Naruto 1. Chapter 1

**Big boobed old lady say wha?**

Suna's council was currently gathered in a huge dome like room with all the councilors and important politicians gathered around a circular table. The entire room was filled with a buzz as the council members present all talked about a rather interesting matter.

"What do you mean they already have another hokage?" One councilor asked in shock.

"I mean just what I said. Tsunade Senju is going to become the Fifth Hokage in a matter of days." Several councilors cursed under their breaths. They were all a bit thrown off by this. Yes Suna and Oto may have lost the battle but Konoha had taken just as much damage as them and everyone had been expecting the village to be in a state of disarray for a little longer. The fact that Konoha had not only repelled an attack by two separate nations, but that it was cleaning up and repairing itself faster than the attacking nations made Konoha look good. And for Sune to not even have a kage yet made them looke like a bunch of fools with their heads up each other's asses.

"Wait, wait. Tsunade Senju? As in Tsunade of the sannin? I thought she swore that she would never return to that place." One of the calmer and older councilors asked. A councilor to his right nodded.

"Well it seems that her old teammate Jiraiya, and some blonde kid, managed to convinced her to return somehow." That one piece of information set off alarm bells in a particular councilor's head.

"A blonde kid you say?" The interested councilor asked leaning forward in his seat with a worried expression on his face. The councilor that spoke before him nodded.

"Yes my sources say it was a blonde boy about the age of fourteen perhaps fifteen but they were unable to identify the boy." All turned to focus on the worried councilor who sat back in his chair and let out a ragged breath.

"Do none of you remember the description of the boy that defeated Gaara?" Silence reigned supreme in the dome like room for a few seconds as realization dawned on all those present. "Correct. According to Temari, who watched the entire battle, it was a blonde kid of roughly the same age that defeated Gaara. That was including when Gaara transformed into his full one-tailed state." A murmur of hushed whispers moved through the council room as all speculated what this could mean.

"But didn't the last Uchiha damage Gaara as well? Surely it was the combined strength of both the Uchiha and this blonde boy that brought down Gaara and not just that one boy." At this arguments broke out across the room arguing over who it was that truly defeated their supposed ultimate weapon.

"Silence!" The worried councilor bellowed bringing order back to the room. "We shall ask Gaara himself." All present went wide eyed and some became to appear nervous. Seeing their expressions he held up a hand. "Don't worry according to his sensei Baki the boy has calmed himself after losing." Though many protesting bringing the demonic boy in the order was sent out. Soon enough a short red haired boy with a pale white complexion and blue green eyes walked in. On the boy's back was a large gourd made of sand. Another noticeable feature was the kanji for 'love' written in a blood red color on his forehead. Accompanying the boy was a tall man with wearing the standard jonin apparel with the addition of a white turban that covered the left half of his face.

"You summoned us?" Baki asked. The worried councilor nodded and looked at Gaara.

"Yes we did. Gaara, would you please tell us whether it was the last Uchiha or the blonde genin…"

"Naruto Uzumaki." Gaara said in his usual monotone cutting off the councilor mid sentence.

"Excuse me?" A slightly annoyed tone in the councilor's voice.

"Naruto Uzumaki. His name is Naruto Uzumaki." A few of the council members glanced at one another with confusion written clearly across their faces. Clearing his throat the councilor nodded.

"Okay, well could you tell us who contributed more to your defeat?" Several expected the volatile youth to explode at the very mention of defeat however Gaara didn't even seem bothered by it.

"Uzumaki." One councilor stood up an almost angry look on his face.

"That can't be! Sasuke Uchiha learned Kakashi Hatake's signature jutsu, managed to severely wound you, and has unlocked the sharingan! This Uzumaki character is the bottom of his graduating class, a clan less orphan and has no proper training other than what the academy taught him!" Gaara's expressionless eyes swiveled in their sockets to focus on the councilor who was shouting at him. Remaining calm Gaara closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Uzumaki was the one that defeated me."

"Are you saying that Uzumaki has an attack stronger than the chidori?" Again Gaara shook his head.

"No." Getting frustrated at the boy the councilor was about to do something rather stupid when another councilor spoke up.

"Then how was it that Uzumaki was able to defeat you?" For a while Gaara said nothing just stood there as immobile as a statue thinking back over his battle with one Naruto Uzumaki. The 'hidden' kunai. The countless shadow clones. The summoning jutsu. The explosion of fiery red chakra. The look of absolute determination. Right as a councilor was about to speak Gaara opened his mouth.

"His will and reasons for fighting were stronger than mine." The councilor that had shouted out earlier was about to go off on another tirade but Gaara continued. "No matter how hard I hit him, no matter how badly I hurt him, no matter what kind of situation I put him in, Uzumaki always came back ten times stronger." The aggressive councilor scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Put him in your sand coffin, that ought to stop anyone." Gaara's eyes snapped open to glare at the councilor freezing the man in his seat.

"I did." Even Baki went wide eyed at hearing about that particular detail of the battle. For a good long while no one said anything.

"H-ho how did the boy get out of it?" One man finally managed to ask. Gaara's gaze turned to the man but it didn't hold the hate it had when it had been focused on the other man.

"By summoning a toad. The toad wore a blue vest, had a scar over his eye, smoked a pipe, and carried a tanto."

"Gamabunta." An older councilor breathed causing the rest to turn to face him.

"Who?" A younger councilor asked causing the older one to snap out of his stupor."Gamabunta is the only toad I know of that fits that description and he is the boss of the toad summons." As if that wasn't enough to make the councilor's jaws drop the old man continued. "The only known summoners of this toad are Jiraiya the toad sage, and his student the Fourth Hokage. It seems he has taken on a new student who is already capable of summoning the boss of the toad contract." Gaara allowed the tiniest of smirks to cross his face for a fraction of a second before turning to leave. Baki saw him leave and decided to leave the councilors to their own devices. He never was one for politics.

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"Team seven." A busty blonde lady said in a tone full of authority to a group of teenagers causing them to all pause what they were doing. The blonde one froze mid sentence. The pink haired girl momentarily stopped fussing over the raven haired boy who just lifted his eyes to focus on the blonde woman before him. "Meet in my office after Sasuke has gotten ready."

"Got it ba-chan!" The blonde loudmouth said with a mock salute before he could even blink a clip board slammed into his face. He froze with it stuck to his face for a few seconds before slowly pulling it off, his skin sticking to it like glue. When he finally managed to get the blasted thing off his face it revealed the three whisker marks on each of his cheeks and two piercing blue eyes. "AH!" Naruto shouted as he flopped onto the ground holding his face which was glowing a nice shade of red.

Sakura ignored the groaning moron and turned her attention on her long time crush Sasuke Uchiha. The pink haired girl chewed her bottom lip and opened her mouth to say something when Tsunade spoke up again.

"Come with me you brat!" The new hokage declared as she grabbed a handful of Naruto's hair and began to drag him out of the hospital room and down the hall. As soon as they were an ear shot away from the room they had been in the busty blonde released the younger blonde's hair.

"Oh what was that for ba-chan?" Naruto grumbled while rubbing his head and glaring at Tsunade. Ignoring the jab at her age for once Tsunade pulled out a roll of cash and handed it to Naruto.

"Here go get some of that ramen you love so much and be at my office when you're…" She paused about to say when he was done but recalled what her old teammate had told her about Naruto's ramen addiction. "… Just be at my office in thirty minutes." In a flash Naruto snatched the wad off money and was gone faster than Tsunade thought he could move. Sighing she shook her head before looking back at the room Sakura and Sasuke were still in.

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"Sasuke-kun." Sakura said only to pause when the Uchiha seemed to ignore her and walk over to the window. "After the mission would you want to maybe go get something to eat with me?" Sasuke froze with his hand on the window and growled.

"Why would I want to go out with you? You're weak." Sakura looked down at the ground.

"I'm not that weak." Fully turning around the black eyed boy quirked an eyebrow at her.

"That so? I heard from Kakashi that you and Ino _tied_ after doing a pathetic match. The only jutsu you used was the academy clone jutsu. Even Ino could do better with her family jutsu."

"I beat her jutsu!" Sakura shouted almost in tears trying to defend herself.

"What you did was allow your loud mouthed personality to beat her jutsu cause she was so poor at doing it." Sasuke scoffed at her before turning around and he would have jumped out the window had Sakura not spoken up again.

"So." She stated in an almost whisper that was so quiet Sasuke almost missed it. "If I was stronger would you go out with me?" For a while the raven haired boy tossed the thought around before finally giving up and sighing.

"Sure." Since his back was turned he didn't see her head snap back up. Didn't see the utter joy that lit up her face like a Christmas tree. Didn't see the hope that sprung to life in her emerald green eyes. Instead he continued in the same unemotional and detached voice he always spoke in. "When you can compete with me… and the dobe. Then I will go out with you but don't ask until then." With those final words he vanished out the window in a burst of speed.

What felt like an hour but was really just a couple of seconds passed by with Sakura doing nothing but staring at the space he had just been. Then she did a very Naruto like thing.

"ALRIGHT!" She shouted at the top of her lungs and started to bounce up and down giggling and squealing in happiness. After a nice long victory dance she started to walk out of the hospital so lost thinking up how to train that she didn't see the hokage watching her. Or take note of the content smile on the buxom blonde's face.

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Flopping into the huge green chair her former sensei used to sit in Tsunade let out a sigh and leaned her head back.

"Alright I still have about ten minutes before the gaki shows up and Shizune is out running errands. Which means…" In a flash Tsunade pulled open the top left draw of her desk, lifted the fake bottom and pulled out a bottle of sake. Forgoing a saucer she tipped the bottle to her lips and moaned as the delicious liquid flowed over her tongue and down her throat. After drinking a good bit she set the bottle.

"Well your in a good mood." An overly familiar voice said to her right causing a tick mark to throb to life on her forehead.

"Jiraiya! Would it kill you to use the door?" She snarled though the toad sage didn't flinch in the slightest.

"It might. Never know when you might booby trap it, on second thought that might be nice." The sage finished with a lecherous grin on his face. Tsunade growled at him and was about to throw whatever happened to be in hand until she saw that it was her precious sake. Letting out a breath through her teeth she glared harder at her teammate who just held up his hands defensively. "Anyways what has you in such a good mood?"

"Hehe, read this." Tsunade said with a smirk as she tossed a scroll at the white haired old man sitting on the window seal who caught the air borne scroll without any effort. As he unrolled it his eyes scanned over the content searching for what would put his teammate in such a good mood. Black eyes came to a screeching halt before zipping back up the scroll and reading it over, and over, and over.

"What!" Tsunade chuckled and snatched it back.

"Yep! I haven't even been in office more thirty minutes and I already get to get back at the little gaki."

"Why him?" Tsunade just shrugged.

"Who knows, who cares?" When she saw the pensive expression on her normally carefree teammate's face she turned to face him. "Jiraiya, who cares?" The toad sage placed a hand on his chin and hummed thoughtfully.

"You might want to do this in a way that doesn't damage Sasuke's pride."

"Tch who cares what that brat thinks!" Jiraiya's eyes focused on her with a deadly seriousness to them.

"His rivalry with Naruto is a lot like mine and Orochimaru's was at one point." The good vibes went out of Tsunade in a heartbeat. "Rubbing it in his face that he wasn't chosen for this would not be advisable. Not if what Kakashi told me is correct."

"I see." Both were silent before Tsunade sighed and flopped back in her chair shutting her eyes. "What is it with you can always killing my good moods?" She asked.

"Eh? I just walked in the room how does that kill your good mood ba-chan?" Tsunade's eyes popped open to take note of three things. One was that her perverted teammate was gone. Two that Naruto was in the office looking at her like she was crazy. And a brand new bottle of sake with a pretty red bow was sitting on her desk with a note attached to it. Ignoring Naruto's question she lifted the note and read what her teammate had written in his usual sloppy hand writing. _'See ya Tsunade-hime! Enjoy the sake, got it fresh out of Kumo.' _At the end of the writing was a crudely drawn picture of Jiraiya giving her a thumbs up.

Shaking her head she chuckled and tucked the note and bottle of sake away before Shizune could see it and confiscate it. Turning her attention back on Naruto she saw that the blonde boy's two other teammates were just now entering the room. "Ah good your all here."

"Excuse me, but where is Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked.

"He will not be escorting you on this mission. You have been genin for a while its about time you learn to do things on your own. So from time to time you will be doing less dangerous missions on your own. With the village still in a bit of disarray from the attack we need all active ninja doing as much as possible." Reaching into a seemingly random draw the busty hokage pulled out a scroll. "Your mission is to go to the coordinates on that scroll and meet up with Team Sand Siblings which consist of: Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara of the Desert." Sakura went wide eyed and stepped back a bit. Sasuke's eyes narrowed and rage began to course through his veins. Naruto had the strangest reaction considering his last meeting with the sand siblings.

"Alright! We get to see Gaara again!" Both Sakura and Sasuke turned their heads to look at their ecstatic teammate who was jumping up and down. Sakura shivered at the memory of the young read head before smacking Naruto on the head.

"Baka! Why would you want to see that monster again? He nearly killed me!" As Sakura went on listing how horrid Gaara was she missed the flash of anger that turned Naruto's eyes blood red for a fraction of a second.

"Don't call him a monster." Naruto said in a low tone stopping Sakura mid rant. Standing up from the floor where Sakura's punch had left him. "Don't ever call him a monster. You haven't met a _monster_ yet."

"Hn what are you talking about dobe." Naruto's eyes turned on Sasuke and the raven haired Uchiha didn't miss the flash of crimson red that flitted across Naruto's eyes. However before he could question it Tsunade spoke up interrupting the conversation.

"Anyways, once you meet up with them you are to split up into two different groups. Naruto, you will escort Temari and Kankuro back to the Leaf village. Sasuke and Sakura you two are going to be escorted to the Sand village by Gaara. For a month we will be exchanging ninja, Sakura and Sasuke will become Sand ninja for a month and Temari and Kankuro will become Leaf ninja for that month."

"Y-you mean we have to be teammates with that mon…" Sakura stopped when she heard a low and rather inhuman growl emanate from Naruto. "With him." She corrected and was surprisingly glad when Naruto stopped growling.

"Yes." Tsunade said before closing her eyes. "In the ninja world you will be forced to work with people you formerly considered your enemies, you will be forced to place your trust in those who attempted to kill you only seconds before, and you will be forced to fight against people you have thought of as comrades for most of your life. It is a harsh and cruel reality but its time you all face it. Dismissed." Team Seven nodded and went to walk out the door when Tsunade spoke up again. "Naruto, stay here for a second. You other two be at the gate in a hour."

Both Sakura and Sasuke looked at Naruto curiously for a second before Sasuke shrugged it off and marched out the door with Sakura following his lead. Sighing Naruto turned around and faced his 'grandma' who was looking at him with a rather serious expression on her face. The two blondes stared one another down for the longest time before Naruto caved.

"You me to explain don't you?" The blonde hokage just nodded her head. "The first time I tapped into it's chakra I got a huge rush of energy unlike anything I've ever felt, but afterwards… I don't know it was like someone plugged me into the sun. After I hit Neji's rotation…"

**Flashback**

A huge explosion rocked the stadium as Naruto slammed his chakra encased fist into Neji's sphere of chakra. Both Neji and Naruto were sent hurdling out of the explosion in opposite directions each creating a trench with their bodies as they went. The entire crowd held their breaths as they waited to see which of the genin would manage to stand. Finally Neji staggered to his feet scratches and cuts scattered across his body and a trickle of blood running out of his mouth. Naruto still lay in the crater he made unmoving. Neji smirked and walked towards the unconscious Naruto confident he had won. With his bloodline inactive he never saw it coming.

Naruto shot up from the ground right in front of Neji and delivered a power packed punch to the brown haired boy's chin that sent him into the air. Before Neji could even start to fall Naruto spun and rammed a heel into his side launching the air borne genin across the ground towards the stadium wall. However before he got to far Naruto vanished in a surge of blue chakra and reappeared in front of Neji's form. Bringing his fist down on Neji's head Naruto slammed the boy into the ground so hard he created a crater twice the size of the one his shadow clone was still laying in. Standing up and watching with glee written across his face and not a scratch on his body as his shadow clone dispersed Naruto laughed.

"Where is your fate now? I thought you were _fated_ to defeat me since I am nothing more than a dropout who is _fated_ to lose this match. If your _fate _decides everything then get up!" Naruto shouted. The only response he got was a groan as Neji's body went limp. The blonde genin scoffed and in a single leap landed back into the waiting box where the other genin contestants were watching. As he landed they all took a step back, all except Gaara who was showing emotion for the first time either of his siblings could recall. And it wasn't blood lust.

**Flashback end**

"When I tapped into the fox's chakra I felt like brand new, when I stopped using its chakra I only grew stronger. It was almost scary that I had more chakra than when I started the match. When I used the fox's chakra against Gaara it was the same way I was stronger than before." Tsunade nodded but raised an eyebrow.

"But what about the change in attitude?" For that Naruto didn't have an answer. All he knew was that ever since he tapped into his inner demon's chakra he had been a bit more aggressive and a bit more... bloodthirsty. He had seen a bug crawling across his floor the other day and instead of wanting to flick it away the urge to pick the bug up, look it in the eye and slowly squash it, had been almost irresistible. Instead of telling his adoptive granny about that Naruto just shrugged.

"I don't know I just don't like them calling Gaara a monster. He holds the one tailed something or other doesn't he?"

"Raccoon actually."

"Well if holding that makes Gaara a monster then what does holding the nine tailed fox make me?" Naruto asked dejectedly.

"It makes you a baka. Your not the fox and Gaara isn't the raccoon you two just have your quirks. Gaara randomly kills people by squishing them with his sand. And you cant shut up, annoy the living crap out of everyone you meet, eat more ramen than I drink sake, and have a frog wallet. I cant tell which is worse." Naruto glared at her for a second before shaking his head as she laughed at him.

"Whatever you old hag I gotta go meet Sakura-chan and the teme soon." Waving at her as he ran out the door Tsunade chuckled and shook her head. Shizune walked in a second or two later with a confused expression on her face.

"Why was Naruto-kun running down the hallway screaming about seeing raccoon face?" When her mentor burst out laughing poor Shizune was left even more confused than when she had walked in the door.

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"Oh. Hey they beat us here!" Naruto shouted to his teammates as they dashed through the forest with their destination a few meters ahead of them.

"How can you tell that dobe?" Sasuke asked though before Naruto could reply they cleared the final tree line and came to an interesting sight. The forest stopped at the exact same spot that the desert began to stretch on endlessly to the horizon. Three individuals were standing on the sand with their toes inches away from the first blades of grass that marked the end of the endless desert. None of the three sand siblings had changed since Team Seven saw them last yet the air was different. Instead of the bloodthirsty and crazed aura that usually came off Gaara in waves was diminished to almost nonexistent. Temari seemed more relaxed and at ease while her brother Kankuro seemed to actually be enjoying himself.

Sasuke and Sakura landed on the grass on guard and ready to fight. Naruto landed behind the two before walking past them to stand directly in front of Gaara.

Gaara extended his right hand outwards slowly as sand surged up from beneath his feet turning his right hand and shoulder into a massive arm. Naruto however didn't even seemed fazed by it. He may not have mastered the rasengan but he sure did nail the part where you summon a ungodly amount of chakra in a flash. Pumping chakra into his right arm to the point that his arm was encased in a blazing blue inferno of chakra Naruto shook Gaara's hand. For a second the two just stood there with Naruto's chakra lashing about and Gaara's sand doing the same.

And then a bloodlust Temari and Kankuro were more than familiar with spiked to inhuman levels. Temari's left hand moved to the base of her fan. Kankuro attached chakra strings to the two puppets he had attached to his back. Sasuke activated his sharingan. Sakura noticed everyone tensing but had nothing, nothing at all, that she specifically used to fight with. Settling for reaching for he kunai holster the pink haired girl focused on Gaara as the sand on his arms shifted. It transformed into a vicious looking claw with several blue lines that looked like veins running through it. The final part of Gaara's transformation would be how his right eye changed from blue green to a golden yellow with a four pointed pupil with small black circles between each of the points.

'_You gonna let the one tail show us up fox?' _Naruto mentally asked the demon caged within him. His response came in a surge of chakra easily twice what he used in the stadium against Neji. If Temari and Kankuro had been nervous before they were scared witless as the unsuspecting blonde genin pumped out more killer intent and bloodlust than even Gaara. The blue inferno on Naruto's right arm transformed into a blaze of orange that extended further outwards from his arm and curved out around his back. Sasuke felt the curse mark on his neck throb to life in the presence of all the demonic chakra that was freely flowing through the area. Restraining it Sasuke glared at the two furious at how those two had access to some sort of ultimate power.

Naruto's eyes shifted from calm azure blue to a burning crimson red. For a few seconds the two demon carriers stood there, arms locked and chakra warring with one another. And then as if some unspoken conversation came to a close it stopped. The sand fell from Gaara's arm, Naruto's chakra calmed and slowly dissipated, and the ungodly amount of killer intent and bloodlust slowly tapered off to regular levels.

"Good to see you Mr. Raccoon." Naruto said with a smirk on his face.

"Same Fox." Gaara replied in the same monotone he always spoke in though Temari and Kankuro both picked up on the tiny upwards curl on their brother's lips. Stepping back from the red head Naruto clapped his hands.

"Alright well then you take the teme and Sakura." Aforementioned pink haired girl's eyes widened at the loss of the affectionate suffix that usually was attached to her name. "And I take the guy walking around wearing his hot sister's makeup and the hot sister." Temari blushed at being complemented, even off handedly. Kankuro grumbled about how it was war paint. Gaara simply nodded before turning around and beginning to walk back into the desert with Sasuke and Sakura silently following him.

"Take care of my family Uzumaki." Gaara said without turning around as he walked off. Both of the sand siblings froze in their tracks at being referred to as family by their younger brother. The same brother that not a month ago threatened to kill them. The same brother that more times than they could count told them explicitly how he never considered them family. The same brother who for the longest time cared for nothing more than proving his existence and killing others. "Especially Kankuro, he needs it." Were the final words Gaara said before dashing across the desert.

"Did, did he, did he just, did he just make, a joke?" Kankuro asked bewildered. Naruto burst out laughing and pointed at the two sand siblings.

"Haha you should see the looks on your faces!" Wiping the imaginary tears from his eyes Naruto straightened up. "Well I say last one to the Leaf has to buy the others ramen so see ya!" With that Naruto did a chakra powered back flip back into the tree line. Temari took one final look out over the desert trying to catch a final glimpse of her brother before taking off into the trees behind the enigma that was Naruto Uzumaki. Kankuro took a good three minutes for his mind to compute that his younger brother had in fact made a joke and for him to realize that he had been ditched by his other two traveling companions.

"Hey get back here!" The puppeteer shouted as he began to run through the forest in hopes of catching up to the two blondes.

Sitting in the trees hidden from view by the shadows two figures sighed, finally releasing the breaths they had been holding.

"I thought they were going to fight for a while there." The man with the left half of his face covered in a white cloth. Beside him the man with a leaf headband covering his right eye and a mask covering the lower half of his face just shrugged.

"Eh, Naruto would have won again. Now I better head back before the team misses me." As the silver haired jonin got up the other man did as well and shook his head.

"Aren't you always late anyways?" A infamous eye smile was the only reply he got before Kakashi vanished in a shushin.

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Temari and Kankuro were out of breath. They had both arrived at the gate around the same time and both had been running as fast as possible the entire way there without a single break. Yet they had never seen hide nor hair of the blonde boy that was supposed to be guiding them here. A loud and obnoxious sound like that of slurping caught their attention. Sitting in the guard box with a stack of ten ramen bowls sat one Naruto Uzumaki.

"Oh hey guys I was wondering when you were gonna get here." Naruto said as he stood up and stretched before walking out of the guard box and tossing the now empty bowl onto the stack of nine others. "Since you took so long I already went ahead and ate. Hope you don't mind." For a second the sand sibling gawked at him.

"THE HELL?" Temari shouted while pointing at Naruto. "How on earth did you beat us here, eat all that ramen, and still be that smug?" Naruto flashed a fox grin.

"Cause I am just that good." Even the guards still in the guard box sweat dropped at that. "Now shall we go see ba-chan and report a mission complete?" When he got two nods as a response Naruto turned on his heels and started to walk to the hokage's office with a pep in his step.

"He isn't human." Temari whispered to her brother who nodded.

"I don't know who's scarier. Gaara or this kid with limitless stamina with an appetite of ten men." His blonde sister nodded and both sped up a bit to keep pace with the energizer bunny from hell that was their tour guide. In almost no time at all they had reached the office doors of Tsunade Senju, the current hokage. Instead of knocking and awaiting permission like the sand siblings expected Naruto just barged in unannounced.

"Yo ba-chan! We're back!" A sake bottle to the face was his reward.

"Brat! How many times have I told you not to call me that?" Peeling the bottle from his face Naruto shrugged.

"Don't know how many times have I been hit by one of your sake bottles?" Both blondes glared at one another for a good long while before eventually breaking down into a fit of laughter leaving two very confused sand shinobi. A sigh from behind them caught the confused siblings' attention and they turned to see a black haired lady carrying a stack of papers with a little pink pig walking beside her.

"Forgive them those two are always like that." Shizune muttered as she walked around the desk and dropped the massive stack of papers. Upon seeing the huge pile of white paperwork Tsunade sighed and sobered up rather quickly.

"So everything went safely?"

"Yep!" Naruto cheered before pumping a fist into the air. "Mission complete!" As Naruto cheered a devious smirk spread across Tsunade's lips.

"Oh but not quite Naruto. You and Temari have a nice, life long mission ahead of yourselves." Naruto's victory dance came to a screeching halt as he cocked his head to one side.

"Huh? What are you talking about ba-chan?"

"It seems that Suna wishes to make the relationship between our villages a bit stronger." Wheels and gears were beginning to turn inside Temari's head as all the extra classes she took as a kage's daughter suddenly came to the front of her mind. Something about the way Tsunade was talking sounded familiar but Temari just couldn't quite place it.

"I know that, isn't that why we traded teammates for the month?" The grin on Tsunade's face would have made a cheshire cat green with envy.

"That was done for other reasons. I didn't have to make Sakura and Sasuke go to Suna, or even bring Kankuro here for that matter. All I need is you and Temari to be together. Till death do you part." That did for Temari. Her face went pale as snow, her breath froze in her throat and her pulse quickened.

"Political marraige?" She whispered so quietly that almost no one heard it. Almost. The blonde boy standing to he left with demonically enhanced senses heard it loud and clear. If humanly possible Tsunade's grin grew even more as she saw realization dawn on Temari's and Kankuro's faces and a second later Naruto's. Lifting her fingers to her hears to protect her from the incoming apocalyptic outburst Tsunade shut her eyes and waited. She didn't have to wait long.

"**WWWHHHAAATTT!**"


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay one misconception a lot of you have is that every time Naruto taps into Kyuubi's chakra his reserves increase in size. That isnt what is happening. I'm not gonna tell you whats happening because... that would ruin the surprise ;) But i will explain it in the story eventually just not yet.**

**Second: I went back and found the story some of you compared my story to. Honestly, his story is pretty kick ass, if you havent read his go ahead and read it its pretty good. However after about the first chapter my story is going to be completley different than his.**

**Tristan 76: The kyuubi isnt really influencing Naruto as much as doing just like you said. He is loosening up and not holding back all of his negative emotions as much as he used to. Though he will gain a good bit of bloodlust later on if i have anything to say about it. And i do cause its my story! Hehe that rules.**

**Basher: (Nice name by the way) If you dislike the story then, um i dont know... dont read it? Didnt ask you to review. Though if you insist on reviewing and making my story look better because it has a lot of reviews then have at it man.**

Now enjoy the story.  
>Impure Perfection<p>

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><p><strong>Wrath of the Maelstrom<strong>

"What do you mean I have to marry her? I don't want to marry her!" Naruto shouted at Tsunade who simply sat there. Her hands crossed together in front of her mouth with her elbows resting on the desk.

"Why not?" Tsunade asked calmly while raising an eyebrow. Naruto lifted his right hand and began to tick of points.

"I know absolutely nothing about her. She knows nothing about me. She isn't from this village. I don't love her. And I sure as hell don't trust her." For some reason Temari actually flinched at hearing that last one. Tsunade didn't even notice the slight flinch and instead just nodded slightly.

"Duly noted." The busty hokage said to Naruto before turning her head slightly to focus on Temari. "And you thoughts?" Instead of shouting or exploding as Naruto had the blonde girl thought for a few seconds.

"Why me. Why him. And why now." Naruto immediately whirled on her.

"Your not gonna argue?" Temari simply shook her head and sighed.

"No. I was the kazekage's daughter, me and Kankuro were brought up knowing that we might be forced into a political marriage." The blonde boy beside her spluttered and looked stupefied at that, meaning he was silent long enough for Tsunade to answer Temari's questions.

"Your council asked for a political alliance to strengthen the bonds between our villages. As for why now of all times I have no idea. The decision to accept was made by our _council_ before I was appointed as hokage. Your council picked Naruto for obvious reasons. We picked you because of the talent you demonstrated during the chunin exams." Naruto shook his head and glared at everyone in the room.

"Woah woah wait a minute. Why does everyone _but _me understand why I was picked?" Kankuro turned his head to look at Naruto.

"Seriously? You beat Gaara! You damn near killed him…" Kankuro trailed off remembering the near battle he had gotten in with the blonde before him.

**Flashback**

Naruto slammed his forehead into Gaara's effectively waking the red head up from the forced sleep he had put himself under. As the sand body of Shukaku crumbled and fell apart Naruto and Gaara fell from the sky. Gamabunta the toad summon watched, more than impressed with the new summoner. Both the giant toad and his tanto left the scene in a huge plume of smoke. Naruto and Gaara both landed on trees each staring at one another for a while as blood ran down each of their foreheads. Gaara stood up a bit shakily while Naruto practically jumped up. With a shout the two launched at one another, Gaara moving slower than usual and Naruto moving much faster than normal.

When they reached one another in the air Naruto's increased speed put him higher than Gaara allowing the blonde to flip mid air and grab hold of Gaara's shoulders. Continuing his mid air flip Naruto threw the red head with as much strength as he could muster and was pleased to see Gaara fly through the forest before impacting in the ground hard enough to leave a sizeable crater. The instant Naruto's feet touched down on a tree limb he launched himself at Gaara once again, this time brandishing a kunai in each hand. However before he could reach the immobilized boy a gale of wind slammed into his side throwing him roughly against the side of a tree.

Looking up Naruto saw that the fan wielding girl and her puppeteer brother were both standing, albeit shakily, by their brother.

"Your not killing him." Temari hissed out glaring at Naruto who stood up with only a few minor scratches on his body. Placing his hands into a hand seal all three sand siblings were now more than familiar with and emitting a huge surge of chakra Naruto created a huge cloud of smoke that surrounded the four on all sides. When it cleared there was easily two or three thousand Narutos, all glaring at them with determination in their eyes and kunai and shuriken in their hands.

Before the battle could start Sasuke landed between the original Naruto and the sand siblings.

"Naruto you can stop. Sakura is safe." That was all it took. In an instant the fiery determination in Naruto's cerulean blue eyes vanished and relief flooded his features. The clones all gave a whoop of victory before dispelling themselves.

As Naruto speed off through the forest to find his pink haired teammate Temari couldn't help the tiny pang of jealously she felt. Wouldn't it be nice to have someone fight _that_ hard just to make sure she was safe. Go as far as killing someone just for the sake of protecting her.

Kankuro was having entirely different thoughts. He was still feeling the affects of having his chakra drained by those blasted bugs. After seeing his supposedly undefeatable brother thrashed the boy sure didn't want to fight the person who could do that much damage to his little brother.

Gaara? Well the red head forced himself to stay awake long enough to see Naruto take off into the forest before letting his eyes shut. For once he didn't feel the monster fighting to take over his mind.

**Flashback End**

"So?" Naruto asked snapping Kankuro out of his thoughts. The sand sibling shook his head and sighed.

"Defeating Gaara was thought to be impossible. Not hard, or unlikely. Impossible as in unthinkable! And you, a mere genin, thrash him and still have chakra to make like a bazillion clones only to dismiss them like their nothing." Naruto just shrugged and turned back to Tsunade.

"Doesn't change the fact that I refuse." The busty hokage sighed and shut her eyes.

"Okay well your putting me in a difficult position so I am going to give you two options." Both blonde genin perked up at hearing that. "Option one: You accept now like I told the council you would and I can give you a year before you have to get married. Option two: you _don't_ accept it now, make me look like a fool in front of the council after I just got into office, and I force you two get married right now and you have to get the girlie here knocked up within three months." Both Naruto and Temari's jaws hung open at that. Even Kankuro was shocked at the rather short deadline. Seeing Naruto about to argue once more Tsunade held up a hand to cut him off. "That was the best deal I could cut you Naruto and believe me I tried my best. Hell I even got the old pervert to back me up trying to get more time."

All was deadly silent in the room for a few seconds before Temari finally sighed and nodded.

"Fine. I will agree to it." Tsunade's eyes still hadn't left Naruto's yet the hokage nodded slightly to acknowledge the sand nin. Naruto continued for stare into Tsunade's honey brown eyes for almost a good ten minutes before letting out a breath that came out sounding more like a growl than a sigh.

"Fine." The blonde finally conceded before closing his eyes and letting a foxy grin play across his features. "Though I doubt you could force me into it. No way your wrinkly old ass could ever catch me, if you ever managed to haul your big boobed self out of the sake bottle." Shizune, Temari and Kankuro all whirled to gawk at Naruto who stood there with a confident smirk on his face. The sound of each individual knuckle slowly being cracking brought their attention back to Tsunade whose glare looked ready to turn Naruto into a blonde puddle of goo.

"Kakashi." Tsunade growled out causing a silver haired jonin to poke his head around the widow to peer into the room.

"Yes?" Kakashi asked, his tone nonchalant and filled with barely restrained laughter.

"Take the brat here and leave before I kill him and make you clean up the blood stains." Kakashi gave her his infamous eye smile and nodded.

"Alright. Naruto would you please escort Temari and Kankuro out to training field seven?" The blonde smirked at Tsunade, ducked under the book she threw at him, and walked out the door not bothering to ensure that the sand siblings followed behind him. Deciding it would be best to leave the room as quickly as possible the two hurried to follow after Naruto. When they exited the building they saw him standing there looking back over his shoulder waiting for them. The instant they were out of the building he took off, leaping across buildings and heading towards some unknown destination with the two sand nin following closely behind him.

For the most part Temari and Kankuro managed to keep up with him rather easily. The few times he got too far ahead of them and they lost sight of them he would show up standing behind them with a scowl on his face. Both Kankuro and Temari arrived looking slightly winded and sort of nervous around Naruto who didn't say a word to them and instead marched straight out to the middle of training ground seven.

"Oi! Kakashi-sensei get out here!" The silver haired man appeared standing in a puff of smoke standing on one of the three logs.

"Yo." He greeted in his usual laid back tone. Letting his visible eye roam over the place he took in the mood of each of his new students. He noticed the nervous and almost fearful look on Kankuro's face and the fact that the make up wearing boy's eyes kept flickering over to Naruto. Kakashi saw how Temari looked nervous as well but was trying her hardest to hide it and accept the fate she had been given. Naruto's attitude confused the scarecrow of a jonin the most. The usually hyperactive and overly expressive teen had masked all of his emotions perfectly. It looked like his face was blank, no emotions visible whatsoever. Only Naruto's bright blue eyes showed any signs of emotions and the ones present weren't pleasant. "Well how about we start out with telling the rest of us your name, what you like, what you dislike, and your dreams for the future, and any jutsu you know. Naruto you shall start."

"Name is Naruto Uzumaki. I like ramen, training, and Saku…" Pausing long enough to stop himself Naruto shook his head and continued on. "I dislike the teme, being forced into marrying her, and the three minutes it takes to heat up what the store calls instant ramen. My dreams for the future…" Here Naruto paused and actually looked thoughtful for a second. "My dreams are to be the best hokage, and eventually the best dad I can be. Only jutsu I know are the shadow clone jutsu, the academy basics, and… um OH the rasengan." Kakashi had been nodding slightly as Naruto ticked off jutsu however when Naruto listed that last one the silver haired ninja nearly let his calm façade drop. Quickly recovering he cleared his throat.

"Okay and next up the other blonde." Kakashi said gesturing to Temari.

"My name is Temari of the desert. I like sunsets, training, and any flavor of ice cream. My dislikes are the ocean, spicy foods, and anyone who calls my brother a monster." Though she noticed how Naruto's eyes widened and focused solely on her Temari decided to ignore it. "My dreams for the future are to become the best kunoichi possible and, eventually the best mother." Seeing the smile on Naruto's face out the corner of her eyes Temari couldn't help but smile a little herself. "Jutsu I know are, Dust Wind Jutsu, unleashing wind blades through my fan, and I can summon weasels." Naruto turned away from her and stuck his hand up. Sighing Kakashi turned and looked at Naruto again.

"Yes Naruto?"

"I didn't know summoning was a jutsu but I can summon toads." Again Kakashi's interest was peaked but he hid it and nodded.

"Alright. Well now last and least, make up man." Kankuro face faulted at the nickname before standing up grumbling a string of curses under his breath.

"Name is Kankuro of the desert. I like those who understand what war paint is, dango, and the little orange book you're reading." Temari groaned while Kakashi just shot the puppeteer a huge thumbs up. "I dislike people calling my _war paint_ make up, losing, and being bothered while working with my puppets." The cough coming from Naruto that soundly oddly close to the word 'dolls' only caused Kankuro to pause for a second. "Goals for the future are to be the best puppeteer Suna has ever seen. Jutsu I know are the academy basic, chakra threads, and the puppet jutsu."

"Hmmm." Was all Kakashi said before becoming silent for a few seconds. "Okay! Well now I say we have a team spar to see how you measure up against one another and so I can get a better idea of exactly how each of you fights. Three rules. Rule one: no teaming up. Rule two: keep it clean. Rule three: have fun!" With that Kakashi vanished in a puff of smoke leaving two nervous genin from Suna and one excited Naruto Uzumaki.

Temari and Kankuro both leapt a good distance away from both one another as well as Naruto who stood perfectly still and watched them. As Temari landed she slid the fan off her back and brought it before her. All three moons were out. Kankuro's initial jump had brought him close to the edge of the forest and as soon as he landed he jumped once more, disappearing into the foliage of the forest. Naruto ignored Kankuro and instead turned to face Temari who was watching him carefully.

"Why you so far away?" Naruto asked playfully with a foxy smirk on his face. When he saw her confused expression he continued, smirk still in place. "Since we're getting married I thought you would be all over me. You know for the alliance." Temari's eyes widened for a split second before they narrowed dangerously at him. Her fan hummed to life as she channeled more chakra than usual into the weapon. With a roar she swung the massive fan and unleashed a wall of wind with dozens of hidden wind blades mingled in with the gale force winds. Naruto watched it coming and for a second regretted taunting her.

And then he just laughed as the wall of wind slammed into him, reducing him to a white puff of smoke.

'_A shadow clone? But when? And if that was a clone then were is the real one?' _Temari began to anxiously scanning the area with all five of her senses. The clang of metal caught her attention and she silently cursed herself as she moved into the woods in search of her two opponents.

Naruto was having a ball. Kankuro was good at moving his puppets but compared to a close combat specialist his puppets were nothing more than moving training dummies. It didn't help the puppeteer that Naruto was all but immune to all the poison traps his puppets contained. Naruto hadn't been able to locate Kankuro but frankly he wasn't concerned with it all that much. If he broke the puppets then the puppeteer would be nothing more than a guy in make up with some broken dolls. So the blonde contented himself with trashing Kankuro's puppets.

Hiding in the bushes a distance away Kankuro was running low on options. All poison traps he used on Naruto did absolutely nothing. Poisonous smoke bombs? Blinded him for a second or two then he moved out of them, coughed and was done with it. Poison tipped senbon? The little brat pulled them off and flicked them away, his movements were a bit sloppy for a second or two then it was like nothing ever happened. Poison coated blades? Naruto was to good at fighting up close for them to do much more than scratch him and most of the time when they scratched him the result was nothing more than him turning into a puff of smoke. Kankuro cursed his lack of heavy hitting skills.

"Boo." A voice said right next to Kankuro's ears causing him to let out a yelp and back flip away. Looking back as he flipped through the air he saw Naruto laughing. "You should have seen your face!" Kankruo's fearful expression changed into one of delight.

"You should pay more attention to what's happening around you and less on what I am doing." Naruto stopped laughing and asked why. His answer came in Kankuro's second puppet springing up from the ground and gobbling him up using its stomach.

"Hey! Let me outta this thing!" Naruto roared while beating against the inside of black ant. Not wasting a second Kankuro instantly broke down his other puppet, named crow, into its different compartments and had all the disembodied pieces reveal the hidden blades. As fast as he could he maneuvered all the pieces into the right positions and was about to end the fight when an interesting sight stopped him. The stomach of black ant was bulging. It would have been comical to see an engorged puppet, if the puppet didn't then explode.

A flood of Narutos surged out from the remains of black ant and before Kankuro could move the pieces of crow one or two clones latched onto each piece. All the clones tugged on the pieces causing Kankuro to come towards them against his will. Naruto, who had been running towards Kankuro since he got out of the puppet, formed his signature hand seal as he called out his jutsu.

**Shadow Clone Jutsu** In a puff of smoke ten clones popped into existence, all running at the airborne Kankuro with Naruto running in the middle of the pack. Right before Kankuro passed over them all the Narutos leapt off the ground and aimed a flying kick at Kankuro who could do nothing more than cross his arms in front of him. The kicks landed and launched Kankuro high up into the air till he was higher than all the surrounding trees. A rapid fire succession of popping sounds causing Kankuro to turn his head. What he saw caused his eyes to nearly pop out of his head. At least twenty shadow clones had all been created above him and all of them were sky bombing him.

Still reeling from the impact from the first kick Kankuro could do nothing to block the incoming barrage of attacks. He now knew how his little brother had felt when Naruto had pulled something similar to this against Gaara. Kankuro never felt himself be caught by Kakashi as he was plummeted out of the sky. A lucky kick by one of Naruto's clones had rendered the puppeteer unconscious.

Naruto was just landing from launching Kankuro into the sky when he felt a tingling sensation on the back of his neck. Spinning around as fast as he could Naruto came face to face with a full force wind jutsu courtesy of Temari. The blast sent Naruto rolling across the ground a good ways as without any warning he hadn't had time to brace for the attack or attempt to stick to the ground using chakra. When he finally stopped rolling he saw that he had been moved back into the clearing the battle had started.

"Why there you are my dear sweet hubby." Temari bit out each word leaking killing intent as she did so. Naruto staggered back to his feet and looked down at his clothes. The wind blades had torn his jacket to shreds and a few had even managed to rip through the black muscle shirt he wore underneath his orange blazer. Growling in annoyance he unzipped it and tossed it aside where it was quickly followed by the now ruined t-shirt. The sand kunoichi blushed. "W-w-what are you doing?" She shouted at him causing him to turn and glare at her."What's it look like? You ruined my clothes so I am getting rid of them." The same mischievous smirk he had worn earlier crossed his face once again. "Sheesh, girls like you are why blondes have such a poor reputation." He teased snapping Temari out of the stupor she had been in since he had unveiled the mess of muscles he called his stomach.

"What was that?" She bellowed at him only causing his foxy smirk to grow.

"And you don't even listen. Now I see how Shikamaru beat you as easily as he said he did." Temari saw red.

"Die you bastard!" She yelled as she swung her fan launching a concentrated cone of wind at Naruto. The blonde boy probably could have dodged, but he didn't. He probably should have let it carry him since it was gonna hit him, but he didn't. Instead he did something he had only heard about, he hadn't even seen it in action just heard about it from his pink haired teammate. Cocking his right hand back and charging it with so much chakra it gained a blue aura around it Naruto waited until the last possible moment before slamming his fist forwards. Right into the middle of the cyclone made of wind blades.

This resulted in the two forces clashing for a second or two before Naruto's overpowered chakra punch finally tore through the wind jutsu cancelling it out. Temari's jaw hung open as did Naruto's for a second. Then his jaw snapped shut and he clutched his right hand to his chest tightly and let out a strangled gurgle of pain. Though Temari couldn't see it Naruto's hand was cut up like a well done steak. There were several deep gashes running across his fingers and knuckles as well as one or two smaller cuts running up and down the length of his arm. His hand felt like it had been set on fire before being plunged into an ice chest, a painful tingling sensation was the only thing he could think of as the pain stopped all other conscious thought.

For a good second or two Temari watched as the blonde held his apparently damaged hand to his chest before she moved her fan down. She was just about to ask if he was okay when he let out a roar and dropped his hand from his chest to glare at her. The sand kunoichi let out a gasp when she saw his hand. Blood was freely flowing out of it yet Naruto didn't seem to worry about it all. Instead he was beginning to walk towards her and ever step he took he started to move faster. She hesitated for only a second before she brought her fan back up and got off another blast of wind. To her utter astonishment Naruto didn't avoid it. He did the exact same thing he had done with her last one. He tore straight through it.

Agony didn't even begin to describe the pain Naruto was in right now but he didn't care. He had lived in the pain of loneliness for his entire life this was nothing compared to that. Nothing. And so he tore through her attacks. After the fourth one he figured out that if he slashed at the attack and released chakra it would cut back on the amount of damage his arm received. Wincing as she spread her wind blades out further and one managed to clip his chest Naruto leaving a cut going from the right side of his stomach to just under his left pectoral. Naruto growled in pain and pressed onwards towards his goal.

'_What is he?'_ Temari thought in a panic. She had tried concentrated blast, wide spread gales, solitary wind blades and even rapid fire attacks. Yet he still pressed on. She had been forced to move several times in order to avoid him getting to close for her comfort. Deciding that she needed time to think Temari unleashed a particularly strong blast of wind and didn't wait to see him tear through it. Instead he turned away from him and jumped as high as she could and snapped her fan open beneath her. With a surge of wind natured chakra she lifted high up off the ground, safely out of reach of the blonde juggernaut she had been fighting.

Naruto watched as his target moved up into the sky where he would be hard pressed to reach her.

"Get back here and fight you coward!" He shouted. She ignored him. Growling in frustration he ran after her a plan coming together in his mind as he ran. Right before he caught up to her he brought his bloodied and cut up hands together to form a cross hand seal. Two puffs of smoke signaled the creation of the two clones that were standing in front of him. Each clone was hunched over and hand their hands interlocked forming a step up for him to use. When he reached them he jumped up and landed with a foot planted firmly in each of the clones hands. With a heave the two clones launched the original Naruto up into the air towards Temari who just now peered over her fan. Just in time for him to crash into her.

Temari had been trying to formulate a plan of attack when she felt the use of chakra beneath her. After a sigh of frustration and not being given a break she looked over the edge of her fan. And right into two twin pools of bright shinning blue. She let out a shriek as Naruto collided with her moving safe haven causing it to collapse and send both of them hurdling towards the ground. Naruto created a circle of shadow clones on the ground, all anxiously waiting for Temari to fall into her clutches. Seeing the impending trap Temari managed to open her fan partially and unleash a surge of wind chakra at Naruto. This had two results. One it spun Temari mid air so that she could land on the ground on her feet spinning. It also launched the real Naruto a safe distance away giving her time to deal with his clones.

The instant she touched down on the ground she opened her fan fully and continued with the momentum to created a huge whirlwind of wind blades which quickly disposed of Naruto's shadow clones. While she had been dealing with the clones she hadn't paid attention to what the real one was doing. This was going to cost her of course. As soon as her whirlwind died down she felt an ungodly amount of chakra being used from behind her. Whirling around she saw Naruto charging her with a spiraling sphere of visible chakra resting in the palm of his right hand. With a roar he thrust it at her face.

Bringing her fan up and shutting it Temari shoved every last drop of her chakra through the fan in an attempt to strengthen the weapon and stop Naruto's attack. Little good it did her. His attack tore through her fan like it wasn't even there and her face was the next thing in its path. And if metal and chakra was torn to shreds by his attack, what would it do to her skull? When she saw the bloodthirsty look on his face as his attack tore through her fan she was instantly reminded of her clinically insane brother. Her dark green eyes widened in horror as she waited for death.

Naruto felt her pathetic attempts to stop his attack and almost laughed at them. They were nothing! She was nothing! He had energy to keep going for another couple hours or so and she was throwing her all into blocking his attack and he tore through it like it wasn't even there. All he had to do was press just a bit harder. A bit further and her head would explode into a beautiful shower of blood. And with no Temari he wouldn't be forced to marry her and he could marry Sakura. As his attack tore through her fan reducing it to shards of steel and paper those were the thoughts running through his mind.

"Marry this! Rasengan!"

8888

Gaara suddenly felt like leveling a village and crushing thousands to dust with his sand. And it had nothing to do with the bickering old men who were squabbling over what missions to send the last Uchiha on. Yesterday had been spent showing Sasuke all of Suna, being sure to show all the good spots and none of the nasty parts of the village. And now the old foggies couldn't decide whether to give them a hard mission, as he was an Uchiha he deserved it, or to give him an easy one, as an Uchiha he had to be protected.

Allowing his killer intent to leak out and silence the old men Gaara spoke.

"Would it not be best to give us several easy missions which we can accomplish quickly so that they can receive the training that you promised the Leaf?" Though posed as a question all in the room caught the hint. Not that the elders noticed anything as the instant Gaara had said training they had started to reprimand one another for forgetting about training the Uchiha.

"Uchiha-sama." An elder with a solid white goatee started. "Are there any specific things you would like to learn?"

"Any and all fire style ninjutsu." Sasuke replied. When the elders seemed content and about to move on to other business Sakura stepped forward and spoke up.

"I would like to learn puppetry." The pink haired girl said firmly. The elders nodded slightly, hardly even paying her attention at all, and said something about getting someone to teach her a little bit. A grin spread across the pinkette's face. "And I am sure my father would be thrilled to hear about how his only daughter was shrugged off onto some no name ninja. Ya councilor Haruno is gonna love that." This caught the elders attention causing them to look at however Sakura was looking down and examining her nails. "I mean we only let Kakashi of the sharingan, son of The White Fang and master of over a thousand jutsu teach your ninja. So it should be fine if I am just dumped onto some random ninja." She looked up just in time to lock eyes with all of the elders who looked rather nervous. "Right?" Sakura asked so sweetly and innocently it shocked the elders into silence.

"Er, uh. What we mean is do you have someone in specific you would like to teach you?" The elder with the goatee asked. Sakura's grin grew just a bit more.

"I heard Lady Chiyo was good." Her grin only doubled in size as she saw their eyes go wide.

"Lady Chiyo! But she…" A younger man started only to be cut off by an old wrinkly man.

"You want Lady Chiyo to teach you?" He chuckled and nodded. "Fine. By all means feel free to ask her until your heart is content." Sakura knew he was hiding something from her but let the subject drop. She had gotten what she wanted. Ignoring the questioning looks of both Gaara and Sasuke she listened to what the 'mission' was. It was really just running an errand for the council. They were supposed to head out to the guard post, collect the monthly report, and then return it here. After being dismissed she walked out of the room without a word to either of her teammates who shrugged before pushing the topic to the back of their minds. If she didn't deem it worth of discussion then who were they to pry?

8888

Sasuke, Gaara and Sakura had all gone their separate ways after completing the mission. Sakura to presumably convince someone named Chiyo to teach her how to become a puppeteer. Gaara to do whatever it is that people holding demons and a lot of rage go to do whatever it is that they do. Leaving Sasuke alone as he walked towards Suna's ninjutsu library.

As he walked a tiny thought kept nagging him in the back of his mind. It was how Sakura had been treating him ever since he had told her to get stronger. Not that he wanted her to go back to being a die hard fan girl. The thing was that it was remarkably odd not having her dotting on him like she had been for the past months. Where before he could always count on one person to back him up, not that he was ever wrong, and always agree with him. Now? It was just him. Again. It was the same way it had been before the academy. He was alone and it didn't feel as nice as he had imagined.

Shrugging that thought off he shoved it into the back of his mind and focused on the building he was approaching. Two jonin wee standing outside the entrance and both were watching the surroundings with a keen eye professionally masked by a façade of calmness. The exact same charade Kakashi used. They looked like they could be caught of guard by anyone but in reality those two were more in tune with their surrounding than anyone else around. Ignoring them Sasuke walked in between them and went to open the door when a hand on his shoulder stopped him in his tracks.

"You are Sasuke Uchiha?" The ninja on Sasuke's right asked.

"Yes." Both ninja relaxed and stepped back, one moved to the wall he had been leaning up against and began to run through hand seals, the other turned Sasuke to face him.

"Few rules. One no use of chakra whatsoever. If we even think your using chakra your going to be kicked out and possibly jailed for the remainder of your stay in Suna." Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the ninja. No one was locking him up he needed to train to defeat his brother. "Rule two: no copying anything you read onto paper, or in your case using your sharingan. We agreed that we would teach whoever Konoha sent over here but we did not agree to trading techniques with your village. What you learn stays with you and you alone. Understood?"

"Hn." Was the only response the ninja got out of Sasuke who turned and faced the still closed doors. The ninja who had explained the rules to Sasuke sighed and nodded to his partner. The partner understood and slammed his hands against the hidden seal on the side of the wall, unsealing the room allowing Sasuke to enter. Once the Uchiha was in the doors shut tight and the two ninja resumed the positions they had previously been in.

"Arrogant bastard isn't he?" His partner shrugged.

"He nearly beat Gaara and his teammate _did_ beat Gaara. The kid has a right to be a bit arrogant."

8888

It had taken Sakura half the day to find Lady Chiyo and by the time she finally did it was already sunset. Stupid people and not knowing where someone as famous as Lady Chiyo was. Sakura was standing in front of a massive steel door with a large wooden post barring the door shut.

"Nothing is ever easy is it?" She asked no one in particular and only got a gust of sandy wind for an answer. Sighing she got to work on getting inside the building. It took nearly an hour for her to eventually succeed and get within the building she had been searching for half the day. Inside was one wide open room with no apparent ceiling. Directly in front of the door Sakura had just come through was a small circular pool with two people sitting on either side of it. One was an old lady with purple colored hair wearing a typical black outfit with a faded red headband, she had one or two liver spots on her face adding to the years her body showed. The other was a wrinkly old man with large white eyebrows and a tall turban resting on his head. He wore the same outfit as the woman sitting across from him with the only difference being that she was holding a fishing pole and he wasn't.

To Sakura they both looked dead. As she watched she saw the fishing pole slip from Chiyo's hands and start to fall towards the water. For a split second Sakura feared that she had showed up just in time to witness the death of Lady Chiyo. Then the haggard old lady snatched the pole out of thin air before it could splash down against the water. Both Sakura and the old man let out a sigh of relief while Chiyo just laughed.

"Haha I got you two! I was playing dead." The old lady laughed causing her brother to grumble something Sakura couldn't hear. The pinkette shook her head at the old ladies behavior before stepping forward.

"Lady Chiyo?" The old lady didn't even turn to look at Sakura she just cast her line back into the fishing pond.

"The name sounds familiar." Chiyo said. A tick mark formed on Sakura's head as the old lady ignored her.

"Can you teach me to become a puppeteer?" The water in the pond stirred just enough for Sakura to notice before it settled down once more.

"I could." The old lady said after a long pause. Silence reigned supreme in the room for nearly ten minutes as Sakura waited for Chiyo to stand up or say anything else. When she didn't Sakura got even angrier.

