Welcome back ladies and gents. I've been writing quite a bit lately, but my attention has been divided. My newish story centered around Itachi is kicking off so I'm trying to get chapters out for that. I've also, foolishly, started another story that's AU in the sense that it changes the mechanics of chakra (specifically chakra natures) and slightly (or largely depending on how you look at it) changes the history of the leaf and some of the wars. I won't be posting that one until I have several chapters ready because it changes enough that I don't want people thinking I made mistakes or aren't revealing enough while they wait, so I'll probably post that when about 5 chapters are ready.
I'm hoping to wrap up the first half of the story in the next 10 chapters, maybe 15 since I know I'll inevitably elongate it. The pacing will likely be sped up with time skips and what not to account for it so you might be getting important info in the form of flashbacks, but sometimes it makes things more mysterious to hint at what it was with the effect they have without actually showing what happened. I'm also still deciding if the shippuden portion will be listed as a new story, or if I'll just continue it under this same story on . I know this one already has follows and favorites and what not, but I also know that if it gets through shippuden and maybe beyond and has like a million words that can be a turn off. Let me know if you have a preference in the comments please. We're still a ways away from that so plenty of time for your opinion to be heard.
Here comes a time skip. Get wrecked if you weren't expecting it.
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One week before the Chunin exams start.
"I don't understand why I have to wear this stupid kimono." Naruto tugged at the neck lining of it, complaining just quietly enough so that the guards wouldn't be able to hear.
"It's a dinner with the Daimyo… what do you not understand?" Sasuke said.
Naruto sighed, exasperated at the situation. Why did Nyoko have to invite them? He'd rather relive the fight with Zabuza in an infinite genjutsu than attend a formal dinner.
"Naruto-kun, this is an honor for us and our clans. Please try to be respectful." Hinata admonished. At least as much as somebody of her kindness could.
Naruto sighed again. He had just gotten the Uzumaki clan officially reinstated as an active clan. He couldn't afford to tarnish it in any way.
"Fine, but we're spending the rest of the week training in the forest away from all things fancy!" He declared. His teammates and sensei could only shake their heads at him.
He did have to admit though, that his kimono was pretty sweet. It was a white silk design, with red flames licking all over it. An homage to his father, not that anybody would know that's what it was. If anybody asked, it was simply a symbol for the will of fire. The red Uzumaki swirl was featured on the back and his left chest, over his heart.
A servant of the court came to collect them, and the four members of team seven wound their way through the endless corridors of the Fire Country's Royal Palace. Somewhere along the trip, Nyoko joined them.
Naruto had spent the whole month training with the Hyuga, though not in shinobi skills. He bowed the proper distance, and was perfectly respectful as they exchanged greetings. He hated every second of it.
Nyoko giggled and waved her hand at him playfully. "Please Naruto-kun, you don't need to be so formal with me, I don't really care for it." She said.
Naruto sighed, this time thankfully. "Thank goodness, I'm not sure how long I could keep that up for."
She giggled again, much more cheerful and lively than the last time he'd seen her, something he found himself liking. "You'll definitely want to do it for my Uncle though. Whether he is a fan of it or not, I do not think he would allow a shinobi to be so casual with the Daimyo, not even a cutie like yourself. Politics and such." She explained. Sasuke and Hinata rolled their eyes from behind her.
Naruto paled, just now realizing he'd have to keep the act up for the whole night. His shoulders slumped in resignation, as if all the air had been let out of him. As always though, he recovered quickly, throwing on a genuine smile at the thought of such a difficult challenge. "Whatever it takes! Let's do this!" He promptly flipped a switch to do his best impression of what he would consider a stiff royal member.
His impression, while not his best, left Nyoko in stitches. "You're so funny, Naruto-kun." She said, touching his shoulder.
Hinata quickly broke them apart, "You look very nice, Nyoko-sama." She said with a little more emphasis than was strictly necessary.
Sasuke rolled his eyes at his teammates, something he'd been doing a lot lately. "Can we go to the dinner, please. I don't want to be late."
"Of course Sasuke, let us go." Nyoko replied, turning to lead the way, but keeping Naruto close to her.
The dinner was nerve wracking for the blond, despite the hard work that he'd put into being politically presentable. Hinata had nearly had to hold him back when the Daimyo asked to see Sasuke's sharingan, and one of his guardian ninja said that it wasn't a good idea because the eyes couldn't be trusted. Sasuke brushed it off cooly, but Naruto bothered him. The rest of the dinner went smooth enough for his taste, until their most recent mission was brought up.
