone enjoying ramen on a regular basis. "Only scholars who have no free time to cook eat as much ramen as you." Iori told him sternly. "You need something different; it's a wonder you've never come down with constipation…"

While her friends went to the Jaa's restaurant, Iori took him to Zuko's Pizza Place. It was relatively new, with a virtually unheard of food in the region, but in no time at the entire place was crowded with people lining up to eat the exotic food. "Here you are." The waiter said as he placed the dish of dough, cheese and various meats and toppings on the two ninjas table.

"Thank you very much!" Iori replied cheerfully as he went to help other customers. Naruto only stared at what they've been given, not knowing what to make of it. "Oh come on! It's food!" Iori chided Naruto.

"There's no chopsticks or forks…" Naruto said as he looked around. "How are you supposed to eat it?"

Iori rolled her eyes, sighing. "Like this, baka-sensei." Iori simply took a piece which easily came off, and ate it. Naruto only stared. "What?" Iori asked. Granted, she wasn't exactly an elegant lady, but after seeing the way Naruto ate so many times, he wouldn't be in any position to complain about her manners.

"My table manners are bad enough as it is…" Naruto answered sheepishly.

"Not here they're not. Dig in." Iori commanded him.

Naruto hesitantly picked up a slice, and took a bite. His chewing became faster as the taste sunk in, and soon he was chowing down. "Ez goog!" He nearly shouted between bites.

"Okay, the 'don't talk with your mouth full' rule still applies here." Iori said, giving a look of disgust. Naruto shut up and swallowed. "So, sensei, forgot to clean up again?" Iori asked, finally starting the planned conversation.

Naruto sighed. "It's nothing much; just some clothes and dust. It only takes a minute to fix…"

"To you, it may not be a big deal…" Iori corrected him. "…but to most women in general, that's the first step to creating a dumpster for a home." Iori took another bite of her pizza before continuing. "She's trying to keep your bad habits under control is all. And when you're busy, it's easy to let things pile up until it's too late."

"But still, she overreacted!" Naruto shouted.

"Did you offer to clean up right there and then?" Iori asked quizzically.

Naruto scratched his head sheepishly. "Well…I tried to explain why I let it go…"

"You should have just gotten started right there, and apologized." Iori ate the last bit of her slice. "Besides, how many times have you promised to do this chore whenever it was your turn?"

Naruto looked down. "Quite a few." He mumbled out.

"And how many times did you actually follow through on that promise?" Iori asked. No answer, likely meaning never. "I thought so." she sighed

"Iori." Naruto asked as he grabbed another slice. "Besides the obvious, do you think she's mad because I'm not living up to my promises?"

Over the years, Naruto had opened up to his team about his youth and heritage. And they knew about Naruto's "Promise of a Lifetime." Granted, it worked out in its own bittersweet way. But it still bothered the blond ninja that he couldn't live up to it like he planned and prepared to, even if it no longer mattered to Sakura.

Iori gave her answer. "No. She's mad because you're neglecting your chores and responsibilities as a roommate, let alone a lover. Besides…you ever think about how she feels when she's left to do all the work?"

Naruto shrugged. "I get it; our relationship is supposed to be as equal a partnership as possible."

"You know that's not what I meant." Iori replied curtly.

Naruto then thought about the way Sakura was raised. His eyes widened in realization. He remembered how patriarchal her family was; not to mention what the altercation between Sakura and her father. Even after all these years, they hadn't spoken to one another. Naruto could only look down at his food as he remembered it all. "Shit." He muttered. "I've been a real jerk to her, haven't I?"

"I wouldn't go that far; you've just been getting…too comfortable." Iori answered. "Sakura knows and understands you as you do her. But that doesn't mean you won't make mistakes, or her for that matter. You just have to come to terms that you screwed up, give her a little bit of space and make it up to her."

Naruto sighed as he helped himself to his third slice. "What if nothing I say or do is good enough for her?"

"Giver her time; she'll come around." Iori smiled.

Naruto thought of something as he took another bite of pizza. "Wait. How could you know stuff like all this? Do you have a boyfriend of your own or something?"

Iori's cheeks turned the same color as her hair. It seemed she found herself in the same situation as Yuji was only an hour ago. "I just figured that's how all relationships are, that's all." Iori then said "Besides, I'm on my way to becoming a woman myself; I certainly wouldn't want a man with messy habits."

"You should see Yuji's room." Naruto told her. "If he gets a girlfriend like Sakura, I'd be very worried about him unless he changes his ways."

"W-Why mention Yuji?" Iori stuttered.

Naruto just gave his usual goofy grin. "No reason." Naruto knew the two had feelings for each other, and were desperately trying to cover it up. As much as Naruto wanted to spill the beans and get them together, he knew it was best to let their relationship develop on its own time. Thinking about the cute couple they could be almost made him forget about his own relationship troubles.

"BAKA!" Sakura yelled as she kicked a tree down. Even though she was yelling at someone currently not present, in her mind he might as well be.

Yuji, haven taken refuge in the treetops, jumped off and landed on solid ground. "Okay. I understand you're frustrated, but could you not imagine me as Naruto-sensei, please?" The only answer he got was a fist coming straight for him, which Yuji dodged by arching back in the nick of time. "I'll take that as a no." he whimpered, shuddering at the speed it came; a second later and his head could've been exploded.

Quickly, Yuji grabbed hold of the arm and locked Sakura into an arm bar. Granted, Jiu-jitsu was not his strong suit, but he figured if he could hold her down, Sakura's anger could be quelled.