"Well are you going to?" She asked with an edge to her voice that didn't even bother the older woman.

"No." Sakura growled and narrowed her eyes at the old hag.

"Why not?"

"Why should I?" Chiyo countered.

"Because I asked you to." Chiyo snorted at Sakura.

"If I were to ask you to bring me a star would you have to do it? I could ask to see my grandson's face once more but it doesn't mean I will." For a second Sakura was silent.

"So in other words your to old to do anything other than sit here." Ebizou choked on air and Chiyo turned to stare at Sakura who was simply staring back at her. "It would be as hard as grabbing a star for you to get up and teach me? Wow and I thought you were a great puppeteer."

Chiyo narrowed her eyes at the girl before her. She was a rather plain looking girl aside from the unnatural looking pink hair. Slowly setting down the fishing pole and ignoring the words of her brother Chiyo stretched her hands out towards Sakura. With a flick of her fingers dozens of chakra strings shot out from her fingers and attached to Sakura's body at multiple points. The pink haired girl's eyes widened as her body went stiff and no matter how much she fought against the bonds that held her in place she couldn't so much as twitch a finger. She let out a surprised shriek as the strings moved her up into the air and held her upside down over the pond. That shriek turned into a gurgle as the chakra strings lowered her into the water until only the tips of there shoes were visible.

"Nee-chan don't kill the girl." Ebizou scolded his sister. Chiyo simply ignored him and continued to hold the impudent little brat that dared disturb her. After a good thirty seconds or so she finally figured the girl had had enough and pulled her up. Sakura blew water out her nose with a snort of air before sucking in a breath.

"Still think I am weak?" Chiyo asked giving the girl enough control to talk and turn her head. The instant Sakura had control she turned her head and stuck her tongue out at Chiyo.

"Oooo you beat a genin! I am shocked at your skills." And she was back under the water this time not even her shoes were visible. Ebizou was about to fuss at Chiyo however a heated stare shut him up before he even started to talk. Almost a minute and a half passed and a single bubble of air had come up for a while. Deciding that it had been long enough Chiyo pulled the girl up. "Teach me." Sakura said plainly as soon as her face was above water. Chiyo growled rotated the girl so that Sakura's jade green eyes were looking at her.

"Why do you want to learn so badly little girl?" Sakura was silent for a while before answering.

"So that I'm not so weak anymore. I don't want to always need my teammates to protect me and help me with my fights. You supposed to be the best puppeteer and I want to be even better than you."

"You will never be better than me." Chiyo scoffed before submerging Sakura in the water once more. Once more Ebizou was about to say something but Chiyo simply raised a hand to stop him. "Let me handle her. You just go back to sleep brother." With that said she pulled Sakura up from the water and locked eyes with the girl. "Do what I am doing to you between two of your fingers." Chiyo said before disconnecting all the chakra strings attached to Sakura save the one on Sakura's feet which was keeping the girl suspended upside down over the water.

"Wha…" Was all Sakura got out before Chiyo dropped her back into the water and held her there for a good minute. When she pulled Sakura out the girl was sputtering and spitting out water. Being dunked without warning with your mouth open does that to you.

"I didn't say talk. I said create a thread of chakra between your fingers." The look of confusion on Sakura's face caused the old woman to sigh. "There are simpler ways to do this using seals and what not but since you want to be the best and want to learn from me your going to do things the old way. Now, create a thread of chakra between two of your fingers." Sakura blinked several times before eventually pulling her hands up and looking between them for a second and then back at Chiyo who was simply watching her. Giving up and just doing what the old hag said Sakura pressed both her ring fingers together before slowly pulling them apart.

A blue aura was stretched out between them for maybe the first centimeter. And then it snapped. And Chiyo dropped her into the water once more. Only difference between this time and the others was that the purple haired lady had a smirk on her face. "This is so much more fun that fishing."


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay got some hate from a few for how easily Sasuke and Sakura got training and how Jiraiya and Tsunade handled Sasuke's ego. Let me ask yo this. Would you not let a little prick think he is all that to keep the sharingan away from Orochimaru? As for the Suna council giving sasuke special training, if Konoha kisses his ass and your trying to get on their good side would it not be a good idea to kiss his ass as well? Sakura was given permisson to ASK chiyo for training. They never said they would force her to train Sakura. And lastly who said i was gonna have Tsunade teach Sakura?**

**Now as for why it has been so long since my last update i have a good reason. My idiot of a cousin logged on my computer and went somewhere they shouldnt have and picked up a shitload of nasty viruses. Long story short it crashed my computer and I had to totally factory reset my computer. So after beating my cousin to a bloody pulp i had to rewrite the chapter. Anyways enjoy the latest chapter of Sandy Breeze.**

**Impure Perfection**

* * *

><p>In a dark room a white haired boy wearing glasses stepped out from the shadows and bowed before the sickly looking man laying in the bed before him.<p>

"What news of Sasuke-kun?"

"It seems he has been moved to Suna along with his pink haired teammate."

"And why has he been moved?" The bed ridden man asked.

"According to my spies a political marriage between Naruto-kun and the _late_ Kazekage's daughter Temari. In exchange for Konoha getting her and her brother Kankuro, Suna has temporarily gotten Sasuke-kun and his teammate. It seems once a month the two teams will meet and exchange members." No answer came from the man with bandages covering both his arms. Instead he leaned back in the bed and hummed thoughtfully with his eyes closed. The still kneeling man didn't answer nor did he leave, he knew when his master was done thinking he would have orders that needed to be carried out immediately.

"Then we shall wait."

"Lord Orochimaru?"

"I know how to infiltrate Konoha like the back of my hand, Suna is another matter altogether. Especially after the tragic incident with their Kazekage." Looking down at his bandaged arms and feeling a burnings sensations akin to having a horde of fire ants eating as his arms the snake sannin sighed. "I cannot wait long for his body, however I can buy time. Bring me Kimimaro." Kabuto looked utterly shocked but nodded none the less and left the room to awaken the comatose boy. "Ku ku ku. I shall have your body yet Sasuke-kun, even if I must wait."

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It was roughly midnight and Naruto was still in training ground seven beating himself up. Literally. Thanks to a freak accident with Ayame, which both agreed would be taken to the grave, Naruto had figured out the secret of shadow clones. After much fussing, cussing and being angry at no one telling him Naruto had done some experimenting with the new discovery. And now he was in the middle of a hardcore, five thousand clone enhanced training session trying to master the new jutsu he was trying to create.

The backlash from Naruto's experimental technique tore into his torso and chest. Several tendrils of chakra had lashed out at him and cut a spiral pattern across his chest tearing his black shirt to ribbons. The spiral started at his right shoulder and made a large arc across his stomach and chest leaving huge gaping gashes. He could see his right ribs and thought he saw something that was pulsing inside his left side where a large chunk of flesh had been torn off.

With a roar he tapped into the Kyuubi's chakra for the tenth time that night. Right as Naruto was about to release the chakra a sensation that felt like an overpowered heartbeat went through his body freezing him in place. The first pulse felt like every single vein in his body had suddenly doubled in size. The second pulse left him gasping for air and clutching his head as everything faded black. As his vision went black Naruto numbly wondered if he had actually killed himself on accident.

However when he opened his eyes to see he was standing in front of Kyuubi's cage the blonde sighed.

"About time you blasted fox! I was beginning to think I needed to go jump off a cliff again or something." A pair of blood red eyes filled with rage and hate opened to glare at Naruto.

"**I agreed to loan you my chakra when you need it human. I did not intend for you to recklessly risk my life with your suicidal training."**

"I'm changing the deal." It was obvious Kyuubi didn't like that as he jumped up to his full height and growled at Naruto. His tails were lashing about behind him violently churning the water in and out of his cage. "Save it furball! I know you cant hurt me. Now I met the host of the one tailed beast and he gets total control over sand because he holds in the one tail raccoon. All I get for holding your worthless ass in is a little bit of a healing boost and some extra chakra when I'm on deaths door steps?" Kyuubi saw where the boy was going and narrowed his eyes.

"**What do you want?" **Kyuubi asked, his voice low and menacing.

"Free access to your chakra to train or fight or whatever the Hell I feel like."

"**How much?" **The beast's voice was now hardly understandable with all the growling he was doing.

"As much as I tapped into tonight." Naruto said determinedly glaring right back at a beast most wouldn't be able to face in their best of dreams or flee from in the worst of their nightmares. Neither was relenting. When a feral smile that put all shit-eating grins to shame spread across Kyuubi's face Naruto already knew it wasn't going to be good.

"**Since you are upping my rent I want better accommodations."** Now it was Naruto's turn to narrow his eyes.

"What do you want?" He asked in the exact same tone Kyuubi had.

"**I tire of looking at this abysmal sewer all day. Give me access to your eyes so I can see what you see. Then I can laugh when you get hurt, celebrate when you lose and cry tears of joy when someone betrays you."** All said with that same sinister smile in place.

"I don't know how to manipulate the seal to allow that." Naruto said truthfully. He was not expecting the fox to bark with laughter.

"**You imbecile I am a master of seals! If it were not for Shinigami-sama's mark on this seal I would have broken it long ago and razed your village to the ground a dozen times over."**

"If your that good then why do you need my permission to change the seal to allow you to see what I see?" The giant fox snorted and laid back down with its snout inches from touching the bars.

"**This infernal seal is tied to your will and you never use my chakra long enough for me to make any substantial modifications to your poor excuse of a body. All you need do is allow my chakra to flow freely through you system with no resistance or effort to control it whatsoever from you."** Naruto looked pensive so the fox continued. **"You give me a window out of this Hell hole and I allow you to tap into under one tail of my chakra as often as you wish. Deal?"**

After thinking for a second or two Naruto nodded his head. The grin on Kyuubi's face almost made Naruto take back his word. Almost. But he didn't. He had given his word and it was against his nature to take his word back, even if he had given it to a demon.

Watching carefully for any signs of trickery Naruto watched as deep red chakra flowed out from beneath the bars of Kyuubi's cage. Instead of flowing towards his body as he had expected the chakra flowed up the walls and moved higher than the light in the cave reached.

"Where is it going?"

"**This is your mind human. If I wish to change things I need to go to the source."** Kyuubi explained without opening its eyes which were scrunched up in concentration. **"There." **He finally breathed out and Naruto looked up to see a pipe begin to glow a faint red. It was just bright enough for Naruto to make out a couple dozen of the countless pipes on the wall along side the one that was currently glowing.

"If this is my mind couldn't I change it to whatever I want?" Kyuubi chuckled but otherwise didn't answer. Naruto was about to press for an answer when a burning sensation made itself known directly behind his eyes. Blinking rapidly he tried in vain to relive the pain only to find it intensifying. He was just about to tell the fox to stop when the pain began to taper off. In a rush the wave of red chakra swooped back down the wall and retreated into the cage.

Kyuubi's eyes snapped open and Naruto saw something beside loathing in those burning red coals for the first time in his life. Victory and satisfaction. That was what he saw in Kyuubi's eyes.

"**This is your mind and you **_**could**_** change it. If you were smart enough to know how to."** Kyuubi said with a snicker.

"Oh wow you're a regular comedian. Stupid fox." Naruto had turned around and was about to walk out when a thought popped into his head. "Another thing take back the bloodlust you gave me. I nearly killed Temari because of you." Instead of laughing or demanding something in exchange as Naruto had expected the Kyuubi just cocked his head to one side.

"**Bloodlust?"** It said obviously confused for a second. Then it burst out laughing which only served to anger Naruto more.

"Hey cut that out! It isn't funny!" Kyuubi just continued to laugh for a few minutes. When the giant beast finally calmed down it grinned at Naruto.

"**You obviously didn't listen to me. You haven't used my chakra long enough for me to change anything about you so if you feel bloodlust that is all you." **Naruto visible paled.

"No." Naruto said more to himself than the fox but Kyuubi heard him nonetheless.

"**Oh yes. My chakra is my nature. Free, wild and destructive. It seems by using my chakra you are losing those pesky restraints you always kept in place for some reason or another. Interesting." **Kyuubi hummed thoughtfully. **"My pacifist of a host secretly is a killer. Ooh things just got amusing."** With a final chuckle Kyuubi launched Naruto back out of the mindscape and into the real world.

Naruto blinked at suddenly finding himself standing back in the real world. A quick glance down at his chest revealed two things. One the fox had kept his word and the chakra had healed his wounds again. Two, the fox had enhanced his vision to an inhuman degree.

What would have looked like nothing more than a mere smudge in his old vision was now clearly revealed to be a fly. Lifting his head Naruto suffered a mild case of whiplash from the sudden intensity of everything. It was just past midnight yet he saw things as clearly as he had during the day if not clearer. He knew where the shadows were but it was almost like looking at glass, he saw the shadows but he also saw straight through them to what lay buried beneath them.

Shaking his head to focus he remembered what he had been working on before the distraction with the fox. A single hand seal and a lot of chakra later and there were over two thousand clones surrounding him.

'_I am so killing Kakashi-sensei for forgetting to tell me I could train with the clones.'_ Naruto thought as both he and all his clones set about mastering the new jutsu he had been working on all night.

8888

Tsunade was glaring at Kakashi. She had sent the order out at around four in the afternoon to have Kakashi bound and brought before her. It was now three in the morning and they had just woken her to tell her that they had caught him and that he was waiting for her in her office. So she had been forced out of bed despite the hangover, across town, up the stairs, and into her office at three in the morning. Needless to say she was beyond pissed.

"Would you like to explain why you made no move to stop Naruto from killing Temari?"

"I had things under control and I know Naruto. He wouldn't have killed her if I had given the order." Tsunade narrowed her eyes at him.

"I was watching. He had the rasengan _inches_ away from her nose before he sucked it back into his hand to avoid killing her. And you think you had it under control?" She asked incredulously. Kakashi narrowed his visible eye at her.

"If I said I had it under control then I had it under control. I am not so stupid as to allow Temari to die."

"Well mister I-control-everything how did you have it under control?"

"Sharingan." Tsunade chuckled and threw her arms up in the air.

"Oh yes cause seeing her brain be blow to bits in high definition and slow mo is really gonna help stop a war with Suna!" Kakashi lost the laid back posture. Despite being strapped into the chair by metal cuffs he sat up straighter and glared at the hokage. Tsunade took no notice and continued. "You think that blasted sharingan is the key to everything! I swear some times I would love to just tear it out and see how you do without…" She stopped talking when the head band covering Kakashi's sharingan was sucked into a black hole.

With the metal plate no longer covering it Tsunade got a good look at his eye and gasped at what she saw. It had mutated from its original state and now held the appearance of a three tipped kunai. At the end of each tip was a curved blade that ended in the middle of the next tip. The black hole which had just consumed his headband now moved over to the metal cuffs that kept him strapped to the chair. In seconds the cuffs and been eaten clean through leaving Kakashi free and clear.

"As I said _Hokage-sama _I had it under control." Was all Kakashi said as he walked to the door. As he stepped out he paused and looked back at her with his new eye. "And if you ever try and remove this eye I will kill you and who ever you send out after me." With that he slammed the door shut behind him. Leaving a speechless and shocked Tsunade Senju.

8888

Temari, Kankuro and Kakashi all arrived at training ground seven together. Temari was missing her fan, Kankuro was missing a puppet and Kakashi had showed up walking on crutches. Yet had you been there you wouldn't have taken note of any of that. You would have taken note of the fact that in the middle of what used to be a clean and calm looking training ground was a sleeping Naruto laying in the middle of a pool of blood. The pool of blood was easily five feet wide and actually came a good inch up Naruto's side.

"Naruto?" Kakashi asked hoping the boy hadn't accidentally killed himself. When Naruto groaned and rolled over Kakashi let out a breath he hadn't know he had been holding. Naruto pulled himself up to his feet and stretched revealing that his jacket and the black muscle shirt he wore beneath it had been ripped to shreds sometime during his training.

Looking down at his body trying to figure out what was making stretching so hard Naruto saw all the dried and caked on blood clinging to his body.

"Pesky stuff." Without a single hand seal or moment of preparation Naruto unleashed a surge of chakra greater than Temari or Kankuro could ever hope to create. The force of the chakra surge was great enough to blast the dried blood off Naruto's body and ever stir the pool of it surrounding his feet. With a final shake of his head Naruto was blood free. But one change had been made that didn't appear to be coming out. His once sun kissed blonde hair now had red highlights so dark they bordered on black. "So Kakashi-sensei what missions we doing today?"

Naruto noticed the looks his teammates were giving him and thought over what he had just done. It dawned on him that what he had just done probably looked rather disturbing yet he just couldn't bring himself to regret it. Kankuro looked like he had seen a ghost for a second before shaking his head and clearing out that fear. Kakashi hid his emotions better but be an outcast long enough and you learn to read even the most reserved of people. His sensei looked disturbed and almost disappointed for some reason that Naruto couldn't place.

But it was Temari's look that Naruto noticed most. She was looking at him almost exactly the same way most of the village did. It was a look of utter terror being smothered under aggression in hopes no one would notice the fear in her dark green eyes. Though the urge to lunge out and tear her face off so she couldn't look at him like that again surged forward Naruto squashed it. He had nearly killed her yesterday and had it not been for that fear he now saw he probably would have killed her.

But no matter how angry he was, no matter how much he hated the marriage contract, no matter on unfair it was, he couldn't and wouldn't take it out on her. She was just as big a victim as he was. So he would be kind to her and hope that it wouldn't be so bad marrying her.

8888

Sasuke was currently running a mission for the Suna council. The mission entailed traveling from outpost to outpost and picking up the reports as well as delivering new orders to each outpost they came across. Baki was escorting them around so that the two leaf genin didn't get lost in the endless wasteland he called home and knew like the back of his hand.

Try as he might he just couldn't focus on the mission as much as he wanted to. And it was all due to how his teammates were acting. Well Sakura was doing exactly what he had said, she was apparently training herself into the ground if the dark circles under her eyes were anything to go by. As well as she wasn't bothering him with date request, or at all for that matter.

The pink haired girl only spoke to him whenever it was necessary. A month ago he would have got down on his knees and thanked every deity he could name. Now he was feeling out of place by it. She didn't support him or go against him. She was simply neutral towards him and the fact that he had made himself alone and isolated again was bothering him more than he thought it should.

Isn't this exactly what he had wanted? With Naruto gone he was totally and utterly left by himself, again. And he was beginning to realize that it was painful and that pain was distracting him. He had spent most of the night outside working on one of the four fire jutsu the library had to offer. Reality was there were only three jutsu with the fourth being the basic and training jutsu for another one. Despite the fact it was a D-ranked ninjutsu and relatively easy he had made almost no progress at all because his mind kept wandering to his two teammates.

Were he not an Uchiha the epiphany he had at that moment would have caused him to freeze up mid sprint. Since he was an Uchiha he merely faltered in his step where only Gaara caught it. Sand user seemed to notice everything. But the realization that had caused the slip up was still there.

Sasuke Uchiha. Last loyal Uchiha to Konoha and supposed prodigy of his class needed his teammates. He needed Naruto. Not as a friend but as a rival, someone to compare himself to, someone to compete against and push himself further to ensure he came out on top against. He needed Sakura. She was his moral support the source of his never ending confidence even in situations that promised death or serious injury.

Cobalt eyes narrowed in thought as the self proclaimed avenger thought back to why he had wanted so desperately to isolate himself. Itachi. The one name caused his blood to boil in rage as realization dawned on Sasuke. That two timing, double dealing son of a jackal had crippled him from the beginning! _'Live for yourself and your hate. Only hate will give you the strength to defeat me.'_ Sasuke thought remembering his brother's words. _'I will not fall for your trap brother. I will grow stronger than you, and I will do it in my own way.'_

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Gaara saw the conflict in the raven haired boy's eyes and steps yet the red head couldn't figure out what to do. He had only ever handled emotional people by squishing them with his sand. But Sasuke was a precious person to Naruto so Gaara couldn't and wouldn't kill him. He would defend both Sakura and Sasuke with his last breath. That much was decided the moment Naruto entrusted them to his care.

But then what could he do? Thinking back to the days after the invasion when Gaara had spoken with Naruto alone for a while he tried to think of anything the blonde had said to suggest a solution for the problem. Blinking once as a stray thought came to mind Gaara nodded to himself. He would put his idea into action that night and hoped it was how Naruto would handle the situation.

For now he would silently wait and watch. Besides they had just reached the third outpost on their mission.

8888

"Okay team time for lunch!" Kakashi called out to the training field. Kankuro stopped fixing the puppet Naruto had gathered all the pieces for sometime during the night. Temari finished the series of hand seals she had been running through and gave the jutsu one more attempt only to fail and end up cutting her lips. Naruto earlier had made the surprisingly wise suggestion of Temari learning several wind jutsu that don't require her fan so she could still be dangerous without himself was doing the most intensive and dangerous training Kakashi had ever seen. After asking to learn some jutsu and being told he had a wind affinity he had then been instructed to try and split a leaf using his chakra. As soon as he had instructions Naruto had created over three thousand clones and instructed them to set about cutting a leaf with chakra. Apparently Naruto had discovered the secret of shadow clones and was now using it in a way only he could.

When the shout to stop working had gone out across the training ground all the clones looked down at their hands and sighed, groaned, grunted or cursed in frustration. Naruto had promised whoever managed to split the leaf before lunch got to eat lunch and judging by all the upset clones it seems no one had succeeded. In a massive cloud of white smoke all the clones dispelled themselves leaving a single dazed and confused Naruto standing on wobbly legs.

Naruto shook his head and tried to sort through the countless memories running through his head. After standing there and concentrating on clearing his head for a moment or two he looked across the training ground to Temari and Kankuro.

"Oi! You guys wanna grab a bite from Ichiraku's? Its your first time so I'm buying!" Kankuro shrugged.

"Sure why not." Temari however didn't nod or shake her head. She just looked at Naruto seriously.

"Naruto. Can I talk to you for a minute?" When Kakashi slid up beside her with an inquisitive look on his face she glared at him. "Alone." A sad looking Kakashi slid down out of sight. Naruto created a new shadow clone and told it to lead Kankuro to Ichiraku's while he talked with Temari. With the clone and brother gone Naruto walked over to Temari and waited for he to speak. She had brought up the talk so she would be the first to speak. She didn't wait long.

"You are just like Gaara in your own way." Naruto's chuckle stopped her short. "Whats so funny" She asked with narrowed eyes though Naruto didn't even seem fazed by her anger.

"Oh I'm just like Gaara. Only nine times worse." Temari looked scared for a second then thoughtful until finally realization spread across her face. Naruto nodded and spoke again before she could say anything. "Village secret punishable by death you say anything about it to anyone. It's my secret so I can tell if I want to and since your going to marry figure you should know."

Temari paused and mulled the new information over before shaking her head and apparently deciding it was unimportant to the conversation. So she continued on as if Naruto had not just told her he held a demon.

"You're creepy strong and frankly you scare the living shit out of me because I cant tell when your going to try and kill me or invite me out to lunch. So don't. I will marry you when the year is over and I will fulfill any _duties_ required but that is all. I do not love you and probably never will. So just leave me alone and treat this as a mission." She turned and was about to walk away when Naruto grabbed her arm."That's it?" He snarled out. "'Treat this as a mission' my ass! I don't know how your mind works but I will _not_ marry someone just for the sake of sucking up to my village. Half these people hate me so if they rot sucks for them. I care about my precious people and that's all. At the end of this year if I don't think I can grow to love you then I suggest you head out and tell your village to pick some other poor slob to be stuck with you.""But that could start a war…"

"Don't give a flying fuck. I agreed to this year because I hoped I could learn to care for you but if you make that impossible then war it is. Now your coming to lunch with us understand?"

"You think you can make me?" She ground out between clenched teeth. When Naruto grinned and his chakra flared to life she remembered why she feared him.

"No." Naruto said even as he created a one handed rasengan in his right hand by moving his fingers to spin the chakra instead of a second hand. "I _know_ I can make you." It took an ungodly amount of concentration but he managed to create a second rasengan. "Now lets go." Temari glared at him.

"As you wish. Shall I refer to you as Naruto-sama or Naruto-dono from now own." Naruto snorted and allowed the chakra to fade out of the rasengans as he walked away from her.

"Call me whatever you want Temari." Naruto looked over at her with a sad smile on his face. "I have heard any insult you could possibly think up and probably several you have never heard of. Again how this year goes is completely up to you. Now lets go Kankuro is probably getting bored waiting on us."

With no other words shared between the two they made their way towards the village. Temari trying to understand all the info she had just had dumped on her lap. Naruto trying to ignore the feelings he felt coming from the fox in the back of his head. Dealing with Temari was stressing enough having a giant fox laughing at him in the back of his head was threatening to send him over the edge. But he would manage. He managed to endure the hate of an entire village and the prejudice of all who dealt with him. Two more on that wouldn't even be noticed.

8888

When Naruto stepped into the ramen stand Ayame went to greet them cheerfully, as she did all customers, but stopped upon seeing Naruto. The ramen chef gave a squeak before quickly vanishing into the back with a dark red blush on her face. Temari and Kankuro both looked at Naruto who was doing a good impersonation of a tomato. Coughing into his hand nervously he took a seat. Temari sat to his left and Kankuro to his right.

"Morning Naruto-boy! Who are your friends?" Temari watched as Naruto threw on a smile and grinned at the old man.

"These are my new teammates! Kankuro fights with dolls and Temari could probably blow half of Konoha away."

"If I had a fan." Naruto's smile faltered just a bit but Teuchi either didn't notice it or he just didn't show it.

"Well any friends of Naruto's are a friends of ours. So what can I get for ya? I'm assuming you want your regular Naruto?" The blonde grinned even wider and nodded.

"Bowl of miso ramen for me." Was Kankuro's order.

"Just a small bowl of shrimp ramen." Temari mumbled. The old man's gaze lingered on her for a moment before he turned away and started to fix the food. The food was served up after only a short while. Kankuro took one bite of the food and groaned in ecstasy.

"No way. No way in hell is this stuff ramen! Its to good to be ramen!"

"What don't they have ramen in Suna?" Kankuro shook his head at Naruto's question.

"Not really. We just have this one little ramen stand and its not in the most favorable location in town." When silence greeted Kankuro's statement he turned his head to see Naruto starring at him in horror.

"Only one ramen stand? Blasphemy!" He shouted pounding his fist on the counter. "We must fix that! Oi oi old man think you could open a ramen stand in Suna?" Teuchi blinked at the question but looked thoughtful none the less.

"I suppose. Though either Ayame or me would have to go over and supervise and I'm no old which means…" He trailed off seeing Ayame standing in front of him with hearts in her eyes.

"Oh come on daddy! I can do it! And Naruto can escort me there and help me set up and everything! Please! Please! Please" Teuchi sighed and rolled his eyes before glaring at the blonde who had opened the can of worms. Naruto was inhaling ramen but still somehow managed to grin at the old man. Going back to work Teuchi tried to ignore the pleadings of his daughter.

Thirty minutes later and several bowls of ramen for Kankuro and Naruto later and the trio were heading back to the training ground. Temari remained silent the entire way.

"Oi sis you okay? You been kind of quiet."

"Fine. That stuff just isn't sitting right."

"I thought it was delicious." Kankuro mumbled. Temari grinned at her brother.

"Oh and how would you know? You were to busy flirting with that little ramen girl to take note of your food." Kankuro spluttered and thanked kami he wore war paint. No one could see him blush with it.

"I-I was not flirting. I was merely having a polite conversation to pass the time." Temari's grin widened.

"Is that so? Then why couldn't you take your eyes off her ass?" Kankuro could have sworn his face was gonna explode.

"I-I-I did not stare!" Temari burst out laughing and Naruto couldn't keep the chuckle down any longer. Kankuro looked between the two blondes laughing at him and glared at the two of them. "At least I havent been ignoring my fiancé like the plague " That shut both Naruto and Temari up. Quick.

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**Midnight in Suna**

Sasuke flashed through hand seals before calling out the name of the technique he was working on. Shoving a surge of chakra through his hands and body he felt and watched as a sphere or super heated air expanded outwards from his body. The sphere only went a couple of feet before dieing out. Growling in frustration he dropped the hand seal and glared at nothing in particular.

He needed competition. As much as it ate at him to admit it he needed that blonde moron to show up and challenge him. Then he could show up the blonde idiot and grow closer to killing his brother.

"Being angry is how you plan on getting stronger?" A monotonous voice called snapping Sasuke out of the funk he had been in. Looking to his left Sasuke saw Gaara standing there observing him. Sasuke opened his mouth to tell the demonic boy off but stopped himself. Gaara was strong. Why not fight him?

"I need an opponent." Gaara lifted a nonexistent eyebrow. "Fight me." For a moment Gaara was silent and motionless. Then he did a very disturbing thing and smiled.

"If you need me to hold your hand while you train I suppose I can do that for a friend of Uzumaki's." Sasuke's eyes shifted from black to blazing red. In a burst of speed he launched at Gaara already running through the hand seals he had been working with all night long. As he fought the sand wielder he couldn't help a smile from creeping across his face.

It wasn't friendship. It was a comradery between two lonely souls. And it was good enough for Sasuke.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry for the long wait for this chapter, as stated in my other story i got a new toy and have been enjoying it in my free time. Anothe reason this chapter took so long is the length of this chapter. So I hope the length of it makes up for the wait. If not... then oh well.**

**Enjoy, Impure Perfection.**

* * *

><p><strong>Sea Breeze<strong>

Temari was giddy. For the first time in nearly a week Temari was actually excited about something. What was the something that could raise the blonde's spirits? The fact that she didn't have to eat ramen today. She had managed to blackmail, demand, and complain enough to convince Kankuro and Naruto to let her choose where they were eating and she was _going_ to have some soup. And nothing could stop her.

"There he is!" A loud and unmistakable voice called out catching the attention of Temari, Naruto and Kankuro. All three turned to see Ino running at them and waving her hand to get their attention. Behind her the rest of the rookie nine trailed her, albeit at a more normal pace. "There you are you baka, we have been looking all over for you?"

"Me? Why have you guys been looking for me?"

"Because," Choji said as he got closer to them. "My family's restaurant is having an all you can eat meat buffet today. We were hoping to get the rookie nine together."

"Obviously Sasuke-kun and forehead cant be here, but we thought someone from team seven should be there." Temari was about to decline the invitation when she saw Kankuro practically drooling at the idea of a buffet. Sighing she was about to cave and accept the offer when Naruto spoke up instead.

"Kankuro you wanna go?" The puppeteer nodded his head vigorously. "Well then you go with them. Me and Temari are gonna head on to the soup place."

"Okay!" Without a second thought Kankuro joined the other group.

"Your not coming?" Ino asked to which Naruto waved his hand dismissively.

"Na, I'm not really in the mood for meat." That was a lie. Temari knew it was a lie the moment he said it. No matter when he ate or what he was eating Naruto _always_ had meat in his food. Ino shrugged and stalked away with the rest of her crew. Temari waited until they were out of hearing range of the others before speaking up.

"Why didn't you go with them?"

"Cause we agreed you would get to pick the food today and I never break my word. And the old man always said it was rude to let someone else eat by themselves."

"Old man?"

"Yeah. The third." Temari hmmed thoughtfully but otherwise remained silent. So Naruto did as well. It wasn't long before they got to the soup shop and Temari's mouth was watering before she set foot into the building. There was no problem with Temari entering. Naruto on the other hand…

"I'm sorry sir but we just ran out of soup, please leave." The elder man working behind the counter said while scowling at Naruto.

"Your out of soup?" Temari asked, utterly devastated at not being able to get her soup. Hearing her speak the man looked at Temari as if seeing her for the first time. His eyes flickered from Naruto to Temari and then back to Naruto. Naruto knew what the man was saying before he even opened his mouth.

"Your with _him_?" Temari recoiled from the utter loathing in the man's voice. She was so shocked she couldn't answer. The man must have misinterpreted her silence as admission of guilt. He snorted and crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the pair of blondes. "Knew it was only a matter of time before the fox brat found a whore desperate enough to go to him." Temari flinched at the insult and was just about to fire back at him when she felt an aura she was familiar with begin to flare in anger. "Better spread the word so no one services the demon's new whor…" The man's words trailed off and his eyes widened in fear.

In an instant a crushing presence of chakra so malevolent it froze everyone in the restaurant and caused a few of the weaker willed to black out. Nothing moved, not a bug, not a human, the only thing moving was the water flowing out of the faucet and down the drain. Naruto slowly and deliberately stalked across the room with his head bent low so his blonde hair shadowed his eyes from sight. When he was standing directly in front of the grizzled old man his head snapped up to catch his eyes.

What the old man saw no one knew. But what they did know was that it had a significant impact on how he acted. His face went white as snow and the spoon he had been holding fell to the floor with a clatter, the hand which had previously been holding it was shaking. His eyes were bulging in their sockets and the man was chocking on air in pure terror.

"We would like a table for two, is that a problem?" Naruto asked in a perfectly calm tone.

"N-n-no." The man struggled to spit the words out.

"Good. And I suggest you 'spread the word' that insulting, mistreating, cheating, or refusing to serve Temari is dangerous to your, or anyone else's, health." The man had a sheen of sweat now covering his forehead and his hands were trembling. "Treat me like you always have, I don't care anymore. But don't treat her the same. Do and you answer to me." And just like that the oppressive aura that had been drowning everyone in the restaurant dissipated. The rest of the restaurant's patrons tried to ignore the pair and get back to their meals. The manager however still looked like he had seen a ghost.

Naruto ignored it all and plopped down in a booth in the back corner of the restaurant. Temari hesitated for only a second before following Naruto to the booth and sitting down across from him. Letting out a breath Naruto closed his eyes for a moment before forcing them open again. The clouded and ominous look that had been in them moments ago was now gone. They were once again the same never ending sky blue color Temari remembered from the first time she had seen him.

A nervous waitress tip toed up to their booth and timidly handed them their menus before dashing back into the safety of the back room. Naruto chuckled but said nothing about it. Temari shook her head.

"You know scaring them like that isn't gonna make them like you any better." Naruto shrugged.

"Ya I know. But I tried being nice and that didn't work either so I just gave up on them. They stay out of my way I stay out of their's. But I don't like them messing with any of my friends." A blonde eye brow lifted in curiosity.

"Friends? Since when?"

"You may not consider me a friend but I consider you one. You are Gaara's sister, and my fiancé. If you want to be friendly I will be friendly, if not then sucks for you. As I told you, how this year goes is entirely up to you. I honestly think you and I would get along great if it wasn't for this political marriage thing. Your sweet when you want to be, smart, undeniably beautiful, protective of things you hold dear, clever and you can be funny." Naruto stopped when the waitress came to take their orders.

And Temari was actually sad that he had stopped. The sincerity behind his words was both shocking and refreshing. It was shocking because not five minutes ago he had been ten times more fearsome than Gaara had ever been, and now he was complimenting her smooth enough to have her blushing. It was refreshing because it was a rather attractive young boy with incredible strength and potential who was telling her how wonderful he thought she was.

Having a bowl of soup put in front of her snapped her out of her daze and she realized she had been silent ever since Naruto had spoken. He said a quick 'thank you' for the food and then dug in without a word to her. As she watched him eat she saw that he was serious when he said she dictated how this year went. When she ignored him he did the same to her. When she was nice to him he was nice to her.

Temari was about to say something when a pair of chunin barreled into the restaurant, eyes wide and scanning the are as quickly as possible. They were tensed and ready for a fight with their hands hovering inches from their shuriken holsters.

"What's the matter?" The store manager asked the two nervous looking chunin.

"A large surge of charka was detected in here and we were sent to investigate." All eyes in the restaurant turned to look at Naruto and Temari. Naruto laughed and scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Sorry about that. I sneezed and sorta let my control slip for a moment." He turned to look at the store owner. "Right?" The man looked Naruto in the eye for a moment before slowly nodding.

"That's right." Turning to look back at the pair of chunin the store owner threw up a fake smile so big it forced his eyes to scrunch up. "Little gaki scared the crap out of us, but its all good now." The two chunin weren't so ignorant as to notice the exchange between Naruto and the store owner.

"Are you certain?" One chunin pressed. The store manager opened his mouth to say something but then a distant look came over his eyes. Almost as if he were remembering or seeing something. Shaking his head to clear the thoughts he smiled an even cheesier smile and nodded his head.

"Yep, yep I'm certain." Both chunin eyed Naruto warily for a moment longer before shrugging and leaving. Temari watched the chunin leave before turning to face Naruto who was once again eating his soup. The blonde girl chuckled and shook her head before mimicking him and eating her food as well.

Temari and Naruto arrived back at the training ground to see that Kankuro was apparently still out having lunch. Naruto created another three thousand clones or so to help with his training. Temari watched him get to work on splitting the leaf and couldn't help but admire his determination. Deciding to put the same amount of effort into learning her own jutsu she set to work on her own training.

Unbeknownst to the two blondes Kakashi had been watching them the entire time. Nodding to himself satisfied with how things were progressing he left the two to their own devices.

8888

Kankuro let out a sigh of contentment as he laid down on the couch. Today had been a good day. Whatever had happened between Temari and Naruto at lunch had gotten rid of the awkward silence that those two always created when they were around one another. And with that gone the three had gotten along rather well. And now Temari was snuggled up in Naruto's bed, Kankuro himself was about to go to sleep on the couch, and Naruto…

Jolting upright Kankuro scanned the apartment looking for the hyperactive blonde boy. When he couldn't find him Kankuro got up and moved to the bed room.

"Temari? Is Naruto in the bathroom?" Kankuro asked through the door, not wanting to intrude and be beaten for it by his sister. A moment of silence stretched on before Temari answered back.

"No? I thought he was out there with you like he was last night." Kankuro blinked in confusion.

"Last night?"

"Ya. Naruto said he slept on the floor near the couch last night. He did didn't he?" Kankuro didn't answer her and instead searched the entire apartment over again. He heard Temari step out of the bedroom and turned to face her.

"He told me he slept on the floor next to the bed last night." The two sound siblings looked at one another for a moment before both headed towards the door.

"Where you guys going?" Temari and Kankuro whirled around to see Naruto sitting on the couch with a foxy smirk playing across his features. Kankuro and Temari were left sputtering for a moment before Temari managed to recover.

"Where have you been?" The blonde girl shouted at the blonde.

"I was up on the roof looking at the stars. Why? Did you miss me?" Temari snarled at the still grinning blonde before stomping off into the bedroom and slamming the door shut behind her. Naruto chuckled. "I'm going to take that as a 'Yes Naruto we missed you dearly' instead of her blowing me off." Kankuro dropped his head into his hands and sighed.

"One of these days your gonna piss her off and shes gonna kill you." Naruto chuckled and got up off the couch.

"When she does please keep your dolls away from my funeral." And with that Naruto slipped out the back door and leapt back up onto the roof. Where he waited until the house was totally silent and all lights had been turned off. As soon as he thought they were all asleep he created a shadow clone. "You stay here and keep an eye on them. Got it?"

"Where are you going?"

"To let the boss know that they finally noticed he isn't sleeping here." With that Naruto vanished in a puff of smoke.

8888

Across the village in a training ground filled with orange clad blonde kids groaning and grunting in frustration as they all tried to split a leaf. All but the one that wasn't wearing a shirt and was standing in a puddle of blood. Without warning the jutsu he was holding in his right hand blew up in his face. Literally. The force of the explosion was strong enough to send him rolling across the ground till he crashed into a tree.

Sitting up with a groan Naruto rubbed his head.

"Well I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing that they took notice of my absence. Is it good cause they care enough to notice? Or is it bad that it took them nearly a week to notice I wasn't there." Shrugging he got back to his feet and looked up at the moon. Judging by the moons position he guessed it was roughly three hours after he had created the latest batch of clones. "Oi! How you guys coming along?"

"I've got about three / fourths boss!" One clone called out.

"Ha! I Got that beat!" Another clone called out.

"Oh yeah? And how far have you gotten?" The first clone challenged.

"I can split it a good seven / eighths."

"Bah I have both of you fools beat!" Both of the other two clones turned to look at the third clone. "I split the leaf at least fifteen / sixteenths every time."

"Oh please my thirty one / thirty seconds blows your puny fifteen / sixteenths out of the water!" Another clone called out and soon all Hell broke loose as the clones started bickering over who could cut the leaf the furthest.

Rolling his eyes at his clones' antics Naruto dispelled them all in a single puff of smoke. A crushing pain flared up in his head but it only lasted a moment or two before Naruto was standing tall again.

"Okay. How about we see how far _I_ have gotten." Plucking a leaf off a nearby tree Naruto placed it in the palm of his left hand and put his right palm over it. Naruto closed his eyes and let all the distracting thoughts in his mind fade out as he focused solely on sharpening his chakra into the finest blade he possibly could. As soon as he felt like he had it he pushed the chakra through his hands. Naruto didn't instantly open his hands for fear of finding the leaf still in tact. Instead he opened his palm and slowly cracked his eyes open to see the results.

They were definitely positive as not two seconds later a shout of victory echoed through the forest.

"ALRIGHT! I GOT IT!" Naruto cheered as he hopped around the training ground and tossed the two leaf halves up into the air. The blonde continued to celebrate for a few moments before finally calming down. "Okay….. Now what?" And all he could think of was splitting a thicker leaf. "Ah! This is useless! I cant beat anybody just by splitting a leaf. But Kaka-sensei wont be here till morning so what am I supposed to do?" Naruto mulled the dilemma over for a moment more before shrugging and giving it up. "Ah well nothing to do but wait. Which means…"

In a surge of chakra several thousand shadow clones popped into existence. Naruto sent out a mental command and watched in glee as blue spheres of chakra glowed to life all over the training field. Crouching down and preparing for battle two twin spheres of chakra grew in either of his hands. All of the thousands of clones across the training field were in the exact same position as the original.

"Rasengan Battle Royal!" All the Narutos shouted in unison as all Hell broke loose in training ground seven.

8888

Temari and Kankuro arrived at training ground seven to witness two shocking sights. Firstly was the damage done to the training ground. What had been an acre clearing of grass with a river running through it was now a good five acre wide wasteland. The ground was torn up till there was only a single splotch of grass still in tact and all trees bordering on the training ground were uprooted and blown back into the forest. Where the river had previously been flowing calmly through the training ground it was now a series of rapids. Something had happen towards the far left of the training ground that had created a crater easily large enough for a two story building to sit in. The crater extended up the river gradually leveling back out to the river's original level.

The second and more shocking thing was that Kakashi was on time and scolding a bashful looking Naruto. And at the distance Kankuro and Temari were at they only caught snipits of the conversation.

"You need to be…"

"I know that!"

"Then why…."

"Well one of my… got carried…. let loose… new…" Whatever Naruto said was enough to cause Kakashi to pause and during that pause the jonin took notice of the other two."Just don't do it again." He ordered and Naruto saluted the jonin.

"Got it sensei!" Kakashi sighed and shook his head.

"Anyways, I have a mission for you three." Kakashi reached into one of his pouches and pulled out a sealed scroll. Flicking it to Naruto who easily caught it Kakashi vanished as soon as Naruto had it.

"Tch. Baki-sensei at least read us our mission before leaving." Temari scoffed as she looked at the place Kakashi had been. "Eh that's juts Kakashi-sensei's thing. Now lets see what the goods are." Snapping the seal off the scroll Naruto unfurled the scroll and cleared his throat before reading the scroll. "Some dude from Tea Country named Jirocho Wasabi wants to hire us as bodyguards for an unnamed individual for an unnamed purpose, and we have to be there by the end of the day."

"Ah man, that sounds boring." Kankuro whined. Naruto chuckled as he tucked the scroll back into his pocket.

"You would be surprised how things go with me around. My first mission was a C-rank escort that turned into a A-rank bodyguard mission against one of the Seven Swordsman of Hidden Mist." Naruto looked up from where he was tucking the scroll back into his pocket to see Temari and Kankuro staring at him with wide eyes. "What?" Kankuro snapped out of it first and shook his head.

"Kid. Is there anything normal about you?"

"Nope!" Naruto replied enthusiastically. "Now I gotta swing by my place to grab a spare change of clothes then we can head out. So I will see you at the gates in an hour okay? Good. See ya." And just like that he left Temari and Kankuro standing alone in a demolished training ground.

"That kid is the definition of the word weird." Kankuro stated with a deadpan look on his face as he watched Naruto sprint off towards town.

"Ya. But at least he keeps things entertaining." Temari mused to herself with a small smile on her face.

8888

"Why? Why cant I do it?" Sakura asked in a state of shock. It had taken her a week of training all night every night but she had finally managed to learn how to make chakra strings. Chiyo had been furious at Sakura's progress right until they discovered a fatal flaw in Sakura's skills.

Her chakra reserves were abysmal at best and a disgrace to her village at worst. Because you had to have the chakra to make the chakra strings go further Sakura had a limit on how far she could extend her chakra strings. Making only ten strands of chakra she could move the dummy a total of fifteen yards. She didn't have any chakra to go any further.

Chiyo was laughing her wrinkled ass of at Sakura's dilemma as well as the utter look of confusion on Sakura's face.

"That's all the chakra you have? That's pathetic! I have more chakra in my pinky finger than you have in your entire body." Sakura's face fell as she released her hold on the puppet and let it crash to the floor as her chakra strings flowed back into her hands. Her chin rested on her chest as she tried her absolute hardest not to cry.

Ebizou looked at the girl and took pity on her. Snapping his head back to glare at his sister Chiyo who was still laughing the old man spoke up.

"Is there anything else you might want to learn? We have many skills we might be able to teach you that don't require much chakra." Chiyo stopped laughing and looked at her brother in shock. Sakura's head lifted to look at him with hope and despair mingled in her jade green eyes.

"Like?" She forced out as her voice cracked.

"Hmmm." Ebizou ignored the look of outrage on his sister's face and went over the skills he knew and which ones could be used with minimal chakra.

"I can think of a few things but medical ninjutsu would be best for you more than likely and isn't your hokage…"

"No." Sakura replied sternly. "I don't want to be a healer I want to fight and I want to be the best." Ebizou didn't take offense from the statement as he could see where she was coming from. Playing backup wasn't for everyone.

"Well then perhaps you could try weaponry mastery. And if that fails there is always the art of sealing, in fact that last one might be best considering your exceptional chakra control."

"Sealing?" Sakura asked imagining herself hunched over a piece of paper drawing a bunch of squiggles. "How is that for fighting." Ebizou grinned. His right hand disappeared back into his robe for a moment before coming back out with two kunai.

"These are regular kunai, no pre-made modifications, no hidden contraptions and no special coatings." With a calculated flick of his wrist the old man sent one kunai into the water were it vanished without even creating a ripple in the water. Holding the second kunai up where Sakura could see it clearly he started to speak again. "Now watch what a little chakra and a few seals can do."

Sakura watched carefully as black lines and symbols moved out from where Ebizou's hand was touching the kunai and covered the entire kunai. Once the seals had spread over the entire kunai Ebizou tossed the kunai into the water and just like the first one it vanished into the water. Unlike the first one however after a second or two Sakura felt a tremor pass through the ground and not a moment later the water exploded back up out of the hole followed by a jet of fire so intense it vaporized the water before it could fall back into the hole.

Jade green eyes looked at the hole in wonder.

'_One kunai! All he did was put a few scribbles on a single kunai and he did THAT! How?'_ As Sakura's mind tried to figure out what had just happened Chiyo glared at her brother.

"What are you doing?" She hissed out at him.

"Teaching a girl who desperately wants to better herself. Now hush and leave me be. You had your turn to teach her, now its my turn." Chiyo huffed at him but went back to fishing in the pond that no longer had water in it. Standing up Ebizou walked over to the still shocked Sakura and tapped her on the shoulder. The pink haired girl jumped at the contact.

"H-h-h-how?"

"Sealing is a very powerful art but one that requires much practice and a specific type of mind to learn. Now come, we will need to move from here for you lessons." Sakura nodded eagerly and followed the kind old man out.

"Old fool." Chiyo snarled to the empty room.

8888

"Come on, you guys take forever!" Naruto whined. The trio were currently taking a break in a small tea house just inside the border of Tea Country. Kankuro had spotted the place and instantly taken off and ordered food and drink before Temari or Naruto could stop him. So Temari had ordered food as well, to avoid being rude. Naruto on the other hand was busting both their chops trying to get them to hurry up. "Come on we were supposed to be there by now!"

"Oh come on Naruto don't tell me you don't want some tea." Temari cooed while holding up a cup of delectable smelling tea. Naruto's sensitive sense of smell picked up on the delicious aroma and his mouth began to water and he started to reach for the cup. Temari smirked upon seeing it and snatched the tea cup back. "Nuh-uh. If you want some you have to sit down and behave."

Naruto's jaw dropped and he gawked at her for a moment before huffing and sitting down next to her.

"Fine! But just one cup and then we are out of here." He declared with a childish pout on his face. Temari couldn't help but giggle at his antics.

Across the restaurant a figure with a broad rimmed hat hiding his face scoffed at the ninja's antics. Standing up and walking up to the table he stopped just past them so that his back was to them.

"Sitting back and enjoying tea? Tch. Either you guys are pitiful ninja, or all ninja are this pathetic and lazy." Naruto stood up and whirled on the stranger.

"What was that you bastard?" The man turned around and was about to mock Naruto further when he spotted Temari.

"Oh! I didn't know such pretty women could be ninja. I take everything I just said back."

"Sorry but I'm already spoken for by the lazy ninja you just insulted." Temari replied cooly making Naruto smirk and the boy look Naruto over again.

"Spoken for? By this loser? Ha! You would be better off with the cat man over there." Naruto and Temari both laughed at Kankuro's look of outrage while the poor puppeteer tried to defend his outfit. None of them noticed the figure leave the restaurant. All three of the ninja settled back into their conversation and finished the rest of their food and drinks. It wasn't until the waitress brought them two receipts that they noticed something was wrong.

"But that man who just left said you would be paying for his meal. Said you were wealthy ninja with deep pockets." The waitress replied when asked for the reason there were two receipts. Naruto flopped his head onto the table and sighed.

"Between paying for two more houseguest and people ripping me off I'm gonna go broke."

"Oh please Kankuro and I are helping out with cost at the house."

"We are?" Kankuro asked only to yelp in pain a moment later. "Ouch! I mean, we are." Kankuro glared at his way too innocent looking sister.

"Anyways weren't you in a hurry to get going Naruto?" Jumping up as if he had forgotten Naruto nodded.

"Yeah yeah that's right! Come on, to see boss man Jirocho!"

8888

The trio of ninja arrived at the port town of Degarashi just before sun set. Though it was a relatively large port town locating the Wasabi Manor was rather easy. When they told the guards who they were Naruto and company were ushered inside as quick as possible without seeming rude. Within moments they were standing before Jirocho Wasabi.

"Hey there Boss Jirocho, Tsunade-baachan said you would give us the details?" Naruto asked only for Temari to sigh and shake her head.

"Naruto, your supposed to be a bit more polite than that." Temari scolded. Jirocho just waved her off and chuckled.

"Ah don't worry about it he is young and supposed to be like that. Now before we discuss the mission details do any of you know what the Todoroki Taisha Dedication ceremony is?" All three blinked.

"Todo… tai… who?" Naruto asked with a look of utter confusion on his face. Laughing at Naruto's expression Jirocho motioned for them to have a seat.

"Well let me explain. It started as a legend that when he the two treasure ball of Ryuko at the Todoroki shrine the weather will calm and we will have better luck fishing. It evolved into a race slash festival event to see who got the honor of dedicating the balls. However as of late it has taken a more significant and sinister meaning.

"In this town there are two main clans, the Wasabi and the Wagarashi. The two clans were constantly in feuds with one another over territory and other things. After many civilians were injured or killed the feudal lords stepped in and came to an agreement. Instead of fighting over who is in charge we decide it with certain events."

"So you mean this race decides who controls the town?" Temari asked to which Jirocho nodded.

"Yes. And last year the Wagarashi family hired a ninja to help them win last year and I just received reports that they have hired a ninja again this year." Jirocho bowed his head low to the ground catching Naruto off guard while Temari and Kankuro were more familiar with the action. "Please! I beg of you to lend us your strength to win this race and reclaim our town!" Naruto was about to lean away from the man when he felt Temari's hand on his back holding him in place.

"We will gladly render our services to your cause." She said in a calm and professional manner that shocked and impressed Naruto. However before he could do or say anything about it Jirocho straightened back up to a regular sitting position.

"Thank you. Now to introduce you to our runner for this years race." The Wasabi clan head clapped his hands and before long the side door opened to reveal a dark brown haired boy, with grayish brown eyes, wearing light blue shirt and pants, with a dark blue vest over the shirt. Around his waist was a light brown pouch. It took the leaf ninja a moment to realize who it was.

"YOU! You're the sneaky little crook who left us with your bill!" The accused boy paled as his eyes darted to Jirocho who was scowling at him.

"Is that so Idate?" He asked in a suspicious tone.

"No its not! They are lying I have never seen these people in my life! I swear!"

"Oh please, you were flirting with Temari one moment and then insulting Kankuro and me the next."

"I was not!" Idate shouted at Naruto.

"You were to!" Naruto fired back just as hotly. Both boys glared at one another, at least until Temari placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"We are on a mission remember? You have to behave and be nice." She scolded though it was much softer than Sakura ever had. Naruto let out a quick breath through his nose and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Fine, but I still don't like him." Temari grinned and nodded.

"That's fine, but you do have to play nice." Naruto didn't say anything else so Temari removed her hand form his shoulder and turned to face Jirocho once more.

"It's fine we will still take the mission sir." Jirocho nodded.

"Good, good. Well then Idate since you were so kind to them earlier why don't you show them to their rooms now?" Though stated as a question everyone knew it was a command.

"Hai Jirocho-sama." Standing up and looking at the leaf ninja with disdain he started to walk away. "This way." He called out grumpily as he left the room. Naruto and company followed behind him. "Here are your rooms." He announced a few minutes later as he gestured to two illuminated doors and then Idate left without another word to the ninja.

"Well he is quite the charmer isn't he?" Kankuro said sardonically.

"Ah come on! Just two beds!" Naruto whined as he looked in the two rooms. And sure enough there was only a single bed much to small for two people who were not lovers to share. "Even on missions I still get stuck on the floor." Naruto said dejectedly.

"Kankuro can always take the floor." Temari suggested helpfully trying to cheer up her fellow blonde. The puppeteer paled at the prospect of sleeping on the floor and quickly tried to think a way out of his predicament.

"I know! How about rock, paper, scissors!""Sure, why not." Kankuro and Naruto squared off facing one another with one fist resting on the upturned palm of the other hand.

"Rock. Paper. Scissors!" They both called out in unison and to Kankuro's horror and Naruto's delight, Naruto's scissors beat Kankuro's paper. Kankuro's head dropped in depression for a moment before snapping back up with excitement written on his face.

"I know! You and Temari could just share a bed!" Temari turned a shade of red so dark it bordered on being purple. Naruto blushed as well but hid it by clearing his throat and looking away.

"Actually I was gonna go train and look the town over a bit so you can have the bed. See ya!" And with that the blonde took off into the night. Kankuro watched him go with a huge grin on his face until he felt killer intent being leveled at him from behind. Swallowing nervously he turned around to see Temari glaring at him.

"You did that on purpose to scare him away."

"Hey! You're the one who reacted so negatively to the suggestion and made him run." Temari's killer intent didn't let up and Kankuro was beginning to have a sheen of sweat covering his skin.

"When we get back you take the floor." She ordered before whirling around and marching into her room, being sure to slam the door shut behind her. Kankuro looked at the door for a moment, then back at the empty bed, then the direction Naruto had run off in. Shrugging he walked into his own room and flopped onto the bed. As soon as he laid down on it he let out a content groan and relaxed."After sleeping on that couch for a week, pissing those two off was so worth it." Kankuro was asleep in minutes.

