Chapter 2: Rosette no Konoha

Graduation & Revelations

It was the day, Naruto had been waiting for since he was five, his Genin Graduation Exam. He woke up that day, the Monday after he, Jiji, and Aunt Yugao finally, completed the study into his Kidoton. Naruto woke up early and completed his morning hygiene rituals, before heading into the kitchen to fix his breakfast. He took his time eating today, he just wanted to relax and have faith in his training. He had been through the exam before of course, and knew what to expect, the steps of the exam would not change and if he tensed-up, he might choke.

So, Naruto made himself pay attention to the steps he took to make his food, watched his steps as he sat at the table, cherished every bite of his meal, and made sure to chew thoroughly before swallowing. Naruto kept conscious of all his movements, something he learned from monks that came through Konoha, every once in a while, to help keep his mind off things he did not want to think about.

Naruto checked his EM-Field to make sure it was under his control, and made sure his electrons, were only putting out their natural touch repulsion charge. Which had not been a problem for a whole month, he could now move anything with his photokinetics, well anything five-times his body mass, or lower, and had such fine control over it too. Naruto did two things at night before he went to bed, one was obvious; he used his photokinetics to practice lifting a set of weights, not just up and down, but he had them floating in orbit around his head; the other thing, would be considered strange, if anybody ever saw it happening, Naruto crocheted. It was perfect for dexterity training, and it was very good for hand and eye coordination, which was why he took it up as a hobby, when he was ten. He would not say he was good at it, because only his Aunt knew he did it, but he would say he is advanced for somebody with only two years of experience at it. When he began training to control his photokinetics, he decided that crocheting would help him practice fine motor control, so once he got control over it, he decided to start practicing basic knitting again, and it didn't take him long to get his photokinetic dexterity, to be equal to his current skill level with yarn. His physical person would practice doing one project, while his pk would practice another project, and holding the yarn for both of them, which allowed him to practice multitasking too. Content that his Light release was under his control, he had finished breakfast, and continued to go about his normal routine.

Genin Graduation Exam

The Art of Deception

Naruto sat in his class, waiting to leave to go outside, and conduct the practical portion of the Genin Graduation Exam. They had just completed the Academics Section of the Exam, which was equivalent to any average, secondary school, education, attended by civilians in other parts of Konoha. Konoha shinobi and kunoichi, would never be accused of ignorance, that's for sure. Naruto knows he aced this thing, so that was not his concern, now that he would become a Genin for sure, he began to implement his plan for the humility of the Uchiha.

Naruto would do nothing to the Uchiha, he would not have to, he would simply stop holding back. Naruto knew the class standings, and except for the Nara; performing exactly enough to remain in the middle; all of the class was performing precisely within their talents. He was tied for second, with Sakura Haruno, in class average, all of which counted for nothing. In the Genin Exam, each student was given a clean slate, and the rankings would be determined without worrying about the past. None of the students besides him, a twice veteran of the exam, knew that, and it was only by vowing not to inform the other candidates, not even Kiba, that allowed him to be able to take the class again, and again. The brass wanted the students to feel the pinch of the past, it added another unknown test to the Exam, a stress-test. They wanted to see how the prospective ninja, could handle the mild tension of the Genin test, if they could not handle stress as light as this, they should never be ninja.

Finally, the written exam ended, and the prospective genin stood up and walked out to the Confidence Course, it was a separate building set-up by the wife of the Shodaime, Mito Uzumaki, using fuinjutsu. This was where the throwing ability of each student would be assessed. Yet, instead of a range of static targets at varying degrees of distance, the students had to make their throws while moving through an obstacle course, and they made their throws against human analogues, with the vital targets clearly marked. Not only that, but each student was also, only allowed ten shuriken, and ten kunai, and hitting a vital target was worth two-points, hitting adjacent to the vital targets was worth a single-point, just hitting the dummy was worth half-a-point, not hitting it, zero. A perfect score was 40 points in five minutes, and you had to get a minimum of 80% just to pass, for every minute under five, four points was added to your score, and for every minute over, four was subtracted. The Course was mutable, to prevent people from telling others the Course layout, it changed with every person. It was totally random, the thrower just stepped up to the entrance of the Course, said his or her name, and the seal-work devised a scenario, meant to test that person. Naruto had taken the Course, twice already, and it had been different both times he took it.

The class went through in alphabetical order, so far, most of the class had completed the course, and – almost – everybody, was staying true to form. What has become clear to Naruto, is he was not the only one who has been hiding their true potential. Sakura it seemed had hidden her true talents, like Naruto and was even able to beat out Sasuke with her performance, although Hinata still had the highest score of the class so far, a 48. Another odd thing about Sakura, she had been much nicer to Naruto today than normal, even greeting him back, when he told her good morning, and when he complimented on her throwing prowess, she blushed and demurred before thanking him.