"I tried everything!" Sakura shouted as her opponent tried to get her to surrender. "The first time I was nice about it!" Sakura stood, easily supporting Yuji's bodyweight on her arm alone. The chunin, in response, tried to press his body weight down further and hyperextend the arm. "The second, I scolded him about it!" Sakura flexed her elbow, while Yuji desperately tried to get it straight again. "The third time I did it myself, and looking back, I shouldn't have!"

Without warning, Sakura suddenly flung the chunin off her arm, and Yuji was sent flying. Quickly, he shot out some wires that were more elastic than his usual ones, and flew back towards Sakura. He tried punching her, but Sakura easily dodged it, and all Yuji had to show for his strike was a good-size crater where she was before. Not intent on playing defender, Yuji took a few shots at Sakura. "Okay, I get it already! Naruto didn't do what he said, and you're upset! Now can you please stop taking it out on me?"

Sakura continued to block as she replied "It's not just cleaning the apartment! He lets laundry go, he doesn't do the dishes, doesn't clean the bathroom…"

"So, Naruto-sensei's lousy at cleaning up after himself." Yuji said as Sakura began to counterattack. "Maybe he should be doing other things for you…"

"How hard is it!" Sakura yelled as she and Yuji attempted to push each other back with their fists. "It takes 15 lousy minutes at MOST! ANYONE CAN CLEAN!"

Yuji, learning from many years of being Sakura's regular sparring partner, broke the hold and flipped on top of her, attempting to pin her arms behind her back. "Anyone can clean; but some people just don't have the motivation. If you think what Naruto leaves behind is a disaster, you should see my room…" Sakura bent over and launched a side kick towards the sky. Thankfully, Yuji flipped out of the way safely. "…to me, it's just too time consuming." Yuji continued. "I get home from a mission, I'm tired, and I don't have a problem with it the way it is. I just want to relax, have fun, and maybe do something I wanted to do but couldn't for a while. Besides, I feel I need all day to do a good job of cleaning and make it worthwhile…"

"That's the talk of a lazy bum!" Sakura hollered as she charged Yuji.

She threw her punches more rapidly as before, and it was all Yuji could do to defend himself. It seemed explaining it from his point of view only angered Sakura further. "I guess a man's perspective only makes things worse for her." Bearing the pain of his arms getting battered, behind his cross-block Yuji said "Sensei, we're all so busy, and need more time to take care of the little things…"

"That's the problem!" Sakura kept yelling, not caring whether or not her sparring partner was listening. "You always say you need more time. Let me tell you, as a medical ninja, and as part of ANBU, I NEVER had enough time for anything! I just knew what I had to do, and did it! If you work hard on even the simplest of things, you can get anything done!" Sakura then spun, delivering a round kick to Yuji.

Though Yuji successfully blocked it with chakra enhanced elbows, he still felt a sharp pain traveling up his spine, as the shock was absorbed by his entire body, and before he knew it, he was still sent flying into the forest, despite using monstrous strength to counter. His flight came to an abrupt end when he crashed into a tree. "Ow." Yuji's body slid down the trunk, and he just slumped onto the ground. "No more, no more; I give." Yuji panted, raising his hands in surrender. Granted, he gave up several times before, but Sakura wouldn't let him quit. Apparently, she was in such a foul mood she needed a moving target.

This time, though, it looked like he was off the hook. Sakura, looking pretty worn out herself, slowly walked towards him and lay against the tree on the opposite side. She breathed heavily, indicating that she had quite the workout. Despite the torture that he was put through in their sparring sessions, Yuji was quite pleased he was quickly catching up with Sakura. Coming back from a session with no broken bones was always a plus too. "Yuji…" she panted. "…do you think I overreacted?" she aksed, referring to her argument with her lover.

Yuji sighed as he rubbed his aching shoulder. "Don't know. You do have quite the temper; although, after seeing some of the dumb things sensei does at times, I can't blame you for lashing out most of the time…"

"There was more to it this time around, Yuji." Sakura interrupted. "You know about my family, right?"

"With your asshole of a dad? Yeah, I know of it." When the epiphany struck Yuji, he sat straight and turned to face her. "You're not thinking…that he's going to turn into him, are you?" he asked, concerned.

Sakura hung her head low. "Well, I didn't think for a second it was likely. But…when I came home, and the apartment was still in the shape we left it in…" Sakura took her time to gather her words. "I got worried about letting it go, thinking that Naruto expected me to do everything…and then I saw Naruto and I…as I did my mother and father. I guess…I guess I really did freak out."

Yuji finally managed to stand up, and walked over to his mentor. "Sakura ne-chan…Naruto-sensei has his faults. But he would never, EVER make you into a normal housewife, let alone the other crap your dad pulled that night and on your mom. Your strength and independence are the reasons he fell in love with you! I should know, because he tells us these things when we're out camping on a mission, even when we keep hearing them over and over again! God damn, it pisses me off! We get it already, you love Sakura!"

Though he couldn't see it, Sakura was blushing madly. It still made her heart race when she heard Naruto expressing his feelings for her, or about them.

Yuji lazily plopped back down. "Look. Just cool off a bit. Whatever Naruto-sensei is slacking off on, he'll make up for it. You two will work something out."

Sakura relaxed, and smiled slightly. Before she could thank Yuji, someone came running towards them. "Haruno-sempai!" she called. It was someone Sakura recognized from the medical nin corps.

Sakura stood up in alarm. "What is it!"

