Reading Time: 97 Minutes

Title: Whispers of Scales and Waves
Author: Strailo
Fandom: Naruto
Genre: Drama, Family, First Time, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Pre-Relationship, Romance, Slash
Relationship(s): Kabuto/Naruto, Sasuke/Sakura, Kakashi/Iruka/Orochimaru, Sasuke/Naruto
Content Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Underage, Violence-Graphic. Explicit sex, canon typical violence, manipulation, abuse of power, lying, cheating/infidelity, minor character bashing, redemption, brainwashing, discussions – multiple wives for clan revival, snakes as caretakers, political maneuvering, vying for control over a person, discussion – surrogacy
Beta: CutsyCat
Word Count: 143.274
Summary: It started with a summons from some called a traitor sent to care for a young child who was hated by the village at large. It grew into a village revived and a village brought to it’s knees because of the hubris of men in power. And a relationship that helped to shape lives.
Artist: Mizu Sage

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46

Naruto twisted his body and slammed Sakura into the ground, frowning down at her. “You over extended again,” he huffed at her, back away and allowing her to push herself up and off the ground. “You really need to stop doing that. Every time that you get pissed off at something, you start to get sloppy, overextending yourself, which throws you off balance. Which ends up with you on the ground in a situation like this. If I had been an enemy, you would have ended up dead on the ground. Or captured for a breeding program,” he stated.

Sakura scowled, her eyes narrowing at him. “And what is that supposed to mean?” she asked. Kakashi frowned from where he had been working with Sasuke on some new moves before looking to Naruto with a raised eyebrow. Even Sasuke had to frown.

“I thought that the Academy did a week long class on things like that. It’s one of the main things that anyone from a clan, with a kekkei genkai, or a kunoichi learned about,” Sasuke stated. “I was in the male class.”

“They said that they did, and like you, I was in that class. Along with the ‘what shinobi will face’ class. We were taught that how as men we could end up with more children then kunoichi since all they have to do is essentially milk us every few days for seed,” Naruto drawled, crossing his arms. “That and how to stay safe in the field if we fuck around with someone. They went over protection, male forms of birth control that we can take in the field. That sort of thing.”

“I do remember that we learned about the type of seals and jutsu’s that a woman or man could use on the woman to make sure that anything we do wouldn’t result in a pregnancy. And how to best deal with a woman holding a child over us if they did get pregnant. Mostly clan children were taught about that fact but the seals were taught to all of us,” Sasuke said.

“My sensei had to give me that particular talk because I graduated so early, but yes, Sakura. You were supposed to have been taught this stuff about what dangers as a kunoichi in the field will experience,” Kakashi said, frowning at her again.

“Was it that week where we had the separate classes?” Sakura asked as she stood and brushed herself off. “They only taught us how to do makeup for seduction missions. How to use various types of birth control from the basic pill, liquid and patch form to seal tags that can’t come off. But they never talked about things like being used a breeding cow. Unless…” She frowned and and tapped her foot. “It could have been when they took the clan girls to another classroom for ‘special lessons’ for only clan kids. Since my clan is still considered a civilian clan with my dad being the first Chunin in two generations and we’re so few, I wans’t allow to attend that class. Ino never said anything though.”

“Maybe because you and Ino weren’t friends at the time,” Naruto reminded her, shaking his head. “That class was for all the kids, not just clan kids, Sakura. I really hate to say it, but with your relatively clean chakra and the chance of you being able to revive your clan and the bloodlines in it that you have, you would be a good draw. Especially if they were able to find out that your family is connected to the Haruno clan of Uzu. Who had been our main healers. You have that ability to be like Tsunade-sama if you put your mind to it I bet.” He shifted. “Kakashi-sensei, can you give her the full talk about that? I need to go write to Iruka-san about what that teacher did so he can make sure that the girls have the right information.”

Kakashi nodded and allowed Naruto to walk to his bag, sitting down next to it. Nissa came over to drap himself over Naruto’s shoulders with a hiss as Kakashi dragged Sakura over to the small fire that they had created to make tea between spars and to make lunch. They had just finished dealing with the bodies and had started to focus on their training.

Sasuke and Naruto watched as the man made some tea for the both of them as they started to talk. Sasuke headed over to where Naruto was sitting and sat next to him, working on stretching his body out.

“Why are you worried about her?” Sasuke asked him as he watched Naruto pull out a hard back notebook and a pen.

Naruto grunted. “Not really worried about her persay, but about the fact that they didn’t both to teach any of the civilian girls about this shit,” Naruto admitted as he thought about what to write and then write. “Most of them will end up working in our Archives after all, and as Medical nins if they just land in the genin corps. It’s dangerous for them to not know this stuff.” He looked up at Sasuke. “We both know that if someone got their hands on her, they would make her a baby machine in an attempt at reawakening the old lines. Or they take as many of her eggs as possible. Still, she has the potential to make a good fighter and medical nin.”

“But she currently lacks the convection to get there,” Sasuke sighed. He shook his head with a frown. “Yeah. I get that. So you’re going to make sure that all of the girls get the proper information and that the teachers are teaching them properly?” he asked. Naruto nodded and shifted as he continued to write. “I thought that you had been out of the class for those lessons.”

Nissa snorted and shook his head. “Naruto-kun is able to create solid illusions,” he stated, flicking his tail, much to Naruto’s amusement. “He was there as a student. The never took proper attendance during that time, just marked everyone there to hide the fact that they had removed Naruto-kun from the lesson,” he continued.

Sasuke blinked in thought before he nodded and accepted that. “You can create solid illusions?” he asked. Naruto nodded as he wrote. “How?”

“Some kind of family bloodline shit,” Naruto stated. “As far as I can tell, if I can figure out how the chains work, I can do them to. But also the illusion thing is a general Uzumaki trait. It’s said in the lore books that we were blessed by Inari-sama Themselves, so we can create illusions that would make Kurenai-san weep in need.” He shrugged again and reread what he wrote. “I don’t know really. There’s not a whole lott of information there.”

Sasuke grunted, pulling out his water bottle from his bag before looking to Kakashi and Sakura. He took in the fact that her hands were wrapped around her metal cup with her knuckles white from how hard she was gripping it. He shook his head and sipped at the water. “When are we leaving?” He asked.

“Next week. We have another week on this mission to do some heavy training that we can’t do in the village normally due to what it is,” Naruto told him. He frowned down at the papers. “I have to work on refining some of my more destructive techniques and traps. I know that Kakashi-sensei also wants to work with you on consciously activating your Sharingan now that we know that it was activated. Just suppressed during that night,” he said. He tapped his pen on his notebook, thinking of how they learned that bit.

Zabuza and Sasuke had been sparring after a day of working, Sasuke working on his dodging skills with the large man. During that, the swordsman had noticed that red would keep seeping into black, Sasuke squinting each time that it happened.

They had stopped and Haku, using a medical seal to test things, and it had been discovered that Sasuke had put up a mental block. Slowly, every night since, he would meditate with Kakashi who was working him through reactivating it.

And making sure that he knew that he would get his ass handed to him if Sasuke should use it on his fellow Konoha nins along with a seal to stop him. Zabuza and Haku had promised that he would lose his sight for a week if he tried to use it with them. And finally Naruto had reminded him, clan kid to clan kid, that he had every right to have a knowledge seal slapped onto him if he tried it with Naruto.

Sasuke had showed that he had caught the hint and didn’t use it outside of a few things that Kakashi did with him. Then again, he was also still getting used to activating it with purpose and without thinking about it. They didn’t want to force it since it had been forced to activate before, and Kakashi was still worried that it was broken in some way.

They wouldn’t know until the block was fixed anyways.

Naruto wasn’t really looking forward to returning to the village, but had a weird feeling that it would just end up pushing him further into leaving for good. And having a good reason to do so. Thus is plans for Uzu being set up.

He smiled at feeling the quite flow of approval from the land and finished writing his letter out, folding it into a small triangle. He tucked it into a small leather bag before chucking it into the woods that they were close to them. The rustle of the bushes and a flash of red told him that it had been grabbed and was on its way. Sasuke looked curiously over at him, having caught the flash of color.

Nissa just softly chuckled in a snakey way as Naruto smiled but didn’t say anything.

47

Packing up the last of his stuff, Naruto sighed and looked out onto the village.

Zabuza and Haku had already found, cleaned, and fixed up a small home that hadn’t been occupied at the time of the invasion, setting it up for their housing needs. They had been able to get the water flowing to it and found the electrical lines that had used the winds that came off the sea to get the power going again.

Haku had already planned out how to fix up the house for them long term, including how best to tame some of the home gardens nearby.

The three of them had discovered that the escape tunnels that were used to get to the forests on the main land for hunting were still solid and open. Ready to be opened to those who wanted to return to the village and stay hidden.

They had marked it out but only told Team Seven about one iffy tunnel that you could only exit from and not enter. They didn’t want them to know about the other tunnels. It would help to protect the village since they could collapse that tunnel and not flood the other tunnels.

For now though, they would take that one when leaving, allowing Haku and Zabuza to deal with the captain when he came back. It would help to protect the village but also reminded them that there was still a very strong barrier around the village. Jiraiya had already come and gone as he had promised, staying for the memorial ceremony that they had set up for those who had died.

Naruto and Jiraiya had also taken the chance to hash out some things, going at their spar hot and heavy. It had allowed Naruto the ability to process his feelings, which he had wanted, and allowed Jiraiya the ability to explain what had gone down.

The man promised that he would be back in the village by the time that the Chunin Exams started and he would help Zabuza get things set up where he could for the man. He would mostly use his own connections to help.

Haku was going to want to talk with Tsunade himself as soon as he could get away with meeting the woman to. It was fairly likely that he would return to Kiri to escort the genin who were heading to Konoha for the exams as a gesture of good will, he wanted to make sure that he was ready for it. So he wanted to talk with her face to face and get her thoughts about how things were going in Konoha before he stepped foot inside. Especially since she was going back to give Hiruzen a piece of her mind.

Naruto kind of wanted to see that show down when she did return. Jiraiya had told her why she had left and how she was just starting to heal after everything that had gone down. He could understand why she had left, thinking that he would be properly taken cared of. Promised that he would be cared for. Since he found out that his childhood accounts had been set up for him and he should have had full access to them long before now he hadn’t been happy with things.

Jiraiya had told him that he taking over his accounts should not have been after he had become a genin forcibly taken them over.

The fact that Hiruzen had decided to hide the fact that Naruto should have had full control over the accounts instead of being told how much he was allowed still hurt. He had cared for the man, thought of him as a grandfather really. After Nissa had come into his life, he had started to really look at his relationship with the man. And his budgeting.

Naruto was also very sad that he hadn’t been able to yet meet his penpal. That he couldn’t yet talk to the man and find out what had happened to him all those years ago just yet. He knew that the ritual he had been working on had been a success but he was still having moments blacking out where he turned into a bastard with no morals. It would take another six months before the influence that he had been under was completely removed.

Just in time for the Exams.

Naruto had also found himself missing Kabuto in the last few weeks. He missed the other man quite a bit. He hadn’t been expecting just how strongly he wanted to see Kabuto after just a few weeks apart. Never mind the fact that for the last three years they had seen each other nearly every day except for those times that Kabuto had to leave for missions with his team.

Sighing Naruto shook his head and headed into the kitchen to start cleaning the dishes that they had used for dinner. They were planning to eat things that would be easily carried while they walked through the tunnel, and didn’t require many dishes to make. It just needed the one pan to cook the eggs and sausage before they rolled it with thin bread. Naruto planned on waking up early in the morning to use the last of the fire in the stove to cook their breakfast.

Haku had already promised that he would clean the ash out from the stove and fireplace when they were cooled. Which would allow them to leave without having to wait for it to die off.

“You’re thinkin’ hard,” Zabuza grunted as he walked in to find Naruto cleaning the dishes.

Naruto hummed. “Yeah. I suppose that I am,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m just thinking that it’s like a foregone conclusion that I’m going to rebuild the village and leave the Leaf behind me,” he told him softly. “There’s nothing there that makes me want to stay. All of my precious people? They’re very willing to leave the village. Every time that I’m in the village, I feel as if I’m being slowly suffocated. I learned this while I’ve been here, training and feeling nothing but contentment. It’s been freeing just to be who I want to be instead of what everyone thinks I should be.”

Zabuza grunted, starting to dry the dishes for him. “Yeah. I can understand that,” he said. He shook his head. “Kiri’s way of teachin’ us was brutal. They didn’t want loyal nins. They wanted nins who would kill on their word. So that’s how they taught us. If your companions were dyin’, you just left ‘em cause they turned out weak. Then I found Haku on that damn bridge. And that seemed like the stupidest shit ta do. He showed me that even the strongest will have a bad day. Usually when he landed his damn senbon on me and made me go down like a damn log.” He rubbed his neck with a grunt.

“And you were the one who wanted me to learn how to use them,” Haku stated as he brought in a bundle of wood to feed the fire with. They had decided to just maintain the stove fire for the rest of the night instead of letting it die, the cooler weather of the coming fall making things nippy in the village. They had made the happy discovery that the stove had been set up to be a house wide heater and lasted longer with the heat and fire.

“And I know that very well,” Zabuza grunted, shaking his head. “And if you’re not happy there, you shouldn’t have ta stay there. Yur parents, if they really loved ya would want ya to be happy. And we both know it,” he grunted, piling the dishes into a basket. Everyone had decided to use the dishes found in the village, and the two would keep them to use while there.