"Uzumaki Naruto," Iruka said in his monotone voice, "please proceed," cutting into the blonde's thoughts.

Naruto nodded, and went to stand in front of the entrance, and spoke out loud, "Uzumaki Naruto, 13, requesting entrance." There was a hiss as the door slid open to reveal a room, fairly large, but sectioned along the walls, ceiling, and floor, in a black-and-yellow grid-like pattern. Naruto stepped inside, and the door closed behind him, it was dark for a moment, then lights flickered on and an NOUT (Ninja Operations in Urban Terrain) setting appeared before him. This looked very much like Keishi-Toshi, the capital city of Hi no Kuni, with modern and contemporary architectural concepts, mixed with more traditional buildings. Hm, this is certainly different, he mused, the first time I did this it gave me a traditional forest setting, the time after that I was in a feudal lord's castle. This will definitely give me a challenge.

Naruto began walking cautiously, but kept to one side of the street, to avoid being spotted. His fox senses and his now normal vision, without the Eye of Luminance, were at peak awareness, then on the other side of the street a couple of dummies popped out through a door, and before they had settled into position two of his shuriken had embedded themselves into the necks of both. Naruto took off in a dash as he felt one begin to move with the shifting of the air currents, it came from a house to Naruto's right side, he let fly before it had even appeared, and his kunai was buried in its chest in an instant. A window opened on an upper-floor of the building across the street from the Uzumaki boy, and he sent another kunai into its throat, with enough force, that it pierced through the throat and into the spinal column. The throat was a secondary target, and would have gotten Naruto a single point, if it had not pierced so deep that it transected the spinal column from the front. Another dummy popped up right in front of Naruto, about twenty-yards, and Naruto sent a star flying into its chest, it found its way into the chest cavity, piercing the heart and lungs – if it had been a living, breathing person before, it would have become a hunk of meat now.

Outside the building, the other students watch Naruto move in awe, even the teachers despite hating him, could not begrudge the Demon-brat its skill, they have only seen a few Chunin move as efficiently, and decisively as it. Sasuke was sweating, he knew that he would not have gained the Rookie-of-the-Year, or even second place after Sakura's performance, he could not believe he had miscalculated so badly with his classmates. Sakura-san had certainly never shown much skill in the past, but had apparently been hiding her skill, beneath the mask of a fan-girl. Naruto had never really hidden his skills, he displayed his ninjutsu prowess quite often, but always lost to him in taijutsu, and throwing. That is when it hit him, it's been staring at me this whole time, he was holding back with the things he lost to me in, then looking at the monitor as the blonde made his final throw and ended his session with a score of 48.15. If this is what he can do in throwing, what about the Taijutsu Section, Sasuke's self-assurance, already forming cracks because of Sakura's performance, now begins to crumble, as he watched the other genin hopeful, exit the Confidence Course?

Humility Among the Flowers

Sakura watched from the kunoichi ring, as Inuzuka Kiba, lost to Uchiha Sasuke, it was the semi-finals of the Taijutsu, Gender Specific, Tournament of the Genin Graduation Exam. The Genin Exam was the only time in ninja life, where boys and girls were segregated, kunoichi fight kunoichi, shinobi fight shinobi, and that was because most of the boys were still under the notion that men are not supposed to hit women. That way of thinking was usually knocked out of them, most of the time by their very own female teammates. Once a female dons her headband with forehead protector, she becomes more than a woman, she becomes a kunoichi, a fellow warrior as capable of doling out death as any warrior, most shinobi learn that lesson eventually. Hopefully, they did not learn it too late, because more than one enemy kunoichi has used that reticence to kill, said male.

Kiba was finally knocked out cold, but it had not been a one-sided victory, the scratch down the left cheek, the split lip, two already blackening eyes, one partially closed, gave mute testimony that Sasuke's victory was hard won. If that was not enough, the Uchiha prince was clutching at his ribs, and seemed to list to the left, as he made his way to the medic tent, to receive treatment for his injuries.

Sakura standing in the kunoichi ring, turned her attention back to her opponent, she was going to place second in the kunoichi Genin Exam, Sakura was confident in her martial arts power, her unofficial sensei, said she was as good as any kunoichi, at low Chunin levels. Sakura was confident in her fighting skills, but she was not blind, she knew herself, and knew she was not suited for prolonged fights using taijutsu only. She was confident, but she knew that one other kunoichi in her class, was in a class by herself in taijutsu, and that was Hinata Hyūga. Sakura has watched the girl practice enough times to see that for herself, and despite the heiress's soft-spoken, gentle nature, when it came to her training, she was just as serious as any other kunoichi in combat.