"It's Hyuuga-sama, sempai! She's gone into labor!" The ninja nurse replied.

Sakura's eyes widened in alarm. "Shit! Yuji, go on and head home! Thanks for the spar!" With that, the two medical ninjas took off.

"I guess I should let Naruto-sensei know." Yuji said as he looked for the exit.

Tsunade also heard the news of Hinata's untimely birthing by an aide from the hospital. "Well, I think Sakura's got it covered. Ino, why don't you go and help her." The Godaime suggested. Ino nodded, and left with the aide towards the hospital. Though Tsunade was the head of the hospital and medical nins, it was only during extreme emergencies that she was called upon. Besides, helping mothers give birth was a simple matter. It was nothing her two students couldn't take care of.

Tsunade leaned back in her chair, deciding to take a sake break. "Well, at least I have more time now that there's more medical ninja around…" She then looked at her stack of paper work. "…More time to do this." Tsunade grumbled. She quickly gulped down the sake and decided to finish up for the night; nowadays she really had no excuse to slack off on her paperwork.

Just then, one of the gate guards ran into her office. When that happened, it was almost always bad news. "Hokage-sama! Kakashi and his team…"

"Are they hurt!" Tsunade asked as she slammed her palms on the desk alarmed.

"Yes. Kakashi managed to get his two teammates out alive, but they're in serious condition! They…"

"T-Tsunade…" Both turned to see a battered and torn Kakashi in the doorway; he didn't even bother to cover up his sharingan eye.

"Kakashi!" Tsunade shouted. She rushed over to the copy nin and supported him. "I knew to expect something bad, but-!"

"The mission was a success, Hokage-sama…" Kakashi wheezed. "…but not without its problems…"

"You can tell me about it later! Right now, we need to get you to the emergency room…"

"Not yet!" Kakashi protested. "There is something you need to see…" Kakashi pulled out a scroll, and handed it over to Tsunade.

"What's inside?" Tsunade asked.

"A body. One that cannot be revealed to the public just yet. Please; I need you to analyze this immediately."

Tsunade hesitantly looked at the scroll. Finally, she snatched it from his hand. "All right. I'll analyze it as soon as possible. But you need to go to treatment now!"

Kakashi reluctantly submitted and allowed the guards to place him on a stretcher. But Kakashi still could not relax.

"AAAAAHHH!" Hinata screamed as she threw her head back into the pillow. "It hurts so much!" She suddenly turned a glare at her husband, Hero. "YOU DID THIS TO ME! THIS IS YOUR FAULT!"

Hero only winced as Hinata's grip tightened around his hand. Hinata wasn't famous for having Tsunade's or Sakura's strength, but today she could've fooled him. Sakura and Ino were also taken aback by Hinata's unusually temperamental behavior.

"I thought Temari was bad enough." Ino said in shock as she tried to her best to block the pain impulses in the mother-to-be's nervous system. But even medical ninjutsu wasn't much better than traditional techniques in ameliorating the pain of child birth.

"At least with Temari it matched her personality." Sakura shot back as she helped with opening up the birth canal. Turning her attention back to the new life about to enter into the world, Sakura got ready. "You're doing great, Hinata! Just one more push!"

Hinata cringed, and let out a final yell. "GET THIS THING OUT OF ME!" Hero braced himself as he felt the bones in his hand turn to gravel.

Finally, Hinata ran out of breath, and collapsed on the bed. Another cry echoed in the room. This one however, was higher pitched. "Congratulations, Hinata!" Sakura exclaimed. "You did it! It's a boy!"

Hinata panted heavily, exhausted from the ordeal. "That's…that's good…"

"We're going to clean him up, get rid of his umbilical, and get a footprint to ID him…" Ino said in awe of the bundle flailing in Sakura's arms. "…although, being a Hyuuga, that may not be necessary. Still, we better do it just in case. Rest, Hinata. You went through a very tough time."

Hinata finally smiled slightly, and lay back on the pillow. After the long labor she had, she finally passed out. "Thank you very much for delivering our son." Hero said to the two medical ninjas, bowing.

"Only doing our jobs, Hero-san." Ino replied pleasantly.

"I hate to ask for more of your services after doing so much for us already…" He held up his hand to Ino. "…but if it's not too much trouble, do you think you could fix this? I don't think my wife would like to see me trying to hold my son one-handed…that could prove disastrous for the baby."

Ino winced as she saw the skin on his hand turn black and blue. "Listen, Sakura. I got this. Go take care of the baby."

Sakura went through the routine procedure as she cleaned the baby and stamped his foot in ink. "You certainly gave your mommy a lot of trouble…" She smiled as she placed him in the maternity ward. She then left to get a cup of tea; helping mothers give birth was always a tiresome ordeal, and after it was all over, she just wanted to go home and collapse on the bed. Labor seemed to turn even the kindest of women into demons. "I hope no other emergencies come up." She thought as she sat down in the lounge.

As she began to take a sip, a voice said "I take it Hinata's birth went well?" Sakura looked to her side to see Tsunade walking up to her. Sakura had to suppress a groan; when Tsunade came to see her at the hospital, it was always something important and time-consuming that she needed her help with.

"Very." Sakura replied to save face. "The baby's fine, and I'm certain Hinata will recover quite nicely."

"Good to know." Tsunade answered. "Because I need your assistance now."

Sakura laid her head back as she tried to get her mind ready for work as best she could. "May I ask what the nature of the assignment is?"