And he was woken up not long afterwards."Oi, cat man wake up!" Kankuro heard Naruto hiss out in the dark. Groaning he rolled over and looked at the clock.

"It's three in the morning, what reason could you purposely have for waking me up?"

"A change of plans. I thought it up while I was out _training_.. You and Temari are leaving and I'm gonna stick with the prick while you two shadow us. I can replace you two with shadow clones to fool the enemy ninja so if he tries to attack us we can be one step ahead of him."

Kankuro actually sat up and blinked in shock. That was a great plan. And the fact that the supposed dead last had thought it up was even more shocking. But then Kankuro remembered how much Temari hated being woken and flopped back into bed with a confident smirk on his face.

"Okay I'll get ready. After you get Temari on plan with this idea.""Done." Temari said in a sing song voice as she walked into the room. Kankuro leapt up and looked at her in shock.

'_Temari is awake at three in the morning after running half the day yester day and happy about it. When did I step into the twilight zone?' _Making the hand seals to dispel a genjutsu Kankuro froze at seeing Temari's battle fan back on her back.

"How… Didn't he destroy it?" He asked pointing at the fan on her back. The fan exploded in a puff of white smoke and when it cleared a shadow clone of Naruto was standing behind Temari. Then it transformed back into the battle fan.

"I created an advanced transformation jutsu when I was younger. For all intents and purposes that is a true battle fan. So long as she doesn't hit anything to hard with it, it will last. And it probably wont stop any projectiles but it will be useful for her attacks."

'_That explains why she is smiling and so willing to go along with this plan. Which means I'm screwed.'_ Kankuro thought dejectedly as his shoulders slumped forward and he nodded his head. "Alright. I'll get ready." He said like a scolded ten year old. Both blondes to chuckled as they left the room.

"Why didn't you think of this earlier? I mean the fan thing." Temari asked when her and Naruto were out of Kankuro's room and waiting on the porch for him.

"Eh I was busy training and not thinking about how to make this mission work best. Besides can you image the enemy ninja's face when he is all cocky and arrogant thinking he has the drop on us only to have it turned on him?" Temari laughed softly and shook her head.

"You never stop surprising people do you?" Naruto flashed a foxy grin and shook his head.

"Nope. As pervy sage said 'I specialize in surprising people and am a master of doing the impossible.' or something like that." Temari lifted an eye brow at the nick name and was about to question him on it when a disgruntled looking Kankuro came out of the room.

"Alright can we get this cockamamie plan going?"

"Hold up. I need to get a good look at how you guys look when your ready." Naruto's blue eyes went from being playful and mischievous to cold and analytical in an instant. Temari and Kankuro were both reminded of how their brother's moods would change in a similar manner. Just as fast as his electric blue eyes shifted to that of a true ninja's they changed back to his regular innocent eyes. "Okay!" One hand seal later and two shadow clones appeared. Without wasting a moment of time they transformed into exact replicas of Temari and Kankuro, the likeness between clone and original was so close it was rather unnerving.

"Wow." Temari finally said examining her clone doppelganger. "Its like looking in a mirror."

"It's creepy is what it is." Kankuro said. "Can it pull of our jutsu?"

"Na. If I had more training with wind jutsu I could mimic Temari but I don't have any clue how to do puppets." Kankuro looked the clone over for a moment before shrugging.

"If this goes well I might teach you a few things when we get back. Who knows, you might be a master puppeteer. Thought you will obviously never be any match for a puppeteer of my caliber." Both Temari and Naruto rolled their eyes.

"Sure I wont." Naruto said sarcasm obvious in his voice. "Now you two get out of here before someone sees us."

"Chill, its so dark out here I can barely see the walls of this compound." Kankuro said even as he turned around to leave. Temari however took notice of how Naruto blinked and realized he was acting on something he shouldn't be. Before she could question him on it she felt Kankuro leap away and was forced to follow her brother away from the mysterious blonde and the two doppelgangers.

Naruto and his two clones watched them leave far longer than he should have been able to had he been seeing things through the eyes of an average human.

'_Note to self: Do not act on the enhanced senses I got from fussy unless absolutely necessary.'_

"Oi you gonna sleep with this Temari?" 'Kankuro' asked. "I mean your never gonna get to sleep with the real one so might as well settle with second best." Naruto looked at his clone with a deadpan expression for a long while before letting out a breath.

"Your so lucky I cant dispel you. Now get your worthless carcass in bed and wait till morning." Both clones saluted and marched off. "Stupid clones." Naruto mumbled when they were both in their rooms. Turning away from the rooms he looked out over the village and picked out the image of Temari moving away.

Even across the absurd distance he could still make out the finer beauties of her body and felt the urge to rape her flit across his mind. He squashed just as fast as it had appeared. But now his mood was ruined.

'_Your right.'_ Naruto thought as he tore his eyes off the desert beauty and looked at the room 'Kankuro' had gone into. _'I wont ever have her love me. She fears me to much. But it's fine, if she loves me she loves me, if not then so be it.'_ Now that he was depressed Naruto knew sleep was a useless goal so he decided to go scout the village out a bit more before the race was scheduled to begin.

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"Why does he talk to his clones?" Kankuro mused to himself as he looked through a pair of binoculars to see Naruto and his clones talking. "Cant he just command them with a mental thought?"

"He probably just wants to keep up the appearance of normalcy." Temari replied as she looked through her own pair of binoculars to watch the race herself. Idate was currently stretching along side the other runner. One thing she noticed was missing was the enemy ninja. "Though the other side is at a major disadvantage when it comes to sailing. Naruto can create an entire navy fleet by himself." Temari said making Kankuro chuckle.

"That's true, though its gonna suck when we have to either swim or walk across all that… Where in the Hell is he going?" Kankuro asked in surprise causing Temari to stop scanning the crowds for any enemy ninja and instead focus on Naruto, 'Temari', 'Kankuro' and Idate who were all running away from the boats.

"I have no idea. Should we regroup?" Kankuro opened his mouth to respond when Temari's fan turned back into a Naruto clone.

"Boss doesn't know where the teme is going but the teme says he has a plan so the boss says to follow him and see what happens. Mission is to protect the teme, not win the race for him." With the message delivered the clone turned back into a battle fan on Temari's back. Temari and Kankuro both looked at the fan in wonder for a moment before taking off to pursue the real Naruto.

"Those shadow clones of his are full of surprises and uses." Kankuro said to which Temari nodded but said nothing. The two were traveling on a ridge that over looked the path Naruto and Idate were taking. What was odd to Temari was how close the two were running to the edge, almost as if it wasn't even there. Narrowing her eyes she slid the fan on her back out of her holster and unfurled it shocking Kankuro.

With a single sweep she unleashed a gale force wind designed to clear away fog or enemy projectiles but otherwise be harmless. Sure enough as soon as the jutsu passed over Idate and Naruto the duo froze and looked around bewildered.

"Just as I thought, genjutsu."

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"What on earth just happened?" Idate shouted at Naruto who looked at 'Temari' and 'Kankuro'.

"Naruto just shattered a genjutsu for us." Temari said making both Naruto and Idate blink in surprise. Then it was as if a light bulb went off in Naruto's mind as he suddenly nodded his head.

"Yeah yeah that's right!" Naruto said just going along with his clone. "I have so much chakra I cant really dispel genjutsu, I more or less just shatter them with a burst of chakra. Anyone else caught in the genjutsu gets out as well I guess."

"And that gust of wind we felt?" Idate asked suspiciously.

"We are standing on the peak of a cliff, you don't think the wind is stronger here than down by the sea? Now come on we need to get back to the harbor, we've wasted enough time up here." Idate narrowed his eyes at 'Kankuro' and huffed.

"Your almost as dumb as the blonde. I know the weather here better than anyone. There are seasonal currents here and this morning they are shifting again. Meaning if we left form the harbor down there it would be harder to get across the sea than if we go up north and then try to cross. Now you fools are more than welcome to go back, I'm leaving." And with that the young boy removed his weights and tossed them off the cliff before dashing along the cliff path.

'Temari' and 'Kankuro' followed after him but Naruto just watched the weights fall down the cliff till they landed. When they did land they created a huge cloud of dust and two twin craters. Naruto let out a low whistle then looked up only to see the others were across the canyon.

"What? How did you get over there so fast?" He shouted across the canyon causing Idate and the two clones to pause.

"Cause we arent blonde fools!" Idate shouted back causing Naruto to growl.

"Oh I'll show you a fool all right." Taking a few steps back Naruto charged straight at the cliff and created a shadow clone that was standing right on the edge with its hands clasped together. Naruto placed a foot in the awaiting hands and jumped right as the clone tossed him into the air sending the blonde high into the air and almost half way across the canyon. But he still had a good ways to go before he would make the other side so Naruto created another clone who was falling face first. Leaping off that clones back Naruto got a bit more hang time but still had to repeat the process two more times before he landed safely on the other side of the gorge.

When he landed he saw not only Idate but 'Kankuro' and 'Temari' looking shocked as well.

"What?"

"You, you can fly?" Naruto's blonde brows scrunched up in confusion at Idate's question.

"Huh? No of course I cant…" Naruto trailed of realizing exactly what he had just done. Looking back he saw just how wide the gap between ledges really was and even he was astonished to know he had just leapt over it. "Oh I am _SO _playing with that when I get home." Naruto said to himself more than anyone else.

"Whatever you idiot. Thanks to your stunt now we are even further behind!" Idate took off running once again, this time all three ninja followed behind him though no one noticed the thoughtful look on Naruto's face.

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"Did he just fly using clones?" Kankuro asked, his jaw hanging open and his eyes nearly bulging out of his head.

"I think he did." Temari answered looking just as shocked as Kankuro. Shaking her head she noticed that the group was getting further away from them. "But that's beside the point we need to hurry if we are gonna catch up to those two. Hurry!" Even as she speed through the woods she couldn't help but be impressed by what Naruto had done.

It didn't take long for Temari and Kankuro to close in on Naruto and Idate, the later of which was talking to an old fisherman about something. From the distance they were at they couldn't make out what was being said but after a moment they could make a pretty accurate guess as to what the conversation had been about. Naruto and Idate were boarding boat the old fisherman had had prepped and waiting for them.

"Oi, Temari how are we supposed to cross without a boat?"

"We learned the water walking trick a month or two ago didn't we? It might drain us a bit but we can just walk across. It isn't that far, see?" Sure enough across the water the island they were sailing to was just visible. "But we are gonna have to stay far enough away so as to not attract attention from whoever cast that genjutsu."

"Yeah yeah I got it." Kankuro mumbled. The pair waited until the ship carrying Idate and Naruto was a good distance out before leaving their cover and starting their trek across the water.

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Idate was trying not to look impressed by Naruto's use of shadow clones. There was two shadow clones sitting on top of the mast watching for any signs of trouble. Two clones were running _on the water_ in front of the boat and two more were running _on the water_ behind the boat as well as two on each side. Idate had heard of the water walking trick, but to see this orange wearing goof not only perform it but create several solid clones without even breaking a sweat was shocking. The amount of chakra it would require to do that would easily drain him in moments.

"Oi boss! Incoming ship!" The two clones sitting up on the mast called out causing all others on the ship to look in the direction the clone pointed. Sure enough another ship was fast approaching them from behind. Naruto and his clones all prepared for a fight when suddenly the ship exploded into a shower of splinters and all the splinters were carried away by the same gale of wind that had shattered the boat. Naruto grinned at seeing Temari and Kankuro charging the wreckage of the ship.

"We got this!" Kankuro called across the water. "You guys keep going!"

"Alright! You guys be safe!" Naruto called back.

Temari and Kankuro eyed the ship remains as they started to sink in the water. If there were any survivors now would be there time to exit the boat. But no one came out. Neither of the ninja relaxed. Instead they went on high alert and started to examine the water they were standing on for ay surprises. Two hands shot out of the water and nabbed Kankuro and dragged him under water before he could react. Temari saw it and leapt up into the air just as a pair of hands reached out for her feet.

Temari swung her fan down at the water and unleashed a single blade of wind at the water. When it impacted with the water it sheared through the first few feet of water and cut a few water clones in half but never came in contact with anything solid.

'_Crap! I cant go down there I'm useless under water. But Kankuro needs help…' _Before she could finish her thought the fan in her hands transformed back into a Naruto clone.

"Yo! You want me to go down there and fetch cat boy? I can fight underwater." Temari noticed they were stating to descend back to the water and her time to descide was running out.

"If you get dispelled I wont have a fan."

"No problem!" The clone replied merrily before creating fifty other clones. "Alright boys go save Kankuro!" Temari and the original clone landed on the water while the others all fell through the waters surface. Vanishing in a puff of smoke the clone turned back into a fan in Temari's hand.

Under water the enemy ninja were having more trouble than they originally anticipated. It had looked like it was gonna be easy when they caught one only for that to backfire. The person they grabbed turned out to be a puppet that stuck fifteen or so poison tipped senbon into the ninja that had been holding it. After that the other two bundles had unraveled to reveal the real Kankuro and another puppet.

And apparently being underwater had no affect on his puppetry skills as he was easily fending of the remaining two ninja. Then things had gotten even worse for the water ninja. Dozens of orange Narutos suddenly swam into the fight and though they were rather easy to dispel with water clones whenever the shadow clones numbers got low one clone would just create more. Neither of the water ninja had the reserves to compete with Naruto.

So now they were fighting two highly dangerous puppets, and a horde of shadow clones. It was only a matter of time before they ran out of chakra or they just weren't fast enough. And within a minute or two one ninja fell victim to black ant's poison tipped blade. And seconds after that a Naruto clone managed to drive a kunai between the last ninja's eyes. Instead of surfacing all the clones dispelled themselves.

Temari was standing on the water's surface impatiently, fussing at herself for being so useless in the situation. All of a sudden there was a huge swell in the water and not longer afterwards white bubbles came to the surface along with Kankuro.

"Kankuro! Are you alright?"

"Ya. My puppets defeated two of them and all those clones polished off the last one." Kankuro replied as he climbed back up to his feet. "But where is the original one?" He asked when he noticed there was no Naruto around.

"He is still with Idate. The clone I'm carrying sent the others in."

"They can cast jutsu?"

"Appears so. Now come on we gotta catch up to Naruto."

"You go ahead, I'm exhausted and out of breath from being under there so long. I'll catch up with you later." Temari looked pensive about leaving Kankuro by himself but decided ensuring Naruto and Idate were safe was more important.

"Alright but you be careful."

"Hai hai, now go!" Temari nodded once before sprinting across the water towards the island.

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Naruto and Idate had just reached the island and were starting to head inland when a voice spoke up.

"Well well Idate, long time no see." The pair whirled around to see a green haired ninja from Ame grinning at them. "Still running around like a chicken?" He taunted.

"Aoi?" Idate gasped staring at the enemy ninja in horror. "You…you cant be alive! My brother killed you!" Idate shouted.

"Ha! Like that weakling could kill me and neither could that fire. You on the other hand, oh you will die very very easily today." Aoi taunted with a bloodthirsty grin on his face. However when he stepped forwards Naruto stepped in between Aoi and Idate.

"Don't know who you are or how you two love birds know one another, but I wont let you hurt him or get in his way. Idate you go around us. I'll stay here and hold him off. Temari and Kankuro should be right behind you." Idate looked at Naruto for a moment and then shook his head.

"You cant beat him! He is a jonin and he has…"

"Now Idate, I thought I taught you better than to give away another man's secrets." Aoi said before Idate could finish his sentence. "Now run along you little scaredy cat while I educate this idiot. I'll come finish you off in a moment." Just then the roar of a crowd echoed over the cliffs and onto the shore causing all three heads to turn. "And it looks like Fukusuke has just made it to the half way mark." Aoi said with a confident smirk on his face. "You better hurry if your gonna catch up to him before I come to kill you."

"Go Idate." Naruto growled out. "I got this guy." Idate looked at Naruto for a moment longer before nodding and sprinting across the beach. Aoi grinned and pulled out what looked like a sword hilt from his pouch.

"Let me show you something that Idate stole for me a long time ago." With a flick of his wrist a blade made of pure electricity sparked out of the sword hilt. "This is the Sword of the Thunder God, said to have been wielded by the Second Hokage himself. It can cut anything. Let me demonstrate." With that Aoi charged at Naruto.

Naruto reached behind him with both his hands and pulled out two kunai, one in each hand. Right as Aoi slashed down at him Naruto scissor his kunai together catching the lightning blade in between them. Naruto grinned and was about to say something when he saw the sword cutting through both his kunai. Before he could react the sword cut clean through them and slashed his chest. Not only tearing through his coat and leaving a shallow cut across his chest but also sending a huge surge of electricity through his body causing him to scream out in pain.

Aoi smirked down at him and went to finish it when the boy before him vanished in a puff of smoke. 'Kankuro' and 'Temari' who had been motionless the entire time were shrouded in smoke as well for a moment. When the smoke cleared two identical looking Naruto's were standing there glaring at him.

"Well I'm impressed. You actually managed to think ahead a bit." Both Narutos snarled and showing their teeth. In seconds both Naruto's were holding two rasengans each startling Aoi. Though he quickly masked his shock with his calm cool demeanor. In a burst of speed both Naruto charged at Aoi, weaving back and forth as they went. One tried to slam his right rasengan into Aoi's stomach while the other leapt up into the air and aimed for Aoi's head with his left rasengan. In a blur of motion Aoi slashed the air in front of the clone aiming for his stomach and dispelled it. Switching direction with skill gained over years of practice he managed to barely stop the second rasengan from obliterating his face.

Naruto grit his teeth and pushed harder against the blade only to notice that the lightning blade was cutting through his rasengan. Right before the blade cut clean through the rasengan he pulled back and back flipped a step away to avoid the follow up slash. As soon as Naruto's feet touched the ground he shot forward again this time aiming for Aoi's shoulder with his last rasengan. However the experienced ninja managed to beat him to the punch yet again and blocked his rasengan with his lightning blade again.

Growling in frustration at his most powerful attack being cut in half Naruto grit his teeth and grabbed hold of Aoi's wrist right as the blade came in contact with Naruto's palm. The electric current passed through Naruto's body back into Aoi's body causing them both to scream in pain. Though Naruto never released his grip so Aoi was soon forced to power down the sword to stop the pain.

"Ha, I finally got you." Naruto breathed out grinning at Aoi. Aoi shook his head and chuckled.

"I will give you props kid, that was a gutsy move. But it wont save you." Without warning Aoi pulled his umbrella off his back and slammed it into Naruto's face causing him to release his grip on Aoi's wrist. As soon as Naruto had released his arm Aoi tossed his umbrella up into the air and unleashed a barraige of poison tipped senbon at Naruto covering his body in needles. "Looks like its game over for you."

"What is it with people and these blasted needles?" Naruto asked as he sat up and started to pluck the senbon out one by one. "I mean when Haku used them they were dangerous but everyone after that just makes me think Haku was the exception instead of the rule." Aoi blinked seeing Naruto unaffected not only by the poison but by the needles themselves. He was almost certain he had hit several vital spots. Naruto stood up and shook his head. "Please don't use those any more, they ruin my clothes."

Aoi blinked.

"They ruin your clothes? Are you mocking me!" He shouted in fury as he powered up the lightning blade again. "Don't underestimate me!" And with that he charged Naruto again. This time before Aoi even got close to him Naruto created twenty or so shadow clones, all of which had a rasengan or two in their hands within a second of being created. Aoi actually paused upon seeing the mass of clones and rasengans.

"Whats the matter?" The clones all shouted in unison. "Well if your not coming to us we're coming to you!" Acting as one all of the clones charged at once. Aoi was good at using the sword. He was a jonin. He was fast. But he wasn't that fast. Facing twenty clones all trying to blow your brains out using blue balls of death most would lose. Aoi managed to dispel four or five clones before they over powered him. All the rasengans exploded together with a resounding crack that echoed over the beach and created a huge plume of smoke.

"Naruto!" A female voice called. Temari landed on the beach just in time to see and hear the final explosion. A second or two later and a dusty blonde walked out of the smoke headed towards her.

"Hey Temari! Where is Kankuro?"

"He needed a moment to recover I came to see if you were okay." Naruto smiled a small smile and nodded.

"Ya I'm fine. Now come on, we need to check on Idate and make sure he is okay." Temari nodded and they were both about to head out when a low rumble sounded causing them both to freeze. In an instant the ground beneath them cracked and shattered sending them both falling into a massive pit. Both were caught so off guard by the sudden shift that neither had time to brace for impact or try and right themselves before hitting the bottom. And both were rendered unconscious.

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"Are you sure they are gonna be okay?" Idate asked.

"Ya I'm sure." Kankuro replied as he ran along side Idate. "They just bumped their heads and have to sleep it off. That clone is watching over them till they do wake up."

"If you say so." Idate said sounding unsure of the matter. He had just been passing Fukusuke when Kankuro had caught up to him. When asked where Naruto and Temari were the cat man had said they were sleeping in a cave with a clone watching over them. It had taken a while to explain everything in detail but Kankuro was certain they were going to be okay so Idate tried to focus on the race. He still couldn't believe Naruto had actually managed to defeat Aoi.

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Temari woke up with a groan and rubbed her head as she sat up.

"Oh, what hit me?" She heard a chuckle and looked up to see Naruto leaning up against a cave wall opposite the one she was leaning up against.

"It more like you hit it, but a boulder would be the answer to either question. Turns out that last blast caused the ground to give out and you and I fell into a pit. Thankfully the clone on your back hauled us out of it and pulled us into this cave. Its raining outside." Temari sighed wearily and shook her head.

"That clone jutsu of yours is a real life saver."

"That it is. But between channeling your chakra for you jutsu and transforming back and forth those few times it ran out of chakra and had to dispel." Naruto explained when he saw Temari looking around for the clone.

"Ah okay, so did it start the fire?"

"Na I did that. Blasted clone kicked me awake said 'I'm outta chakra' and then dispelled. I swear those clones are nothing but trouble." Temari couldn't help but laugh only to wince in pain as a spasm of pain shot up her left leg. "You okay?" Naruto asked getting up and making his way across the cave to examine her leg.

"I don't know." Temari went to stand only for Naruto to push her back down.

"Be still, you don't heal like I do. If you mess something up baa-chan is gonna chew me out for letting you mess it up." Naruto said as he gingerly picked up her leg and began to run his hand up and down it probing for any injuries. His hand came to stop just above her ankle. "I think you either sprained or twisted your ankle. Meaning you are not gonna be walking anywhere anytime soon."

"But…"

"Nope. When the rain lets up I'll carry you out of here cause you are not walking on that leg." Temari opened her mouth to argue only to be silence by a single look from Naruto. Naruto stood and was about to move across the cave again when Temari shivered slightly. "Want me to move you closer to the fire?"

"No." Temari said shaking her head. "Clothes are just wet." Naruto chuckled.

"Well I didn't think you wanted me stripping you while you were unconscious." Temari let out a squeak and blushed at the thought. Naruto went to move back across the cave when Temari reached out and grabbed his sleeve.

"What on earth happened to your back?" She asked looking in horror at the back of his jacket. Naruto peered over his shoulder to see the nasty slashes in the back of his jacket.

"Oh that. I landed on my back and the rocks tore me up. I swear I go through clothes to fast."

"How are you not bleeding?" Naruto grinned a feral grin and Temari watched as an inferno of orange chakra blazed to life on Naruto's body. Though to Temari's great confusion and delight the monstrous killer intent that usually came with the orange chakra wasn't present.

"I heal faster than you do remember?"

"Oh." Now an awkward silence filled the air as Naruto allowed the orange chakra to taper off. Again he went to move away from her when he saw her shiver again. Sighing he moved behind her and placed her in his lap with his legs spread and on either side of her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back flush up against his chest. Naruto was fairly certain she was blushing like crazy at the moment but he didn't worry about it.

"My body is warm enough for two and I can carry you but I cant stop hypothermia so your gonna have to deal with being close to me till you dry." Temari was blushing to much to say anything at the moment so she just settled for nodding.

She had _NEVER_ been this close to any guy before. If her being the Kazekage's daughter hadn't scared the boys away then her brother certainly did. For a while there Temari had almost accepted the fact she would never have anyone, so being this close to a boy was rather unsettling to her. But despite her nervousness she couldn't help but admit that he was unnaturally warm. Even though the fire wasn't far off the warmth emanating from Naruto's body easily eclipsed the heat of the fire. A soothing warmth surrounding her on all sides, the steady thrum of Naruto's heartbeat, and the sudden comfort of having a body behind her all combined into a soothing effect that had Temari's eyes dropping shut.

'_Maybe, just maybe…'_ Was Temari's last thought before she drifted off to sleep.

Naruto felt her body stay rigid for a few minutes after he had moved behind her and he was just thinking about moving away when he felt her relax. It was just a little at first but gradually over time she relaxed more and more until she was nearly snuggling into him. When he heard her breathing level out he peered over her shoulder at her face and was shocked to see her asleep. Naruto jerked his head back and gulped. Unknowingly he had just put himself in a rather troublesome situation and he now had no way of getting out of it.

8888

"Well what do we have here?" Kankuro's loud shout echoed through the cave waking Temari and Naruto. Temari woke up slowly her mind not quite processing where she was or what situation she was in. Naruto on the other hand snapped awake, remembered what had happened and realized he had fallen asleep at some point through the night. Without even thinking about it he created a shadow clone without any hand seals and then substituted himself with the clone before dispelling the clone. Temari lurched back at the sudden loss of support and feared hitting her head on the cave wall. However before her head could impact the stone she found herself being lifted into Naruto's arms.

"Did Idate win?" Naruto asked trying to divert the conversation away from the awkward position Kankuro had found them in.

"Um, yeah." Kankuro said numbly as he stared at Naruto. "Why are you carrying her?"

"She sprained her ankle when the we fell." Temari opened her mouth to protest when Naruto continued. "I have the stamina to carry you all the way back to Konoha and you're injured. Now don't argue with me." She shut her mouth with a snap and glared up at him.

"Fine. Did we get paid?" She asked of Kankuro who again nodded numbly.

"Yeah. Why were you two slee…"

"If we got paid then its time we leave, right Naruto?" Temari asked looking away from Kankuro and up at Naruto to try and hide her blush. Naruto had a light blush on his face as well but couldn't hide it like Temari could.

"Yeah it is." Naruto said before clearing his throat and shaking his head trying to get the warmth out of his face. "You ready to move out?"

"Um, yeah but why…"

"JUST DROP IT!" Both Temari and Naruto shouted at him with blushes on both their faces.

Needless to say the trip back to Konoha was filled with an awkward silence.


	5. Chapter 5

**Yo! Did you know that taking nineteen hours in college takes a good bit of time? I didn't. But now finals have come and gone so I am going to be updating my stories once again. Sorry in advance for the weak quality of this chapter but I did it in a day so cut me some slack. Anyways, enjoy the story.**

Impure Perfection

* * *

><p><strong>Changes to the Status Quot<strong>

Tsunade calmly watched as the three sitting across from her read over the document she had just presented them with. Homura and Koharu were reading the paper for the third time and mumbling between themselves, Danzo on the other hand was merely staring straight into Tsunade's eyes. Tsunade met his gaze and tried to read what was going on inside his mind, she knew she had beat him with this. Now she had to wait for his move. When she had sent for them this morning demanding a meeting to discuss the heir to the Namikaze clan she knew they had tried to prepare for this and had managed to stall until this late hour of the night. And she also knew there was no way they could have possibly prepared for this. Finally coming to grips with the validity of the document Homura and Koharu stopped reading and looked up at Tsunade and Jiraiya with shocked expressions.

At the very top of the paper it read, _'Last Will and Testament of the Fourth Hokage'_ it was a document many thought had been lost during the chaos created by the Kyubbi's attack. Unknown to all but the Third, Jiraiya and Tsunade the will had been in safe keeping with the toad sage this entire time. Underneath the title was the seal of Jiraiya, the Forth's seal, The Third's seal and the seal of The Fire Daimyo. All in perfect gold wax proving their authenticity beyond a shadow of a doubt.

"Now I understand that you might be a bit shocked at this coming out before it was supposed to be revealed, but as you read further down it stated that were _he_ to be placed into a political marriage this was permitted to be released to the public early." Tsunade said in a polished and polite tone with a cruel grin on her face. "And since you three old coots so kindly sprung the political marriage on me the moment I took office, and with so little room to do anything, I could do nothing to warn you about it." Standing beside her Jiraiya nodded his head solemnly as if he had nothing to do with this.

"It is a shame that Suna will be getting such a strong hold over the heirs to the Namikaze clan, but alas what can be done?" He asked with a mock sarcastic tone.

"We can abolish the marriage! That's what can be done!" Homura shouted as he glared at the two. Beside him Koharu nodded her head.

"The two have not been formally married and very few people know about it. We could simply dissolve the marriage and have the Suna girl married off to another suitor, perhaps..." Tsunade's fist smashing down on the table cut the old woman off.

"I'm afraid you can't do that." Despite the look of rage on Tsunade's face her voice was sweet as honey, which only served to frighten Homura and Koharu even more. Danzo just sighed and shook his head.

"You have been reading up on clan laws haven't you?" The old war hawk asked in a defeated tone causing the two elders to look at him in shock.

"Let me guess you already know what the clan laws in Konoha say about this." Danzo nodded his head once before standing and bowing.

"Have a good night Hokage, I'll be turning in for the night."

"Don't spend so much time _underground_ you old hawk, it makes getting a hold of you for meetings like this such a hassle." Danzo didn't even pause mid stride at the barb against his ROOT organization, instead he continued his walk out the door. Jiraiya and Tsunade both scowled at the man's exit before regaining their composure and turning their attention back to the remaining elders.

"What are you three talking about? Why can't we simply dissolve the marriage?" Koharu asked to which Homura nodded obviously wanting to know the same thing.

"What we mean is that an old clan law states that once a clan has entered into a political marriage with another clan it cannot be broken by anything short of death, not divorce, not by the council and not by the hokage. It is literally 'till death' in the case of political marriages."

"That cannot be!"

"Oh but it is." Jiraiya said with disdain evident in his voice. "Ask Kakashi Hatake why his mother committed suicide three days after giving birth to him." Both elders swallowed roughly at that, they knew exactly why she had done that. They had been the very ones to implement that law when they had heard she was wanting a divorce out of the Hatake Clan. She had been of a prominent clan herself and to lose her would have been bad for Konoha's image so they had created that law. It didn't sound as nice when it was being used against them.

"And since Naruto is the heir to the Namikaze clan he will take possession of all the clan's assets, move into the Namikaze mansion and begin to represent the clan in _all_ clan meetings so be sure to invite him. In fact now that I think about it I will make a note to start training him in politics, wouldn't want some aged old cronies to take advantage of him now would we?" Tsunade narrowed her eyes at the two and repeated herself. "Would we?"

"N-no mam!" Jiraiya was fighting back laughter as the two practically saluted his former teammate.

Tsunade leaned forward in her seat and glared harshly at the two.

"Naruto is the last family I have left on this earth, if either of you two try and mess with him or make his life harsher than it has to be then I will be sure to make you both wish you had died that day when you faced the Kyuubi. Am. I. **Understood?**" Tsunade growled out as she leaked copious amounts of killer intent with Jiraiya doubling whatever she unloaded and in moments the two elders were having difficulty breathing. True they had faced the Kyuubi. But that was many years ago, and the rage of two sannin was nothing to be laughed at.

"H-hai Hokage-sama!" They both croaked out at the same time. As soon as she got her answer Tsunade let up the killer intent with Jiraiya following her lead. The moment the levels of hate had gotten to tolerable levels the two elders rushed out of the room as fast as possible without running. For a moment the two sannin managed to stay straight faced before both cracked up in laughter.

"You know, its been a long time since we got along this well." Jiraiya mused to himself as he plopped down in the green couch next to Tsunade, before she could tell him to move he pulled a bottle of sake out of his coat and offered it to her.

"Hmmm, just don't ruin it with your pervy antics." Tsunade warned as she took the bottle and uncorked it before taking a sip of it. "Not bad, where did you get it?"

"Got it from the toads actually." Silence reigned in the room for a few moments. "You know that getting him a lot of money and a new house isn't going to make him any happier to see you right?" The slug sannin nodded her head and took a drink.

"I know. I've been meaning to talk to you actually, I think you need to take a look at the brat's the seal." Jiraiya cocked an eyebrow at her. "Kid said something about using the fox's chakra didn't just give him a power boost but actually recharged him. I actually saw his eyes flash red, twice, just because Sakura and Sasuke called Garra a monster." Jiraiya sat up and looked at her in shock.

"Your kidding?"

"Nope. And according to Kakashi Naruto managed to tap straight into the fox's reserves and control it enough to keep it concentrated on his arm when he shook Gaara's hand." The sage blinked at that, he remembered just how hard it had been for Naruto to tap into Kyuubi's chakra the last time Jiraiya had seen the squirt. Giving up on the thought he shook his head then sat back in the chair.

"Well, I expected him to make progress but that much is beyond anything I could have hoped for." Tsunade snorted.

"Only you would be proud of the brat for learning how to control the power of a demon lord."

"Now that I can openly admit it, as Minato and Kushina's son I'm proud of everything that kid has managed to do. Learn his old man's jutsu in a month, beat a fellow jinchuriki, and now apparently is learning to control it's chakra of his own accord. Though I swear if he even starts to learn seals I'm hailing him as Minato reincarnated." They both shared a good laugh at that before settling into a comfortable silence. Both turned their eyes towards the flare of demonic chakra in the distance but neither moved.

"Brat has been doing that every night for the past week, getting him out of the village was actually a relief. No one is sleeping because they all know _that_ chakra and dread it, and that lack of sleep is putting all my secretaries, other than Shizune, on edge." Taking a final sip of sake Jiraiya grunted and stood up.

"As pleasant as it is sitting with you hime, I need to ensure the brat doesn't do anything foolish." He paused and thought for a moment before correcting himself. "Okay, nothing that will endanger others. Keeping him from doing something foolish is damn near impossible." Tsunade chuckled and nodded.

"Take care hermit."

"They say a kiss from a lovely lady brings good luck. If you really want to..." Before he could finish Tsunade jumped up to her feet and was starting to lift the couch. "See ya hime!" And with that he vanished in a puff of smoke as she threw the couch through the wall.

"Pervert!" As she huffed and puffed, ranted and raved about him she never noticed the bottle of sake still sitting on the table.

8888

Across town in training ground seven Naruto lay on the ground clutching his legs in pain.

"Okay, that was NOT my smartest idea." Looking down at his pants he saw the new rips just beneath his knees. As he stood up he saw the burn marks in the ground and sighed. "I really need to get a handle on the fox's chakra, I keep burning everything when I use it." Shrugging he brushed the thought aside and created another mass of clones.

It was going to be a long night.

8888

Temari and Kankuro tip-toed onto the training ground. Why? Because all the trees were still in tact and in place, the ground hadn't been decimated, the earth hadn't been torn to bits and ripped up and all seemed peaceful and quiet. Even the sleeping boy who was sprawled out in the middle of the training ground. It was calm, peaceful, relaxing, serene even.

Which was exactly why they were so on edge. Nothing was ever calm around the blonde kid.

"Do you want to wake him up?" Kankuro whispered just loud enough that Temari could hear him.

"Heck no!" She hissed back. "Send your puppet to go wake him up."

"I'm not risking my puppets to that kid! I just fixed them!"

"Well are you gonna wake him up yourself?" Silence.

"I hate you." Kankuro growled out even as he started to send Black Ant out towards the sleeping boy. It only took a moment for the wooden puppet to reach Naruto. When it got there Kankuro slowly had the puppet tap the boy on the forehead before jerking the puppet all the way back.

"Seriously?"

"What? I just fixed these things I don't want the kid breaking them, again!" A yawn stopped the two siblings from arguing.

"Why are you guys all the way over there?" Naruto asked as he lazily stood up and stretched.

"Um... No reason!" Temari said boldly walking towards the now conscious boy. Naruto looked at the two curiously for a moment before shrugging and deciding it wasn't worth it.

"Whatever, I'll leave figuring this out to the boss."

"WHAT?" Both Temari and Kankuro shouted at the same time startling the clone.

"What's the matter with you two? Sheesh, you guys are acting strange. Anyways, I'm going to dispel and let the boss know you're here. See ya!" And with that the clone dispelled itself. Temari and Kankuro looked at one another in shock for a moment then they looked around the training ground to try and locate the real Naruto.

Instead he found them.

To be more precise he landed, more like crashed, in the training ground and created a sizable crater as well as a huge cloud of dust. Again, Temari and Kankuro were shocked.

"Ugh..." Naruto groaned from the crater as he stumbled out of it. "I have SO got to work on my landing." Shaking his head to clear his vision he smiled at the two. "Morning Kankuro, morning Temari-chan." And just like she had been for the past two days Temari blushed slightly at the affectionate add-on to her name. Ever since their little cave misadventure in Tea Country he had taken to calling her 'temari-chan' instead of just 'temari' like he used to. And it always managed to throw her off balance.

"Morning." Temari replied as she tried to ignore the heat she felt in her face. "How on earth did you just create a crater?"

"Huh?" Turning around and looking back at the crater big enough for a couple people to fit in Naruto chuckled as he turned back to face Temari.

"Hehe, yeah about that... So! Who's ready to go get a mission from Tsunade?" Temari narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth to question him but a laid back voice all three teens knew beat her to the punch.

"Actually that sounds like a grand idea Naruto. I was just about to suggest it myself." Kakashi was standing on one of the three training logs reading his book as if he had been standing there the entire time. Temari ignored the comment by the jonin and turned to question Naruto only to find him gone.

"Last one to see the old hag has to buy lunch!"

"Wait! What? You can't do that!" Kankuro shouted as he took off after the blonde boy who was already running towards town. Sighing Temari chased after the two boys, she may have to wait but she would find out the answer to her question. And that was just one of the few she had stored in the back of her mind waiting for the opportune moment to spring them on Naruto.

8888

"Huh?"

"You heard me Naruto, you won't be getting paid for this mission." Tsunade said calmly as she watched him process the information she had just given him. Right as she saw he was about to shout she continued and cut him off. "The mission isn't really a mission so much as a learning opportunity. You will escort Takida to Iron Country where he is going to stay and do business, and you three will stay there for the rest of the month until it is time to meet up with Sasuke, Sakura and Gaara and exchange teammates again. While you are staying in Iron Country I have arranged to have you three put through classes."

"But..." Kankuro started only to be cut off my Tsunade again.

"I know it will probably be boring and repetitive for you two but since Naruto is going to be a main part in the alliance between Suna and Konoha he needs to be educated in these things. At the end of the month you three are to meet up with Suna Trio squad and exchange Sakura for Kankuro. Understand?" All three teens look dejected at the mission specks but not a one argued.

"Ya ya fine we'll do the stupid mission Tsunade," Naruto replied nonchalantly without even noticing Tsunade flinch at his choice of name for her. "So when do we meet up with this Takida guy and when do we leave?" He did notice how she had to pause and recollect herself before she could answer his question.

"Um, you will be meeting him at the front gate today at noon. It is a four day travel so be sure to pack for it. Dismissed." Naruto didn't wave good bye or say anything. He just turned and walked out with Temari and Kankuro silently following after him.

The room was silent for a minute before a sigh was heard.

"Damn brat, if he doesn't start calling me ba-chan again soon I'll beat it back into him."

8888

"My my, aren't you getting tired after walking for such a long distance? A pretty thing like you should be traveling in style not forced to walk the entire way! If you want you can always climb up in my lap and take a short rest." Naruto ground his teeth as Takida, the client turned out to be a ladies man who took a shine to Temari, flirted with Temari for the upteenth time since the trip had started.

Takida was sitting on the front of the wagon while Temari walked to the left of it, Kankuro to the right, Kakashi was sitting on the top of the wagon reading, Naruto was leading the procession in the front with two clones covering the rear. At first it hadn't been overly obvious that he was flirting but the further they had gotten the bolder he had gotten. Now it was to the point that he might as well have just flat out asked her to have sex with him.

They weren't even half way there and already Naruto was having difficulty controlling his aggression. Every time Naruto's eyes were shut for even a moment images of Takida being brutally murdered and ripped apart would flash through his mind. And every time his hand would twitch towards his kunai holster only for his will to squash the urge to rip the man into a billion pieces and scatter the remains to the far corners of the earth.

"If she took a rest in your lap it would be far too short for her liking." Naruto snapped back. Temari bit her tongue to avoid laughing while Kankuro didn't even try and just started to laugh. Takida turned purple in the face and glared daggers at Naruto.

"You brat! I can have you sent back to Konoha you know!" Naruto came to a halt and spun around catching both of the horses' eyes and freezing them in their tracks.

"Please do!" The blonde asked in a overly sweet voice. "Then me and my team can leave your worthless ass to the bandits out here."  
>"Oh-ho I said send <em>you<em> back not the rest of your team. In fact I'd like to keep just the polite womanly company of your squad, the rest of you can return if you wish."

"Actually, Konoha operates in squads so if you keep one of us you keep us all. If you get rid of one of us you get rid of us all." Takida scowled at the blonde and huffed.

"Whatever, can we just get a move on!" Naruto looked at the horses once more before continuing to walk. Sure enough without any goading from the carriage driver the horses followed after Naruto. And all was peaceful and quite on the ride for a about an hour. Then Takida started flirting once more. It was a bit less obvious than it had been earlier but it was still rather blatant.

Temari kept politely talking to the man but her patience was beginning to wear thin. The fact the man saw her as a weak woman who needed to rest, as a poor girl forced to endure such hard labor, or a brutish woman was really beginning to grate on her nerves. She was glad Naruto hadn't given her a clone fan. If he had then this prick would be getting a first class ride to Iron Country courtesy Air Temari. It didn't help that the jack ass was leaning as far off the wagon as possible to try and catch a glimpse of her chest.

"I mean I am sure that it would be far more _cozy_ living with me in my estates than it would be to live as a ninja. Are you sure I couldn't convince you to... AH!" Takida shouted in pain and clutched his mouth which was starting to bleed from the piece of his tongue that had been bit off by his jaw being forced shut. Why had it been forced shut? Because Naruto had stepped to the side of the carriage and pretended to tie his shoe while the cart kept moving forward till Takida was directly over him. Then Naruto had straightened up in a flash and even jumped up a bit in order to catch the man in the jaw with the top of his head. At the client's cry of pain the carriage driver pulled the cart to a halt.

"AH! You little shit!" Takida roared with a bloody mouth and blood stained teeth. Naruto kept his head looking straight ahead but glared at the enraged man out the side of his eyes so that Takida could only see Naruto's right eye. The man closed his eyes in pain and clutched his jaw for a short moment before snapping his eyes open and glaring directly into Naruto's one visible azure blue eye.

However when Takida opened his mouth to start cussing Naruto out he watched as his blue eye faded into a bloodthirsty red full of hate. If that didn't strike fear into the man's heart then the fact that the wind had suddenly taken on gale force strength and was lashing about till it stung his skin and tore at his clothes.

"W-what is going on?" The frightened man asked as he looked about through squinted eyes to try and see despite the scorching wind. When he got no answer he turned to the man sitting on the carriage and froze. The wind was strong enough that he was having to fight just to stay on the carriage, yet it wasn't affecting Kakashi in the least. Not a single hair was moving. Looking at the others accompanying them Takida saw that it was the same with the others, the only one feeling the wind was himself. All the others seemed to be frozen in place. The tree's were blowing about as if they were close to being pulled up by their roots yet all the horses, the carriage, and the others on the trip were unaffected by the wind.

In a single moment the wind let up and the air went so still Takida was gasping to try and draw air into his lungs. The man was quaking in fear with a cold sheen of sweat covering his skin. "T-t-this isn't funny!" He roared at no one as he turned his head this way and that way in a frantic effort to locate the one causing the strange events. When a deep and menacing laughter that shook the earth echoed through the entire world Takida froze.

"**Fear."** A voice deeper than any mortal was capable of whispered just as the world shattered into a billion fragments of light leaving Takida to plummet through endless darkness as the lights flickered out of existence one by one till he was surrounded on all sides by an abyss of darkness that threatened to suck out his soul. He didn't fall far though. A rough and course object apparently popped into existence beneath him as he crashed into it. The air rushed out of his lungs and he felt several parts of his body snap and crack. Sucking in a breath he screamed out in agony. That screamed died in his throat when the lights suddenly came back on and he saw what it was that had caught him.

A huge blood red fox with nine sinister tails lashing about behind it was holding him in the middle of one of it's paws. It's eyes were full of a loathing so vile and fierce the fox threatened to destroy him with nothing more than it's raw hate.

"K-k-k-kyubbi!" Takida shouted only to be crushed by the fox's massive paw. The sorry soul felt his body be crushed and mauled by the force of the kitsune's great paw for what felt like an eternity before the fox opened it's paw once again. To Takida's shock his body was still in one piece as were his clothes.

"**You are not worthy to say my name."**

"H-h-hai then wha..." This time Takida was cut off as one of the tails shot forward and impaled him through the throat. Another tail lashed out and wrapped around his arm with three other tails following the second and soon all his limbs were wrapped up by the fox's tails. Eye's widening in realization he didn't even have time to scream before the tails ripped him apart leaving him a limbless heap of flesh in Kyuubi's paw. Igniting a flame Kyuubi roasted the man alive long enough that the man stopped screaming. When Kyuubi extinguished the flame Takida was once more healed, physically at least. The man was nothing more than a quivering pile of human flesh. Bringing the man up to eye level and peering at him intently Kyuubi spoke.

"**You will stop flirting. You will stop talking. You will sit quietly and only speak when spoken to for the duration of this trip. You will not mention this to anyone. Ever. AM I UNDERSTOOD?"** Kyuubi bellowed so loud it shattered Takida's ear drums. The man was now just curled up on his side sobbing and nodding his head as blood slowly dripped out of his shattered ear drums.

"Yes yes yes yes yes yes..." On and on he went. Grinning at finally having something to play with for the first time in a long time Kyuubi lowered his paw before thrusting it forward with palm, and Takida, facing whatever was to come. Takida didn't even scream when he felt his body smash into something. He had given up, after all that he no longer cared what happened so long as he lived.

"Are you okay Takida-san?" A laid back voice asked causing Takida's eyes to snap open. He was back on the carriage. Kakashi was lazily looking at him. "I said are you okay Takida-san?"

"Yes?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the odd manner in which the client replied but ignored it and gestured for the carriage driver to continue.

"About time." Takida slowly turned around to see Naruto taking his position at the front of the procession again. Looking around and readjusting to the surrounding Takida shrunk into his seat and remained silent. The one time his eyes drifted over to Temari his mind flashed back to that voice full of hate and the words of the fox. After that he no longer had a desire for blonde haired ninja woman. He didn't know what had happened. He didn't know why it had happened. But he did know that he did NOT want it to happen again.

Kakashi watched the client out the corner of his eye for a moment before turning his attention back to Naruto.

_'Hmmm, I could have sworn I felt the fox's chakra for a brief moment. I wonder what happened. Or if Naruto even knows that something happened.'_ Looking closer at the blonde and the grin on his face Kakashi's mood soured. _'He knows. And he is proud of it. Jiraiya-sama needs to hear about this.'_ But that would come later, for right now they had a mission to finish.

8888

Naruto was trying his hardest not to grin like a loon. He didn't know exactly what the fox had done but he knew that some how the fuzball had scared Takida to the verge of going insane. It was unnerving to know the fox had found a way to affect others, but right at that moment Naruto could have cared less. The perv was no longer flirting with Temari so all was right with the world in Naruto's mind. The in the back of his mind he couldn't help but wonder why he cared so much about the guy flirting with her. He didn't care. Did he?

8888

Chiyo was sitting by the half drained pond fishing in the pond. Did she know the line on the end of her fishing pole wasn't touching the water? Yes. Did she care? No.

All she had done since her traitorous brother had left was glare at the spot where he was supposed to be sitting. But he wasn't there. Instead he was off with that pink haired runt teaching her who knows what and helping their village's former enemy gain another potential seal master.

"Old fool." She grumbled to the empty room. Choosing that moment as the perfect moment Ebizou walked back into the room. Minus Sakura. Without a word to his sister he walked towards his mat. "Give up on teaching the leaf runt?"

"Nope." And with that he picked up his mat and turned to walk back out the door. "She is learning too fast. I'm moving down there temporarily so she doesn't have to keep coming up here when she finishes whatever exercise I give her."

"What? Are you serious?" He nodded his head and kept walking.

"Yep. She is probably done and is waiting on me to give her another puzzle. Girl is unbelievably bright when she applies herself." The door slammed shut behind him kicking up a cloud of dust. All was silent in the room until the sound of Chiyo's finish rod snapped in half as she ground the bit of it in her hands to dust.

"Old fool." She hissed out at the empty room once more.

8888

Temari and Naruto stared at the room in utter horror. Kankuro was rolling on the ground laughing his ass off. The three were outside the two doors that they had been shown to after dropping off Takida. Kakashi had his own room on a different floor. On one door it simply read 'Kankuro' which was a no brainer on whose room it was. The other door on the other hand had 'Uzumaki' on it. At the very back of the bed they could make out the lone bed in the bedroom.

"We are _technically_ a married pair." Temari tried to reason though her explanation sounded weak even to her ears.

"I can just train at night and nap during the day."

"Actually you can't. The samurai were adamant that we not do any high level training while we were staying in their city." Naruto sighed in defeat and marched into the room.

"Ah man! There isn't even a couch to sleep on!" The two siblings heard a moment later to which Kankuro continued to laugh as he walked into his room.

"What the? Why is my bed so small!" Temari smiled and shook her head as she followed Naruto into their new room for the next three weeks and started to explore the place on her own. It was a decently sized room and as far as accommodations went it wasn't the worse she had ever been forced to stay in. It had a small kitchenette directly to the right after you walk through the door, though she doubted they would use it all that much. The room had a full sized bathroom with a walk in shower and a jacuzzi with two sinks. And lastly, the bedroom. The room had a closet large enough for two possibly three people to keep their stuff in it. The bed was a queen sized four poster bed covered with blue silk sheets and a burnt orange comforter.

Naruto was simply staring at the bed.

"They got the colors right." He mumbled when he noticed she had come to stand beside him.

"Yeah." She watched as he leaned down to touch the bed with his hand only to follow it with the rest of his body a moment later. Letting out a groan of contentment Naruto's entire body went limp in relaxation.

"Oh this bed is heaven." Temari giggled and bit her lip, hesitating for a moment before flopping down on the bed next to him. Not exactly on him but close enough that their arms touched. She buried her face into the comforter to hide her blush as she said her next words in a carefully controlled tone.

"You can share this with me you know?" Naruto reacted as if a snake bit him. He jumped up and tumbled backwards into the closet, his face was beet red and his eyes were wide in fright. Laughing nervously he scratched his head sheepishly and dashed out the door, coming back a moment later.

"Gonna go check on Kakashi-sensei! See ya at dinner Temari-chan!" And with that he was gone. Temari propped her self up on her arms and glared at the door for a moment before rolling over and groaning. She covered her head with her hands and sighed.

"Why are boys so complicated?"

Unknown to her Naruto was down the hall just a ways clutching his chest and trying to slow his breathing from his frantic escape from the room. He leaned up against the wall and rolled his head back letting it bang against the wall not caring if anyone heard it.

"Why are girls so complicated?" He groaned out. Pulling himself together he sauntered further away from the room, uncertainty, troublesome woman and towards something he was familiar with, a perverted sensei who needed to teach him the next step of wind training. After harassing several maids in order to find the location of his sensei Naruto beat on the door. "Oi! Kaka-sensei open up." Not a sound came from within. "OI Kaka-sensei!" Shouted even louder than before.

"Ma ma, I don't think anyone is home Naruto." Winding up to beat on the door one more time Naruto froze at hearing his teacher's voice coming from directly beside him. Naruto jumped back and screamed as he wrapped his arms around his head in defense. "Skidish much?" Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Sorry about that. Say Kaka-sensei I was wondering if you would show me what the next step of training my wind affinity is." Kakashi blinked in surprise.

"You split the leaf? In a week?"

"Uh-huh!" Naruto said as he nodded his vigorously. "So what's the next step." Now it was Kakashi's turn to scratch his head and look sheepish.

"Well you will have to wait till we get home for the next step, and I'll need to contact a friend to set up the training ground for it."

"Huh? Why do you need to change the training ground?" Kakashi gave him that infamous eye smile.

"Because the next step is you have to split a water fall with your chakra." Naruto stared at him blankly for a moment then stuck a pinky in his ear to ensure nothing was in it. After checking that ear he checked the other one.

"Okay, I think I had something in my ear could you please repeat that? Cause it sounds like you said..."

"You have to split a waterfall with your chakra." Kakashi repeated in a monotone cutting Naruto off before he could ask the question.

"How on earth is that even possible? I have a wind affinity not a water affinity!" Kakashi nodded his head. Seeing the confused look on Naruto's face the jonin sighed and crossed his arms over his chest before explaining it.

"The point of this training is to make you more proficient at using the wind element isn't it?" Naruto nodded. "And to teach you to use that wind to cut things right?" Again a nod in response. "Well if you can keep a constant stream of slicing winds going strong enough to split a waterfall wouldn't you consider that mastery of an element?" The blonde boy opened his mouth for a moment then froze and contemplated it for a moment before shrugging.

"True, but can't we find a waterfall around here somewhere? Then I could start training on that sooner!"

"We agreed to no heavy duty training while we are in Iron Country remember? The amount of chakra that would take would be beyond what the samurai are probably going to allow us to use. No rasengan training either, understood?" Naruto sighed and drooped his shoulders.

"Hai Kaka-sensei. Say is there a couch in your room?" Kakashi blinked at the odd question but answered it nonetheless.

"Um no, why?" Kakashi watched as the youth got even more depressed and slouched even further.

"They put Temari and I in the same room with only one bed, it even says 'Uzumaki' on the door." Hearing a perverted giggle Naruto looked up to see his sensei writing in a book. "Kaka-sensei..." Naruto drawled out in a warning tone. Quick as a flash the little book vanished and Kakashi looked totally serious again.

"You do realize that you will eventually have to sleep with her right? You guys are married, why not just try and sleep with her? You might even find it pleasant." The last part was said with a lecherous undertone.

"Why you...!" Naruto cocked his fist back and prepared to strike.

"I do believe I hear them calling us for supper, see ya!" The jonin said in a rush before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

"Get back here you!" Though he denied it with every fiber of his being in the back of his mind the seed of doubt had been planted. Why shouldn't he sleep with Temari?

8888

Kankuro let out another sigh. The awkward silence that had followed Temari and Naruto around for the first week or two had returned full force and it was making enjoying dinner difficult. The two didn't do anything obvious to block conversation but the way they were obviously wrapped up in their thoughts made talking to them directly difficult. Not to mention they were usually the ones doing most of the talking so with them staying silent either Kakashi or himself had to try and strike up a conversation. And seeing as the pervert was some how reading his book at the table while eating with his mask up that left just Kankuro.

"So Kakashi what are you going to be doing while we are in classes?" The puppeteer tried.

"Read." Kakashi replied automatically to which Kankuro glared at the jonin.

"What are you going to read?" That actually got a rise out of the jonin as he looked up from the book.

"I could read you a short sample of the important literature I will be studying while you three are in classes if you want?" Both Kankuro and Kakashi's eyes turned to look at the pair of blondes, neither of which seemed aware of the conversation. Turning back to look at one another both men grinned.