"Haruno-san," Iruka called, "Hyūga-san," the two combatants, stepped onto the arena, "please, bow to your instructor," they complied by bowing to him, "face each other, and bow." While Sakura was aware of her limits, that did not mean she would not strive to push those limits, beyond all boundaries. When Sakura raised her jade-green eyes, there was steel behind them, "Ready," Umino rasped, and Sakura began swaying, almost bonelessly, her body from her ankles to her neck, undulated, sensually. While her body moved, her head remained rock-still, and her feet remained rooted as if she were a tree, with her limbs billowing in the wind. Sakura's footwork was deceptive, because the way her body shifted, made her appear to be about to move in one direction, while her feet moved it in an entirely different direction.

Hinata settled into the Jūken fist's utility stance, side on to the opponent, one palm straight out, fingers splayed, the other at an off angle to the first, slightly bent, hand configured into a crane's beak pointing to the ground. The lower body aligned with torso, front knee bent, until only the toes of the front foot, bear any weight, the back leg takes most of the weight, and the back foot is flush on the floor, directly behind the front foot, back foot is at an angle. Both Kunoichi nodded their readiness to begin, and Iruka, chopped his hand vertically through the air between them, and bellowed, "HAJIME," then stepped out of the way!

Immediately they began circling around the arena, never taking their eyes off each other, and keeping their defenses up like a fort. Sakura slowly, incrementally reduces her circling, and the gap between them shrinks. Sakura goes into more orbiting, when her deceptive footwork and disorienting body movement, come in handy, as she appears to go on circling, she performs a reverse spin, which brings her into alignment with Hinata's flank. Sakura throws a phoenix eye fist, right into the Hyūga's kidney. If Hinata was fooled by the deception, she did not show it, as she immediately moved the target of the attack away from the punch, and her arm swept down to parry Sakura's natural weapon.

Hinata continued her motion, bringing her other arm in for a palm-strike at the rosette's (pink hair) sternum. Sakura's body shifted out of the way, as if her body were truly without bones, or at least not the human skeletal frame, as the arm which was parried by the violette (purple hair), rose up, and in a loose overhand grab at the heiress's wrist, trapped her arm, and delivered a piercing nerve strike to the funny-bone, numbing the Hyūga's forearm. Hinata pushed herself away from her rosette classmate, to get some distance, and studied her opponent.

These kunoichi had two things in common, they were both on the outs with their respective, clan and parents. Hinata because of her stubborn refusal to conform to the Hyūga clan nindō. Hinata was not going to allow herself to be bound by Hyūga traditions, she did not practice the Jūken, the way the clan elders decided it should be practiced, she practiced a different style, called the Jūhou, which was more suited to her body type. The Elders did not really have a problem with that, however, it was a legitimate sister-style to the Jūken, and since it was taught to her by her mother, they felt it still reflected the true spirit of the Hyūga clan. What they took exception to is her insistence on experimentation, using other chakra besides the generic non-elemental variety that every other honorable Hyūga uses. She used her elemental Fire chakra in her attacks, which to their befuddlement, worked better than the baseline chakra. That however was just their issues regarding fighting-style and was just their way of sniping at her, it was her attitude in public they had the real issues with, in their estimation walking around with a stick up their arse (Hinata's words not theirs), was how a true Hyūga was supposed to act. Hyūga in their estimation, were better than everybody else, and everybody should be aware of it. Hinata refused to act that way, so in their opinion she was a disgrace to the clan.

Sakura, when she told her parents she wanted to be a kunoichi, saw them look upon her with disgust. It was like, she had told them she wanted to work in a brothel when she grew up. The traditional attitude about kunoichi, was that they could only use their sex to be effective, and despite the rise of modern kunoichi like, Tsunade of the Sanin, their Hokage and the likes of Kushina Uzumaki, the traditional view of kunoichi was still in the minds of most civilians, just a step above a prostitute. There was nothing they could do to dissuade Sakura from the path she chose, they let her start at the Academy, and her mom, at least, thought it would be a good opportunity for their family, to get her married into a good ninja clan. Sakura was excited on her first day of school, but her parents seemed to have blinders on about what a kunoichi did as a ninja. They did not allow her to train her taijutsu or throwing abilities at home, saying a good girl does not get into fights. They told her that if she ever found herself in such dire situations, to run away, or just wait to be rescued by her male ninja teammates. So, Sakura took to sneaking out at night to practice, which when she was ten, allowed her to meet her unofficial sensei, the one who taught her that being a true kunoichi meant she was a warrior, not a whore. Her sensei, another kunoichi, taught Sakura, her Hebi-style taijutsu, which since it's movements when done properly look like a dance, would fool Sakura's parents, who definitely would not know any better. Sakura told them it was traditional at school for kunoichi to learn to dance, to entice men. That seemed to appease her parent's narrow-view of the world and allowed Sakura to grow strong right under their noses.