"An autopsy." Tsunade replied. "I already did the initial examination…and I can see why Kakashi was adamant that I keep it classified for now."

Sakura's interest suddenly peaked. "What does Kakashi-sensei have to do with the body?"

"It was related to his mission. And it involves something you're familiar with." Tsunade looked around the halls, to see if anyone was listening. "Enough talk. I need you to come with me; NOW."

Sakura quickly gulped down her tea and tossed the paper cup into the waste basket. "What could be so important with this autopsy?" Sakura wondered as she followed her master.

"I hear it's okay to come in?" Naruto asked as he and his students edged the door open to Hinata's room.

"It's safe, Naruto." Ino said, not even turning to look at him. "You missed the whole thing."

Naruto chuckled slightly. "Thanks for inviting me, I don't think I could handle it; I fainted just from watching that video back in sex ed." Ino only rolled her eyes.

Naruto and his team entered the room. Everyone from the original Rookie 9 plus any students of Hinata from the academy were there with the new parents. There were two new additions to the growing population as well; Temari, now married to Shikamaru, as well as their daughter of 8 months, Houri. She very much resembled Temari, and had Shikamaru's hair. "You missed out on all the fun…" Shikamaru said nonchalantly. "…at Hero's expense of course."

Naruto didn't dare think about what would happen if he got Sakura pregnant. He was going to have to find some kind of steel rod for her to hold onto when the time came. "So, where's the Mini-Hinata?" he asked eagerly.

"I'm afraid the baby is the wrong gender to qualify for that description, Naruto-kun."

Everyone stepped back to let Naruto see Hinata bundling up her son. The foul mood she was in earlier seemed to have vanished and replaced by her normal persona. The fact that Hero wasn't afraid to be near her again pretty much confirmed that. "Wow!" Naruto exclaimed as he got closer to look at the baby. It had Hinata's hair, and Naruto was even more stunned by his eyes. His left seemed to be red, perhaps passed down from someone in Hero's family, while his right was the expected Byakugan from Hinata's clan. "WOW! HE'S SO CUTE!" He suddenly exclaimed.

Everyone covered their ears in preparation of what was coming. Leave it to an impulsive ninja like Naruto to disturb a newborn baby. "WAHHHH!WAHHHHH!"

Hinata tried her best to comfort the infant, but Naruto's outburst had upset him greatly. "NARUTO!" Hinata suddenly launched a gentle fist strike from her bed at Naruto, sending him into the wall. It didn't do the damage Sakura's punch would have, but it did leave some nice cracks in the wall.

"Babies generally don't like it when it gets loud." Hero warned him. "Please, don't force me to make it any louder; I'm very good with torture." Naruto's face turned ghastly white in response.

"We told him the same thing when this troublesome baby was born…more or less." Shikamaru said as he took Houri in his arms. His favorite word, when describing his new family, was used as one of affection. "This fool just keeps forgetting. When he and Sakura have their kid, I pity to think of what will happen to him when he makes his own kid cry." Everyone shuddered at the image of Sakura practically crushing Naruto to a pancake over such an incident.

Naruto recovered, and softly blurted out "Sorry, sorry." The baby seemed to have finally calmed down, and Naruto once again approached the couple. "So, what are you going to name him?"

Hinata thought carefully for a minute. "I…I'm not quite sure. We wanted to be surprised, and I guess it was my instinct to think of names for a girl. Of course, right now that would be inappropriate. Hero, do you have any thoughts on what to call your son?"

Hero thought for a moment. "How about…Setsuna?" he asked as he stroked his son's cheek.

Hinata looked at the little boy in her arms, and smiled. "Setsuna. His name will be Hyuuga Setsuna." The baby cooed slightly at the sound.

"Okay then." Ino smiled. "I'll write that down for the birth certificate. And congratulations to you both."

Naruto looked around, and then asked "By the way, where is Sakura-chan? I know she's busy and all, but wouldn't she want to be here?"

Ino took a look herself, realizing Sakura had not come in with everyone else to see the new family together. "You're right; she was the one who fixed Setsuna up and took care of the proper IDs. I'll go ask around after I'm done completing Setsuna's birth certificate."

With that, Ino took off. All of the other Rookie 9 got closer to Hinata to congratulate her and get a better look at Setsuna. However, Naruto only stood in a corner on his own. "Is Sakura still mad at me?" he wondered. Granted, that argument felt like a volcano erupting, but even the best of couples have arguments like that, right? That's what he kept telling himself.

Naruto was distracted from his thoughts when Shikamaru patted his shoulder. "Let's go; it seems the baby's getting hungry, and I don't think Hinata would appreciate the men staring."

Naruto nodded, and waved to Hinata. "Congratulations again."

"Thank you all for coming." Hinata said to everyone.

As Naruto finally exited the room, Ino approached him. "Naruto, I found Sakura."

Naruto sighed with relief. "Great! Where is she?"

"She's in the morgue, doing some kind of autopsy; the guards refused to give me the details, and said she and the Hokage are not to be disturbed."

"What's the deal?" Naruto asked, as his interest piqued.

"I don't know; it sounds like S class information. I could find out with my mind transfer, but Tsunade would likely make me her new sparring partner if I did, so…"

"Don't sweat it." Naruto smiled. "Thanks Ino."

Naruto walked out of the hospital, not at all happy about the turn of events. "If it's an autopsy that Ba-chan is not telling anyone about…it looks like Sakura-chan isn't coming home tonight…" He placed his hands in his pocket and prepared for a night alone. "At least she's won't make me sleep on the couch after today…" That was of little comfort to Naruto right now.