"Sure!" Kankuro said trying to keep the laughter out of his voice.

"Okay!" Clearing his throat Kakashi started to speak in a feminine tone.

"'Why Teno-kun you can't be here! We can't be caught like this!' Hikari whispered urgently only to be silenced as Teno's hand started to draw slow circles around her exposed nipples eliciting a honey filled moan from her lips." By this time Naruto and Temari were both staring at Kakashi in abject horror with their faces ablaze. Instead of stopping Kakashi continued, this time talking in a deeper more masculine voice. "'Are you sure about that Hikari? You seem to be enjoying this.' Teno teased as his hand left her supple breast. Traveling across her soft skin and moving south to.."

"ENOUGH!" Temari shouted with her hands covering her ears trying to keep the words out of her mind. Naruto was simply staring off into space. "You guys are... I mean... UGH! Never mind!" Standing up with a huff Temari stomped away from the table as Kakashi and Kankuro both burst out laughing. The combo of Temari leaving and the two masked men cackling with laughter snapped Naruto out of his daze

"That was low you guys." The remaining blonde said.

"Oh come on! You guys were ruining the meal with your awkward silence thing." Kankuro replied as he started to eat again now that the atmosphere had lightened up. "I mean how bad can it be to be forced to sleep with a girl?"

"Tch easy for you to say, your a hopeless pervert. What would you say if you were forced to sleep with Ayame-chan?" Naruto had the satisfaction of watching Kankuro freeze with food half in his mouth for a minute. Then the masked man continued eating.

"That is a totally different thing."

"Bull shit it's different!"

"It is!"

"How so?"

"Cause, cause... cause I say so!" Kankuro fired back with a blush creeping through his face paint.

"Ha! You don't have a real reason!" Naruto cheered.

"Well what's your reason for not wanting to sleep with Temari? Hmm? I know she isn't bad looking and from what I saw in the cave..." Naruto's eyes went wide in horror as he noticed Kakashi look up from his book, however Kankuro kept on going. "you two had no issue falling asleep together there."

"You already slept with Temari?" Kakashi asked with an undertone of mischief in his voice. Leaping up and away from the table Naruto pointed a finger at his sensei

"Oh don't even think about it you pervert! I was trying to keep her warm since she was all wet..." Naruto trailed off suddenly realizing how bad that sounded, and from the look on Kakashi's face the jonin was going to torment him relentlessly for it. "That's not what I meant!"

"Uh-huh, uh-huh sure it wasn't Naruto. Don't worry I won't tell Tsunade-sama that you are warming Temari's bed already." The silver haired jonin joked as he winked at the blonde boy. Throwing his hands up in frustration Naruto followed Temari's lead and marched away from the table. Kankuro and Kakashi both shrugged before taking the blondes' left overs.

"More for us I guess."

"Yep!" And so two masked perverts ate in comfortable silence with one another.

8888

Temari heard Naruto enter the room and was about to greet him when she heard the door slam shut behind him. She was sprawled out across the bed watching him pace back and forth in the room. Raising an eyebrow she decided to make herself known since it didn't seem he knew she was there.

"They run you off too?" Naruto jumped at her voice and reached for his kunai holster only to stop when he saw who it was. "Jumpy much?"

"I'm just not used to people being in my room I guess." Silence reigned supreme. Naruto suddenly found the speck of dirt on his shoe to be very interesting while Temari absently played with a lock of her hair. "I'm gonna go find Kaka-sensei and..."

"You just come from dinner with him." Temari cut Naruto off before he could even try to use that excuse. Swinging herself around so she was sitting on the edge of the bed she smiled and shook her head. "So what do you do in your free time?"

"Train."

"That's it." The blonde boy shrugged and nodded.

"Well ya, what else am I supposed to do?"

"Don't you collect anything or have any hobbies?"

"Hobbies? Like Kankuro and his dolls or like you and your fan?" Temari hummed thoughtfully to herself.

"I guess Kankuro's dolls count as a hobby since he does with them outside of training or maintenance. But no my fan is solely for fighting, not a hobby. You do know what a hobby is right?" From the sheepish look on Naruto's face she knew he didn't. Instead of the mocking tone Naruto was expecting to hear from her she spoke in a softer more caring tone, like how Sarutobi used to speak to him. "A hobby really is anything that you find fun and takes up your free time, like painting or reading or anything like that." The blonde boy thought for a moment before she saw his eyes light up with excitement.

"Ooh I got one! I pull pranks!"

"Pull pranks?"

"Ya ya! This one time I painted the entire hokage monument giving all the stone faces a make-over. It was great!" Temari just stared at him.

"You painted the hokage monument?" When he nodded his head vigorously she just sighed. "Okay... Well that does count as a hobby but do you have anything that won't get us in trouble." Naruto deflated for a bit then quickly snapped back up.

"Does playing shogi count?" Again Temari just stared at him. Naruto was about to shrink back in embarrassment when Temari grinned.

"You play shogi?" The excitement in her voice put Naruto on edge. Taking a cautious step back Naruto answered carefully not knowing how she would react

"Umm yes? Shikamaru and me were bored in detention one day so he told me where to find one in the library and I got it so he could teach me. Heheh it's funny getting him angry when he can't beat you." Temari raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"You beat him?" Thinking back to her battle in the chunin exams and how the shadow manipulator defeated her only to surrender Temari looked at the brash boy in front of her. "_YOU_ beat him? How? I've never seen you formulate a strategy, ever! Not in training, not in fighting Garra, not even on the few times I've seen you fight Kakashi have I seen you use any sort of strategy." Naruto chuckled and nodded his head.

"Shika says the same thing, he always gets pissed that he can't figure out how I'm beating him." An adorable pout showed up on Naruto's face he thought about several of his matches with the Nara. "He takes forever to play though! I mean he spends like an hour thinking on one move!"

"And how long do you take?"

"I don't know, a couple of seconds. A minute at most."

"And you beat him every time?" Temari practically shouted in shock. Naruto only grinned smugly and nodded his head.

"Yep! Every time, it's hilarious watching him get all riled up." Naruto saw a mischievous glint enter her eyes and he knew before she even opened her mouth what she was about to say.

"We have to play. Think you can find a shogi board?"

"I brought one." Seeing Temari's stunned expression Naruto explained. "I usually get bored on long missions like this so I bring the board and play a clone since Kaka-sensei, Sakura and Sasuke will never play." The jinchuuriki was already pulling the board out of his duffel bag."Stupid clones usually win though."

Setting the board up on the floor Naruto heard Temari move off the bed and sit across from him. Looking up he saw the eager look in her eyes and grinned to himself.

_'Looks like we have something in common.'_ Naruto thought to himself. Without another word between the two the first game of many that night started.

It was nearly two in the morning when Temari finally fell asleep. Naruto had watched in amusement as she had slowly gotten more and more comfortable as the night had progressed. First stretching her legs out, then laying on her stomach and propping herself up on her elbows, and finally grabbing a pillow off the bed. And now she was sound asleep on the floor, her head snuggled into the pillow and her hand reaching out towards the shogi board.

Naruto took a longing look at the vacant bed, he had a momentary urge to just steal it for himself and leave the other blonde to lay on the floor. Quelling that desire he looked back at Temari and was hit with an even stronger desire. The primal longing to shred her clothes off and ravage her, enjoying the finer details that come with having a wife. It took a moment or two for that specific urge to be stomped out thoroughly, but when it was Naruto stood up and moved towards the bed. Rolling the covers back and placing the pillows how he wanted them, he turned away from the bed and walked back over to Temari.

Reaching down and gently rolling her into his arms so that he was carrying her bridal style Naruto smiled as he carried to the bed. Despite the fact she was ninja the fact that he was carrying her without waking her was making it hard to resist laughing. Though when she snuggled into his chest the laughter died in his throat, she had offered to share the bed with him. Kakashi had said it might be nice to give it a try. With a heavy sigh Naruto placed the blonde beauty in the bed and tucked her in before slowly backing away from the bed.

Backing away from the bed was far harder than he had thought. Taking a deep breath the blonde boy walked into the kitchenette and got a glass of water.

"The boss had better be glad I'm one of the more well mannered clones." The 'Naruto' said to itself before downing the glass of water. "If he hadn't of promised that I would get to stick around till breakfast I so would have slept with her." With that said the clone laid down on the floor and prepared for a long, uncomfortable night.

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_'It'll be an easy job. All you have to do is slip in, make contact with the informant and get whatever information he has and then get out. A one night gig. No problem!'_ Sasuke though to himself as he dashed through the woods as fast as he could in the middle of the night. Sakura and Gaara were close on his tail, all three were just trying to make it to the desert. The reason they were trying so hard to get the desert was because there were two chunin and one jonin chasing them.

Now Sasuke was confident in his skills as a ninja, a bit overly so as the cut on his right shoulder indicated. He had tried to fight the two chunin at fist and had barely managed to hold his own even with Gaara helping. But they were far from the desert and the red head didn't have time to create more sand to fight with. When the jonin had showed up Sasuke had ordered the retreat. After Gaara used all his sand to buy them some time they were now in a mad dash run to get to the desert before the enemy caught up to them.

If they made it to the desert then the genin's victory was guaranteed. Gaara was good out of the desert, he was untouchable in the desert. All that stood between them and the desert was a long bridge that spanned a huge ravine which marked the boundary between the Wind Country and Earth Country, after that was a short span of forest and finally the desert.

Sakura suddenly sped up just enough to catch up with Sasuke.

"Sasuke, you and Gaara keep going at the bridge I'm going to set up a quick trap." The Uchiha frowned at the pink haired girl. He knew she was trying to impress him but this was a bit reckless.

"Sakura..." He started only to be cut off by Gaara.

"Let her. We will not reach the desert otherwise and I will use Shukaku to kill them. Without Uzumaki here to stop me I might kill you in the process."

"Fine." Sasuke growled out after a moment of thought. "But if this goes wrong..." He let the threat hang in thee air.

"It won't" Sakura said as he mentally went over the seals she was planning to use. They were basic beginner seals, and there were only four seals she had to create. The issue was the first seal, it would require a good bit of chakra. Ever since she saw exactly how much chakra she had Sakura was always worried that she wouldn't have enough chakra to complete the mission. That fear is why she hadn't help Sasuke fight the chunins. But now it was her turn.

When they got to the bridge Sasuke and Gaara kept moving down the bridge while Sakura came to a halt and knelt down to the ground. Placing her palm on the ground and forcing her chakra to bend to her will and carve a seal onto the very beginning of the bridge she watched with glee as the seal took place. It was a sensor and timer seal, if anything molding chakra passed over, under or around it for fifty feet the seal would activate a count down. She set the count down to last a total of two seconds. The instant she was done placing the seal she pulled her hand off the ground to avoid losing any more chakra to the seal, the longer she was in contact with the seal the more chakra it would drain from her so that it would be more powerful. The instant she removed her palm from the seal it vanished from sight. One of the hidden perks of using seals versus explosive tags.

Feeling the tiny little bits of chakra left she moved a few feet onto the bridge and placed another seal. This one being a high grade explosive. Leaping as far down the bridge as she could she placed another explosive tag with her foot so that she could keep moving down the bridge. In total she placed four explosive points on the bridge. One of the benefits of the specific seals she was using was that they required very little chakra, must have been why Ebizou taught her that seal instead of others.

Having placed the last seal she popped two soldiers and rushed to catch up with Sasuke and Gaara.

Not even a minute after Sakura left the bridge the team of Earth nin that were pursuing them arrived at the bridge and without a thought proceeded across it. They made it almost half way across the bridge when the jonin felt something was amiss, sadly for him it was to late. The seals Sakura had placed glowed to life for an instant, and then the seals along with the bridge exploded into a fiery blast that swallowed up the team of Earth nin.

Sasuke and Gaara heard, felt and saw the explosion coming from behind them. Pausing they looked back at the plume of smoke coming up and waited to see if Sakura caught up with them. A minute passed. And then another. Finally Sakura landed on a tree branch in front of them, she was covered in sweat and panting.

"Told you... it would... work." She got out between breaths.

"The enemy?" Sasuke asked and watched as a smile formed on her lips.

"Gone, along with the bridge." Sakura watched Sasuke carefully for a reaction, when he smiled and nodded she knew he was impressed. He wouldn't say it but then again Sasuke didn't say much to begin with. That's just the way he was and that was just the way she liked him.

8888

Panting Naruto stopped and looked back the way he had come. He had been running full speed ever since the awkward dinner had gotten over. He felt bad about avoiding a confrontation with Temari through the use of a clone but he had business to tend to. Glancing around and figuring that he was far enough away from the Samuri patrols as to go undetected Naruto pulled out a kunai and held it to his own throat. He hesitated for only an instant before pulling the kunai back and then trying to slam it into his own throat.

Thankfully the world faded to black an instant before the kunai made contact with his skin.


	6. Chapter 6

**Sandy Breeze 6**

Drip.

That one sound echoed through the sewers of Naruto's mind, it was unhindered and unchallenged by any other sound.

Drip.

Only two souls ever passed through those two sewers and neither of those two were making a sound that would drown out the sound of that single drop of water.

Drip.

Despite the fact the two souls, both volatile on their own, were staring each other down neither of them made a sound. Naruto stood in the water looking impassively up at the Kyuubi. The blonde's posture was relaxed, leaning back on his right leg with his arms crossed across his chest and an unimpressed look on his face. Kyuubi on the other hand was standing up to his full height and glaring down at the blonde boy with a hatred a lesser man would have wilted before. Behind the beast his nine tails were lashing back and forth violently stirring up the waters inside the cage into a frenzy.

Drip.

But still only that one sound was heard.

Naruto sick of the silence opened his mouth only to shut it when the fox narrowed his crimson red eyes and flared his blood red chakra.

"**How dare you."** Kyuubi growled out just loud enough for Naruto to hear, the fox's voice was laced with more murderous intent than Naruto had ever heard. Actually shocked at the hate coming from the fox Naruto took a step back.

"What did I do?" Naruto asked, thoroughly confused as to what had caused a sudden change in the fox's mood. His question was answered by the Kyuubi slamming his paw down and growling at Naruto, his massive maw of razor sharp teeth gleaming in the ethereal light of the sewers.

"**You dare threaten me! I grant you access to my chakra, I enhance your sight and you return my kindness by threatening me! I ought to blind you for your insolence!"**

"I didn't threaten you!" Naruto shouted back, not at all afraid of the fox.

"**Your life is my life, when you die I die also. Therefore by attempting to take your own life you aimed to take my life as well. Only by pulling you into the seal was I able to stop your foolish actions. Now what has depressed you to the point of wishing to take your own life? Hmmm? What could possibly be horrid enough that you would want to take your life now when you have already endured so much? Hmmm?"** It was not in a caring tone that Kyuubi asked his questions, his tone was condescending and insulting.

"I'm not depressed you stupid fox! I just needed to talk to you!" Naruto yelled up at the raging beast. Kyuubi came to an immediate halt, his tails freezing their motions. Then his fury returned in full force.

"**TALK! _THAT_ is why you threatened my very existence? You stupid good for nothing, worthless ingrate! Brainless, useless human I ought to rip you limb from limb! I ought to..."**

"HEY HEY!" Naruto bellowed while flaring his chakra to cut Kyuubi off mid rant. "What else was I supposed to do? No one taught me how to get in here to talk to you! Hell I learned about you by accident and the pervert only showed me to contact you through life and death stress so this was the only way I knew of to get in here. I wasn't threatening you I was just trying to get in here."

For a second the fox continued to glare down at him, his crimson red eyes weighing the weight of what Naruto said against the crime of threatening Kyuubi's life. A snarl came from Kyuubi's throat and for a moment Naruto feared the fox was going to continue his tirade. Finally relaxing Kyuubi let out a snort and shook his head.

"**I will excuse it this once and this once only, do it again and you will suffer blindness for a full year. If I'm feeling benevolent."** Seeing Naruto pale Kyuubi grinned and was once more in a good mood. Laying back down so his snout rested against the bars of the cage and his paws were on either side of his head Kyuubi spoke again, this time in a less hostile manner. **"So then what was so important that you left the warm embrace of your beloved fiance and fled down to the dark recesses of your mind to visit little ol' me?"**

Naruto sucked in a breath and ignored the barb at his relation with Temari in order to try and keep the peace.

"Oh I don't know, how about finding out what you did to Takida?" Naruto said, watching Kyuubi's reaction closely. Instead of looking fearful at being found out as Naruto had expected Kyuubi tossed his head back to roar with laughter.

"**So that was the shitstain's name, whoever he was I thank you for giving me some fun."**

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"I gave you fun? How did I do that?"

Now it was Kyuubi's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"**Your serious? Twice now you have allowed me to torment two souls and you never once realized it was your doing? Your a bigger fool than I thought."** Kyuubi said, the last bit was said more to himself than to Naruto.

"Hey! Again I know nothing of how this seal or anything dealing with you works so you are gonna have to spell stuff out for me. Now can you please explain what you did to the prick?"

"**Do you really worry about him?"**

"Worry about him?" Naruto snorted. "As if, I was actually thrilled with whatever you did to him! Only way it could have been better if I had done it myself. But I'm still curious as to what you did and how you did it."

"**Fine fine I shall explain it in a way your puny mind can comprehend. After you let me look through your eyes our eyes became linked. When you are angry you loosen up and allow my chakra to flow more freely through your system meaning I have access to the outside world through your eyes. So when you made eye contact with that pile of filth I cast a genjutsu on him bringing his mind into the seal so that I could do to him as I saw fit. And you saw the results."**

"Hold up, you mean you can do that to anyone I look at?" Naruto asked in horror.

"**I wish."** Kyuubi snorted. **"Alas I can only cast the genjutsu when you are angry enough to let your guard down. Now, seeing as your question has been answered I request something in exchange for answering your pointless query."**

"What do you want?" Naruto asked in a pensive tone, taking a step away from the cage in case the fox tried something. Seeing Naruto's apprehensive mood Kyuubi shook his head.

"**Fear not human, it is nothing that will harm you or any of your so called _precious people_. All I ask is that you promise to never threaten my life again. That is all."**

"Huh?" Was Naruto's oh so intelligent response. Seeing the fox's annoyed expression Naruto quickly corrected his mistake. "Uh... I mean I could do that but then how am I supposed to get in here if I need to talk to you?" Naruto asked to which Kyuubi raised an eyebrow.

"**Talk to me? Why would you ever need to talk to me aside from demanding more chakra?"** Kyuubi asked, for once honestly confused.

"I don't know, but your a bloody old as hell creature that is supposed to be uber powerful right? So it would be nice if I could contact you for advice every now and again if I ever get stumped on something." Naruto said. After he said it he had to keep the smirk off his face at seeing the bewildered look on Kyuubi's face.

"**You would honestly come ask _ME_ for advice? Your pulling my tail aren't you?"**

"Nope. I'm serious here. You are ancient, know more than any human being, and have loads of power. I would have to be stupid to _not_ come ask you for advice when I get stumped. So again I'll promise not to threaten you if you tell me how I can get in here to talk to you without trying to kill myself."

For a full minute or two Kyuubi just lay there, staring in shock at the blonde boy before him. He had been sealed in two people before, the first had never had any contact with him whatsoever. While the second had been in contact with him a bit more frequently it was never for advise, or to just ask a question. And he had been sealed in both of them for their entire lives, the entire time feeling the same hate for them he had felt when he had initially sealed into them.

Yet in just fourteen years this blonde haired, loud mouthed, brash and arrogant little brat standing before him now had put Kyuubi through more moods than the other two combined. At first he had been indifferent to the brat, having never seen him other than the second before he was sealed however after that he never had contact with him. Then after thirteen years the blonde boy pops into the seal, is terrified at first but gets over it fast enough to impress Kyuubi. Even more not two seconds after meeting him and the brat was already demanding chakra and refusing to back down. And now here the kid was, shocking Kyuubi yet again by asking how he could contact Kyuubi to get advise.

Shaking his massive head Kyuubi let out a chuckle, despite knowing it would confuse Naruto he did it anyways.

"**Kit you are amusing, do you realize that?"**

"Um... no?" Naruto replied, unsure of how to respond to Kyuubi's odd change of mood. "Does that mean no deal?"

"**Oh no that deal sound perfect to me. If you wish to learn how to contact me in case you should ever need my aid I suggest you learn to meditate. The seal responds to your will, if you can clearly and consciously will yourself into the seal then you can contact me whenever you get _'stumped'_ as you put it."**

"Meditate?" Naruto moaned not liking the sound of it.

"**Yes meditate. If you can learn to focus your will enough to contact me without entering the seal it would give you a boost in your ability to manipulate the miniscule portion of my chakra you have access to. Now I've filled my end of the bargain..."** Kyuubi said leaving the sentence open for Naruto to fill in.

"Oh, right!" Moving closer to the cage without a trace of fear Naruto looked Kyuubi dead in the eye and knowing no other way to make a pledge he held up a fist at the fox. "I promise that I will never threaten you with taking your life by taking my own, I swear it on my ninja way!" Naruto declared.

Kyuubi grinned, again revealing his pearly white teeth, though this time the grin was not one of malice or treachery. This was the first time Naruto had ever seen Kyuubi not snarling or angry.

"**I shall hold you to your word kit. Now leave me to my rest, I grow weary of you."**

And just like that Kyuubi hurled Naruto out of the seal and back out into the real world.

**Real World**

Naruto's eyes snapped open and he immediately jerked his arm to a halt, the kunai had only pierced the first layer of his skin when he stopped it. Pulling the kunai out he let out a sigh of relief.

"About time I learned a different way in there, I was getting sick of trying to think up new ways to kill myself." Blinking and shaking his head Naruto laughed. "Cause that didn't sound screwed up at all. Now that I've come all the way out here... time to go back." Letting out a sigh Naruto began the trek back.

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Temari woke up with a yawn before stretching out. Instead of opening her eyes immediately she rolled over onto her stomach and rubbed the sleepy from her eyes.

"Good morning Temari-chan!" Two identical voices called out causing her to freeze. Rolling back over she saw not one but two Narutos sitting on the floor playing shogi. Letting out a sigh Temari sat up in bed and looked back and forth between the two for a moment, trying to figure out which was the real one on her own. It didn't work.

"Okay I give, which of you two is Naruto?" She asked and regretted the question when both grinned at her.

"We both are!" They said in perfect unison with one another. Seeing that Temari was not amused with their antics the Naruto on the left held up his hands. "Alright alright, I'm me. Sheesh so grouchy first thing in the morning, I'll have to remember that. Oi you ready to go get breakfast?"

Temari nodded and was about to get out of bed when she froze. She normally slept in nothing more than her underwear, was she really comfortable enough with her fellow blonde to strut around in just that? Sense it took a total of two seconds for her decide she most certainly was _not_ that comfortable around him she went to ask him to turn around when she realized two things. One she was still dressed in her clothes from last night. And secondly that she had no memory of getting up off the floor and into bed. Leaving one options.

"Naruto." Temari started in a level tone. "How exactly did I end up in bed?" She asked watching carefully the reaction on his face. Oddly enough it wasn't the real Naruto who reacted but instead his shadow clone. The real Naruto just turned his head to look at the clone inquisitively while the clone blushed and looked away nervously.

"Well... Hehe you fell asleep on the floor during one of our games and so I just lifted you up and... tucked you into bed."

"You did wha!" Shouted the real Naruto. "I said if you behaved I'd let you stick around till breakfast!" Naruto was just about to dismiss the clone when Temari spoke up.

"So then you avoided me by using a clone?" Her tone wasn't anger filled, instead is was as ice cool as a glacier and Naruto immediately knew he had messed up some how. _How_ he messed up he didn't know exactly but he was fairly certain that he was currently in jeopardy of falling into a huge shitload of trouble. Going with his nature he decided to be as honest as possible.

"Yes." Seeing her narrow his eyes he went on speaking a bit louder at first to stop her from interrupting. "I had business with the fox! You probably didn't notice it but the fox made an appearance on the way here and I needed to speak with him about it, and with all the restrictions set by the samurai I didn't want to spook them by tapping into his chakra nearby. So I ran a good fifty miles out of the village before striking up a conversation with the bastard fox, then hauled ass back here." Having made his case Naruto went silent to see how she reacted.

Temari glowered at him. He was keeping secrets from her, a great many secrets from her. While she understood they weren't exactly friends the fact he was keeping so many secrets grated on her nerves. The fact he apparently found her company so unbearable that he couldn't even tell her he was leaving and stood her up with a clone only served to further her annoyance with the blonde. Letting out a controlled breath she shook her head and got out of the bed.

"Whatever, you go ahead to breakfast I'm going to take a shower." Temari stated in a brisk tone.

Naruto watched her stroll into the bathroom and was about to apologize when his fellow blonde very politely slammed and locked the door behind her.

The room was silent for a second.

"You screwed up boss." The clone said, an almost disappointed look on its face.

"Screw you! And screw the breakfast I promised you as well!" Naruto shouted going to dispel the clone.

"Your just ticked I beat you in shogi _and_ got to tuck Temari-chan into bed."

"Die you little maggot!" Naruto shouted as he leapt over the shogi board and tackled his laughing clone.

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_'Its a change from the awkward silence I suppose.'_ Kankuro thought to himself. He watched the two blondes at the table eat in silence, the female one ate with an air that simply dared the boy sitting beside her to try talking to her. On the other hand Naruto ate in perfect silence, staring down at his food and refusing to so much as glance at the obviously annoyed woman next to him.

"Your classes begin soon, you might want to eat up Kankuro." Kakashi said. The silver eyed jonin watched with amusement as Kankuro startled, realized he had been staring, then hurried to finish his food. The two blondes at the table glanced at Kankuro, at each other then returned to their former positions. "Speaking of classes all three of you will be in the same room, class runs till lunch and pauses for an hour before resuming until four. After four I want you to come track me down for some training."

The word training managed to snap Naruto out of whatever slump he had been in.

"Training? But I thought you said we weren't allowed to use enough chakra to train."

"Ah I never said what _sort _of training did I? But you'll see soon enough, as for me. I have a vacation to begin."

"Wha!" All three teens shouted as Kakashi shouted before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

"That lazy son of a gun, he just wants to go read his porn." Naruto mumbled to which Kankuro snorted and nodded his head.

"He is a wise man indeed, using this time to read such a grand book. And he even has the new edition! I must discover where he gets his material." The last sentence Kankuro mumbled more to himself than to the others at the table, both blondes just palmed their foreheads.

"Perverts..." Both Naruto and Temari groaned out at the same time only to glace at the other. Naruto with a hopeful look, Temari just snorted and got up and excused herself from the table having finished her meal.

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"Sakura you just got back from a mission you really ought to take a break from training." Ebizou lectured for the tenth time that morning. He had gone back up to his fishing hole while Sakura had been out on her mission, when he heard she had gotten back he had figured she would want a day or two to rest up before tracking him down for more instruction. Instead she had shown up this morning ready to go, she had bags under her eyes but she insisted she was fine.

"I'm fine Ebizou-sensei. Really! Besides the more I push myself the larger my reserves grow right? And you said it yourself I'll need larger reserves if I want to create any of the higher class seals."

The gray haired old man cringed and shook his head but did not answer. He knew she already knew the answer, she was just trying to come up with reasons for them not to stop. Whatever it was that was driving her to train so hard Ebizou could only hope it was worth the effort. After already agreeing to train her as long as she wished he wouldn't go back on his word and force her to stop, but he knew what happened when a normal human trained too hard for too long. Several of his friends had burnt out and been forced to spend months in the hospital waiting for their chakra pathways to recover from the abuse of over training. More often than not the long period of time without training actually put them further behind than if they had taken a pause along the way.

But he had agreed to help and it was against his nature to go against his word. A ninja he may be, but unless it was for his country or for his mission lying or going back on your word was something the old man heavily frowned upon.

"Alright." Ebizou said after a moment of contemplation. "But only if you can explain to me what it is that drives you to such lengths." The old man grinned when he saw his pink haired student pause mid response. Leaning back in his

Sakura's mind had gone totally and utterly blank as it looked for an answer to the question posed by her teacher. Her automatic response had been 'to impress Sasuke' but in the face of her teacher such a response sounded childish and silly. But then if not for Sasuke then why was she trying to become stronger? And yet no answer came to her mind, she tried to go back to the reason why she had become a ninja but even then she drew a blank. As far back as she could remember being a ninja had been her dream and goal in life. Her mom and her dad were both ninja, not famous and both had been wounded during the Kyuubi's attack so they were now working as civilians. Still she knew neither of them had pushed her to become a ninja, in fact more times than she could count they had told her to give up on the dream. They both told her that it would lead to nothing but misfortune and pain, or in the worst case death by torture for being caught by the enemy.

So then why? Why had she become a ninja? Why was she now trying so hard to become strong? Sasuke was the answer to the last question but that answer in and of itself did not justify her intense training regiment. Did it?

For all the information and knowledge Sakura had stored within her mind none of it did her any good in this situation. No amount of formulating would answer the riddle and no knowledge of past events or dates would tell her her future. The pink haired genin shook her head. One thing was clear, she had far too many questions and not enough answers which did not sit well with her.

"Umm Ebizou-sensei could we take the day off? Maybe pick it up tomorrow?"

"Sure. Besides I need to go spend time with Chiyo and ensure she hasn't done anything foolish or keeled over yet." Standing up the elder patted Sakura on the head before leisurely strolling out of the room. As he shut the door he turned around to see Sakura was sitting in the exact same position, unmoving and unseeing. Staring off into space looking for an answer every ninja looks for at one point or another in their career.

_'Good luck girl, I hope you find the answer you are looking for.'_

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"Gah! Those classes were horrible! They were even worse than the academy and I thought it didn't get any worse than listening to Iruka-sensei ramble on old dead dudes." Naruto whined as he walked around the place in search of his wayward sensei. He was walking with his eyes closed and arms behind his head with an annoyed scowl plastered to his face. Kankuro and Temari were walking behind him watching in amusement as he went on and on about the classes. Currently the trio was making its way through a large open room filled with gray stone pillars with writing carved into them.

Occasionally one or both of them one point out the flaws in his complaints logic to which Naruto would get even further wound up. Both Suna ninja had a silent wage going over who could get the volatile blonde to burst first. So far Temari was getting the most prominent reactions out of him.

Her annoyance at the blonde was forgotten at the moment, the class had been boring and repetitive since she already knew most everything the teacher had gone over but watching Naruto struggle to stay awake or focused had been amusing. A few times he had leaned over and asked her to explain what the teacher had said since the teacher used several words of a higher vocabulary than Naruto was accustomed to using. She had wanted to just tell him to figure it out but seeing the utterly humiliated and defeated look at having to ask she was fairly certain he had been trying to figure it out for a good while before finally breaking down and asking.

"And where is Kaka-sensei? We've been wandering this place looking for him for hours!"

"It's only been twenty minutes actually." Temari quipped.

Naruto froze mid step, head turning mechanically to give her an unamused flat look.

"Thank you for that." The blond growled out. Letting out a huff he kept walking. He may have been annoyed with his sensei and the two behind him for picking but he was partially doing this on purpose. After seeing how much of a better mood this put Temari in he couldn't help but act a bit goofy to try and keep in her good graces.

"You know." A familiarly laze voice called out halting the three teen's progress. "As much of a ruckus as your causing its not a surprise so many cute little birdies came to whine about my loud mouth students." Kakashi said as he stepped out from behind one of the upcoming pillars on the right side of the trio's path. As soon as Naruto saw Kakashi the blonde flung his right arm down to point at the silver haired man. This was an action Naruto had done countless times before, however this time was different than the other times.

It was different in that when Naruto pointed he hurled a hidden kunai out of the sleeve of his arm with the kunai aimed directly at Kakashi's temple. Seeing the incoming projectile Kakashi paused and effortlessly took a step back so as to allow the kunai to pass by harmlessly without interrupting the page he was reading. Instead of the kunai zipping past him right as it came in front of him the kunai vanished in a puff of smoke and was replaced with a horizontal Naruto who was aiming a kick at Kakashi's head. Kakashi snapped his right hand up and caught the kick without even having to glance up from his beloved book. Naruto twisted his body around used momentum to raise himself up so that he was swinging his free left leg at the back of Kakashi's head. Moving in perfect time with Naruto's movements Kakashi stepped forward and tossed Naruto away only for the blonde to somersault and land gracefully with a smirk on his face.

_'What did I miss?'_ Was the only thought Kakashi had time to formulate before the kunai he had originally avoided slammed into his temple, exactly as Naruto had planned when the blonde had substituted himself with the air borne kunai. Instead of the painful and bloody death one would expect from a kunai impacting with your head all Kakashi got was a face full of bright pink paint. Not the pretty pink that a girl might wear, not the dark pink you see in flowers. Oh no this was full blown, neon, bright as the sun and ugly as hell, pink which was beautifully splattered across the entire left side of Kakashi's face. This included his gravity-defying hair which was now matted and probably a shade or two pinker.

Surprisingly the now dual color haired jonin never lost his cool. He stood stock still and finished reading the page he was on. Shut the book and gently tucked it into his ninja pouch. And took a deep breath before speaking in a level and controlled manner that betrayed just how furious he truly was.

"Seeing as I never specified what training we were doing and Naruto seems to be itching for a hand to hand spar, today we will do combat training in pairs. Seeing as Naruto is in such a _playful_ mood him and I will spar today." As he had been speaking Kakashi had begun to leak killer intent and now had what looked like a black aura surrounding his body. "Temari you and Kankuro spar as long as you can then go ahead and take the day off. Naruto seems to need some one-on-one instruction today, we will see you tonight if we don't make it to dinner."

"Uh... Hehe I'm guessing I'm sorry wouldn't help would it?" Naruto asked with a nervous chuckle, already dreading the beating he was sure to receive.

"Oh no. Not, at, allll." Kakashi drawled out as he reached up and uncovered his sharingan. "Now, begin!"

Temari and Kankuro both leaped far away from the two Konoha ninja, neither wanting to get caught up in the feud. Kankuro and shook his head.

"Does he try and annoy people who can beat him up? Or is it just a gift of his?"

"No idea." Temari replied though there was a hint of wonder in her voice. "Though you have to admit it was shocking to see Naruto take out a jonin."

"Huh?"

"That was a paint bomb disguised as a kunai but had it been a real kunai Kakashi would have been dead. Had Naruto been trying he would have just succeeded in taking out a jonin level ninja in the span of thirty seconds. Even Gaara would be doing good to do such a thing outside of the desert and without Shukaku helping him. Add onto that the fact that Naruto managed to spam a successful plan of attack in under a minute. You have to give him props for that."

"Maybe, if he comes out of this training session without dying then I'll be impressed." Kankuro grinned as they were about to touch the ground as Temari was still looking back in the direction of Naruto and Kakashi. "Though I'd prefer to enjoy beating you since you no longer have your fan." As soon as he touched the ground Kankuro launched himself at his sister, had she had her fan he never would have tried such a thing as he knew for certain that she would just deck him. However since she did not have her fan it was a whole new ball game.

Back with Kakashi and Naruto neither of the two had moved. Kakashi hadn't moved because he was waiting for Naruto to make the first move as he always did. Naruto didn't move because he had never fought his sensei while the man was using his sharingan, meaning any and all strategies he knew of that might have had a chance of winning were now useless. Another fact that kept Naruto from attacking was that every time he had fought Sasuke since the Uchiha had activated his bloodline Naruto had been unable to come close to beating Sasuke. What chance did he have of beating a jonin with the same bloodline?

"Are clones allowed?"

"How many?"

"Twenty or so, that's how many I usually use in a spar"

"Sure, you'll need the help, but no more than that. We have to obey the samurai's rules." Kakashi replied smoothly, his crimson red eye never once leaving Naruto.

"Got it!" Naruto cheered with closed eyes as he thrust a thumbs up at Kakashi, and trying to repeat his last move as he thrust his thumb out a pair of shuriken flew out of his sleeve. The instant they were out of his jacket sleeve Naruto formed the cross hand seal and created ten clones, all of which rushed Kakashi.

Mentally Kakashi gave Naruto props, it wasn't a half bad plan of attack. Physically however the jonin retained his bored expression and began to simply walk towards Naruto. As the the shuriken came into his range of reach his left arm snapped out and caught both of them with a single finger, and a simple flick of his wrist sent the two blades back at the group of blondes rushing him. With the enhanced aim he gained from having his sharingan open Kakashi managed to clip and dispel four of the ten clones leaving only seven Narutos remaining. Still walking at a controlled pace to conserve chakra Kakashi watched the blonde boys, of the seven only one went for a full on frontal assault and he did so at a slowed rate. The other six sped up with four surrounding Kakashi, two leapt over Kakashi with one going higher than the other. The one that went lower landed behind Kakashi so he could double back and catch the jonin from behind while the other one had timed his jump just right so as to descend on Kakashi at the same time the others reached him.

Again Kakashi was glad to see Naruto using more strategy now than he had during the bell test that first day. Sadly the outcome would be much the same.

Letting out a breath Kakashi closed both his eyes, pumping the chakra that would have gone to his sharingan into his limbs allowing him to react faster. All seven Narutos closed in on Kakashi at the same time, the one from above coming down with a flying kick aimed at Kakashi's pink and silver head. In a whirl of movement Kakashi side stepped the axe kick aimed at his head by jumping up and grabbing hold of that Naruto's leg before somersaulting mid air to toss the captured clone at the clone which had been attacking from behind. The impact dispelled both of the clones leaving five more to go. Completing the somersault Kakashi landed in a crouch, just ducking under the dual haymakers the Narutos in the front left and right had thrown at him the instant Kakashi had touched the ground. Once under the two wild attack Kakashi lashed out by crossing his arms in order to deliver two twin knife jabs at the Narutos throats, dispelling both in an instant.

The Naruto directly in front of Kakashi saw this as an opening and lunged out at Kakashi only to have his wrist caught between Kakashi's hands in a vice like grip. Standing up Kakashi kept his grip on the clone but untwisted his hands twirling the clone into the air for an instant only for Kakashi to jerk the clone out of the air and throw it over his left shoulder using his right hand so that the thrown clone dispelled the clone that had been approaching from behind. Both were dispelled in a puff of smoke. Kakashi's left hand hadn't been inactive during this toss and went over Kakashi's right shoulder to catch the real Naruto's jab.

Both ninja froze in that position, one shocked at being beaten so easily, the other analyzing every move the blonde had made.

"Your telegraphing your moves." Kakashi said finally after a second of silence. "Badly." He added.

"That's bad right?"

"Yes." Kakashi sighed. "It means that even without the sharingan I can tell what your going to do before you do it. You throw all you have into your attacks but you make it obvious what your going to do and where your going to attack."

"Hmmm I see, so any one with enough skill can trounce me just by reading my movements?"

"Correct. And if they have a skill or technique that's anything like the sharingan then even some one with no skill could make short work of you. That's why Neji was such a poor match for you in the chunin exams."

Naruto growled at the remembrance of how everyone had expected him to lose.

"But I won didn't I?" Naruto retorted stubbornly.

"You did. Because you are great at creating on the spot plans very few would think of much less anticipate. However if you ever come across some one with a tactical mind, such as Shikamaru, then even that won't save you. What then?"

Naruto was silent.

"So then how do I fix it?" The blonde finally asked after a minute of contemplation. His answer came in the form of Kakashi jerking the blonde forwards into an awaiting elbow that caught Naruto between the ribs knocking the wind out of him. Following that Kakashi jerked the elbow Naruto was impaled on upwards to toss the blonde into the air where two quick jabs sent the blonde sprawling across the floor.

"Depends on how you want to fight. Your getting to the point that simply brawling won't work any more, time to learn a style or at least a method of fighting. Either choose to learn a style that relies on speed or strength to make up for being predictable, like Lee does. Or learn a method of fighting that is unpredictable or unreadable, like the fighting style Anko has."

"Anko?" Naruto wheezed out as he stood up, rubbing his ribs. "Who is she?"

"Hmmm" Kakashi hummed thoughtfully, trying to describe the snake mistress in a way Naruto might recall. "Ah! I believe you referred to her as the 'Scare Snake Lady' from the chunin exams."

Naruto thought for a minute over all the creeps he had met during that time, finally his mind provided the image of a purple haired woman wearing a trench coat, fishnet shirt and a short burnt orange skirt. That image was followed up with the memory of a kunai cutting his cheek and the snake lady licking his blood.

"Wha!" Naruto shrieked and backed up against the wall. "You want me to learn from her? I refuse!"

Kakashi just chuckled and shook his head, he had yet to open either of his eyes.

"Ma ma calm down, I was just giving an example of someone whose fighting style is unpredictable. Even with the sharingan fighting her in close combat is difficult. But I'm not asking you to pick a style right now, just want you to start thinking about what sort of style you want to learn. Once you decide I'll be able to set you up with the perfect person to train you?"

Naruto frowned at being shucked onto someone else again.

"Why can't you train me?"

Kakashi sighed and thought of the best way to explain himself to the irate blonde.

"Tell me Naruto, what do you think my fighting style works?" The silver haired jonin finally asked having settled on a course of explanation. Hearing the thoughtful hum of Naruto Kakashi was certain the blonde was seriously considering the question.

"It's kind of like Sasuke-teme's style. Both of you guys like to wait for your opponent to come at you and then counter whatever is thrown at you, if you ever have to attack first you always attack fast and from the front. Neither of you can last in a drawn out battle. Strength wise your not the best I've seen but in speed the only people faster are Guy-sensei and Lee, but those two are crazy and don't count."

Kakashi couldn't help but chuckle at Naruto's quick dismissal of the two spandex wearing nin.

"Now don't be so quick to count them out Naruto, just because some one is a bit …. eccentric doesn't mean their style is ineffective or unimportant. A good many of the strongest ninja in the world have their little quirks, take the sanin for example. They are the strongest in all of Konoha and all three of them have some sort of quirk which takes up a good bit of their time and money."

"Hmm okay I see your point but those two are still the only ones faster than you that I've seen. Your fighting style rely just relies on being able to counter and avoid everything thrown at you."

"Correct." Kakashi said, nodding his head and impressed with his student's analysis. Sure the kid had missed a few things but then again Naruto wasn't known for being the most observant of his class. "Now tell me, would you like to learn a fighting style in which you just wait for your opponent to make the first move?"

Naruto shrank back and shook his head.

"No. Heck no! That's boring! I want to take the fight to the enemy and kick their teeth down their throat before they can even get a shot off that might hurt me or my friends."

"So then that is the reason why I can't teach you. With my sharingan I could teach you any style you wanted but I wouldn't teach it to your correctly. I can mirror it but that doesn't mean I understand and can tell others the minute details of the style. If I get you someone who specializes in what you want to learn then you will benefit from that far more than from me trying to teach you. Understand?"

"I guess." The blonde conceded a bit grudgingly. "So then what are we gonna learn today?"

As soon as the question had been asked Kakashi's sharingan eye snapped open and Naruto saw the look of glee in it before Kakashi vanished in a burst of speed. Ducking and rolling forward on instinct Naruto narrowly avoided the punch Kakashi threw at his head.

Scrambling back to his feet and pulling out two kunai Naruto braced for a fight as he turned around.

"All fighting styles require some ability to dodge so today we will be working on you avoiding getting pummeled, or bitten."

"Bitten?" Naruto asked confused. His answer came when Kakashi summoned three of his ninja dogs. Three huge boomhounds, all of which looked Naruto up and down like a slab of choice cut steak. "Ah-ha!" Naruto shouted as he took off at a sprint to keep away from the three monstrosities chasing him. "I thought this was supposed to be a spar! Not a massacare!"

Shouts of pain echoed throughout the castle for the remainder of the day. Occasionally a samurai would come into the room and watch for a bit before returning to his duties, no need to get involved with the ninja's crazy training.

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It was just before ten at night when Naruto finally managed to drag himself back to his room. He took three steps into the room before flopping down on the floor. Shower be damned he was going to sleep.

Upon hearing the sound of a body falling on the floor Temari poked her head out of the bedroom and looked at the blonde sprawled out across the floor. His jacket and shirt had bite marks and rips all over them, his pants had a huge hole in the back showing off his frog covered boxers for all to see. He stunk of sweat, drool and a bit of blood.

"Tough day?"

"Gmgh." Was the unintelligible response she got.

"Hmm well keep it down. I'm trying to sleep." With that Temari shut the door and retreated back into the bedroom.

After a minute of just laying there waiting to see if she would come back Naruto raised his head up to look at the door.

_'She is still ticked with me isn't she? I'll deal with it later, too tired now.'_

And so without a moments hesitation Naruto allowed himself to slip into the blissful world of dreams, where rivers of ramen flowed through a world of orange frogs.

A slight nudge against his side pulled Naruto back into the real world far too early for his liking.

"Wake up, you need to shower then get ready. I'm headed down to breakfast." Temari said as she walked towards the door. "Don't be late to class." Was her only fair well as she slipped out of the room leaving Naruto on the ground.

Propping himself up on his elbows Naruto let out a sigh.

"Oh yeah. She is definitely not my biggest fan at the moment, ah well I've had bigger scarier people angry at me before. That isn't my concern right now, now breakfast. _That_ sounds mighty important to me." Hopping up with the energy only he could have after an all day survival training session with Kakashi's boomhounds, Naruto strolled into the shower and got ready for another day of thrilling classes.

This was pretty much the pattern for the next week. Naruto would be kicked awake by Temari as she left for breakfast and then he would get up and get ready. By the time he got down to eat Temari was finishing up and left by the time he got his food and sat down, if by chance they were at the table long enough to talk they were pleasant to on another but not friendly. Classes were boring, and in Naruto's mind senseless. Without having a ninja as an instructor Naruto could sleep through class, eat in class or read another book and never be caught by the teacher. Temari would help him understand a word, but only if he asked and only if she was certain he was actually trying to pay attention. If he was just trying to figure out a word then she would simply tell him to pay attention. Training changed a bit, instead of one on one Kakashi worked with all three of them pointing out their major flaws and correcting what he could. At night Temari kept to the bedroom and kept the door shut, the offer to share the bed was not proposed again and Naruto doubted it would be offered again any time soon.

Finally Sunday came and since they didn't have class after their morning training session, which ended at lunch, they were left the rest of the day to do as they pleased. And while the castle was vast with plenty of room to explore it got old exploring on your own without the ability to run or play about. So before long Naruto bored of walking endlessly around the place and returned to his room only to find the bedroom door shut. Sighing Naruto walked up to the door and raised his hand to knock before freezing.

Temari looked at the door and waited, she had heard him enter and saw from the light peeking though the bottom of the door that he was standing outside it but he hadn't knocked yet. She knew she had been a bit rude to him this week but if he thought he could just come and go as he please then so could she. He had been kind enough to leave a clone so she was kind enough to wake him and bid him goodnight, beyond that she did no more than she had been before the mission to Tea Country. After almost ten minutes the shadow left from her door.

Shaking her head she was fixing to return to the book she had brought with her when she heard the window open.

_'Where is he going?'_ Temari wondered, hopping off the bed she threw the door open to try and catch him as he left out the window.

Instead she saw two Narutos playing shogi on the floor, the window was open and a gentle breeze was blowing in through it.

"Huh?"

"Yo! Whats up Temari-chan?" The Naruto on the right asked while the other Naruto continued to stare at the board.

"Oh, um. Why did you open the window?" Temari asked, knowing how silly she looked and sounded.

"Cause in Konoha its rarely ever cool enough to open up the windows and just enjoy the breeze. Since it's is so cool here I figured why not enjoy it while I can." Naruto replied before turning back to the board.

Temari nodded and watched the two for a minute before striding forward and bobbing both of the blondes on the head. The Naruto on the right vanished in a puff of smoke while the one on the left rubbed the lump on his head before grinning up at her.

"I'm me Temari-chan." He said with a grin before looking over at the opposite side end of the board. "Though now I no longer have an opponent."

Temari narrowed her eyes at the blonde.

"Very very smooth." Temari complemented before patting Naruto on the head. "But not smooth enough," With that she turned and started to walk back into the room, "you have plenty of chakra to make plenty more clones."

As Naruto watched her retreating backside he couldn't help the aching desire to follow her into the bedroom, but he didn't immediately squash the urge as he had before. He felt the longing sensation, let it run its course and then turned back to the shogi board. The desires were still enough to make his vision cloud over with lust but Naruto was slowly beginning to become accustomed to feeling them. Besides, so long as he didn't squash the urge to rape her he never felt the urge to kill her and frankly the second urge was far harder to resist than the first.

Shaking his head of the dark thoughts that plagued his mind he created another clone to play. Temari was had reached the bedroom and was just shutting the door when Naruto felt the tug on his body signaling that he was about to be the victim of a substitution. Courtesy of the shadow clone sitting on the roof that had slipped out the window before Temari had barged in. Holding onto the surrounding ground with just a touch of chakra Naruto postponed the substitution until the exact moment the door to the bedroom clicked shut, in that instant he allowed the substitution to shift his location in space.

The clone appeared in a puff of smoke, the faint sound of the clone popping into existence masked by the sound of the door sliding shut. Shaking his head the clone let out a chuckle.

"The boss is such a coward isn't he?" The new clone asked as he made a counter move against what his fellow clone had done.

"He is not!" The older clone defended, pausing for a second before continuing. "He is simply making a tactical retreat in order to train and prepare."

The new clone cocked an eyebrow.

"I'm you so you can't bull shit me. That is the exact same thing it just sounds better, now quit stalling and make a move!"

Blissfully unaware of his clones' conversation Naruto sat atop the samurai castle, legs crossed, eyes closed, hands resting in his lap with the fingers crossed and palms turned upwards. For a good minute or two Naruto just sat there. Nothing happened. He scratched his butt and waited another few minutes. Still nothing happened. Letting out a sigh Naruto shook his head.

"The Fox was so pulling my leg. There is no way just sitting here doing nothing is going to improve my chakra control or teach me how to enter the seal! I'm not even doing anything! How can doing nothing teach me something?" Groaning in frustration Naruto flopped onto his back, abandoning the meditative stance, and gazed up at the sky. The warmth of the sun slowly soaked through his thick jacket and started to warm Naruto, lulling him and putting his mind at ease as the blissful pleasure of laying out in the sun consumed his mind. "Forget meditating, this is heaven." Naruto groaned out as he relaxed further and let his mind wander where it would.

The first place his mind went was to thoughts of what his team mates and Gaara had done in the short time they had swapped teams. Sasuke he was certain had been training nonstop, the Uchiha had taken an almost obsessive interest in learning all things new and lethal after his defeat at the hands of Itachi. Gaara on the other hand was a mystery to Naruto, while they were both containers of tailed beast they two were so opposite in personalities that Naruto honestly had no idea what the sand user might have been doing this entire time. Following that train of thought Naruto thought over all he knew of his fellow jinchuuriki and came up with scarcely anything. Gaara's age, habits, or even what the Raccoon carrier dreamed of doing in the future all of it was a mystery to Naruto.

_'Okay whenever we swap teams again and Gaara is on my side I really got to learn more about him. Only natural for us jinchuurikis to stick together, speaking of which I wonder who the other jinchuuriki are?'_

The thought of imagining who the other jinchuuriki might be, what their tailed beast look like or what they were capable of. Images of heroic warriors wielding inhuman powers and possessing astonishing abilities whirled through Naruto's mind. For several hours all he thought of was what his fellow jinchuuriki might be like. It wasn't until he was trying to figure out what hair color of they might be that his mind wandered onto another topic. And when it did wander it wandered onto a topic he had been trying to keep his mind off of.

Sakura. Pink hair had been the link between his previous chain of thought and the one he now found himself unable to get off of. She was the girl he had been infatuated with for the longest time, ever since the incident in the playground he couldn't help but like her and be protective of her. How that desire to protect her had turned into the crush it had evolved into he had no idea but he knew that he liked her and in his mind that's all there was to it. But now he was _engaged_. The very thought put a sour taste in his mouth, he hated any one trying to control him or his life and this whole 'political marriage' business didn't sit well with him. The engagement not only rubbed him wrong because of his instinct to be independent and make his own choices but also because it ruined his hopes of gaining Sakura as his girlfriend.

_**'You idiot.'**_ The shock of having Kyuubi's voice boom through his head caused Naruto to snap his eyes open, not even noticing that at some point they had fallen shut, and leap up to his feet in a panic.

"What the!" Whirling this way and that way to try and locate where the voice had come from. For a good thirty minutes Naruto frantically looked about and listened for the fox's voice. "Fox?" Naruto questioned the thin air in hopes of a response.

No response was forth coming.

"I'm losing my mind. I just know it, I've gone crazy. Or maybe the fox is pulling some new stunt to try and screw with me. Ya ya that's it." Nodding to himself Naruto decided that enough thinking time was enough and substituted himself with the clone in the room. Seeing no aggravated Temari and a shogi board with great potential Naruto grinned. "Much better."

8888

The next two weeks flew by. Naruto and Temari kept up the pattern of Temari being distant and closed off with Naruto making no attempts to make up their little argument. After the first week and Temari's book had come to its end the blonde girl had become quite bored but still stuck to her room. Naruto, blissfully unaware of his roommates frustration, continued to play shogi and occasionally slip up to the roof to try and meditate like the fox had said. More often than not it ended with him starting up at the sky with his mind sifting through random thoughts and memories. Never again though did Naruto hear the fox's voice.

Kankuro and Kakashi enjoyed the remainder of their trip as if it were a gift from Kami herself. Kankuro enjoyed the time off from difficult and long missions as well as the bonus free time the weekends gave him to fiddle with his puppets, ya he knew the two blondes were not on the best of terms but he saw no reason to interfere. They were going to be married, that's all there was to it in his mind. Kakashi was in heaven. With the schedule leaving him so much free time the silver haired jonin spent most of his time 'studying' his beloved novel, as well as taking time off to ensure that Temari and Naruto's relationship stayed on a proper course. Kakashi wasn't going to force his sensei's son into a horrid marriage, not after what happened to his mother, but he would try and encourage the two blondes to get along for the sake of the village.

8888

"Yo!" Kakashi greeted as he popped into Naruto and Temari's room at six in the morning, he had been sure to open the door to the bedroom before announcing his presence. This sudden appearance was responded to by Temari shrieking and falling out of bed, tossing two horribly aimed kunai at Kakashi as she fell. Naruto on the other hand just rolled over and rubbed his eye, groaning as he strained to see through sleep crusted eyes.

"Yo Kaka-sensei, what's up?" Naruto asked as he attempted to rise to his feet.

"Well our two week vacation is up sadly. Which means it's time for you two and Kankuro go link up with the trio in Suna."

"Alriiiight!" Naruto groaned out mid stretch, his word turning into a sort of shout mid way through.

"We are swapping Kankuro for Sakura correct?" Temari said, finally joining the conversation after extracting herself from the tangle of covers now lying on the floor.

"Yep. Oh and since you three have been having such a nice and relaxing time here," Kakashi ignored the snort from Naruto about how classes were not relaxing, "I forgot to mention that it's a two day trek to the arranged meeting location from here and your supposed to be there today by five." Even as his eye turned up into his signature eye smile he saw Temari's face go pale. "Just think of it as endurance training. See ya!" With that Kakashi shushined from the room before Temari could recover, he knew she wasn't quite as dangerous without her fan but he still didn't wish to be around when the wind user retaliated.

The sound of Kakashi popping out of existence snapped Temari back into reality.

"I'm killing him, some day, some how I will kill that cyclops." She seethed while glaring at the spot Kakashi had been moments before. Her voice caused Naruto to turn and look at her, only to freeze and his mouth fall open. There before him was Temari, standing over a tangle of sheets, hands on her hips which were cocked to the side highlighting the curves of her lower half and her hair in a mess. Not to mention she was dressed in nothing more than a pair of tight boy short style underwear and a black bra.

