Konoha's Legion
Chapter 7
By Jeconais
Mainly because Tenhawk asked.
Still not betad. Still not realistic.
Yugito walked through the entrance to the area she’d been told was Naruto’s land. She paused. To the right, was a large city that might have once been tents, but now looked like huts. People were gathered outside, and looked to be having a great time.
To the left, four houses were currently being built, around a circular spot in the centre. She presumed more were going to be built over the current shack-ville.
The only house that was built was impressive, even though it was only two stories high.
She walked up to the front, aware of a lot of eyes on her. She knocked on the door.
The door opened, and a pretty dark-haired woman answered it. “Can I help you?”
“Err, is Naruto here?”
“Yugito-chan!” a female voice yelled, and a second later she was being hugged by Naruto in his female form. “Come in, come in.”
She found herself dragged in, with the dark-haired woman, in to an enormous living room. Despite its size, it only had a couple of tatty sofas that were filled with women, surrounding a fire place.
“The boss is going to be so happy you came.”
Yugito paused. “The boss?”
“Oh, I’m Four,” the girl she had presumed to be Naruto said. “Oh, of course, you don’t know, do you? I’m one of the Boss’s clones. I’m currently a level four, that’s Jounin level chakra, but of course, only the Boss’s skill level.”
Yugito found herself gaping at the clone. While she was doing so, she was pushed in to a spot, and Four sat on a cushion on the floor.
“Jounin level clone,” she mumbled to herself.
“The boss is trying to be able to create a thousand of us.”
Yugito got a vision of being on a battlefield, facing a thousand versions of her brother, and shuddered.
“Anyway,” Four continued cheerfully. “Ladies, this is my little sister, Nil Yugito, she’s got Nibi no Bakeneko inside her. Yugito-chan, this is Kurenai-chan, Shizune-chan, Anko-chan, and Tsunade-chan. We’re just having a discussion on how to decorate this shell!”
Yugito shook herself, hard. As she did so, a wave of red chakra passed through the building. The young blonde that had been Tsunade earlier, was now a handsome woman in her fifties.
“Naruto!” Tsunade yelled, as she reapplied the illusion.
“I need a drink,” Yugito muttered.
Four shot to her feet. “I’ve got just the thing,” she promised, and vanished out the room.
“I’m Naruto’s sister,” she said softly. “Who are you?”
“Well,” Anko said, “Kurenai and I are kinda first in line for him to date, when he’s grown up a bit. He won Tsunade and Shizune in a card game, and they’re sticking around as well.”
“So when he mentioned that he had a complicated private life, he wasn’t kidding.”
The four women looked at each other, and then laughed.
Four bounced back in to the room and handed her a mug of steaming hot chocolate, complete with marshmallows and whipped cream.
“Thank you, Four.”
Four beamed at her, then opened a large book, that had loads of notes. “Here’s what we’ve got so fa…” she didn’t finish the sentence, before she burst into laughter.
“What’s happened?” Shizune asked.
“The boss took Neji to talk to Kiba about being a good doggy on his date with Hinata tomorrow. Anyway, the clone he left behind just dispersed, and that wave of Chakra? That was him trying to prove that Tsume was not Kiba’s mum.”
“Wait,” Yugito said, “you got what that clone saw as well?”
“Of course,” Four replied. “And the repe… Whoops, can’t mention them. Anyway, yeah, we do.”
Yugito tried to keep the frown of her face, as she wanted to work out what the girl was going to say. She didn’t force it, as ridiculous as it sounded, she didn’t want to get the clone in trouble.
“Morning, old man, how’s the job?”
“The prospect of retirement is amazing,” the Hokage replied evenly.
“So, what’cha got for me?”
“You know the Chunin exams are in two days time?”
He nodded.
“I want you to team back up with Sakura and Sasuke for the duration. It seems that Haku is already at Jounin level.”
Naruto grinned. “Sure.”
“So spend the day with them, practice.”
“Before I go, how would a normal Uchiha activate the Sharingan?”
“Normally, it’s a response to an intense situation.”
“Hmm,” Naruto murmured. “Okay, do me a favour and occupy Kakashi for the morning, perhaps send him after Jiraiya. Tell him that he’s not even in the top hundred of Jiraiya’s fans.”
“Why?”
Naruto grinned. “Gotta activate a Sharingan. Catch you later.” He flicked his hands and rode the lightning away.
He appeared outside the Uchiha compound, and snuck in. Through a window, he smirked, as Haku and Sasuke had fallen asleep together on the couch. He crept toward the door and broke in silently. With a whisper, he henged himself in to a shape he’d borrowed from a now-dead bandit. Outside, fifteen more clones appeared, each as a bandit.
He created forehead protectors for each of them, each with the crest of Kiri, the Village Hidden in the Mist.
He reached over and covered Haku’s mouth. The androgynous boy’s eyes shot open. “It’s Naruto,” he hissed, “play along.”
He picked the boy up, and pulled her over the couch.
As they entered the kitchen, Naruto uncovered his mouth. “Scream.”
Sasuke woke as a terrified scream ripped through the air. Haku! He was gone. Sasuke jumped over the couch; thankful he was dressed, and dashed out the door.
Sixteen people were holding a struggling Haku, all wearing symbols proclaiming their loyalty to Mist.
“Let her go,” he ordered.
One of them smirked at him. “Little Miss Frosty missed the blood purge. No one gets away from us for long. Go back inside, little boy.”
Automatically, Sasuke’s hand swooped in to his pocket and a kunai flew at the man.
The man swayed to one side, caught it, and threw it back. “Too slow, little boy. Hold her so I can kill her, quick, we need to get out of here.”
“No!” Sasuke yelled, running forward and attacking them. He kicked one, and launched a fireball at the second.
He was thrown roughly to the ground. “To slow,” the same annoying voice mocked him. Sasuke rolled away, and started to dodge a barrage of weapons. He tried to get closer, but he just couldn’t.
He closed his eyes for a second. Failure was not an option here, he had to save Haku, he had to, it was more important than anything, even killing his brother.
He dodged, again, and then paused. He could see things more clearly now, he ran forward, now dodging with ease, and landed a kick to the back of the man about to gut Haku.
The man vanished in a poof of smoke, as did everyone else, leaving only Haku on the floor, being held down by Naruto.
“What the hell!” Sasuke screamed.
“Congratulations,” Naruto said. “You now have the Sharingan!”
He walked over and punched Naruto as hard as he could. “That was for scaring the life out of me,” he said. He paused, as what Naruto had said suddenly came through. He had the Sharingan! He held out his hand, pulled Naruto to his feet, and then hugged him for a second. “That was a bastard thing to do, but thanks.”