"How is the PCR coming?" Tsunade asked Sakura as she inspected the body for anything that Kakashi may have missed in his report.

"It just finished. I'll have a look…" She looked at the results as they were printed. "The DNA from the body and the eye match, Shishou. It was no implant."

Tsunade sighed. "Either we have one member of that infamous clan unaccounted for…or it's something else." Sakura was about to speak up, but at the last minute decided not to bring it up. "Yes, Sakura?"

"Forget it, Shishou; it's a stupid suggestion…"

"At this point, I'll take any. This corpse has left me stumped!"

Sakura gathered her words as carefully as possible in order not to look like a fool in front of her master. "What if…what if the cells, from whatever their source may be, were copied and used to make him?"

Tsunade looked at her like she just stumbled upon something forbidden. "You mean…cloning?"

Sakura blurted "Forgive me, Shishou. I know how silly it is to suggest…"

"No." Tsunade interrupted her. "You may be onto something. Orochimaru and Kabuto experimented with cloning, though their success was limited. You remember that Yamato has the DNA of the Shidaime, right?"

Sakura nodded. "But shishou…Orochimaru's dead… so it can't be him…"

"…which leaves Kabuto…"

"I doubt it's him." Sakura replied. "This man was apparently some kind of commodity on the Black Market, right? Kabuto and Orochimaru were never interested in money, at least not when it came to material wealth. Besides, he's a cripple now; I doubt any employment in this department would be meaningful to him; not to mention that if it was him, I would expect the village to be attacked by mass-produced clones."

"You may be right." Tsunade concurred. "It' best not to rule out that Kabuto is connected somehow; you never know how time changes a man. Also…there's this mark." Tsunade pointed to what looked like the shadow of a cat's head above where his heart was. "Have any ideas?"

Sakura thought for a moment. "I have one idea…though it's a slim possibility."

"Anything would help, Sakura." Tsunade reminded her.

"On my first C-class mission, me and my team fought against a business man named Gato. I never learned much about him, except that he ran a large corporation."

"And where is he now?" Tsunade asked; Hokages weren't expected to know everything that occurred during their predecessors'' reigns, especially when it came to closed cases.

"Dead." Sakura answered. "He was killed by his own ninja henchman, Zabuza."

"Yes. I remember now." Tsunade said. "I'll send a squad to look into the state of Gato's corporation. Also, I'd like for you to get a few cells from Kakashi's Sharingan. It might help us identify who this Uchiha is…or, if your hypothesis is correct, where, or from whom, he came from."

Sakura didn't come home until late at night for a couple of days, when Naruto would be fast asleep, and she would always leave before Naruto woke up. Naruto sighed, staring out the window. "She's never had a case like this before; she must be really mad at me." He called Ino earlier, to see if she was staying with her. She said she wasn't, and (somewhat annoyingly) reassured him that Sakura had been busy with something. "What could be so important?" He wondered. Sighing, he got away from the window sill, and walked into the main room. He then had a good look around. The room wasn't FILTHY per se…but, it could use a cleaning. "I guess I really have let everything go." If nothing else, it would help him take his mind off her.

He then made the sign for Kage Bushin, summoning about 4 of them. "Come on; let's get this place tidy." He and the bushin went to work on the apartment, cleaning up anything they saw and organizing anything they thought could use some improvement. They must have been at it for 15 minutes before they heard a knock on the door. "I'll get it." The real Naruto declared.

He opened it, and to his surprise, he saw Sakura standing right in the door. Judging by the dark circles under her eyes, it looked like she was working herself to death. "Hey." He said in surprise, unsure how to feel. "Welcome home."

"Thanks." Sakura muttered, confirming his suspicions about her being tired. Before she could say anymore, she took a look inside the apartment. "You…you actually cleaned up?"

"Just started." Naruto replied, somewhat sheepishly. "You know, I just figured it was…time. I have to admit, I have my own limit with these types of things you know. Come on in; you look like you could use a nap."

"Only if you come into bed with me." Sakura replied, letting out a loud yawn. "I've been working on this case non-stop for days…"

"Would you mind telling me what, exactly?" Naruto asked as he let his girlfriend inside. Though he tried to hide it, Sakura could tell he was irritated about being left in the dark. Their fight didn't help things much either.

"Tomorrow." Was her reply. "Tsunade wants you and Kakashi tomorrow to meet with her. We'll give you all the details right then and there." Naruto nodded, satisfied with the answer. "You can stop with the cleaning; I don't really care about it at the moment." Naruto, somewhat being relieved from being freed of his "chore" dispelled his bushins, and carried Sakura to the bedroom. "I miss this." She said, smiling slightly.

"You can always ask, any time." Naruto replied softly. "I doubt you want to sleep with your normal clothes on; how do you want to be dressed?"

Sakura's faint smile grew a bit wider. "Whatever you prefer. I'm not in the mood for sex, but if you want to strip me completely, that's fine."

To no one's surprise, he did. And himself after he was finished. Snuggling up to her, he kissed her forehead. "Sakura, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to treat you like your dad did your mother; I just got lazy and forgetful. You know I wouldn't expect you to do everything for me."

Sakura nodded slightly. "I'm sorry too, Naruto. I overreacted. I guess growing up the way I did made me predisposed to thinking like that…"

"Sakura, I promise. I'll make a better effort to-"

Sakura suddenly shushed him on the lips. "It can wait till tomorrow. Right now…" Sakura yawned. "I just want to sleep…" So Naruto let her.