Another thing, Sakura and Hinata had in common, though only one of them knew it, they both had a crush on the same shinobi. There was a reason Sakura wanted to be a kunoichi and go to the Academy, when she was six, she was attacked by some bullies in the park, they seemed to take pleasure in seeing the fearful expression on her face as they pushed her around between them. They finally worked-up the nerve to actually hit her, when one of them reared back his fist, about to throw, and Sakura though afraid, refused to cower, and was ready to take the hit on the face. The fist was stopped by another hand catching it, they all looked and there was Naruto, though she did not know it at the time. Naruto then kicked the crap out of those boys, it seems this was the second time they had pulled this bullying crap, and he had let them off with a warning. [Naruto-kun, fucked those boys up], inner Sakura purred, it seems they ended up in the hospital, and were remanded to juvenile jail upon release.

Sakura never saw Naruto again, until six-months ago, when he was placed in her class. She talked to him after school and thanked him for that time in the park, and it was at this time that her mother walked into school to get her. Mebuki Haruno was not pleased that her daughter was talking to the Demon, and when they got home, both of her parents gave her an ultimatum, if they ever saw her speaking to the demon again, they would pull her out of the Academy and make her go to a 'real' school. And because, she was a minor until she graduated, and got her headband, they could do it. Therefore, in order to appease them, she began to be mean to Naruto, they had heard her calling him 'baka' a time or two, and thought she was following their rules. What she was doing, at the suggestion of her sensei, who had become like a sister to Sakura, was deceiving them, in her mind whenever she said, "Naruto-baka," she was really calling him, Naruto-kun. Sakura's grades at school were also a deception, except for Academics, she made sure to maintain average grades in the other skills on her report card, it was something about the grades not really mattering for the Exam, though sensei did not elaborate.

The bout between the ladies was heating up, the Jūhou was a more fluid like style than the Jūken, and Sakura's movements from the Hebi-style, seemed to be an almost mirror of the former. It was not just the styles that were a mirror reflection, the kunoichi were almost flowing together, but if there is one thing the Jūhou had over the Hebi, was its decisive power. While they were both delivering solid blows to each other, and had the lacerations and contusions to prove it, Hebi lacked the power to make any real, lasting damage. Jūhou, however, did, and the blows from Hinata's palm-strikes, spear-hands, and knife-hands, were definitely taking their toll. Sakura however, refused to give up, unless Hinata made her. And so, Hinata and Sakura were exchanging a particularly vicious set of blows, Sakura's movements were sluggish, Hinata's only slightly less so, Sakura thrust her palms forward into the Hyūga's chest, when a wide sweep of Hinata's palms parried Sakura's own arms so hard, she overbalanced, and would have corrected if Hinata had not sent a sweep behind her legs. Sakura still would have recovered however, when with a sudden adrenaline rush, Hinata slammed a downward palm into Sakura's sternum, who was still in the process of falling. Sakura slammed into the ground, hard, and as her melon bounced off the ground she was in dreamland.

Iruka declared, the winner was, "Hyūga Hinata," upon hearing that, Hinata's legs gave out on her and she fell to her knees, next to the unconscious rosette. Hinata was looking at the dead to the world Kunoichi in amazement, "my Kami," she whispered, "not even Neji-nii, has ever given me this much trouble in a taijutsu bout before." Then leaning closer, whispered to the knocked-out girl, "I hope, Hokage-sama, sees fit to put us on the same team, Sakura-san," she suddenly fell over to lay on Sakura's chest, and the violette girl, whispered before joining the rosette girl in sleep, "I look forward to testing each other again."

Iruka looked over at the shinobi ring, to see the crumpled form of Uchiha Sasuke at the feet of Uzumaki Naruto, and upon looking at his partner, who nodded, we have to change a few things around, we won't be able to use the Demon brat after all, declared Hinata and Naruto winners of their respective genders in taijutsu.