Naruto grinned, and moved out the way as Haku hugged him tightly.
He hugged his friend back. “I’m so happy for you,” Haku whispered.
“So why are you here?” Sasuke asked Naruto, not letting go of Haku.
“What, I can’t drop in on my two favourite lovebirds?” Naruto asked cheerfully.
Sasuke felt himself blush, but didn’t let go.
“Actually, I had the old man distract Kakashi so I could come and help get you your eyes fixed, then I figured we’d go and spar for a while, as Haku here is going to be entered in the Jounin trials soon, and I’m going to be your team-mate for the Genin exams.”
Sasuke tightened his arms around Haku, and swallowed the momentary jealousy that Haku was better than him. He replaced it with pride in his friend.
“So, Team Seven is back to its original members,” Haku said gently.
“Only temporarily, once we’re Chunin you’ll take my place again.”
“Are you sure that’s okay?” Haku asked.
“Look, it’s simple, really. If I want to tell Sasuke he’s being a dick, I call him on it loudly, we argue, and nothing gets resolved. That’s how we work, when you want to do it, you handle it completely differently, and Sasuke changes. That’s how a team is supposed to work.”
“Yeah,” Sasuke mumbled. “Look, Naruto, I’ve been thinking. About my future.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, Haku bought it up. After Itachi is dead and I have a child, what then?”
Naruto shrugged.
“I want head of ANBU. I’m not the right person for the Hokage, that’s your job. I want the action and adventure of being the best of the best, second only to the Hokage.
“As such,” he continued, his voice now sounding a little thin, even to his own ears, “you’re going to have to prove to me that you can be the Hokage. So, you’re in charge for the exams.”
Naruto grinned at him and bowed. “Deal. If I fail, I promise that any mission we are on together, you can lead.”
Sasuke nodded.
“Right, I’ll leave you two to have breakfast, and meet you at the bridge at ten.” He flashed his hands and vanished in the lightning.
“He’s not going to fail,” Sasuke told Haku. “Naruto never understood the concept of giving up, now he’s been trained, he’ll quickly forget how to fail as well.”
“Is that so bad?”
“Hell no, we’ll just never tell him I said that.”
Kurenai yawned and stretched, then patted the head asleep on her shoulder.
She paused, suddenly very unsure as to exactly why there was a head on her shoulder, as she always slept alone. She looked down, to see long blonde hair spread out, and an arm splayed over her.
The head moved slightly, snuggling in closer. It was disturbingly comfortable. “Four?” she whispered.
“Sleeping,” Four murmured, and shifted, so that more of her body was pressed against Kurenai’s.
“Why are you in bed with me?”
Four groaned and looked up, her eyes were dark with sleepiness, and unable to help herself, Kurenai reached down and kissed her on the forehead.
Four smiled at her and moved her hair out of the way. “Didn’t want to sleep alone last night, asked if I could stay with you.”
“And I said yes,” Kurenai whispered, “although you were supposed to stay on your side of the bed.”
“Pfft,” Four blew eloquently. “You smell far too nice, and feel far too good, for that to happen.”
Kurenai reached out and started to stroke Four’s hair. “I thought you clones had rules to follow.”
“I’m a girl,” Four pointed out. “Part of my reasons for existence, is if a seduction mission is needed. I really hope not,” she shuddered, “because I like girls. Anyway, because of that, I’m more sexual than the boys, and while I won’t go too far, I am allowed some more leeway.”
“Naruto is very complex, far more so than I ever thought.”
“Yeah, the boss is cool like that, I think it’s because he refuses to go insane, no matter what. So, Nai-chan, why are you here?”
“I don’t know. Can you keep a secret from Naruto?”
Four looked shocked for a second. “I don’t know,” she said, “I’ve never thought about it. I guess if I locked it in my personality, then possibly, but, that’s being disloyal, and a disloyal clone is no clone at all.”
“Well, not keep a secret forever, just for a bit?”
Four grinned. “That, I can do, I’m planning on hanging around for a long time. So I won’t disperse for ages yet!”
“Okay,” Kurenai whispered. “I don’t know why I’m here. Really. I guess part of it is potential, part of it is Anko. It’s just, I dunno.” She sighed.
Four crawled on top of her and settled down comfortably. “Tell me about it,” Four ordered with a soft look in her eyes.
“Anko’s been chasing me for a couple of years, and it’s been flattering. In fact, the only reason I didn’t take her up, is because I don’t go for casual relationships, and because I could never be enough for Anko on my own.
“And then Naruto turned up, and he was fun to flirt with, Anko and I had a little game with him, but then things started to get out of hand seriously.
“Every good ninja has personality flaws. It’s a part of doing what we do, and in general, you find someone with flaws you can live with, and take it from there.
“I like Naruto’s flaws, and suddenly I realised that if I just waited a few years, he would fix the problem. Anko would get what she needs, and I could be happy with Anko.”
“And Naruto was more someone for Anko, than you?”
“Kind of, but I like him as well. But then, there’s Tsunade, a Sannin, for Kami’s sake, and Shizune. It’s getting out of hand.”
Four sighed. “Look, you need to promise me to keep this a secret as well.”
“I promise,” she said, meaning it.
“Naruto knew that Tsunade-chan had problems, so he set about dealing with them backwards. Rather than ask Tsunade to become Hokage, he challenged her to prove that she was worth it.
“At the same time, he took Shizune out for dinner to see what she was like, and to try and understand Tsunade more.
“Tsunade is incredibly strong, but also weak. She’s been hurt as badly as all of us, and it shows. She needs someone to lean on, so the Boss volunteered to do that. He knew it might cause a problem with you and Anko.”
“So why did he do it?” she asked softly.
“Because the Boss will always think that Konoha is more important than himself. He loves this village, completely and utterly, and if it came to a decision between what as good for himself, and good for the village, he will always come second.”
“What about me?” she asked.
Four sighed. “It becomes so complicated. I can’t answer. If you asked him for something, he’d weigh up everything and make a decision.”
“I see,” Kurenai whispered. “So I have a choice, I stay and embrace abnormality, or go and be normal.”
“Normal’s for civilians,” Four stated firmly. “You stay and have fun with people who love you, or go and try and live a normal life. That would be a mistake, because you’re a Ninja, and we don’t get to choose normality, the more of us that are together, the stronger we are. You make it one on one, and one of you dies, and the other is devastated and alone. One of us dies, we’re all devastated, but we’re here to help each other, to get over it.”