Iori walked through town later that evening, ordering some ice cream. It was a rather boring day today, and she didn't expect anything to change that. However, as she was always reminded, life always throws surprises.

And that surprise came from overhearing a conversation between another team and their jonin instructor nearby. "It's ridiculous that we have to go so far!" one complained.

"Doesn't he have a ninja village in his country!"

"I'm going to miss this week's episode of Yokohama Shore!"

"Enough!" their jonin instructor shouted. "A shinobi that complains about a mission given to him over such petty matters doesn't deserve to be a ninja at all! You all are either going to escort this man all the way to the Land of Vines, or you can turn in your headbands right now and live the rest of your lives in disgrace!"

Iori nearly dropped her cone in shock. "The Land of Vines! They're going…!" A flood of memories invaded Iori's mind. Bad ones. She remembered all the times she and her father were ridiculed, and how the village, seeing an opportunity, effectively exiled her after Akatsuki disposed of her father.

"Back then, I ran away. But now…" She looked at her hand, trembling with rage. Then, it clenched with a new determination. "But now, it's different. I'm not the little girl I was before."

Her first instinct was to talk to the jonin and convince him to allow her to join, but she stopped herself upon realizing how stupid it was. Tsunade would not allow it, no matter what excuses she could come up with. There was also a good chance that their escort was someone she once knew; she didn't believe she would be able to control herself once they met face to face…or worse. And once she got there, what would happen? She couldn't accompany them. But she had to go; her father deserved that much at least. "I guess I have no choice but to stalk them!"

"I'll see you all at 8 am tomorrow, sharp!" the jonin said as he dismissed his team.

Iori, upon realizing the time they planned to be there, quickly ate her ice cream and rushed to her apartment. "I'm sorry, daddy. I should have gotten revenge for you a long time ago. And now, I can. Just wait a little longer; it'll be over soon." She had only one night to plan her trip and infiltration, and she had to make it count.

The next day, Sakura led Naruto and a recovered Kakashi into the morgue. There, Tsunade, dressed in the standard hospital smock, greeted them. "Thank you for coming, everyone. Before we begin, I believe Naruto will need to be brought up to speed. Would you like to explain, Kakashi?"

Kakashi turned slightly to Naruto. "As you know, you and I had related missions. You and your team were to protect the Supattos…and my team was supposed to eliminate the core threat."

Naruto nodded. "Since I'd imagine this wouldn't be an issue if we didn't both succeed…I take it your mission was not a success?" he asked, professionally as he could.

"No." Kakashi replied. "The mission was a success. However, our target had a body guard. An incredibly powerful one." Kakashi did not continue from there.

"How?" Naruto asked. "A Kekkei Genkai?"

"Yes." Tsunade replied. "But this guard had a kekkei genkai no one except for a few unmentionable should have! Sakura." She ordered her apprentice.

Sakura, dressed in an identical smock, walked over and unveiled the body on the examination table. There was nothing remarkable about him, except for one thing: his eyes. His eyes had the sharingan!

"What!" Naruto yelled in astonishment as he scooted over to get a closer look. "That can't be! Who is this guy!"

"Beyond the name Kakashi provided for us, we don't know." Tsunade answered. "But you're right. This man isn't in any of our records as a member of the Uchiha clan. Would you like to explain our theory, Sakura?"

Sakura stepped up towards the table and explained. "The only way to get a positive ID on the body was to preform DNA tests. We found we had to do it extensively, for only one Uchiha on record was a match. Even accounting for the fact that most technology for DNA is barely over 20 years old, the results were conclusive. We had to double check, because the DNA belongs to an Uchiha that was believed to be dead..."

Before Naruto could ask, Kakashi did it for him. "It's his, isn't it?" he said, lifting up his headband to reveal his own sharingan eye. "It's the owner of this eye. It's Obito's, isn't it?"

"Obito? You mean…this…is your friend? The one that died during the 3rd Shinobi World War?" Naruto asked in disbelief.

Tsunade sighed. "It seems that way. We solved one mystery and in doing so stumbled upon an either greater one…"

"No." Kakashi suddenly replied bitterly. "This isn't Obito. He died. I saw it."

"Did you?" Tsunade asked him skeptically. It may have come off as cold, but one often had to act like that to get to the bottom of things.

Kakashi seemed to struggle for an answer, but found none. Looking away and covering his sharingan once more, he replied "Okay, so Rin and I left before the actual moment of his death. We had no choice! We couldn't help him! And even if I didn't see it, there's no way he could have survived being buried by an avalanche!" Everyone just stared at him, taken aback by his sudden outburst, contradicting his otherwise easygoing personality. But it was completely understandable, as they were talking about a dead friend that continued to torture Kakashi. Kakashi, taking a deep breath, continued somewhat more composed. "Let's assume he did survive. The results from the rocks would have left scars not even the two of you could heal. And even if the incident left him with amnesia…his core character would not allow him to join up with the likes of a yakuza boss!"

"Enough." Tsunade commanded him. "There's more."

Sakura continued with the briefing. "Though the DNA matches with Obito's, there are some inconsistencies." She then looked to Naruto. "Naruto, you're familiar with telomeres, right?"

Naruto just gave a sheepish grin. "I think you're going to have to explain that one to me. Sorry, Sakura-chan."