The Unavoidable

It was the end of the Genin Graduation Exam, in all, twenty-seven candidates would graduate from this class. They had not yet been assigned Teams, and it would be one week before they would be announced. At long last, the class was dismissed until the 15th of the month, next week, the class dispersed. As soon as it was dismissed, Naruto went as fast as he could to the license registration office and got his official Ninja license, which made him an adult in the eyes of every country on the map. Naruto, his headband in place over his brow, and license in a special seal all ninja have so they can keep it on them at all times, decides to head home, and had just made it out the door of the bureaucratic office, when he spotted Sakura sitting on a bench, he had actually seen her in there too. She was ahead of Naruto in another line. Naruto was about to walk past without speaking to her, when, "Naruto-kun, wait up, please?" Naruto's eyes went wide with surprise, it was not the words which halted him, it was who said them, he turned around to stare into the jade-green eyes of Sakura Haruno.

"Yes, Sakura-san," he asked, in curiosity?

Sakura took a heavy breath and let it out slowly, "First, I want to tell you that I'm sorry, for the way I've treated you, after the first day you were in the class, and after I had just thanked you for stepping in and helping me when I was six."

If Naruto were surprised at her words before, he was dumbfounded at her words now, "That's okay, Sakura-san," he granted, "I forgive you, and you wouldn't be the first person to treat me bad after meeting me, it's happened before."

"No, it's not okay, and I didn't apologize to you to have you forgive me," Sakura snapped, "not until I have explain…"

"Musume (Daughter)," came the whip-crack of a stern voice, they jerked their head to the sound and just striding up the street was a blonde woman, with the same shade of green-eyes as her daughter's, and it was, the same angry expression he had seen on Sakura's face, a time or two! "What did, your father and I tell you would happen if we caught you fraternizing with this… this boy again," the woman ranted which ended in a shriek?

Sakura has been waiting for this, and sent a discreet hand signal to the woman, watching from the tree across the street from her. She looked side-long at the blonde boy, this could hit two targets with one kunai, she thought, [This is gonna be fucking epic], Inner Sakura snarled! "You said, you'd remove me from school and send me to a 'real' school, if you caught me talking to Naruto-kun again," she said casually, nonchalantly.

"That's right," the older woman shrieked, "I'll never know how we let you talk us into letting you become a kunoichi in the first place," she ranted, obviously missing the Hidden Leaf headband, Sakura now wore as a hair band, until she could get to a salon and style it to something a kunoichi would wear. She had only grown it long because, her dad thought girls were more appealing to men, if they had long hair. Mebuki went to grab Sakura, "now come on, we're getting you away from him, and no more of this ninja nonsense, it's not something a proper young lady should be aspiring to become in the first place." The older woman, tried to force the kunoichi to move, but other than her shoulder moving, Sakura did not budge.

"Please, take your hands from my person, Mebuki Haruno-san," Sakura's voice was cold, and emotionless, "before I have you arrested for assault."

Sakura's mother was shocked that her daughter would speak to her in such a smart tone, what's more, it was the mature tone of an adult. She grew stern again still not putting the clues together, "don't you take that tone of voice with me, young lady," and went to slap Sakura, but the young kunoichi easily dodged the attack.

Still in a calm voice, the rosette kunoichi, said in a firm tone of voice, "before you go too far, Haruno-san, I must remind you of the consequences of trying to assault a ninja of Konoha, in Konoha," Sakura thumb-pointed at the hitai-ate resting in her hair. "If you haven't noticed the date, today was graduation, I've told you all about it for the last month. I even marked it on the calendar in the living room," she reminded her mother, "today was the Genin Graduation Exam, and I did quite well, if I do say so myself."

"You did better than that, Sakura-san," Naruto scoffed, coming into the conversation, "you made the top five of the entire class, only Hinata Hyūga and myself outperformed you, and got better scores than you. You even out did, Sasuke Uchiha, in every category," he added, then looked at the Haruno matriarch, "your daughter is a force to be reckoned with, ma'am, and I would be honored to spar with her any day of the week. She would be a welcome addition on my team, should our esteemed Hokage, place her there," Naruto complimented, and Sakura's face was as pink as her hair, her smile was as bright as the sun, and even managed to look shy while doing it.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun," she gushed.

"Sakura," Mebuki's voice brought their attention back to her, "how could you do that, to the man you're trying to convince to marry you? Men don't want girls who are better than them, women are supposed to remain subservient to their men!"

"Number one: I never liked Sasuke like that, I only did that to disguise my true feelings…" she trailed off while casting a glance at the blonde shinobi, who was looking at her mother like she had grown two heads, before turning her gaze back to her mother, before he turned to her, "for someone else. I was never interested in him," she confirmed, "and number two: if I have to deliberately lose to somebody to convince them to marry me, then he's not somebody I want to be married to," she shook her head. "Seriously, how fragile is the male ego that I would have to throw a contest, just to keep his interest in me?"