Kurenai started to stroke Four’s long blonde hair, thinking over her words. After around a minute, the blonde started to purr softly. It was a hypnotic sound, and it soothed her.
She loved Anko, but had known that they couldn’t be together, not happily, not with Anko needing more. But not they had a chance of that, in a massively dysfunctional family, based on a guy that would allow her to fulfil the part of her that liked girls, without worrying about other guys, because if there was one thing she was sure of, it was that Naruto was not going to share with another male.
His clones were a perfect example of that. The girl had freedom, the boys didn’t even think about it.
“Some people look comfortable.”
Kurenai turned to the door and looked at Anko. She was wearing a white shirt, and not much else.
“Hey, Anko-chan,” Four mumbled.
“Anko, come over here.”
Anko moved over, and sat on the bed, her hand on Four’s back. Four started her soft purr again.
“Are you happy?”
“This isn’t about me, Nai-chan,” Anko said, looking at her directly. “Say that word, and I’ll walk away.”
“You’d give up all of this, for me?”
“In a second.”
“But I’m not enough.”
“Of course you are.”
Kurenai suspected that Anko was lying, even to herself. But she appreciated the thought. In her mind, an image of Narutos adult form smiled at her, and she smiled back.
“Okay,” she decided. “I’m staying, but Naruto can take us out on a date, one each alone, so that I can check I’m going to be happy with him as well.”
“Woohoo,” Anko cheered.
“But,” Kurenai continued. “I’m going on your date, you’re going on mine.”
“What?”
“You’ve always wanted to be taken on a romantic date, and I’ve wanted a wild one. This way, we get what we want.”
Four giggled. “I won’t tell the boss.”
“Are you sure, Nai-chan?” Anko asked.
Kurenai nodded. She’d made her decision now.
“Hey,” Four piped up. “Anko, you know, if the Boss uses his female shape, we’d be like twins, wouldn’t you like it if we worked you over?”
Anko’s eyes dilated massively, before she just passed out.
“Cool,” Four breathed.
“What did you do that for?” Kurenai asked, desperately trying to keep her own arousal under control.
“Because she’s always doing it, and I wanted to see what it was like. It was fun.”
Kurenai laughed.
“So you’re staying with us, really?”
She nodded.
Four dragged herself up slowly. “Welcome,” she said, before kissing Kurenai firmly.
Naruto arrived at the bridge in training ground seven, to find that only Sakura was there.
“Hey,” he greeted her. “I’m stepping in for Haku for the Chunin exams. She’s already better than us.”
“Okay,” Sakura said with a smile. “Want to spar while we wait?”
Naruto nodded and jumped off the bridge, and in to the clearing. Sakura followed him, launching in to a spin kick,
“Nice,” he praised, as he leaned back and guided it in front of him. She twisted, dropping to the floor, and spun again, causing him to jump, then dodge as two knives flew at him.
He landed, and jumped again, as more weapons flew at his head, while she attacked again.
“Great,” he praised, as he dropped down. A couple of Sakura clones appeared, and they circulated quickly,
Without looking, he threw two kunais to dispel them.
“Damn it,” Sakura complained, as she launched a small air bullet at him, then punched the ground, causing it to go unstable.
Naruto dropped sideways and rolled hard, avoiding her attempts to jump on him, before he jumped to his feet, pushing up from his shoulders, and dived over her, rolling clear.
With her hands now glowing, Sakura ran at him faster than she had before, aiming a sweeping claw across his chest.
He slid to one side, grabbed the wrist of her leading hand, and rolled her on to her back.
There was some applause from the bridge, as Naruto let go of Sakura.
“You’ve really improved, Sakura-chan,” Haku praised.
“Yeah, not useless,” Sasuke agreed dourly.
“But I didn’t come close to hitting Naruto,” Sakura complained.
Naruto smiled, a little embarrassed, as he scratched the back of his head.
Sasuke launched himself forward, at full speed, his Sharingan active. Without thinking, Naruto did the same move he had on Sakura.
“See,” Sasuke said as he stared up at the sky. “We’ve all improved, but the idiot’s been getting training from two of the Sannin, as well as ANBU, and Kami-knows who else. We’ve had Haku, and Kakashi.”
“Should I be insulted?” Kakashi asked from behind them.
Sakura and Naruto looked at each other for a moment. Sasuke sighed and covered his ears. “You’re late,” they yelled together.
Haku giggled in to the silence that followed it.
“Yes, well,” Kakashi said. “I heard that I wasn’t even in the top hundred of Icha Icha Paradise fans, so I had to find out why not.”
“That’s...” Sakura started.
“True,” Naruto finished, his hand covering Sakura’s mouth. “I asked the old man to distract him this morning.”
“Oh,” Sakura said.
“Anyway,” Kakashi said, with a glare at Naruto. “As we’re back to the original group, I figured it might be an idea to do the bell test again. Just you three against me.”
Naruto rolled his eyes and made a clone. “Seventeen, keep Haku company.”
“Sure thing, boss. Can I train with her?”
“If she wants to.”
Seventeen walked toward Haku.
“Thanks,” Sasuke mumbled.
“Ready?” Kakashi asked, as he attached two bells to his belt. “Go.”
Naruto grabbed Sakura and Sasuke, and used the lightning to take them away.
“That’s cool,” Sakura announced, as they arrived on top of the Hokage’s monument.
“So what’s the plan?” Sasuke asked.
“Huh?” Sakura said.
“Naruto’s in charge, don’t worry about it, it’s all a part of a bet between the two of us.”
“Okay,” Sakura said doubtfully.
“Right, first thing is, we should do this properly, even though we are ninja.”
“That one bypassed me,” Sasuke admitted.
“Well, the easy way for us to get the bells is for me to spam a couple of thousand level one, two and three clones, and let them take care of Kakashi until he is tired.”
“And that’s wrong because?” Sasuke asked with a small smile.
“Because it’s hardly teamwork. Besides, it will be more fun for us to do it properly. Sakura, clamp down on your chakra.”
“Okay,” Sakura said, her tone still doubtful.
“Harder,” Naruto encouraged. “Concentrate on not letting any of it leak out.”
She did, and Naruto smiled. “Perfect,” he praised.
“Hmm,” Sasuke mumbled. “You’re almost invisible.”
“Exactly, so we do this the old fashioned way. Sasuke and I attack him head on, no clones, just a straight out fight, both of us going all out. We’ll pretend that you’re hiding and letting us do the work. We’ll aim him toward you, and you grab the bells, then we grab Haku, and go and have a drink and talk about what’s been going on since we split.”