Sakura nodded in understanding; she sometimes forgot that not everyone was in the medical field like she was, and therefore unfamiliar with medical jargon. "Telomeres are a segment of genes located on the end of each chromosome. As a person ages, the telomeres regress. In other words, it is the key component to aging. Let's assume this is Obito; it will have been more than 10 years since he was last seen. Comparing the DNA from our original data banks, it would appear as if he hasn't been gone for more than 3!"

Kakashi easily understood the implication…but not a solution to the riddle. "Then…?"

"That's part of the mystery I was referring to." Tsunade answered. "Even more curious, and this will alleviate your fears a little, it's not a complete match. There are strands of DNA from an entirely different person. What function they have other than to form to complete an entire human being we couldn't determine. And then, things got really weird for us."

"The mitochondrial DNA we've isolated is definitely Obito's, according to our gene databanks. However, the foreign DNA does not match either of his parents." Sakura informed them.

Naruto proposed an idea before she could continue. "Maybe he survived, somehow and… had a kid?" He knew it was probably a stupid idea in the first place, but better that than nothing at all.

"That's impossible." Sakura explained to him. "Mitochondrial DNA is inherited maternally. Obito would never be able to have children with the same mitochondrial DNA he possesses."

"Then…what is it?" Kakashi asked, completely stumped.

"We have one hypothesis…" Sakura told them. "You all know of Yamato's Moutokon ability, right?"

Getting irritated with being run around in circles, Kakashi growled "That's got diddly squat to do with…" Kakashi stopped himself as what they were suggesting dawned upon him. "Wait…you mean he merely…possess Obito's cells?"

"That's the best we can figure." Tsunade answered. "But it would take great scientific and medical expertise to achieve such a thing…Orochimaru is the only one known to have done experiments like these, but out of the dozens of children he kidnapped, Yamato was the only success, and he turned on him. The fact that he's dead doesn't help him as a suspect either. Still, that doesn't mean others couldn't have learned the process…or Orochimaru shared the information with someone. And if it's not him, the only thing we do know that whoever is doing this has no shortage of cash. The lab work and equipment needed for this kind of thing doesn't come cheap."

"So, that's all we know?" Naruto asked.

"There is one more thing, actually." Sakura answered. "See this mark here?" she asked, pointing to his chest right around where his heart should be.

"Yeah. It looks like a cat." Naruto replied.

"There is one likely suspect this could belong to; Gato."

Memories of Team 7's first mission flashed through Naruto's mind. "But…Gato's dead."

"He's dead, Naruto." Kakashi corrected him. "But his corporation is not. I heard his son took over shortly after his death."

"We've confirmed the logo is of Gato's old corporation, Claw Industries." Sakura told them. "At least, this is the symbol the company uses in the underground. This isn't something you'd want to tip off to the normal governments."

It suddenly dawned on Naruto why he was created. "If a corporation is makes one clone…they will make more. They'll start a black market of Uchiha clones. And there's no telling what that could lead to. The last thing we need is an enemy with a private army of these guys."

"Even so, a sharingan alone does not make an Uchiha." Kakashi stated. "The Uchiha needed training, just like any other shinobi. And not all were prodigies like Itachi and Sasuke were; Obito himself didn't have much natural talent in ninjutsu."

"Many ex-ninja have sold their skills to the Black Market." Tsunade replied. "And it wouldn't surprise me that if such an organization were building an army, they'd have instructors. With soldiers of this potential caliber, very good ones."

"Kakashi-sensei…" Sakura addressed her instructor. "We've talked quite a bit about the body. But what about his mind? Did you notice anything unusual about his personality?"

Kakashi thought for a moment. "Yeah. If I had to venture a guess…I'd have to say he didn't have one."

"Like Itachi?" Tsunade followed up.

"No. Itachi kept his emotions hidden; this guy had none. It's like inside, there was nothing but a void. Like a marrionate."

Sakura thought about Kakashi's answer. "Brainwashing then. Makes sense; one wouldn't want their creations to get out of control…or produce offspring with free will."

"And why is that, Sakura-chan?"

"We've also done tests on his reproductive tract; though his gonads have fully developed, he is sterile. If it's a business that's creating this army, common sense would dictate to keep up demand they would make sure none of their products would reproduce for free."

"We can speculate and make theories all we want." Tsunade interrupted. "But in the end, they're just guesses. What we need is the truth, and that is precisely what the three of you will seek!" The three of Team 7 stood at attention. "Since we've confirmed that this specimen is connected to the late Gato, you'll begin your investigation tomorrow. Since this is where you first met him, you will travel to the Land of Waves and piece the clues together from there!"

Though he didn't show it, Naruto was excited. He always planned on returning to the Land of Waves one day, as a vacation. After what he and his team did to help the island nation, he wanted to see how things had changed. Not to mention Tazuna and Inari. He hadn't seen them in ages; he wondered how they were doing… "When do we leave?" Naruto asked.

"At dawn tomorrow; we haven't a moment to spare."

Not even the absurdly early beginning of the mission was enough to diminish the blond shinobi's enthusiasm. He looked forward to all of it, despite the serious situation.

The next morning, Yuji knocked on the door of Iori's apartment, intending to invite her to hang out with Shiguri and he. But no answer came. "Odd. She's usually up by now. It's already past 11."

"Her loss." Shiguri shrugged. "Come on. Let's go hit the arcade; Naruto-sensei is going to be gone for a while, so we might as well get as much fun in during our break as we can."

As they walked down the stairs of the complex, Shiguri noticed his friend seemed…worried. "Everything okay, Yuji?"