"So," The Daimyo said, "I hear your team was credited with taking out an A-rank missing ninja, correct?"
"Oh don't downplay their accomplishments, Brother." Nyoko's father said with enthusiasm. "That A-rank nin was one of the 7 Ninja Swordsmen of the Hidden Mist. Quite a feat if the bingo book is to be believed."
The Daimyo seemed even more impressed by Team 7. "An accomplishment that shall bring honor to all of your clans, I'm sure." He smiled at them, "I look forward to seeing what you accomplish in your careers moving forward."
"As much as we'd love to take credit for it, we really shouldn't," Naruto said, mood dampened. "We were outmatched. If it hadn't been for Yamato-sensei and Asuma-sensei, we would have failed for sure. We didn't exactly make it out of there scot free either." He shuddered thinking about what Team 10 went through before they'd arrived to back them up. Sasuke and Hinata shared his shudder next to him at the table. Their experience in Wave hadn't been a great one. Everybody made it out alive though, and that's what mattered. Well, everybody on their side at least.
"N-Naruto is being humble. While the mission wasn't v-very smooth, he saved us and another genin team." Hinata said. She felt that Naruto deserved credit for what he did.
The blond however, didn't, and kicked Hinata's foot under the table. It was too late though, and the Daimyo and all his court were thoroughly impressed by Naruto. He finally put his foot down when one of the General's, a pitiful, sniveling man, suggested he receive a medal. Thankfully Yamato backed him up, saying shinobi didn't receive awards from the Daimyo's army.
By the time the dinner was over, Naruto was completely exhausted and ready to go to bed. Thankfully, they were each given rooms for the night so they wouldn't have to travel back to Konoha until the morning. He followed his team through the hallways to where they would be staying, slouching as he rounded the first corner out of view of the court.
Halfway back he felt a presence approaching him quickly, not that he needed to sense it with the sound of slapping footsteps. Nyoko came running up next to him, shoes in her hand.
"Naruto-kun, wait!" She huffed, trying to keep her voice down so the rest of his team wouldn't hear. She failed, and his teammates turned to check out what was going on.
"It's fine guys, go on, I can find my way back." He was not entirely excited to delay sleep anymore, but his curiosity was piqued about what Nyoko wanted.
"What's up?" He said.
She looked a little winded from running after him, which was surprising considering she looked to be in good shape. She brushed a brunette lock out of her face. "Well, uh, I wanted to… ya see…" She looked down, embarrassed at being tongue tied.
"Can we go for a walk?" She finally settled on. Her shoulders and face perked up in excitement as she waited for his answer.
Naruto had to admit that it was kind of cute, and a walk wasn't too much work in the grand scheme of things. The fact that she didn't care for him trying to act all proper eventually sold him on the idea.
"Sure, but can I change first? I think I'm gonna die if I have to wear this thing any longer." He said, gesturing to his kimono. It might have been cool, but it certainly wasn't comfortable.
She smiled at him shyly, nodding her head quickly. Her hair bounced around her face. Why did he keep noticing her hair? He shook his head and took off for the nearest bathroom, removing a scroll from who knows where that contained a backup set of casual clothes.
Minutes later he was back with Nyoko, sporting blue pants and a black shirt featuring the Uzumaki swirl on the front. He'd switched back to his blue shinobi sandals, and sported his 'Oil' headband that the toads had given him.
Nyoko's face turned pink when she saw him. "You look much better in those clothes." She said.
Naruto rubbed the back of his head, ruffling his blond locks back to where they'd been before he had attempted to comb them. "Haha, thanks." He said, his face turning shade to match hers.
A devious smile crept onto her face. "Where I come from," she gestured to the luxurious hall they were in, "that is not a compliment."
Naruto opened his mouth as if he were hurt, then returned her grin. "Oh, so she's more than just a pretty face?" He laughed, "Well where I come from, it's embarrassing to be out of breath after running 200 feet." He nudged her with his elbow to accentuate his diss. The teasing was much more his speed versus acting all fancy and proper. He was feeling much more comfortable around her already.
It was Nyoko's turn to act hurt, and she punched him on the shoulder, an easy task for her considering they were the same height. "Hey I was not out of breath from running! This dress is too tight! I can't breathe in it!" She sounded exasperated to him.
He couldn't understand why somebody would wear something so uncomfortable willingly. "Why wear it if you can't breathe? Seems counterproductive to me." He said.
"I do not understand?" She quirked her head in confusion. "It is just what is expected, I have to do it."