Sasuke nodded approvingly.
“Sneaky,” Sakura muttered. “Are you sure I can’t help fight properly?”
“You’ve improved dramatically, but you’ve got a long way to go. I am impressed with how far you’ve come, honestly, but you’ve just found what you are fighting for, Sasuke and I have had it for much longer.”
She nodded. “Okay. Thanks.”
Naruto quickly called Nine out into the world. “Can you take Sakura nearby?”
Nine nodded. “I can’t do it like you, though, boss.”
“Sakura, you’re going to need to hug Nine to get there, he’ll borrow a little of your Chakra, as well as make the seals behind your back.”
Sakura flushed lightly, but she went over and did as she was told. Sasuke reached out and grabbed his shoulder, and they were away.
As soon as they landed, Naruto pushed forward and ran in a crouch. Over his head, two fireballs shot toward Kakashi.
Kakashi spun out the way, and out of Naruto’s path. Naruto didn’t stop, until he jumped, pounced on to a tree, and launched off it at the Jounin.
Kakashi blocked him easily enough, and then lent back dramatically to avoid a kick from Sasuke.
With a smile, Naruto dropped back a bit, and put together his torpedo Jutsu, he didn’t want to show Kakashi anything new in a spar like this.
He smacked into Kakashi, throwing the Jounin back against a tree around twenty yards away.
Kakashi stumbled forward into a punch from Sasuke.
Naruto threw his hands together, casting a wind technique. It missed Kakashi, who pushed Sasuke away and smirked at him.
“You mi...” Kakashi didn’t have time to finish his gloat, as he had to avoid the large tree falling on him.
Sasuke leapt over tree, a kick going straight into Kakashi’s face. Naruto dashed forward and, using the same move again, torpedoed Kakashi’s back. Sasuke had clearly been expecting this move, as he followed it up with a flame attack that took the shape of a roaring lion.
Kakashi grunted, and lowered his mask, revealing his own Sharingan eye. Sasuke suddenly turned his own eyes on.
Red met Red, before Sasuke smirked. Naruto, taking advantage of the stare off, kicked Kakashi to the right.
Sakura leapt up from the hole she had been hiding it, grabbed the bells, and somersaulted over the Jounin. Kakashi grabbed for her, but a wind-enhanced fireball combination from Naruto and Sasuke meant he had to pull away.
“That’s cheating,” Kakashi mumbled.
“Pfft,” Naruto replied. “You underestimated us as always. And besides, getting distracted because Sasuke has pretty eyes? Very unprofessional.”
Kakashi mumbled something else to himself, before he covered his eye back up. “Since when have you achieved your eyes?”
“Naruto saw a problem, and decided to fix it. So he did.”
“How?” Sakura asked.
“He fake kidnapped Haku, then taunted me and threw things at me until it activated.”
“Oh,” Kakashi said. “That’s actually a good idea.”
“Yeah,” Sakura agreed.
“Well, you three will be able to work as a team for the Genin exams. Good luck. Meet on the third floor of the building next to the academy at eleven in two day’s time.”
“Kakashi, we caught Jiraiya peeping on a whole village of naked women. He did this weird Jutsu, and said that he’d now got it imprinted. Anyway, foxy-chan told me that you can share that vision, with his permission, simply by using the Wolf seal three times, together, and Jiraiya calling “Memory-Share No Jutsu.””
Kakashi gasped, “Thank you, Naruto!” He vanished, leaving only an after image.
“Naruto!” Sakura yelled, and tried to hit him.
Naruto swayed back, then punched her in the jaw. “Will you stop doing that,” he demanded. “All you have to do is ask what is going on, instead of presuming something stupid!”
“What is going on?” Sasuke asked.
Naruto turned his back on Sakura. “It was all a set up, I had a few hundred clones henged as women, and when they dropped their towels… male genitalia.”
“And that’s the memory Jiraiya-sama is going to share?”
Naruto nodded.
Sasuke smirked. “Your pranks have improved.”
“See you at the academy?”
“You bet.”
Naruto rode the lightning away.
“Feel like an idiot?” Sasuke asked.
“I’m so confused,” Sakura sighed. “It’s so much easier for me to forget that he’s the son of the fourth Hokage, that he has been trained left, right, and centre, and just hit him. I didn’t expect him to hit me back.”
“Why not?”
She shrugged. “Abject stupidity?”
Sasuke smiled faintly. “Hnn.”
“Oh, thank you, thank you for your eloquent response,” Sakura muttered, rolling her eyes.
“Well, let’s go rescue my girlfriend from Naruto’s clone, then see if we can persuade him to show us a few things?”
“I’ll get it,” Haku called, as he walked through the corridor to the main entrance to the Uchiha clan house.
“Haku-chan!”
Haku blinked, and found himself being hugged by a female who looked like Naruto.
“Come on, we’re having a girl’s night out.”
“Naruto?”
“Hi Sasuke-kun,” the female said, and gave him a huge hug too. Haku noticed that his boyfriend didn’t actually pull back, like he normally did when females got close to him.
“Naruto?” Sasuke asked.
“Oh, silly me, I’m Four, and I’m kidnapping Haku for a girl’s night out.”
So this was another of Naruto’s clones. “I am male.”
Four rolled her eyes. “So is the Boss, but hey, do I look male?” She posed demurely, and fluttered her eye lashes.
“No,” Haku muttered, trying not to feel any jealousy.
“Anyway, Sasuke, you’re to head toward Naruto’s new place, he wants to talk to you about something important! As for you, make the Ram seal, say ‘Sexy No Jutsu’, and relax, that’s all you should need to do, because you’re already in touch with your feminine side.”
Haku looked at Sasuke, who slowly nodded.
He focused his Chakra, and did what he was told. The sensation was like he was painlessly melting in to a new form. Everything felt different, as much as he thought he had been ready for this, he was surprised at just how dramatic the change actually was.
He looked down, to find that he had breasts. It was incredibly strange to see something where normally only shadow existed.
Sasuke reached out and lightly groped his new chest. Haku reacted by punching him.
“Oh, Kami, Sasuke, I’m so sorry,” he cried.
Sasuke looked at him for a second, and then slowly started to laugh. “It really is a full transformation?”
Haku nodded.
“Naruto is nuts.”
“Extremely.”
“Well, go, have fun. Four, no hitting on my… girlfriend, boyfriend, either.”
Four huffed. “I keep telling people, I prefer girls!”
“Haku’s a girl now,” Sasuke pointed out.
“Temporarily, besides, she’s too young for me.” Four suddenly smiled brightly, “anyway, it’s time to go, I’ve got so much to introduce you to, just wait until you taste chocolate.” She grabbed Haku, and pulled her out.