Naruto's mind proceeded to shut down.

However the other half of him was more than happy to comment on the sight before him.

_**'Now that is a body worth ravaging.'**_ Kyuubi commented from within Naruto's mind. The blonde's mind was too far gone from the shock of seeing Temari in such scarce clothing. When his mind finally did reboot it was running on full power down a train of thought Naruto was more than familiar with but still highly bothered by. Images of Temari nude and powerless beneath him as he pounded into her flashed through Naruto's mind.

Luckily for both of them Temari didn't notice Naruto's petrified stare and simply started getting ready after glaring at where Kakashi had been, totally oblivious as to what was going through her roommates mind at the moment.

8888

Sakura, Sasuke and Gaara were scattered about the meeting place on the border of the forest and the desert. Gaara was sitting cross legged several feet out into desert, soaking in the sun and keeping in touch with the sand in order to keep himself busy. Sasuke was situated in a tree on one of the massive limbs, his back rested against the trunk of the tree with his eyes closed and his breathing slow and steady. The raven haired boy wasn't quite asleep he was simply bordering on the realm of consciousness in order to remain aware of his surroundings and still rest at the same time. Both the lightning wielder and the sand manipulator were calm and relaxed, neither perturbed by the tardiness of the team that was supposed to be there seven hours ago.

Sakura on the other hand was a maelstrom of movement. For the past two weeks she had been snappy and on edge, she had racked her mind and memories for the reason she had originally set out to be a ninja or to at least create a reason worth dying for. And still she had not come up with a valid reason to continue her ninja career. The fact that the reworked Team Seven was currently seven hours late had thrown her temper over the edge and right into the red zone. Both Sasuke and even Gaara had learned not to set her off, without Naruto around to take the beatings Sakura had turned on them.

"Where are there?" Sakura seethed. She wasn't shouting or even raising her voice, she was calm and that was what had Gaara and Sasuke sitting so far away from them.

Unknown to the Suna trio Team Seven was just a short distance away sprinting at full speed. Kankuro and Temari were both sucking in air and drenched in sweat trying to make it before the sun set, both were straining to keep moving on the traces of chakra they still had left in their bodies without relying on soldier pills. Naruto on the other hand was loving the marathon. It had been ages since he had gone on a run long enough to truly tire him out, other than the mass shadow clone training he had been doing nothing had truly tired him out since his battle with Gaara. On top of the little work out he was getting, he would get to see Sakura and Sasuke again. That alone was enough to put him in better spirits than he had been in for a long time.

When he felt Kyuubi's chakra suddenly stir to life within his system and buzz in the pit of his stomach, waiting to be released at a moments notice, Naruto knew the Suna Trio were just ahead. He always got this sensation whenever Gaara was around. _'Probably just Kyuubi and the raccoon getting in a biju pissing match or something'_ Naruto thought to himself with grin.

"Hey hey they are still here!" Naruto cheered, looking back to grin at Kankuro who was further behind than Temari. "Told ya they wouldn't leave!" Giving a final burst of speed Naruto launched himself ahead of the other two and landed in the clearing only a step or two away from Sakura who stopped her pacing to face the blonde's unexpected arrival. "We made it! Sorry to take so long, Kaka-sensei didn't tell us we were supposed to meet you guys until this morning." Kankuro and Temari stumbled into the clearing before collapsing to their knees in exhaustion, drenched in sweat and gasping for air.

"Hn, typical of him." Sasuke said as he leapt from his perch on the tree to land near Kankuro and Temari, activating his sharingan for a split second to insure they weren't damaged from a strain on their chakra reserves. Deactivating his eyes he shook his head and half glared at Naruto. "And typical of you to be fine while these two are beat."

Naruto just shrugged.

"Meh, stamina is the one thing I can out do anyone in. Besides I'll just carry Temari-chan back to Konoha since we won't have to rush back. And Gaara can just carry Kankuro, right Gaara?" Naruto asked turning to look at the red head who had finally made his way over to join the conversation.

"Sure. It will not take much to carry him. I assume that means one of us will be traded for Kankuro?"

"Yep! Tsunade said we are to trade Kankuro for Sakura." Naruto responded, his face scrunched up into its usual carefree grin.

Sasuke and Gaara, as well as Temari noticed how easily Naruto had dropped the affectionate terms for both Tsunade and Sakura but none of them brought it up.

"Oh!" Naruto shouted, his eyes snapping open as he whirled to face Sakura, unaware that the pinkette had been silent the entire time. "Sakura guess what Tsunade did!" Without waiting for a response Naruto continued. "She let the councils in Suna and Konoha force me and Temari-chan into a political marriage, crazy right?" He grinned and leaned in towards her with his eyes scrunched up so tight they were shut.

Instead of the immediate reaction he expected he got a stagnant silence, the atmosphere steadily getting tenser as the silence was stretched.

"Your seven hours late." Sakura breathed out, just loud enough for Naruto to hear.

"Huh?" Naruto responded leaning in closer and opening his eyes in confusion.

The following sound of an open palm smashing against skin was loud enough to make even the two jonin watching the exchange wince.

Naruto opened his eyes to see he was laying on the ground, his face stinging like none other and Sakura towering him over him with an enraged look in her jade green eyes.

"You keep me waiting for SEVEN hours and the first thing you start rambling about is how you're getting married to the sand bitch? Do I look like I care? Or for that matter, have EVER cared about what you do?" Sakura shook her head and laughed a vicious and laugh like that of a barking dog. "If anything I'm _glad_ your getting married, means you can't chase me or annoy me any more. Do you know how annoying it is having the dead last of the entire village chasing after you? It makes me look pathetic! I mean are you all I can attract? It'd be better if I attracted a dog, they are at least cute."

Her rant finished Sakura snorted and stepped back.

"Now, can we please get a move on since your cozy enough with your _beloved_ bride that you offer to carry her the whole way back? I'm tired of standing around."

Dead silence prevailed in the clearing. Four souls were shocked beyond belief, too shocked to even be angry with the fifth person in the clearing. The fifth was feeling much better with herself, having gotten her frustration out in a good relaxing rant.

However it was the sixth soul that was of the most importance. Because in the sixth soul only one sound could be heard through out his mind.

Drip


	7. Chapter 7

Evening, morning and greetings to all. Summer break is officially my favorite time of the year, so much free time to write it's lovely. Anyways this chapter is shorter than my other chapters but I cranked it out without a six month waiting period so it should balance out.

Enjoy, Impure Perfection

* * *

><p><strong>Warming Up<strong>

Naruto's body was numb, he could no longer sense the stinging in his cheek or the feel of the grass beneath his finger tips as he sat on the ground with his legs sprawled out in front of him. He could hear what the others in the clearing were saying but he could not understand them. Their voices were both muffled and amplified. Their voices were blurred and toned out till they sounded like nothing more than an unintelligible low buzz. At the same time their voices were amplified ten fold to the point that the low buzz was a droning sound that engulfed his senses.

While his body virtually shut down his mind was in overdrive, trying to process the torrent of emotions coursing through him. Shock and hurt were two prevalent emotions but both of those were dwarfed by the third one. It wasn't anger. No this was too hot, too vicious and sinister to be simple anger. It was deeper and far darker than anything Naruto had felt in a long, long while. It was a burning ocean in the pit of his stomach, so deep and so dark it was unfathomable. Closing his eyes Naruto shut himself off from the outside world with a flurry of brown being the last he saw. Paying no attention to the outside world he instead turned inwards and focused on the broiling sea inside himself. He could feel it, knew instinctively that if he so desired he could reach out and touch it, could immerse himself in it and become numb to the sting from Sakura's words.

Risking it Naruto reached out and touched the ocean of tumultuous rage and power, not going so far as to lose himself to the rage but far enough to graze the surface. The instant he touched it he felt power unlike anything he had ever felt before, greater than Orochimaru or even Itachi and Kisami. This was beyond all comprehension and Naruto knew _this_ was the Kyuubi. Not the miniscule and pathetic portion Kyuubi granted him access to on a whim, but Kyuubi's true potential. The power to level mountains and create bottomless valleys on a whim, the power to destroy. Merely by scratching the surface Naruto felt it course through his veins, liquid fire so hot it was cold, re-energizing and re-vitalizing him. His eyes felt the rush the most, it felt as if his eyes had been taken out and replaced with live coals straight out of a furnace. Yet despite the intense heat Naruto wasn't bothered by the burning sensation that filled his body to bursting. On the contrary he felt more alive now than he ever had, higher than the clouds he felt untouchable.

But he knew from Jiraiya's warnings what was to come with this feeling.

_**Flashback**_

"Okay, that was NOT my smartest idea." Looking down at his pants he saw the new rips just beneath his knees. As he stood up he saw the burn marks in the ground and sighed. "I really need to get a handle on the fox's chakra, I keep burning everything when I use it." Shrugging he brushed the thought aside and created another mass of clones.

It was going to be a long night.

A night that was only lengthened by Jiraiya showing up the next time Naruto tapped into Kyuubi's chakra.

"I see you got a handle on drawing on the nine tail's chakra." The silver haired hermit said, announcing his presence as he walked into the clearing. Noticing the startled look on Naruto's face Jiraiya smirked. "Come on kid, I could feel you tapping into it's chakra from the hokage building it didn't take long to track you down. So, wanna clue me in on how you managed to get access to it so easily?"

Naruto was pensive for a minute.

"I upped the rent." The blonde finally stated. Seeing Jiraiya still expected more Naruto sighed and elaborated. "I saw what all Gaara got from holding the one tailed raccoon so basically I went down into the sewers, fussed at the fox and demanded more chakra since Gaara got such awesome powers. Kyuubi moaned and bitched about it but gave me access to less than one tail's worth of power whenever I want."

"Show me." Jiraiya commanded, not roughly but sternly enough that Naruto knew the sage wasn't in a joking mood.

Nodding Naruto closed his eyes and drew out a good portion of Kyuubi's chakra, enough to enshroud his entire body in the blazing orange chakra and char the ground around his feet. After staying like that for a full minute Jiraiya nodded that was enough and Naruto instantly let the chakra dissipate.

"Impressive, you've come mighty far to have mastered that much of its chakra on your own. Even more impressive is the fact you let it go so quickly?"

"Huh?"

"I've known a jinchuuriki or two in my life time kid so I know some things you haven't figured out quite yet. One of them being that the demon's chakra is addictive while your using it. You will want to draw on more and more of it as you grow accustomed to it in order to get the initial rush of using it. Eventually you get to the point that you don't want to stop and you give yourself up to the beast. So no matter what always be weary of how much chakra you use, because the more you use the harder it will be to stop." Grinning and shaking his head to lighten the mood Jiraiya laughed. "I still can't believe you gained this much control on your own so fast. Keep up the good work kid, I'll be checking in soon enough."

With that the silver haired hermit vanished in a swirl of leaves leaving Naruto to his training

_**Flashback End**_

Heeding his sensei's words despite his rage Naruto resisted the urge to delve any further into the malevolent ocean. Enjoying the rush of power Naruto mentally smirked. _'Won't need much to own this bitch.'_

Sasuke, Kankuro and Temari were all scolding Sakura for her harsh words when Naruto stood up. He slowly stood up, keeping his head bent down to hide his eyes from the view of the others. All fell quite as the blonde finally stood up but remained motionless and silent. Then they watched as he took a single step forward closing the distance between himself and Sakura. In the blink of an eye Naruto's hand lashed out and back handed Sakura clear across the clearing and through a few trees before she collided with the trunk of a tree and came to a rest.

All eyes went wide with shock as Naruto kept walking forward, his goal of tearing Sakura to bits was evident to the other genin. However the instant Sasuke took a step forward to try and calm the blonde Naruto vanished in a burst of speed and reappeared behind the Uchiha, a rasengan charged up in Naruto's hand. Without warning Naruto drove the rasengan through Sasuke's back, tearing the Uchiha to bits and blowing his guts across the clearing and all over the remaining three genin. Ignoring the other thee genin and the gore Naruto returned his focus back on Sakura who was still lying limply on a branch. With a surge of chakra Naruto leapt up to where Sakura was trying in vain to move, her body either in shock from the savage blow she had received or it was broken some how.

Grinning down in delight Naruto let out a chuckle that did not belong to an mortal soul.

"My my, how pathetic you look. Is one hit all your body can take?" Naruto asked, his voice deeper and darker than Sakura had ever heard. Shaking his head Naruto dropped down into a crouch so he was eye level with her. "That's not gonna make this any fun." Before Sakura had time to ask what 'this' was Naruto reached out and grabbed hold of both her arms and at the same time planted a foot on her chest. His foot was pressed right across her breast and the way he dug the heel of his foot into her sent waves of pain through her body. She went to scream only for that scream to freeze in her throat as Naruto ripped her arms off in one savage jerk.

Mind going numb as agony tore her mind asunder Sakura's head rolled back, her eyes rolling back in her head and her mouth hung open in a silent scream.

Naruto grinned and looked at the two blood appendages he held.

"Sigh, you really are pathetic Sakura that took hardly any effort at all." Tossing the now useless limbs aside Naruto reached out and places his palms over the stumps were Sakura's arms had been. Allowing Kyuubi's chakra to flow through his body Naruto watched with amusement and satisfaction as the volatile chakra seared the bleeding flesh shut. "There we go all better, now you can't swat or slap me anymore. But something is still amiss with this image." Naruto said thoughtfully as he looked Sakura over. "Ah! That's what it is."

Lashing out Naruto's clawed hands tore the front of Sakura's shirt open as well as leaving a light slash running down her chest to her stomach.

The pinkette's mind apparently rebooted as she tried to cover her now exposed bust, only to find that she couldn't use her arms to cover herself. Tears were pouring out of her jade green eyes as she stared up at Naruto in horror. To her utter shock Naruto was shaking his head.

"Sigh, you truly were as flat chested as you looked...although." Naruto said before he crouched down once more and reached out to pinch one of Sakura's nipples between his claws. "These look like they might still work properly." Pinching harder till he elected a gasp of pain from Sakura Naruto grinned. "They do, how delightful!" Twisting savagely Naruto torqued the nipple until it was purple and bruised and Sakura was begging him to stop. Releasing the nipple for a second Naruto paused long enough for Sakura to catch her breath before snagging the other nipple between his claws. However right as Sakura was expecting him to pinch and torque it once more Naruto instead ripped it off causing the girl to howl in sheer agony.

"Ah... music to my hears. In fact, it's so sweet sounding I'm getting a boner from it. How about you take care of this for me?" Naruto said as he stood up and began to reach for his zipper.

"Naruto!"

The shout shattered the world around Naruto throwing him back into the blackness of his mind and back to hovering just above the sea of rage.

Feeling a reassuring hand placed on his shoulder and hearing Temari's voice in his ear Naruto's eyes shot open. Not knowing when or how his eyes had gotten shut Naruto looked around to see where he was as he was most certainly not standing over a bloody and beaten Sakura.

"What happened?" Naruto asked as he took in the fact Sasuke was alive and well, as were the others while Sakura was currently wrapped in a cocoon of sand. Temari was crouched behind him with her hand on his shoulder and a concerned look on her face and her emerald green eyes were clouded with worry.

"Gaara asked you a question but." Temari paused to catch her breath, still horribly tired from the mad dash. "You were out of it." She finished.

"Oh." Naruto replied, he was about to turn around and thank her when he noticed something. His eyes still felt like live coals, meaning he still had Kyuubi's chakra in his system. That meant that while what he had seen had been nothing more than a dream he had truly reached out and touched Kyuubi's chakra. Despite his desire to will the chakra out of his system he couldn't. The rage that had fueled him was still in him and so long as that was there so was the Kyuubi's chakra. Growling in frustration at not being able to will the chakra away Naruto channeled his own chakra to his eyes and felt as his chakra warred with the chakra that was already present in his eyes. It cooled his eyes down enough that he risked it and turned to look at Temari over his shoulder. "Thanks." Naruto mumbled, not really caring if she accepted his thanks or not but just paying attention to how she reacted to his eyes.

If she froze with fear and had a mental break down then Naruto knew Kyuubi was still able to influence others.

If she didn't then he knew he just needed to keep chakra in his eyes from now own.

Seeing her blink in confusion when her eyes met him Naruto let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding.

"Your...welcome?" Temari replied out of courtesy but her mind was more interested in why Naruto's eyes were a mix of red and blue, with the two colors constantly shifting and changing positions. It looked almost as if his eyes held two liquids that refused to mix with one another and instead of mixing were constantly shifting about.

Naruto turned away from Temari, content that he was able to at least subdue the Kyuubi's influence on the outside world. But that didn't solve the main issue and that was the anger he felt. Try as he might he couldn't swallow his feelings and go numb as he had so many times before. This was the second time in his life when he had been unable to smile through the pain, the first being when Orochimaru had killed the Third Hokage who had been like a father to Naruto. Shaking his head to focus on the present instead of the past Naruto looked at the spot Sakura had been standing to find that Gaara had imprisoned her in a cocoon of sand with all but her nose covered.

"So would you like me to kill her for you Uzumaki?" Gaara asked, his tone as monotonous as if he were discussing the weather. "With my history none from my village would be suspicious of her death."

Naruto's eyes widened at the question as the possibility of killing her without actually having to do it flash before him. Gaara was right, if he were to crush her with his sand no one would be shocked. And Sakura came from a common family with no true ties so little fuss would be raised over her death. As he was considering it he felt Temari tighten her grip on his shoulder.

Looking back over his shoulder to see her looking at him with worry Naruto sighed.

"No. Don't kill her." Naruto finally growled out after several moments of deliberation. Standing up as Gaara released a gasping Sakura Naruto looked down at her in contempt. "Her existence isn't worth snuffing out."

Sakura, who was utterly confused as to why everyone was glaring at her or why Gaara had so abruptly made another attempt on her life.

"What is wrong with all of you?" She questioned only to be answered by harsh glares.

Temari opened her mouth to call the pink haired girl out for her behavior but the wind mistress was silenced by a look from Naruto's red and blue eyes.

"Forget it." Naruto said as he bent down and scooped Temari up bridal style.

Instead of fighting against being picked up as she normally would Temari sent a final glare over Naruto's shoulder before sighing and relaxing. She may have been furious with Sakura at the moment but she was far too tired to really lay into the pinkette at the moment. Key being for the moment, when she was rested Temari planned to give the pink girl hell on earth.

"We're moving out pinky." Naruto snapped over his shoulder.

"But the sun is sett..." Sakura started to point out only to be cut off when Naruto glared at her over his shoulder.

His normally cerulean blue eyes were now blood red with specks of blue scattered throughout giving his eyes a warped appearance.

"I said, we are moving out. Keep up." With that Naruto took a single step before launching himself into the woods with a burst of chakra that left the ground he had been standing on charred.

Sakura blinked, utterly bewildered by this new Naruto. Then it clicked that she was being left behind.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Sakura hollered before she too took off into the woods in chase of her two teammates.

Gaara, Sasuke and Kankuro watched them go.

"The fuck just happened?" Kankuro asked, he had been panting and on the ground trying to catch his breath so he missed whatever Sakura said earlier. All he knew was that Naruto had said something, the girl had said something and next thing anyone knew Naruto was on the ground getting an earful from the pinkette.

Sasuke shook his head and sighed.

"Something that is going to give Kakashi nightmares, luckily I won't have to deal with it for a month. Now are we going to head back tonight or stay here?"

"Here." Gaara said, his eyes still gazing off into the woods. His gaze trying to bore a hole through the back of Sakura's head despite her being out of his field of vision.

"Ya, trying to head home now is suicide for anyone but Gaara." Kankuro said, laughing slightly despite still being short of breath. "Your still new out here but at night the desert is cold as ice and the winds often get violent, in the village your protected from it but out in the open you will be torn apart. For Gaara that's fine but for us it's virtually impossible to cross." Groaning Kankuro slid up next to a try and shut his eyes. "But that's fine by me, I'm too tired to make the trek right now anyways. How that blonde stamina freak keeps going is beyond me."

"Hn, as I said stamina is the one thing he always has plenty of." Sasuke grunted as he went about setting up his tent for the night.

As the other two engaged in conversation Gaara continued to glare at the forest. He would get no sleep tonight, and for once it was not due to fear of his inner demon.

8888

Temari was finding it harder and harder to stay awake the longer she was in Naruto's arms. Despite the blonde boy being a bit shorter than her he carried her with little to no effort, probably due to all the training he did. He was a close combat specialist after all. Thinking back to the few times she had seen him without his bulky jacket covering his frame Temari remembered how his body had been toned and muscular, not to the point of being buff but just enough muscle to show and keep his skin taunt.

Another factor that Temari was fighting against in her attempts to stay awake was the warmth that she was blanketed in due to her close proximity to Naruto. The wind wielder found her fellow blonde's warmth to be utter bliss, it was a different warmth than the warmth of the sun or the heat of a fire. It was a warmth that was Naruto's own and it was heaven. Though oddly he was warmer now than he had been in the cave. Perhaps it was because he was moving or because of something else but whatever the reason Naruto's body right now was a veritable inferno that was so warm it bordered on being hot. Yet between the feel of the wind cooling and tickling her skin as Naruto effortlessly and smoothly carried her through the forest while his warmth relaxed her muscles and lulled her to sleep she found herself dozing in and out of consciousness.

Giving up on fighting it Temari pulled her arms up against her chest and snuggled into Naruto.

Feeling the blonde girl in his arms shift Naruto looked down and saw her shut her eye lids and snuggle into his chest. Grinning and laughing softly so as to not disturb her too much Naruto shook his head.

"Your enjoying this aren't you?"

"Mmhmm." Temari mumbled before slipping off into the realm of dreams.

Naruto again laughed before shaking his head and focusing on the task of getting back to the village. The darkness of night was no bother to him as with the enhanced vision he got courtesy of the fox night or day he saw perfectly. With his limitless stamina this was nothing more than a lovely midnight stroll through the forest with a beautiful girl in his arms. Quite enjoyable if it were not for the other girl who was still keeping up with, albeit barely.

Pinky, as he was now calling her, had caught up to them a few moments after they had left the clearing. Since then she was doing her best to keep up with the hellish pace Naruto had set on their trip back to the village. To him it was nothing but to her she was running out of steam, fast.

"Naruto!" Sakura finally shouted only to regret it when he glared at her.

"Temari just fell asleep, keep your voice down." Naruto growled out.

"Sorry." Sakura mumbled, not knowing how to handle this new Naruto. The old one rarely questioned her while this new more volatile Naruto seemed to have no problem correcting her or questioning her. "I need a break." The pinkette continued, remembering why she had spoken up in the first place.

"And?" Naruto asked.

Sakura blanked at that.

"Um, can we stop?"

"Sure." Naruto growled out after a moment of deliberation, coming to a halt slowly so as to not wake Temari. "You have ten minutes to rest then we move on." With that Naruto fell silent, trying not to lash out at the girl to badly. He was beyond enraged with her at the moment and constantly felt the urge to obliterate her but he was still in control of himself. And as long as he was still in control of himself he would leave the girl alone so long as she left him alone.

Sakura said nothing and collapsed onto a tree branch not far from the one Naruto was standing on. She tried to ignore the cold way he was treating her and focus on catching her breath instead of letting her emotions affect her but it was tough. She had _always_ had him as moral support or as a friend. To have him suddenly treat her as nothing more than an addition to the team that needed catering was a shock. Ignoring it and popping a soldier pill Sakura focused breathing and resting as much as she could, shutting her eyes as trying to see in the dark was tiring them. How Naruto could so effortlessly see in this pitch black was beyond her comprehension.

"Time to move pinky."

Sakura heard Naruto quietly call out far sooner than she liked.

Seeing the pink haired girl's reluctance to move Naruto growled.

"Now or I leave you."

"Fine, fine I'm up." Sakura said in a rush, not anxious to be left in the dark by herself all night.

With that the two conscious leaf shinobi continued their trek back in silence. The rest of the trip home went exactly like that. Sakura going as long as possible before calling for a break. Naruto gave her ten minutes and then they were off again. The breaks came closer and closer together as the night progressed but eventually they made it back to Konoha just as the sun was beginning to rise. When they arrived Sakura looked like a mess, her eyes blood shot, her hair a tangled mess from the few times she didn't notice an incoming branch, and her clothes soaked in sweat. Naruto looked as if he had just finished a morning stroll. Temari on the other hand started to stir as the group walked along the path into the village, the action of walking jarred her from her sleep.

"Mmm?" Temari mumbled, rubbing sleep from her eyes and trying in vain to snuggle into the warm object she was laying on in order to hide from the rising sun's light.

Chuckling Naruto paused and looked down at Temari as she woke up.

"Morning Temari-chan, time to wake up. We made it to the village and you need to sign in."

Temari stiffened and looked about, seeing that they were in fact just outside the gates of Konoha.

"I slept the whole way? Wow, alright."

Sensing that the blonde was awake enough to stand on her own Naruto set her down, watching as she stretched once. His red and blue eyes ghosting over the curves of her body, lust clouding his mind and giving the red more power to dominate the blue in his eyes. Feeling his eyes light up with Kyuubi's chakra again Naruto shook his head to rid himself of the lustful desires and felt his eyes cool once more.

With Temari now awake the three strolled through the gates, signing into the village before continuing onto the hokage's office to report a mission complete.

_'Then go home and sleep! Baka, how dare he make me run all the way back here?'_ Sakura thought, sending a vicious glare at Naruto out the corner of her eyes.

8888

"Mission complete Tsuande." Naruto said, already knowing from the look Tsunade had given him the moment he walked in that he had explaining to do.

"Good." Tsunade said to the trio before her though her eyes were still glued to Naruto's now dual colored eyes. "Sakura, you are dismissed. Naruto and Temari stay behind."

Sakura blinked at being dismissed but did as she was told. With the cold shoulder she had been receiving from Naruto she had no desire to stay in the room with him any longer than was needed. And the glares from Temari did nothing to help the situation.

Tsunade waited until Sakura had left the room and shut the door before speaking.

"Naruto have you told Temari about the fox?" The busty hokage asked. When she got a nod from Naruto in response she continued. "Good then you may speak freely. Now please explain what the heck is going on with your eyes because frankly it is distracting trying to talk to you while your eyes constantly change."

Naruto frowned in confusion at that, trying to understand what she was talking about. His eyes weren't burning from Kyuubi's chakra so they should be blue now.

While he was thinking Temari noted how out unnatural it looked for him to frown, it was so much nicer when he smiled. Blinking at where her thoughts were taking her Temari was glad all attention was on Naruto's eyes as she was fairly certain her cheeks were pink at the moment.

"What do you mean? They aren't blue?" Naruto asked to which Tsunade pulled out a pocket mirror and tossed it to the blonde who easily caught it. Holding the mirror up to his eyes Naruto gasped at what he saw. Taking in his eyes new appearance he blinked several times to try and fix them only to find they looked the same. Channeling extra chakra into his eyes did nothing more than making the two colors shift about faster. Sighing Naruto shook his head before tossing the mirror back to Tsunade. "I don't know, I thought I fixed it."

"Fixed it?" Tsunade questioned.

"Well..." Naruto started only to trail off, not knowing how to explain it.

Seeing Naruto struggle with it Temari stepped forward.

"In short Sakura slapped and verbally assaulted Naruto after Kakahsi made us late to meet up with the Suna team. Naruto had an internal conflict with the fox because he spaced out for a bit, when he refocused his eyes had changed. Only conclusion I can reach is Sakura angered him and he is trying to not let it show but the fox is making it physically evident."

Naruto turned and stared at Temari.

_'She caught it all, she read me perfectly. She knew I was angry, knew I was dealing with the fox when I spaced out and knows I'm trying to control it. And she didn't even flinch when she saw my eyes. She is awesome.' _Naruto thought, noticing for the first time just how much attention Temari paid to him.

While Naruto was having his mental epiphany Tsunade and Temari continued their conversation.

"So in other words because Naruto hasn't cooled down Kyuubi's chakra is still in his system?"

"That's the best guess I have. All I know about jinchuuriki is that emotions seem to bring out the tailed beast's chakra, like my brother. I figured Naruto was similar to my brother so that was the best I could come up with."

"Sounds perfectly logically." A new voice chimed into the conversation, drawing all attention to the window and snapping Naruto from his thoughts. Jiraiya was sitting on the windowsill with a thoughtfully look on his face. "But it is odd that Kyuubi's chakra wouldn't be flushed by now." Ignoring Tsunade fussing at him the old sage hopped off the windowsill and walked towards Naruto. "Lift your shirt kid, let me take a look at your seal."

Complying with the sage's instructions Naruto lifted his shirt, not needing to channel chakra as he already was channeling chakra to his eyes. When he heard Jiraiya grunt before standing up and glaring down at him Naruto knew the changes the fox had made were evident.

"What did you do?" Jiraiya asked, his eyes deadly serious.

"I wanted more access to Kyuubi's chakra so I asked for it. In exchange for me upping the rent for residing in my body the fox decided he wanted better accommodations. So I gave him access to my eyes in exchange for access to less than one tail's worth of chakra whenever I want. Though as an added bonus the fox enhanced my sight as well."

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes and peered closer at Naruto's eyes, watching how the red and blue mixed with one another for a moment before dropping back down to re-examine the seal with the new knowledge.

"Alright, I can see that now. I knew you did something to give the fox more freedom seeing as the fox altered one of the eight prongs of this seal, though what the hell he added onto it I can't tell. However it did nothing to mess with the core, for now it is fine."

"Now back to this part about the fox enhancing your eye sight? To what extent exactly?" Tsunade asked, the medic in her wondering what a biju was medically capable of doing to a human's body.

Cocking his head to the side trying to think of how to explain it Naruto got an idea.

" Ah! See that merchant pushing his cart down the street?" Naruto said, pointing out the window to which all turned. "He has the red shirt on." The blonde added to help specify which one. When everyone nodded that they understood which one Naruto continued. "I can tell you that he has a red ant crawling up his left leg and the ant is about to bite him on the back of his knee." Sure enough not two seconds latter the merchant paused and scratched something on the back of his left leg.

All in the room turned to stare at Naruto in shock.

"Gaki that man was easily a quarter mile away." Jiraiya said in awe.

Naruto just shrugged.

"And darkness has little to no affect on my eyesight."

Tsunade let out a dry chuckle.

"Kid you should have cut that deal a long time ago, anyways your eyes weren't the only reason I kept you two." Tsunade said as she began to dig in her desk for something. While she was looking for the mystery object Jiraiya stepped behind Tsunade and Temari stepped back to stand beside Naruto. Having finally found what she was looking for Tsunade sat back up and revealed that she held a key in her hands. "Come. There is something Jiraiya and I need to show you Naruto."

That said the group made their way out of the hokage's office and building, though oddly instead of heading into town they walked along the base of the hokage monument. The two adults lead the group while the kids trailed a few steps behind. As they were walking Temari moved closer to Naruto in order to talk to him without being over heard.

"Any idea what this is about?"

"Not a clue, I thought fuzzy was the only secret kept from me. Apparently I'm just a bundle of secrets." Naruto whispered back, his voice strained with annoyance at yet another secret being kept from him.

Before long Tsunade and Jiraiya came to a halt. Naruto and Temari caught up to them and looked around to try and spot why they had stopped. All they could tell was that they were about half way around the hokage monument, just far enough away to be out of view of the village center but still easily within the walls of the village. To the right stretched the same forest that was scattered throughout all of Konoha, ahead of them the path stretched on till the other side of the hokage monument more than likely. And to the left of them was a cliff wall overgrown with vines that reached nearly half way up the mountain side.

"Um, why did we stop? Did you two get lost?"

Tsunade smirked at the brat before grinning at Jiraiya.

"Pervert, care to do the honors?"

"My pleasure hime." Jiraiya said before flashing through a series of hand seals so fast Naruto and Temari couldn't follow them. With the sequence finished the toad sage slammed his palms against the vine covered wall. To the genin's immense shock the vines around Jiraiya's hands caught on fire, slowly the blaze worked its way up and down the wall spreading from vine to vine until at last all the overgrowth had been burnt away. Stepping back to admire his handy work Jiriaya let out a whistle. "Kami it has been ages since I've seen this place."

Temari and Naruto could say nothing as they were simply staring at the sight before them in awe.

Where once a massive wall of vines and rock had been was now a clear cut opening into the side of the mountain. The opening had been carved into the side of the mountain in the shape of a half circle, whether it had been carved by man or nature none could tell. The opening was roughly a mile wide and at the highest point reached a good hundred or so yards upwards from the ground allowing ample light to pass into the rest of the compound. On the ground was a ten foot white wall made of some stone that obviously did not come from the mountain.

"Where is the entrance?" Naruto finally asked breaking the silence the group had been in.

Blinking Temari looked around and noticed the fact that the wall lacked a formal entrance.

"Why right here of course." Tsunade said, a teasing grin on her face.

Naruto narrowed his eyes and growled at her, both of the sanin took note of the fact that while the red in his eyes did not grow the rate the two colors were moving about did pick up.

"Listen here you old hag, I may be a limitless chakra tank but I do enjoy sleep. Now quit teasing and let's get this over with so I can get some sleep."

Both Tsunade and Jiraiya blinked at Naruto's mood, both making mental notes to watch him but neither said anything about it.

"Hold your horses you'll get your beauty sleep soon enough, though I doubt it will help you any." Jiraiya scolded playfully. "Besides give an old man time to take in the view. I haven't seen this place in, what? Twenty years or so?"

"Why so long?" Temari asked, curious as to what the place was. Try and she might she couldn't discern any clan markings to indicate what this place was.

"Well you see this is the Namikaze compound and the last Namikaze made a good many enemies in the last war, two villages in particular would love to have found this place. So he hid it and moved into the village when he got married." Tsunade explained.

"Wait a minute! Namikaze, as in Namikaze like the Fourth Hokage? As in Minato Namikaze, Yellow Flash of the Leaf? _That _Namikaze?" Naruto shouted, utterly floored to be looking at the house of his long time hero.

Tsunade chuckled and nodded her head.  
>"Yes that Namikaze."<p>

"But wait, he died fourteen years ago so why hasn't any body done anything with this place since then?" Temari asked.

"Simply put, because we can't." Jiraiya grumbled out, glaring at the wall. "The kid was a genius with seals, he turned this place into an untouchable hideaway with seals. Only one who could open it would be someone from his family with his blood."

"But what about that key?" Naruto asked, disappointed that they had walked this whole way fro nothing.

"This is only part of the key to opening it." Tsunade answered as she scanned the wall for the opening that belonged to the key. Upon finding it she stuck the key in until only the handle was sticking out. "All my strength couldn't turn this key. It has a blood seal on it so that only a member of the clan could turn it."

"But the Forth's family is all dead, other wise we would know about it and this place would be open." Temari started and was about to continue when Naruto cut her off.

"That selfless son of a bitch!" Naruto roared, his eyes flaring red with specks of blue. "He sealed the fox into his own son!"

Tsunade and Jiraiya were both shocked beyond belief that Naruto figured it out so quickly, both of them had been expecting to have had to spell it out before the blonde got it. Temari for her part was just staring at Naruto as her mind put worked to figure out how Naruto had come to that conclusion.

"How did you figure that out?" Jiraiya asked.

"You said he hid himself just to hide him and his wife, as if a guy like that would ask someone from the village what he himself couldn't give. The hokage is supposed to be the first to make sacrifices for the village. Besides I always wondered, wondered why the HELL he picked me. Was I just the first kid he could find? Was I the only kid born that night? But no! My selfless father was too good to spare his own son from being the bane of the village. That son of a bitch!" His rant finished Naruto glared at the wall before him, half tempted to tear the wall down and then tear the house behind it down as well.

As his mind was filling with visions of destruction a voice cut through his anger.

"Would you condemn someone else to live the life you lived?"

Blinking Naruto turned to look at Temari.

"What?"

"I've seen what your life has been like because Gaara has lived a life similar to if not worse than yours. Would you really ask someone else to take that for you? Take the hate of a village for you?"

For a second Naruto was silent.

"No." He finally admitted, knowing full well he wouldn't.

Tsunade grinned seeing the closeness between the two, no where near as close as they could be but it was close enough that she could tell Temari was growing on Naruto. And based on the look in Temari's eyes Naruto was growing on her as well. But that could grow on its own, for now she needed to finish introducing the place to them. No doubt Shizune would be in a panic at her sudden dissapearance.

"Anyways, to open the gate have your blood on your thumb when you turn the key."

Naruto nodded numbly before striding towards the key. A quick bite later and he had the necessary blood. Turning the key he felt a slight resistance at first then in a flash of red seals spread outwards from the key whole over a good chunk of the wall. As fast as they came the seals vanished, the only evidence they had been there was the fact that now in the middle of the wall where the key rested there was a hairline crack in the wall. Pulling the key back out and pocketing it Naruto pushed on the wall on both sides of the crack and sure enough the wall opened up for him smoother than his own front door. With the wall open Naruto and the rest could see into the compound and both Temari and Naruto were awed by what they saw. Both of them began to slowly walk into the new area.

Tsunade and Jiraiya stayed behind watching with grins on their faces as the two gazed about.

"Alright you two, play nice." Tsunade said causing Naruto to turn around. "Sadly I can't be away from the office for long, Shizune will freak out and probably send ANBU out to all the casinos looking for me."

That brought a grin to Naruto's face for the first time that day.

"Alright, see ya." Naruto replied as he continued walking into the compound.

Tsunade noticed he still didn't call her Baa-chan but at least he had smiled. As she walked away she waved over her shoulder at Jiraiya.

"Take care hime." Jiraiya mumbled more to himself than anyone else. Looking back into the compound and seeing the two were too busy taking in the sights to pay him any attention he flashed through hand seals once more before slamming his hand on the ground creating a puff of white smoke.

When the smoke cleared it revealed a toad with a dark green body with light blue markings around his eyes and a spot of light blue on his back. The toad decked out in full body armor covering his arms, legs and torso while two swords were strapped onto its back. On it's head was a broad rimmed black hat that hid it's eyes from view.

"Greetings Jiraiya-sama, it has been quite some time since you have summoned one of us from the guard. May I ask why?"

"The kid has got a new place." The sage responded while gesturing to the compound.

"I see, and I assume you wish for me to summon my brethren and keep an eye on it?"

"Na just you Katsumi, the seals prevent any one from going over the wall so the only way in or out of this place is directly through the front gate. All I need you to do is protect the front gate from intruders, or from prying eyes."

The toad nodded once.

"Hai Jiraiya-sama." With that the toad seemingly fazed out of existence.

Turning and looking back at the compound one last time Jiraiya smiled softly before strolling else where, for once not in the mood to conduct research.

8888

Naruto was sitting in the living room of the Namikaze mansion, on the table in front of him sat a note from Tsunade that been delivered here moments ago. The note told him that his team had been given today and tomorrow off, time for him to get accustomed to the new place Tsunade had called it.

_'This is my house?'_ Naruto thought numbly, glancing about the room he was in. _'This is MY living room? The living room alone is bigger than my entire apartment.' _Seeing Temari sitting in a chair not far from the couch he was sitting on Naruto looked over at her. She was just sitting there, leaning back in the chair with her eyes closed.

Sensing his gaze on her Temari opened her eyes.

"Something wrong?"

Naruto blinked at the question.

"No, but why are you just sitting there?" The blonde asked with his head cocked to one side like a lost puppy dog. "Don't you want to explore the house of Minato Namikaze?"

Temari just grinned and shut her eyes again, ignoring the thought that he looked cute like that.

"Are you asking me that, or yourself?" She replied calmly. "Yes this _was_ the house of Minato Namikaze and I'm sure there are all sorts of neat little secret treasures in this place. But that is what this place was. _Now_ this is your house and it would be rude for me to prowl about it while you sit here in the living room, so when your up to it I'll explore the place with you."

"Oh." Naruto replied lamely, dropping his gaze from her to stare at the floor. Shaking his head to get rid of the funk he had been in Naruto stood up. "Alright, time to go home. We can come explore my place later, right now I want my own bed again." Naruto grinned and extended his hand out to her.

Temari raised an eyebrow at the offered hand but accepted it none the less, a smile on her face as she did so.


	8. Chapter 8

**Yo! Long time no post, no? Well this is due to the most time consuming thing in existence, and shockingly that isn't women. Nope, that which consumes more time than anything else is college. This infernal beast is an inconquerable fiend that has kept me running in circles for the past few months, thankfully I managed to get this out before the beast begins to hound me once more. Anyways, enjoy as per usual.**

**Impure Perfection  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Shifting Sands and Shadows<br>**

Naruto and Temari strolled through the deserted streets of Konoha hand in hand, enjoying the cool and dim light of the early morning hours. Other than the few select merchants that were beginning to set up their stands no one was out, meaning Naruto and Temari had the village to themselves. Yet neither of the two made a sound.

Naruto's mind was in a whirl, trying to wrestle with the two new concepts he was now faced with. The first being the fact that he was the son of the fourth, and the second was walking across the village hand in hand with him. Despite them having already walked half way across the village Temari still hadn't removed her hand from his. In his book that was almost as shocking as his new found heritage. No girl had ever held his hand, much less paraded through the village doing so. Sure there was virtually no one around but Temari was still willing to hold his hand in broad daylight, to a child who grew up shunned this was phenomenal. He felt as if his palms were beginning to sweat and clam up, he was tempted to wipe his hand but he couldn't convince himself to remove his hand for the fear that once he did she wouldn't hold his hand once again.

That thought startled him.

_'Why do I care if she holds my hand or not?' _Another thought came right after that, one which only served to lower Naruto's mood. _'Does she even care? Or is she just doing this to be agreeable?' _Crimson and cerulean blue eyes darted over to gaze at the women walking next to him, looking for any signs that she might enjoy or dislike the contact. His eyes immediately snapped forward, regretting looking at her body so closely. Letting out a sigh Naruto shook his head, mentally scolding himself while squashing the remaining urges he felt.. _'I need to figure out if **I **like it before I try and figure her out.'_

Temari noticed her fellow blonde's discomfort and couldn't help but try and stifle a giggle, only to know she failed when Naruto turned to scowl at her.

"What's so funny you?"

Temari shook her head and smiled.

"You've never held a girl's hand before have you?" She asked, watching as he blushed so red his cheeks almost matched his new eyes. Seeing him open his mouth to try and stutter out a response Temari gave his hand a light squeeze cutting him off. "It is my first time as well."

The blush left Naruto's face immediately and instead his eyes scrunched up in confusion as his head cocked to the side, unthinkingly making himself look like a fox.

"Really? Why?"

"Don't know." Temari said with a shrug. "Probably because between Gaara and my father there wasn't anyone willing to try and court me."

"Really?" Naruto questioned, his voice filled with disbelief. "But your so beautiful! You're strong, brave and unbelievably smart. There must have been someone who wanted you bad enough to face your father and Gaara. If not for you skills or your personality then at least for you looks. I mean your gorgeous!"

Now it was Temari's turn to flush scarlet.

"W-well Gaara was seen as a fearsome demon back then and my dad was a rather cold Kazekage, dating me would only put you near them far more often."

Naruto just shrugged.

"So? I like your brother, I like both of your brothers when Kankuro isn't being a pervert. And I never met your dad but I'm sure he wasn't that bad. I mean everyone has good in them somewhere, right?"

Temari tossed her head back and forth a bit debating the matter.

"I guess, I still don't know if I could find the good in my dad."

"Maybe so, but then again how many people would have said that Gaara was beyond saving and ought to have been put down like a rabid dog. Yet you always cared for him, and look at him now! He is actually working on getting a sense of humor. Maybe your mom felt the same way about your dad. It just takes the right person to see the good in someone." Turning to look forward Naruto grinned upon seeing his house. "Alrighty now to drop our stuff off and crash for a bit!" Picking up his pace and walking ahead neither of the two noticed that they had fluidly separated their hands, with no awkwardness between them.

And now the two had swapped mental states, Temari being baffled while Naruto's mood had returned to its usual state of unending excitement and happiness. Temari grinned, wondering how Naruto could change from deep and philosophical to happy-go-lucky and carefree in an instant. His moods changed faster than the shifting sands of the desert. Sticking to her leisurely pace instead of chasing him down she watched as he dashed up the stairs and onto the balcony of his decrepit looking apartment. Frowning at that she absent mindedly wondered why the place was in such sad shape? Or better yet why was it that he lived in such a sketchy neighborhood. In the past month that she had been staying in this place she had seen more orphans, prostitutes, drug dealers, drug addicts, homeless drunks and petty criminals than she had ever seen before. Of course they were all civilians, but still the fact that Naruto was living amongst such a crowd had been bothering her for a while now. Though she had obviously said nothing about it to the blonde himself, probably a personal reason and one she could guess at. But still with the mission's he ran she was certain he could afford a better location.

Pushing that thought to the back of her mind, where all the other accumulative questions she had for him were stockpiled, Temari finally reached the top of the stairs only to find that Naruto had waited on her.

"It's rude to leave a lady out in the street by herself." Naruto said in response to her unspoken question. With that bit said he turned and walked into the house, pausing when Temari questioned him on something she just now noticed..

"Did you unlock the door before I got up here?"

"No? Why?"

"Well I've never seen you lock your door so I was wondering how you lock and unlock it so quickly."

Naruto scratched the back of his head and chuckled nervously.

"Hehe well you see I don't ever lock it. After replacing the first few doors I gave up, it's much better to have them come vandalize my house but leave the door intact than it is to have a vandalized house with a broken front door. While I'm still in the village the villagers are far to skittish to actually try anything however once I go on a long term mission or anything that keeps me out of the village for a while they strike." Walking into the apartment and towards the bedroom Naruto tossed three shuriken at the couch without even looking at it, each shuriken landed squarely in the middle of one of the three cushions. Without breaking stride Naruto opened the bedroom door by kicking it, Temari finally understanding where the wear in the door frame came from. Watching as Naruto chucked a kunai at the bed before turning back to face her, as he turned a launched a second kunai into the bedroom that landed on the pillow.

"A habit I picked up." Naruto started to explain as he began collecting his weaponry. "Came home from a mission and tossed my ninja gear on the couch, only for it to explode a moment later. Reason I don't ever move the couch is because beneath it is a scorch mark." Not pausing as he walked into the bedroom Naruto went on with his explanation, which caused Temari to step to the door in order to hear him. "Same with the bed, except I had thrown my jacket on it. After that I just got into the habit of testing my furniture for traps." Having collected all his weapons he turned and faced Temari, giving a shrug. "Makes good target practice."

"Haven't you ever reported this?" Temari asked, shocked that he could so nonchalantly accept his house being rigged to explode.

"Na, besides there is no way for anyone to find out who did it. Any of the hundreds of ninja we have roaming about could have done it. Besides I was never hurt. It would be another matter all together if I had been hurt." Naruto gave a final shrug as he flopped down onto the couch that Temari now understood had a reason for looking so beat up. "Ah well such is life, besides I won't be living here much longer so it's fine.

"True." Temari acquiesced as she situated herself on the couch on the opposite end from where Naruto was sitting.. "So since we won't be here long what are you going to do with this place? Sell it?"

"Oh heck no! I'm keeping this place! If I tried to sell it I would be trying till the day I die, no one would buy this place. Well maybe the girls would, but they don't have enough money."

"The girls?" Temari inquired, anxious to know _something_ about him. Despite the blonde's tendency to talk a lot getting information about him or about his past out of him was like trying to make a horse drink.

"Ya. See around this part of the city there are the local brothels and 'social clubs' and most all the girls you see on the street belong to one of the clubs or to one of the brothels. The girls have to give up some of their earnings but when they join one of the clubs they get protection and shelter as well as the right to charge more for being deemed clean by the club. However there are a few of the girls that can't join because they don't earn enough, because they don't fit the club's mold, or because they tried to join two at the same time and thus got banned.

"Anyways whenever my birthday rolled around the old man would come and visit. We'd go out, get dinner, maybe see a bit of the festival and then he would drop me off here. As soon as the old man was gone I would slip out the window and crash with the girls for the night, only one idiot ever actually barged into my place but even when they didn't barge in they would hoot and holler at my room cussing and fussing. I got sick of it so I cut a deal with the girls, they could crash at my place if it rained or snowed or anything like that and on my birthday I could crash with them and the kids."

Temari blinked at that last bit.

"They have kid's?"

"Oh heavens no!" Naruto actually chuckled a bit at that. "Tsuri would have a heart attack at the thought of having a kid. Na I was talkin' about the orphans that live around here, they get a monthly allowance from the village but it isn't enough for food, shelter, basic commodities and what not. So when the colder months come the kids and the girls all pool their cash and rent a place, though the place they usually get is worse than my place."

Temari nodded, getting the picture now.

"So then why can't they just bunk with you?"

Naruto just raised an eyebrow.

"Remember how the soup shop owner reacted?"

"Ya what about... oh. If people found out the girls would be out of, work?" Temari hesitated at the last bit, not knowing how exactly to word what it was the girls did. She still couldn't believe she was sitting here discussing the coming and goings of the whores of the city.

"Yep, which is why me and the local drug dealers have an unspoken agreement that I stay away from them and they stay away from me. Sadly that doesn't stop them from going after the girls and the kids."

Naruto blinked as a stray thought hit him.

"I am the heir to the Namikaze clan right?"

Confused by the utter one-eighty the conversation went Temari nodded blankly.

"Yes... why?"

"That means I have money right? Like, a lot of money."

"Yes." Temari nodded again, then it clicked where he was going with it. "You are gonna help out the girls and the kids by giving them money?"

"No, they wouldn't accept it if I just gave them money. I was thinking about using that money to fix this place up, then when I move out I can leave the place to them. Then since they won't have to pay for rent they will have more money to pay for other things."

"True but won't their reputation and business drop if they were to live here?" Though it sounded horrid to say she couldn't help but voice the concern, afraid he would invest money into the place only for it to go to waste.

Naruto hummed thoughtfully and nodded his head slowly.

"True... I'll have to figure out a way to leave it to them in a way that won't scare off the girls' customers. But I can worry about that later, for now I can just start on fixing the place up little by little."

"_We_ can start fixing it up." Temari corrected.

"Huh?"

"I'm helping, if you are gonna fix this place up for women and children I will have a say in how you build it. Besides before you can even start you will need to buy this entire building from the landlord and ensure you have the proper proprietary clearance to begin construction in the middle of the city."

Naruto stared at Temari blankly.

"Proper proprietary clearance?" He echoed back before shaking his head in frustration at being confused. "The HELL is that? Can't I just start working on my own house?"

Temari laughed and patted him on the head earning a playful growl and glare.

"No you can't I'm afraid. To do any sort of major overhaul or renovations to a structure within a heavily populated area you have to get proper clearance in order to begin. You also have to make sure you follow any and all safety codes that might be in place so that later on if something breaks or someone gets hurt you will be covered if they were to pursue you legally." Temari explained, seeing he still looked lost she paused before trying again. "You have to ask someone before you begin and you have to follow certain rules as you do it."

"Oh!" Naruto breathed as he began to slowly nod his head. "Why didn't you just say that?"

"I did." Temari teased, laughter evident in her voice. "Just in a different way."

"Whatever." Naruto huffed, crossing his arms over his chest and sitting back to glare at her. "Stupid legal jargon."

Temari stopped laughing and gawked at him.

"Yet you know the word jargon? How does that make sense."

"Meh Iruka-sensei used the word a lot whenever he was explaining something to me, saying that I didn't understand the jargon of the ninja world or something of that sort. Guess I picked up the word."

Temari went silent for a moment, confusing Naruto as to her sudden mood swing.

"You learn whatever your clones learn when they dispel right?"

"Ya, it's how I learned to split the leaf so quickly." Naruto leapt up at that. "I need to get Kaka-sensei to teach me the next step!" The blonde went to go hunt down his sensei when he felt a hand grab the back of his jacket and pull him back onto the couch. Letting out a grunt he looked at Temari in confusion.

"Not toady your not."

"Why not?" Naruto demanded, obviously annoyed at having his training cut.

"Because you were given two days off, you seem to not understand what a day off is so I am going to show you. And that means no training, no missions, no use of ninja skills. Understand?" Once she got a nod out of him she settled back down against the couch, unknowingly putting her and Naruto arm to arm. "Now, as I was saying before since you can learn what your clones learn I have an idea for how you can improve your vocabulary."

Naruto shied away from her, his eyes narrowing in suspicion as to where the fellow blonde was taking this.

"And what idea might that be?"

"Whenever we go off to train leave two clones behind. I'll give one a dictionary and the other will get a different book whenever he finishes the one he is on."

Naruto looked horrified.

"They have to read the dictionary?!"

"Yes, and whenever the one clone completes a letter of the alphabet he can stick around for lunch and when the other clone finishes one of the books he can get lunch."

Naruto sucked in a breath but shrugged nonetheless.

"Alright, though I do believe you have lost favor in my clones' eyes."

Temari laughed and leaned back into the couch, secretly glad he had agreed to her idea so easily.

"Maybe but it will be worth it in the long run."

Naruto let out a ragged breath.

"If you say so Temari-chan." Naruto cocked his head to the side. "So then since we aren't going to train today then what do we do with a full day off?"

"Getting groceries might be a good start, all the food in the fridge is probably rotten since we were gone for so long."

Naruto groaned and flopped back against the couch, his arm thrown over his eyes in defeat.

"Augh! But grocery shopping sucks!"

Temari couldn't help but laugh.

"So intensive training, nonstop for several hours in the middle of the midday heat sounds pleasant but simply going to the store and getting groceries is arduous labor? You're nuts. Now come on, you go see what is or is not salvageable from the fridge I'll snag a pen and pencil out of your room." Temari said as she stood up and started walking towards the bedroom. "And if you are sitting on that couch when I get back then you get to cook dinner tonight."

Judging by the scrambling she heard he had finally gotten off the couch. _'He is like Garra, just have to know which buttons to push.'_ Temari thought with a smirk as she strode into the other room.

"That woman is crazy, going shopping on a day off." Naruto grumbled to himself. Sauntering over to the fridge Naruto squatted down and pulled the fridge open.

8888

Temari was just standing up from pulling a pencil out of her luggage when she felt the apartment shake and a deafening blast tore through the apartment leaving her ears ringing and knocking her to the ground. All she could do was blink and try to regain her bearings. Not two seconds later she felt chakra usage, though with as stunned as she was she couldn't quite make out what the chakra had been used for. Scrambling back to her feet as quickly as she could she saw that something had exploded and sent a rather large chunk of debris through the wall that connected the bedroom and living room. Whatever the debris had been it was currently half through the apartment wall just above the bed. Beside the smoking debris two ANBU had materialized out of nowhere.

"You go summon the hoakge, I will escort him to the hospital." The ANBU in the hawk mask told the other.

_'Him?' _Temari thought worriedly, her mind putting the pieces of the puzzle together. The other ANBU promptly vanished without a word.

"Excuse me!" Temari called out before the remaining ANBU could vanish with what she suspected was Naruto. "Can you take me with you?" She questioned, deciding the other questions she had could wait until Naruto was taken care of.

The ANBU hesitated for an instant before nodding and holding out his hand. Once Temari took it he reached out and placed his free hand on what Temari could make out as Naruto's leg. Next thing she knew the world warped around them and they were standing in a hospital room with Naruto on a hospital bed that had apparently been ready for him as no one was on it.

"Stay here, the hokage will be here in a moment." With that the ANBU vanished.

Temari blinked at the sudden disappearance of the ninja.