Naruto blew out a breath and nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, I know this. It just, you know, sucks. I do love the village, don’t get me wrong. The woods and the training grounds were havens. The vibrancy of it calls to me. But it’s going to kill me if I end up staying there though. It’ll kill me until I’m nothing but a husk of my former self. And I know for a damn fact that there are those in that village that would love to see me as their personal weapon to point and release on enemies. The ‘Kyuubi’ on a leash,” Naruto snarled at that before sighing. “Not that Kurama would ever allow that to happen.”

“What do you mean?” Haku asked. Naruto dried his hands on a piece of cloth as he frowned.

“I mean that he will trigger a part of the seal that will remove me from whatever is killing me. My mother had my father build it into the seal when they were creating it as a backup to her own seal. A transportation seal layered under the main seal. It’ll send me to the Fox summons, who were my mother’s and Mito-sama’s personal summons. Because we hold him, we have a tighter connection to them,” Naruto explained, shrugging his shoulders. “It’s so that I don’t become some kind of nothing that will let him out.” He pushed away from the counter as he laid the cloth down. “Come on. The others are going to be back soon and I want to finish packing.”

“Yeah, right,” Zabuza grunted. He followed him out of the kitchen as Haku knelt down in front of the stove and started to feed in wood to the stove, checking the temperature on it and starting to make some snacks for all of them later.

Naruto missed Uzu already.

48

Pursing her lips as she slipped away from the outside of the kitchen, glad that she was still able to suppress her chakra so much, Sakura headed to where she could feel Sasuke waiting for her.

They had their orders from the Hokage. They had to work to keep Naruto in the village in any way possible. The fact that he had full access to the various Uzu and Uzumaki accounts, and that Hiruzen couldn’t touch them at all, was a thorn in all of their sides.

They were to work out how to work around it. For that, they had decided that Sasuke would start acting nicer to the blond, getting him to like him. While he was doing that, Sakura had to rein in her distaste for him while also trying to gaslight him into thinking she didn’t find him distasteful.

It wasn’t looking like her part was working and that Sasuke’s was kind of off.

She saw that Kakashi was at the small village shrine, sending out prayers, as she walked up to Sasuke. They had gone out to forage for some food to take with them on the way back and she had used the excuse to eavesdrop on Naruto and Zabuza. She picked up her basket and looked over at him.

“He’s still planning on leaving the village,” she told him softly. Sasuke hissed softly as he reached up and plucked some fruits from a tree. Just enough to add to their breakfast and for snacks the next day.

“That is not a good thing. Hokage-sama wants and needs him to stay the fuck put,” Saskue grumbled as he scowled at an apple. “The village really can’t afford to lose our jinchuriki after all,” he reminded her. He shook his head. “What are we going to do? We’ve done all that we can do short of just full on kidnapping him and slapping a loyalty seal on him. And the fact that while he is a novice, he’s still a Uzumaki and seals are in his blood. He’d figure that shit out fucking fast. Not to mention that fucking snake would tell him to.”

“I kind of wish we could kill it. But since it falls under Uzumaki protection, we can’t even touch it for any reason. Not without a shit ton of consequences coming down on us at least,” Sakura groused as she walked up a tree to get to the riper oranges, putting them into her basket. “This sucks a lot.”

Sasuke sighed and walked over to her tree. “It looks like I need to go to plan B.” Sasuke wrinkled his nose, Sakura making a sad sound at that. Sasuke had already promised her that he was going to make her the head wife of his family, and the one to carry his personal heirs. The other wives he would take on would be inseminated with stored seed to help the family flourish again. There was close to four or five thousand samples that had been stored away. Just in case.

From what Sasuke had told her, every Uchiha from the time that they learned what hormones were, would take a month off to just jerk off and store seed in special seals. Certain lines were kept alive that way or were introduced into the line without having to take in someone who had a bloodline that would overtake the Uchiha bloodlines.

According to clan rules, Sasuke was going to have to sleep with his wives once a year at minimum, but as his main wife, she would be in his bed every night that they weren’t on missions. And her children would be the main heirs to the family. But if they had to go with Plan B, she would be regulated to being Sasuke’s ‘surrogate’ while Naruto was taken as his spouse.

Not that they wouldn’t stop sleeping with each other since they had started to do that the night that they got their mission. They did it as often as they could at the moment and always used every birth control option so that they didn’t have to worry about an unwanted and unexpected pregnancy.

“I really hate the idea of Plan B. But if turning him into your wife keeps him in the village and under the Hokage’s rule, then so be it. Maybe we can make sure that he has his own babies. I am not carrying for him though. Someone else is going to have to,” Sakura snorted as she dropped down to the ground.

They watched as Kakashi left the small shrine and wandered towards the woods.

“Anyways, if you do like him, you should ask him out and stop being a child tugging on pigtails,” she said, switching conversation, feeling someone wandering their way.

Kakashi came out from behind a tree and raised an eyebrow, Sasuke blushing lightly, looking away. “Something going on?” he asked.

“I’m telling my idiot of a teammate to shoot his shot before someone else decides Naruto is really pretty and he loses his chance,” Sakura chirped. She smiled and got a cool, studying look from their sensei.

“I see. We’ll, let’s head to the house. You two need to finish packing and I promised Haku-san to help with the rest of the food we’re taking with us,” Kakashi drawled. The two followed after Kakashi and shared a look between them.

Sasuke twitched, and started to work out how he would work to get Naruto to fall in love with him. He really wouldn’t have much issue with sleeping with the other male if he was being truthful with himself.

Sasuke had always been attracted to pretty and Naruto was pretty, and he did swing all the ways. He had other partners before of all kinds and to him sex was sex. He often took anyone with a dick to his bed more often though, but he would have to stop taking anyone but Sakura to bed once he was with Naruto.

Which would hurt his libido but he would do it.

He decided that he would ask Naruto out once they got back to the village and Sasuke could talk with the Hokage about inter-clan marriages. He would have to talk with him about a marriage contract so that he could keep Naruto under control. They couldn’t afford to lose their weapon after all.

They had been told by the Hokage and then sworn to secrecy about the fact that Naruto held the Kyuubi. They hadn’t known that he knew about the fox though. Sasuke wondered how the idiot learned about him but he wasn’t going to ask.

Not yet. But eventually though.

His plans started to include him keeping his string of lovers if he could along with Sakura without Naruto knowing about it. He had no doubt that the blond would freak out if he knew that Sasuke was going to fuck Sakura every chance that he could. They would need to keep their thing private instead of being out about it, but they could do it.

He would make sure that she was the only one who carried his personal heirs while he did marry more woman to carry the needed children from other samples. He figured at least three kids from each wife would work.

Sasuke smirked at the thought of some of those kids being from Madara and his brother, Izuna. Their bloodlines had been scary powerful and they would need all of the power that they could get through the children. He wanted to have his clan rebuilt as soon as he could do it after all.

Most likely, Naruto would end up needing kids, but they would have to carefully choose the woman who would carry Naruto’s kid after all. They would need to find another Uzumaki that would be loyal to Konoha to forgo their dual citizenship. And hopefully they would be able to carry Naruto’s bloodline.

Sasuke stepped inside and found that Naruto had changed into just a pair of loose sleep pants and shirt that he knew for a fact was a special weave that would provide protection just in case they were attacked. Not that they would be attacked on a hidden island.

He shook his head and headed to start packing up his own things, going through everything, packing his things away in sealing scrolls. Food scrolls went into the side pockets of his bag while his weapon pouches were refilled and gone over. His clothes, outside of the ones he would wear the next day and his night clothes, were sealed and the scroll placed on the bottom along with his journal, bagged pens, and a report scroll.

With everything but his sleeping supplies and bath supplies packed, he was given his late dinner by Naruto, who was laughing at something that Haku had said. He watched as Naruto joined Kakashi next to the fireplace, talking with Haku, who was had started to talk about the garden that he was planning and how Mei, the new Mizukage who had used the money to gain the position, was. And how she was fixing a bunch of laws, getting rid of idiots and setting up things for the better of Kiri.

49

It took Team Seven three days after leaving Uzu to get back to Konoha, and another hour to give their verbal report to the Hokage and hand over their written one. The reports all stated that for a short time, Haku and Zabuza would stay on the island to heal and wait for the call back to Kiri.

Once they were gone, they would talk with Naruto about Zabuza’s sword, since it was an Uzumaki thing. Hiruzen was reminded by Naruto and Iruka that he couldn’t say a thing about it either.

They were all dismissed to return to their homes for the day. Sakura and Sasuke returned to the tower later that night for their own late night meeting with the Hokage.

“You both have a report for me?” he asked as soon as the dismissed ANBU left the office.

“Yes, sir,” Sakura said after they had bowed to him, taking a seat next to Sasuke. “It’s looking like Naruto is going to want to leave the village. He’s not happy.” She paused. “Far from it from what he’s said to others.”

“I had a bad feeling that would be the case,” Hiruzen grunted. He shook his head. “Do you have a plan for this?”

“We do, sir,” Sasuke said. “Plan B, or as the list that we gave you while we were gone called it: Plan Wifey,” he told him. Hiruzen hummed and opened the bottom drawer, finding the small encoded notebook that he had written details of their plans into before. It was in his personal code, one that only Jiraiya and the two before him knew how to decode.

He opened it and found the correct plan. “You plan on wooing and marrying him?” Hiruzen asked, Sasuke nodding his head. “Will that be an issue? Having to sleep with him? Live with him?” he asked.

“It’s not as if he’s not pretty enough that having sex with him will be much of an issue. And he’ll have to bend to my will once I have him loving me so that I can still marry other women to carry Uchiha children with the other stored seeds,” Sasuke drawled. “Since, from what I will be telling him, I won’t be sleeping with them outside of the required consummation night of our wedding. He won’t have many issues since he’ll be considered First wife.” He shrugged and stretched out his legs in front of him. “Sakura will be, to his knowledge, my only official surrogate for my own children of course. And she’ll have one or two for her own clan.”

“I’m going to try to get my clan to be considered a nin clan for the benefits once I’m named as Sasuke’s surrogate,” Sakura stated. “We’re kind of hoping that the kids will take after Sasuke for the most part. We both know that the boys will definitely be considered Uchiha’s while I might take one or two of the girls as Haruno’s,” she explained. “The same set up as before, just not me being a Uchiha wife.” She pouted. “But maybe after we get Naruto to have a couple of kids, he could have an accident that ends up requiring us to stick the Kyuubi into one of his brats. Have Jiraiya use the seal that had been used on Mito and Kushina to seal it. And of course, make Naruto not be alive by the end of it. Then I’ll step in as a close friend and mother to Sasuke’s children to help him through this trying time. Growing closer and marrying one day.”

“It would work out well for all of us if we could set it up to happen at the right time in the right way. Though I would have to make sure that whoever takes the hat after me will follow what I have laid out for the village,” Hiruzen hummed as he stood, walking to stand before the window. “As it is, he islike his mother. Too much so. He is unwilling to listen to those who are above him in wisdom and genius.”

Sakura shifted. She felt a niggling feeling that Naruto just didn’t show just how smart he was in all actuality. They all knew that he was street smart, something that came with the way he had lived, but she had a feeling that there was more to him. She didn’t say anything though, deciding to keep watching Naruto to really form a proper opinion of him. After all, as she was often reminded, she didn’t know him outside of their teamwork training that they were forced to do by their sensei.

She listened idly as Hiruzen and Sasuke planned on what would happen over the next few days.

Sasuke would ask Naruto out on a date since they were going to have some time off after their long mission and take him out on a nice picnic. He would work on wooing Naruto while Hiruzen had the hospital and his sensei keep Kabuto as busy as possible.

They were hopeful that by the time that the Chunin exams came around, Sasuke would have Naruto eating out of the palm of his hand and willing to do anything that he wanted him to do.

Including staying in the village and marrying Sasuke. If all went well and to plan, they would be married by October and Sasuke would have Naruto on a tight leash while Sakura looked for a proper husband who would be willing to be married for a political marriage. She would still be a ‘surrogate’ for Sasuke and do what she wanted with her husband.

“Who could be chosen to be a good match for Naruto as a surrogate?” Sakura asked, turning to look at the Hokage and resting her chin on one hand as she stared at them. “Maybe one of the Kurama’s that are still around? Or that one girl trying to become a weapons mistress, Tenten. She’s an orphan from a no-name clan,” he suggested.

“The Kurama’s have occasionally married Uzumaki’s into their family, which gave them their hair coloring. Not enough to really worry about it taking over their own abilities. But if there is one who has enough Uzumaki in them to boost Naruto’s childrens’ lines, then they would make a good match,” Hiruzen mused. He nodded. “I will see about them taking some DNA tests for us in the next year as long as this all goes well. For the night though, go home and rest. Start your plan tomorrow, Sasuke. Keep me updated on what is going on, you two,” he instructed.

Sasuke grunted and nodded his head. They stood and bowed to Hiruzen before they left the office together, heading for Sakura’s apartment, something she had gotten set up while she was gone. For anyone who was looking into her home, they would see two friends decompressing after a long, intense mission. Sakura was making them tea and pulling out food that she had made and Ino moved into the apartment for her to defrost and heat up.

“This is going to be very hard,” she finally said once the food was in the oven. Sasuke grunted as she poured tea. “I have to admit that I really don’t like the fact that I’m going to have to wait for at least five years before I can officially become your wife.”