“Oh, Sasuke,” Four called. “Just a thought for you. Haku could have a child in this form.”
Haku’s last sight of his boyfriend for that evening was of a face in total shock.
Four giggled. “We’ve got a few minutes, so hold on tight.” Haku found himself hugged again, this time with the weirder feeling of his own chest pushed against Four’s, and they appeared in the centre of town. She was dragged in to an ice cream parlour and forced in to a seat.
“Two triple chocolates with extra hot sauce,” Four yelled. “And be quick, we’ve hardly got any time.”
“Coming right up, Naruto,” the owner yelled.
“Naruto?” Haku asked.
Four grinned bashfully. “I’m allowed to impersonate the boss when I want something in a hurry. Some people are cloneist!”
Haku tilted his head slowly, before he laughed. “They have a prejudice against clones?”
She nodded. “Clones are people too! We get upset and everything.”
Two plates were shoved in front of them.
“Eat, eat,” Four said, bouncing up and down in a slightly distracting way.
Haku obediently took a bite of the ice cream, and then had to grab the table as the chocolate melted in his mouth, and a wave of pleasure shot through him.
Four cheered happily, and then dug in feverishly. Haku abandoned proprietary and joined her, concentrating on getting enough of this ambrosia inside him.
Four settled down and sighed in pleasure. Haku did the same, smiling.
Four slinked forward, climbing on all fours on the table. Haku found his eyes dropping to her chest, as she swayed forward, her mouth heading for his cheek. She reached up with one incredibly soft hand and used her thumb to brush away something for his cheek. “You missed a bit,” she purred, and licked the digit responsible.
“You are dangerous,” he whispered.
She smiled at him. “Want me to stop?”
“You understand I love Sasuke?”
“You understand that I am, or was, Naruto, and that he’d never hurt his friends?”
“Then no.”
Four’s smiled seemed to get even brighter, and she slid back.
Haku groaned under his breath, and looked around to see that they were the centre of attention.
Naruto bounced up and paid, waving away the owners attempt to let her have it for free, and a second later, he found himself being pulled toward the hot springs.
Hanging around outside, he recognised Sakura, Ino and Tenten. “Hey guys,” Four said, letting go of his hands, and giving each of them a big hug. “Sorry we’re late. I had to perform an emergency ice-cream operation. Haku had never tried triple-chocolate with hot chocolate sauce.”
All the girls nodded, as if this was a perfectly reasonable explanation for their tardiness.
“Umm, Naruto?” Sakura asked.
“Nope, oh, I keep thinking everyone knows me,” Four said. “I’m Four, I’m the only female clone.”
“Didn’t I see you on the mission to Wave?” Sakura asked.
“No, that was a couple of level twos henged in to girls. I’m actually a girl.”
Ino scratched her head. “So you’re a clone?”
“I’m a level four clone, with two differences to all the other clones. First, I’m a girl, not a boy.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” Tenten said.
“Look, when the boss becomes a girl, he really does it, right?”
Everyone nodded.
“So, I’m that part of him. Real girl, head to toe. Anyway, second thing, I’ve been given special permission to hide things from the boss.”
“Huh?” Sakura asked.
“Well, I was with Nai-chan and Anko-chan last night, and they wanted my opinions on things that they needed my advice on, but didn’t want Naruto to know yet. Now, not telling the Boss anything is a total anathema to a clone, so I had to ask specially to be allowed to keep things from him.
“Luckily, the Boss understands that girl talk needs to be kept a secret, so I get to do things like this. Oh, final thing, I prefer girls to boys, so let’s not get worried about anything, okay?”
“You really are a female Naruto,” Ino marvelled.
Four nodded proudly. “As soon as my sister gets here, we’ll go in. My treat!”
“I think,” Tenten grinned, “this is the start of a beautiful friendship for all of us.”
Haku found himself hoping that it was.
Sasuke grumbled to himself as he walked to the gates of the new compound that Naruto was building. It wasn’t hard to find it, everyone in town knew about it, and the fact that there were more deliveries there on a daily basis than the rest of the town put together didn’t exactly hide it.
It was typical Naruto. Do everything that needed to be done, and never let little things like fear and doubt get in his way.
He entered and saw a bunch of people he vaguely recognised from his first true mission. “Yo, any one seen a blonde idiot, about yay tall, irritating ‘I can do anything’ attitude?”
“Naruto’s over there,” One of them shouted back, pointing.
Sasuke smirked as the man recognised the description. He walked over, and soon spotted Naruto.
“Ahh, there you are.”
“You summoned?” he asked, slightly irritated as he had planned to spend an evening training with Haku, and had instead, had one of Naruto’s clones practically blow his mind. Still, judging by the lack of smirk, Naruto didn’t know that yet.
“Yes, come, come.” Once more, Naruto proved that he was completely incapable of following social boundaries, as he grabbed his arm and walked him forward.
They entered a building that was still being built. It was nice enough, four reasonable size rooms on the ground floor, a nice shower and hot tub area, and four good sized bedrooms upstairs with en-suite bathrooms.
“Nice,” he said politely. “Why are you showing me it?”
Naruto said down on the bed in the last room. “Because I’m having it built for you. I want you to move in, with Haku.”
Sasuke suddenly felt the need to sit on the floor, so he did. “What!?”
“Look, that place you call home. It’s dark, depressing as hell, and I’ll bet that every time you turn a corner, you get smacked with a memory you don’t want, or you see you brother, right?”
Sasuke found himself nodding before he could stop himself.
“But you want to stay there, because it’s your families place, and because you have nowhere else to go.”
Sasuke nodded again.
“I think part of it is what has locked you into your must-destroy-own-life-to-kill-that-tosspot mindset that we’ve all been trying to get you out of.
“So here, new chance, keep your family place as a museum, have fun blowing it up, give it to charity, sell it, anything, but live there and wallow in the memories.”
A memory formed, one of Haku’s soft attempts to check that he was happy at his home.
He’d never thought about it before, but clearly Naruto had. And the idiot was correct, he was haunted by the ghosts of the past in that place. But that was how his life was, and he’d accepted that. The idea of an alternative hadn’t occurred to him.
And yet here was one.
He wasn’t sure he wanted to move, but once more, the idea of a happy Haku danced through his mind.
He sighed softly, if doing things for others didn’t make him feel good, he’d never do it. “We’ll move in.”
Naruto smiled. “You can show Haku around when you want to, talk to Six, he’s in charge here and can help you start with planning your decorations.”
