chapter 20

Argh! This is hopeless!" Sasuke threw yet another scroll to the corner of the room. The growing pile there was only slightly disturbed as the new addition flew in. "Why did the dobe seal up every one of these things with a blood seal? It's like he's trying to keep everything he knows from me, even when he's nearly dead. How did he even survive that stab? Dammit this pisses me off! ...At least I have my sword now." A rare grin spread across his face as he unsheathed the blade and held it in front of his face. The blade had impressed one of the seven swordsmen so it had to be powerful. Just how powerful he didn't know...yet. "Don't worry. Once you tell me your secrets I will get vengeance on the dobe, then you will help me with my main objective and I will bathe you in my brother's blood."

"Well I find that a little hard to believe."

Sasuke's head shot around as the current avatar of his hatred walked into the room. "Nar-u-to!" Rage filled him as he stood up and brandished his new sword in front of him. "How dare you come here. I will have you arrested for breaking into the Uchiha compound and defiling it's grounds with your presence!"

"Ouch...Don't you think that's a bit harsh?" The blond said as he casually stepped into the room. "And it's no more offensive for me to be here then it was for you to steal from me. Add onto that the fact that you stabbed me and I'd say I have every right to be here."

"Psh. You didn't deserve what was given to you, so I took it upon myself as the last remaining member of the military police to ensure balance was restored in Konoha by eliminating the one that would dare to challenge our ways."

"Sasuke-chan, you are no closer to being one of the military police then I am to being Hokage, so don't think for one second that you have any authority over me. Now about my scrolls and my sword..." Naruto took another step forward and Sasuke responded by moving between him and his scrolls while activating his sharingan and readying the black bladed katana.

"You mean my scrolls and my sword! I saved them from your retched embrace and now all I need is a little of your blood to claim them completely. All I need is for you to walk onto my blade like the stupid lemming you are and we can end this." His hand shook in excitement for the possibility of finally getting something useful from the dobe, but he was forced to stunt those thoughts quickly as he found himself blocking a blood red blade, completely by reflex. 'H-how did he do that? My sharingan could hardly keep up.' Gritting his teeth Sasuke pushed the blond back and tried to focus more.

Meanwhile Naruto was considering his options. 'If I try to do a jutsu he might figure out the sword's ability and put me on the receiving end, but with his sharingan he has an advantage of reaction time. At the same time he can still do jutsu on me, but he would have to sheath his sword and risks burning down this house.' It was almost a stalemate and he was having trouble thinking of how to turn the fight in his favor. He didn't let such emotions show however. That would have built up the Uchiha's confidence. "Not bad Sasuke, but you're definitely no sword master. I'm interested in seeing how long you can keep it up though. Especially against multiple opponents. Feel free to draw all the blood you want as well. It won't do you any good on those seals." A few clones popped up around him as he charged in again.

Dodging, blocking, strafing and rolling were all a part of Sasuke's new found ambition to make it through the fight as he tried desperately to find an opening in any of his attackers' defenses. "You can't beat an Uchiha dobe, and now that I have my sharingan you have no hope of beating me!" Lashing out clumsily he managed to dispel a couple of clones taking the count down to two on one. They slowly circled him as he tried to keep both in his sight. It was a difficult feat considering they kept trying to get on opposite sides, but every time they moved he moved. Soon he had to make his way outside as the room and house proved to be too small for him to maneuver without risk of being backed into a corner.

"Well teme, I hope you liked the feel of a blade in your hand and what little freedom you had for the exams, cause I'm going to take you right back to a cell and throw you in it myself if I have to."

"Pft, now that the council is back out you can't touch me, and with the old man down for the count you also have no one to save you. It's going to be you in that cell for daring to even think of approaching me like this. Then I'll toss the geezer in beside you and lead this village the way he was too incompetent to do." The avenger spat at Naruto's feet and readied his sword again as he watched the blond bristle at the insulting way he spoke about Sarutobi.

"Teme...I'll let you toss around my name as much as you want, but if you think I'm going to stand here and let you insult those precious too me..."

"Precious...? Oh you mean your little whores! Don't worry they'll be well taken care of, as future baby makers for the Uchiha resurrection. I'll make sure they pump out more than enough brats to fill this place up, and maybe I'll even let you watch me do it."

"..."

"What's the matter? Nothing to say dobe? Finally realizing your pathetic place in the world? Well it's too late now. Die!"

Sasuke shot forward intent on ending the fight while Naruto was distracted, but to his surprise his wrist was caught as Naruto stepped into the swing, taking the hit before the slice. The black blade was now digging into his collar bone, but he didn't relinquish his grasp as he looked up into Sasuke's sharingan eyes with his own red, slitted gaze. In a deeper voice then normal he growled out at his opponent. "You went too far Uchiha-teme. If you think that I will forgive such an insult then you are sadly mistaken. Those girls are with me out of love and caring, nothing more nothing less and you will respect them as such or you will be punished." He emphasized the last word through gritted teeth only a few inches from Sasuke's face.

"Bring your punishment dobe, because you are far from winning this fight. I would never yield to someone as weak as yo...*SNAP*...OW!" Sasuke felt the bones in his wrist pop as Naruto twisted it slightly out-of-place. "Fuck you asshole! I will get my revenge and there is nothing yo...*SNAP*..." Another twist and another pop. "DIE!" *CRUNCH* He was forced to let go of his weapon as his bones started to fracture, and in the blink of an eye he was let go of and the black blade appeared in Naruto's previously empty hand. Seeing as he no longer had a weapon, Sasuke shot backwards to gain some distance as he rubbed his sore wrist. Working it over a few times he found that he was still able to move it, though is caused him a bit of pain. "Fine! You can have the sword, for now. After all what good will a piece of metal do against the might of the Uchiha ninjutsu! Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" A fifteen foot wide fireball launched at Naruto as Sasuke channeled his chakra to maintain it.