“I’m really not happy about all of this either, trust me.” Sasuke’s face twisted into a scowl. “I do stand by the fact that I can sleep with him. He’s not bad looking and I wouldn’t mind fucking him. He’s pretty and I know that he’s never slept with another. So he wouldn’t have to know if I didn’t give it all when we’re in bed.”

“Which would be nice to know. You could mostly focus on your pleasure instead of his. Train him to be a nice little fuck toy,” Sakura hummed before she wrinkled her nose. “I still don’t like thinking about the fact that he might be a sexual human. But yeah, looking at him? Knowing just what he hides under his clothes? I can see why you wouldn’t mind.”

Sasuke grunted, shaking his head with a frown. “Just as long as we keep that Kabuto guy away from him during this whole thing. His snake will be enough of an issue,” he snorted. “He doesn’t like me in any way and I keep thinking that he was summoned by someone else.”

“Probably. But Naruto won’t tell us if he was. Neither will Nissa. Let me get the food for us,” Sakura said, standing. Sasuke watched her walk with a smirk, eyes running over her body. She had been a twig during their academy years until the last year where things had picked up with their training. Since then she had filled out in all of the right ways with the training that they were undergoing. While muscled, she had curves that appealed to him. He didn’t like overly curvaceous woman like Ino or Hinata, preferring to have a sleeker body under or above him.

Sakura was perfect in his eyes, and he knew for a fact that she would never let herself go. She would figure out how it was that Tsunade kept her youthful looks so that she could stay the same even in their old age.

Sasuke couldn’t wait until they could safely close up the apartment and he could get her into her new bed. But first, the food was ready and it smelled delicious, like all of her meals.

50

In Sasuke’s mind, the plan had gone off without a single hitch. He asked Naruto out the day after they had gotten home and took him out on a picnic. He worked hard on gaining his trust for the next five months whenever they weren’t training.

Naruto still spent quite a bit of time with Kabuto and Nissa, and would often disappear to do something or another on their days off. Sometimes it would be with Kabuto and Nissa, sometimes one or the other, and sometimes without them.

Sasuke had tried a few times to figure out just what Naruto was doing but he always said that it was clan business. He and Kabuto both had intertwined clan business they had to do when they both disappeared. Apparently the older man had family connections to Uzushio himself, being a part of a smaller clan that had always worked as medics in some form or another.

He was still able to meet up with Sakura, always as if they were just close teammates becoming friends and hanging out when Naruto was busy. Which played into what everyone was thinking about their team. Sometimes Naruto was with them, sometimes not. Sometimes Sakura and Naruto would go train together and other times they would go shopping as a team.

Naruto was also finding it easier to get food at the right price since he had started to date Sasuke, which was nice. Which made him think of why that was before he was distracted by Sakura asking him about pre-made sealing scrolls and the best ones to get.

Sasuke was just glad that he was able to sleep with Sakura behind Naruto’s back since he hadn’t put out just yet. They had gotten hot and heavy, getting to the blow job state in their relationship but not going past that. Naruto had admitted that he wanted to wait until they had finished the Chunin exams so that they could take their time and not be exhausted while they were having sex.

As it was, they had found themselves busy with training, missions and preparing for their coming Exams. So much so that when they did find time to be together, they were either napping or what they did do was focused on getting off.

Naruto told Sasuke that he wanted to save their first time together, which Sasuke told him he was fine with. He was still getting laid, not that Naruto knew that.

Two days before the exams found Naruto heading to the warehouse to meet up with Kabuto to go over some clan things. Sasuke and Sakura had told him that they were going to work on training Sakura’s hand to hand since Naruto’s hand to hand style was more brawler compared to her more willow in the wind with the bends and twists that she used. The Uchiha style was a better match to help her figure things out with her own style.

Kakashi had gone to a meeting about the upcoming Exams, having told them that he was going to put them forward as a team.

Naruto was rather excited though to see Haku again, having been sending letters back and forth with him about how the rebuilding was going. Naruto had long decided that even if he didn’t go back to the village, he was going to make a home for those who wanted a home.

According to Haku the village was partially rebuilt so far. Tazuna had taken some of his guys for about two weeks to work on the village before he headed back home for a week, coming back with a second set of guys for another two weeks, rotating them out.

Haku had sent pictures of the rebuilt homes ready to be filled with people when they were found. They were mostly focusing on the apartment buildings since it was likely there would be a lot of single people for the time being.

Shaking his head free of the thoughts, Naruto opened the warehouse door and closed it behind him, hearing the way Kabuto was pacing back and forth as he walked with Nissa. “It’s wasn’t like I actually meant to catch them in the act of fucking. I was out there to take pictures of the forests wild plant supplies for the hospital records,” Kabuto said. He was sounding pissed and upset. “I just…I don’t know how to tell Naruto what I saw though.”

“Just explain what you caught, show him the pictures you took and be there for him while he hurts. He might try to deny it but you did get pictures of them,” Nissa stated. “And then did stalk them the next time that they were ‘training’ after all,” he continued.

“You stalked who while they were training?” Naruto asked. He felt as if his stomach was dropping out from under him. He had a very bad feeling and seeing the pained look on Kabuto’s face, Naruto swallowed heavily.

Kabuto blew out a breath before waving a hand to the chairs, motioning him to sit. “I have some rather bad news that I really didn’t want to have to tell you,” he admitted softly. Kabuto sat down next to Naruto at their work table and pulled out a packet of photos, looking to his friend with thinned lips. “But you deserve to know this. I didn’t go looking for them on purpose, but I have a feeling that the jounin that is the head of my unit knew something was happening. And he sent me out there on purpose. He sent me to take updated pictures of all of the wildlife in that area so we have information on where to find the plants. I…well I found Uchiha and Haruno. In a very compromised position that seems as if they know what they’re doing.”

Naruto swallowed and took the pictures with shaking hands. The pictures were indeed mostly pictures of plants from various angles. But the last seven or eight of them caught Sakura and Sasuke in positions that he knew very well from some of his favorite manga.

They were far from fighitng positions too. No matter how you looked at the pictures, they weren’t sparring. Sakura’s skirt was hitched up around her hips and her top opened while Sasuke was missing his shirt, his shorts pushed down. Naruto had a pretty good idea what was going on between their bodies.

He swallowed and looked at Kabuto, hurt. “I…why?” he breathed. Nissa and Kabuto shared a look with each other.

“I really hate to say it but I think Haruno and Uchiha were assigned to a secret mission to keep you in the village in any way possible,” Kabuto stated. He tapped his fingers on the table. “You wouldn’t be the first to have such plans used on despite what others may think of it. The Kurama family matriarch, may she rest in peace, had been married and kept in the village that way when she wanted to work with your mother to help rebuild Uzu. Her husband took over the clan, knocked her up and kept her in the village. Your mother ended up married for love yes, but stayed in the village to have you and died in the village. I don’t think Minato knew about the manipulations going on but he did love your mother.”

Naruto nodded his head, rubbing at his face. “What am I going to do?” he asked softly. He smoothed the tips of his fingers over the pictures of Sasuke gently kissing Sakura’s cheeks and lips after it looked as if they had gotten off. Sasuke had never shown such softness to him since they had gotten together.

“You take the time to heal that you need. You go to your team meetings over the next couple of days. You act like nothing has gone wrong and that you’re just wanting to finish focusing on your personal training and prep-work when you’re not with your team. You tell them that you’re working on honing your skills. Then you work your way through the first two tests and when you’re able to, you tell him exactly what you have learned then. You tell them that they got caught, then you keep them out of your personal life from then on.”

“You do realize that if I do it this way, that I will be leaving the village for good because of this, right?” he asked. Kabuto nodded his head. “I need to talk with Jiraiya and Tsunade. I know that he arrived in the village last night and we have a meeting tomorrow. Tsunade-san will be here after the first two exams. She’ll be with the Fire Daiymo too. She wants to make sure that the Hiruzen doesn’t try anything with me and that I get my promotion should I put on a good enough show to get it.” He took a deep breath before looking over at Kabuto again, tears clinging to his lashes.

Kabuto reached out, shifting so that he could pull Naruto into his arms, burying his face into soft blond hair as the lean body against his shuddered. Naruto allowed himself to cry in the safety of his friend’s arms. Kabuto pushed his own feelings about everything to the side and focused on soothing Naruto, supporting him as he cried and mourned the possible friendships that he could have had.

51

The night before the Exams, Kakashi slipped into Naruto’s apartment to talk to him about what was going to happen, nodding to Jiraiya and Kabuto. He had come to like the young medic, learning just how he and Naruto had first met and finding that he was a good guy beyond what he presented to the world at large. While he was standoffish with people, polite to everyone he met, he was warm with those he considered his friends. Or who was Naruto.

For Naruto especially, Kabuto was soft. Almost possessively protective of the younger male. Kakashi was pleased either way that Naruto had someone who was willing to be by his side in all the ways that he needed at that time despite his own emotions towards his friend.

He still wanted to give Kabuto the shovel talk when it came to Naruto, but he really doubted that either of them would move towards that point while Naruto was healing from the recent betrayal.

“Naruto is in the shower right now,” Kabuto told him. “He had to go on a date with Sasuke. Dinner. He was able to make excuses about being so distant with the fact that the Exams were pushed back by a few days, and not wanting to do much outside of training. But he said something about feeling gross by just being with him.”

“What did Uchiha do to push Naruto the way he did? I was supposed to talk with him a couple of days ago, but I was talking witih Tsunade and the Daiymo for most of the day and couldn’t. As it is, Uzumaki’s in general don’t say shit like that unless they’re having to playact,” Jiraiya drawled. “Even Tsunade did the same thing with some of her ex’s before Dan.”

Kabuto shook his head with a frown. “It’s not my place to tell you. Let me get our dinner from the kitchen while we wait. We picked up some finger food from a take out place that was close by instead of a heavy meal,” he said. Kakashi smiled and pulled out the ryo needed for his part of the food.

“Thanks,” Kakashi said. He sat down after Kabuto had tucked the money into the jar that held their takeout money for whenever they got together. Naruto and Kabuto had started it early in their friendship and had one for them, and then one for any combination of when they got together with other friends.

They all paid into the jars and replaced their share of the money when needed. It worked well for all of them.

Kabuto grabbed the bags of food and laid it out on the coffee table as the door to the shower opened, steam rolling out. Naruto stepped out as he carefully squeezed his now fairly long hair with a towel. “I hate him so very much.”

Kabuto hummed. “You should probably explain to these two why you now hate him,” he drawled as he grabbed plates. Naruto groaned and nodded his head.

“Yes, I suppose so,” he sighed. He pressed a kiss to Jiraiya’s head. He had been getting closer to his godfather and they had gone over things together in the last few months via letters and short visits. They had used the toads to send their letters back and forth. Jiriaya had also learned fast that when Naruto got close to someone, he was a touchy feely person and loved it. “So, apparently Sasuke and Sakura are fucking and have been for a while.”

Jiraiya choked on the sip of sake that he had been taking while Kakashi’s chakra flared, hot and heavy with his anger before he reined it in with a frown. Naruto sighed and walked over to one window, shoving it open so that he could lean out of it. He found the Cat ANBU that was perched just outside of his window, waiting for him.

He was used to the ANBU checking on him every time a flare of chakra that was out of place happened ever since he had started to learn seals.

“Just some bad news that surprised and pissed Kakashi-sensei off, Cat-san. Sorry about that,” Naruto told him. The Cat masked ANBU tilted his head before he nodded.

“I’ll make sure the others are warned that there might be some flare ups from the apartment tonight,” Cat stated before he handed him a few privacy tags to put on his walls. “So you don’t freak your neighbors again.”

Naruto smiled sheepishly and took them before he pulled back inside and closing the window behind them. The tags were easily laid down in the right spots, Kakashi having found Naruto’s personal stash of the harder alcohol and having slammed back a shot that had made him shudder.

But it had done it’s job in calming him down from the burning need to find Sasuke and Sakura to strangle them for hurting his little brother. For betraying a relationship.

Naruto watched as his sensei sat down before he made him a plate of finger foods he loved and handed it over before doing his own plate with pork and chicken gyoza. They all knew that Kabuto had picked them up just for him and knew not to touch them.

“What are you going to do about this whole thing?” Jiraiya asked after he cleared his throat, holding his own plate.

“Nothing. At least not until after the second test of the Chunin Exams. Since they follow a rather strict round of ‘cheating’ to test for the ability to not be found during a spy mission, traveling with information as a team and not looking at it, and then one on one fighting to show off your fighting, analytical and jutsu skills, I don’t want them to try something. At least during the team portions,” Naruto explained. “But the moment that we’re done, I’m telling them that I know what they’ve been doing and plan to play some mind games with them. I want to see if it was to keep me in the village and on a leash. This all though, it hurts. I really did think that it was something real and that they were becoming my friends, but it seems I was a mission to them, at most that I could figure out.”

“Will you tell any of the other teams about this?” Kakashi asked after he ate a tempura fried shrimp to continue to cool down.

“Yeah. I’ll probably tell them in the Forest if things go the same way that they usually go. I want to explain to them just what has happened and why I’m going to leave so that they can warn their clans. I’ll probably be able to get to Shikamaru, Ino and Choji pretty easily. For all that he’s a lazy bastard, he’s smart and he’ll understand. He’s scarily smart really and has a good base on reading people.” He shifted. “The Nara only moved to the village because Uzu is an island and at the time, they couldn’t fully settle in the forest that is a part of the land that was given to the village.