"Well then, I guess I will ask Tsunade." Temari mumbled to no one. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts of the ANBU she instead turned her attention to the now unconscious blonde. He lay sprawled out on the bed. His entire torso was covered in charcoal and a most of the skin she could see through the burnt jacket was burnt. Oddly though it was his face, knees and his chest that were the most heavily burnt. The clothes on his knees and lower half of his legs were totally demolished, only singed edges remained. His chest was the worst though, a black crater was dead center of his chest with most of the flesh charred black, a few spots around his sides were reddish and beginning to peel.

Her examination of the blonde was cut short as Tsunade thundered into the room, appearing in a surge of ill-masked chakra. Several nurses stumbled into the room, obviously trying to keep up with Tsunade despite them being unable to shushin as she could. Tsunade marched up to the blonde, scanned his body with her trained medical eyes and started ordering the nurses into action.

Feeling as if she were in the way Temari scooted out of the room and stood in the hall waiting. Eventually she moved down the hall a room or two so that she could sit and wait for someone to enter or leave the room. Yet no one ever did. For nearly four hours Temari just sat there, waiting.

Far later than she had anticipated Temari finally watched as Tsunade walked out of the room, the busty woman looked tired, but not fearful or distressed. Standing up Temari was about to ask what happened when Tsunade beat her to the punch.

"It appears that someone rigged a bomb within Naruto's fridge, the moment he opened it he set off a trap. It was some sort of explosive, whether an explosive tag or a bomb of other sorts I don't know yet. ANBU are looking it over now. Anyways most of the burns weren't too bad, only first and occasionally second degree. However the burns on his knees, chest, and face were third degree. The crater in his chest was from the fridge door being blown full force into his chest, it shattered his ribs and several of the bone fragments tore into his lungs. The one thing that worries me is the spinal damage done from whatever his body slammed against that stopped his momentum, had he flown a decent distance the impact would have been lessened but in such a tight space it really did a number on his spinal column. A few of his vertebrae are cracked and the rest have hairline fractures. Not to mention his skull was cracked and he has a mild concussion."

Temari was appalled by the amount of damage done by one singe explosion, it had only been an instant and yet Naruto was practically on death's door. After seeing him heal such extensive wounds in a matter of seconds, to hear that he was so severely wounded and immobilized was rather startling.

Tsunade waited to let it sink in before she finished.

"All in all the gaki is a mess, if it weren't for the fox he would be dead by now. Thankfully between the fox and us we managed to repair his lungs and heal some of the burns. The rest will have to heal naturally."

"Why can't he flash heal it?"

"Flash heal it?" Tsunade asked, one eye brow raised in curiosity.

"Yes mam, any time I've seen him hurt he just uses a flash of the fox's chakra and is healed. So why can't he do that now?"

Tsunade was silent for a moment before shaking her head in defeat.

"I couldn't tell you, I know very little about the fox and the mechanics of the seal. My best guess is that he has to be conscious to draw on enough of the fox's chakra to heal himself like that. So maybe when he wakes up he can do that, if not then it will be a month or three before he is back to training."

Temari paled at that.

"Three months of no training? You know that will drive him insane with boredom right?"

"I know." Tsunade said with a chuckle as she began to walk down the hall. "But you're his fiance so you get to deal with it not me."

Temari scowled at the busty hokage.

"So how are we going to find out who did it?"

Tsunade's shoulders sagged in defeat.

"We can't." Seeing the look of outrage on Temari's face Tsunade held up a hand to stall the outburst that was bound to come. "Unless the culprit had used a trap with extremely unique characteristics any of the hundreds of ninja in this village could have done it. Now if it were a high level explosive tag we could narrow it down to the upper level ranks of ninja, however even if we did that there would still be dozens of dozens of possible culprits. Not to mention there is no way to physically prove who did it, the explosion removed any fingerprints or DNA that might have been there. I sent a squad out to scan the area to see if they could find anything concrete, but unless they come up with some solid evidence it will be virtually impossible to figure out who did it."

"So then, whoever did this just gets to walk away free and clear? They get to just blow someone up and laugh about it?"

Tsunade shrugged.

"Again we can't do anything. As much as I'd love to string the bastard that did this up by their intestines and let the vultures eat them alive there is no way for me to find out who did it. I could interrogate every ninja we have but the amount of time, money and effort needed to do such a thing is something we don't have."

Temari nodded her head grudgingly. It ate her up inside to think that the man who blew up Naruto, the boy who saved her brother from insanity, could go home and laugh about blowing up the 'fox-brat'.

"I see, well then I will be on my way Hokage-sama." Temari replied, letting her body slip into its formal habits in order to try and avoid offending the ruler of her host nation

8888

Naruto awoke with a groan, immediately wishing he hadn't woken up.

His body was racked with pain, as he slowly woke up and his body and mind synched up the pain only grew more and more as he became more aware of his body. Wincing and forcing his eyes open his senses were assaulted by even more pain as the skin in his eyelids cracked from where they had been burnt. Letting out an involuntary gasp of pain Naruto quickly shut his eyes once more, going still in an attempt to ease the pain. In the back of his mind he made out the sound of a machine beeping, probably letting a nurse know he had woken up.

_'Well fuck, what the hell happened?'_ Naruto mentally cussed, trying to figure out why he was in a veritable hell. From the sounds and smell he would guess he was in the hospital, which meant that whatever had happened had taken place in the village. Shuffling through his memories and trying to figure out which was the last to occur it finally hit him. _'Someone rigged my fridge!'_ Fuming and fussing in his mind the blonde couldn't help the thoughts of killing and torturing people until he found out who had turned his fridge into a time bomb. He was just about done setting up a process by which he could interrogate all the ninja of the village one by one when he heard someone shuffle into the room.

"Please don't move!" The nurse fussed, bustling around the room checking both the machines he was hooked up to as well as his bandages.

Growling at being poked and prodded as the nurse examined him Naruto forced himself to be still, knowing that trying to get free would only result in another spasm of pain. Daring to test his speech capabilities Naruto let his tongue dart out and lick his caked and dried lips before moving his lips in an experimental test. Though they cracked a bit he felt as if he could speak.

"What happened?" Naruto croaked out.

"A bomb went off in your apartment and you were caught in the blast. You have light burns all over your body as Hokage-sama was unable to fully heal all of your burns as well as the other damage done to your body. You need to keep still because you have hairline fractures all along your spinal column, so long as you don't move too much Hokage-sama should be able to heal it once she has prepared the procedures."

"Mmmm." Naruto grunted in response, now understanding why his body was in such pain. He tolerated the nurse poking and prodding him while she checked his bandages until she left and then he let out a breath and growled, his thoughts once more turning volatile. This was strike three in his eyes. They had rigged his couch, rigged his bed and now they had rigged his fridge. He had ignored the other times but this time he was _going_ to find out who had done this and make them pay. Not just because he had been caught in this blast but also because now he had Temari living in the house with him. If they blew him up that was one thing, he could live through virtually anything. Temari was another matter altogether. He didn't want to protect her solely because she was his fiance, but also because she was Gaara's sister and he had sworn to take care of her. Now that she was living with him threats had to be answered.

_**'Amen to that kit!'**_

Naruto would have blinked if his eyes had been open, as they were already shut Naruto could do nothing more than stiffen in shock.

_'Kyuubi?'_

_**'No it's the other malevolent chakra entity locked inside your body.' **_Kyuubi snapped back causing Naruto to mentally growl at the beast.

_'Hey it's not my fault I get confused when you randomly talk to me.'_

_**'Randomly?' **_Kyuubi echoed, disbelief evident. _**'You don't even realize you are the one opening the link between us?'**_

_'What link?' _Naruto shouted back in confusion.

_**'The mental link that we are currently talking through you simple minded idiot! When I said meditation what did you think of?'**_

_'Sitting in a funky position and trying to clear my mind.'_ Naruto responded instantly, confident that this time his answer was right. That's what all the pictures in the books showed at least. _'Right?' _Naruto questioned when the fox didn't reply immediately.

_**'…...'**_

_'Fox?'_

_**'I wonder if I can be infected by your stupidity through this mental link.'**_Kyuubi mumbled.

_'HEY! Take that back you furball!'_ Naruto raved, mentally glaring at the fox and oddly enough he felt his body slip away as he felt as if he were falling. The sensation continued until he fell through the blackness upwards and out of the water and into the sewer in front of Kyuubi's cage. Naruto blinked and looked around himself. "Huh?"

Kyuubi dropped his head and sighed, sending waves rippling through the water.

"**You truly are a simpleton. Meditation requires neither a set position or a set mental state, all it requires is that you come to be at peace with yourself. The true masters of of any art, are those that can achieve this peace while working their craft. Even if that craft is the craft of war."**

"So then on the roof in Iron Country when I heard your voice it was because I was at peace?"

"**Precisely, you had stopped worrying about the sand mistress you are engaged to and all of the other worries that plague your mind. You were simply thinking, not fighting any desires or trying to follow some moral code. You did the same here, instead of fighting your urge to lash out at the villagers you let your mind go where it wanted albeit in a controlled manner."**

"So all I need to do to talk to you is to stop fighting myself? Odd but I guess I can give it a shot. It still doesn't explain how I managed to get myself in here though."

Kyuubi shrugged.

"**I already gave you the key to meditation, now you expect me to explain entering the seal? Tch lazy ass, figure it out yourself."**

"Bastard fox." Naruto grumbled. Looking down at his body and seeing himself dressed and healed once more he quirked an eyebrow. "And this isn't my physical body obviously, so then when I come in here I appear as I see myself?"

"**Very good."** Kyuubi teased, slowly nodding his head to add salt to the wound.

"Whatever!" Naruto snapped before walking over to a wall and sitting down. "At least in here I don't hurt all over. Speaking of which will your chakra heal me? Or are these wounds of the sort that I need to let heal naturally."

The great fox snorted.

"**Oh please there is no such thing as a wound that needs to heal 'naturally' not to mention my chakra is natural for your body. Though when you use my chakra I ask that you hold it for several minutes."**

"Why?" Naruto asked hesitantly, remembering what the Toad Sage had warned about holding the fox's chakra for long periods of time.

"**Because you are my host, I refuse to let my host go around getting burnt. I am the Kyuubi no Yoko, Sage of Flames, born of hellfire. You know how sad it is that my host can be burnt by some measly exploding tag? You are supposed to be fireproof already."**

"Then why aren't I?"

"**Because your will is so obstinately resilient to any altercations I attempt to make." **Kyuubi replied, getting no response he turned his crimson red eyes over to where Naruto sat. The blonde was glaring up at him. **"What?" **The demon lord asked, perplexed by his host's sudden anger.

"What is with everyone using fancy words!"

Kyuubi snickered.

"**Aww can the poor little kit not keep up?"**

"Bastard!" Naruto roared while the fox had a good laugh at Naruto's expense.

"**Anyways, the reason you are not fireproof is because your will is too strong to let me make even the smallest of changes. If you use my chakra to accelerate your healing and hold it for several minutes I will heal your skin slower than usual so that as I heal it I can make altercations to your skin cells."**

"Skin cells?"

"**Don't worry about that, it is just some left over knowledge form a couple milennia ago."**

Naruto shrugged and stood up.

"Meh I don't care, just might be something Tsunade might like to know. For now I'll be seeing ya later fox."

"**Figure out how you're gonna get back at the prick who blew you to kingdom come?"**

"Na but I have to catch the prick first."

"**You know, if you really wanna get revenge you could always just let me out and I'll take care of it for you." **Kyuubi suggested, a huge hopeful grin on his face.

"No!" Naruto shouted. "The hell is with that question?"

Kyuubi snorted.

"**Human just because I am helping you doesn't mean I've changed. I still hate you and wish I were out of this seal so I could burn your village to a crisp. Helping you just provides me with entertainment."**

Naruto glared at the fox but said nothing, knowing the fox wouldn't budge on this subject. Not yet at least. Smirking to himself Naruto slid back into the water he was standing on and eventually felt himself slide back into his body.

Sucking in a breath Naruto tapped into Kyuubi's chakra and watched as his world went up in flames.

Literally. The caustic nature of Kyuubi's chakra set the bedsheets on fire, as well as igniting the bandages which were covering the majority of his body. For a brief instant Naruto feared he was gonna burn alive but then he saw that sure enough as soon as his body began to burn Kyuubi's chakra healed him faster than he could burn. Letting out a sigh of relief as he felt the pain began to ebb from his back and skin. Testing his limbs and spine by slowly stretching he slowly lifted himself up off the bed to a sitting position, the fact he was literally a human bonfire was irrelevant to him. He was out of pain and that's all that really mattered so far as he was concerned. Grinning like a loon Naruto swung his legs over the side of the bed and hopped off reveling in the feeling of being healed so thoroughly. For some reason this time was different than the others in that while he was healing just as fast as any other time, this time there was a second sensation coursing through his body and this one left his body feeling as if it had fully healed for the first time in ages.

_'Must be the fox's changes to my body.'_ Naruto thought to himself, waiting for the last of his joints and bones to fully mend. Suddenly a pulse of Kyuubi's chakra spread out over his body with the epicenter for the pulse being the seal. As he felt the euphoric surge of revitalizing chakra work up his body towards the crown of his head he couldn't help himself, it just felt so right to let his head loll back and to let the bestial howl burst from his lips.

All the nurses and the ninja that had burst into the room when the fire alarms had started going off froze when they heard Naruto howl. The entire hospital came to a screeching halt. Doctors stopped mid sentence, maids paused mid stride, even patients that were complaining ceased their incessant whinning and listened to the inhuman sound that resounded through the entire hospital. The howl was louder than the fire alarm, drowning out all sound and forcing all to listen.

Shutting his lips and snapping his head back into place with a maniacal grin plastered across his face Naruto shook himself, enjoying the feel of being whole.

"**Ahhh that is so much better."** Naruto groaned out, not taking note of the fact his voice was deeper or the fact that he was still standing in a blazing ball of crimson red chakra. Another key feature he failed to notice was his eyes. With him still being tapped into Kyuubi's chakra his eyes were crimson red and to all present in the room that could only mean one thing.

"The Kyuubi is breaking free!" A nurse near Naruto screeched in horror.

All other occupants of the room froze as their minds began to paint the same picture.

Snorting at the nurse Naruto shook his head.

"No he isn't, I just needed a boost to my healing." Naruto growled out, his voice back to normal though he could tell his words did nothing to sooth the fears of the others in the room. He was about to continue explaining when he noticed that he was still on fire, at least in the sense that his clothes were still burning. His body was totally impervious to the flames, the fire licked at his skin but it didn't even singe the hair on his arms. _'Hmm fox is efficient.'_ Naruto mentally mused to himself, not wanting to spook everyone by letting on that he was on contact with the fox. Shrugging that thought off he contemplated on how he could put out the fire without spreading it. "Say can you help with this?" Naruto asked one of the ninja in the room, after having decided he couldn't put the fire out himself.

The reaction he got was not one he was used to seeing.

The ninja went on the defensive, tensing for battle and sizing Naruto up as if he were some hostile ninja. Hell the guy even drew a kunai.

"Stay where you are." The shinobi warned. "You are not going to leave this room till the hokage herself dismisses you."

Naruto blinked at that.

"Okay... but can we put out the fire?"

"The fire isn't the threat." The ninja retorted, venom in his voice.

Naruto blinked a second time, then it clicked.

"Oh I get it, the fire that might burn the place down isn't a threat." The irate jinchuuriki mocked, crossing his arms and glaring at the other occupants in the room. "I am."

"Correct."

The two stared each other down, as the tension in the room grew so did the flames. Before long the flames were licking the tiles on the ceiling, turning the formerly white tiles black. Naruto slowly curled his hands into fist and narrowed his eyes at the man before him. The nurses had fled the room leaving Naruto alone with someone convinced he was a threat. And at the moment he was more than willing to prove this asshole right.

However before either of the two men could lash out at the other a compressed gust of wind blew past the door, creating a vacuum in the room that extinguished the flames as one might blow out a candle. A second response to the vacuum was that the windows were blown inwards

"You aren't awake for more than ten minutes and already picking a fight, that has to be a record." Temari teased as she strolled into the room, diffusing the tension with ease. "Now before you go and embarrass this poor man let's head home."

Naruto grinned and nodded, relinquishing his hold on the fox's chakra and allowing the blazing inferno of chakra to dissapate as he started to walk towards the door.

"Hold it! No one is going anywhere until the hokage herself clears him."

Temari raised an eyebrow at the man.

"Good luck with that." The sand mistress chimed as she linked her arm with Naruto's. With that the two strolled down the halls.

Several hours later as a team of genin were cleaning the room one genin asked why the glass was every where but in the middle of the room. Their jounin instructor just dismissed it as the odd way the wind blew the glass.

**Xxx One month later xxX**

Most everyone in the village had gathered around for this announcement. There was a buzz in the crowd, rumor was the heir to the Namikaze clan had come out of hiding. A good many of the older population had come simply to prove that this was nothing more than a fraud hoping to pull some grand hoax, many of the younger civilians had come to see some grand spectacle. The mass of ninja gathered on the roof tops surrounding the podium where the supposed heir was to make his grand debut were there to see if this man measured up with the Fourth.

The clock struck the appointed time and yet the man had still not shown. Unrest was spreading through the crowd and one by one civilian and ninja alike started to leave.

"My my so impatient you all are." A strong voice called out cutting through the clamor of the disgruntled crowd.

Everyone whipped around to see the man that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. However whatever details there were hoping to see were missing. The man was shrouded in shadows from head to toe, all you could make out was the outline of his body and his clothing. It was as if a shadow had decided to stand up. Though despite the rather vague image there was one part that stood out. His eyes. The were a deep borderline black red unlike any the villagers had ever seen, the pupils weren't slitted and the coloring was different from that of the Kyuubi's so no one made the connection. To all the civilians it was exactly what they had wanted, a fascinating demonstration of shinobi skill. To the ninja present the man was an enigma, they could detect no chakra coming from him and yet he radiated an aura of control and power. Even more mysterious than the man was the jutsu he was using to hide his image. It was neither a genjutsu nor was it a henge, whatever it was used no chakra whatsoever and that mystified the ninja more so than the man himself.

A grey haired man stepped forward and narrowed his eyes at the man on the stage.

"You claim to be the Yondaime's heir yet you hide behind shadow and illusions? Minato always faced a threat up front."

"That he did and so do I." The shadowy figure replied in an even tone as his molten red eyes swiveled to meet the old man's. "However by remaining anonymous my loved ones cannot be threatened and I doubt my father would risk those he held dear to himself just to look good."

The old man withered back into the crowd.

Stepping to the font of the podium and raising his voice to be heard in the back of the crowd the figure crossed his arms behind his back and stood up straight reaching an impressive height of roughly six three.

"Now, I did not reveal myself to make a spectacle of myself or to mock the memory of my father or to get glory. No, I did it because I've been watching the village and have been largely disappointed in you." At the rising noise of the crowd the shadowed man flashed his chakra out for the briefest of instances, in that instant everyone had to fight to stay standing as the chakra was so oppressive it nearly knocked their legs out from beneath them. The few unlucky ninja who had been using chakra to stick to a surface were knocked from their perches as the flood of chakra disrupted their connection. "Don't even fuss, you know what I'm talking about. My father gave his life to turn the Kyuubi into a weapon that can be controlled and what do you do? You try and blow it up?" Several people in the village cringed at that. "Not just once, but three times! You're lucky the little snot is so durable or you'd have Kyuubi rampaging around the village."

Terror ran through the blood of all those in attendance.

"Oh you didn't know that did you? There are several reasons my father put the Kyuubi in a human, firstly so the infinite energy of the biju would not be wasted. Secondly it was so that it would be harder than just breaking a vase to unleash the beast. However you fools attempting to starve and kill the boy does nothing but to negate the work of my father." Sucking in a breath the shadow man shook his head. "I apologize my temper got the best of me, but this most recent attempt at his life came precariously close to succeeding. Now since I have been forced to reveal myself in order to set you straight my plans are being set in motion far sooner than I planned, ah well. I have spoken my peace for now." Stepping back the man of shadows nodded to the crowd. "Remember my words, and remember that I am always watching." And then he was gone.

The shadow didn't fade out of existence, there was no puff of smoke, there was no flickering as the figure sped away. It was simply that one instant he was there and the next he wasn't. A collective gasp went through the crowd, many saying that this man obviously had mastered the Hiraishin or something akin to it. As they left the mystery man was on everyone's mind.

8888

Miles away Naruto smirked and came to a halt. Sakura, Temari and Kakashi all came to a halt behind him.

"Pinky, Temari-chan you two keep going and meet up with the others. Kakashi-sensei and I are going to have a chat."

Temari smirked and nodded at Naruto, without a word the sand mistress continued on her way.

Sakura looked from Naruto to Temari, then to Kakashi and finally back to Naruto who was just looking at her with a look of annoyance. She wanted to argue, but those crimson and cerulean blue eyes told her arguing would be ill advised. With a shake of her head she followed after Temari.

Naruto turned back to Kakashi.

"You can drop the henge, it was only meant to go this far."

"About time!" 'Kakashi' cried in frustration before a puff of smoke enveloped his frame. When the white smoke cleared a ninja roughly in his twenties with light brown hair and green eyes wearing the standard chunin outfit. "I still don't get why Tsunade-sama assigned me on this asinine mission in the first place."

"She didn't."

"Huh?"

"You obviously didn't check that mission scroll for authentication, if you had you would have seen it was a fake."

The man blinked and narrowed his eyes at the blonde haired boy before him.

"The hell are you talking about? Faking mission orders is high treason! You can be executed for it!"

"It's okay, I mean the same could be said about trying to blow up the village jinchuuriki."

The man went pale and froze before licking his lips which had suddenly gone dry.

"I'm sure whoever did that to you is mighty sorry."

"I don't think so, I mean if they were so sorry for it I doubt they would have been bragging about being the first to 'blow the bloody demon brat to hell and back' to the local street girls."

"That bitch sold me out! When I get back I am gon..." The man's sentence stopped when he heard Naruto laughing.

"When you get back? Oh no no my friend, you seem to be mistaken. See you left the village without proper clearance, when it is discovered you will be deemed a missing nin. Since your body will never be found it won't be of much consequence really so no need to worry about that." Cracking his knuckles and slowly stalking towards the man Naruto grinned even as blood red chakra began to leak out of every pore in his body. "No my friend you really need to worry about the demon you blew back from hell."


	9. Chapter 9

**Yo long time no post eh? Anyways I have finished the spring semester of college so updates on my other stories should start up as well. Anyways, enjoy the latest chapter**

**Impure Perfection**

* * *

><p><strong>Sowing Shadows<strong>

It was peaceful and quite as Naruto leapt through the woods at a decent clip. He hurried so that he wouldn't keep the two teams waiting on him for too long.

'_Pinky and Temari-chan headed out only a few minutes before me so I really don't have to hurry all that much, but it would still be nice to not make them wait too long. Besides if I don't take too long maybe Gaara and I will have time.' _Naruto mused to himself as he sped through the trees. After another good thirty minutes of leaping through the trees passed before he felt Kyuubi stir within him signaling that Gaara was just up ahead, presumably with the rest of the two teams. With a final leap Naruto cleared the trees and entered into the clearing where the five individuals were waiting for him. One greeted him with a knowing look and a smile while three of them showed confusion as to the delay. Gaara showed nothing.

"Yo! What's up? Didn't keep you guys waiting too long did I?"

Temari shook her head and was about to answer when a monotonous voice cut her off.

"Actually, Uzumaki, you have kept me waiting for a full month."

"Huh?" Naruto asked while cocking his head to the side. "What are you…" Was all he managed to get out before a hand of sand surged up from the ground and blasted him over the few yards of forest remaining between the meeting ground and the desert. Landing with a thud Naruto attempted to get up only for the sand he was laying on to bulge upwards and swallow his body pinning him to the ground on his back with his arms spread apart and leaving nothing but his head exposed. Interestingly enough he felt the sand force his hands open and wedge itself between his fingers before hardening thus cutting off any possible use of justu. Gaara used a sand shushin to appear standing just behind Naruto's head not a moment later.

"So, is there something you would like to ask me?" The sand user questioned with a slight edge in his voice.

"Uh…. How are you doing?" Naruto tried, plastering a smile on his face and forcing himself to sound enthusiastic. He knew he could beat Gaara in a fair fight, but in the situation he was currently in Gaara could easily kill him before he could even blink. Feeling the sand around him tighten Naruto grunted as breathing was becoming difficult. "Um, how is Suna doing?" Feeling something cool and glassy slice his palm open Naruto grit his teeth and narrowed his solid blue eyes at Gaara. "Alright, what should I be asking!?"

Gaara remained silent for a moment.

"You are marrying my sister are you not?"

"Yes, and?" Naruto snapped having grown tired of whatever game his fellow jinchuuriki was playing.

"Do you not think it wise to ask for my permission?"

Naruto blinked.

"What!?"

"My father is dead and therefore you cannot ask him, and you did not ask Kankuro so that leaves just me."

"But this wasn't even my idea!"

"That is irrelevant. You are marrying _my_ sister and taking _my_ sister as _your_ wife. I will allow no one in my family to be taken from me unless I have approved of it. And you have yet to ask either my brother or I."

"Because I am not doing this by choice! Besides it isn't even decided if I am going to marry her."

Gaara's eyes narrowed.

"Excuse me?"

"I'll tell you like I told her. If I do not think I can come to love her then I will not marry her. I will not trap myself in a loveless marriage where I will come to resent her for trapping me, and I refuse to chain your sister to me if I don't think she can come to love me."

"And that was the correct answer." Gaara said, a smile breaking the emotionless mask he usually kept in place. "Had you simply asked because I had ordered it I would have killed you."

Instead of paling in fright Naruto grinned.

"Good, glad to know you are protecting your family. Though, can I get up now?"

"No."

Naruto sighed in annoyance.

"And what now, oh knowledgeable mother hen, has your feathers ruffled now?"

"Who did you kill before joining us?"

Now Naruto paled. He had been certain to burn any and all traces of blood off his body and to burn the set of clothes he had worn while slaughtering the failed assassin. He hadn't used a kunai so none of his tools ought to smell of blood. How then did he know? Regardless of how he knew, he knew and that meant it was futile to try and deny it.

"A man who tried to kill me by rigging my refrigerator to blow. I refuse to let them rig my house any more, not with Temari-chan living with me now."

"I thought that might be why you singled him out and killed him." A new voice spoke up catching both of the genin off guard as they turned to look at Kakashi who was standing a few feet away from them with an intense gaze focused on Naruto. "Though the question is why do you think you can get away with killing a fellow Leaf shinobi? You do realize that counts as treason right?"

"Actually, no it doesn't."

"What?"

"Surprised me too. Temari-chan spent the three days I was unconscious reading over every law in Konoha. And when she couldn't find anything to justify outright killing the guy in the standard laws she turned to the clan laws. Turns out that if someone attempts to assassinate a clan head who has no children or relatives to take the position of clan head then the clan head has the right to execute the man however the clan head deems fit."

Both Kakashi and Gaara blinked at that tidbit of information. Kakashi being the first to recover launched his next planned question. "And the forged mission scroll? That is also a major crime."

"Not since Ba-chan helped me with it."

"Excuse me?" Kakashi asked, appalled that the hokage would aid in such an underhanded scheme. However, he never got an answer as suddenly the Naruto in Gaara's sand prison disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"What?" Both Kakashi and Gaara asked in unison.

Gaara balked because he had caught Naruto the moment he had entered the clearing and had kept a hold of the elusive blonde the entire time so there was no way the boy could have escaped his sand coffin. Not to mention he had cut the clone's hand. Parting his sand to reveal the portion of sand that had cut the clone's hand Gaara was shocked to see that there was no blood.

Kakashi was so shocked because he had been watching Naruto the entire time. Not once since the killing of the assassin had the blonde had the time to create a shadow clone, much less swap places with it.

Both the seasoned jounin and the skilled genin were at a loss as to how the sly blonde had eluded their grasp.

**Xxx Same time in Konoha xxX**

The council room was in a bustle as the clan heads, district leaders, merchant representatives, and guild masters all waited for the final two members to join the group. The two missing members being Tsunade, who acted as both the hokage and the head of the Senju clan, and the mysterious Namikaze clan head who had made himself known in today's little spectacle. Shikaku glanced over the room, and without effort noted which clan heads were discussing what and how friendly different district leaders were with the other district leaders. He had been dealing with the different clan heads and district leaders for so long the workings of the game had long since become mundane and the players had become as familiar as an old shogi piece.

Each of the clan heads rule over and govern their individual clan districts, some of which are only a few blocks thick while others are practically a city all their own, establishing laws that only applied to the clan members. The clan heads oversee their clan compounds and ensure all within their walls are taken and all businesses are managed properly. Most of the clan heads were ninja and stayed out of the political debates unless they directly influenced their clan or affected the standing of Konoha militarily. Sadly a few of the clans had become civilian, which made it obvious the clan heads were civilian as well. It was these few clan heads that were the most troublesome characters as they were far more involved in the day-to-day politics of the city, yet they still retained the political pull of a clan. Clan's had more pull than any of the other members of the council as when Konoha had been founded it had been comprised of nothing but clans meaning they were the ones who made the original laws of Konoha. Nowadays a clan head could propose any law or motion, regardless of how outlandish it might seem, and if a majority of the council agreed then the law or motion went into effect. Only the hokage could propose the overturning of a clan backed law and even then the hokage would have to get a majority ruling of the clan heads to negate the old law. Luckily though, only three of the clan heads were currently civilian, so very rarely does a law with that much backing get passed.

Beneath the clan heads level of power sits the thirty-six district leaders who oversee the thirty-six districts that comprise the rest of Konoha. The district leaders manage any and all needs their districts have as well as setting rules for their specific districts. They can not establish laws, that is reserved for the Hokage, however, they can set forth codes and articles which dictate which establishments can reside in their district, or what standards different buildings have to meet in order to be declared operable. The district leaders are also in charge of ensuring their districts receive proper funding, have ample water, waste management is effective, civilian schools are provided in communities that need them, and that businesses allowed to operate in their district are flourishing.

Despite these two groups taking up the majority of the village, ample room has been set aside by the founding hokage for incoming merchants to come set up their establishments. From the Hokage building three separate paths stretch out to the three different gates. Along each of these paths the land within a mile radius of the center of the path technically belongs to no group, rather, it is a sort of no-man's land. In these strips of land any business that gains the approval of the Hokage can purchase a building, or land if it is available, and start their business. Most of the buildings in this area are one-story wood stores that can be collapsed in the span of a few days if the merchant running the place runs out of business. These three tracts of land are governed jointly by the Hokage, the merchant representatives, and the guild masters. The Hokage is in charge of setting laws to regulate trade as well as approving which merchants and guilds can found their establishments. The merchant representatives and guild masters are used to speak in place of their respective trades so that each business is supposedly represented fairly without the need of all the hundreds of business managers attending all the meetings. The merchant representatives and guild masters also bring in a good deal of cash to the village, both through their own businesses which pay a tax to keep the land they own as well as through the missions they commission.

Of the three groups the guild masters and merchant representatives hold the least power, but they are also the group with the greatest flexibility. Since they are in the no-man's land how they run their business is purely up to them. They can refuse service to whomever they want and can charge whatever they feel. Of course doing so might harm business, but they still hold the right to do so. Also they are the second hardest group to get rid of, with the clan heads being nigh impossible to remove. The clan heads were guaranteed a spot so long as a majority of the clan remained loyal to Konoha, aside from treason no other reason would remove the clan heads from power. However, the merchant representatives and guild masters can be removed only if a majority of their members voted in favor of another representative or master, or if they have been convicted of treason. And even if the representative or guild master is convicted of treason the merchants or guilds could easily elect a new one. This inability to be removed makes the merchant representatives and guild masters important players in the game. Because once angered it is certain you have a life long enemy in the council.

Shikaku sighed and shook his head, refusing to participate in the pre-meeting politics of talking to the right people the right way.

Choza, a hefty man in his late thirties with a deep red mane of hair, grinned at seeing his long time friend lay his head down. Having been teamed up with the man for years during their time as the infamous Ino-Shika-Cho trio had allowed the tubby man to easily read the man. Despite being the muscle of their old team, Choza was far from ignorant and knew it was best for his raven-haired teammate to stay out of politics. A man in like Shikaku involved in politics was a nightmare to all.

"Not in the mood for a meeting?" Choza asked despite already knowing the answer.

"Not frankly, my wife and I were enjoying my day off. Though it did save me from having to go shopping with the troublesome woman."

Choza laughed and patted the laze Nara on the back.

"Now shopping isn't that troublesome! You just have to steer the woman to the right sorts of stores."

"Meaning the stores that are next to restaurants so you can leave a clone with her while you eat?"

Instead of nodding as Shikaku had expected the chubby man grinned and shook his head.

"Oh no no, the right stores are the ones we get to make use of when the kids are out of the house." Choza said with a huge grin and a slight tint of pink on his cheeks.

Shikaku chuckled and shook his head.

"Old friend, I have no desire to know what goes on behind closed doors in your house. Now get your mind out of the gutter, here comes the hokage."

Sure enough a minute or two later and the large red oak double doors to the council room swung upon and in walked Tsunade Senju. Oddly, the hokage hat, which she had never worn aside from the day of her coronation, sat atop her head for all to see. She even had the hokage's robe draped across her shoulders with the kanji 'five' proudly sown into it.

"Glad you finally made it Hokage-sama." A deep rumbling voice called out from a seat no one had sat in for over fourteen years.

All eyes in the room, civilian and ninja alike, whipped their heads to gawk at the shadowed figure who sat in the Namikaze seat. The man appeared as he had earlier today. Seemingly popping up out of nowhere, and releasing no chakra signature or even any noise to indicate his presence. Unless you looked directly at him it would be impossible to even tell he was there.

Seeing as all eyes were focused on him the figure chuckled.

"What? Was I supposed to use the door?"

"It would make it easier to keep track of you." Tsunade grumbled as she situated herself in her appointed chair.

"True, but that would imply that I wish to be tracked."

A silence set up shop in the room after that as no one knew just how to start the meeting. The civilians in the room wanted to question the mysterious man who claimed to be the son of the fourth, about his heritage as well as where he had been and what he planned to do. The ninja in the room were content to let the silence grow till the Namikaze broke the silence. Sadly one of the three civilian clan heads broke the silence before the Namikaze.

"So, Namikaze-san, now that you have come out of the shadows what exactly are the plans you spoke of earlier today?"

"Nothing grandiose I am afraid, so you need not worry that my plans will cause any strife."

"That is good to know, but what are they?"

"Why, they are mine of course!" The shadowed man declared. Despite the shadows concealing his entire face it was obvious the man was grinning.

The clan head's face twitched just the slightest as his pleasant façade slipped at being so obviously dismissed. Leaning back in his chair the man disengaged from the conversation.

"Well, since you have no desire to share your future plans how would you like to explain some of the plans you have already set into motion." Koharu, one of Tsunade's two advisors, asked while gazing at the shadowed man with an unreadable expression.

"Sure!" The Namikaze responded pleasantly before cocking his head to the side. "What plans might those be?"

"Are you saying you are unaware of the use of your father's name?"

"Sure, we'll go with that. Why don't you enlighten me?"

Koharu remained perfectly unreadable as she turned her gaze from the Namikaze to glance at an ANBU standing by the door.

"Bring her in please."

The ANBU nodded his head and vanished in a shushin leaving the room in silence for a moment before he reappeared. When he reappeared he was not alone. Standing next to him was a slightly tanned young red haired woman with striking blue eyes. She was dressed in simple civilian clothes comprised of a pair of tight blue jeans and a black sleeveless shirt that hugged her ample curvature.

At her appearance half the room erupted into whispers and suspicious glances between the woman and the Namikaze. The commotion wasn't caused over the woman's identity, or her clothes. What caused the fuss was the simple little emblem sown onto the front left hem of her shirt. It was a small little thing, hardly bigger than a child's fist. Yet, the fact it was the kanji for "flash" and colored golden yellow caused a stir.

"This, sir Namikaze, is what I meant when I said someone is making use of your father's name. There have been twelve different _women_ seen working at night while wearing this emblem. Are you aware of this?"

At this point all eyes turned from the Koharu, who had been speaking, to look at the Namikaze who was leisurely sitting in his chair. No worry or doubt was seen in the smoldering embers that were his eyes. Instead he seemed amused at the whole situation. His chin was resting on his right fist as he slouched to the side. It was easy to imagine the man was grinning at all of them from behind his mask of shadows.

"Yes. I am the one who gave the emblems to the girls and paid for the emblems to be sown onto all of their outfits."

"Why would you do that? You are aware these _women_ do not hold the most noble jobs."

Instead of answering the Namikaze chuckled and shook his head.

"I see what my teacher meant when he said you politicians won't say something distasteful even if everyone in the room already knows it. She is a hooker plain and simple." Several in the room choked on the flippant way at which he spoke of it causing him to look at them in confusion. "What? We all know it. Heck, she knows it! Right?" The last was addressed to the girl who nodded. "So then quit beating around the bush and ask your question would you?"

Koharu lost the impassive mask and openly glared at the man sitting across from her who was making a spectacle out of her.

"How do you know I have a question? Can I not simply be presenting a matter to you?"

The Namikaze chuckled and shook his head.

"Says the person who answered me with not one, but two question."

Jaw tightening Koharu forced a smile on her face, knowing it would not be right to ignore a joke. Even if it was at your own expense.

"Fair enough. Why is it you had an emblem that clearly refers to your father sown onto the outfits of a dozen hookers, as you so eloquently put it?"

"Because they are my girls." The Namikaze stated simply, the smirk evident in his voice only served to infuriate Koharu.

"Are you starting your own harem? If willing women is what you desire cleaner companions could…"

The oppressive aura that had silenced the crowd earlier flooded the room now forcing Koharu to swallow her words and sit back. The civilians in the room all leaned away from the Namikaze whose eyes were narrowed. Sitting up from his slouched position the Namikaze let out a breath and shook his head.

"Bigoted fool. Any woman who would sleep with me simply because I asked is a whore. This woman standing before all of you is a hooker. A working girl who sells her body in exchange for money in order to pay for life's little necessities, food, water, and the such. She is _not_ a whore. Were she in better social standings she would never do the things she does. No, the _companions_ you would like to give me are the true whores as they have no need to degrade themselves in such a manner, yet they do so simply to please me in hopes of getting on my good side. And a hooker is always better company that a whore." Giving a snort the Namikaze willed the oppressive aura away. "Now, as to why I gave my girls my emblem is because they are under my protection and work for me. The girls I selected are those that have been rejected from the other whore houses and social clubs in Konoha, many of which several of you have visited in the past."

A guild master, whose family had worked with the Namikaze clan back when Minato was still alive, paled.

"The Namikaze clan is setting up it's own brothel?! That is outrageous! You have more than ample money to survive without doing such a thing! What reasons could you possibly have for sullying your family name?"

"Why, my reasons of course." The Namikaze responded.

The grin was back in his voice.

"Reasons aside, I doubt sticking a fancy sticker on the girls will do much for them." Tsume snapped out, obviously irritated with the infuriating mannerisms of the Namikaze. The fact a clan head was treating women so poorly only added fuel to the fire. "By marking the girls as yours you are painting targets on all of their backs."

"True." The Namikaze acquiesced with a nod before turning to face the women still standing next to the ANBU "Say, Miyuki care to illustrate just how fancy that sticker is?"

"Sure Namikaze-sama." Moving her hand to her hip and placing her hand over the emblem for but a second the girl triggered an explosion of white smoke that enveloped both her and the ANBU for a second. Almost as instantaneous as the burst of smoke was the ANBU's ejection from the smoke with enough force to slam up against the wall and fall to the ground unconscious. "Uh, Naruto-kun I don't think that was necessary." Miyuki's voice called out from the smoke causing several eyes in the room to widen. The ninja in the room especially were startled since they already knew what lay behind the smoke screen.

Sure enough when the smoke dissipated a new figure stood next to Miyuki. None other that Naruto Uzumaki was standing next to her while scratching the back of his head sheepishly and looing at her. Confusion clearly written across his face.

"If it wasn't necessary then why did you summon me Miyuki-chan?"

"Because I asked her to." Namikaze called out causing Naruto to freeze.

Naruto turned and glared at the shadowy figure before offering a slight bow.

"Greetings Namikaze-sama. Any particular reason you summoned me away from my team?"

"To illustrate the use of the emblems."

"In other words to show off your skill with seals and what not." Naruto sighed and shook his head. "Well now that you have done your little demonstration can you send me back? We were just meeting with the Suna Trio at the border and I kind of need to let them know who is being swapped for who."

"As you wish. Send Suna my regards." Namikaze waved his hand and the blonde vanished in a puff of smoke. "Miyuki, you mind coming by the base later. The seal is releasing a bit too much smoke and I would like to make some adjustments. Bring the other girls with you as well if you don't mind."

"Understood Namikaze-sama. May I leave now?"

The Namikaze turned and looked at Koharu.

"Don't know. Is she allowed to leave? Or is there some other point you would like to make Koharu-san?"

"Not with her there isn't."

"Why is it I feel like a child being scolded?" The Namikaze asked while roaring with laughter. Shaking his head he turned to Miyuki and nodded. "You can go Miyuki."

The girl nodded before turning and leaving the room. As soon as the door shut behind her retreating backside, which several of the council members gazed at longingly, Koharu started speaking once more.

"What base were you referring to? Surely not the Namikaze compound, which I see has recently been opened up."

"_You_ saw that? Really, you go that far out of the village just to check on the remains of a clan you thought was dead until I showed up? Interesting. Anyways, no. The base I told Miyuki about is merely the apartment complex Uzumaki-san is currently residing in. I recently bought the entire building and am having the boy renovate the place in his free time so that the girls have a place to stay."

"You are having the girls live with that _boy_?" A merchant cried out only to wither when molten red eyes turned to gaze at him.

"Yes I am. Is there an issue with that?"

"It will harm the girls business." Another merchant spoke up. Since he was a representative for the different brothels within the city he had no issue discussing the matter. For once he was actually enjoying the meeting as it had so far centered on his business. Though the news that a new club outside his influence had opened up had initially soured his mood it was always a thrill to have a competitor.

"Not so much as you would think. Between the boy's mission pay and the girls' income that entire building is paying for itself. All I need to pay for is the renovations."

The merchant representative was ready to continue the conversation when Danzo cleared his throat, which had the odd effect of silencing all in the room.

"That is all well and fine, but there is another matter concerning the boy that we need to discuss."

"Oh, and what might that be?" The Namikaze asked in the exact same manner he had used with Koharu earlier.

Danzo, unlike Koharu, remained perfectly calm despite the flippant tone he had been addressed with.

"The boy's marriage with Temari no Sabbuko. Since you have shown up and are having him live with your _girls_ would it not be better to absolve their betrothal and instead have you marry her? It would not look good on Konoha to have Temari living with him in a brothel."

At this point several pairs of eyes narrowed in suspicion. Hiashi Hyuuga, Shikaku, Tsunade, Koharu, Homaru, and the brothel representative all gazed at the bandaged old war hawk in suspicion. They had all been playing this game long enough to know you did not propose marrying one of the most influential clan heads off to a foreigner without a good cause. What that good cause was none of them could guess at, but thankfully they didn't have to as the Namikaze shook his head.

"No, let the boy keep the girl. It is far easier to control him if he is kept happy and it seems that the girl makes him happy. Not to mention if he gets attached to her it will make her invaluable in controlling him were he to ever lose control. Besides, I have no desire to paint a target on any woman's back due to her marriage to me. Perhaps in a decade or two I might consider marriage."

"But surely you plan to revive your clan?" Koharu questioned as she interjected herself into the conversation and gave Danzo a chance to disengage from the conversation unnoticed by most.

"And how do you know I have not already begun?" The Namikaze questioned causing all present in the room to gawk at him. "What? I have remained unnoticed by all of you for nearly two decades. Is it truly so hard to think I might have already begun to 'revive my clan,' as you so eloquently put it?"

"But you said…"

"I said I would not be willing to take a wife. I need not marry a woman to revive my clan. However, that is my business not yours. Now is there any other business we need to tend to?"

**Xxx Back at the Border xxX**

Kakashi and Gaara had returned to the others and reported the fact Naruto had apparently been a shadow clone. Everyone present was baffled by the blonde's mysterious disappearance.

"Are you sure you don't know?" Sakura asked Temari after a moment of thought. "You seemed to know why he wanted to talk with Kakashi-sensei, so does this really baffle you."

"Of course it does." Temari replied hotly. "That boy uses those blasted clones so often even I can't keep tabs on him."

"Aww, now why do they have to be 'blasted clones'?" Naruto called out as he leapt from the trees and landed next to the group. "Why can't they be sweet clones? Or at the very least useful clones, no?"

Temari narrowed her eyes at the blonde before snorting and turning her head away.

"When telling you apart from them becomes impossible no." The wind mistress said with a huff.

Naruto grinned and was about to continue when Kakashi cut him off.

"Well, since no one seems to know where you went or why you used a shadow clone would you care to fill us in?"

"Hmmmm... na!"

Kakashi's lone eye narrowed.

"You do realize keeping secrets from your teammates and your sensei is not a good sign of a good teammate right?"

Naruto nodded, but kept his eyes of blended crimson and cerulean locked with Kakashi's.

"Yes, but a secret kept from my teammates for their protection is a good thing is it not?"

"It can be, but is that is not really your choice to make." Kakashi ground out. If it was just a prank it would be fine. However, the fact Naruto had just killed a chunin of the leaf without him knowing made Kakashi hesitant to let the blonde have any more secrets. Information was power and to a ninja power was not something you gave away freely.

Naruto held Kakashi's gaze for a moment more before finally sighing and nodding his head.

"Fine, fine. Can it at least wait until we get back to the village so I can talk with you in private?"

Sakura and Sasuke both quirked an eyebrow at that. What could he not want them to hear?

Kakashi hesitated for a moment before nodding.

"Sure, but if I deem it crucial for the team to know you will tell them as well."

"Got I Kaka-sensei!" Naruto saluted. "Now, since all that boring stuff is out of the way we can get down to business." Turning to face Gaara Naruto's grin went feral as he cracked his neck and dropped into a fighting stance. "What say you to a little rematch?"

Gaara blinked. About as much shock as the sand user would ever externally express. For the second time his fellow jinchuuriki had managed to baffle him with his actions.

"You want to fight me again?" Gaara asked once he had wrapped his mind around the concept. No one else had ever asked for a rematch. Then again no one had ever walked out of a fight with him alive. How odd the one person who had ever lived would want to fight again.

"Heck ya!" Naruto cheered as he walked closer to the sand user. "So what about it? A no holds all out battle between the two of us."

Gaara blinked again. No holds? Surely he couldn't mean…

"Is this a private fight?" Sasuke cut in, unknowingly cutting off Gaara's train of thought. The avenger had stepped out from the group and now stood shoulder to shoulder with Gaara and Naruto.

Naruto quirked an eyebrow at Sasuke and was about to answer, however, Kankuro beat him to the punch.

"Now hold up. If we are getting to pick opponents I want to resume our match. I even have both my puppets in tip top shape for a good match." Kankuro demanded as he gestured to the two packs on his back.

"Actually, Kankuro-san, I want a match with you." Sakura called out. "I had some puppet training while I was in Suna and I want to see how I measure up."

Temari watched as the other members of the teams started to argue over who would get to fight who and who owed who a rematch. Just as it was about to escalate into an all out brawl Temari grinned as a Naruto inspired idea popped into her mind.

Naruto growled in annoyance as Sasuke refused to back out of the fight. He was about to just turn it into a brawl when a gale force when wind blew through the group and forced them all to focus on staying grounded. When the wind died down Naruto turned to see the source only to gape at what he saw. There stood Temari brandishing a brand new battle fan. The steel was the same gleaming black as her original fan, however, that is where the similarities ended. Instead of the pale white cloth her old fan had been made of a new pitch-black material that had four crimson red dots instead of the three purple moons. A final change was the new fan was a good deal longer and opened far wider allowing for greater control over the wind and more force to be generated by he attacks.

Temari couldn't help the smirk on her face at seeing everyone gawk at her new phone. Though oddly enough she felt a warmth fill her cheeks at the impressed looked Naruto was giving her. Folding the fan shut and setting it on her back Temari ignored the flush she felt and smirked even wider.

"Woah!" Naruto cheered as a massive grin split his face. "Where did you get the epic new battle fan?"

"Kankuro brought it from Suna. When he went back I told him to bring me my spare." Grinning she scratched her cheek nervously. "I am actually not supposed to start using it until my sensei says I have reached the next level of wind mastery." Temari said before shrugging. "Ah well, I needed a new fan."

"We have so got to give it a test when we get back to the village!" Naruto shouted only to immediately wither under Temari's glare.

"No rasengans." Temari immediately snapped. Her eyes narrowed at Naruto in suspicion while the blonde tried to look innocent.

Grinning and giving up the act Naruto held up his hands in defeat.

"Fine, fine. I promise no rasengans. However…." Spinning around Naruto charged up a rasengan in his right hand and slammed it into the ground forcing the group that had gathered to leap back and separate. By the time the dust from the explosion had settled both Naruto and Gaara had moved off to the desert to dual leaving Sasuke, Sakura, Temari and Kankuro in a stand off. The stand off was cut short, however, when Sakura attached two chakra strings to the two packs Kankuro carried with him and used the strings to fling the packs into the woods.

"The hell!?" Kankuro roared, fury at the loss of his puppets clearly written across his face.

Sakura couldn't help but giggle as she took off into the woods in the direction she had flung the puppets. "If you want them then come and get em!" The pinkette called over her shoulder as she vanished from sight.

Without a second thought Kankuro followed her leaving Sasuke and Temari in the clearing. Sasuke sighed and shook his head.

"I truly have the most annoying teammates." He said even though there was more content humor than malice in his voice. "Ah well, just you and me I suppose."

Temari narrowed her eyes.

"What? You think I am gonna be easy to beat?"

"I did beat you once already didn't I? And that was after chasing you for nearly an hour and getting a warm up by fighting your brother."

"Uh-huh, and you think I have just been twiddling my thumbs this entire time? Between the lessons your sensei gave me and working with the most unpredictable ninja I am far better than I was back then."

"And I have improved as well, so we will just have to see who has improved the most won't we?"

Temari grinned and readied her fan as her mind already began to spin different tactics for handling her fiery opponent.

"Sounds like we will."

"Uh, was I forgotten about?" Kakashi called out causing both Sasuke and Temari to blink and turn their heads to see the silver haired man standing right where he had been before Naruto detonated the rasengan. Based on the shocked looks he was receiving Kakashi sighed and dropped his head. "It seems I was. Very well then. While you genins via for the best opponents among yourselves I, one of the best jounin in Konoha currently, will just be over here reading my book and minding my own business. See ya!" And with that the jounin vanished in a puff of smoke and leaves.

Sasuke and Temari stared at the spot the man had been for a moment more before both shrugged and faced each other once more.

"Well then, where were we?" Sasuke asked as he got into his fighting stance and his eyes shifted into the sharingan.

"I think I was just about to hand you your ass on a silver platter with a side bowl of humility and a tall glass of shame."

Sasuke merely grinned and shook his head.

"You have obviously been hanging around the dobe for too long."

"What can I say? He grows on you. Now are you gonna keep prolonging your defeat or shall we begin?"

"Ladies first."

"That's what I'm waiting on."

That wiped the smirk off Sasuke's face and set the mood. The two held each other's gaze for a moment before a flare of chakra in the distance acted as the signal for the two to begin.

Kakashi watched from his perch among the trees as three separate battles raged around him.


	10. Chapter 10

**Dueling Ideologies**

Even though he had reached the desert a while ago Naruto kept running further out into the vast expanse of wind swept sand dunes. He truly wanted an all out spar with his fellow jinchuuriki, and while he didn't doubt his teammates' ability to protect themselves he did not want them getting caught up in the fight if things went to hell in a hand basket. Once he was far enough out into the desert that he could no longer see the trees or sense his teammates' chakra signatures Naruto came to a halt and turned around to await Gaara's arrival. However, a deep booming voice spoke up before the sand user could arrive.

'_**Care for a wager?' **_Kyuubi rumbled from within Naruto's mindscape. The deep voice was filled with mischief and what felt like excitement. Naruto had never heard the fox sound like this before so it was hard to place exactly what the fox was feeling. Whatever it was it couldn't be good.

'_A wager of what sorts?' _Naruto cautiously responded. In the past month he had worked on being able to talk to the fox without the need of life or death situations. So far he could talk to the fox if he was alone and in a quiet place, but if there was any sort of noise or other people around he couldn't keep the link open. Probably a good thing considering it would undoubtedly give away just how much interaction he had with the fox. While Naruto was certain Temari, Kakashi, Tsunade, and Gaara would understand and trust him he was not so certain everyone else would be so happy about him conversing with the fox.

'_**You are fixing to wage battle with the one tail host are you not?'**_

'_Yes. What is it to you?'_

'_**Well, I am simply proposing a wager as to whether or not you can beat the host of the one tail without me. Last time you needed my chakra twice. This time, no use of my chakra. Think you can do it?'**_

Instead of immediately answering Naruto paused and considered just how far he had come in the past two months. Sadly he hadn't really come too far. Aside from learning to split the leaf and his own little side projects all he had really learned in the past two months was that simple wind jutsu Kakashi had taught Temari. Not to mention his side projects were far from complete. They were both relatively battle ready, but they were far from being perfected or even mastered really. He just had a rudimentary use of each, and the one nearly killed him every time he used it, which meant if he did use it against Gaara it would have to be the last move of the battle so that he could get Kyuubi to heal him immediately afterwards. But then again last time he had fought Gaara he hadn't known the rasengan and had been exhausted from fighting Neji.

'_**So? Think you're up for it?'**_

Naruto crinkled his nose and snorted in annoyance at having his thoughts interrupted.

'_Depends. What exactly are we wagering?'_

'_**We can sort that out after the battle.'**_

Naruto Blinked.

'_The hell!? You expect me to accept a bet without even knowing what I'm betting? You've got fur for brains.'_

Kyuubi roared with laughter.

'_**No, no, no, I was simply thinking that the prizes depend on your performance in the battle. If the one tailed host thrashes you with no effort then I will get a heavy reward, but if he just barely manages to beat you then I will get a more modest prize. The same goes for if you beat him. If you trounce him without breaking a sweat then you'll get a greater reward than if you were to narrowly defeat him. Does that sound fair to you?'**_

'_Mmmm I can't really say it's unfair, but it does sound like a bad idea.'_

'_**Does that mean no?'**_

Naruto grinned and shook his head. "Temari-chan would kill me if she knew I agreed to this, but…"

'_Why not? Besides I'll own Gaara anyways so it really doesn't matter. So sure I'll play your game fox!' _Naruto confidently shouted at the fox.

And then his heart stopped.

The strength and energy that he always felt was stripped from his frame, and for a brief moment it felt as if he was but a husk of nothing but bones held together by loose twine. Then his flesh and blood came back into existence. Gasping and dropping to his knees Naruto fought to regain his breath. "The… hell is… this?" Naruto gasped out. His breathing was coming out in ragged burst and his vision was blurring.

Deep rumbling laughter answered him.

'_**This is what it feels like with all of my chakra drained from you. Normally you have trace amounts of my chakra in your system. For this battle I have totally withdrawn my chakra from you. I can only do it for short periods of time, but I should be able to manage until the end of this bout. Have fun.' **_Kyuubi rumbled out as he retreated to the recesses of Naruto's mind.

"Bastard fox…" Naruto growled out as he forced himself to stand up and tried to level out his breathing. As he stood up he noticed that despite the lack of energy he still thankfully had his enhanced sight.