Naruto however didn't even budge save to alter his stance. "From the depths of the pools of hell, rise once more and split the heavens. Hanasu!" With one swift motion the red blade shot through the fireball and a valley formed between the two halves. As each half passed He spun on his heel and knocked them away with the black blade, causing them to rebound to the sides and explode in the distance.

The Uchiha was furious. 'How, how can he be so strong. No he's not strong. It's just those swords. I will beat him and take them from him!' Flying through more hand seals he called out his next attack. "Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!" Two dozen balls of fire shot out of his mouth and sped towards their target. He watched in horrified fascination as each one was split and tossed in a random direction. It was only then that he realized his mistake. He spun in a slow circle and looked on as half the Uchiha compound was beginning to burn from his reckless attacks and the blond's seemingly impenetrable defense. "Y-you bastard! Look what you've done! My home...my home...I'll KILL YOU!" In a flash the black marks of Sasuke's seal spread across his skin as his sharingan blazed once again and another tome appeared. Lightning began to crackle in the palm of his hand as his chakra condensed to form the attack that he knew would kill the dobe. Locking onto his target he threw all sense out the window as he rushed to meet his prey.

Naruto knew the attack, having seen it twice now, and quickly sheathed his mother's blade and threw his other weapon off to the side, barely registering the dull *thunk* as it buried itself in the wood beam of a nearby building. "If you think that your fire jutsu was in some way my fault then you can kiss my ass Sasuke. I was only defending myself from you, so don't even try to blame this on me, but since it doesn't seem you're willing to listen to reason then I guess there are other ways to settle this." Holding his hand out they both watched as chakra began to condense and rotate as it formed a glowing blue ball that seemed to hover just above his palm. He didn't try to run or dodge, no, this was a test to see who had the stronger jutsu and they both knew it.

At the last second, Sasuke ducked under Naruto's attack, using the sharingan to his advantage. "Chidori!" His target had only a fraction of a second to react, but still managed to dodge slightly and avoid a fatal blow. Still the attack tore open the blond's side and sent numerous jolts of electric current through his body. Sasuke never stopped until he was ten feet behind the now falling boy.

Naruto gripped his side in pain and gritted his teeth to muffle the scream that would betray him. Instead he opted to turn his head towards the one that wounded him. His rasengan dissipated soon after he was hit, but that left him far from defenseless, and he wasn't about to be caught by surprise again. "That was low...t-teme." Wincing he slowly got back up, readying another ball of swirling chakra. "Not that I would expect anything noble from someone like you, but don't count me out yet. You've still got a long way to go if you want to match me." A smile crept across his face as he watched the Uchiha face him.

Sasuke turned again to the bane of his existence. Once more the sound of chirping birds filled the burning compound as he charged forward, blinded by his own rage. In seconds he was within range for a perfect thrust and he laughed manically as he waited for the sweet sound of flesh tearing apart. A sound he would hear, but from the wrong place.

Taking full advantage of Sasuke's blind rage, Naruto waited until the last second and shot his hand out, catching the avenger's wrist as the jutsu it held stopped inches from doing any damage. Without giving his opponent time to react, he twisted the wrist breaking the already fractured bones, and lifted the arm up. The opening he created was soon filled as he grabbed his ninja-to with his free hand and sliced the tendons on Sasuke's trapped arm and the leg on the same side. With his support on one side gone, the boy had no choice but to topple over on his side and scream out in pain.

"How dare you! You come into my house, assault me..uhng...and raze my property. I'll see that you never see daylight again..uhn...you asshole!" His threats were rather insubstantial considering he was beginning to cry out from the pain. Add to that the fact that his body was instinctively moving away from the current greatest threat to his life and the scene was all around...pathetic. He was frantically looking around and dragging himself across the street creating a somewhat familiar scene.

Naruto calmly walked over to the Uchiha, and with as much ceremony as he had been shown, wrestled the sheath for his other katana free from its bindings. "Next time you even think about stealing from me teme, you'd better have half of Konoha between me and you before I find out about it. At least then you'll have a little time to pray before I find you and make sure you can never touch anyone's possessions ever again." He looked out towards the village over the compound wall and grinned. "But then maybe it will never even come to that." Four soft thuds and a group of louder ones announced the arrival of a response team and some of the people he was more than happy to see right now.

Shouts of "Naruto-kun!" Followed the ninjas' arrival as Naruto was bowled to the ground before he could even greet the girls. They nearly smothered him with tearful hugs before finally relenting and allowing him to sit up. This of course brought about shocked gasps from not only them, but some of the response team as they saw the burn marks and blood on his side. With his clothes destroyed in that area his wound was clearly visible to all of them, and it didn't look pretty.

"Naruto-kun you're hurt!" Hinata nearly bawled out as she rushed through her pack to get some ointments. Haku followed her lead as well and they soon had him mostly cleaned and bandaged up before helping him to his feet.

"I'm fine now. Thanks to the both of you." He smiled and kissed each of their foreheads before turning to the other ninja. He knew he would still need to go to the hospital, they may be practicing their medicines and medical techniques, but that didn't make them doctors.

The captain of the ANBU unit was already yelling orders. "Get these fires out before they spread to the village. Don't worry about damage from your jutsu just make sure they won't flare up again!" The squad saluted and quickly got to work on the nearby buildings, showing no qualms with washing whole structures away with their water jutsu to get the job done.

"Hey! S-stop destroying my property!" The two most imposing figures of the new arrivals turned to the Uchiha, causing him to shrink back slightly from their glares. "Y-you are trespassing on U-Uchiha grounds! Leave now or I-I'll be forced to take action!" One of the two men formed a rather evil grin at the threat, his black trench coat flailing in the breeze caused by the raging fires as he and his blond haired companion walked towards the prone boy.