“I don’t know what the others will do though. The Inuzuka have always been loyal to whoever held the position of Hokage. Almost to a scary level. I don’t know what the Hyuuga Elders will end up doing but they really don’t like me after I forced their hand with the seal that they use. Now everyone uses the same damn seal and works like they were supposed to do in the first place. No, I will not be explaining that. That is kind of personal.”

“I hear that there’s a failsafe built into the new seal too,” Jiraiya said, smirking at his godson. “That was your mom’s work, right?” he asked.

Naruto nodded. “If someone tries to alter and place it into one of their unmarked people, the one trying to mess with it will have their seal end up killing their chakra tenketsu. They wouldn’t be able to use chakra ever again. Much like that Lee guy, they’ll have it, but it won’t be useable. Their chakra will be completely burnt out and will not heal. Ever,” he told them. “Mom was going to set it up but then she died and I found the seal after we returned from Wave and Uzu.” He paused. “I’m going to have to tell Haku and then stop him from attacking them for using their old seal.”

“Tell Haku to send his group after them and if they can to aim for his balls,” Kabuto snorted. “I’ve heard that one of their younger, genius genin, who is about twelve right now, likes nut shoots.”

“That’s a good way to end a family line,” Kakashi said, his voice warm and approving at that. Naruto pouted at them.

“But I wanted to land my own on him for this,” he whined. Kabuto chuckled softly as he wrapped an arm around Naruto’s waist. “I have no doubt that the idiot will try to grab at me as it is. Perfect time to plant a heel into his groin and tell him that I hoped that he had some seed saved. No working nin who wants kids is stupid enough to not have some saved. It’s a normal thing for someone to kick or punch at delicate bits.”

“Does that include you?” Jiraiya asked as he smirked at his godson. Naruto rolled his eyes.

“Even me. But then I had made sure all of the other samples were destroyed via a seal that attacks my DNA running around the village. They will find that when they go to create a kid, that they’ll only find dust should they try that,” Naruto purred, his eyes gleaming. Kabuto shifted as Kakashi nearly shoved his nose into the nearest plant to hide from the smell of pheromones from the silver haired male.

He had a feeling that at most Kabuto would wait just a few months before he started to court Naruto. And then he would have to hide from their rooms if Naruto agreed to Kabuto asking him out. He could see them being a wonderful, life long couple that would end up shaking the world around them to it’s very core.

Kakashi smirked. He couldn’t wait to see how it went down.

52

After they had dinner, talking about future plans, Jiraiya and Kakashi left to head to their own homes. Naruto found himself curled up in Kabuto’s arms, the two of them laying out on the oversized couch. Naruto sighed as he listened to the sound of Kabuto’s heartbeat, feeling the flow of his chakra that seemed to wrap around his own. It soothed and held him close in a way that Sasuke’s chakra had never done while they had been together.

He shifted and rubbed his face against Kabuto’s chest, feeling the questioning rumble under his ear. “I just realized that I don’t think that I know what a true, caring kiss feels like,” Naruto admitted. “I have learned how to kiss, how to suck a dick, and how it feels to have my own sucked. But…it felt just sexual.” He looked up at the thoughtful looking Kabuto as the broad hand on his hip rubbed over it. “What are you thinking?” he asked.

“I’m thinkin’ that I’m about to do something that I really shouldn’t do because you just got hurt by a relationship and I refuse to ruin our friendship,” Kabuto stated.

He grunted in surprise when Naruto moved so that he was sitting in his lap, staring down at him with his own thoughtful look. Kabuto just stared back, watching as Naruto figured something out, his eyes going wide before it melted into a soft, gentle look.

“Kabuto, you care deeply for me don’t you?” he asked.

Kabuto sighed but nodded. “I do not know if it’s love. You know that I’m an orphan and I do care deeply for my adopted family but I don’t think I ever felt actual love,” he said softly, resting his hands on Naruto’s hips. Naruto took a moment to just feel the difference between the touch of Kabuto’s hands on his body to what he had felt with Sasuke.

With Sasuke, it had been about the lust and need between them. Sasuke moved him according to what he wanted instead of just touching to touch. But with Kabuto, even before now, it had always been them just wanting to touch another human. It didn’t have to be sexual, just shared touching. It felt good. It sent warmth spreading through him even as he placed his hands on Kabuto’s stomach to steady his position.

“I don’t think that I know what love feels like either,” Naruto replied. “But I find that I’m happier with you. Even just being around you more then I was when I was with Sasuke,” he admitted. “What is is that you want to do?” he asked.

Kabuto took a deep breath, letting it out as he sat up, shifting Naruto in his lap and holding him close. He brushed their noses together, Naruto’s bright blue eyes darkening in anticipation. “I want to kiss you. Can I?” he asked softly.

Naruto swallowed before he nodded. Kabuto carefully brushed their lips together, Naruto melting under the soft touche, his eyes slipping shut as he wrapped his arms around Kabuto’s neck. Kabuto groaned lowly and pressed their lips firmly together, just moving them slightly, not deepening it. Just enjoying the feeling of Naruto returning the kiss with a soft groan.

Pulling away from the kiss, the two shared quiet breaths between them, Naruto shivering, his eyes barely open to catch liquid silver eyes before they were once more kissing. This time their tongues tentatively stroked and played, Naruto moaning when Kabuto tilted his head and took control of the kiss. His head was spinning with his need, clinging to the other man even as Kabuto shifted them so he could lay Naruto out on his back while laying between his legs.

He whined into the kiss at the way that it felt so good to have Kabuto lay over him, still not quite touching their bodies until Naruto tugged him down. They pulled apart at the first touch, Kabuto hissing and Naruto gasping, their hard lengths pressed together and sending fire rolling through both of them.

Kabuto groaned, shivered, and rolled his hips once to hear Naruto mewl for him before he took control of himself again and lifted his head from where it had rested on Naruto’s shoulder.

“I really do not want to leave you, but I do not want you to regret what we do if we continue,” Kabuto rasped out. Naruto blinked up at him as his brain struggled to catch up to what the other man was saying to him.

He fuzzily thought about how Sasuke would have continued if he had been in Kabuto’s place, the other taking advantage of the lust between them. But Kabuto? He was pulling away from their heated make out, no matter how much his body begged him to stay.

Naruto sat up slightly as Kabuto put a foot down onto the ground, pressing a chaste kiss to Kabuto’s lips with a small smile. “Thank you for giving me time to think about this,” he said softly. Kabuto stroked his cheek with a smile.

“I do not want to lose you no matter what happens. If your decision is to give us a try when you have had a chance to heal, then I will be there. If you do not want to try anything at any time, I will also respect that. Because first and foremost, you are my friend,” Kabuto said. Naruto smiled up at him in return. “For now, I’m going to go home and take a shower. Probably on the cold side. I will see you tomorrow for breakfast before the exams?” he asked.

Naruto nodded in agreement and Kabuto disappeared in a swirl of leaves, leaving Naruto to lay back on the couch, still hard and needy but not wanting to move from where he was. He bit his lip, feeling they way it tingled before he licked at them, moaning at the lingering taste of Kabuto’s mouth on his own.

One long fingered hand slid down his chest and stomach, pushing his lounge pants out of his way and freeing his prick, allowing him to curl his hand around it. He gave it a slow pump as he remembered the feeling of Kabuto laying on him. Of the way that he had kissed him with such passion. It was as if Kabuto was trying to drown Naruto in pleasure from that one kiss. The memory of it made him leak, slicking his palm enough to make the movements easier.

Whimpering, Naruto’s other hand slid down into his pants and past his balls, one leg shifting and lifting up so that he had access to his ass. He didn’t think about it really, just ran his finger over the rim of his hole, whimpering at the thought of what Kabuto would do if they did sleep together.

Knowing the man the way that he did, Naruto knew that he would have the single minded focus of bringing the both of them the most amount of pleasure. Everything from the way he kissed to the touches to preparing them both to actually taking Naruto would be focused on pleasure and nothing but pleasure.

Naruto bit at his bottom lip at the fleeting thought of Kabuto maybe losing enough control over himself to bend him over and take him hard enough to leave bruises before the thought of slow and gentle sex with him pushed him over the edge.

Crying out wordlessly as his finger pressed into him just a touch, Naruto shuddered, splattering over his hand and chest. Flopping back onto the couch, pulling his hands away, Naruto groaned as the fox chuckled in his mind.

‘He will make a much better mate then that damnable Uchiha, that’s for sure,’ Kurama rumbled in his head. Naruto blushed before he smiled slightly.

‘Not until after the second exam, Kurama. I will talk with him then,’ he decided before he pushed himself up and off of the couch to head to his bathroom for a shower. Again. He didn’t want to go to bed when he had come on his chest and hand. He’d wake up sticky because of it as past experince with masturbation had shown him.

Taking a quick shower with his hair pulled up into a shower cap to keep it dry, he washed off, read a good book while taking a bath, and went to bed once he was fully relaxed.

Down in Kabuto’s apartment, he was panting and leaning against the wall of his shower, cursing his body loudly as he came down from the second orgasm he had since he had arrived in his apartment.

“I really hope that Naruto has the stamina if he says yes to us. Otherwise my…issue is going to be very awkward to explain,” he groaned as he came off of his high enough to control himself again.

He still wanted to go back to Naruto’s apartment and taste him, hold him close through the night, but he would hold himself back. He would wait for Naruto’s answer.

53

Walking up to his teammates, Naruto took a moment to paste on a bright smile and looked the two over. They had all decided to change what they wore for the exams, marking it as the new start of their futures.

Sakura had trimmed her hair back in the last few days so that it brushed her shoulders while she was wearing a multi-pocket vest that held a lot of her sealed medical supplies. An apron skirt and a pair of tight capri pants added more pockets and was more armor to protect her. She had also gotten some gloves that were reinforced on the back of her hands while her hitai-ate kept her hair out of her face.

Sasuke had ditched his old pair of shorts and Uchiha marked shirt for a long sleeved black turtleneck that was most likely hiding mesh armor under it. He had also changed his shorts for a pair of simple nin pants that he had taped down at his ankles, not quite as loose as most pants. His fighting style required him to wear closer fitting clothes which worked for him since it cut down on the likelihood of him catching anything on something or being set on fire. His hitai-ate still sat around his forehead.

Naruto had changed into a Uzu based outfit that his new tailor had helped him to design over the last six months. The design used the original village colorings that started at a soft orange on the top and darkened into deep reds at the bottom of his fighters kimono top. The top came down to his knees and was split on either side of his legs to allow him more freedom of movement.

Under that, he wore dark burnt orange pants that went down to his ankles and hugged his legs. Despite the look of the clothes he had decided on, they were heavily armored and would help to keep him safe as long as he was smart about it. He had even decided to wear nin boots with an inch chunky heel instead of the normal nin shoes.

He had tied his hitai-ate around his waist and over his obi, a smallish bow sitting on his lower back and hiding small pouches that carried several sealing scrolls with things. From food to weapons to new clothes just in case, he had taken his time in packing last night and hope that his teammates had done the same. As they had planned.

“Are we all ready?” he asked, holding up his filled out form. Sakura and Sasuke held up their own with smirks. “Great. Then let’s get this started,” he said, blowing out a breath. He nodded. They easily fell into a V-Shape, Sasuke leading while Sakura fell into step on his left and Naruto on his right. They headed into the school and found their first unofficial test on the second floor.

Sakura opened her mouth to say something about it before she closed it when Naruto put his hand on her arm and shook his head. They continued on, Naruto poking Shikamaru in the side on the way past before looking to another room number. With that done, they headed up the stairs to the third floor, coming to a stand still when they found a slightly older team standing in the hall.

“Oh, Team Gai. They graduated a half semester earlier then us,” Naruto said. The three genin turned to stare at them as Shikamaru, Choji and Ino joined them.

“How do you know that?” the girl asked, frowning at him. Naruto smiled at her.

“I know a lot of things that most don’t think I know. Uzumaki Naruto.”

“Tenten. This is Rock Lee and Hyuuga Neji, my teammates,” Tenten said, bowing to Naruto when he returned.

“This is Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura. And of course, Team Ten with Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino and Akimichi Choji. It’s a pleasure,” Naruto greeted softly. Neji bowed deeply to him, the two sharing a knowing look as to why, but not saying anything to anyone.

“We should head to the room,” Shikamaru grunted as he draped himself over Naruto’s back. While he and Ino hadn’t really had the chance to spend much time with the blond since they had graduated, he and Naruto had their weird bond going on. It would never be sexual, despite what others thought. He and Choji had a long engagement and planned on having their wedding next year. But Shikamaru and Naruto were still very close.

It had started when Nissa had decided that the best place to relax was on Shikamaru while Naruto trained since the other male was always in the best sun spots on the training grounds. Naruto had apologized to him, telling him Nissa did that to Ino too, but Shikamaru had waved it off. And that had been that. They became close friends.

Any time they hung out, Naruto would train while Nissa would sunbathe on the lazy nin. Sometimes Naruto and Shikamaru would train together.

Naruto just rolled his eyes and patted Shikamaru’s arm as Sasuke scowled at the fact that Shikamaru was hanging all over his boyfriend. “How’s the wedding planning?” Naruto asked.