“I am paying for everything,” Sasuke said flatly. “And paying you rent.”
“Okay. I’ll leave you to wander around.” Naruto stood and headed toward the door.
“Naruto?”
“Yes, Sasuke?”
“Thank you.”
Naruto gave him a grin, and vanished out the door.
Sasuke looked out the windows, matching it to what he had already seen. Naruto was a ninja, and it had clearly been designed with that in mind.
Perhaps magnolia on the walls, and a big bed. Haku would definitely like that.
Sakura sighed in pleasure as she sank down in to the hot water at the spa.
She watched as Four released her hair from the haphazard twin pony tails she normally kept it in, and settled down as well.
She wanted to hate Four, and Naruto. It just wasn’t fair. Naruto’s female form was prettier than her and better built than her, only, the clone had such a bright and sunny personality that it was impossible.
Next to her was Haku, who Sakura could accept being prettier than her. Sasuke’s girlfriend was both older than her by a few years, and more importantly, female from birth.
The other side of Four was Naruto’s “little” sister, a Jounin Jinchūriki from Cloud of all places! And while not as pretty as either Haku or Four, she was a fully grown woman, and carried herself with confidence and poise that made Sakura feel gauche and insecure.
Yugito looked a little surprised to be there with them, but was relaxing anyway.
Four dunked herself under the water, then rose up, slicking her hair back. “Ahh,” she sighed in pleasure.
Yugito’s hand shot out and grabbed one of Four’s legs, she lifted it to the surface and then used her other hand to stroke it. “You wax?” she asked curiously.
“Wax? Absolutely not!” Four replied. “Horrible way to get rid of hair! The Boss tried it once, never again!”
“So how are your legs so smooth?”
“The Boss invented a new Jutsu for me. Hair Removal No Jutsu. Lasts the same time as waxing, none of the pain or problems.”
“Si-ii-ssss,” Yugito said, her voice pleading. “Teach me, please?”
“Me too,” Tenten said eagerly.
“All of us,” Ino said. “It’s a genius idea.”
“I’ll get permission from the Boss to teach you,” she promised.
“You can’t just do it?”
“Not my techniques, that wouldn’t be right. You wouldn’t just give out your clan techniques without checking first, would you?”
None of the girls nodded.
“Anyway,” Four said, sliding her legs back down. “One of the reasons I asked you to all come is that I’ve got some questions. Earrings, what’s the point?”
Sakura blinked at the question.
“They look pretty,” Ino said. “The can help emphasise your neck, and your hairdo.”
“Ignore her,” Tenten muttered. “She was dropped into a pile of civilian as a child. Earrings are great, you can use them as storage scrolls.” Tenten reached up and touched hers, a Kunai appeared in her hand. She stored it again.
“Cool,” Four cheered. “Right, I’m going to have to get my ears pierced. Haku-chan, we can do it while everyone is being tested tomorrow morning.”
Haku smiled and nodded, she looked very relaxed.
“Next, hair dressers, are they worth it?”
“Yes,” Every single girl said their without hesitation.
Sakura was slowly starting to realise that Naruto was a girl, but didn’t have the experience of growing up as a girl.
“Make-up, what’s the point?”
“It’s used to emphasise different parts of your face,” Yugito said. “It can also be used to conceal things, such as bad skin.”
“So I don’t need any?”
“I’ll teach you how to use it,” Ino suggested.
“Thanks Ino-chan,” Four said with another of her wide smiles.
Four’s eyes went distant for a moment, before she smiled. “Hinata’s date is going well,” she announced. “Kiba’s acting properly.”
“How do you know?” Sakura asked.
“The boss has the area covered. Just because Hinata’s not right for us, doesn’t mean that we don’t care for her a lot.”
Yugito chuckled. “I’m betting she’s younger, right?”
Four nodded.
“You did have grown up taste, sis.”
“Speaking of that,” Sakura said. “How come you’re taller in this form?”
“The boss’s height is mainly due to diet growing up. Foxy-chan is working with him to fix that. As a female, I’m Naruto if he had been born female and fed properly.”
“And his adult form is very attractive,” Yugito said. “Looks just like the Fourth Hokage, only with a slightly more feral look. If I wasn’t his sister…”
Sakura sighed internally. It just wasn’t fair. Not only had she lost out on a potential with him, he wasn’t even friends with her anymore!
“Don’t worry about it, Sakura-chan,” Four said. “The Boss has forgotten about it already. Just don’t do it again.”
“Do what?” Ino asked curiously.
“Nothing,” Four said.
“No, I screwed up,” Sakura contradicted. “Naruto did something, and rather than think, I tried to hit him. I missed, and he hit me back.”
“He hit a girl!” Ino gasped.
Sakura found herself frozen as she, and Ino, were the victims of some highly intense killer intent from Tenten, and far more powerfully, from Four and Yugito. Haku was watching, her hands out of the water, small icicles formed on her skin.
“Are you ninjas, or are you civilians?” Four asked tightly.
“Huh?” Ino asked, starting to shake a little.
“Ninja,” Sakura answered quickly. “Ninja!”
Four took a deep breath. She lightly touched Haku and Yugito’s shoulders, before raising a long limbed leg, and lightly patting Tenten’s shoulder.
All of them sighed and relaxed a little.
“The Boss would never hit a civilian girl,” Four explained tiredly. “But you are a Ninja.”
“So?”
Tenten groaned. “For Kami’s sake,” she said to the sky. “Look, you stupid bitches, if you want to be treated different, fuck off and stop trying to be ninja. Do you know how hard it is to be treated as a professional, when we’re outnumbered two to one, and as we get higher up the chain, it’s as many as ten to one? Hell, Tsunade-sama is going to be the first female Kage in the history of Kages!
“Naruto hitting you when you attacked you means he respects you as a colleague and a fellow ninja, and you whine about it?
“Gah!”
Four slipped over and hugged Tenten. “It’s okay,” she said.
Tenten looked sad. “It’s just hard, you know? Neji’s good, but Lee always wants to prove his flames of youth by protecting me.”
Four sat on her lap, and reached out, using her thumb to clear a tear. “I promise, I’ll have a chat with him. Make him see where he’s going wrong.”
“Lee is very hard headed.”
“More so that the Boss?”
“No one is more hard headed than Naruto,” Tenten said with a small smile.
“That’s better,” Four pronounced, and swam back to her place. She rested her head on Yugito’s shoulder. “Naruto was giving you respect, Sakura. I can stop it if you’d wish.”
Sakura shook herself. This was the second time Naruto had dropped the honorific from her name. And each time it was her own fault.