Inoichi was the first to speak as Ibiki grabbed the boy roughly and yanked him up, causing a yelp of pain to escape his captive's throat as his injured appendages were jarred. "Uchiha Sasuke. You are under arrest for falsifying a mission report, theft of a Konoha citizen's property, two accounts of attempted murder and willful acceptance of known stolen goods. You will be held in the ANBU prison until the time of your trial and will be privy to all of the pleasures that go along with it."

"You can't do that to me, you have no proof of such allegations!" Sasuke yelled as he tried to glare at them through his pain.

"Actually," Ibiki started. "We have witnesses. Naruto-san I'm sure would be more than willing to testify against you." With an eager nod from the blond he continued. "Then there's what Inoichi-san saw in the memories of one Haruno Sakura, whom has already been apprehended. If we need more proof than that to put you away, I'll go to Suna myself and drag their three genin brats back here to testify. You're out of luck Uchiha, so just make it easy on yourself and come quietly."

Sasuke grit his teeth and spat in the man's face, earning a none too gentle fist to the stomach. Glaring once more at the boy, Ibiki tossed him blindly over his shoulder into the waiting arms of two more ANBU. "Take him to his new palace, and make sure he's comfortable." The ANBU shunshinned away leaving the group of genin to face off against two of the three top interrogators of the village and a handful of ANBU that were reigning in the few remaining fires. "You know, Uzumaki-san, that would have been easier if you'd have taken some people with you from the start..."

Naruto scratched the back of his head and smiled up at the man innocently. "Yeah, but then I wouldn't have had so much fun." He looked around at the rubble the fires had left behind looking slightly remorseful at the sight. "We definitely made a mess of things here huh? It would have been nice if it never had to come to this, but Sasuke is unstable. He wouldn't have let go of anything that could have given him power, even if he was facing a Kage. I had hoped he would have just handed everything back, especially after our differences were proven in the chūnin exams." Naruto sighed. "I guess some people are just beyond reason." He limped over to a half demolished building and pulled his black katana out of the fire-blackened post it had stuck in. After wiping it clean and sheathing it, he sealed both of the long blades into his storage scroll and packed them away just as a few more figures landed. The first was his last bunshin which showed up holding all of his recovered scrolls. The clone had been instructed to gather all of his possessions while he kept the Uchiha occupied. Then to hide until it was safe to come out and hand over the rescued items. Naruto gladly took them and pocketed them as the next people showed up.

"Man gaki, you sure know how to tear a place up." Jiraiya whistled as he took in the scene around him.

Kakashi was less thrilled as he saw the home of his deceased friend smoldering in ruin. "Naruto, did you really have to go this far?"

"I really didn't mean for all the buildings to catch fire. Sasuke threw fireballs at me and I had to defend. I tried to deflect them away from any buildings that looked important, but there were a lot and I couldn't control them all. If anything important got destroyed I'm really sorry, but if you want to point fingers then the place to aim them would be in the ANBU holding cells." Naruto said as he rubbed his eyes and temples, before stumbling a bit. In an instant he was caught by Haku and Hinata, who had never left his side, knowing that with an injury like his along with just getting out of the hospital, he shouldn't have been moving around so much.

"Naruto-kun you need rest, and we need to get you back to the hospital to get that burn properly checked." Hinata ordered, getting half a nod from Naruto.

"Hold on girls. I'd like to talk to him first." Jiraiya said as he started over. Four icy glares stopped him in his tracks.

"Naruto-kun needs to get checked up and rested. You can talk to him tomorrow and no sooner." Haku told him before the group made their way towards the gates of the compound.

Naruto looked around at the four girls. "Hey where's Tenten at?"

"She had to stay back at the compound, her dad saw her there from the crowd and held her back. I'm sure she'll catch up with us later." Ino replied.

"Actually I was just wondering why she was there at all..."

"Well, she is a weapons' mistress, and you do have one known powerful sword. Isn't it only natural that she would want to at least talk to you about it?" Hinata pointed out what should have been pretty obvious.

"Ah...well I suppose that's true. I guess that means I'll be seeing her again soon enough.

The sannin looked over at Kakashi. "Since when did the gaki make them so devoted? I don't think Tsunade ever gave me a glare that cold, even after I tried to peek on her in the baths."

The masked jōnin just shrugged and started to pull out his book before reconsidering and taking off to help put out some of the fires. Shikaku and Chōza were handling things over at Naruto's place along with Anko. They probably had the tougher job since the civilian council was still there when he left, demanding they open the gate to the estate. That of course was impossible since there was only one key and Naruto was back in possession of it. Yes, this was proving to be both and exciting and tension-filled day. 'With any luck Naruto will be out cold for the next year or five so we can have some peace around here. Well at least Sasuke and Sakura are out of the way now...Wait...What am I going to do about a team...?' Kakashi hung his head, realizing that two of his three students were now locked up, Kiba was in for a world of hurt still from his clan since he still had a week of punishment left and the Hokage was incapacitated. Sighing he turned back to the task at hand by checking to make sure the current building he was working on was sufficiently watered so it wouldn't spark up another fire. He would deal with his team situation later.

• • •

The civilian council was not happy. The demon brat had killed or injured a large number of Konoha civilians and the ninja side of the council had stood behind him on it. Not only that but one of their number was arrested along with her daughter, and considering who was in the group that shot off after the brat, they were panicking over who else would be meeting the same fate. Aside from that they found that they had no way into the Namikaze property now that the blond had locked it once more. A few of them had been hoping to get back at the boy for all the trouble he'd been causing them lately, but with him holding the key, and his now infamous traps still in place, there was little else they could do except stand there and gaze in hatred at the blood streaked yard where the bodies of the victims had been carried out. They still hoped, however, that they could turn this in their favor. Those leftover demanded an immediate council meeting which they would get later, but for now there were just too many important matters to take care of. Thus, they now waited with baited breath to find out exactly what the outcome of this event would be.