Shikamaru groaned into his shoulder. “Slowly. But it’s going well. We’ve picked out the designs for our wedding outfits, the ones we’re wearing to the reception and our travel clothes. We’ve also decided to go to a satellite village that Choji’s grandmother helps to run for our honeymoon,” he said as they started to walk. He continued to hang off of his friend. “Mom is going to drive me insane if she keeps pushing for anything but a traditional Nara/Akimichi wedding.”

“Your families have always done a traditional wedding, no matter what,” Naruto said, frowning at that. “Why is she pushing for something different?” he asked.

“She doesn’t like my cousin, who is carrying our swords for us,” Choji told him, shrugging as he carried Ino on his back. She was mostly thinking about things and using the time to bond with her friends. Choji didn’t mind since he found her so light compared to what he carried on the daily for his training, missions and weaponry.

“Well that’s just stupid. Your cousin may have a limp but he’s still scary as a nin and a good one at that,” Naruto snorted, shaking his head.

Sakura tilted her head. “How is it that you know Choji-san and Shikamaru-san so well?” she asked, curiosity coloring her voice. “I wanted to ask during our academy years but was always so busy with things.”

“Ah.” Shikamaru scratched the side of his head. “Nissa decided that we would be friends since he figured that I’m the best spot to be able to sunbathe. He likes to lay on me. Having a snake stretch out and hiss his pleasure is not something that a person usually expects when they’re lounging in some sun. Naruto apologized and we got to talking. From there, we sometimes trained when not in class. I know that he and Ino have been hanging out for years,” Shikamaru said, shrugging a shoulder. “As for Choji? He knows Choji’s family since they’re some of the few people that let him eat or shop without jacking up prices.”

“I get my bought meat exclusively from an Akimichi ranch,” Naruto told them. “Otherwise I’d have to go hunting quite a bit more then I do. Sometimes I get fruit from them.”

“That reminds me, after we’re free for the moment, aunty wants you to come by the farm. Pick some fruit. She has a feelin’ that she’s gonna have a bunch of fruit that won’t be pretty enough for market. She wants the usual deal. You turn the not pretty fruit into jam, preserves and filling, and she’ll sell it for you for a profit. She has all the jars that have been returned. The seals are still good.”

“Yeah, I can do that,” Naruto said, nodding his head.

“Is that how you keep up with bills and things like that?” Sakura asked, tilting her head. “Wait! Don’t tell me that you’re the maker of Waving Fruits Preserves and Jams!” She looked at Naruto with wide eyes as he shrugged.

“She grows a lot of fruits, vegetables and certain herbs that she can’t send to market to be sold. So I’m given them, turn them into dried fruits, vegetables, preserves, jams. Anything that can be shelf stable. She in turn pays me for the labor, then part of the final profit line,” Naruto said. “It happens for me about three times a year and since I know the Kage Bushin, it’s not hard to get to the farm and create a bunch to have them work on that while I’m doing other things,” Naruto said. They came to a standstill before the door.

“Do you think that there will be huckleberry jam?” Neji asked, looking at Naruto with a raised eyebrow. “Hinata is down to her last jar and she enjoys using it on her cinnamon rolls when she gets a craving.”

“It is that time of the year,” Naruto chirped, making the man smile just a little as they opened the door, stepping into the room.

54

Stepping into the classroom, Naruto looked around before he smiled as Kiba walked up to them, wearing his usual mesh shirt and jacket, his rather large nin-dog Akumaru, walking next to him. “Hey there, foxy,” Kiba drawled.

Over the last couple of years Kiba had started to call Naruto foxy as a nickname. One day his mother had taken him aside to tell him why Naruto had the scent of foxes. But he had also seen the other male speak with foxes and handing them letters to deliver or getting a letter if he wasn’t using Nissa.

“Oh look, a cute puppy,” Naruto cooed at Akamaru as he bent over slightly to scratch at his fur, Shikamaru still plastered to his back. “Hello, baby boy. Are you keeping your human pet in line?” he cooed. Akamaru woofed as his tail went nuts at being given attention by the blond man. “That’s a good boy.” Naruto fed him an Inuzuka approved treat as he scratched his ears.

“I see how it is,” Kiba snorted, shaking his head and fighting a smile. He was kind of glad that the Academy had taken their time in graduating them now that he had time outside of the academy. It had allowed him to get past what his mother had called ‘puppy arrogance’ that all of his family went through and become a bit more mature. “I’m not loved.”

“Yes, you are,” Naruto huffed, poking him in the side with a smile. “I just can’t pet you like I can Akumaru. Hinata would have to pout at me and that’s a dangerous thing to have happen,” he said.

Hinata giggled softly as she walked up to stand next to her boyfriend and teammate, their third teammate following after them. “I would indeed have to pout. No one can pet him but me please,” she teased. She had really come out of her shell in the last half of their schooling, having started to really train with her sister and with Shino. And then found who she truly was in her time with Team Eight.

Naruto smiled and pulled her into a hug of greeting. “Well, I wouldn’t want to pet him anyways. He might have fleas and I don’t want to itch.”

“I keep him very well washed, thank you very much,” Hinata teased. “Flea dips and everything.” Kiba gasped and pressed a hand to his chest.

“I see how it is. Hey, Shino. You wanna date?” Kiba asked, wiggling his eyebrows at the other man. Shino snorted, shaking his head.

“You do not have the correct parts that I appreciate the most,” Shino drawled, shoving at his teammate. A quiet, amused cough brought their attention to Kabuto, who was smiling and shaking his head.

“Sorry to disrupt your fun, but the test is about to start, you guys?” Kabuto drawled. Naruto pouted but nodded, shoving an elbow into Shikamaru’s side as Sasuke frowned.

He kept feeling as if there was a lot more to Naruto then what he had actually shown them. What he offered to share with them happily. He had more friends then who they had thought they’d known about and was probably hiding so much more.

Sasuke figured that he would have to work on that and get all of the information that he could from his boyfriend later. “I think that our proctor has arrived,” he said, nodding to the large man with a bandanna hitai-ate standing at the front of the room.

“Yes, I have! Come up to this desk and take a seating plate, maggots! I’m Morino Ibiki and I am your proctor for this test today,” Ibiki barked out, standing tall and straight. Naruto shrugged and went up to get his plate. Shikamaru grabbed his own and went to sit in his seat. Hinata sat next to him, the two smiling at each other as everyone else all got to their own seats and waited for the start.

Naruto eyed the red head that walked past him with a giant sand gourd on his back, feeling the raccoon that was in him and made a note to see if they couldn’t help him. They knew that the Suna Jinchuriki had issues because of the seal on him. But so far Jiraiya hadn’t been able to get close enough to him to figure it out.

Naruto was hoping to have a chance at getting to him to get a copy of the seal that was on him and hopefully fix it for him. It was not a good idea to have a jinchuriki with a faulty seal that was leaking the way it was. It would drive the biju within the seal insane, make them unstable and hurt the holder in the long run as proven by the way that Gaara looked and the rumors around him.

Taking a deep breath, he focused on what Ibiki was going to tell them.

“The rules of this exam are simple! You all start out with ten points for the test. For every question that you are unable to answer correctly or at all, you lose a point. You are passing or failing as a team! This means that your team starts with thirty points. You lose two points automatically if you are caught cheating. If you are caught cheating and you lose all ofyour points, not only do you fail, but so do your teammates! You all have the first nine questions. At the forty-five minute mark, I will give you the tenth question to answer,” Ibiki stated. He watched as the tests were all flipped over and the group read over the questions. “Your time starts NOW!” He flipped a sand timer over and everyone went to work.

Naruto tapped his fingers on his leg and mused about the test and the underlaying information. They all knew that it was a test of their team spy skills.

He snorted and shifted, watching his clone that was hanging out side of the window as a bird flit off from the branch that he was sitting on to another one. He read one of the exams that one of the plants was filling out and waited until he had finished before flitting off and disappearing.

Once the memories had settled, Naruto tilted his head and worked through what the clone had seen before starting to write. He ignored the thunks of kunai and examinee numbers being called out for those who had failed to cheat and lost their spots.

When the forty-five minute mark arrived, Ibiki did give them the tenth question. Which was another layer of the test. A test of the ability of the nins willing to take on missions without as much information as most missions got. Missions that could end up in death or maiming and still being willing to take them on.

Those who had stayed were all told that they had passed the test before a window shattered into the room as a kunai pinned a banner to the chalk board. Naruto raised an eyebrow as a pretty female in a mesh dress, shortish skirt with shorts underneath it and a skin colored shirt under that appeared. He could tell that it was all skin colored since he didn’t seen a hint of nipple or uneven skin tone from the mesh or scars.

And with his eyesight, he would be able to tell even with her jacket the way that it was. It was a good way to create a distraction though, he could admit to that.

She swept her eyes over those that were there and frowned, hands on hips. “Ibiki! What is this fucking shit? There’s still so many of them left,” she huffed, crossing her arms and shoving her breasts up.

Naruto and Kiba sneezed at the sudden surge of pheromones that were tainting the air.

“This bunch is smart this round. They caught on,” Ibiki said, sneering down at his protoge.

“Yeah, whatever. Listen up! Meet me at Training Grounds 44. You all have maps if you don’t live here, and you should follow the chunin at the door if you don’t have ‘em on you! You have thirty minutes to get there,” she called out before she disappeared in a swirl of leaves. Naruto snorted as Hinata smiled and shook her head, the two standing to join their teams.

Once the room was empty, Ibiki meandered around the room and picked up the tests, finding Naruto’s that had a note on the back of it in Naruto’s neat writing.

‘You can tell the old man after the third exam that he should have chosen different people to try to manipulate and gaslight me into staying. Oh and that a certain Snake is not real happy with the fact that his so called Genius Sensei didn’t pick up the fact that he was under some heavy Uchiha mind control genjutsus.’

Ibiki groaned lowly and folded Naruto’s test up and tucked it away into one pocket. He would do what Naruto had asked of him. It was the least he could do for his old chunin teammate’s son after all. He still owed her for saving his life that one time.

55

Arriving at Training Grounds 44, Team 7 was promptly presented with waivers by Anko, and told that they would have to sign them to get their scrolls. They signed and handed them in to the chunin working the desk, getting an Earth scroll. They looked at each other, knowing that it meant that they would need to find a Heaven scroll.

They listened to the announcement while they stood at their gate, listening Anko go over the rules.

Naruto knew that in past presentations, everyone stood in a clump before signing their waivers and getting their scrolls. It allowed the proctors to weed things down a bit more so he was kind of curious about why they changed things.

They were informed that they had five days to get from their starting point to the middle of the forest, where the tower sat. For those who made it with time to spare, they would find accommodation such as a suite of rooms with showers, and a cafeteria for their stay. They would also get medical treatment if they needed it.

But to be allowed to go onto the third task, they had to have both scrolls, unopened. If one or both of the scrolls were opened before they got to the tower, they would be disqualified from the rest of the exams.

Each team would start from their gate and be released according to the number on their scroll.

Once their gate was opened, Team 7 started to run, heading for where they knew was a good spot to rest. Kakashi had shown them the layout of all of Konoha’s training grounds one day during their training, just in case the village was invaded. Naruto was planning on going to meet up with someone, but as far as Sasuke and Sakura knew, he was just going to visit the other four teams.

Since he could move faster then his teammates, they had decided to let him do it while they had been discussing their plans for the exams. Once they had talked and planned a bit more, they found a spot to camp for their night. The plan they had finalized was to hopefully find the missing scroll, hide for the night, and then head to the tower the next day.

Naruto nodded to them, and hopped into the trees, supposedly leaving them behind. He used a clone to move his chakra signature to fade from their senses while he used one of the seals that he had found in the archives to hide himself. He frowned, perching in a tree and watching his team for five minutes before they started to make out.

Against a tree at that.

Sasuke had Sakura held up by her thighs, her legs wrapped tight around his waist and moaning into the kiss that was all passion and need. They hadn’t gone any further then rubbing against each other so far, but he was already disgusted by his so called friend and boyfriend. He stayed still, carefully taking some more pictures of the two.

When he told them off, he was going to need proof that he had seen them with his own eyes and it wasn’t just Kabuto telling him things.

He stopped his gag of disgust when Sakura giggled and pushed them away from the tree, sliding down Sasuke’s body. Sasuke’s hands slid up to her ass under her skirt, obviously squeezing the muscle.

“Sit down. I hate to say it but we really don’t have very long before he gets back. And if I let you take me the way that you want to, we’ll be still going by the time that he gets here,” Sakura said. Sasuke smirked but agreed, stepping away from her just enough to push his pants and boxers down, his prick bobbing free.

Naruto tilted his head, not having really paid much attention to Sasuke’s cock before, mentally measuring it against the few times that he had accidentally caught Kabuto naked. Sasuke was quite obviously lacking in size and girth compared to the silver haired man but was fairly average by his guessing of things.

He shook himself free of those thoughts and took more pictures as Sakura wiggled out of her shorts and panties. She put them to the side and lowered herself over him with a moan. Done with what he needed to do, Naruto quickly left, keeping the seal on as he disappeared, glad that Kabuto had made it since it was one that he still had issues keeping some lines straight.

Naruto wasn’t planning on using the seal again if he could help it, but he had needed it for this.

He came to a stop on a branch as the first clone popped, making him smirk to himself. Team Ten would meet up with them at Team Seven’s camp ground with an extra Heaven Scroll. They had gotten jumped by teams looking for an Earth Scroll. Those teams had learned that Team Ten wasn’t an easy target and they had run when the three had showed their true strength against the idiots.

Those teams were now licking their wounds and Team Ten had an extra scroll.