She swam forward, and moved so that she was kneeling, her hands on Four’s knees. “Four,” she said solemnly. “I have a long history of not thinking when it comes to Naruto, I didn’t put together the idea that he had seen me improve, and treated me different. As you said, I acted like a civilian, not what I am. I am truly sorry.”
Four looked at her, her bright blue eyes seemed like the strongest beams in the galaxy.
“Please, Sakura-chan, stop doing that. One day, the Boss will turn his back on you completely, if you don’t change, and he’ll never do anything more than acknowledge you again. He wants to be friends, real friends, as do I, but we won’t be treated badly, by anyone.”
“I promise,” Sakura said, meaning it more than she had meant anything in her life before.
Four lifted her chin, and leant forward and kissed her on her forehead. “Then we’re friends,” she said with a smile.
Sakura floated back, feeling a little flushed.
“Erm, I’m sorry as well,” Ino said. “For reacting like I did.”
“So we’re all friends again,” Four announced. “So, sis, what’s Cloud like?”
Naruto sighed to himself. The past few days had been full, and tomorrow was the big day, the start of the Chunin exams.
He couldn’t wait.
He opened the door, and bang on time, all his major clones entered. When they were all out and about, he couldn’t just create them, so they had to schedule.
Four sat next to him and cuddled against him. He kissed her hair, and she smiled.
“Okay, Eleven, report.”
“Right, Twelve, Seventeen and I have been looking at the other Genin teams. Tenten-chan, Lee and Neji are fine. They’re all ready to be Chunin, so we don’t need to worry about them.
“Hinata, Kiba and Shino aren’t. Kiba still thinks he can kick anyone’s arse, Hinata, for her improvements, still lacks confidence, and Shino won’t leave his team. He’s very loyal, but it does mean that he’ll miss out this time.
“As for Ino, Shikamaru and Chōji, well, Ino’s been progressing like Sakura, but Shikamaru and Chōji haven’t really progressed that much. Asuma’s a bit lazy, so they’re not ready either. Shikamaru could be, which is really irritating, as if he just put a bit more work in to it, he’d be great.”
“Thank you,” Naruto said softly. “Sakura’s not ready either, but she’s our team mate, so we’ll drag her along.
“So, the big question is, what do we do about the other teams? Do we make sure they all pass? Do we get everyone to be Chunin?”
“No,” Four said softly. “That’s not fair on them, or us. We protect them, but we don’t help them. They need to learn that it’s a nasty world out there, and that, as much as we might try, there will be times when we can’t fight their battles for them.”
“Four’s right,” Five said. “This is a time when them failing will do them more good than passing when they’re not ready.”
“It’s agreed, then?” Naruto asked.
All his clones nodded.
“Okay, Eight, can we have an update?”
“Dad didn’t leave us much information on the Flying Thunder God technique, but I think I’m getting somewhere. I’m got the hang of seals themselves, and I understand the intermediate seals. My knowledge is coming in leaps and bounds now that I’ve got those guys that did the Hyūga seal helping.”
“Keep going then.”
“Erm, Naruto?”
Naruto turned, to see Anko, Kurenai, Shizune and Tsunade standing in the door way. “What’s going on?”
“It’s my evening council,” Naruto said. “All the decisions are made here.”
“So you gather all the different versions of yourself, and hash through the ideas?”
Four smiled. “Yes, Nai-chan. We’ve all got slightly different aspects of the Boss’s personality, which is what gives us our personality. So everything we do, we do by group decision. Today’s a good one, but sometimes we argue for hours.”
“Yeah, like inviting the bastard to live near us,” Six muttered. “Still don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Quiet you,” Four ordered.
Naruto just grinned at the dumbfounded expressions. He nodded, and four seats appeared. “Want to join us?”
“We’ll just watch,” Tsunade said slowly.
Naruto nodded.
“Oh, Boss, I talked to Sakura today. She now understands why you hit her earlier. She didn’t get that you were respecting her as a Ninja. Tenten was really upset with her, as she’s fighting Lee’s over protectiveness all the time, so I said I’d have a word with him.
“Tomorrow I’m going to get my ears pierced with Haku-chan, and then get my hair done.”
“Excuse me,” Shizune interrupted. “Won’t that make you disperse?”
“Here,” Eleven called. He pulled out a knife, and held up his hand. He dragged the blade down his skin. Blood poured out for a second, before it slowly healed.
“That’s an impossibility,” Tsunade stated. “You are Chakra.”
Four bounced out of her chair and over to Tsunade. “Scan me.”
Tsunade did, and blinked. “You are human. Well, apart from your Chakra coils, there’s plenty in your system, but no source.”
“I am Chakra made into human form. I am a genetic copy, down to the DNA level, with only the XY Chromosomes swapped. All the others here are perfect genetic copies.”
“But that’s not how clones work,” Tsunade protested. She raised her hand and made a one-handed seal. “Shadow Clone No Jutsu.” Another Tsunade appeared.
Four looked at her, pulled a kunai and stabbed the clone. “That’s because you’re not doing it right!” She sat on Tsunade’s lap and hugged her. “Do it again.”
Tsunade made the same seal, but as she said the words, Four hugged her tightly and expelled a lot of Chakra.
A new clone appeared, looking at herself in surprise. She was younger than Tsunade, appearing in her late twenties. Her blonde hair was longer than Tsunade’s.
“Wow,” the clone muttered. “And, what the hell?”
“Erm, I think that was my fault,” Four said. “I was trying to show Tsunade-chan how to do it properly, but I kinda imprinted my Chakra on you, so you’ve got a little bit of me in you.”
“Kinky,” the clone said with a grin. “Hey, Boss, can I stay out for a while? I’ve got a hankering for some Sake!”
Tsuande grunted and dispelled the clone, before grabbing her head. “Tsunade-chan,” Four cried. She ran her hands over the next Hokage’s head, a soft green light glowing.
“Thanks,” Tsunade muttered. She looked at Naruto.
“He does it because he’s used to it,” Four interrupted. “I was about to tell you how to do it, but you had to jump the gun.”
“Whoops,” Tsunade muttered.
Four climbed off her and bounced back to Naruto, leaning against him again.
Naruto opened his Chakra, allowing Four to recharge.
She sighed in pleasure and cuddled against him.
“Naruto, whatever you are doing with this lot, they aren’t Shadow Clones anymore.”
“Sure we are,” Eleven protested. “We’re just an evolutionary step.”
“Hey, boss, can I blow their minds?”
“You’ve not done enough, Four?” he asked.
“If I have a baby, it would be fully human,” Four announced.