Naruto raised an eyebrow. If he always did what was expected of him… well there wouldn't be a Leaf Village left to return to.
"What is wrong?" She asked, noticing his facial expressions and shift in mood.
"Nothing." He smiled big at her, but it didn't reach his eyes. "You just don't seem like the kind of person to bend to the expectations of others."
There was a mixture of emotion flashing across her face, and it was conflicted feelings that he recognized well. He'd just been through it when he rescued the very girl standing in front of him. Not to mention the disaster in Wave.
Sometimes doing what is expected of you is best for you and your family, even if it goes against your values that you hold in your very core. It was clear that Nyoko didn't enjoy her duties, at least some of them. Naruto knew for certain he didn't enjoy killing, especially other shinobi, but sometimes it was the only way. He hated that more than killing itself.
They were clearly in two different scenarios, but he felt like he understood her a lot better now, and his respect for her grew. He could tell she was struggling to come up with the right words, so he saved her from the effort.
"You don't have to explain, I think I understand…" He looked her in the eyes, noticing how green they were for the first time. "Just… don't lose the part of you that wants to fight it. It's important to stay who we are." She seemed to understand what he was saying, and nodded firmly at him.
"I will not let it get to me as long as you do not either." She said.
"It's a promise." He smiled and winked at her, throwing in a thumbs up for good measure.
They arrived at a balcony, walking out onto it. The cool air of the night tickled at the back of Naruto's neck. To his left, he felt Nyoko shiver, and moved closer to him. As they reached the railing her arm was brushing up against his.
He lightly circulated chakra, making certain not to let any of it escape his system. Given its potency, it would probably set off all sorts of alarms to any shinobi in the area.
The warmth of his chakra, something he didn't often notice and generally took for granted, flowed through his body. He released a breath of air as it took the bite out of the night. Next to him, Nyoko crossed her arms, hugging herself to keep warm in her sleeveless gown. Naruto debated with himself internally. He wished he'd worn a jacket so he could just give it to her, but alas, he didn't have one with him. The kindness in his heart eventually won out.
He lifted up his hand, gesturing it obscurely in her direction. "May I?"
It took her a few seconds to understand what he was saying, and once again her cheeks tinged pink. She nodded at him though, and felt his hand lay surprisingly gently on her back. Moments later her body was flushed with warmth as he channeled chakra through her.
"I do not understand how you do that, but it is... amazing." She said as he removed his hand. She opened up a little more now that she wasn't so cold.
"It's my chakra." He chuckled. "It's actually a medical technique that I can't do, my chakra just happens to naturally be like that. Hinata says it's the warmest she's ever seen." He smiled at her.
"Well aren't you just special?" She rolled her eyes at him sarcastically, causing him to laugh.
"Speaking of your teammate, um… are you and her… you know?" Naruto didn't seem to be picking up on what she was hinting at, so she decided to just spit it out. "Together. Are you together?" She asked shyly, immediately looking down at her still shoeless feet.
He chuckled at her embarrassment, but didn't know exactly how to respond. "No we're not…" He said, looking off into the night. "I'm not really sure what we are. We're teammates, and that makes her family… and that complicates things. I'm not really the best with emotions in the first place." He scratched the back of his head. "…yeah." He awkwardly finished, cringing a little bit at his own inability to be social.
It was her turn to have a laugh at him, his awkwardness making her more comfortable about the topic. She thought about it for a few seconds, scrunching her lips together and looking up at the stars with her eyes. "If you decide that you're just friends, could you let me know?" She asked. It was forward, especially for a member of the royal family, but there wasn't anybody there to admonish her.
"Why's that?" Naruto said. He wasn't sure why she would want to know what was going on between him and Hinata. Despite all the clues that she was dropping, and even his general attraction to and comfort around her, he couldn't put two and two together.
"Are you really going to make me say it?" His face clearly told her that he didn't understand. She sighed, hunching just slightly out of her perfect posture. "I am… interested in you. I would like to go on a date." She said, a little bit of her training taking over, allowing her to keep an even voice.
Naruto's face flushed red so fast he got a little lightheaded. "Uh.. well… uhhhh…" He stumbled over himself. "You.. are you?…" He finally realized how much of an idiot he was making himself out to be, and closed his eyes to take a deep breath. This may not be the heat of battle, but Fukasaku's lessons about keeping a calm head to avoid making mistakes still rang true.