Naruto snapped his head around in slight pique, "hey, it's not all of us, don't lump me in with whatever men she's talking about, that need a woman to be subservient to them, even lose to them to make themselves feel better. Besides," he said, turning back to Haruno-san, "why would he need to be 'convinced' to marry Sakura in the first place, she's got everything a man could want in a woman. Beauty, body, brains," with every compliment Sakura's blush grew deeper, "beauty that can stop even the best of men from thinking straight, even when she's angry, a body that packs more power in it than the Fourth's Rasengan, and brains, which are housed in an especially cute forehead, any man would be blessed to be given, even the time of day by Sakura, and should thank Kami-sama for being so blessed. And if they can't, they're either worthless, old, or they don't like women," Naruto concluded.

The two women in the lane with Naruto, just stood there gaping at him, [I love him], Inner Sakura said with lust in her voice, with which Sakura could not disagree. She got back to the matter at hand, "the fact of the matter is, Haruno-san," Sakura stated getting her mother's attention, "today was my Genin Graduation, and I passed," Sakura again pointed to her headband, "which according to international law, makes me legally an adult," she finished. "So, keep your hands off me, unless I give you permission," Sakura snapped out at her mother!

Taken aback by Sakura's words, Mebuki snapped back, "as long as you live under our roof, young lady, you'll abide by our rules, and I demand you stop this nonsense about being an adult. You're only twelve, you need to be eighteen to be considered an adult."

"She's right, ma'am," Naruto spoke again, "these were laws established by the Emperor of the Taiyō Empire, because ninja of any age can be sent into a battle, then all ninja, shinobi and kunoichi alike are looked upon as adults. We can get married, though Konoha military law requires us to be Chunin when we get married, we can live as husband and wife, even bring forth children, though only the most irresponsible Genin would do that. All of us are taught a contraceptive ninjutsu, to prevent accidental children. We can own property and run a business, though we must still conform to all other laws regarding these examples, except age restrictions of course."

"The point I'm trying to make, mother," Sakura concluded, "is now that I'm an adult, I am no longer required to live, as you put it, under your roof, and may therefore reside anywhere I can afford."

"No," Mebuki quivered as she began to cry, "you can't, you can't leave, we won't let you!"

"There is nothing you can do to prevent it," Sakura said softly, "nothing legal anyway, and as for letting me, you see over the past month as the graduation exam drew closer, I've been secretly moving my clothes and personal items out of your house. I've found my own place to live, and as soon as I begin earning money as a ninja, I'll be able to help with rent at my new place."

Mebuki suddenly, looked like she had aged twenty-years, since she had stood here, and in a small voice asked, "but where will you live, who will you live with?"

"With me," came a voice from behind them, and Mebuki jerked her head in the direction of the sound. Only Sakura's mother was surprised, Sakura had known she was there, and Naruto had felt a presence within the trees, the person standing there was a fairly tall woman with a slender frame. She has light brown, pupil-less eyes, she is a violette, and keeps her hair styled in a short, spiky, fanned-ponytail. She regularly wears a fitted mesh body suit, that covers her from her neck down to her thighs, and today was no exception, over which, was a tan overcoat with a purple in-seam, and a pocket on each side, a dark orange mini-skirt, a dark blue belt, and pale grey shin guards. She wore the typical forehead protector, also wearing a small pendant, that looks like a snake fang, and a wristwatch. Her name was Anko Mitarashi, and like Naruto, she was a social pariah here in the Leaf, all because she happened to have been a student of Orochimaru of the Sanin, now a missing-nin, she was also one of his Aunt's best-friends, they were almost like sisters, which made Anko one of Naruto's precious people. Which was reciprocated by the buxom kunoichi, just promoted to full Jonin, finally.

Naruto smiled pleasantly when he saw her, "Anko-oba-san, good of you to come down here, I was wondering what you were waiting for," he mused?

Anko gave him a quick smile of greeting, before turning back to face the Haruno matriarch, "I'm the one that's been training her for two-years, and I see her as a little sister," she confirmed Sakura's statement, "and I won't treat her like a slut, for wanting to be a kunoichi." She growled that last part in offence, and at this, Naruto looked at the Haruno woman in anger. He knows why Anko would say that, the stigma of kunoichi only being effective during sex, was an insult to kunoichi. This woman had basically just insulted his Aunts, Grandma, and Mother by saying that, and if you insult Naruto's family, you insulted him. He huffed his nose at the Haruno woman, but kept quiet, this was not about him, it was about Sakura.