"Do I want to ask what that little interchange was about?" Gaara's monotone called out from behind Naruto causing the blonde to whirl around.

"Huh?"

"Nevermind. Are you ready?" Gaara asked.

Naruto opened his mouth to automatically shout his readiness, but breathing took precedence over a retort. Instead he shook his head and held up a hand.

"Not quite. Give me… a moment." Naruto panted out.

"Understood." Gaara said as he crossed his arms and assumed his signature pose. "However, I do question what you meant when you said 'all out'. Surely you do not mean the full use of my biju."

"Heck yes I do!"

Gaara narrowed his eyes.

"That is foolish."

"Why? I beat you last time."

"True, but just barely and I was not in a desert then. If I were to lose control here I could kill all of you. Shukaku is invincible in the desert."

Naruto actually paused at that. He knew he could beat Gaara, but the true force of Shukaku in the middle of a desert?

"Mmmm okay I see your point. Then how about using everything short of your forced sleep trick. You controlling Shukaku I ought to be able to handle. And if not then I can always summon Gamabunta." Naruto bluffed on the last. Without the fox's help he couldn't summon the boss toad, and using the fox was an absolute all has gone to hell last resort. But Gaara didn't need to know that.

Gaara paused for a moment before nodding.

"Understood. Now, I ask again are you ready?"

Naruto grinned and dropped into his fighting stance as he nodded his head.

"Believe it!"

Instead of getting a response Naruto watched as twin arms of sand rose up from the ground and launched themselves at him. Somersaulting backwards over the lunge of the first arm Naruto hurled a kunai at Gaara before spinning mid air to roll out of the way of the second arm. As soon as he touched down on the ground he kept jumping, ducking, and dodging the multiple sand arms that rose up to ensnare him. Not to mention the very sand he was walking on kept trying to stick to his feet so he was forced to keep moving lest he be immobilized. And anyone who saw Gaara fight Rock Lee knew that standing still was paramount to suicide in a fight with Gaara. As Naruto was jumping about the place he kept hurling kunai after kunai at Gaara. Each one was blocked by Gaara's absolute defense. Without even having to be guided the sand leapt up to intercept the incoming projectiles and move them to the ground in short order so that Gaara was always able to keep an eye on the rather elusive blonde target.

Naruto tossed one more kunai at Gaara before leaping as far away as possible and forming a single handseal.

"Kai!" Naruto shouted even as all the kunai that were scattered around Gaara glowed to life causing the red head's eyes to widen. As one the fifty or so exploding tags Naruto had wrapped around the handles of the kunai to keep them hidden from sight detonated. A huge ball of flame shot skywards along with a massive cloud of smoke. However, when it was all said and done the smoke blew away to reveal a dome of sand surrounding Gaara. Half of the dome collapsed to show a bored looking Gaara.

"That trick has been tried many times. I hope you have better."

Taking a page out of Gaara's book Naruto acted rather than responded. He moved his hands into his signature hand seal causing Gaara to tense in preparation for the impending onslaught of clones. However, instead of a veritable army of clones being brought into existence a single clone was created by the jutsu. The location of that one clone, however, was different than anything Gaara had expected. The clone popped into existence but a hair's breadth away from Gaara. Standing toe to toe with Gaara the clone was inside of Gaara's absolute defense, and grinning a rather predatory grin.

Without giving the red headed jinchuuriki time to react the clone slammed a vicious right uppercut into Gaara's jaw lifting the boy off the ground. Immediately the clone followed the attack up with a snap kick that launched the air borne Gaara out the back of his sand dome.

"Better?" Naruto questioned even as the remains of Gaara's sand dome tore the shadow clone apart.

Gaara pulled himself back up to his feet and glared at the blonde before him.

"What was that?"

"A shadow clone." Naruto replied smugly.

"I know that. But how did you create it inside my defense? You've never done that before."

Naruto shrugged.

"Never really thought about it before. But recently I have been toying with the shadow clone jutsu and figured out I can create clones almost anywhere I can see. Doesn't work through glass, but it does work behind a partial sand wall."

"I see. I shall remember this."

"Please do. And please offer me more of a challenge, or as you used to say 'let me prove my existence'"

Gaara growled. Instead of assuming his usual stance of crossed arms he actually brought his hand up to begin manipulating the sand himself.  
>"Gladly." The red headed jinchuuriki ground out as ten tendrils of sand shot up from the ground aimed at Naruto.<p>

The blonde immediately leapt up and over the attacking tendrils. However, unlike before the tendrils changed direction and pursued Naruto up into the air. Instead of panicking as so many others had done Naruto simply formed the cross hand seal again. This time the clone popped into existence just beneath Naruto's feet allowing Naruto to jump off the air born clone's back and evade the oncoming attack. When the tendrils changed direction yet again Naruto simply smirked and repeated the process so that within moments it was as if Gaara were chasing a flying foe with sand.

Back on the ground Gaara grunted in frustration. He was in essence using sand to catch a foe as shifting as the sand he was using. It proved to be a very aggravating task.

Naruto smirked as he watched Gaara focus on trying to predict where he was going to leap next. As soon as he saw that Gaara was focused on his path and not actually on him Naruto hurled a kunai at Gaara. Sure enough Naruto watched as Gaara spared the kunai a glance to check for exploding tags and then stepped to the side so as to avoid his absolute defense impeding his vision. The instant the kunai was within range Naruto changed hand seals and substituted himself with the kunai putting himself right next to Gaara. Again the red head blinked in shock at Naruto suddenly appearing so close to him and left himself wide open. Naruto rained down blows and landed five or six quick jabs to Gaara's core before dropping into a crouch and sweeping the jinchuuriki off his feet. Naruto had intended to then follow it up by launching Gaara upwards, but the sand had other ideas. A tendril of sand snaked around Naruto's ankle and snatched Naruto up into the air before slamming him into the ground hard enough to send up a plume of dust. Sadly that was only the beginning of it as the tendril of sand then proceeded to slam, drag, hurl, and toss Naruto about. Thankfully Naruto managed to make a clone and substitute himself with it before the sand tore him to shreds.

Forcing himself back up to his feet Naruto couldn't keep the grin on his face as he examined himself. Aside from the fact he had lost his jacket somewhere in the sand, and that his black t-shirt was a bit shredded up he was in perfect shape.

"You know we are evenly matched when we go through all that an neither of us has gotten a scratch or broken a sweat."

And sure enough neither of them were. Naruto was a bit dirty from being drug through the sand, but his body was so accustomed to being thrashed around that he had taken no serious damage from the assault. Gaara may have felt a bit of pain from Naruto's punches, but Gaara's sand armor took nearly all the damage for him. Only difference between the two was Naruto could repeat the process a thousand times over while Gaara might be able to do it ten more times.

"True, which means I no longer need to play gentle."

Naruto grinned and rushed forward.

"About bloody time!"

**8888**

Kankuro landed in front of Sakura who was holding both of his puppets.

"Give those back." Kankuro demanded.

"You'll get one." Sakura responded as she tossed one back to Kankuro while still keeping the other firmly in her grips. "And I'll use the other."

Kankuro paused.

"You challenge me to a duel and don't even have a puppet!?" Kankruro roared in frustration. He had had the opportunity to fight with Sasuke, or even Naruto, and yet he got stuck with this girl? How did that compute?

"Hey! No one is Suna would sell me a puppet and I didn't know how to make one. But I still wanted to test my skills so I am just gonna borrow yours."

"Ugh fine." Kankuro drawled out. He knew from dealing with Temari that when a woman made up her mind it was easier to just let them go through with it and find out the results of their own accord rather than try and persuade them to change their minds. He was just about to take to the trees to begin the fight when he saw that she was beginning to unwrap the puppet by hand. "NO NO NO!" He all but screamed as he scrambled forward to stop her from messing with the bindings. Luckily she stopped. "There is a trick to wrapping and unwrapping them so that you can do it quickly, and if you just start tugging you'll tangle the wraps up." Kankuro scolded as he took the puppet from her and showed her the small knot that was tucked under another layer. "Just tug this and it will get rid of the wraps."

"Oh, okay." Sakura mumbled as she lowered her head in shame. Lady Chiyo had not shown her that trick. Sure enough in one quick movement the bandages loosened and pooled on the ground. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine. Just be sure not to tangle them up." Kankuro retorted as he moved to take to the trees once more, however, he hesitated once again when he saw Sakura move Crow into a ready stance. Turning and facing her he puzzled her actions for a minute before realization dawned on him. It must have shown on his face because she immediately looked down and flushed.

"I can't move myself and the puppet at the same time yet!" Sakura quickly cried out in embarrassment before continuing quietly. "I never learned that." The pinkette mumbled out as she blushed profusely. She even moved Crow in front of her to try and hide herself from his gaze.

Kankuro's gut response was to laugh at her, but the absolutely defeated and humiliated look on her face told him that might not be the wisest course of action. So, swallowing his laughter and the exasperation he felt at the unfairness of the situation Kankuro sighed and nodded.

"Alright. Then we can just do a face-to-face duel. It's how we train puppeteers in Suna so don't worry about it." The fact most puppeteers could move themselves and their puppet simultaneously before they even graduated the academy was a fact he didn't think she needed to know. Though he couldn't help but notice that the blush she couldn't get rid of was rather cute.

**8888**

Much to Sasuke's annoyance the massive battle fan Temari had pulled out in the beginning had stayed strapped to her back for the past half hour or so. Instead of the high impact blast-and-bash battle between fire and wind Sasuke had been expecting he had been given the chase of his life. The girl, who ought to be having trouble moving in the trees since her homeland had so few, was darting about the woods as if she were right at home in them. Several of her traps had nearly ensnared Sasuke causing the Uchiha to grow irate at being led on a wild goose chase. Luckily his sharingan had kept him ahead of any traps she might have laid. It was still immensely frustrating fighting such a crafty and conniving foe.

The girl had obviously been working with Naruto for far too long.

Sasuke's mental fuming cost him as a gust of wind slammed into him from below. As the gale of wind slammed into him he look down to see Temari on the ground, battle fan wide open, smirking up at him as her gale of wind blew him skywards. Since he had been jumping between trees when the attack caught him Sasuke had nothing to anchor himself to and the attack blew him out of range of any substitutes leaving with no choice but to be carried along by the wind.

The wind carried Sasuke far above the treetops until he was easily twice as far from the ground as the treetops themselves. Off in the distance he thought he saw a massive plume of dust rising up from the desert.

"Better focus little lady!" Temari shouted as she cleared the treetops herself. However, instead of launching another gale of wind or coming in close the wind mistress slid the fan onto her back and hurled a dozen kunai at Sasuke before snapping the fan back out and blasting the kunai with a gust of wind.

Sasuke cursed under his breath as he watched the dozen of kunai speed towards him. Had it just been the kunai he could have easily deflected them all thanks to his sharingan, or had she simply launched a wall of wind at him he could have turned it back on her with a fire jutsu. However, now he was in a bind. If he used a fire jutsu to counter the wind jutsu the kunai would tear him to shreds. On the other hand if he deflected the kunai and didn't worry about the wind jutsu then the jutsu would probably tear him to shreds.

'_She has definitely been working with Naruto for too long.' _Sasuke thought as he pulled out a kunai and strapped an exploding tag to it before throwing it forwards. The kunai only flew a dozen feet or so before he detonated it. The explosion knocked the kunai off course as well as disrupted the wind jutsu thus fully neutralizing Temari's attack. Sadly it also had the affect of blasting Sasuke back towards the ground. Hitting the ground with a grunt Sasuke rolled with the impact and got back to his feet as quickly as possible. Seeing that Temari was still up in the air gliding on her fan and observing him Sasuke grinned.

"My turn."

And with that Sasuke pulled out every smoke pellet he had and slammed them down unleashing a massive cloud of smoke that engulfed the forest in a white hazy smoke.

Seeing the mass of smoke Temari groaned and increased her elevation to get away from any possible surprise attacks. Her opening had been her best shot at getting the upper hand in the battle. She knew from past experiences that in direct combat there would be no way for her to overpower him. Surprise and sneak attacks were gonna be the safest way to compensate for the difference in power levels. Sadly the element of surprise was currently in Sasuke's hands not hers.

Shaking her head to rid herself of her disappointment at the turn of events Temari braced for the rest of the fight. That had just been the preliminaries.

**8888**

Naruto grinned even as he continued his backwards somersaults over the sand dunes. He was just barely keeping away from a raging mass of hands that were attempting to ensnare him, but despite the looming death he couldn't help but grin. This, this life or death thrill, was more exhilarating than anything else he had ever done. Not even pranking had been as fun as this. It was probably a bit twisted to derive pleasure from a good fight, but it had been so long since he had fought against someone who could give him a run for his money Naruto couldn't help but enjoy the rush. Finishing his somersaults and seeing that the wall of sand was still bearing down on him Naruto simply stood still and hurled a dozen shuriken into the air. The sand was just bearing down on him when he substituted himself with one of the many shuriken placing himself high above the swirling mass of sand.

Now free and clear of the sand that had been constantly surrounding him Naruto scanned the sand dunes in search of his foe and was glad to spot him running about. Instead of the stationary target he had been Gaara had taken to dashing across sands, almost as if he were skating, as he pursued Naruto. The red head was no where near speedy or agile since his fighting style had been stationary for so long, but at least the minimal movement he was doing helped prevent Naruto from wailing on him. At least it was supposed to. Pulling out three of his remaining five kunai Naruto took aim and hurled them one by one at his mobile target.

Amusingly Gaara didn't let them get anywhere near him. As soon as the read head saw them he launched a single tendril of sand into the air and had it snake through the air catching all three of the kunai before hurling all of them far off into the desert.

"Ah Gaara. You're no fun!" Naruto whined even as he grinned down at his fellow jinchuuriki.

Garra gave a snort.

"When 'fun' is no longer defined as permitting you to trick me I shall become fun."

Naruto roared with laughter even as he created a seal-less clone beneath him to jump back into the air so as to keep his perpetual fall going.

"Well, sadly for you I like that definition." With that Naruto formed the full hand seal for the shadow clone jutsu causing Gaara to pause. He hadn't actually formed the seal in quite some time so it was expected Gaara would hesitate. Grinning at forcing Gaara to unknowingly stand still for the incoming attack Naruto created a chain of shadow clones that stretched from the ground up to his spot in the air. The chain of clones was built out of a simple tower of clones standing on each other's shoulders while grabbing the legs of the clone above them. Working like a living, breathing whip the chain of clones coiled back before snapping forward and slamming Naruto down on Gaara

Apparently Gaara had seen the incoming attack because he threw his arms up and created a solid dome of sand to protect himself.

Not that it would do any good.

As he barreled down on Gaara's dome of sand Naruto charged up a rasengan in his hand and slammed it onto the top of the dome easily tearing through the sand. However, Naruto had no intent on burying the rasengan into Gaara's head, so the blonde allowed the rasengan to prematurely detonate once it had torn through the dome of sand creating a weak explosion that widened the hole.

"Peek a bo!" Naruto shouted as he reached through the hole. As soon as he had a hold of Gaara the chain of shadow clones snatched the two of them back out of the dome and flung them both sky high. Keeping his hold on Gaara Naruto began to rain down blows even as they started to fall back to the earth. Ten rapid fire shots slammed straight into Gaara's face after easily breaking through the red head's weak block. Sadly with his sand armor still in tact Naruto's punches did little more than to inflict pain. No real damage was being done and they were beginning to lose altitude. Grunting in effort Naruto changed tactics. Ceasing his attack Naruto spun around and formed a shadow clone beneath his feet to give him grounding before throwing Gaara back up into the air. As soon as the red head was back up in the air Naruto launched himself off his clone and pursued Gaara back up into the skies.

This time instead of attempting to break through the sand armor with punches Naruto resorted to kicks. Grabbing the air born Gaara by his heel and rotating in the air Naruto delivered a vicious mule kick to Gaara's jaw that sent dozens of cracks through Gaara's sand armor, but not truly dislodging the sand. Which sadly meant moments after the blow had been dealt the damage was repaired. Growling in frustration Naruto jerked on Gaara's ankle before releasing it and slamming a side kick into Gaara's ribs before spinning and delivering a follow up roundhouse kick that launched Gaara away.

However, Naruto wasn't letting him off that easy. Without even pausing to think about it Naruto created a shadow clone in Gaara's trajectory. The clone slammed a leg into Gaara's ribs once more that stopped the falling red head's momentum and as the red head's body was bent over the clone's leg Naruto was rewarded with the resounding crack of Gaara's sand armor finally breaking.

At least for a fleeting moment.

Apparently that was the last straw for Gaara as the now broken sand armor fell off his body before immediately reattaching and merging with the skin on both of Gaara's arms. As the sand merged with his skin it began to shift his arms into their demonic state of sand claws. Reinvigorated by the demonic chakra Gaara lashed out and snagged the clone by the ankle before using his demonic strength to hurl the clone back at Naruto who could only let out a startled yelp before his clone slammed into him. The clone dispelling only served to leave Naruto in a cloud of smoke long enough for Gaara to reach out with his sand limbs and grab a hold of Naruto. Reeling Naruto in through the use of his sand arms Gaara rammed a sledgehammer of a punch directly into Naruto's midriff that sent the blonde hurdling back to the ground.

Naruto grunted as he fought to get back to his feet. However, before he was even fully back to his feet the sand in front of him lurched upwards and slammed into his face laying him flat on his back once more. He was fixing to start fussing about the change of pace when he felt the sand beneath him begin to move again. Realizing Gaara's bloodlust was building momentum Naruto kicked back to his feet and leapt away just as the sand he had been laying on turned into dozens of jagged spikes.

"Sheesh! Can't take a beating?" Naruto teased even as he began to jump from dune to dune frantically to avoid being caught by the sand arms that were appearing everywhere as well as to dodge the many spikes of crystalized sand that were springing up randomly. Gaara seemed to be consciously controlling, but the spikes that were sprouting up appeared to be nothing more than a manifestation of Gaara's bloodlust as they were appearing at random intervals in random places that more often than not were too far from Naruto to be of any sort of threat. The fact Gaara was creating massive spikes of sand when he had only just begun to merge with his inner demon showed just how wise it had been to move so far away from the others. Sadly, the random nature of the attacks meant that within minutes of Naruto dashing about staying just one step ahead of the attacks the entire desert had become a field of jagged sand crystals.

At least until Naruto took to the air and rained down kamikaze shadow clones all detonating their exploding tags. In a shower of fire, smoke, and ash the acres of sand spike exploded leaving the desert a barren flatland once again. Setting back down on the ground Naruto grinned at the sight of Gaara.

The sand jinchuuriki had changed while Naruto had been hopping around the place.

When they had been in the air Gaara had had just enough sand to slightly morph his arms into sand claws. Now that they were back amongst the dunes and copious amounts of sand were present Gaara's upper body had changed in ways Naruto had never seen before. As in the forest battle the last time they had fought Gaara's upper body was entirely covered in sand and the sand had given Gaara a bestial face full of razor sharp teeth. However, that is where the similarities stopped. Instead of the massive sand claws Gaara now had two twin sand claws that were easily twice as long as Gaara's arms, but were only a bit thicker and were more clearly defined as arms rather than simply being globs of sand with claws at the end. These new arms were also several shades darker than the surrounding sand and judging by the pulsing blue veins that covered them these new arms were also far more powerful. The changes didn't stop there. At the tip of each of Gaara's shoulders were small spikes of sand that began at the tip of his shoulder blades and ran the length of his shoulders before moving down his back as if he had a spine of spikes. The final change was Gaara's torso. Instead of the massive glob of sand that had been present during the last transformation there was now thousands of micro layers of crystalized sand covering Gaara's chest making it seem as if there was a fine translucent chest of defined muscle covering Gaara's torso. The changes all acted to grant exponentially heightened levels of durability and strength without limiting motion in the slightest.

"That's a good look for you Gaara. You ought to wear it more often."

"**Die!" **Gaara roared before diving forwards into the sand.

Seeing his opponent vanish from sight Naruto immediately went on high alert. The instant the sand shifted into a claw and jutted up at him Naruto leapt backwards as high and far as possible. However, Gaara leapt out of the sand directly behind Naruto and swept a brutal right hook into the blonde's right side that sent Naruto sprawling across the ground. Grunting in pain even as he went with the roll and hopped back to his feet Naruto could only groan at the sight of Gaara diving back into the sand. This time when the claw of sand jutted out at him he leapt straight up and without even waiting for Gaara to appear Naruto created a shadow clone and leapt higher into the air just as Gaara tore through the shadow clone.

With a roar Gaara thrust his arm at Naruto and instead of his sand claw stretching out to catch the blonde the desert itself reached up from beneath Gaara and created a massive claw that shot up to ensnare Naruto.

"Hell!" Naruto shouted as he created another shadow clone and leapt out of the way of the looming sand claw. However, unlike before where he could simply jump out of the way this claw stopped the moment it passed him and a sand spike jutted out of the side of the claw. Once again Naruto managed to just barely use a shadow clone to move out of the way. What he was not able to avoid was Gaara who had seemingly caught a ride on the sand claw and spike as they had pursued Naruto up into the air. Before Naruto could even breath Gaara sprung from within the sand spike and with a bellow lashed out with both of his sand claws at Naruto. Acting as fast as he could Naruto crossed his arms over his chest to avoid the majority of the damage. However, the blow was still strong enough to hurdle him back to the ground even as the claws left gaping gashes on Naruto's forearms.

Despite having the wind knocked out of him and bleeding from his arms and mouth Naruto rolled back to his fee the moment he touched ground. Before the sand could even begin to shift about Naruto put as much distance between himself and Gaara before the other jinchuuriki could touch back down on the ground. Unlike in the last pause they had taken Naruto was now panting for breath and fighting against the pain in his arms even as they continued to bleed.

"**What's the matter Uzumaki? Is this too much for you?"**

"Ha! I'm letting you get a hit or two in now so you don't feel too bad later." Naruto retorted, though internally he was glad Gaara was still self aware enough to speak. At least, he hoped it was Gaara speaking. Cause frankly this was far harder than Naruto had anticipated. Even with the hundred extra explosive notes he had brought in preparation for this battle he only had five exploding tags left and they were his one sure fire way of penetrating Gaara's armor in this state.

"**Ha! Then come! Prove your existence!"** Gaara shouted even as he rushed Naruto once more. His transformation had apparently heightened his control over sand as with but a wave of his arm Gaara sent a wall of sand at Naruto.

Seeing the impending wall Naruto charged straight at it and created five shadow clones in quick succession to create a series of jump pads to launch himself over the wall. Only for him to be met by a grinning Gaara. Instead of taking a beating Naruto grinned himself as he finished a string of hand seals just as Gaara was reaching him. **Wind Style: Drilling Air Bullet** Naruto called out even as he blew a full powered air bullet directly into Gaara's face sending the sand jinchuuriki sprawling across the desert as Naruto had previously been doing.

Gaara roared as he came back to his feet. Slamming both his hand down on the ground Gaara lifted countless sand shuriken into the air before using a bellowing wind jutsu to launch them at Naruto.

Seeing the incoming attack Naruto sent out a mental thanks to Kakashi for teaching him the single wind justu. As soon as Naruto touched down on the ground he fired the wind jutsu once more and blew both Gaara's wind attack and sand shuriken away. Which only seemed to infuriate Gaara even more.

"**No! You cannot match me."** Gaara cried as he fired five quick wind blast in quick succession.

Grinning Naruto charged his hands with chakra and proceeded to tear through all of Gaara's wind attacks.

"Hate to break it to you, but your sister's wind attacks were a heck of a lot harder to tear through. If you are gonna do a wind justu at least do it right."

Snarling Gaara brought his sand claws together in front of him in a broad sweeping motion to create a hoop with his arms before jerking his intertwined fist over his head without disrupting the hoop he had created.

It confused Naruto for only a moment before the sand in a wide circle around him sprung up to mime Gaara's movements. The end result was a cavern of hardened sand trapping Naruto with no way out but through Gaara who was standing at the mouth of the cavern. And even as Gaara reeled back for a punch the walls of the sand cave turned into sand spikes and moved inwards aiming to skewer Naruto.

Sprinting forwards Naruto charged up a rasengan in his right hand and slammed it forward right as Gaara attempted to slam his sand claw into Naruto's face. The two forces collided for only a moment before the rasengan tore the sand claw to shreds revealing Gaara's true arm. Not even pausing to contemplate how close he had come to amputating Gaara's arm Naruto leapt over the sand jinchuuriki and out of the sand cavern. Taking a few more quick jumps before turning around Naruto watched as the sand from the desert quickly rebuilt Gaara's sand claw.

'_Well, at least I now know the rasengan can tear through that sand armor. But how can I do it without killing him?'_

Sadly Naruto didn't have the time to formulate an answer to that question as Gaara jabbed both his sand claws into the sand, which in turn created two massive sand claws easily the size of a house each. Despite the size of the claws they both moved with alarming speed towards Naruto. Charging up a rasengan in each hand and matching the attack blow for blow Naruto tore through the sand claws before grinning at Gaara.

"Is that it!? Two!? Ha! I can match that all day long!"

With a snarl Gaara ripped his hands back out of the sand before howling at the heavens as the desert floor moved up to form a massive sand tail.

**8888**

Temari gazed out at the desert in worry. She was still hovering over the massive smoke cloud awaiting Sasuke's next move. However, the amount of demonic chakra her brother was exuding at the moment was beginning to worry her.

"Oi!" Temari shouted down at the forest hidden by smoke. "Should we go check on them?"

When the raven haired boy didn't reply immediately Temari thought he might be staying silent in an attempt to surprise her. However, a moment later she actually got a response.

"No. The dobe is too stupid to die."

Temari snorted and rolled her eyes despite knowing the raven haired boy couldn't see her.

"You haven't been seeing what I have. They have set the place ablaze twice now, and a moment ago I swore the entire desert was made of sand spikes. He might have been a match for Gaara in the forest, but out in the desert…." Temari trailed off letting her silence speak for her.

"Fine fine, we will go check on the two if it gets any worse. Though, if I were you I would be more concerned about your situation."

"Wha?" Was all Temari managed to get out before two fuma shuriken shot out of the smoke and hurdled towards her. Pulling up on one side of the fan as she pushed wind chakra out of it allowed her to barrel roll out of the way of the two whirling blades, but she was caught off-guard when the two blades suddenly doubled back and bound her and her fan in ninja wire. As she plummeted to the ground Temari cursed the Uchiha and his wire tricks. Twice now he had managed to tangle her with his infernal tricks. This time, however, he was not close enough to put the finishing blow right after capturing her. And that fatal flaw allowed Temari the time to perform a substitution before she hit the ground.

However, that still left her in the forest surrounded by a smoke screen she could not see through with no idea where her opponent was. And frankly since the Uchiha had not made a move in the past half hour Temari was growing weary of this game. Taking control back into her hands Temari unleashed a gale of wind that swept outwards in a perfect spiral blowing away the smoke.

This was exactly what Sasuke had been waiting on.

The moment Temari had swung her fan Sasuke had leapt out of his hiding place and taken full advantage of the time between fan swings to deliver a vicious jab into Temari's midriff. Before she could even stagger backwards he quickly threw in two more quick jabs and finished with a nasty roundhouse kick that sent her sliding back several paces. He moved to continue his barrage, but she apparently has far more battle hardy than he had anticipated because she immediately recovered and snapped her fan shut in order to block his incoming punch.

Temari grinned at seeing both shock and pain flit across the Uchiha's face. Shock that she had recovered so quickly, and pain at having his fist meet solid unyielding steel. His attacks had hurt, but Naruto had always hit a good deal harder. Thankfully that had prepped her for dealing with the pain from Sasuke's attacks. Sadly, however, it had not made her his equal in hand-to-hand combat. Within moments he was overpowering her and she was hard pressed to stay ahead of his attacks. More and more often his attacks were slipping through her guard, and she never had the time to get in her own blows meaning it would only be a matter of time before he wore her down. Gritting her teeth and letting a blow fully connect Temari bore with the pain and threw her momentum behind the punch so that it carried her far further than Sasuke had intended. While it didn't do much in terms of combat it did allow enough space for Temari to break away from Sasuke.

And Temari readily took that opportunity.

Snaking through the forest as fast as humanly possible Temari tried to put enough distance between her and the Uchiha to properly set the battle in her favor.

Sasuke grinned as he saw Temari taking off into the woods. Instead of pursuing her he made his way to a massive stump with a kunai embedded in the top of it. Sasuke pulled the kunai up and grinned at seeing the dozens of threads of ninja wire that were connected to the hilt of the kunai. He had not had enough wire to turn the entire forest into a spider's web, but he had had enough to lay his own signature trap. Running through a string of hand seals with the kunai wedged between his fingers Sasuke breathed out the name of his jutsu with glee. **Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu **Instead of breathing out a massive inferno of fire Sasuke breathed the raging flames onto the many threads of ninja wire watching as the flames spread through the forest on the wires. However, that was far from the end of it. Since Sasuke had not had enough wire to turn the entire forest into a dense web he had instead placed various traps all along the wires. Every flash bang and exploding tag Sasuke had was strung out on the wires, and as the fire rushed past the tags they detonated sending the forest up in a shower of fire, ash, and smoke as the various tags went off.

Hearing a feminine shriek of pain Sasuke threw the kunai back into the stump and took off in the direction the sound had emanated from. It didn't take long for him to come across the sight of Temari slumped up against a tree clutching her leg. One of the explosions had caught her leaving her battle dress singed at the bottom and her leg had probably been burnt.

In other words, she was pretty much done for.

"You know, girly screams are easy to follow." Sasuke jeered even as he used his sharingan to make sure the damage wasn't too severe. .

"Really? You must have done it silently cause I missed it." Temari snapped heatedly. She knew he had technically owned her with that trap, but the pain in her leg made respecting him as an opponent rather difficult at the moment.

Sasuke stopped examining her leg to glare at her.

"Real funny. Ready to admit defeat?"

Temari gave a bark of laughter.

"Count to five and I'll be asking you that." Temari responded even as she held up a hand with all five fingers outstretched and began to clock down.

Sasuke watched as she dropped the first finger, and went to ask what she was talking about when he felt a massive surge of chakra usage right beside him. Blinking Sasuke jerked his head to the side only to come face-to-face with a second Temari with a wide open fan right as this new Temari unleashed a concentrated gale of wind blades. The attack slammed into Sasuke with enough force to not only knock him off his feet and into a tree, but actually through the tree leaving him battered, bruised, and covered in multiple lacerations of varying levels of severity.

"Ready to admit defeat?" Temari smugly questioned right as she finished counting down.

"How the hell do you know the shadow clone jutsu?" Sasuke ground out even as he rolled over onto his back in an effort to take the pressure of the large number of cuts covering his chest.

Temari grinned softly.

"Like you said, I have been training with him for too long to not pick up one or two things."

"But," Sasuke started before grunting and forcing himself back into sitting position. "The Shadow clone jutsu?"

"It works doesn't it? It takes nearly all my chakra to form just a single clone, but as you can see it is more than worth it to make one." Temari paused and took a breath before forcing herself back to her feet. "We calling it a tie? Or you ready for more?"

Sasuke chuckled and forced himself back to his feet. Despite the lacerations limiting his movements he knew he could still keep moving.

"Oh no, we are far from being over."

The two Temaris grinned and readied their battle fans. In a one to one match there was no way she could match him, but now that she had a shadow clone there might be a shot at beating him in direct combat.

"You do realize I can handle the dozens of clones Naruto sends at me right? Compared to his use of it yours will hardly slow me down."

Temari snorted.

"You could barely handle one of me last time."

"True, but then again last time you weren't my target. And last time I had to save this," Sasuke called out even as a chidori flared to life on his left hand. "for your brother."

Temari grit her teeth. She knew just how lethal that attack was. It cut through her brother's defense so it would just as easily cut through any of hers. Just like Naruto's rasengan had. Both her and her clone were ready though. So long as she clone kept throwing attack after attack and she kept Sasuke from dispelling the clone then they would be able to counter even this.

It would just be a long hard fight to the finish.

At least that was what they thought.

Before either Sasuke or Temari could make the next move a caustic tidal wave of demonic chakra so potent it snuffed out Sasuke's chidori tore through the forest. The two genin gaped in awe struck horror for a moment before both took off towards the desert in hopes of some how averting the apocalyptic situation.

**8888**

Kankuro was mildly impressed. It seemed Sakura knew her taijutsu well enough that she could easily transfer it onto her puppet. Between her chakra control and her knowledge of the taijutsu style she was easily dominating him in straight fighting with the puppets. Which was odd considering how weak she was in hand-to-hand combat. It was probably simply a lack of physical prowess that kept her from being better than taijutsu than she was.

However, straight taijutsu fights between puppets was almost unheard of outside sparring. Meaning it was time to take it up a notch.

With but a thought and a twitch of his fingers Kankuro triggered the release mechanisms in Black Ant separating the various pieces into their individual parts. As soon as they had separated Kankuro launched them all at Sakura. Surprisingly the pinkette managed to separate Crow into its various pieces and knock his attacks off course.

Sakura grinned at seeing Kankuro's surprised face.

"Told you I wasn't hopeless." She called out before twitching her fingers and revealing the hidden blades stored within the various parts.

That killed Kankuro's sense of respect for the girl. Sighing he shook his head.

"Word of advice for if you ever get your own puppet. Keep the blades hidden until right before they slash the target because they are tipped with poison and if you expose them too early the poison will either oxidize and become worthless or dry out and not seep into the victims blood fast enough to be effective."

Sakura blinked at looked at the various blades she wielded around her with a new respect for them.

"Oh! Okay, thanks for the advice."

Kankuro grinned and shook his head.

"Another piece of advice, don't take your eyes off the opponents pieces." Kankuro said with a grin even as three of the pieces he had snuck underneath the tree branch they had been fighting on launched at Sakura.

Acting on instinct and trained habit Sakura leapt out of the way of the incoming attack. Sadly that meant she released her hold on the various pieces of Crow only for Kankuro to quickly latch his own chakra threads onto them and steal them away.

Sighing Kankuro shook his head.

"And lastly never, _never,_ disconnect from your puppets in the middle of battle with another puppeteer." Once again Kankuro sighed at the let down this match had turned into. Even with as weak as he was at sensing chakra usage he could tell that the other two battles had been explosive. "And that is puppeteering 101. Game over." Kankuro drawled out even as he hurled the mass of parts at Sakura.

Oddly the girl didn't panic. Instead she merely stood her ground. Kankuro was just about ready to stop the puppets' attack when suddenly threads of chakra shot out from Sakura's fingers and latched onto all the various parts stopping them cold only a couple yards from her.

Sakura grinned.

"I don't have the chakra to play long range stuff. Now short range I can do."

Kankuro couldn't help but to grin and shake his head.

"So you do. Too bad I have the chakra to overpower you." With a flick of his fingers and a touch more chakra Kankuro's control over the puppet parts began to override Sakura's and force the blades closer to her. However, as the parts got closer Sakura's control grew stronger.

The two of them probably would have reached a dead stalemate if it had not been for the titanic wave of chakra that crashed over them shattering their chakra strings.

The overwhelming wave of chakra came with a bloodlust unlike anything Sakura had ever felt. It was mind numbing. Fear froze her blood and soul freezing her in place despite the animalistic panic that was urging her to flee. Kankuro on the other hand knew exactly what, and more specifically who, this bloodlust was and what it meant. It meant Naruto had pushed Gaara beyond the point of no return and was now as good as dead. Kankuro was about to take off in the opposite direction when he felt his sister's chakra signature moving _towards_ the source of the demonic chakra. Worse still the Uchiha was leading her.

"The hell are those two doing!?" Kankuro seethed even as he reassembled his puppets and put them back on his back. "Now I have to go help." Kankuro sighed out before turning and snapping his fingers and Sakura. "Hey, snap out of it. We need to go either save your idiot teammate or recover his remains." The snapping apparently brought her back to reality because Kankuro watched as conscious thought entered her eyes again.

"Wait, you mean go _towards_…. That?"

"Yes towards that. I agree we need to be going the other way, but my sister and your brooding teammate are headed towards it so we need to go either get them out of there or try and help them with whatever idiotic stunt they are trying to pull. Now hurry up!" Without waiting for her Kankuro reconnected his chakra strings to his puppets and placed the pair back on his back before taking off into the woods. He was glad to see that not two steps behind him was the pink haired girl and her silver haired sensei who had seemingly materialized out of nowhere.

For some reason despite having the jounin there Kankuro didn't feel any better about the situation.

**8888**

Naruto couldn't help but groan in frustration as he saw Gaara's tail form. The sand from the desert surged upwards coating what little remained of Gaara's waist and stomach before moving backwards to create a massive tail easily twice the size of Gaara. Unlike the other aspects of Gaara's transformation, which had all changed, this part had blessedly remained the same. However, it still meant that Gaara was but one step away from unleashing all hell.

With that Gaara's transformation was all but perfect. From head to waist Gaara was covered by that same diamond hard layer of sand that had taken a full-blown rasengan to tear through. Breaking through that defense without flat out killing Gaara was going to be the challenge. If he could force Gaara to summon the full form of Shukaku then it would remove Gaara from his defenses, not counting the hulking form of Shukaku. But then it would just be a matter of disconnecting Gaara from his sand rather than having to break through the armor. Only question was, with as far as Gaara had transformed how could Naruto push him further without actually killing him?

"**Handle this Uzumaki!" **Gaara roared as his tail jabbed into the sand and he launched his two arms forwards. As the two hands shot forward the tail reemerged from the sand in five different spots creating a seven pronged full frontal attack.

Reacting on instinct Naruto created seven shadow clones who all slammed rasengans into the incoming attacks. Sadly all that did was slow the attacks down. Since Gaara had a limitless supply of sand, even as the rasengans tore through the sand, more and more came until eventually the sand tore through the rasengans and clones before continuing on their path towards Naruto. Once again Naruto created a batch of seven clones and sent them rushing the oncoming attack with him trailing directly behind the center clone. Pulling out one of his last two kunai Naruto waited until right as the sand claw slammed into the shadow clone in front of him before dropping to his knees and hurling a kunai between his clones legs so that the kunai landed right between Gaara's feet as the exploding tag detonated. Sadly the explosion only had enough impact to disrupt Gaara's connection to the sand and failed in launching Gaara into the air as Naruto had hoped. Luckily, however, the disruption was enough time for Naruto to create three shadow clones beneath Gaara.

They didn't fail. Acting as one the three clones blasted Gaara sky with three perfectly timed Drilling Air Bullets.

Grinning and quickly creating five other shadow clones in the air around Gaara Naruto sat back and watched his handiwork. Without even having to lift a finger Naruto watched as his clones blasted Gaara time and time again bouncing him around in the air as if he were the volleyball in an airborne game of beach ball. And even from where he was standing on the ground Naruto could see the sand that was beginning to fall off Gaara in clumps. With the constant barrage of attacks Gaara couldn't reconnect with the sand below to replenish his armor, and the sand was beginning to peel off in layers. Within moments nearly all of Gaara's armor had been stripped off and the wind blasts began to leave gashes across Gaara's skin.

Smirking in victory Naruto waved his hands at the airborne clones and watched as Gaara fell to the earth in a lump.

"Ha!" Naruto shouted out even as he slumped over in exhaustion. He had easily created over two or three hundred shadow clones in this match, and between all those shadow clones and the various other jutsu he had needed to use he was beat. He still had plenty to run back to the village, but that had still been the most tiring match he had had in a long time. "No fox needed this time, eh Gaara?" Naruto called out even as he began to walk towards his friend. "Gaara?" He called out louder when he got no response. "Oi! You black out that easy?!" He shouted when he again got no response. Only, this time his shouting got a response of a different sort.

The desert itself responded.

Pulsing blue lines of chakra surged outwards from Gaara's stationary body in a surge of chakra that left even Naruto gasping for air. The sinister lines spread out further than Naruto could see turning the entire desert into a maze of darkened sand and jagged lines of deep blue pulsing chakra. Before Naruto had time to do anything about the development the pulsing lines of chakra began to move, though not in the way Naruto had wanted. Instead of the lines of pulsing chakra moving back towards Gaara, the lines actually began to move outwards and upwards. At some point in the distance the lines had apparently reached their intended range and had begun to snake up into the sky taking half the desert with them. In moments a massive dome of sand easily the size of the Hokage Mountains had sprung up around Gaara. And Naruto was standing smack dab in the middle of it.

"Well this is new." Naruto said aloud to no one in particular. As he took in the insides of the dome he couldn't help but appreciate just how marvelous his improved eyesight was. The only light within the cavernous dome came from the dimly pulsing blue lines of chakra on the walls of the dome; however, the sheer enormity of the dome would have made what feeble light they provided useless had it not been for his improved night vision.

Shrugging at seeing nothing interesting about the dome Naruto lifted his foot to start walking towards the unconscious Gaara only to immediately freeze as thousands of eyes sprung open on the walls. Hundreds upon hundreds of eyes glared down at Naruto as the walls of the dome was filled with eyes.

'_**Kit do not move!' **_Kyuubi warned to which Naruto rolled his eyes.

'_Gee thanks for the advice I didn't think of that. And here I was thinking I should take a stroll.'_

'_**Were the situation not so grievous I would thrash you for your insolence, however, that will have to wait. Kit, do you even realize how much danger you are in?'**_

'_Judging by the crap ton of eyes I would say a lot. But, so long as I don't move I should be fine no?'_

'_**No. Doesn't this dome look familiar?'**_

'_Not really. I've never seen Gaara do anything like this before. Well, he did make a small sphere back in the chunin exams to begin merging with Shukaku, but that was no where near as large as this.'_

'_**And that sphere was constructed for the exact same reason this one has been. This sphere is Shukaku's birth place.'**_

Naruto paled.

'_Hold up! Sphere!? This is just a dome!'_

'_**No, this is a sphere that extends as far downwards as it does upwards. The manifestation of Shukaku you faced previously was a miniature version of its true form. And when Shukaku manifests this time it will take up the entire space of this sphere. Including where you stand.'**_

'_The hell!? But how do I get out of here? With a solid wall I can't use the shadow clone trick to get out of here!'_

Kyuubi merely rumbled with laughter.

'_**Then it looks like you truly will need my help to stay alive. Ah well, we shall have to see. Good luck.'**_

'_WHAT!?' _Naruto mentally screamed at the fox only to receive silence. "That good for nothing worthless bundle of fluff is just tryin to psyche me out. I can, and will, get out of here without using his help." His resolve lasted right until he saw that the thousands of eyes were still trained on him, and were showing no signs of ever looking away. Gritting his teeth Naruto willed a clone to pop into existence on the other side of the clearing while he watched the eyes to see how they responded. Oddly they didn't even seem to notice the sudden appearance of the clone. "Ha!" Naruto shouted in victory only for his sense of pride to die the moment the clone moved jagged spikes of crystalized sand shot up and pierced the clone through the chest. "Well crud. So they can't detect the clone being created, but they can detect motion." He blinked at that. "Why can't they tell a clone was created? I mean it's kind of hard to miss. Unless they can't pick up on chakra." As realization dawned on Naruto a mischievous smirk formed on his face. "Now this I can play with."

**8888**

Kankuro, Sakura, and Kakashi reached the tree line and froze.

Standing before them was a veritable mountain of sand that had seemingly sprung up out of nowhere. The mountainous dome of sand was easily the size of the hokage monument and was covered in sinister looking blue lines of chakra that seemed to be pulsing. Those very same lines of chakra were making it impossible to tell where Naruto was with all the chakra they were emitting. Normally, it would have been a simple matter to pick Naruto's chakra signature out in the desert. However, attempting to sense anything more than a foot away was an exercise in futility with that mountain of chakra sending out wave after wave of caustic chakra.

Sight on the other hand was still working fine, so when Sasuke and Temari popped out of the tree line a moment later the two groups easily spotted one another and met up.

"What the hell is that?" Sakura asked echoing the thoughts of the other two leaf ninja who were far too reserved to ask the question.

"That, is Suna's trump card in action." Temari replied despondently. The last time her brother had gone this far in the desert Temari had hardly been seven or eight years old and only remembered being ushered inside while her father had gone out to tend to some horrible noise. What she did get to see, however, was the catastrophic amounts of damage her brother had wrought. Entire city blocks had been buried under mounds of sand. And according to the ninja she had overhead her brother had only cut loose for a moment or two before her father had restrained the beast.

"You mean _that_ is what Naruto and Sasuke went up against?"

"No." Sasuke spoke out. "That is what Naruto went up against."

"Actually," Kakashi cut in without looking up from his book. "that is something none of you have seen before. What you saw Naruto fight against before was a mini version of what you are about to see. Pay attention now cause here comes the grand finale."

Before any of the genin could ask what Kakashi meant they all felt Naruto's chakra flare momentarily in a monumental surge of chakra that emanated from inside the dome of chakra. Though, nothing happened. At least not immediately. The pulsing lines of chakra that covered the dome of sand began to flare brighter and pulse more rapidly until the dome of sand began to shine from all the chakra being released.

And then the rumbling began. It started out as a low rumble that was almost imperceptible, but within moments it had grown to a resounding cacophony that drowned out all conversation as it grew into a roar that transformed the entire desert into a rumbling mass of sand. Mounds of sand began to level off as the rumbling caused the sand to quiver and tremble changing the sand dune covered desert into a flat expanse of nothingness apart from the dome.

That dome wasn't going to be there for long either based on the fact the lines of chakra were beginning to fade out leaving behind gaping cracks in the dome. In a shower of smoke and sand two monstrous figures emerged from within the dome. The first, and by far the largest, was none of than Shukaku itself. Looking exactly as Sasuke, Kankuro, Temari, and Kakashi remembered Shukaku stood in the middle of the now flattened desert. The last time Shukaku had manifested it had been immense, easily the size of a small mountain. This time it was on an entirely different scale of enormity. Sakura fell to her knees as Kankuro fell backwards landing on his rear. The crushing pressure of Shukaku's chakra and bloodlust combined with the sheer enormity behind it left the both of them paralyzed with fear. Sasuke and Temari were only fairing slight better in that they were standing upright, Sasuke through stubbornness and Temari through the use of her fan as a prop.

Kakashi laughed.

"It has been ages since I have seen a fully manifested biju."

"This is no laughing matter!" Baki called out as he emerged from the forest. "How are we to stop Gaara now that he has gone berserk? Suna is close enough he could reach it before he ran out of chakra. What then?" Baki demanded obviously offended by Kakashi's lackadaisical attitude.

"Hmmm?" Kakashi hummed out as he turned his head slightly to look at Baki out the corner of his eye. Seeing the intense look on Baki's face Kakashi merely waved his hand dismissively. "Oh don't worry about it. We aren't going to stop him." Turning back to face the desert Kakashi pointed past the hulking figure of Shukaku to a smaller figure that was just now getting back to its feet. "He is."

From the smoke of the figure rising back to its feet came a massive one tailed fox with golden yellow fur and shimmering blue eyes.

"What!? He can summon foxes too?" Sasuke shouted out in rage only to pause when his rage activated his sharingan and showed him the truth.

"You see it don't you?" Kakashi asked even as he pulled his own headband up.

"Yeah."

"See what? Mind filling us people without fancy eyes in on where that blonde fox came from?" Kankuro sneered in annoyance. It always grated on his nerves when those blessed from birth with an advantage took it for granted.

"It isn't a fox. At least not in the sense you are thinking." Kakashi responded before elaborating. "The beast you see is actually two or three thousand shadow clones all combined in a mass transformation jutsu."  
>"That's impossible." Kankuro retorted automatically. "You can't make a living breathing creature of that size with the transformation jutsu. You would have to stretch the chakra too thin to hold the image. Not to mention a transformation would be useless in battle."<p>

"Unless it's Naruto's perfected transformation." Temari muttered without thinking as her mind figured it all out. "If you had two or three thousand people stacked in a rough shape of a fox, and then had them all initiate a mass solid transformation jutsu then it could work."

"But two thousand people can't think alike like that. They would all have to think exactly alike." Kankuro responded.

"As if they were clones?" Temari simply questioned with a smirk on her face. She was about to rub it in further when Kakashi cut in.

"Enough you two. Besides, you're fixing to miss the show."

**8888**

Naruto panted for air from his perch atop his newly created golden yellow fox. It had taken almost everything he had to make enough clones to form the outline for this fox. He only had enough chakra for maybe a dozen or so clones more, or one good jutsu. Any thing else and he would have to start pulling on Kyuubi for chakra. But that was all beside the point. Now that he had created the bloody thing the fox was self-sustaining. The clones within the fox would keep the transformation going, and could create more clones to re-strengthen the construct if it were to take too much damage. Not to mention the best part. Every clone within the construct could cast jutsu.

Tiredly hanging on to the golden yellow fur with one hand and pointing at Shukaku's head in the distance with the other Naruto gave a shout.

"Fire!" Naruto shouted as he gestured at Shukaku's head. Not a moment later the fox's tail snapped forward unleashing a dozen Drilling Air Bullets that careened across the desert before slamming into Shukaku's right shoulder. "Hmmm aim is off." Naruto mused to himself. However, his musings were cut short as the fox beneath him began to sprint across the desert. Hanging on for dear life and letting his clones do the work Naruto tiredly watched the fight play out.

**8888**

Awe was written across all faces. Even Kakashi was impressed with Naruto's creation. The fox was dashing about the desert unleashing round after round of air bullets. Shukaku, which was now obviously still under Gaara's control, was stuck standing in place deflecting the bullets with its arms. Whenever Gaara did have a moment to attack he would send immense tidal waves of sand hurdling towards Naruto's fox only for the fox to either jump over it or blow the wall of sand apart with gouts of wind.

"Naruto is lucky Gaara retained enough control to not give Shukaku control." Kakashi mumbled as he watched Gaara chase the golden fox with a roughly formed claw of sand.

"That is for certain." Baki echoed. "Shukaku would have caught the boy in an instant, and killed him a moment later."

"Then why doesn't Gaara?" Sasuke asked without taking his eyes off the battle. Something about the whole thing was bugging him.

"Because Gaara is not accustomed to manipulating such massive amounts of sand or chakra. Right now Gaara finds himself in control of an entire desert spanning thousands of miles, and is trying to pin point one specific point in that desert. Not to mention that one point is constantly changing and moving around while launching massive gales of wind. He has neither the control nor the focus to force the sand beneath the fox's feet to grab the fox from this distance, and he is too unfamiliar with wielding this much chakra to know how to move Shukaku. In other words, so long as Naruto keeps it a long range battle he has nothing to worry about. He can merely wear Gaara out of chakra."

"Not this time." Sasuke said as he finally figured out what was bugging him. "Naruto is out of chakra."

"What!?" Temari asked out of shock. She had never, never, seen Naruto run out of chakra. He had created thousands of clones a dozen times in a row before and never run fully out of chakra before. He had been exhausted, but never truly empty. "That can't be. If he had blown through that much chakra we would have felt it long before now. Aside from that one burst of chakra we felt to create that fox we haven't felt anything. And two or three thousand clones wouldn't leave him that tired."

"That is what I am trying to figure out. I know the dobe has more chakra than this, but for whatever reasons he is flat out of chakra. I can see him, and he is just lying on the fox's head hanging on while the clones within the fox do all the work."

Temari opened her mouth to respond when she, along with the other genin, were suddenly snatched up by Kakashi and shushined up to the tops of a nearby tree. Blinking in disorientation for a moment Temari looked back at where she had been standing only to pale.

Gaara had apparently figured out how to launch his own long range wind attacks because one had just torn through the area they had been standing. Now all that was left was a vicious trench wide enough to fit a city block and easily half a mile long.

"He nearly killed us." Temari mumbled out in shock at how close she had just been to death.

"Not on purpose." Baki replied solemnly. "At the ranges they are firing I doubt they can see us. And all the chakra they are putting out makes us blind to them, so for all intent and purposes we might as well not exist to them."

"Not true." Kakashi corrected even as he pulled his head band back over his sharingan eye. He had seen all he needed to see. No need to waste chakra. "Naruto sees us. I don't know _how_ he can see us at these ranges but he sees us. There have been three times when he has smacked the fox on the head to stop it from firing in our direction. He and I will definitely have a good long talk when we get back to the village."

Temari frowned at that. She knew the reasons behind Naruto being able to see them. She also knew the answers to Kakashi's other questions. What she didn't know was how Naruto would react to having to tell those secrets.

A snap, a crack, and the battle suddenly ended. Blinking and whirling back to the battle Temari just caught sight of Gaara as he was ejected out of the back of Shukaku's head and launched across the desert with enough speed to roll a dozen or so times before coming to a halt. The Shukaku construct collapsed under its own weight since Gaara was no longer able to maintain it. The golden yellow fox went up in a massive plume of smoke. And there, falling along side the sand that had given Shukaku form, was Naruto.  
>"The hell just happened?!" Temari demanded only to be met by several dumbfounded looks. "Gah whatever!" Temari cried in frustration before dashing out across the desert.<p>

Based on sound alone she knew the rest of them had followed her out.

**8888**

He couldn't figure it out. He knew that there was no way anyone but him had caught it, but he still couldn't figure it out. He and Kakashi were the only two with good enough eyes to catch what had happened. And Kakashi had covered his sharingan eye up after watching the battle for a moment, so Sasuke was the only one who had seen that concluding moment of the battle.

Naruto had either recovered some energy, or had simply grown tired of watching the same thing happen time and time again. Either way the blonde had acted. Instead of casting any jutsu the blonde had simply moved to the tip of the fox's tail. Apparently he had communicated with the clones that were controlling the fox because as soon as he had situated himself on the fox's tail the fox took a dozen massive leaps away from Gaara to put as much distance as possible between them. Then began the confusing part. The entire time Sasuke had been watching the battle the fox had just been using a large scale versions of one particular jutsu. However, whatever they charged up when Naruto was on the tip of the tail was something else entirely. The jutsu began to collect momentum and chakra at the paws of the fox and had moved up through the rest of the fox gaining more and more chakra from the clones as they had all combined their efforts into the jutsu. The jutsu had started out looking exactly like the ones the fox had been throwing about earlier, but at some point as it had gained and gathered energy along the way it had morphed into something else. The way the chakra was molded and focused changed so that by the time it had reached the tip of the tail, which was now pointed directly at Gaara, it was an entirely different jutsu. Naruto had apparently not caught the difference in the jutsu because he had not changed his stance. He had remained perfectly stationary on the tip of the tail glaring straight ahead while creating some odd swirling ball of chakra in his right hand.

When the new attack had finally reached the tip of the tail it exploded with a resounding crack even as it created a small shockwave so potent it was actually visible in the form of a translucent white wave that cut clear through the golden yellow fox, and even cut several feet into the sand below. However, by the time the shockwave had reached the ground Naruto had already flown clear across the desert.

Then Naruto had done something even more mysterious. As soon as he was within range of Gaara he stuck his right hand out and the swirling ball of chakra he had been holding shrunk in size until it was no bigger than an egg. And then it had exploded. However, instead of merely exploding in a blast of chakra that went in all directions it exploded forwards in a massive swirling cone of chakra with enough force behind it to not only launch Gaara out the back of Shukaku's head, but to even cave in the entire face of Shukaku leaving a perfect swirl pattern carved into the sand. The blast had also had enough force to stop Naruto mid air despite all the momentum he had had when the fox had launched him.

And, despite having seen all that Sasuke was still baffled by it all. What had the jutsu morphed into, and how and why had it suddenly changed? Had Naruto intended for it to change like that? And what was with that swirling ball of chakra?

These were all questions that needed to be answered. And soon.