When he'd centered himself and gathered his thoughts, he spoke again. "I'm not sure we're all that compatible. You're much more down to earth than I expected, but you live in a castle and you're royalty. I grew up in a single room apartment and spent most of my time living in the woods while traveling. My whole life revolves around using chakra and you aren't even able to use it." She went to argue but he just continued, doing his best to keep his tone kind. "I live in Konoha, and my dream is to be the Hokage. I can't ever live anywhere else." One more deep breath to finish his thought. "And most importantly… being a shinobi is dangerous, and even more so for me. There's powerful people after me for my uh… chakras special abilities. You would be put in danger just from being connected to me."
Sometime between the chakra comment and wanting to be Hokage, Nyoko's attitude had shifted. He watched as he explained to her why they couldn't work, confused about her body language. Her hand moved to her hip, her other foot tapping the ground impatiently. Her face took on a look of… well he wasn't sure.
When he finished explaining to her all the reasons that it wouldn't work, she looked him firmly in the eyes.
"Is that all?"
"Uhh… huh?" His fair flopped as he flipped his head to the side with his question.
"Is that all the reasons? Or are there more?" She said.
Her tone was… mysterious. That, combined with her body language, and for the first time ever, Naruto was scared of a civilian woman.
"I guess?" He asked her.
"Good." She said, and suddenly she was back to normal.
Naruto was at a loss for what had just happened. It took him a good ten seconds before he realized that his mouth was hanging open. He recovered enough to face the railing and look out over the city. Internally though, he was still entirely confused as to what was going on.
A minute of increasingly comfortable silence found him on the other side of feeling awkward.
"The city really is beautiful from up here." Naruto said. "Not bad for a civilian location." He chuckled. He'd spent a fair amount of time in civilian cities during his time out of the village with Jiraiya. Some were nice, most weren't.
"It is a lovely city…" She glanced at him, "It has never felt like home though. Not truly."
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"It is… fine. Adequate. It is not really my favorite place though. My mother never liked it." She said.
Naruto could hear the sadness in her voice even without seeing the wistful look on her face. "Where is your favorite place then?"
She smiled, and for a moment the dark balcony was lit up. "We had a cabin out in the woods. She was a big fan of nature and used to take me there whenever she wanted to get out of the city. There was a creek right out back where we used to fish." A tear had begun to roll down her cheek.
"What? You fished? You? The princess?" Naruto asked teasingly.
She giggled despite the tear. "I'm not a princess!" She exclaimed. "And neither was my mother. Her father was a tradesman. I still do not know how she caught my father's eye. As much as she loved him, she could not stand being in the city." She looked at him confused as he laughed.
"I'm sorry. I just can't picture you getting your hands dirty. That's really sweet about your mom though. She sounds like she was my kind of person." Naruto said. He thought about what he was going to say next, and eventually decided on going for it. "I never got to know my mom. She died protecting the village on the day that I was born." He tried not to sound too down, but some of his sadness leaked into it.
"I am sorry to hear that. My mother died when I was 10. She was really sick."
"I'm sorry. At least you have your brother's and dad. And I have my teammates and sensei's. It could be a lot worse for both of us." Naruto smiled weakly. It wasn't that he didn't believe what he was saying, he wholeheartedly did. It was that some part of him wished that he didn't have to. That while the terrible hand he had been dealt could be worse, it could also be much better. It was a rare time when he truly let his emotions in and let himself feel the pain that came with such thoughts. Sometimes it was necessary to get it out of the way though, and if it would help a friend, even better.
"So that positive attitude is not just an act, is it?" She asked. "You truly believe that?" Being a civilian, she wasn't trained well enough to perceive deception. She couldn't see that Naruto's smile wasn't entirely genuine. Not that Naruto was trying to deceive her, but she just couldn't detect the sadness hidden behind his cheerful disposition.
"It's not an act, no. Sometimes it doesn't come naturally though. I still get sad, I still have negative thoughts. The key is to stay above them, and be grateful for what you still have, rather than focusing on what you don't." He said.
She nodded along, as if that made sense to her. "I like it. I think I will try to incorporate that attitude myself." She held her chin up high, proudly. He smiled at her, realizing he really enjoyed her company
They ended up a little while longer, before calling it a night. Naruto escorted her most of the way back to her room. A room that was conveniently located at the top of one of the towers, despite her claims of not being a princess.
Naruto snuck back into his own room, which he luckily was not sharing considering that late hour. It must've been well past midnight at this point, too late to be questioned by his team.
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The trip back to the leaf was quick and clean, after he underwent an interrogation from his teammates about what Nyoko wanted. When he assured the both of them that they had just talked, they left it alone. For the time being at least.