Once the smoke over the Uchiha district had died down, and the ninja were called back while the clean up crews were sent in, the council finally convened in their chamber. Tensions were quite obviously high as the civilians tried their best to stare down the ninja. As the last of the council arrived the headache began. Koharu and Homura stood up and demanded to know what happened at the Uchiha compound. Jiraiya, being a sannin had an honorary seat in the council as Konoha's lead outside information source, but could only give his input, not actually vote on matters. "To put it simply, Naruto got his possessions back and though the items were unharmed, I can't say the same for the Uchiha, or Naruto himself. At some point the two fought and though Naruto disabled Sasuke, he himself was also injured by some sort of jutsu. Sasuke had recklessly used a fire jutsu during the scuffle which started the fires in the district, consuming a handful of buildings before we were able to get things under control. As of now Naruto is in the hospital getting his wound looked at while the Uchiha is in the ANBU prison getting his injuries tended to in his cell."

"You actually arrested him? Great. Good work. Now there is a good chance he'll leave Konoha, taking the sharingan with him." Homura spat out.

Inoichi had more than enough of these people to last him through the year. "Yes he is being detained, just as he should be, and we have no plans of releasing him anytime soon. He is to be guarded until his fate is decided, which we will not do until a proper Hokage is in place. Now I suggest you forget about this matter as we of the ninja council will not budge on this decision." Nods of agreement from his side of the table confirmed the motion, much to the civilian's dismay. Even Hiashi had agreed as an unstable ninja running around could prove no benefit to any of them.

"Fine then we motion for a new Hokage to be voted into office immediately!" Fumihiko shouted.

"Alright. Nominations? I choose Hatake Kakashi." Tsume stated.

"Nara Shikaku." Chōza added.

"Forget it. I have no desire to become Hokage." The lazy man said.

"Spoilsport. Fine Morino Ibiki." It seemed time came to a standstill as Chōza shifted uncomfortably. "...what?"

"What about Jiraiya-sama?" Homura chimed in. As far as he knew the man was pretty easy to sway, especially with his known...interests.

"No thanks. I'm flattered, really, but I'm not cut out to be a Hokage. Tsunade would have been a better bet if she were here, but..."

"What an excellent idea Jiraiya-sama! You are going to find her anyway to see about Sandaime-sama's condition, are you not? That would bring her back to the village, it would the perfect time to swear her in." Nods of approval went around the table as people considered the idea. The civilians we considering how to use the legendary medical ninja's known bad habits against her while the ninja half were considering how it would bring another powerful ninja back to the village for defense after the Suna/Oto invasion.

After giving them a few minutes to think the situation over, Jiraiya motioned them all to give him their attention. "If there are no objections for Tsunade-hime then we will offer her the position. I'm not going to force it on her though, and if she disagrees then she'll just be coming back to heal Sarutobi-sensei...I hope. I will leave as soon as Naruto is healthy enough to get around."

"Jiraiya-sama, why take that boy with you? I can think of half a dozen better uses for him." Denbe grumbled.

"Aside from the fact that you're still out for his blood? Because I plan on training him while we travel and he's going to help me get Tsunade back." The sannin said with a dismissive tone.

"Why take that brat? Uchiha-sam..."

"That traitorous asshole is in jail right where he belongs!" Growled Tsume. "And if he ever gets out I might just kill him myself, consequences be damned!" She stared across the table, daring any one of them to challenge her.

"Even if Sasuke was not in prison, I still wouldn't take him over Naruto." Jiraiya huffed out as he tried to diffuse Tsume's temper. "He has no talent for what I plan to teach and it would only blow up his ego if he thought he was going to get trained by a sannin. Naruto on the other hand is humble, well beyond his reputation, and deserves my training for all the shit you people put him through. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a genin to prepare for our trip. We should only be gone a month at most." Some of the council did chibi dances in their heads at this news while for others it brought up concerns.

"Jiraiya-sama, what about Naruto-san's estate and those living with him?" Shibi asked the man.

Jiraiya grinned back. "Well considering the state of the place, if the girls still want to live there I guess I'll have to teach the gaki how to put a blood seal lock on the gate so they won't need a key. Other than that, I ask that you all look out for them and make sure no harm comes to them. Kami knows what Naruto would do if one of them got hurt..." A collective shudder went through the room as even the civilian side feared the images that went through their heads. With nothing left to say to them Jiraiya walked out of the room and headed for the apartment he was staying at. Being as he was hardly ever in the village for very long, he found it rather pointless to buy a house since he wouldn't have time for the upkeep. Instead he just used one of the village funded, donated flats.

• • •

The following day Naruto was checked out of the hospital. He was still rather sore on his side where Sasuke's chidori had scraped him. It would seem that whatever chakra went into it, thanks to the Ten no Juin, was somewhat more potent than normal. As such he limped back home with five girls surrounding him, daring anyone to get in their way. Very few were stupid enough to risk their health against the group since word spread of the events from the day before. Some shied away from Naruto, who had killed numerous civilians and severely injured the last Uchiha. Others just watched as he passed, trying to imagine it being him that defeated the Tanuki and not the Uchiha as they had originally been told. It wasn't until they got back to the estate that they met their first real obstacle.