**8888**

Temari, Sakura, Sasuke, and Kankruo all rushed up to where Naruto was lying and froze. Naruto was unconscious atop the massive pile of sand that had once been Shukaku, and all the sand around him was stained red from the blood that was gushing from Naruto's right arm. The wound on the arm was quite and unusual one. Starting an inch up from Naruto's wrist five perfectly cut gashes worked their way up Naruto's forearm in a tightly wound counterclockwise spiral. Sakura and Kankuro froze at the sight of the wound and the massive amounts of blood loss. Sasuke paused and took a step back to go fetch Kakashi in hopes the jounin knew at least a few medical ninjutsu. Temari on the other hand sprinted forward and straddled Naruto. Buried her knees deep in blood soaked sand.

And began to beat the snot out of Naruto. In rapid fire strikes Temari slapped the unconscious boy five or six times before Sasuke grabbed her arm.

"What the hell are you doing?" Sasuke demanded and he attempted to haul the girl off him only for her to jerk free of his grasp.

"Waking him up." Temari snapped back before slapping Naruto again. "Oi! Wake up!" Temari shouted in Naruto's ear before slapping him once more.

"Enough! He needs a doctor. Not to be slapped!" Sasuke ordered.

Without paying the Uchiha any more concern Temari slapped Naruto once more before quickly jumping back when she saw his cerulean blue eyes snap open. The moment he was awake he gave a roar and unleashed a gush of orange chakra that swelled over his body bathing him in a fire of the caustic chakra.

The four genin watched as Naruto struggled back to his feet while the orange chakra blazed brighter and higher until it forced the four to take several steps backwards in order to avoid being burnt by it. The wounds on Naruto's arm, which had been oozing blood the entire time, stopped bleeding and were actually beginning to slowly heal. Apparently, however, it wasn't enough chakra because the orange chakra grew and grew even as it shifted from a chaotically blazing inferno to a rough silhouette of a one tailed fox. The raging flames then began to shrink until they had wrapped tightly around Naruto's entire frame except for his head and his rear. On his head the flame had shifted to give the blonde two pointed ears that stretched a full foot above the crown of Naruto's head. At his rear the burning chakra elongated downwards and outwards until a sinister looking orange tail of condensed chakra had formed.

Now standing in front of the four baffled genin was a Naruto enshrouded by a one tailed cloak of blazing orange chakra.

And the wound, which had looked debilitating but moments ago now was all but healed. Only the faintest traces of the wound still remained. As those last few patches of skin knit themselves shut a small glob of blood leaked out. However, instead of dribbling down Naruto's arm it worked its way up his arms clearly saying to hell with all laws of gravity. Moving as if driven by some sentient will the glob of blood moved up Naruto's arm and onto his chest just above his right pectoral before rearranging itself into some incomprehensible symbol. Once it had formed into the alien symbol it flashed a brilliant red for a split second before burning itself into Naruto's skin. Hissing in pain Naruto scrunched up his face in displeasure to contain his shout. Luckily the mark had etched itself into his skin in moments. Once done Naruto's healing factor kicked in once more and new skin grew over the mark making it impossible to tell it was even there.

With everything healed and sealed Naruto's eyes opened once more. While the cerulean eyes that greeted the four genin appeared normal to Sakura, Sasuke, and Kankuro they were as foreign to Temari as the mark that had just formed. Naruto was obviously using massive amounts of the fox's chakra, yet his eyes were still perfectly blue. That was new.

"Evening guys." Naruto growled out as he let the chakra cloak dissipate. "Is Gaara okay?" Naruto questioned as he began to walk towards the other four. "I have never used that on anyone before so I don't know how much punch it has."

"It has a hell of a punch, but Gaara is fine." Kakashi replied as he and Baki joined the group. Gaara was slung over Baki's shoulder.

"You sure? That doesn't look fine to me." Kankuro retorted. Worry giving his voice an edge he hadn't intended.

Kakashi quirked an eyebrow at the boy but couldn't help but smile beneath his mask. It was nice to know the cat-man had gotten over his fear of his brother enough to worry.

"I'm certain. The attack merely knocked him unconscious. Though, what exactly was that attack?" The last was aimed at Naruto who scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Hehe," Naruto nervously chuckled as he scratched the back of his head while smiling sheepishly. "That would be the new jutsu I told you about. It takes the rasengan and turns it into a midrange attack. Though using it kind of tears my arms to shreds since I haven't quite mastered it yet, so I try not to use it all that much."

"Rasengan?" Sasuke asked to which Naruto nodded.

"Yeah, it is a trick I learned from pervy sage." Holding out his right hand with the palm facing up Naruto charged up a rasengan so Sasuke could see it. "Tada! And then all I really did was learn how to make it blow up in the direction I want."

"It looks similar to the chidori." Sasuke ground out. He was doing his best to not let his jealously shine through.

Sadly it was painfully obvious. Even to Naruto.

Luckily the awkwardness was avoided by Baki.  
>"Well, now that questions have been answered can we please go our separate ways? I would like to get back to Suna before night falls, not to mention have Gaara checked out to ensure there was no internal damage done."<p>

Kakashi nodded.

"That is probably a good idea. Well then Sasuke, Temari, and Naruto shall we head on back to the village?" Kakashi asked to which he got two cheers and one grunt.

**8888**

"Sasuke, you can head on home for the night. I will hand in the mission report." Kakashi said to Sasuke once they had all signed back into the village. Then he turned to face Temari and Naruto who were attempting to tip-toe away "You two, on the other hand, obviously have some explaining to do."

Naruto sighed in defeat and nodded.

"Alright, well we can talk back at my place no?"

"So your place is secure enough to discuss this, but the middle of a desert with no one around for miles isn't?" Kakashi drawled out.

Naruto nodded vigorously with a massive grin.

"Yep!" Naruto shouted even as he began to walk towards his house. Temari fell into step beside him giving Kakashi no option but to follow along. "Plus," Naruto continued. "you haven't seen the place since I started to remodel it have you?"

"Remodel it?"

"Yep! Namikaze-san bought the place for me and his girls and told me to fix the place up."

Kakashi had frozen several steps back.

"What did you just say?"

"I said Namikaze-san bought…

"How do you know that name?"

"Hmmm? He is the Fourth's son."

Kakashi's eye narrowed as rage began to fill him. Someone aside from the true heir to the Namikaze clan dared to pose as the son of his sensei? He had seen the fliers and heard the rumors that a supposed heir to the Namikaze clan was going to make an appearance. But that was preposterous. Naruto was the only heir to the clan. That was the entire reason Kakashi had tailed them all the way to the desert this time. He had wanted to ensure that Naruto was where Naruto was supposed to be, and that no one attempted to assassinate him in order to post their own man as the heir in order to get the Namikaze wealth. Yet, Naruto himself was acting as if this man was the true heir.

"Kakashi!" Temari called out snapping Kakashi out of his stupor. "You really ought to see the place. It's awesome what Naruto has been able to do to the place. Besides, once there you can always just ask the girls where Namikaze-san is. They always seem to know where he is."

Kakashi narrowed his eye at the girl. The amount of intel this girl had on Naruto, Konoha, and the ongoings of the city was disturbing. She was a foreigner here, yet she seemed to know everything about what was going on around and with Naruto as of late. Making a mental note to keep a closer eye on her Kakashi nodded and motioned for them to keep walking.

The two genin looked at Kakashi for a moment before both shrugged and kept on walking. An easy silence falling between the two that was only interrupted when one or the other would point out something. Such as when Naruto pointed out that a soup shop Temari apparently liked was having a special later on in the week for those who bought a voucher and full meal today. From there conversation easily stretched between the two ranging from what each one wanted to eat the rest of the week.

"You know we can't eat out every night right?" Temari questioned.

"Oh come on!" Naruto whined. "Do we really have to go grocery shopping again? We just went last week!"  
>"Shopping is a weekly thing!" Temari fussed as she rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Honestly with just the two of us we could just shop daily for what we want."<p>

"Daily!"

"Yes daily." Temari patronized. "You are just make it into such a production that shopping weekly is less of a headache."

Naruto snorted in defiance. "I do not make it that difficult."

"Good," Temari chirped. "then we can go shopping after we get dinner."

Naruto froze and gaped at Temari. For her part Temari merely giggled and smirked at the stunned boy.

"Something the matter?"

Naruto growled at her while narrowing his eyes.

"Diabolical womanly wiles."

"Ah how cute! He is beginning to use big words!" Temari teased with a wink.

With a roar Naruto attempted to tackle the girl only for her to substitute herself with Kakashi who had been too entertained with the whole ordeal to brace for it.

The end result was Naruto and Kakashi sprawled out in the middle of the street with Naruto lying across Kakashi. Temari couldn't help but bust out laughing.

Narrowing his eyes at being had Kakashi quickly substituted himself with the still laughing girl leaving her and Naruto in a tangled mess instead.

Laughter died immediately as the two tried to quickly untangle themselves only to end up falling back to the ground as they tripped over each other as they tried to help each other up. Eventually the two teens got back to their feet with immense blushes on their faces. After that conversation was nonexistence until they finally reached Naruto's apartment.

Kakashi couldn't help but gawk at the renovations being done. The bottom three floors had been gutted altogether. All walls had been torn out, and even the floors of the second and third floors had been torn out leaving nothing but a maze of structural pillars and crossbeams that held the suspended fourth floor aloft. The fourth floor, the one where Naruto resided, had only undergone minor changes. The wall that had been blown out by Naruto during the refrigerator fiasco had been repaired, and a new navy blue coat of pain had been applied.

"What in the world…" Kakashi trailed off as he gazed in wonder at what had happened to the apartment building.

"See what I mean!" Naruto proudly shouted as he hopped in front of the house and twirled around to face Kakashi with a massive grin and arms spread wide. "Check out all the progress I've already made. I already took out everything we didn't want, so now all I have to do is rebuild it. The huge bottom floor is going to be converted into two separate floors where the girls will work, and above those two floors will be the living quarters for the girls and for the kids. And my favorite part," With a grunt Naruto launched himself up and through the air in a backflip that brought him to land on his launch pad looking balcony. "Only ninja can reach my apartment! I won't put a single staircase to my apartment."

"So no more stupid civilians rigging the place." Temari echoed as she leapt up to the balcony as well. "Coming?" Temari called back to Kakashi who was still on the ground.

Without responding Kakashi jumped up to join the two teens.

Naruto waited until all three of them had moved through the door before grinning. With a wave of his hand two seal less clones popped into existence on the sofa. One of the two immediately transformed into Temari.

The moment the shadow cloned had copied her image Temari gave Naruto a wave before walking forwards. The moment her sandal clad foot passed over the threshold there was a flash of chakra that resulted in Temari vanishing from sight.

Before Kakashi could even begin to speculate what had happened the two clones on the couch began to move.

"I get dibs on the shower!" The 'Temari' called out as 'she' began to walk to the bedroom only to be tackled by 'Naruto'.

"Why the hell do you get dibs? You got dibs last time!" 'Naruto shouted as he attempted to crawl to the bedroom before 'Temari' get back up. Sadly 'Temari' merely waited until he was at the bedroom door before substituting herself with him thus leaving him on the ground and her at the door.

"Ladies first of course." 'Temari' teased as she slipped through the door.

Naruto and Kakashi merely stared at the two clones for a moment before Naruto sighed and sagged his shoulders in defeat.

"Why can't my clones be normal?"

"Because copying abnormal can only create abnormality?" 'Naruto' offered with a smirk causing Naruto to glare at his own clone.

"Whatever!" Naruto huffed before turning to Kakashi and motioning him forward. "Well, shall we go Kaka-sensi?"

Kakashi narrowed his eye in suspicion.

"Go where?"

"To meet Namikaze-san."

That was obviously enough for Kakashi as he narrowed his eye further before marching forward. As with Temari the moment Kakashi's foot moved over the threshold Kakashi vanished.

Naruto grinned and followed suit.

**8888**

Temari shook her head to rid herself of the dizzy spell from the transport. Turning and facing the stone platform she had just stepped off of Temari grinned as she watched Kakashi walk through and freeze in shock. A moment later a grinning Naruto appeared along side Kakashi. Temari grinned as she watched Kakashi take in the place in a state of wonderment.

And he was right to do so. The place was a work of skill so grand it ought to be hailed as art.

The three of them were currently standing in a large spherical stone chamber deep under ground. All along the wall were twelve or so circular platforms that were each about ten feet in diameter. Three of the twelve, including the one Temari, Kakashi, and Naruto had just stepped through, had complex seal arrays inscribed on the ground. In the middle of the room was a large wide-open space with a solitary and rickety looking wooden table in the middle of it with dozens of scrolls coverin the top of it. On the ceiling of the cavernous room were three different seals that were all glowing. Two were glowing a soft blue while the third was glowing a vibrant yellow that bathed the room in light.

"What in the world…" Kakashi questioned breathlessly as he took in the scene.

"This," Naruto exclaimed as he leapt to the middle of the room to stand by the table. "is the work of my father and mother. Minato and Kushina Namikaze."

Kakashi's gaze snapped back to Naruto.

"You know?"

Naruto nodded.

"Yeah. Pervy-sage and Ba-chan told me about it a month ago. Turns out my old man left behind a will that stated I was not to be told about my inheritance until I reached jounin, turned eighteen, or got married. And, since the council went ahead and married me off Ba-chan got to tell me about it early. She also got to give me the keys to the mansion and access to my inheritance."

"Then this 'Namikaze-san' is"

"He would be me. But since the council would probably throw a fit about what _I_ have planned I created his persona. Cause they can't touch him while they can touch me." Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Though, that was all Temari-chan's idea."

At this Kakashi's eyebrows attempted to mimic his hair and defy gravity.

Temari laughed nervously and nodded.

"Based on how the town's people acted I guessed the council would be opposed to most any motion Naruto put forth. However, an unknown and unreacheable character could put forth motions and only receive regular resistance rather than heavy resistance due to who he is. How Naruto pulled the illusion off, however, was all him."

Kakashi nodded and slowly the look of awe fell of his face as he withdrew to analyze all that he had learned.

"So then, where is this place exactly? And how are we breathing?" Kakashi asked after a moment of thought.

Temari and Naruto looked at one another before collectively shrugging.

"We have no idea!" The two answered in unison.

"What do you mean you have no idea?"

"We don't!" Naruto responded as he began to explain. "We were exploring the mansion and came across a room that looked like a massive storage room. As we looked through stuff and shifted boxes around we came across a mark on the ground. The moment I stepped on it I was teleported here. After freaking out for a good twenty minutes I managed to get back to the house and track Temari down. After that we fiddled with it and managed to re-create the seal in my house so that we can jump from my house to here without being seen. I leave behind two shadow clones and no one will suspect a thing. And this place is perfectly secure, so any question you have can be answered here with no worries about prying ears."

"Ah I see, well then the first question is how did you vanish in the desert and where did you vanish to? I followed you from the village out and you never once had an opportunity to substitute yourself with a clone."

"Unless it was a clone that left the village."

"That can't be? I saw you use the Kyuubi's chakra to burn of the traces of blood." Kakashi retorted.

"My clones can use Kyuubi's chakra. They are much more likely to lose control but they can his chakra. I sent a clone with the group because I had to stay behind and create the Namikaze. See, Namikaze is just a shadow clone tapping into Kyuubi's chakra with a concealing jutsu in place. When they dispel the concealing jutsu hides the puff of smoke so it looks like they just vanish from existence. I had to stick around to make the one for the show and the one for the council meeting."

"Mmmm I see. Well then care to explain how you managed to see us from across the desert?"

"I recently cut a deal with the fox that allows me to access more of his chakra whenever I want in exchange for giving him a view of the world. He wanted a high-def view so he improved my eyesight. Drastically. And don't worry about the seal I already had Pervy-sage take a look at it."

"Is that what that massive flare of Kyuubi's chakra was in the desert?"

"No it wasn't." A fourth voice cut in causing all Kakashi, Naruto, and Temari to jump in shock.

Seemingly emerging from the very stone the room was carved from was Jiraiya.

"Pervy-sage!? How did you get here!? Only I can turn the seals on!" The absolute shock in Naruto's voice made Jiraiya smirk and shake his head.

"Kid, I'll admit this little charade you've got going is pretty seamless, but when you start assuming something is impregnable you are gonna start screwing things up. Nothing is impregnable or absolutely secure. Nothing. There aren't many of us left, but there are still several seal masters out there who could crack the seals to infiltrate this place. And there are others who could track your chakra signature here and then tunnel downwards. Again nothing and nowhere is totally secure. Not even the Hokage's office is beyond being broken into. I heard many stories from the old man about how you yourself have proven that. Now, before we get into all that you need to explain what exactly happened in the desert that made you draw a full tail's worth of chakra from the fox."

Naruto paled.

"How did you know I drew on that much?"

In answer Jiraiya held up his palm which had the kanji for 'one' inscribed on it.

In a way I am tied to that seal on your stomach. Whenever you first reach another level of the fox's chakra I get a heads up. So whenever you reach two tail's I'll know it the instant you do it. Now, let me see you draw a full tail. And ditch your shirt so I can see how the seal responds to it in case whatever deal you cut with the fox has made any changes."

Nodding and doing as he was told Naruto quickly ditched his shirt and jacket before closing his eyes and focusing. In an instant a blazing orange chakra erupt from every pore of his body and coated him in chakra.

As the chakra grew higher and hotter Temari kept an eye on Naruto's chest. Not on the seal, but on the spot where she had seen that odd mark in the desert. Oddly even as the fox cloak began to reform the odd mark did not reappear. And when the cloak was complete and Naruto had opened his eyes they were a crimson red. Even stranger were the changes to Naruto's facial features. His whisker marks had darkened and thickened until they were as impossible to miss as the fact that Naruto's lips had turned a sinister looking black.

"**That…good?" **Naruto managed to growl out as apparently the transformation had limited Naruto's ability to speak.

Jiraiya moved closer and examined the seal for a moment before sticking his palm out. A blue aura of chakra enshrouded Jiraiya's hand allowing him to reach through the molten red chakra and actually touch the seal. After another moment Jiraiya removed his hand and nodded.

"That is good. Now let it drop."

Naruto nodded, however, it was not instantaneous. Instead little by little the chakra dissipated and the fox cloak more fell apart rather than actually dissipating. Even after the chakra had fallen away from Naruto the room was still filled with the oppressive aura of the Kyuubi.

"Heh, told ya it would get harder the more of it you drew on."

"Yeah," Naruto panted out as he shrugged back on his shirt and jacket. "I see what you mean."

"Now," Jiraiya began as he leaned back against the wooden table and crossed his arms while leveling a stern glare on Naruto that left no room for debate. "Namikaze-san, how about you explain these mysterious plans the whole village is wondering about. And be sure to not leave out any of the details."


	11. Chapter 11

**This is a touch shorter than my norm, but I am going to try changing things up a bit. Instead of doing such long chapters I am going to shorten them a bit so that I can get them out sooner. Let me know what you guys think of the new length. If you prefer longer chapters I'll change back.**

**Impure Perfection**

* * *

><p><strong>Shattering Stones<strong>

Temari and Naruto huffed tiredly as they both flopped down against the couch.

"That… was far harder than I had anticipated." Temari groaned.

"What're you talking about?! I did all the talking!" Naruto huffed. "You didn't even have to do much of the talking. I had to come up with dozens of plans on the fly to appease pervy sage. And yes I know what the word appease means."

Temari snickered but let it slide.

"Well I mean you, er Namikaze-san, kept talking about plans that he was going to set into motion. It's only logical that Jiraiya-sama would be interested."

"But I only said that so that I would have freedom to move later!" Naruto exclaimed as he waved his arms about in frustration. "Just on the off chance I _did_ have plans later on. Now I have to start working on all those bogus plans I told pervy sage about."

Temari chuckled and pat Naruto on the head.

"You'll eventually learn, but in the world of politics you don't say anything you can't back up. If you don't have plans then don't talk about them. Everyone already assumes you have 'em. To talk about them directly just makes them seem more suspicious."

"Ugh." Naruto groaned as he let his head flop back against the couch. "Gee, thanks for the heads up."

"Hey. You were the one who was all 'I got the speech down' and what not."

"Yeah, yeah. Mental note made; always go over speeches with Temari-chan before actually using them."

"Good boy. And you do realize we now have to move in here right."  
>"Yeah, I realized that as soon as I told Kaka-sensei we lived her. Ah well. I'll just send some clones to the house to move our stuff over here."<br>Temari nodded liking the sound of not having to move her stuff. Those clones really were handy.

"And while they do that we can go grocery shopping."

"Oh come on!" Naruto whined as he flopped back against the couch. Could this day get any worse? Not only did he get the third degree from the greatest spy in Konoha, but now he had to go grocery shopping? "I thought you were kidding about that."

Temari laughed.

"Why would I kid about that? We need food."

"But we just got back in town! I always eat at Ichiraku's when I return. It's tradition woman!" Naruto decreed as he thumped his chest for emphasis.

Temari raised an eyebrow before shaking her head and sighing.

"Fine fine. We can eat out tonight, but we still have to go grocery shopping so we have food in the morning."

"Mmmm." Naruto hummed with eyes narrowed in suspicion "We eat first, right?"

Temari threw her hands up in exasperation.

"Yes! We can eat first. Now, can we please go?"

"I don't know. I mean, the clones need to be supervised. We need to pick out which rooms we want. We need to…" Naruto teased with a grin until Temari shoved him off the couch. Even as he hit the ground he roared with laughter.

"Oh shut it and make the clones already." She ordered even as she grinned. The boy was too goofy and charming for his own good.

Charming?

Where in the nine rings of hell had that thought come from?

Shaking her head to rid herself of the pesky thoughts Temari stood up and left the still laughing blonde on the floor

**8888**

"If I am being awoken," The raspy and broken voice began before pausing long enough for dry and stale lips to be licked. "then am to take it there is good news?"

"There is in deed good news." Kabuto responded without turning around from the machines he was examining and operating. The ones that kept the man's mind aware of his surroundings while keeping his body in stasis. "It appears the little raven has come home to roost."

"Ahh, well then we must extend our warmest welcome to the wayward bird. And Kabuto," The voice paused long enough for the spectacled boy to turn around. "Time is not of the essence. Success is. Nevermore shall failure be tolerated."

Kabuto bowed his head to the practically comatose body before responding.

"Understood, Orochimaru-sama."

Why bow to a man who couldn't see whether he did or did not bow? To a man who was so drugged up he couldn't move, much less engage in any physical combat? To a man whose very life depended on the machine Kabuto was operating? Because that man was a legend and a titan. Because that man could unleash a hell of pain and suffering beyond imagination. But most importantly, because that man did not know how to die.

**8888**

Kakashi looked between the three youths and grinned. He had started the match three minutes ago and none of the three teens had so much as twitched. For Temari that was one thing. The girl was probably waiting on the boys to act so she could formulate a strategy; however, the two boys, who were so well known for being rash, hadn't rushed one another yet. In every spar the two had been in so far they had always immediately began a brutal brawl. Apparently the show Naruto had put on in the desert had made Sasuke weary of charging in blindly. And either Naruto had gained some maturity, or he was simply setting up a scheme.

Kakashi suspected the latter.

Sasuke quirked an eyebrow at Naruto.

"What's the matter scaredy-cat?" Sasuke taunted without taking his eyes off either of the blondes.

Temari opened her mouth to retort only for Naruto to cut in.

"Tch. Afraid of you?" Naruto questioned as he dropped the fighting stance and moved into a far more laid back stance. "You were the one who nearly wet himself in front of Orochi-teme."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and snarled at the blonde. Not because of the jab, but because the mere thought of that man caused the mark on the back of his neck to thrum to live. It wasn't painful. Hell, it was almost imperceptible. But it did remind Sasuke of how effortlessly the man had thrashed him. And defeat was not something the Uchiha was too fond of.

"Now now," Naruto chided playfully. "Don't get your thong in a twist. Here, have a gift." The blonde teased before lazily flicking a kunai at Sasuke's face.

The Uchiha scoffed and rolled his eyes as he leaned to the side to avoid the slow moving blade.

Naruto smirked and substituted himself with the blade only to end up greeting Sasuke's fist with his face. Recoiling Naruto held his offended nose and stepped back to glare at the Uchiha.

"Dobe," Sasuke stated wearily. "I've been paired with you for too long for cheap tricks like…" His rant was cut off as the blade Naruto had substituted himself with, which had continued on its path after the substitution, cut a shallow cut across Sasuke's nose even as his eyes widened in shock.

Naruto flashed a cocky grin at the raven-haired youth.

"What's the matter? Fox got your tongue?"

Sasuke's eyes slowly narrowed as he got over his shock. Sending a pulse of chakra through his system to gear up for the fight Sasuke felt his heart rate steady, his muscles relax and smooth, and his breathing level out as his obsidian black eyes bled crimson.

Then he attacked.

In a burst of speed Sasuke shot forward.

On instinct Naruto's hand shot out and caught Sasuke's blow before it could connect. A blast of blazing blue chakra burst outwards from Naruto's core the instant Naruto's palm collided with Sasuke's fist. The chaotic chakra consumed Naruto and enshrouded the boy in its warmth for a moment before it receded back into his frame.

Playtime was over.

As the two boys exchanged blows and descended into a maddening frenzy of taijutsu Temari quirked an eyebrow at the two.

"What? Am I not good enough?"

"Actually," Kakashi called out from his place amongst the trees. "That little spat has very little to do with the spar. Those two have been rivals for so long the only way they know to get along is to compete. Just wait till they re-establish the pecking order. Then you can jump in."

Temari scowled at the man.

"But, why didn't he fight like that against me? When we sparred he didn't move anywhere near that fast or hit that hard."

Kakashi shrugged.

"It's called a battle high. Most ninja only give their all when they are in the heat of an intense battle when either their own life, or the life of one of their loved ones, is on the line. Naruto can turn it on and off like a switch. It's half the reason he is so hard to fight. He turns it on and gives every fight, be it practice or real, everything he has. Sasuke on the other hand has to be pushed to turn it on. And Naruto is usually the trigger behind it. It's not that Sasuke didn't take you seriously, you just didn't trigger a battle high like Naruto does. Now they are just working out who is who in their little world."

"So I'm supposed to just sit here?"

"You could always read?" Kakashi suggested with an eye grin as he waved his novel at the girl.

Temari refused to dignify that comment with a response.

A thunderclap jerked her attention back to the two boys duking it out. Apparently they were still content to stick with straight taijutsu as they were matching one another blow for blow. At least, in terms of damage they were. Naruto was receiving far more damage than Sasuke was, but with Naruto's tenacity and regeneration the damage affected him far less and was shrugged off almost immediately. Sasuke, on the other hand, was only taking minor damage, but any damage he did take stuck.

Sasuke apparently picked up on this little tid-bit as he stopped throwing punches and instead went on the defensive to avoid receiving any further damage.

Naruto took this as tiring Sasuke out and dropped what little defense he had in order to press his assault.

Sadly, that backfired as Sasuke flashed through five hand seals before unleashing a blast of flames that spread out spherically from Sasuke.

Having been so close to the Uchiha, Naruto had no time to react to the sudden assault and was caught head on by the gout of flames.

The concussion wave of fire hurled Naruto across the training ground and left him sprawled out on the ground with the front of his jacket charred.

Sasuke smirked at the blonde boy as Naruto slowly got back to his feet.

"The hell was that Teme? I've never seen you use that trick before."

"That is a gift from Suna. This, however, is straight from me. **Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu**" Sasuke called out as he unleashed the blast of flames at Naruto.

Instead of panicking Naruto flashed through his own hand seals. Sadly, his one-month of practicing was nowhere near as fast or as fluid as Sasuke's years of practice, and those extra seconds cost him. By the time Naruto finished his jutsu the fireball was nearly upon him.

Naruto unleashed three rapid-fire **Drilling Air Bullets **in an attempt to stop the flame. The initial blast merely slowed the ball of fire down while the second blast actually managed to stop the blast and punch a whole through the core of the ball. The last bullet, however, was too much and caused the fireball to explode rather than implode.

Sasuke grinned as he watched the conflagration of flames smash into Naruto face first.

The blast sent the blonde sprawling across the ground until he finally collided with a tree on the edge of the clearing.

Sasuke paused for but a moment before pressing his advantage and charging the downed blonde.

Naruto growled as he watched Sasuke charging. With a simple wave of his hand five shadow clones popped into existence right in front of Sasuke's path.

Sasuke fell flat on his back to avoid the surprise attacks. Only his eyes had saved him from a world of pain. The clones had literally come out of nowhere. There had been no hand seals! Sasuke mentally ranted even as he sprang up feet first and delivered two kicks that dispelled two clones. How had Naruto done that? The Uchiha questioned even as he dispelled the next two clones with a sweeping knife hand. The last was dispelled with a snap kick to the jaw.

Turning Sasuke scowled at the blonde.

"What the hell was that dobe?" Sasuke seethed.

Naruto simply grinned and charged.

Sasuke ground his teeth and met the blonde's charge.

At first it seemed it was going to be a repeat of the earlier bout; however, the first time Sasuke threw a punch that was bound to hit a clone popped into existence and caught him by the wrist. Sasuke blinked in shock, and, in turn, received a brutal right hook square to the jaw. Reeling from the punch Sasuke took two quick leaps away from Naruto. Only, as he retreated the clone popped out of existence.

Again, no hand seals had been made. The clones were coming seemingly at will with no need for hand seals. The only indication the clone was fixing to appear was a minute disturbance in the air where they appeared. It was like reacting to the appearance of a shadow on water moments before whatever cast the shadow impacted.

Snarling in annoyance Sasuke was about to charge forwards when a concentrated gale of wind plowed into him and threw him across the training ground like a rag doll. Hissing in pain he winced as the several new cuts made themselves known with a stinging sensation as Sasuke moved. With a grunt he maneuvered himself back into a sitting position and saw that a shadow clone was standing on the opposite side of the training ground smirking at him. With a snort Sasuke flashed through hand seals. "**Fire Style: Pheonix Flower Jutsu" **A dozen fist sized balls of fire flew across the training ground at the clone.

Instead of panicking or even dodging the clone simply fanned his arms out to the side. A single row of shadow clones popped into existence surrounding the entire clearing. And while the mass of fireballs did succeed in taking out several of the clones, it did nothing in the grand scheme of things.

Sasuke grit his teeth in frustration. It was bad enough fighting hand-to-hand with the clones popping in and out of existence. Now he had to worry about side attacks from the clones. This was becoming infuriating. Well no more. If Naruto could pull his jutsu into a taijutsu match then so could he.

Staggering back to his feet Sasuke ignored the incoming barrage of **Air Bullets** in favor of concentrating on his right hand. It took but a moment for white lightning to gather in his hand. His pulse shot through the roof as the world slowed down. His body came alive even as the living lightning numbed his body to pain.

Sasuke waited until the ring of **Air Bullets** was almost upon him before sweeping his now lightning encased and in a broad arc. Even though wind naturally overpowers lightning his attack so far outclassed the blasts of air that he tore through them with no effort. Coming to a stop he grinned at the shocked clones.

He would only be able to discharge the **Chidori** twice, but so long as he didn't discharge it he could keep it running to level the playing field.

The irritation was gone.

This just got fun.

Sasuke tore across the training field headed straight for Naruto. Any **Air Bullets** launched his way were torn to shreds.

**8888**

Temari heard the chipping of birds and immediately drew her fan in preparation to go Naruto's aid. However, a hand on her shoulder prevented her from acting on her instinct.

"Hold up." Kakashi said without looking down at her. His eyes, red and black, were trained intensely on the battle in front of them. "They have both grown. They need to see where they are. I promise you, both of them will walk away from this. Sasuke may just end up losing his hand."

Temari scowled but said nothing.

**8888**

Naruto watched in an almost panic as Sasuke rushed him. How the hell was he supposed to counter the chidori? Not even Gaara's sand could block that! And apparently neither could Naruto's only wind jutsu. Out of time to think Naruto leapt backwards to try and put some distance between himself and the impending attack. However, he failed to add Sasuke's increased speed to his thought process.

Before Naruto could even leap away Sasuke was upon him. However, instead of jabbing the attack forward, as Naruto had expected, Sasuke slashed at Naruto. The knife hand encased in lightning came a hair's breadth away from Naruto's actual chest and instead left a long thin gash. Continuing his retreat he saw that Sasuke hadn't pressed his charge and was instead grinning at Naruto.

"What's the matter dobe? Not feeling so lucky anymore?"

Naruto snarled and without thinking charged up a rasengan in his right hand.

"You forget who you're talking to teme? I never back down!" Naruto roared as he charged and thrust his rasengan at Sasuke.

Sasuke grit his teeth and shot forwards in a perfect mirror to Naruto.

With a battle cry the two genin slammed their attacks against one another.

For a brief instant nothing happened. Sasuke's compressed ball of lightning pushed against Naruto's swirling sphere of chakra.

And then hell broke loose.

**8888**

Tsunade looked up from her paperwork when she heard a dull thud.

Blinking she looked down around her desk to see what had fallen and struck the ground. Yet, nothing was out of place.

"Odd. Ah well. Probably nothing big."

**8888**

The instant the two jutsu lost their stability they both assploded in a volatile blast of chakra, wind, and lightning. The blast, which looked more like an expanding sphere of white doom more than an explosion, repelled Sasuke and Naruto to opposite ends of the training ground. Both boys left trails in the ground upon impact.

"Oh sweet ramen, what hit me?" Naruto grumbled as he sat back up and held his head. Despite the world swimming around him he could clearly see Sasuke was in the same situation in a similar crater on the other side of the clearing. That, despite the pain, put a grin on Naruto's face. "Hah! Take that teme!" Naruto cheered even as he staggered to his feet and began to stalk towards the fallen Uchiha. The entire way Naruto was grinning like a loon. "I _finally_ beat you teme. Looks like I'm not the dead-last any more am I?" Naruto frowned when he still hadn't gotten a response from the self-proclaimed avenger. "Hmmmm? Oh come on, don't tell me that little love tap put you down." Finally reaching the unconscious boy Naruto sighed. "Well dang, I didn't mean to hit you that hard. Ah well," Naruto grumbled as he reached down to pick his fallen teammate up. "Let me get you to the hospi…"

A chakra enhanced punch cut Naruto off and sent him sprawling back across the training ground.

"Gah!" Naruto wailed as he clutched his mouth, which had blood leaking out of it. Behind him Sasuke pulled himself back up to his feet.

"Yeah, you're still the dobe. Who tries to pick up their opponent without checking if they're really out?"

"Fugh yu deme!" Naruto screamed in fury. "dhad fugin urt!"

Sasuke laughed, not chuckled or snickered, but actually laughed at the blonde.

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?"

Naruto stopped his squirming and turned his eyes on Sasuke cutting the raven-haired youth's laughter off.

Sasuke had seen Naruto's ninja face. He had seen it dozens of times in the field. It was always an inspiring sight to see his teammate filled with such fire and determination. This, this was not Naruto's ninja face. This was Naruto's 'I'm gonna fuck you up till you beg for death' face. And this was the first time Sasuke had ever been on the receiving end of this look. A flash of red flitted across Naruto's eyes an instant before a small wave of red chakra swept over Naruto's frame moving from the pit of his stomach and spreading outwards.

Naruto snapped back to his feet, spat a wad of blood and flesh on the ground, and began to walk back towards Sasuke.

"Yeah, the cat got my tongue. But just you wait till this fox has yours." Naruto growled out the threat.

Now, Sasuke was neither a coward nor a brittle fighter. But even he was sore from their little match. And Naruto had taken more damage than he had. Yet, Naruto was now walking towards him as if the fight had ever started. The gimp in Naruto's step from an earlier snap kick to his hip was gone. And Naruto was not moving as gingerly as he had when he had walked across the training ground moments ago. What the HELL was that red charka? Every time Naruto was down for the count, he would simply flash that and get a reboot. It was absurd! No one should be able to take the damage he did and walk through it. No one!

Sasuke seethed in rage at the dobe having some secret trump card.

He more felt than saw one of the clones surrounding the training ground launch another **Drilling Air Bullet** and without hesitation he charged up another **Chidori** and slashed the incoming attack without taking his eyes off the blonde.

'_Fine, he wants to take a beating? I'll give him one!'_ Sasuke mentally fumed before charging forward again.

Naruto saw the rage in Sasuke's and grinned at the rage matching that of his own.

However, instead of creating another rasengan Naruto seallessly created a batch of clones and sent the lot of them at Sasuke. Every clone was armed with a rasengan in each hand.

The Uchiha grit his teeth but showed no other signs of annoyance before jumping into the batch of clones and began to lay waste to them. One hand carved through the clones with the chidori while the second snagged the clones by the write and tossed them into one another using their own rasengans against him. Whirling and twirling through the mass of attacks Sasuke deftly cleaved through the mob. Even with the random **Drilling Air Bullet** thrown into the mix Sasuke stayed one step ahead of the assault until all of the clones had been dispelled.

Righting himself Sasuke flicked the fleck of dust from his shoulder at Naruto.

"That it?"

"As if." Naruto mocked before dropping into a crouch. "Now come get your daily dose of ass-whipping."

Sasuke snorted.

"Dobe, you have neither skills nor luck to whip my ass."

"Then why are you so far away?"

Snarling Sasuke shot forwards.

Grinning Naruto waited until the Uchiha was almost atop him before leaping straight upwards. Without waiting to see if Sasuke would follow or not Naruto created a clone above him who grabbed both his wrist and hurled him further into the air. After repeated the process twice more Naruto was several dozen yards above the treetops placing him well out of Sasuke's reach.

"Alright boys!" Naruto called out to his ring of clones. "Give 'em hell!"

Grinning Naruto watched the look of panic on Sasuke's face as realization dawned on him. Laughing the blonde watched from his aerial vantage point as dozens of dozens of blasts of air assaulted the black speck standing in the center of the training groung. Without a thought Naruto continued to create clones to jump off of as he began to add his own blasts of wind to the mix.

He had to admit, while it felt good to get up in the opponents face and watch up close as his fist turned their face to paste, it also felt good to sit back and slowly tear his opponents apart. He would have to look into learning more long range jutsu.

Though, at the moment he needed to focus.

Sasuke had apparently decided against keeping the chidori running and had changed to the tactic of simply dodging the blasts of air. As he flipped and flopped around the training ground he tossed kunai and shuriken left and right slowly picking off the clones surrounding him.

Naruto shrugged and went to create more clones when Sasuke suddenly made a break for it and broke through the ring of clones to reach the shelter of the surrounding forest.

"Well crud." Naruto groused. "Now I gotta find the teme." Focusing on the woods below him as he continued to jump from clone to clone. It didn't help that his opponent wore dark clothes and had dark colored hair.

The shock of his clone not throwing him pulled Naruto's attention to his ankle where, instead of the clone he had been expecting, he found Sasuke instead.

"Peek-a-bo!" Sasuke shouted as he pulled Naruto towards him and delivered a bone-rattling haymaker to Naruto's face that sent the blonde's world spinning. Taking advantage of Naruto's disorientation Sasuke continued to rain down blow after blow on the blonde as the two plummeted towards the earth. Punch after punch landed squarely on Naruto's face with several kicks to Naruto's midsection thrown in to keep the blonde disoriented. Seeing the ground growing closer Sasuke changed his grip on Naruto's ankle from his left hand to right hand before spinning himself mid air, and bringing Naruto with him. Right as the two were to hit the ground Sasuke transferred all his momentum to the blonde and slammed Naruto into the ground with enough force to shatter the ground and send up a cloud of dust. Without pausing to see if the blonde would get back up Sasuke flashed through though same five hand seals. **"Fire Style: Beast-King Blast!" **Sasuke roared as a sphere of fire spread outwards from his body and blasted Naruto across the training ground. The blonde smashed into a tree with his back and slumped to the ground.

"Hah!" Sasuke grunted as he doubled over and sucked in air. He ached in ways he hadn't ached since his match with Gaara, but he had won. That combo of attacks dealt that quickly would put anyone down. Not even…

Sasuke's breath froze in his throat as a wave of malevolent energy swept across the training ground.

Snapping his head up he saw a fox-shaped shroud of miasmic red chakra coating Naruto.

"Heh, you got me good teme. Think you can do it?" Naruto questioned as he staggered back to his feet. He could feel the chakra attempting to heal him, but at this point his body had been damaged and healed so many times over the chakra was now beginning to damage him more than it was healing him. With a grunt he stood on his own two feet again and simply looked over at Sasuke. Moving was out of the question at the moment.

Luckily he didn't need to.

Running through the handseals Naruto frowned. This felt wrong. He had sucked in the air, as per the norm, and molded the chakra the same way he always had. However, the jutsu felt wrong. Instead of feeling like his lungs were over filled it felt like they were being bounced around and torn up by the wind in his lungs. Figuing it would be best to simply get whatever was in him out as fast as possible Naruto stopped building the jutsu and simply fired at Sasuke.

It did not go as planned.

Normally when he fired the jutsu he felt a small recoil from the force of the jutsu. This time it felt like the jutsu had backfired in directly into his face. He felt the skin on his face tear as the pressure from the blast cut through his flesh. Wincing and shutting his eyes he cut the jutsu off and recoiled in pain.

He didn't watch to see the results of his jutsu.

**8888**

Sasuke watched as Naruto started to run through the hand seals for what Sasuke now recognized as the combo for his **Drilling Air Bullet**. Snarling the raven haired youth felt his blood boil in rage. How!? _Every _punch had landed. _Every _kick had met its mark. Hell, _Sasuke's _hand had hurt from how hard he had slammed the blonde into the ground. No one, no matter how stubborn or tough, should be able to take that much punishment and keep going. No one! He was cheating. He had to be! Whatever that red chakra was, it was inhuman. It was just like with Gaara. Sasuke should have won; his chidori had met its mark. Yet Gaara immersed himself in some evil chakra and managed to get passed what should have been a fatal wound. Both of them were using something evil to win.

Well, if they could do it so could he!

With but a thought Sasuke felt the binding seal restricting the curse mark vanish, and with it gone a flood of chakra rushed into Sasuke's system. It burnt up his insides. It clouded his mind. But it gave him the strength to charge up one final chidori. He could do it.

At least, that was what he thought until his eyes revealed the build of chakra for Naruto's jutsu.

It was the same hand seals he had been using the entire time, but whatever that red chakra was it changed the jutsu. Instead of just fueling the jutsu the red chakra over charged it, and just like in the desert the over charged jutsu morphed into something else entirely. Sasuke could see that this time the blonde was aware of the change but was incapable of stopping it.

Gritting his teeth Sasuke braced for the onslaught and watched as sure enough the attack shot forwards with a resounding crack that hurled Naruto backwards. The attack also didn't just shoot across the training ground, as the original jutsu did. Instead it tore up the ground it crossed over leaving a ten-foot wide three-foot deep trench in its wake. Not to mention this new attack was moving _far_ faster than any of the previous attacks. In but a moment the attack had cross the entire training ground and was now bearing down on Sasuke.

Only, it never reached its mark.

Before it could turn the last Uchiha into a flurry of blood Temari ran in front of him and past him with her black battle fan open and trailing behind her.

Any normal person would have simply seen the trench in the ground change direction.  
>Sasuke was not normal, nor were his eyes.<p>

He watched as Temari's trailing fan generated a jet stream of air. The jet stream caught the impending attack and sucked the attack off course. So that instead of slamming into Sasuke it sailed past him. The attack obliterated several dozen trees before finally exploding and leveling a section of forest easily as large as the clearing Sasuke was standing in.

Sasuke blinked at the damage as he let the chidori dissipate and the curse mark on his shoulder recede.

"What… what was that?"

"No!" Temari fussed as she marched up to Sasuke. "What were you thinking? Why, for the love of all things, were you just standing there?" Snapping her fan shut she slapped Sasuke over the head with her fan before placing it back on her back "That was gonna tear you to ribbons and you just stood there! What were you thinking? I am gonna…" She trailed off as she saw that Sasuke was unconscious. "Oh great. Now I have two unconscious fools." Sighing Temari looked over to the trees to see that Kakashi had mysteriously vanished and in his place was a stuffed dog. "I'm killing him I swear."

A groan from across the training ground caught Temari's attention.

"Oh? Is tweedle-dum awake?" Sauntering over she saw that Naruto was, in fact, conscious but simply laying on the ground. "You okay?" She asked as she crouched down and started to examine him.

"Ugh, yeah. What happened?" Naruto moaned as he moved to a sitting position

"No idea. Oh!" Without warning Temari smacked Naruto over the head sending her fellow blonde back to the ground.

"Argh! What was that for?" Naruto demanded.

"That was for being stupid. You and Sasuke both were being idiots. This was a spar. A _spar_. Not a death match. I understand that you two love to get into little pissing matches, but you two need to learn restraint. Especially you."

"Me?"

"Yes you. Yeah Sasuke is the last Uchiha and will be held accountable for his actions, you are going to be put under even more scrutiny than he is. Both my village and your village are going to be watching our every move. You've got power Naruto, if you just go all out on anyone who can keep up you're going to end up seriously hurting someone. You went all out with Gaara as well and managed to put the untouchable sand demon, yes that was his title in Suna, down for the count. You scared Baki-sensei with that."

"I did?" Naruto questioned as he scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry. So then, where am I supposed to draw the line?"

Temari reeled at that. She had just meant to set him straight.

"Uh, I don't know."

"Wha!?" Naruto whined. "But you suggested it!"

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I had a line in mind."

Naruto rolled his eyes before snapping his fingers.

"Ah! I know. If you and I were 'sparring'" Naruto put air quotes over the word. "where would you want me to draw the line?"

Temari blinked at that and thought for a moment.

"Well, definitely before you start using Kyuubi's chakra. Anything that you use that for better be serious. I guess if you were going up against me I'd say stop short of using your rasengan. Not many people have something up their sleeve to handle something like that."

Naruto nodded.

"Okay, okay. That sound reasonable." Breaming Naruto swept Temari into a hug. "Thanks Temari-chan!" The blonde declared before releasing the girl and working on getting back to his feet. As he did so he missed her stuttered out response, furious blush, and bewildered look. All he could focus on was the fact that every inch of his body ached. It felt like he had an internal sunburn. Grumbling he finally managed to stagger back to his feet. "Well, I better get the teme to a hospital since Kaka-sensei left."

"Uh, eh-hem, yeah where did he go?"

"Mmmm…" Naruto pondered for a moment before shrugging, or at least attempting to do so. His muscles rejected the command and instead just twitched. Ignoring that little fact Naruto instead shook his head. "No idea. He comes and goes. But he's always there when you need him."

**8888**

"You are certain of this?" Tsunade questioned.

"Yes ma'am." Kakashi affirmed. "Not only did Sasuke trigger the curse mark, but the restraining seal around it vanished as well. That means it wasn't the mark calling out to him, but him calling out to the mark."

Tsunade sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. Why oh why couldn't things settle down? It seemed every time she turned around something new was going wrong. And this was one fire she didn't have a prepared bucket of water for.

"Alright, then what should we do? Jiraiya is still in the village. I could have him reapply the restraining seal."

"You could, but if Sasuke wants to use the curse mark it won't do much good. The curse mark seem to be tied to Sasuke's will so any seal placed over it will simply be eaten if Sasuke doesn't consciously restrain it."

Tsunade threw her hands up. "Well then, oh prodigy child, what would you suggest we do?"

"Well, we could always let him use it."

"Haah?" Tsunade squawked. "Excuse me? I think I've had a touch too much sake cause I could'a sword I just heard you say we _let_ Sasuke play into Orochimaru's plans. You are aware that the curse mark alters Sasuke on an emotional and psychological level, right?"

"I am. But, correct me if I'm wrong, doesn't using Kyuubi's chakra do the same thing?"

Tsunade opened her mouth to retort before pausing and closing her mouth. For a moment she simply stared at the silver haired jounin.

Sensing Tsunade's hesitation Kakashi continued.

"Sasuke for the past several months hasn't used the curse mark. He was even starting to warm up to his teammates, something I was afraid he might not do after the chunin exams. However, I think him seeing both Naruto and Gaara use the chakra of their biju has made him consider using the curse mark. He's probably wondering why they can use a secret demonic chakra but he can't use his."

"So then we let him learn how to use it like Naruto is learning to use Kyuubi's chakra? And what happens if he gets out of hand?"

Kakashi reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small square piece of paper with a mass of writing on it. The only thing Tsunade could make out was a circle or what looked liked seals.

"And that would be…?"

"A chakra suppression seal Jiraiya gave me. He made and gave me several of these after we talked with Naruto. They are designed to instantly seal large amounts of demonic chakra. If used on Naruto it will seal away all of Kyuubi's chakra and stun him long enough for him to gain control again. Normally the seal wouldn't even work on Sasuke, but if he is using the curse mark when it's applied it will activate. I plan to tell Naruto about it tomorrow, and to tell Sasuke about the Kyuubi.

Tsunade quirked an eyebrow at that.

"You plan to tell him?"

Kakashi shrugged.

"Well, with Naruto tampering with Kyuubi's chakra it won't be long before Sasuke and Sakura start asking questions. Naruto has already told Temari."

Tsunade nodded before returning the conversation back to the initial dilemma.

"So then, we let him train the curse mark and use the tag to keep him in line?"

"I don't see why not. He is too stubborn not to use it, so why not control it and keep an eye on it?"

"Mmmm… I'll think on it." Sighing Tsunade pulled out a bottle of sake and leaned back in her chair. "Well now that that issue is out of the way, are there any other issues you'd like to drop in my lap?"

"Hmmm, well if you're bored I'm certain I can think of a few things. For example, there is the ANBU's issue with…" Kakashi trailed off at Tsunde's withering gaze. "Er, I would like to request some higher ranking missions."

At that Tsunade laughed.

"What's the matter Kakashi? Tired of walking dogs?" Tsunade questioned as she poured herself a glass. "Nah, I understand. But how high are you talking?"

"Well, if I'm with them then they should be able to handle any mission you'd give a chunin squad."

"Oh-ho? You sure you aren't over estimating?"

"Nah, all three of them are easily chunin level. Now that Temari has her fan back and has her devastating attacks back, combined with her natural intellect, she would easily be ranked as a chunin. While Naruto's taijutsu is rough it's more from a lack of style than from training. Once he gets a style that suits him he will be a force to be reckoned with. Combining that with his natural cunningness and liberal use of shadow clones and chakra reserves he easily could put down several chunin I know. And that's not even factoring in Kyuubi's chakra. Sasuke, of the three, would be the one I would need to stick with on a higher-ranking mission. While has the sharingan and several devastating jutsu he has neither Temari's intellect nor Naruto's cunning and resilience. But, if I'm with him for the first few missions they should be at chunin level soon enough."

"Mmm, I'll consider it. Though. I do have one mission for you."

"Me?"

"Yep." Tsunade chirped as she tossed a scroll at Kakashi.

The jounin effortlessly caught the scroll and opened it.

"What. The. Hell. Is this?"

"Can't you tell? It's a standard delivery mission. Naruto and Temari have been cordially invited to attend a banquet tomorrow evening and I need you to deliver that scroll to them. That'll keep those two busy while Sasuke recoups. I have a job in mind for you, but I'll need a day or two to confirm the details of the mission to ensure your team can handle it. Check in the day after the banquet and I'll let you know. And Kakashi, make sure it is delivered _today_."

"Ma, ma I'll make sure they get it." Kakashi said with a dismissive wave. "See ya Tsunade-sama." With that he vanished in a swirl of wind and leaves.

**8888**

Naruto picked at the flimsy pale green scrub top in disgust. So what if he had been shirtless? It beat the hell out of wearing this god-forsaken thing.

"Stupid hospital." Naruto mumbled as he continued to pick at and fiddle with the scrub top while walking towards the exit. "Stupid nurse. She shouldn't have even been there if she was sick. Who lets a feverish and stuttering girl work at a hospital?"

As he exited the hospital he was too engrossed in examining and fussing about the garment forced upon him to notice Temari leaning against the wall of the hospital.

At least, until she laughed at him.

"Gah!" Naruto shouted as he whirled around and gaped at Temari.

"Skittish much?" The blonde teased as she pushed off the wall and walked up to stand beside her teammate slash fiancé.

"No." Naruto snorted defensively.

"Sure. So, what's up with the getup? You trying to escape the hospital again?"

"No! Some stupid nurse in there refused to let me leave until I had put something on. Was rambling about decency and public image or some other nonsense."

"Because you were walking around shirtless!"

"So? It's not my fault Sasuke roasted my shirt and jacket. And I had to drag his hide here so I couldn't get a new shirt."

"Excuses, excuses, excuses." Temari chided playfully.

Naruto opened his mouth to retort only for a wad of orange to smack him in the face. Sputtering he snatched whatever it was off his face and examined it only to blink in confusion. It was a dark burnt-orange colored vest with black flames lining the edges. Holding the article of clothing at arms distance to get a better look at it he noted the broad shoulders, the high collar, the multiple pockets lining the outside, and coolest of all was the naval blue Uzumaki spiral emblem woven onto the back. Blinking in shock he looked back at Temari to see her grinning at him.

"And!" She chimed as she held a finger up. "Just cause I doubt you'd notice it otherwise, that vest is fireproof. And if you feed it chakra it'll reknit small tears."

"Wha…" Naruto tried to question as he looked between the vest and the girl. "Why?" His mind simply couldn't fathom her actions or what otherworldly motivation might cause such actions.

Temari shrugged. "Cause you have torn, ripped, shredded, and burnt through at least a dozen different jackets and shirts since I've joined the team. You're not gonna be more careful, that's just not who you are or how you fight. So, I figured I'd get you something durable enough to keep up with your stubborn-minded, fool-hearted, hair-brained recklessness. Now, you can keep on being the hero you love to be without worrying about clothes."

Naruto again simply blinked and stared between the vest and Temari. He could neither understand the gift, nor the lump that formed in his throat. It had been a long time since anyone had given him a gift, much less one this well thought out. Swallowing the annoying lump of feels in his throat he tried to thank the girl only for the words to get blocked on their way out by the lump of feels. Naruto shook his head and blinked away the moisture in his eyes.

"Thank you Temari-chan, really." Naruto muttered softly while staring at the vest in wonder. "This is awesome." Grinning Naruto quickly shucked off the green scrub top and dawned the new article of clothing. With the new clothing on Naruto stepped back to look at himself in the hospital doors and couldn't help the goofy grin that was plastered over his face.

He looked good.

The vest went just past his wrist and fit him snug enough to avoid billowing around every time he moved. The collar stopped just beneath his chin, and, judging by the zipper, if he needed to he could seal it up and turn it into a sleeveless shirt.

"Oh hell yeah!" Naruto cheered as he continued to examine himself. "This is wonderful Temari-chan! You've got a wicked sense of taste."

Temari snorted and shook her head.

"Please! The _only_ reason I got that color is because I knew you love orange for some unfathomable reason."

"Wha!? Unfathomable? Orange is the color of the gods! Why else would they paint the sky orange twice a day?"

"You do realize the color change is due to the angle at which light from the sun enters the atmosphere, not the gods?"

Naruto waved her off.

"Whatever smarty britches. Come on, I'll buy you dinner anywhere you want tonight."

"Oh? Why Mr. Uzumaki, are you asking me out on a date?"

Grinning Naruto spun away from the door and offered Temari his arm.

"My dear, if you would be so kind as to accept I would be honored to have a lady as beautiful as you for my date."

Instead of blushing or stammering Temari simply smiled softly and accepted the offered arm.

"Well then, I suppose I could grant your humble request."

8888

Watching from the rooftop Kakashi grinned down at the two.

"Well, I suppose I could just deliver it to them first thing tomorrow. Wouldn't want to intrude on their evening."


End file.