Upon returning to the village, they were called into the Hokage's office. Nartuo greeted the old man as he always did, his teammates doing their more respectful iterations.
"Ah, Team 7. Welcome back to the Leaf. How was your trip to the capital?" The Hokage asked.
"It wasn't as boring as I thought it was gonna be." Naruto said. He seemed to be pondering his time there.
"It was successful, Hokage-Sama." Hinata said, bowing respectfully.
"Surprisingly, Naruto even managed to not embarrass himself. He almost acted as a clan heir should." Sasuke added.
"Yamato?"
"Their reports are… surprisingly correct. The daimyo was a gracious host, and appeared to enjoy our company. Team 7 handled the political pressure admirably, and I believe even made some allies." Yamato reported succinctly.
"Good, good." Hiruzen said as he puffed on the pipe that seemed to materialize out of nowhere. They sat for a few comfortable seconds before he continued. "You are aware that the chunin exams are coming up?"
They all nodded excitedly. "So I assumed. I wanted to personally give you the invitation forms. I'm expecting you three to pass." He explained, pushing forward three slips of paper. They each stepped forward to grab their respective forms, before returning to place.
"We won't let you down, Old Man! Team 7 is gonna ace the exams like we were made for them!" Naruto shouted.
The Hokage chuckled as Yamato held his face in his hand. "I expected as much." Sarutobi said, "I'm looking forward to your performance. You three are dismissed. Yamato, you can hang back for the meeting."
"See ya later!" Naruto shouted, waving to both his Sensei and Leader. He rushed for the window, opened it, and leapt out before anyone could stop him.
Sasuke sighed exasperatedly, and leapt after him. Hinata bowed silently, and rushed to do the same.
"Hokage-sama, I apologize for their behavior. They take their duties seriously on missions or training, but it seems like outside of that I just can't get them to behave." Yamato said, shaking his head.
"It's quite alright Yamato. You're forgetting that Naruto gets it from Jiraiya, and that I myself could never get my student to kick his… peculiar habits. The fact that you can get them to focus when necessary shows your ability as their sensei." The Hokage said. "At any rate, we have the meeting for the chunin exams now. I'm certain you know everything you're about to hear already, but I'd like for you to stay formally nominate your team anyway." At that moment, the doors opened, and in walked all the jonin sensei for the village. Being that it was a home hosted chunin exams, they would likely be nominating a record number of genin for it. Exams within your own village were always considered the 'safest' after all.
When everybody had filed in, the Hokage spoke again. "Ah, I see you're all here. I assume you can figure out what this is about. Kakashi, we'll start with you." He nodded to the copy nin, who stepped forward to speak.
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After leaving the Hokage's office, Naruto and his team began to make their way for Ichiraku ramen. It had become the unspoken thing to do after a meeting with the Hokage, whether it be a mission report or otherwise.
He hadn't made it 15 steps when they ran into Sakura. "Naruto, Hinata, Sasuke-kun!" She shouted. "How are you guys?"
They chatted idly for a few minutes while they walked. They discussed missions and training and the like. Team 7 didn't bring up the Chunin Exams, because they had deduced that the meeting right now was for nominations, so the pink haired girl likely didn't even know yet.
They turned the corner of a wooden fence, and Naruto immediately sighed. "Konohamaru." He called out. "What did I tell you about your camouflage?"
"That I need to make them more realistic?" Konohamaru asked.
"Yes. Can you see why a square rock with eye holes isn't realistic?" The young boy nodded profusely.
"Then why did you use it?"
"Well Iruka-sensei said that sometimes hiding in plain sight could be effective!" He said.
Naruto sighed. The young boy had just started the academy and was taking some of the lessons a little too literally. At least he was paying attention. "Saru, just because it's a bad disguise doesn't mean it's hiding in plain sight." He rolled his eyes. "Hiding in plain sight would be like walking down the street in civilian clothes, versus hiding in the shadows in your ninja gear. Understand?"
"Yes, Naruto-sensei!" He saluted, bringing his hand up to his goggles. The boy then donned a devious grin. "Hey Boss, are these two your girlfriends?"
Naruto paled, but not because he was embarrassed. He chose to forgo the answer, and instead offer a little advice. "You better run, Saru."
"Huh?" The boy asked. Then he saw the look on Sakura's face.
"You little Brat! Don't you know it's insulting to say we're both his girlfriend!" Sakura yelled. "Come over here so I can teach you a lesson."
Konohamaru went pale, and turned to run. Sakura took off after him, not giving serious chase, just trying to scare the boy into a little bit of respect.