Naruto shook his head, and dropped to the ground where Kabuto was waiting for him, frowning. “I take it that you watched for a short time?” he asked, pulling Naruto into a hug. Naruto sighed and melted into the other man, eyes closing as he nodded against Kabuto’s chest.

“This is a new development,” a soft, almost hissing voice greeted. Naruto hummed and rubbed his face into Kabuto’s chest.

“I found out just the day before and we’re working on what Naruto wants to do in the long run,” Kabuto stated as he smoothed a hand down Naruto’s back. He felt him relax even more in his arms. “Orochimaru-sama.”

“Kabuto-kun,” Orochimaru greeted, reaching out to pet Naruto’s head, smiling at the carefully done French braid that Naruto had done up that morning. He could feel the fabric that was woven into the hair that was harder to the touch. “Chakra conducting ribbon?” he asked.

“Yep. Did some research and learned that both you and Tsunade-sama would both wear them during the war as a way to have extra weapons that people wouldn’t expect on you,” Naruto said. He pulled away from Kabuto’s chest. He looked at the man and smiled. “It’s nice to finally see you in person.”

“And the same for you, little kit,” Orochimaru said, gathering Naruto into his arms and sighing at the scent that surrounded Naruto. Winds that were full of salt from the sea. Fur and fire running through the leaves. Warmth and sunshine and family. Something that he dearly missed from the time that he knew Mito as a young child visiting her with his mother and from the hidden friendship with Kushina. “Oh, tiny one. You have already decided to leave this village behind, haven’t you?” he asked.

Naruto sighed. “Yes. I…There’s an instinct in me that screams that I can’t really trust those in power here right now. I can’t prove it just yet, but I’m betting that Sakura and Sasuke are only playing nice with me because Hiruzen wants to keep me here in the village,” he said. He melted into the hold of the man. “They can’t allow it to have free will after all. Why, then it would take all of it’s money and those treaties that it brings with its blood line and all of the missions. They can’t have that, after all. Despite what the old man thinks, he’s no better then his war hawk team mate. At least Danzo is mostly up front about his thoughts about people.”

Orochimaru snorted, burying his nose into soft blond hair, using disguised eyes to look at Kabuto. He nodded his head, just slightly. Kabuto smirked, knowing that he was being given permission to not only make Naruto’s teammates lives hell, but to also court him properly.

Despite not being able to be there, Orochimaru was probably even more protective of Naruto compared to Jiraiya and Tsunade. There was a reason why Nissa had connected to Naruto in such a way.

Kabuto hummed, pulling out the Earth scroll that he figured that Naruto or one of the other Konoha teams would need. “Here. Scrolls. My team and I have both of ours. I know that your friends have a copy. Give this to another team if they need it,” he said. Naruto pulled away from Orochimaru as he wiped his cheeks, having allowed himself to cry softly.

Just a little to allow him to process his hurt in a safe place.

“Thanks,” Naruto said. He created a clone and popped it to give the other two clones the news. “I should probably head back to my team so that I can settle in. Shikamaru, Choji and Ino are going to come stay the night with us because two teams decided to try to get a drop on them. I think that they’re Oto teams at that.”

Orochimaru groaned, shaking his head. He wasn’t surprised by this news. “It looks as if I’m going to have them relearn stealth and patience,” he complained. He smiled and pressed a kiss to Naruto’s forehead. “For now, wash your face. I’ll contact you during the time between this exam and the next. I’m one of the Oto team jounins,” he admitted.

Naruto snickered softly. “And why is no one coming to get you right now?” he asked.

“They’re idiots. And they think that I’m someone from the Rain team. Luckily for me, they owed me a favor and are gaining their Chunin status either way,” Orochimaru drawled. He patted him on the head. “Make sure that he gets back to his team safely, Kabuto-kun.”

“Of course, Orochimaru-sama,” Kabuto replied. He bowed and led Naruto over to the river where there wasn’t a blind spot in the monitoring equipment. Naruto tucked the scroll away. Once he was able to pass as if he hadn’t been crying, they returned to Team Seven. Kabuto headed off to meet up with his own teammates once Naruto was with his team.

Sakura smiled in greeting, nothing beyond rosy cheeks and a glowing look that could have come from the careful exercises that she was performing. From the scents that Naruto was getting from them though, he figured they had done a quick wash up and used one of the camping jutsus that they had all learned to dry off.

“Guess what I got?” Naruto chirped, holding up a scroll and hiding his pain. “And just to warn you, Team Ten is gonna come hang out with us tonight. They got their own scroll plus an extra. Though, Team Gai might swing by for it since we all want out of these woods.” Sakura cheered as Sasuke hummed and nodded.

56

Later that night, as most of their teams were setting up for dinner, Naruto and Shikamaru headed towards the river to fill all of the canteens.

“You have a mask up,” Shikamaru grunted the moment they were out of earshot. “That’s something you haven’t done in years.”

Naruto blew out a breath and gave him a tired smile. “Let me tell you, some shit went down in the last week,” he said quietly. They took their time heading to the water as Naruto pulled out one of the pictures that Kabuto had given him originally. “You know how me and Sasuke started to date after we got back from Uzu?” he asked, Shikamaru taking the picture.

The Nara narrowed his eyes as the shadows around them writhed with his anger, reminding Naruto that Shikamaru had trained with his families jutsus. He drew in a deep breath to calm himself when Naruto patted his arm with a small smile. “So they’ve been fucking this entire time?”

“It goes deeper then that,” Naruto said, coming to kneel down while Shikamaru kept watch. “I thought about things during the last week or so and figured that they were most likely planning on having Sakura be his First Wife while he took others as his wives, using stored Uchiha seed on them. I looked into the notes that my clan had on the Uchiha clan and it talked about that. They would always collect samples from the men and women of the clan, using them to revive parts of the family if there was no children from that particular line. I bet you ten to one that there are a shit tone of scrolls holding semen and eggs waiting to be used somewhere in the clan storage,” he said.

Shikamaru snorted, shaking his head. “Suckers bet. So what changed?”

“More then likely, Hiruzen found out that I’m wanting to leave the village and told them. I’m far from happy about all of this, Shikamaru. I’m being treated like a damn demon and tool instead of the clan head that I should be seen as. I’m hated by the village in general. I don’t think that, outside of our friends, there are many who would be willing to work with me in the field without ditching me at the first available moment. Which is bad for the missions and for my life.” Naruto looked up at the other man. “I can’t stay here without worrying that I’ll end up killed, Shika.”

Shikamaru sighed as he knelt down next to him, helping him to fill the canteens. “Yeah. I wouldn’t think that you’d want to stay with that shit on your shoulders.”

“Well, Hiruzen wants me to stay put.” Naruto capped two of the canteens. “And he decided to use two people who don’t really know me, who have no real urge to get to know me. And who can’t manipulate worth shit the moment I learn about things,” he snorted. “Sasuke probably has this grand plan of getting me to be his First ‘Wife’ while having his little side piece as Sakura. If I’m right, their plan would include her marrying some guy who wanted nothing but someone pretty and powerful on their arm but wasn’t interested in bedding his wife. She would be his main surrogate, supposedly doing everything in the hospital but just fucking her silly whenever he could get away with it. I would most likely end up dead or maimed in some way. And they would remove the Kyuubi to place him into one of my children who they could mold in any way they wanted.” He paused and blew out a breath. “I hope I’m wrong but…”

Shikamaru whistled softly, shaking his head. He took a moment to breath slowly, working to keep his anger on a tight leash. “You figure this out how?” he asked.

“With the help of Kabuto over the last few days. Thinking about what I would do if I was trying to control someone like me,” Naruto said, shrugging a shoulder. “All those talks that I had with your dad about tactics and strategies in the form of various games and pranks have really helped me to figure out the worst case scenario and the less worst case,” he told him. He stood with the filled canteens, Shikmaru doing the same with the others.

“So you’re going to leave the village for Uzu?” Shikamaru asked him. Naruto nodded. “It’s likely that my clan and our deer will follow behind.”

“I can tell you now that it’ll take around six months from now to finish preparing the village for more people to move in. Zabuza-san and Haku-san have both been helping to rebuild the village. I know that Haku-san is in town as a guardian for the Kiri genin currently. A backup jounin sensei.” They started to head back to their camp, noting that there was someone watching their walk before they decided to run after Shikamaru used some of his shadow manipulation to smack the idiot.

“We can wait until you’re ready for clans,” Shikamaru grunted in agreement. “We’ll take that time to stock pile shelf stable things. Harvest and jar things to. Get the deer ready to move. Most likely we’ll ask our summons to allow us to escort them through their lands to Uzu to keep the deer safe. I know that we have connection points to some of the lands there because they’re fairly close to where we used to travel to before the villages started up.”

Naruto hummed, nodding as he thought. “I know that the Akimichi’s would love the amount of growing lands that we have as a part of the village. It’s an island chain that they can rotate on the use of. They’re all about as big or bigger then the main island but they’re all fertile. They used to feed Uzu without an issue. Most likely we’d like to do a lot of jarring and dehydrating things. But that’s really easy to power with the new wind turbines up and running.”

Shikamaru grunted. “I’ll talk to dad and warn Choji and Ino. You wanna sleep in-between us tonight?” he asked. Naruto sighed and nodded.

“Please. I’m not due to take a watch round tonight,” he said as he lent into Shikamaru with a smile. “I’ll tell Hinata and Shino about this too. Not real sure about the Inuzuka. I know that Kiba will follow after Hinata wherever she wants to go since I really doubt that they’ll break up. Knowing Neji, he’ll give Gai-sensei, Lee-kun and Tenten-chan warnings to decide if they want to leave for Uzu to.” Naruto frowned as they walked up to their tree and slipped down past the protection seal, finding their teammates relaxing but watchful.

“Hinata swung by to tell us that their team had a Heaven scroll so they were gonna continue to move,” Ino told them. “They hooked up with Tenten and them though. They were looking for an Earth Scroll.”

“Hopefully they are able to keep away from the Suna team,” Choji said,, shaking his head. “Though we do have some Kiri genin in town right?” he asked.

“That we do,” Naruto chirped. Sasuke scowled and took his canteen, Sakura taking hers next before Naruto pulled out a small scroll that held clothes and various other camping supplies that he had on hand. Unsealing his sleeping bag, he laid it out next to Choji’s and Shikamaru’s, catching sight of Sasuke’s frown and raised eyebrow. “No fraternizing in the field,” he drawled. “I’m the buffer between these two.”

“I’m not into energetic blonds,” Choji drawled, waving a hand. “I prefer my partner to be a Nara and sarcastically smart,” he continue. He settled onto his own bag and pulled out a scroll with his plates. Once they were all set up, had eaten and planned on how they were to get to the tower, they relaxed. They had decided to do a mild zigzag pattern to throw anyone following them off, using a map that Naruto had of the training grounds.

Naruto frowned into a cup of hot tea as one of his clones popped, having sent out more then what he had told his teammates.

He jotted down a description of a red head with glasses having been bitten by her teammates to heal. They left her behind in a cave to wait for them. He knew from sight that she was a Uzumaki and that he had the right to get her free. From what he could tell, she was one that hadn’t been found yet by Mei to make sure that she had a good life.

Naruto would have to make sure that Haku got ahold of Mei to tell her that she was losing one of her people to Uzu. It wouldn’t be that much of an issue since from what he had seen, she was being used as an automatic healing station instead of learning anything, much less field medicine. Which was a weakness for everyone on that team.

He smirked when another clone popped. It showed that the clone had opened their scroll as a squirrel before it had disappeared into the underbrush. His clone had talked to the chunin who had popped up to knock them out, and tell him to go grab their third. The chunin would take her to Haku in the village and make sure that she was cared for until she could be moved safely.

The clone had also told him that she was considered clan and if he didn’t do it, the Uzumaki would have his balls on a stick with the backing of Umino Iruka. The man had gone pale and promised that he would do so, leaving with the young girl, promising to take her to her escort and jounin sensei.

57

Haku blinked in surprise when a harried Konoha chunin escorted in one of his genin into the room where all the jounin were watching the exams as they lounged.

“Karin? What are you doing here?” he asked, blinking at the young girl. She just stared at him with wide eyes, shock and exhaustion evident. “What happened?” he asked the chunin.

“Apparently, a squirrel opened the scrolls on her teammates. I was told by a clone of Uzumaki-san to bring her here to you. She is to be watched over carefully, per his instructions, and you are to write to Mei-san about her being taken in by her clan?” the chunin said. He shrugged.

“I had wondered if she was a Uzumaki or not. We’re still dealing with all of the paperwork snafu’s since idiots burned a lot of it,” Haku hummed. He nodded to the chunin. “Thank you. Please, return to what you were doing.” He was mildly amused when the chunin quickly scrambled out of the room, muttering about not wanting to piss off an Uzumaki or Umino. Shaking his head, he turned to Karin and frowned as he felt the bite marks along her arm with his fingers. “I take it that you have a chakra and blood based kekkei genkai?” he asked.

“Yes, sir,” Karin replied softly. She stared up at him with wide eyes. She hadn’t interacted with him much despite the fact that he had traveled with her team and sensei from Kiri. But she had seen how easy going he had been with others and heard that he had helped Mei-sama take over Kiri from the last Mizukage. But she was still wary, having seen what their village had done to her mother. “You bite me and I can heal you.”