Jiraiya stood, leaning against the wall just to the side of the gate to the estate. When he saw the group coming towards him he smiled at them. "Naruto! Glad you're finally free. I need to talk to you." He saw the girls huff and pout, but they didn't move to stop him since they had told him he could talk to the boy today. "Let's do this inside, I don't really want to have to worry about eavesdroppers." None of them missed the three spots he shifted his eyes to, and with a curt nod from Naruto they made their way inside.

"So what's this about Ero-Sennin?" The girls laughed at his nickname for the man, but it quickly died down when he gave them a glare.

"You're never going to stop calling me that are you?"

"Not until you can prove it's not true." Naruto beamed a smile at him.

"Hmph. Well anyway, I came to tell you that we're going on a mission. It'll be about a month long so pack accordingly."

"Ok, I'm guessing we'll be traveling a lot. Should we pack for hot or cold?"

"We?"

"Yeah...Haku and me."

"No, this will just be you and me." Jiraiya corrected.

"..."

"...But Haku is my teammate."

"Well I'm sorry but the council will only let me take you along with me, so she'll have to stay here. Don't worry though, the clans will make sure to keep and eye on you friends, so they'll be safe." It might have been a partial lie, but for where they were going and what he planned on teaching the boy, he didn't want an audience around.

"..." Naruto looked nervously between the girls and his only real sensei to date. They could see that this was one trip he actually wanted to go on, since he would actually be with someone who was willing to teach him. At the same time they could tell he didn't want to leave those he was closer to here, alone.

"Go on Naruto-kun. It's only a month, we'll be fine." Haku tried to reassure him.

"Yeah Naruto, beside it's a month with a sannin. Most people would kill for that privilege." Tenten spoke from personal experience as she would have done anything just to talk to Tsunade.

"Naruto-kun I-I think you should go too. I think...that some time away from here might do you some good." Though she didn't really want him to leave her for that long, Hinata knew it would be selfish to make him stay.

"Naruto-sama, just think of how much stronger you might get, and how much better you can protect what is most important to you." Kin was probably the most nervous out of all of them since she was probably in the most danger. With the new found hate for Otogakure and the fact that she had once been one of it's ninja, she was already feeling pressure from the general populace. She would never go anywhere in town now without one of the other girls or another trusted escort.

"Don't worry so much Naruto-kun. Us girls can look out for each other, so go do the mission. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity." Like the others, Ino didn't want the boy to leave, but she was willing to wait for him if it would make him happy. That was just another part of her that had matured over the past weeks with all that's happened to her.

"..."

"Gaki, if it makes you rest easier. I'll show you how to make blood seals to keep your place locked up save for those you want to let in." Jiraiya started bringing out his sealing supplies when:

*SMACK*

Everyone looked to see Naruto with his palm on his forehead. "I completely forgot about that. Ero-Sennin, I need you to look over a seal for me." Naruto practically dragged the man back to his office with the curious girls following them. The scene they walked in on was more like a disaster area then the organized office that they were used to seeing. Naruto sighed and created a few clones to start cleaning up. As their audience watched, the clones worked in near mechanical efficiency as they salvaged what they could. Thankfully for Naruto most of the spilled ink landed on empty floor space or unused parchment. Even luckier for him was the fact that the ROOT ninja, who he had his clones move to the back yard while he was taking the civilians out front the day before and were now in the care of Ibiki, had obviously wanted to steal his work. There were a few bags off to the side, away from the mess, that were filled with his notes and premade seals. Breathing a sigh of relief he grabbed the bags and took them behind the desk.

Taking his time, Naruto emptied the bags one by one and set their contents out on the desk as well as the counter behind him. Anywhere that he ran into some more of the mess, he just pushed it out of the way to make more room knowing the clones would clean up whatever additional mess he made. Jiraiya at this point was already making his way carefully across the room to try and see what the boy was working on. He could tell from a distance that they were seals, but he wanted to know what kind. He'd heard from the Sandaime that the boy had talent, but just how much was the question. To his dismay however, the seals would give up none of their secrets. He saw that Naruto had already learned how to mask his abilities with secrecy seals. He could tell just by a glance that their real arrays were well hidden and it was unlikely he would get anything from them unless Naruto decided to show him the seals before he masked them. The one thing that did shock him was the number of individual seals he saw. Whether they were actually for different purposes or just had different masks on the same seal he couldn't say.

About halfway through the third bag Naruto let out a small cheer, startling everyone present as he broke the silence that had covered the room. "Found it! Come here Ero-Sennin." Naruto shot over to the desk and set out a few pages, an ink bottle, a brush, and a scroll that he was now unrolling in front of him. Had anyone been in this room when it's previous owner was present, they would have felt a bit of nostalgia right now. The blond haired boy sitting at the desk while the white haired sannin looked over his shoulder. The scene was reminiscent of the time when Minato would have Jiraiya over to check out one of his new creations. It wasn't lost on the man, but he hid the pang of sadness he felt with the intrigue he had for the seals that were coming to light in front of him.

"What is this Naruto? I see everything from chakra draining to cancellation seals, but I'm not sure where you're going with them..." Jiraiya studied the formulas and theory in front of him as the two men were almost completely oblivious to the outside world. As he went further through the writings of the boy though, his brow would occasionally furrow, then smooth and soon he was grinning like a madman. His though process was broken when Naruto spoke when he almost done with the scroll, the only things left were some minor calculations and notes of the creator, which was just a good practice detail for documentation and filing purposes.

"So...what do you think Ero-Sennin?"

"..."

"..."

"I think you've found your profession Naruto." The sannin finally replied as a huge grin split his face. "You've definitely saved a lot of sore fingers if this works."

"Oh it works. I've already used it. I just wanted to make sure it was safe for...other people to use." It was obvious that he was talking about people without the benefit of having their own personal demon inside.