The spectacled shinobi sighed in response. "I dunno. I just have a bad feeling about Iori. I'm worried about her, and I don't even know why."

"Damn. Can't help ya there. Has she been acting strange or something?"

"She seemed normal since we last saw her." Yuji explained. "I really can't describe it. It just feels like I need to be there for her."

"Well, unless your 'spidey sense' is tingling, I suggest you ignore it for now." Shiguri casually suggested. "So, what kind of games you want to do?"

"I'd like to try out that new Marvelous vs. Capco game; heard it's pretty fun."

"Sounds good. I really want to try…"

"Hey, you two!"

The two chunin stopped to see Yamanaka Ino in front of them just as they stepped outside. "Oh. Ino-sensei." Yuji greeted her. "What's up?"

"Where's your partner?" she asked, not bothering to answer his question.

"Not home." Shiguri replied. "Don't know where; she got up before we did apparently."

Ino replied "I see." while thinking absently to herself. "I guess it would've been a waste either way; I doubt a tomboy like her would be comfortable taking a role in the mission I'm about to take…but I could still use you two."

The two of them gawked. "Us! What for!"

Ino suddenly grabbed them both by the collars and dragged them down the road. "I'll explain on the way! I just need to debrief Tsunade-sama on it and we're off!"

So much for much needed downtime.

Naruto sighed loudly for what seemed to be the hundredth time as he and his old team rode the carriage from a town close to Konoha all the way to The Land of Waves.

Sakura, getting frustrated with Naruto, said "Naruto, I know you're bored…but that is all getting really annoying."

Naruto grumbled as he took a look out the carriage window. "We could get there much faster if we just tree hopped like we normally do! This Tigre guy could be long gone by now!"

"We don't even know if he was in this area to begin with." Kakashi said, still reading his book. "And if he is here, we need to disguise ourselves as civilians. If he is behind this, and sees ninja approaching, we will wind up tipping him off and he will destroy all evidence... or worse."

Naruto leaned back in his seat, stubborn as usual. "So what? We're ninja; we can make it without being seen…"

"…unless he has ninja who know what to look for." Sakura interjected. "And if he has several synthetic Uchihas, he will most certainly spot us." While Naruto had certainly grown up as a ninja, being subtle was still a problem for him. Sakura worried that bad habit would get him killed one day.

Still, Naruto couldn't argue with the logic of their strategy. "There is one thing that concerns me." He added. "We were in the Land of Waves before; wouldn't people recognize us?"

"While your features may be some cause for concern, you were both 12 when you first came." Kakashi informed him. "Since Gato was there at the time, and not Tigre, he couldn't have known everything about the young Team 7. Both of you have grown up substantially, so there should be no need to disguise either one of you. While your hair colors are rare, they're not unheard of."

"Which leaves you." Naruto replied. "You're definitely well known, especially among the different ninja black ops on the continent."

"That's what this henge is for." Kakashi said, smiling under his mask as he transformed back into the form he took when entering the carriage. Both Naruto and Sakura groaned, as neither one particularly liked his disguise. The disguise itself was good; it was the story around it that irritated the two younger jonin.

"We're here." The driver of the carriage called back to them. "If you'd like, I could drive you all across the bridge."

"No, that's alright. We prefer walking." Kakashi answered as his voice became hoarse and high-pitched.

"Your funeral, gramps." The driver shrugged. "It must be tough on your grandkids."

The team stepped out. The two younger jonin were dressed in their civilian clothes, with all their weapons and ninja uniforms tucked in their bags. Naruto and Sakura didn't bother altering their appearances; as Kakashi said, last time they were there they were half the age they were now.

Of course, Kakashi used a more radical disguise: an old man with a thick beard. He certainly did a good job sounding old and hunching over with his cane that he got for the disguise. But Naruto and Sakura hated to help him out like he was their actual grandpa. Not only did they have to treat their sensei as a handicap and take their time…their relationship had to appear as siblings. Granted, they had enough common sense not to have sex during a mission, but they had to avoid giving out even the most subtle romantic hints. That part was going to make the mission more torturous than anything.

"There are other perfectly good disguises for him to use." Naruto whispered to Sakura.

"He just enjoys torturing us." Sakura grumbled in agreement. "Be careful though; he might get out a wheel chair just to spite us."

"Hey, you little scamps!" their "grandpa" called. "Come help your old man." Holding his hands, they slowly made their way towards the now prosperous village in sight. "It's been a long time." Kakashi noted as the driver drove out of earshot.

"Well, are you ready?" Sakura asked Naruto, eagerly anticipating their return.

Naruto only smiled. "Let's go see how Inari and the old geezer are."

Funny story related to Iori throwing her Sai in what I'm sure most of you guessed was the groin. Years ago, my martial arts school had a knife course. Among the many things we did was knife throwing, just for fun. We had a target set up, and took our best shot. Mine happened through dumb luck, but my knife landed in…yup, you guessed it. Realistically, I probably would have only scratched the guy's balls, but we all still thought it was pretty funny.

Next time, Team 7 is reunited with Tazuna and family, Iori returns home, and just what does Ino want with Yuji and Shiguri?

PCR-Technology that can create and duplicate a template strand from one single strand of DNA

Ookamigumi-Wolf Pack

Supattos-Spots

Raikumo-Lightning Spider

WakuSeiRasengan-Planetary Rasengan

Hadanahadasshi Anma-Extreme Massage

Pirania-Piranha

Seiba Hatora-Saber Tooth

Houri-Pineapple