Haku grunted. “I take it that your jounin sensei has pretty much regulated you to a chakra holding machine instead of an actual medic with the proper training?” he asked. Karin hesitated. Haku just gave her a look and pulled out a pot from one of his many hidden pockets, the pot holding leaves that were soaked in a liquid.

Pulling out one of the slimy leaves in the pot, he pressed it down over a bite with a green glowing hand.

“I think that you will not be returning to Kiri or Kusa from now on. I do know that they let Kiri ‘borrow’ you but unless they want to go against Naruto-kun, they’ll behave. Especially once you are taken to Uzushio and Kusa owes the village quite a bit for breaking their treaty. They won’t have a leg to stand on when it comes to you,” Haku stated.

He looked at the single jounin from Kusa with an icy glare, the man snapping his mouth shut when the jounin from Oto walked around him. The long haired man simply raised an eyebrow before joining Haku and Karin.

“Ah, Kurinaga-san, a pleasure to meet you face to face. I’ve heard much about you from a mutual friend,” Haku greeted.

“Yuki-san,” Orochimaru greeted, having decided to wear his Kurinaga disguise.

While still pale like most of his family with his eerie gold eyes, he didn’t have the markings that came from his personal chakra techniques. The Kurinaga Clan, which had been the main clan for his family, had a strained relationship with Konoha considering how they had treated his family and himself. So he was happy to let them think that instead of joining Konoha, they had joined the new village Otogakure.

“Who is this?”

“Ah, this is Uzumaki Karin. Or at least from what I can tell with her chakra and hair color,” Haku stated as he pulled off the now dry leaf. He left behind a perfectly healed bit of skin. He pulled out a new leaf after disposing of the old one and put it on the next bite. “And one who was obviously never taught on how to heal the bites of her bloodline.”

“Mother died before she was able to teach me anything about our bloodlines,” Karin admitted softly. “They used her until she was a husk, telling her that she should be grateful they allowed her in the village.” She winced. “She killed herself when she found out that one of the people who used her sexually had left her pregnant. I think that if I hadn’t been out for our academy tests that day, she would have killed me too.”

Haku sighed. “Her thought process was most likely that she would have done it to help save you from her fate,” he said. He shook his head. “We have discovered that many of your clan were placed into bad situations after Uzu’s fall, and that they did as your mother did after a time. Or they have hidden themselves away so that others can not use them as they wish to.”

Karin nodded, blinking up at him. “Who was it that told that chunin what to do with me?” she asked.

“His name is Naruto and he is indeed an Uzumaki. To be precise, he’s the head of the Uzumaki clan and the Prince of Uzu through his mother,” Haku told her, smiling. “He’s working on rebuilding Uzu for those who do not want to be a part of Konoha for any reason. Mostly as a safe place for those who have lost their homes once upon a time because of the attack. He’s a dual citizen due to his mother so in his mind the least he could do is rebuild your home,” he told her.

Karin smiled at the thought of a space that was safe for her and those who were like her. “Do you know who will be allowed to join the village?” she asked.

“Not quite yet. He’s still in the rebuilding phase. Once he knows how the rebuilding is going after the exams, he will then figure out when he’s going to open the village to everyone. He wants to make sure that they have a roof over their head and food,” Haku explained.

Karin nibbled at her bottom lip as she thought, Haku removing the leaf. She stepped closer. “I know of a few Uzu citizens who wander the countries. I know that they don’t come near Kusa nor Kiri but they are from Uzu. They wander as merchants and dye their hair since most of Uzu’s citizens had distinct hair color. If I can get a letter to them, I’m sure they would be happy to help rebuild. Some of them are good with growing things on the road and know how to grow things off too. It would be a small group. Only about two dozen at most,” she said softly.

Haku smiled, nodding before looking to Orochimaru. “I will send them a message. They come by Oto often to trade for some of the rarer plants that we grown there that are used in medicines and the rice that we grow too,” he told them quietly. He patted Karin on the head. “Let Haku-san take care of you for the moment though. Should your now ex-jounin sensei try to get to you, you tell one of us right away,” he instructed. He slipped a tracking tag onto her.

She nodded in agreement. Haku then lead her out of the main area and towards the hotel where her and her team were staying to allow her time to pack. “Is there anything that we need to send someone to gather for you in the village?” he asked once they had arrived at their hotel room.

She shook her head as she found her personal bag, flipping it inside out to go through everything. She showed him the seals that she had sewed into the inside of it with some thread the same color as the bag fabric. “I keep everything sealed because I didn’ know if I should ever trust my teammates and sensei when I first started,” she told him. She stroked a finger over a seal and smiled. “They hold everything that me and mom had from Uzu that she was able to save with her mother and father. There’s a lot of scrolls actually. Some journals too.”

Haku smiled, smoothing her hair down. “You should stand proud of your heritage. You were very strong being able to survive the trials that you have been forced into by those who were greedy,” he said softly. He opened a mirror portal between his room and hers. “You’ll be staying with me. I can promise that I do not like females, especially fairly young girls,” he said.

She smiled at him and nodded, going through every single piece of her clothing and weaponry before repacking everything. She found two tracking tags on her clothes that she knew she hadn’t added and tore them up before closing her bag up.

As soon as she was done, Karin went digging through her teammates and sensei’s bag as Haku put her bag through the portal. She found more of her things that she had left loose in their bags, including her herb mixes that she used to heal what she could and her chakra restoration drinks.

She tucked them into a smaller bag before finding an unused exploding tag that would take it’s time to go boom and leave paint everywhere. They had used it before on the few sabotaging missions they had done and were very good at what they were set up to do.

When they were used, they were placed in a hidden spot that would allow the paint to get everywhere and fed chakra when the person left. The amount of chakra placed into the tag would set the timer portion of the seal. A fairly small amount of chakra would let it go close to a week, which in her mind was more then long enough for her ex-team to return to the hotel and find their stuff ruined. It would force them to spend emergency money after she grabbed their loose cash in repayment for all that they had stolen from her.

Haku chuckled and allowed her to walk through the mirrors, closing them behind him. While she went to take a very welcomed hot shower, he wrote to Mei about what he had learned and what had happened, then to Zabuza, who was back in Uzu.

58

After a night under the tree, taking turns with watch, the two teams arrived right on time as planned. The two teams unsealed their scrolls together and greeted Iruka and Asuma.

“Welcome to the end of the test! You six are the second and third teams to arrive,” Iruka chirped. Asuma chuckled next to him. He had one hand tucked into his pocket, the other hand playing with a cigarette as Iruka held his clipboard.

“You will be sharing a suite with your teams and a bathroom. There’s a cafe that is open twenty-four/seven, but the main hot meals that are made are at set times. Breakfast is between six and ten, lunch is twelve-thirty to two and dinner is five to seven. Otherwise prepackaged stuff will be offered along with snacks from the bakery in the cafe. Rice will always be ready to eat along with miso soup and some kind of other soup, hot water, cold water and other offered drinks,” Asuma stated.

“The cafe is found on the first floor. Training rooms are found on the second. Please do not do anything heavy that will damage them. If you have to do heavy training, you can find an outside section that will be considered a part of the tower. But for now, we’re suggesting that you take the next few days to relax and rest,” Iruka told them. He pulled out two rings with three keys each on the rings. “These are for your rooms. You’re located on the third floor. As Asuma said, you’re in a full suite with bathrooms. Beyond the sleeping areas, there are two full bathrooms, a small refrigerator and a microwave.”

Naruto took Team Seven’s ring while Shikamaru took Team Ten’s. “Team Gai and Eight are heading our way soon. They just had to do something real fast,” he warned the two senseis. Iruka nodded his head and patted his shoulder.

“I’ll get their things ready,” Iruka said. Naruto beamed before the two groups headed up the stairs and out of the greeting room. Naruto could feel the Suna team two floors up but he ignored them for the moment as he unlocked their door. He handed the other two their keys.

“I do not know about you, but I’m really wanting a hot shower and proper clothes,” Naruto grumped. He found that there was a map of the tower next to the microwave with a ‘you are here’ dot. There was also a small sink so they could wash their dishes, a trashcan, and supplied dishes for them. He took in the common room next. It had a giant couch, two recliners and a window that looked thick to protect them from the creatures outside.

“That does sound really good,” Sakura hummed. She opened one door and disappeared into the bathrooms. Naruto shrugged, smiled at Sasuke and went to the second bathroom.

With the door closed and locked, he allowed his smile to drop and felt for Kabuto in the Tower. He knew that the other man would more then make it in time for some rest, but Naruto was hoping to have some time alone with him. Explore their relationship a little bit and maybe plan on what to do next.

Clicking his tongue to himself after he didn’t find him, Naruto started to pull out everything that he was carrying in various ways. All of his scrolls were placed into a basket that wouldn’t allow water to get to them. It looked like it was built so that he could take it into his shower if needed.

He took a moment and unsealed his hygiene products and hung the rather large bag on the hook that was in the shower. He had noted that there was a laundry room where they were free to wash their clothes for free while they waited with offered yukutas, shirts and pants just in case they needed them.

He would most likely steal all of their clothes that they had worn in the last twenty-four hours as an excuse to not be in the same room as them for most of the day.

Naruto unwound his hair after dropping his clothes into a hamper and tucked the senbon in his hair into the basket before he placed a new set of clothes with weapon pouches on the hook in the shower area, just out of the water spray. He turned on the shower and was pleasantly surprised by the warmth and pressure of the water, stepping under.

He took his time and washed his hair before he pulled it up and under a shower cap with some conditioner on it. He flicked the water off so that he could scrub his body. Naruto worked slowly, making sure that every inch of himself was cleaned and smelling fresher then he had that morning.

With a rinse of hair and body, Naruto wrapped his hair up and out of the way before drying off with one of the offered towels. He pulled on his clothes once he was dry. It wasn’t quite heavy duty as his normal mission clothes but not as light weight as his at home clothes. They were just enough to keep him safe during the next few days. He tucked his scrolls and weaponry away before he left the bathroom, hair still wrapped up in the towel.

“If you have any dirty clothes, hand ‘em over! I’m taking advantage of the laundry room!” he called out. He claimed one of the sleeping rooms, which just had locking drawers and a double bed with a window. He only placed a few thing inside the drawer before pulling his hair free. Hanging the towel on the door to dry, he worked to brush his hair out.

Sakura sighed as she came in with a small laundry bag in hand, clothes in it and smiling. “Thanks, Naruto. I know it’s only been a couple of days so far, but still,” she huffed.

Naruto nodded. “I know what you mean. That lovely little dip in all of that algae really did a number on us and our clothes,” he said.

He shuddered at the reminder of that particular point in their trip. A creature had gotten an ambush on them and they had tumbled into an algae filled river which had been hard enough to get out of their hair and off their skin. They had gotten it mostly off of their bodies, but the clothes needed a good, long soak.

Preferably long enough for the two to fuck their happy little brains out and ignore the fact that Naruto would probably see Kabuto when he arrived. Who he could feel just barely on the edges of his perception.

“I need to speak with Kakashi about working some more on my sensor abilities,” he mused. He took Sasuke’s clothes and found that they were all rather stiff from the muck. “I’ll be back in a few hours with this. You guys want me to grab any kind of food when I come back?” he asked.

“Just something for the night? And maybe some snacks?” Sakura suggested. Naruto nodded nad took one of his smaller scrolls with him. He had packed away some books, mostly fiction, just in case they had down time. He could entertain himself while doing their laundry and waiting for Kabuto to arrive at the Tower.

Leaving the two behind in the suite, Naruto headed down to the first floor, finding one of the Suna genin doing her own laundry. By the looks of it, she was working on removing some blood stains from her kimono fighting dress. He hummed, placed his bag and scroll down before he dug around in the offered laundry supplies.

“Here. You need to spot treat the blood. Let it sit for five, soak with ten with this in the water, and then wash as normal,” he said, handing her a spray bottle with water in it and a smaller bottle with a thick liquid. She took both and blinked before she nodded.

“Thanks,” she said. Naruto shrugged one shoulder and went to one of the bigger washers, glad that it was a top loader as he filled it with hot water.

“It’s not a hardship to help,” he said. He dropped the clothes into the washer with some pre-wash, setting the washer to the right setting. “You want anything while I go grab some snacks for while I’m waiting?” he asked.

“Nah. I’m good.” She paused. “Thanks though. Temari of Suna.”

“Uzumaki Naruto. A pleasure,” Naruto drawled. Temari stared at him as he turned around as the washer started doing it’s thing. He found the cafe, picked up a few bottles of his favorite flavored coffee, a few snack items, and some of the finishing lunch. He picked up some things that Temari might enjoy, the food coming from Suna, and carried it all back in a bag.

When he arrived at the laundry room, Naruto found her sitting on one of the chairs, legs crossed and reading a book.

He simply put what he had grabbed her down near her, catching the small smile from her before he took his own seat. Naruto worked on the lunch that he had grabbed, having gone for a pork and beef cheeseburger with some fries that had melted cheese dip. As he ate, he read about the continued adventures of Kuri and his mate, Mars, the mafia Don who had just saved him from being a slave.

He rather like the series that he knew was done by Jiraiya under a second hidden name.

59

As soon as Kabuto had dropped his teammates off and taken his own shower in their rooms, he went hunting for Naruto. He was able to easily find him in the laundry room with another genin from Suna, waiting for their clothes. He ignored her, not caring about her watching and grabbed the staring Naruto, pulling him up into his arms. He turned and set him onto the washing machine before stepping between his legs and hugging the other male close to him.