"Well, they may be a little sore if they try to open thousands of these in a row, but nothing a good night's sleep shouldn't fix. Think about pricking parts of your body that number of times and then think of how much time a...normal person would need to recover. Hell for the same amount they could do with this they'd have to have a tap put in just to keep up." Naruto grinned at finally knowing that one of his seals could be more helpful than one of the more popular seals that was already around. "Tell me, gaki, how did you even think up something like this?"

"Well I got the idea at first when I opened this estate. I figured I might be able to do the same thing, just on a smaller scale. You know, without the barrier since most people wouldn't need to go to that extent. Initially I just used a locking seal on whatever I wanted to keep shut, then another seal that I carried with me to unlock it. Now with this I tried something a little different. With a masking seal I saw that you could layer seals, so I set up the unlocking seal and masked it. Then I set up the locking seal on top of it and mask that too. Both are connected by the chakra absorbing seals and the rest of the array. When the person pushes chakra into the seal the absorption seal redistributes it to the unlocking seal, which is then unmasked. Because the locking seal is on top of the unlocking seal, when the unlocking seal activates it automatically passes over the locking seal and deactivates it. When the flow of chakra stops, everything resets." Naruto explained the seal as best he could, trying to put it into terms everyone present would understand.

Jiraiya was perplexed. Not by the complexity of the seal, because all it really was, was a group of fairly basic seals that were all connected. The part that got to him was how so many simple seals arranged in such a way could achieve something so complex, and at the same time he berated himself for not thinking of it before. It was all so simple...too simple. "What are the drawbacks?"

Naruto sighed. This is the part that he thought might kill his project. "First, it's kind of like a blood seal in that you have to either have a sample of, or know the properties of someone's chakra. It also has to have that exact matching chakra put into it to activate. So in the case of security it's perfect, since it's extremely difficult for someone to force another person to put their chakra into a seal. Even if you had a Yamanaka possess someone and force their body to push the chakra out, they would still have a little of their residual chakra mixed in. Depending on how specialized the seal is it wouldn't unlock in that case. It's also because of that, that the seal has it's flaws. If the person dies then whatever they locked up is pretty much sealed permanently, or at least until someone destroys the container. On the good side though, I can set up another array in it so that multiple people can use the same seal to, say, to use as a house lock for a ninja family."

Now Jiraiya knew where he was going with this. "You plan on putting this on your own house...and you plan on giving others access to it so only those you can trust can get in. You knew someone would eventually try to steal your key so you started working on this." Naruto nodded at him, confirming his suspicions. "Naruto, I won't lie to you. Creating seals like this without training is dangerous. You could have created something so powerful that it would suck your chakra dry and killed you in a heartbeat." Naruto hung his head slightly. "But, as far as I can see this seal is perfect." Instantly the room perked up. "You got lucky this time, but don't go using seals that you don't have a full understanding of without a fūinjutsu specialist's approval. For this one you have mine, so I'll give you two days to put it up, then we're leaving."

Naruto hung his head again at the thought of leaving, but regardless he got to work on the seal. For this one, since it was going to be out in the weather, he brought out some special supplies. A special metal plate made specifically for seals that would be subjected to weather, and two small, palm-sized, semi domed tiles. Instantly he set to work, once the unlocking seal was in place he called over the girls that lived with him, one by one. Each of them was told to push their chakra into a specific, spiral shaped seal around the edge of the plate in order for it to recognize them. The only ones that weren't allowed to put their chakra in were Tenten, who was completely fine with it since she wasn't planning on living there and had no problems with announcing herself like anyone else would; Kin, who was a little disheartened by the fact but when he explained that he didn't want her going anywhere without an escort because of her origins she reluctantly agreed; Ino, since she didn't actually live there; and Jiraiya, who whined like a baby.

"Oh come on gaki, don't you trust me to keep people you don't want in here out?" Jiraiya tried his best to make puppy-dog eyes as streams of tears flooded his face.

Naruto looked at him and replied flatly. "I trust that you would use the privilege to peek on the girls when I'm not around."

"What?! I'm not into girls that young brat. Just what do you take me for?"

"I take you for an author of porn and a pervert. Plus, they'll eventually grown up, and I don't need you prowling around my property trying to peek at them when they do. Besides, I don't believe you had access back when your student lived here did you?"

Reluctantly Jiraiya let it go, but not without mumbling about 'Damn blond brats, too smart for their own good.' He sighed at the loss of some great potential material for his future books, but there were other matters to take care of. "Alright. Because you're being so selfish, we're leaving tomorrow at noon, so you better work fast or I'm leaving you behind."

"Sure thing Jiraiya-sensei." Naruto grinned mischievously as he walked the main to the gate. After letting the man out, Naruto pulled a stone from the wall beside the portal to the village, showing a neatly cut, square opening to the stunned sannin. "Just because I didn't have the seal made yet doesn't mean I wasn't preparing for its use." He slipped the seal into a slot in the hole, causing a small flash as lines inside the hole glowed briefly and connected to the locking mechanism of the gate. That done he slipped the two tiles, which now sported spiral designs on their surfaces, into slots on opposite sides of the block he took out and with a bucket of plaster he sent a clone to prepare on their way to the gate, locked them in place. Using more of the plaster he spread it inside the hole before sliding the block back in place before smoothing the surface on the inside, then moving outside and doing the same there. With the block in place he locked the door with his key before placing his hand on the tile and pushing some chakra into it. They heard an audible click and Naruto pushed the gate open then shut it again. Once it was shut, he tried opening it again, this time without using the seal. Despite his best efforts the gate held. "Ok now you girls try it." He instructed.