Tsunade and Shizune stared at her, their eyes wild.
“But don’t worry,” Four added. “As I keep saying, I like girls.”
“Besides,” Naruto added. “If we decided to have our own child, I’d do it anyway.”
“Ooo,” Four said, bouncing in her spot. “Question for you and Foxy-chan, could you give someone enough Chakra to keep a special transformation up for two years?”
“Why?” Naruto asked curiously. He could feel Foxy-chan paying attention.
“Well, Sasuke wants kids, Haku wants kids, but obviously Sasuke’s gay and Haku’s male. When I taught Haku the Sexy Jutsu either, I said to Sasuke that Haku could get pregnant like that, and he was stunned.
“Sasuke’s in love with Haku, the person, not Haku, the male. You know, the person not the package. As such, he might be up for it, and I think Haku would be as well.”
“That would be incredibly interesting,” Foxy-chan mused. “We lend him a lot of Chakra, and make sure he takes it easy, and he could do it. We’d be a bit drained afterward, but nothing a day or so’s worth of napping wouldn’t take care of.”
“We can do it,” he said to Four, who cheered happily.
“Wait,” Anko said. “Haku’s a guy?”
Naruto nodded.
“And you’re going to help him change to a chick, so he can have a baby with his gay lover?”
Naruto nodded again.
“Un-fucking-believable.”
“Agreed,” Kurenai muttered.
“At some stage, Naruto,” Tsunade said slowly. “I am teaching you far more medical procedures. You have a mind that cannot be wasted. You don’t see limitations.”
Naruto found himself blushing. “Moving on,” he said. “How do I act tomorrow?”
“Well,” Eleven said. “We’ve got two choices. We can follow our instincts and keep a low profile. The problem with that, is that it leaves all our other teams a little vulnerable, as the sharks will realise that they’re barely ready. Especially that one-tailed bastard.
“The other, is to continue to make ourselves the focus. If we go in like we own the place, we can concentrate all of them on us, and let the others have a slightly easier route.
“We’re not going to help them become Chunin, but we can’t just throw them to the wolves.”
“Opinions?” Naruto asked.
“I agree,” Three agreed. “Acting like a dick is the best way forward.”
“So you do it on purpose?” Shizune asked curiously. “Act so brash and forward.”
Naruto scratched the back of his head. “Well, no. Not most of the time, it is natural to me. The first time I did it, I was trying to get out of a fight, but then when my sister turned up, then it was good – you know, people are focusing on me, which means they’re not focusing on my friends.” He shrugged. “So that’s what we’ll do then. Thanks guys.”
Three yawned. “Right, I’m heading back to the library. I was at an interesting stage. I’ll catch some sleep later.”
“I’ve got to sleep,” Five said. “Got a meeting with the architect early tomorrow about the plans for the casino.” Most of the other clones, apart from Four, quickly departed.
“Naruto-kun,” Kurenai said. “What do you mean about not helping my team?”
Four shifted and sat on Naruto’s lap, cuddling in to his chest. He held her softly. “I’ve got enough power to drag every one of us through the exams. I can protect them, but we agreed that would be bad for them. We won’t always be there, and limiting their growth now would be bad in the long run.
“So we’re going to let everyone pass and fail on their own merits, while ensuring they keep alive.
“Neji, Tenten and Lee are ready, none of the others are. Shikamaru could be, but he’s too lazy. The rest need more experience.”
“And your team?”
“Sasuke’s ready, Haku’s done a great job, got that stick most of the way out of his arse, and showed him why we work in teams.”
Kurenai smiled. “I was going to ask you to allow my team to fail, I am impressed with your decisions.”
“Arguing with myself is always the best way forward.”
Naruto woke early on the day of exam, he was excited, and wanted to do some training before he started the day, just to get the blood flowing.
He walked in to the kitchen to find that he was the first up, so he started making some breakfast. Nothing special, just some bacon and eggs. The smell soon had the others awake, and they joined him.
“Hmm,” Naruto mumbled as he took a bite.
The others looked at him.
He stretched, and then created a new clone. “So?”
“Really?” the clone asked excitedly.
Naruto nodded.
“Yay!” the clone cheered. “I’ll start with learning Ramen, then everything else!”
“Good luck, Twenty-five.”
The clone puffed out his chest, and then ran out.
“What was that?” Tsunade asked.
“The boss just promoted a grade 3,” Four said with a smile. “He’s going to learn how to cook properly.”
Naruto nodded in agreement. “My cooking is adequate. That’s not good enough.”
After they finished, Naruto was escorted in to the living room, where he was quickly sat next to Shizune and Kurenai.
“Naruto,” she said, reaching inside her shirt and pulling out a necklace. She undid it slowly. “My grandfather, the First used it to handle some of the Tailed Demons, and it was passed down to me. For a while, I thought it was cursed, now I am not so sure. Everyone male who has worn it has either been, or wanted to be, the Hokage.
“I want to give it to you.”
Naruto moved forward and went down on his knees. “I would be honoured,” he said clearly.
“The last people who wore this are dead,” Tsunade whispered.
“Trust me,” Naruto replied. “I won’t die, I have too many people to love and protect.”
Tsunade dropped to her knees, and she reached out and put the crystal pendant necklace around his neck.
“Thank you,” he whispered, and then gently kissed her. She didn’t reciprocate, but nor did she pull back.
“Ooo,” Anko said. “I got the new Bingo book this morning, from Rain. It’s not out yet, I’ve got a friend over there. Anyway, look who’s in it!”
Naruto smiled in anticipation, he was ready for what ever happened today, and couldn’t wait for it. He was running late for his meet up with Sasuke and Sakura, when he felt his Kawaii senses tingling.
With a shrug, he jumped toward Hanabi, curious as to why she was calling him. He landed in the grounds of the academy and hugged her.
She was ready, and returned his hug tightly.
“Shouldn’t you be in class?”
She smiled a shy little smile at him. “I cut,” she explained. “I had to wish you good luck today.”
He smiled at her. “Thank you, Hanabi-chan,” he said and hugged her again.
She kissed him on the cheek. “You’re welcome, Naruto-kun. Become a Chūnin!”
“Come on,” he said, and took her hand. He walked with her to the side, along the ground floor, and to Iruka’s classroom. He knocked, and entered.
“Naruto?” Iruka asked.
“Sorry Hanabi’s late,” he apologised. “Totally my fault.”
Iruka looked curious, but nodded.
Hanabi squeezed his hand, and then walked to her seat.
Naruto grinned at everyone, waved, then vanished in the lightning.