He sighed softly as he buried his nose into Naruto’s neck, surrounded by the sweet and spicy scent of his almost lover, finally relaxing. He hadn’t shown it but he had been worried about leaving Naruto with his teammates. From the way that Naruto chuckled softly, it told him that the other male could tell what was going on in his head.

“All good?” the young woman asked.

“It’s fine, Temari-san. This is Kabuto, a friend of mine and someone who is most likely going to be leaving with me when I leave Konoha,” Naruto replied. He smiled softly around Kabuto’s head and ran his fingers through silver hair. “Are you okay?”

“I was on edge the entire time for some reason,” Kabuto admitted, frowning softly to himself. He pulled back to stare at Naruto, smoothing a hand over his cheeks. He smiled when Naruto purred and leaned into the touch. “I didn’t want to leave you with them.”

Naruto smiled softly and nodded. “They’re really not the best teammates but soon we will not have to deal with them, I promise you,” he said softly. “We will deal with the rest of this week. We will get through the training month focusing on our individual training. We will work on gaining our Chunin rank since this round is going to be judged by a multi-village court instead of those in the village. And then we’ll leave.”

“Uzumaki-san…that offer…” Temari started, hesitantly.

“I can have Jiraiya come to visit you and your siblings tomorrow here, in the tower. He has permission from the Daiymo’s of both lands already and he’ll be able to lay down a proper seal, removing that damn monk from the seal. Get him away from Shukaku and Gaara, allowing both of them time to heal. I have a bad feeling that all of his issues are because the Monk went insane with the taste of power from what you’ve told me,” Naruto mused.

“How you learned about seals like this I will never quite figure out,” Temari stated, shaking her head.

Naruto hummed. “Mito-sama wrote about what happened around the time that the bijuu’s were sealed and why it happened. It was, despite what people seem to think nowadays, not to stop them from attacking humans. But rather to stop the humans from attacking them. They were supposed to be guardians and that was why they were given to people from various villages. I’m hoping in the end that I will be able to remind people about how they’re supposed to truly treat their jinchurikis.”

“And if we want to leave Suna?” she asked.

“We would very happily welcome you and yours,” Naruto told her. “You would have to speak with your daimyo before hand, but you would be welcomed.”

Temari breathed out before smiling and nodding. She stood up with her washer/dryer dinging at her, finished with her clothes. “Thank you for the help, Uzumaki-san. I need to speak with my siblings about things. And thank you for the food.”

“Of course. Ah, dinner should be starting soon if you want to stop by and get something for your team without having to deal with them in the cafe,” Naruto told her. Temari nodded and left them with her clothes in a bag along with what she still had from her snacks earlier.

As soon as Temari had left and closed the door behind her, Kabuto turned to Naruto and decided to indulge in the urge he had ignored with her there. He tipped Naruto’s face towards his and kissed him. Naruto groaned softly and melted into him, pressing into the other’s body, eyes fluttering shut. It slowly grew heated, Kabuto’s hands sliding up Naruto’s top to find the soft, bare skin just above the waist of his pants. Kabuto growled softly and squeezed the thigh under his other hand.

They broke apart slowly when Naruto felt his teammates head towards them. He frowned before a smirk spread over his lips. He created a clone and looked at it. “Go up and grab everything that is mine from the suite of rooms for me, would you? Then go and warn Iruka-san in the main office at the top of the tower that I’ll be shifting rooms. And will most likely be filling out forms to change teams could you?” he asked.

His clone smirked and saluted, taking the key with a nod. “Not a problem, boss,” he said before he slipped out of the laundry room to head up to the rooms.

Kabuto chuckled and buried his face into Naruto’s neck once more, kissing at the skin before he nipped just under his chin. He got a moan, not removing his hand from under Naruto’s clothes. Instead shifting the other hand down to grasp his partner’s ass and haul him closer, pulling another moan from him.

They ignored the sound of the door and the low growl of anger from the doorway as Sakura and Sasuke found them making out.

“The fuck is going on in here?” Sasuke yelled. His eyes were red with his Sharingan swirling.

Kabuto slowly pulled away from the mark that he had been working on laying into tanned skin and blinked at Sasuke very slowly. He raised an eyebrow. “I would think that it’s fairly recognizable since I can see the same kind of marks on Sakura’s throat from here. She really didn’t heal them quite as well as she thought she did,” he drawled. He licked his lips before smirking.

Naruto hummed, eyeing them with his eyes half lidded as he frowned. “Wow. I knew that you sucked at certain healing techniques but I didn’t really think that you were that bad.” He pursed his lips. “What? You didn’t think that you would be able to keep the fact that you were fucking around behind my back hidden forever did you? I’ve known for the last week,” he admitted. “And I did have my suspicions for longer then that, but was in denial. Kabuto and Nissa though, they both caught you guys, and then told me. Gave me hard proof and everything. You also both really need to learn not to fuck on missions. That’ll get you killed, but this time, just got you caught.”

Sakura’s skin lost color at the realization that their mission from Hiruzen was failing and they hadn’t even realized it. Naruto had easily found out about the fact that they were together. And he probably knew that they were using him in a way to keep him in the village on the Hokage’s orders.

With the way that he was looking and talking, he had most likely made his decision just by their failure.

It was driven home by the way that he was allowing Kabuto to obviously touch him in such a sexual way said that he had also moved on emotionally. And with the one that they had feared him getting with in the first place.

Kabuto was also a dual citizen. Anyone who had been DNA tested and connected to Uzu had dual citizenship.

Kabuto had had to do his bloodline work as part of his own medic training eight years ago and had a connection to his clan. The idea that Naruto would get with Kabuto had been a big fear.

But here they were, making out and quite obviously closer then before.

“Not to mention,” Naruto continued, breaking into their thoughts, “that you have probably been spending the last couple of hours fucking away in our rooms.” He smiled sweetly. “My clone is actually up there right now. If you haven’t bothered to change your sheets, he’ll be taking pictures of them right now and gathering up my shit. I can’t really trust you after all. And from here on out? We’re going to be judged individually and not as a team. I will be changing teams by the by. I don’t think that I could trust either of you to have my back in the field. Can you now go away please? I’ll make sure your clothes are delivered later with my key. I need to find a different room to stay in.”

Sakura, having a moment of clarity, knowing that they would be on the losing end if things turned physical, grabbed the snarling Sasuke by his arm and yanked him away, muttering something about talking to someone. They walked away from the laundry room. Naruto sighed and slumped into Kabuto as his washer/dryer beeped under them.

“How about we check on the clothes, make sure they’re actually clean, and then go grab some dinner to eat in my suite of rooms? My team likes you,” Kabuto suggested. Naruto smiled, nodding.

“That would probably be a good idea since there is nowhere else to put Naruto right now, Kabuto-san,” Iruka said from the doorway. Kabuto stepped away, removing his hand, and allowed Naruto to hop down from the washer. Naruto smiled and they went through the clothes as he and Iruka talked about the needed paperwork to change teams and who to send it to, to get free of Team Seven.

Naruto had a gut feeling that Sasuke and Sakura would be moved from Team Seven and new people would be placed on it if he didn’t end up a chunin. Naruto would most likely be staying with Kakashi as a two man team since the man had stated that once he could, he wanted to join them on moving away from the village.

60

“I’m very sorry that I’m having to invade your room like this,” Naruto said as he and Kabuto walked into the room with the bags of food that they had grabbed for dinner. Kabuto closed the door behind them. Misumi looked up from where he had been heating water on a hot plate for the soup packets that they had grabbed along with everything else.

“Do not worry about it, Naruto-san. Kabuto warned us when we were coming here that he might be bringing you up anyway. Your clone brought your things when Iruka-san asked us if you could stay here. You have your key to the room?” he asked. Naruto held up his key. “Wonderful. There is a bed over there behind the curtains for you if you do not wish to sleep with Kabuto at night. Which we kind of doubt but you know.”

Naruto blushed but laid out the food on the small counter for cooking things. He put out the packets of miso soup, sealed tofu packs, ramen kits, and curry bentos that Kabuto had chosen for all of them. Along with a bunch of the sides for them to share.

Yoroi took the sides and removed the outer package, carefully arranging them in the rather large microwave. He set them to heat while he looked for the tray to carry it to the table. As he did that, Naruto put the ramen kits together, using the boiling hot water to make them and the soup, placing plates on top of the bowls as they heated.

The bentos went in the microwave next while Yoroi and Misumi put the sides onto the table, Kabuto and Naruto adding the ramen and miso with tofu onto the tables. They then laid out the bentos and took their seat, starting to eat food.

“How did your teammates take the fact that you will be changing teams if you do not somehow become chunin?” Yoroi asked after a few moments of eating, having set aside his face veil. Naruto snorted.

“They both know just how much they fucked up, and that their mission is a major loss. Hiruzen will know that he will not be able to keep me in the village because of his own actions once he’s told about this,” he said. Naruto picked up a bit of deep fried vegetable and dipped it into a mix of hot oil and soy sauce that had his companions staring at him. Only Misumi had tried it and found that it was a pretty good mix with tempura vegetables.

“Are you planning on opening Uzu to others?” Misumi asked.

“I’m thinking about doing that. First will be those who were displaced by the village being attacked bad destroyed so they can set up again. Then I’ll open it to those who can offer some kind of skill that we would need then, yeah. We need people who can grow or raise food, animal and plant. Who can hunt, fish, build. Things that will keep a village going. Zabuza and Haku have been working to set things up for when I get there. Haku has taken to building up small gardens for families on the main island. Or rather, taming the original gardens that had been left behind. We found that the garden beds on the main island were raised and the soil is a mix of animal manure and anything that will break down into nutrients for the soil,” he told them. “I’m hoping that within the first six months of me being there, we’re able to start to look for people outside of the clans that originated from Uzu. But that’s going to take time and Uzu isn’t just one big island. Despite what others think.”

“From what Naruto saw, it’s actually quite large. It’s three islands and a huge chunk of land as the main island. The main island holds the main city. Then one island was the orchards for the fruits and bushes. And the other island, which matches the main island in size, was set aside for the rotating farms that grew the food seeing as it had the most fresh water and best way to filter the water,” Kabuto said. “I was lucky enough to see the layout map in the warehouse. The Fire Daimyo of the time made it so that as long as there is a living clan member from Uzu, the land can’t be touched or claimed. Which really pisses off a lot of the Konoha council.”

“I wouldn’t doubt it,” Yoroi said. He shook his head. “It sounds like a good bit of useable land.”

“They couldn’t get their hands on it anyway, no matter what they want,” Misumi stated, smirking at them. “I’ve heard about the still standing seals that surround that island. That is how they know for a fact that there are still members of the village that still live.”

“Yep,” Naruto hummed. He finished his ramen and sighed. “I’m going to have to find out where they get these ramen kits I think. Or how they make them so I can make them myself. They’re fairly tasty.”

“That ramen stand that you go to makes them,” Kabuto stated. Naruto beamed. “They are a fairly good price if you’re willing to provide your own meats and vegetables. They provide the noodles, broth, sauce and a few other things at the base. If you want a full kit, they’re about the same price as a normal bowl,” he said. “I bought a few of the base bowls for those days that I don’t really want to deal with more then pulling something out and sticking it in a pot to heat with water,” he said.

“I wondered why you had had ramen for us that one night,” Naruto snorted. Kabuto smirked and lent over to press a kiss to his neck, making the other male blush.

Misumi groaned. “Finally! I don’t have to listen to this idiot mourning about not wanting to ruin your friendship with his feelings,” he huffed. He stood and collected the dishes as Naruto went even redder.

Yoroi chuckled. “He has been pining for close to eight months since he figured out his own feelings for you,” he said. Naruto smiled softly over at Kabuto. “We would have thought that you two would get together sooner then this, but I suppose that Uchiha and his bitch got to you first.”

“You would be guessing right,” Naruto hummed. He leant into Kabuto as he watched the other two genin clean things up. They worked together smoothly, falling into a good rhythm. “So…how long have they been together?” he asked.

“About four years now. They’re planning on having a small ceremony once they become chunin. Since they’re orphans, they’ll start their own clan.”

“I suggest that they go for their field promotion through the Daimyo if nothing else,” Naruto suggested. “Me and Kabuto might be forced to do that if Hiruzen decides to be a bitch about things.”

“We will keep that in mind, yes,” Yoroi promised. He nodded his head. He dried his hands and looked to the other two. “Are there any requests for dessert, drinks, snacks or food for tomorrow?” he asked.

“Can you pick up some of those sausages on those weird little biscuit things? The thick patty ones with cheese and no eggs. I don’t do well with eggs early in the morning,” Naruto requested. Yoroi nodded. “And something cinnamon sugary for later tonight? Maybe some of the tea packs and iced coffee?”

“I can do that,” Misumi hummed. He looked to Kabuto. “The normal for you?” he asked. Kabuto nodded his head. “Then we’ll go grab stuff while Naruto goes through things and puts it away. You two will be alone for an hour.”

Naruto blushed, burying his face into Kabuto’s shoulder, getting a chuckle from the other man. The two left with a wave over their shoulders, shutting the door behind them. Once they were gone, he was quick to pull Naruto up to show him where his room was, opening the door and tugging him inside. Naruto’s things were tucked into a basket out of the way but they ignored it for the moment.

Kabuto pushed Naruto up against the door and swooped down to kiss him, intent on continuing what they had been doing in the laundry room, maybe more.

The moan and the way Naruto responded to the kiss was very promising.

 

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