Again, one by one they stepped forward and tested the seal. Hinata and Haku came through easily, but Tenten, Ino and Kin were barred from exiting until Hinata opened the gate for them. Jiraiya also tried getting back in, but despite the amount of chakra he tried to overload the array with, he found it to be for naught as the gate didn't budge. He had to admit he was impressed. With the locking seal in place and the various traps set up around the property, Naruto's estate was beginning to push for the title of most secure property in Konoha. It was definitely up there with the Hokage tower and ANBU headquarters for ease of entry anyway. "Well now that you've successfully locked a sannin out of your place, you better start getting ready to go. We're leaving first thing in the morning."

"Hey, I thought you said noon!" Naruto grimaced.

"Yeah, but I was planning on being nice and giving you time to get that seal put in. Since it's already done we don't need to wait, and trust me we'll need all the time we can get for our mission." Naruto just sniffed at him and went back into his estate followed by the group of females who glared at Jiraiya on their way passed. "Oh come on, you even persuaded him to go so don't look at me like that!" He was slightly annoyed for turning out as the bad guy from all of this, but he guessed they had their reasons. 'After all with Naruto gone they won't be able to...' A perverted giggle escaped his throat as he started to imagine what could have been going on in the house. 'Of course with no man around and so many curious girls just discovering their bodies...' This time his giggle was followed by a stream of blood dripping from his nose as he walked away in a daze. People made a path for him in the streets as they wondered if the man had lost his wits by the way he was giggling and drooling.

• • •

Despite their yearning for Naruto to stay by their sides, the girls did what they could to help him pack for his trip while he relayed instruction on what he wanted and needed them to do while he was gone. First and foremost of course was that no one, no matter who they claimed to be, was allowed inside the estate except the girls themselves and those that had already been there before. They were also instructed to check for genjutsu just in case before they let anyone else in. If someone was there they had to have one of the girls with them at all times and would not be allowed in the office, basement or on the second floor...period. Likewise the girls were also not allowed to go snooping around the office or his room, but that was a pure trust issue on his part. That night they had a large dinner with just Naruto and the girls where he explained to those who didn't know, exactly who he was after making them swear not to say a word. Their were shocked gasps and widened eyes around the table, but after explaining his reasons for secrecy they agreed to never reveal his heritage until he was ready for it to be known...if that day ever came.

That night Tenten and Ino got permission to spend the night there, though it was a bit difficult considering whose house they asked to stay at. Tenten was by far the hardest to get permission for since her father didn't even know anything about Naruto other than the rumors around town. It took nearly an hour and a half to convince him that she would be sleeping in a room with other girls and they were only spending the night since Naruto was leaving on a long mission the next day. After reassuring him a dozen times that she would keep an eye open, she finally got fed up and told him that she was staying over anyway since as a ninja she was considered and adult and could make decisions on her own. Before she stomped off back towards Naruto's estate. They could hear her father yelling after her for a few blocks before the normal noises of the village drowned him out.

They spent the night just enjoying each others' company as they played some card games or just sat around and talked as some of them cuddled together. At one point it would have been Jiraiya's fantasy as Haku and Kin took Naruto's sides while he sat on the couch, Hinata sat in his lap while Ino and Tenten laid across their laps with their heads towards the center. They didn't stay in that position long though as they quickly found out that the legs of those sitting were quickly losing circulation. After that Ino and Tenten settled for sitting on the floor and resting their heads on their arms which were propped up on the leg-shelf as they all talked about nothing in particular. They talked about their families and their teams. Tenten of course finally got some information on his swords, at least what he was willing to give anyway. He couldn't give her too much since her really wasn't sure what all they could do. He also allowed the girls to ask him what he knew of his own parents, though there was still one bit of information he kept to himself. He didn't think they were ready to know what was inside of him, and to be honest he was a little afraid of what their reactions might be. It was a pleasant night all considered but like all things it eventually came to an end and they were force to go to bed.

• • •

Naruto woke up the next morning just as the sky was growing lighter. Silently he crept around his room, gathering the last bits he needed to take with him before dressing and slipping the numerous scrolls into his equally numerous pockets. This would also be one of the few occasions that he would take all of his battle gear with him as he had no way of knowing just what he might run into since the perverted sage didn't give him any mission details. Yeah it could have been overkill, but it was better to be prepared for a flood and get a drizzle then plan for a drizzle and drown in a flood. With his clothing and supplies packed he slipped out of his room and down the stairs. He had two more stops before he left so he went to his office and descended into the, now less than hidden, room. He managed to get a stool that did well enough to hide the seal, but it looked a lot more out of place than the pot had. Once he was inside he quickly pocketed his heritage scrolls and grabbed the two katana that were hanging on the wall then left for his final destination.

After the mess with the locking seal installation, Naruto had made a small army of clones once again, to do their best to clean up what they could of the recent events at his house. There were still some bloodstains on the floors, but the important thing was that everything that had been boxed up or moved was placed back in order. There had been a few personal effects that had been broken, like the pot, but nothing that couldn't be replaced. Now he stood amongst the shelves of the basement and gathered the scrolls he felt he could study while his companion did his 'research'. Once those were safely stashed away he went back up to the second story and softly knocked on Hinata's door before opening it slightly.

Hinata and Tenten were sleeping soundly beside each other as he snuck over to their futons. Being as quiet as he could he leaned down and kissed Hinata. "I'll see you soon my Hina-chan." It amused him when a small smile played on her lips when he whispered to her. "See ya around Tenten-san." He addressed the other sleeping girl before making his way out the door and to the next room.