"I had to hide my grades in school, at least the practical portions, as far as you knew I was just really smart, but weak," Sakura told her mother, "you and dad refused to allow me to train in fighting at home. I started to sneak out at night, and go to a training ground and practice, physical fitness, the katas for the taijutsu style taught at the Academy, throw training, anything I needed to work on to be a top kunoichi. On the bright side, you, and dad in advertently allowed me to practice my stealth and evasion skills, so thanks for that contribution. From six-years-old to ten, I trained by myself, and was at least average in my class among females, but then a couple of months into my tenth year, I met Anko-sensei. She had apparently been watching me train, and was impressed with my dedication, so she trained me in her taijutsu style, Serpent-style, and coached me further in throw training, and I started rising in skill among not just the kunoichi of my class, but the shinobi too. However, in order to appease my so-called parents, I couldn't showcase my true talents in school, or you'd know I wasn't the meek little girl you hoped I'd be, but again, without meaning to, you helped me train to be a skilled ninja, you helped me train in deception and strategy."

"Wow," Naruto whispered with wide-eyes, then turning his head to his oba-san, and asked her, "and you did all of this with Sakura in two-years?" At Anko's nod, Naruto shook his head in disbelief, and said, almost to himself, "imagine if she had that kind of support from the beginning, like I did. She could've been Rookie-of-the-Year for this class, instead of Hinata," which confused Sakura; what about him, but she let it go for now and turned back to her mother?

Now, I know I'm in love with him, she thought with a blush. "Then when Naruto was put in my class, and all I was doing that first day, was thanking him for protecting me from bullies when I was six," Sakura informed her mother, "you and dad, threatened me with removal if I talked to him again. I don't know what it is about most adults in this village," Sakura asked, while looking between the other three people in the conversation, "Naruto is sweet and kind, to anybody he meets, but once they find out his name, they begin treating him like he's scum?" She looks between them, her mother, turned her head away in disgust, Naruto just looked sad, and Anko smiled uneasily, time to lay my cards on the table, "It's because he's got the Nine-tailed Fox, sealed into him isn't it," at that all three of them grew wide eyes.

"How did you know," came Naruto's small voice, like a little boy about to be punished?

"Wait," Anko exclaimed, looking at her nephew, "how did you know, Naruto-oi?"

"The clues were all there, Anko-oba-chan," Naruto said quietly. "My birthdate October 10th, 13-years-ago, I was the only child born that day, I snuck into the records office of the hospital once."

"Biju can't be killed," Sakura added, "they're beings made of pure chakra, they just regenerate after a time, the library has plenty of information, if one cared to do the research and put the pieces together."

Naruto nodded in agreement, "the only thing that can be done with a biju, is to seal them into a vessel, but they're too powerful to use an inanimate object, they will eventually break out of one. As a result, the only way to ensure they remain locked away, is to seal them into a living creature, a human. The Kyūbi's chakra, however, is too powerful for just anybody to house it, only an infant whose umbilical cord has just been cut, would work, because their chakra coils have not yet fully formed, and again, I was the only child born that day."

"There that's the proof you need to know that he's the Nine-tailed Fox," Mebuki ranted, "it should be executed, for all the people it murdered!"

"Screw you, bitch," came Anko's reply!

"Mom," Sakura snapped, and as her mother turned to her, she saw her daughter holding a storage scroll, and a kunai. Sakura brought them close and said, "watch closely. Fuin," and the kunai was sealed into the scroll, then she made the sign of the Tiger, and touched her finger to the scroll, the scroll immediately became alight. The scroll burned quickly, but steadily, Sakura was holding one end of it, when there was a metal clang on the ground, as the kunai returned to this dimension. "This is what happens when you destroy a storage scroll, whatever is inside is released, so killing Naruto at this point is a really, bad idea. We don't have any Sealing Masters in the Yondaime's caliber, even Jiraiya-sama is below his skill," Sakura informed her mother.

"Then he should be locked in prison for life," Sakura's mother raged, "he should be kept away from decent human beings."

"Show me a decent human being, and I might agree with you," Anko muttered.

Sakura for one had enough, "you're a disgrace," she spat, "and I'm ashamed of you, to think that I came from such a small petty woman like you, and all that bullshit you and dad foisted upon me over the years. How a woman is supposed to act around her man, basically supposed to lick his boots, well, I've noticed that in all of the other girl's houses I've been to, nobody acted like that. The men in those families, actually treated their wives and daughters like they were worth more to them, than to be used as a token to advance their family fortunes. I don't know why, all you and dad ever saw me as was a form of currency, to trade to another family to add to dad's business, but I know it's not how some others view their children." She took another storage scroll and sealed another kunai inside it, "you accuse kunoichi of being nothing but whores, using their feminine wiles to get close to a target, and yet that's all you've ever viewed me as anyway. Only you'd rather see me, an abject slave to whatever man you would deem worthy enough to help, dad advance his business. So, if you and that man who sired me do not view me as a meaningful part of your family, then I'll just stop being in your family."