Naruto chuckled. "I'll see you guys at Ichiraku, I better make sure he learns his lesson without getting hurt." Naruto said. Hinata's face was still a little red from embarrassment, but she and Sasuke both nodded.
Naruto molded chakra, using his sensory ability to pinpoint them as he ran after the two. He found them on the other side of a fence, next to two other signatures. He was just hopping the fence when he felt an extremely powerful one up in a tree. He couldn't tell the size of the chakra pool because it was extremely well concealed, but the chakra that leaked was dense.
On the other side of the fence, he found Konohamaru being held up by his shirt by a Sand Ninja. The guy had purple face paint and was wearing an all black outfit with pointed ears on his hood. Next to him stood a blond girl, also wearing a Suna headband. There was a good chance the signature was their jonin sensei then. But where was their third teammate? Was he what was strapped on the back of the boy? He could see hair poking out from the bandages.
He made a cross hand seal and concentrated hard. His clones came to life exactly where he wanted them too. "You guys here for the Chunin exams?" He asked.
The sand ninja looked up. "See, put him down before we get in trouble, Kankuro." The blonde girl said.
"Tch, I told you I wanted to have some fun and teach him a lesson first.." The face painted ninja, Kankuro, said.
A clone of Naruto tapped him on the shoulder, causing him to spin around quickly. While he did so, the real Naruto moved in, and pressed his thumb into a pressure point on Kankuro's forearm, causing him to drop Konohamaru. His kunoichi teammate made a move to help, but a gold chain wrapped around her from behind, stopping her. "Woah there you two. Better calm down, wouldn't wanna hurt little Saru here now would you? The third Hokage would be pissed if his grandson got injured." Naruto said, laying it on thick. He would apologize to Konohamaru later about the grandson comment. "Go find Sasuke and Hinata, they're at Ichiraku." He whispered to the boy. Konohamaru nodded his head and took off running.
"So, what's a pretty girl like you doing following the guy with makeup around?" The Clone wrapping up the blonde girl asked. She blushed a little, but didn't respond.
"What about you, Redhead?" A voice called from above. "You with them too?" Up in the tree, a clone of Naruto was standing on a branch above another Sand ninja. This one had red hair and black circles around his eyes, a red kanji for love tattooed on his forehead.
The red headed boy glared at the clone, who got the message and destroyed itself. "Kankuro, you're an embarrassment to our village. We're leaving." The boy disappeared in a whirl of sand, reappearing between his two teammates.
"Woah, you guys didn't answer my question. Are you here for the chunin exams? Do you have the paperwork?" Naruto asked, following protocol.
The blonde girl nodded and produced the papers, showing the clone that had her locked up. The clone released her after he saw the paper, and nodded at the orginial. "Alrighty, you guys are good to go, please try not to attack any more citizens of the Leaf, I'd hate to have to hurt you before the exams."
The one in black, Kankuro, clearly had an attitude, and only rolled his eyes. He quickly moved to follow the redhead when he began to walk away though. The blonde did as well, though she didn't look away from Naruto.
The redhead stopped, turning around. His teammates gave him clearance to do so, so that the massive gourd on his back wouldn't hit them. He turned to the real Naruto, as all the clones had dispelled. "What is your name?"
Naruto was a little taken aback by the intensity of his words, but didn't show it. "Naruto Uzumaki. What's yours?"
"Gaara. Of the Sand." Gaara responded. He turned to leave, so Naruto did too.
"I'm Temari!" The blonde girl shouted before following her team.
'Why's it always gotta be me that finds the trouble?' Naruto thought to himself as he walked towards Ichiraku. He sent a clone to report his findings to the Hokage, his meeting should be finishing up any minute.
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The end. Of the chapter. Please leave a comment if you liked or hated it. The first half especially was extremely difficult to write. It's hard to build things like friendship or romantic tension thoroughly but quickly. It took me a long time to get this written, and I had to sit down five or six times to continue it because I just couldn't get it done in one sitting.
As you can see, I've skipped the wave arc. It's been done so many times (some great, some not so much) that I didn't think I could do it justice in this scenario. It still happened, and you'll get tidbits of info about it, but it wasn't as crucial to development as in canon since there doesn't need to be a training arc like the original. There will be some ninja way stuff thrown in, but I'll do my best to clue you guys in when it happens.
Also leave a comment on if you prefer the original and shippuden timelines split into two stories, or keep it in one. I can tell you right now that there is going to be a shipudden timeskip regardless.