After a soft knock and swinging the door open he looked on the new scene with a bit of amusement. On the left side of the set of futons, Haku lay looking as peaceful as possible. That was where normal sleeping habit ended though. Ino was laying crosswise on top of the brunette, face down with her head turned to the side and arms splayed out ahead hugging onto Kin's waist. The former Oto ninja was sprawled out on the second futon with arms and legs spread in different directions. She was on her back with one hand sitting on the pillow and the other laying on Ino's head. Her left leg was hanging off the side of the futon and her right was cocked at an angle over towards Haku. He suddenly chocked at the display when he realized that he was once again privy to a display of Kin's 'natural' attire. Walking even more cautiously over to the futons pulled the half discarded blanket over the trio as best he could before doing his best to kiss them where he was able. Kin's forehead, Ino's cheek and Haku's lips. He stalked once more out of the room, but stopped in his tracks when he found two people blocking his path in the hallway. He tried to stammer out and excuse, but soon found he didn't need to.

Hinata stood there trying to contemplate what they were seeing in their still half asleep daze. Hinata was the first one to recognize the blond top in the early morning twilight. "Naruto-kun *yawn* what are you doing up already?"

He couldn't tell them that this was exactly what he wanted to avoid. He really didn't want to make a big deal about leaving for a month since it wouldn't be the first time he'd done so. "I was just about to leave Hinata-chan. Since Ero-Sennin wants to leave early, I didn't want to wake you all up." He tried to keep his voice down so as to not wake anyone else up while at the same time trying to motion for Hinata to keep her's down.

Hinata got a bit of a contemplating look on her face, which he found a little cute, until she realized what he meant. "Oh...uhm...Oh!" A little more awake now with the realization. "Naruto-kun you should have woken us. We want to walk you out." She pouted a bit that he would try to leave without letting them know.

"Shh...Hinata-chan we already said goodbye last night. I'm only going to be gone for a month at most. It's not that big of a deal!" He was pleading with Kami that they would let him leave peacefully, but deep down he knew it wasn't to be.

Hinata half scowled half pouted at him. "It is a big deal because you won't be here for a month. I don't care what you say, you're going to sit here until we are ready and we're going to walk you out."

Suddenly grinning, Tenten ran passed him and into the next room, where he heard her yell, and then a thud as she landed on the futons amongst the other girls. That was followed by squeals and three girls running out into the hall thinking they were being attacked. They latched onto him out of instinct before looking towards their attacker. As their morning haze left them they suddenly realized the state of their dress and with another squeal and dashed back into the room, bed-shirts lifting just enough to show that they were all in a similar state of dress, leaving Naruto with a bit of a nosebleed until Hinata hit him in the arm to bring him back to reality. She giggled at his plight before disappearing into her room again, followed by Tenten who got chased out of the other room, to get dressed.

Half an hour later they were walking with him towards the gate as the sun just started to peek over the horizon. "Naruto-kun did you even have breakfast this morning?"

"Ero-Sennin said we'd be stopping for breakfast when we hit our first destination. I had an apple this morning though to hold me over."

"Do you have enough kunai?"

"Yes."

"Did you remember your sleeping roll?"

"Yes."

"Did you..."

"This isn't my first mission you know. You girls can stop worrying about me." Naruto said, a little annoyed at their fretting. 'I wonder if this is what it feels like to have a mother...'

"We can't help it. We love you and that what people who love each other do." Ino grinned as she told him right before leaping onto his back and forcing him to carry her. She got a couple friendly glares from the girls who were wondering, 'Why didn't I think of that?'

Naruto just captured her legs to hold her in place as he addressed them all. "If anyone should be worrying, it should be me. After all, you're going to have to deal with the councilors constantly trying to get into the estate. Which reminds me, don't leave home without some sort of weapon, and don't be afraid to use it to scare them off. If they won't leave, get one of the clan heads over to shoo them away. They have no rights to be on that land, but they don't like being told that they can't have something they want...just like the teme...Also, it might not hurt for you all to get a current law book just so you can study what your rights are."

"We know, and if they get too persistent we'll just find some other place to stay until you get back." Haku leaned over and kissed him on the cheek to calm him down a little.

By the time they got to the gate they found Jiraiya just arriving from the other direction. The sun was now a little over the horizon and it gave Konoha an unearthly orange glow. Setting Ino down he turned to the girls one last time before venturing out. "Remember it's only a month, then I'll be back to see you all again...stay safe." With little ceremony he went down the line, giving a more personal goodbye starting with Hinata. 'Zenzai for breakfast?' Haku then Ino. 'Both of them smell like they've been spending too much time in the gardens.' Kin. 'I didn't think she brought any weapons...why do I hear bells?' He stutter stepped when he got to the last person in line. "Ah heh. Well I'll see you later Tenten." He waved to the girl then turned around, only to be forced back the way he came from as Tenten planted her own kiss on him causing some giggling from the other girls who knew it was coming.

When Tenten finally let the struggling Naruto go, he was blushing furiously amidst the laughing of the girls and the catcalls of Jiraiya. "T-Tenten...why?"

The girl just mock pouted at him. "But Naruto-kuuuun...I felt left out." She stuck her lower lip out even more causing the rest of the girls to crack up laughing and the Sannin to develop a crimson mustache.

"Che...I'll remember that when I get back." Naruto once again turned on his heal and began to walk away but again was forced to stop as Jiraiya tried to get in the same lineup Naruto just went through. Sighing he grabbed the man by the hair and pulled him away as he started to cry and pout. "This is exactly why I wasn't willing to give you access to my house Ero-Sennin."

"Oh come on gaki, it's just a kiss. Just one little kiss...from each of them..."

"Shaddup, we're leaving."

The last thing they saw as they looked back through the gates were five girls waving at them frantically and blowing kisses at Naruto. 'Heh I'm going to miss every one of them, but it's only for a month...just one month.' He couldn't believe how much he missed them already. They had grown so close over their time together. He was of course the closest to Hinata and Haku, but that didn't mean he wouldn't miss them all. He made one last solemn promise the village started to disappear behind them. 'I swear I'll get Tsunade's wrinkled old ass back here to heal you old man. You'll be back up in no time.'