"No," Mebuki yelled, as she reached out her hand, she was now leaking tears from her eyes, "I'm sorry, Sakura-chan, please give us another chance!"

Without a word, just a sneer of disgust, Sakura threw the scroll in her hand directly at her mother's head, striking her in the forehead, "that's a storage scroll, Haruno-san," she told her mother, "inside is one kunai, when you come to me and tell me, what that represents, we can begin to try being a family again, until then, stay the hell away!" The two women stared at each other, one, hoping the other would change her mind, the other, resolute in her convictions. The older woman, picked up the scroll and turned to leave, looking as defeated as she felt. Sakura watched the retreating form of her mother, careful to keep her face still, and her eyes hard if Mebuki looked back.

Finally, her mother gone, Sakura's face crumbled, her eyes began to water, and her shoulders began to shake, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked over and saw, deep-blue pools of warmth staring back at her, and they understood how painful that was for her. Without hesitation, Sakura pushed herself against him burying her face in his chest, and released the floodgates on her emotions, she shook like a leaf in the wind.

Naruto looked over at Anko, the silent suggestion in his eyes, she nodded and walked over to the couple. He picked Sakura up, and as Anko reached them she grabbed his shoulder, Sakura was oblivious to the world, but she held onto Naruto, burying her head deeper in his neck. Anko shunshinned all three of them to her, and now Sakura's new home. His aunt led them inside, he of course had been here before, but the last time was over a month ago. Still holding the rosette kunoichi closely, he asked, "Sakura-chan, do you think, you can get to your room on your own, or do you want me to carry you there?" Her arms briefly tightened on him for a second, but before he could move, she set her feet on the ground and stood on her own two feet.

Sakura's eyes were still wet and red from weeping, but she was able to smile for him, "thank you Naruto-kun, for being here today, don't know how I would have handled it without you."

Naruto returned her smile with a slightly brighter one of his own, "it should be me, thanking you, Sakura-chan, I've despaired of ever meeting anybody who knew about Kyūbi and still accepted me, I was losing faith in the people of Konoha. I was beginning to wonder if I should become a Ronin, and leave Konoha," he admitted, "but then you found out about the Fox, on your own, and not only did you accept me, but you also didn't change the way you treated me. So, thank you," he finished.

Sakura gave him a small smile, then grabbing his arm, she leaned up and kissed his cheek, before turning and heading to her room. As the door closed, Naruto still blushing from the kiss, it was his first after all, turned to leave, but found his 'beloved' Aunt leering at him suggestively. "My-my Naruto," she teased, "and I thought you carried a torch for Nai-chan, who knew you were such a player, stud-san?"

"Lay off, Anko-oba," Naruto replied, "that was just to say thank you for being there for her today," he said, "I don't think Sakura likes me like that, and besides, it's not like Kurenai would be interested in a Genin that failed his Graduation Exam twice."

Anko, still smiling, was about to say something else, when the Village alarm started going off. They looked outside and noticed it was dark, they heard Sakura's door open, she stepped out, "what is going on?"

There was a knock on the door, and when it opened, Neko was on the other side, her voice was barely maintaining her ANBU professionalism, when she asked, "Mitarashi Anko, have you seen, Uzumaki Naruto?"

Anko pointed to the shinobi standing in her living room, "what's this about, Neko-san?"

The ANBU just asked another question, "how long has Uzumaki been here?"

"We've only been here for a few minutes," Anko answered and Neko visibly blanched, "but Naruto, Sakura and me, have been in each other's presence for a few hours now." Neko's demeanor brightened at that, but Anko demanded, "Why, what's happened?"

"The Scroll of Seals was just found missing, and camera footage showed Naruto Uzumaki was the one that stole it, but if he was with you, at the time of the theft…"

"That doesn't necessarily prove my innocence, Neko-kun," Naruto reminded her, "if I used a Flash Clone, while I was with them, I could still have stolen the Scroll."

All three kunoichi looked at him like he was crazy, and he scoffed, "I'm thinking like a thief who would use something like this to frame me. So, I demand, to be escorted to the Hokage, and want the two Heads of Torture and Interrogation, not present here to be there to interrogate me." Then with a growl he finished, "someone is trying to frame me, thinking that I would cowardly choose to run instead of facing my accusers, which means they don't know who I am, or at least have a warped impression of me," his eyes were turning red as he grew angry, "and once I clear my name, they're going to pay!"