End is to Begin

Hey guys,

This one is a short update. It just kind of wrote itself. I have to say, there's little to no time spent just sitting in front of the screen and just staring. This fic just writes itself. It's probably because I'm a bigger fan of Naruto than I am Harry Potter, but I love them both so...

Warning: Lemon.

Enjoy!

KURENAI

Years of training as a shinobi disciplines the body into an effective, efficient and powerful weapon, so like many shinobi in the Hidden Leaf, Kurenai's body has developed a natural internal alarm clock, always armed to wake her well before dawn. With busy days fulfilling the many duties requested of a shinobi, early morning or late in the evening are a shinobi's best times for personal training and her steadfast alarm is no different this morning. However, Kurenai is slow to learn exactly how far a cry from normal the present actually is.

Kurenai awoke with a splitting headache. Her head throbbed so bad, her vision blurs slightly with every painful beat. The gorgeous kunoichi groans miserably, bringing a shaky hand to her sweaty, throbbing temple. Her mind slowly begins interpreting feelings and sensations she absorbs from her senses. She was on her side, her mop head of hair resting on a pillow and she was closely hugging what feels like the best body pillow in the world or a radiating sack of comforting warmth.

The warmth paired well with the delectable aches, circulating randomly throughout her hips and lower spine. The warmth between her legs held the most tremors, making her mind focus on the pleasure of her nether region rather than the dry pain of her throbbing head. It was not difficult to focus on the hard-fought sated peace warming her from core to spine; the type of warm after-aches one can only experience after a night of numerous orgasms. Squeezing and stretching against her body pillow surprisingly encourages the warm pillow to hug and squeeze her back, fearfully hastening her rational faculties and memories.

As the memories of the previous night's depravity floods her mind, she feels ticklish breathing and wet lips on her chest. Further confirmation of the ravages of last night was not needed, yet even still, looking down is the most shameful proof of her moral descent. She is completely entwined with the young blond genin. Uzumaki has his strong arms wrapped around her, under her own arms, with her traitorous legs wrapped over his waist, locking his thinner pelvis perfectly together with her own. An errant thought of how well the blond fits against her is quickly throttled and dumped to the side as tears well to her eyelids before they overflow and roll down the sides of her head.

'I'm never drinking again,' she mentally asserts, wondering how her tribulations can be so suffocating that she'd be desperate for anything, be it alcohol or pleasure, to overwhelm her sorrows.

As if nothing more could be as humiliating, his hip jerks as he sleeps, making her clench, informing her in the most embarrassing way that his flaccid penis is still inside of her. As if thinking about the soft penis head just past her entrance, her pussy grips at his appendage, unnecessarily confirming what she can already feel. His hips jerk again, though this time, she can feel him growing steadily bigger.

Trying to move the blond away by his shoulders, he instinctively grips at her body tighter as he quickly grows much larger. Without her consent, her body grows warmer than it should—intimately so—as if her body didn't understand immoral pleasure isn't supposed to make her feel good. Instead, she frantically grips the sides of his head and pulls him to face her stern red irises, calling, "Uzumaki-kun! Wake up- Mnn," an unauthorized moan interrupt her call to the slumbering boy lightly jerking between her legs massaging her insides.

He thrusts his semi-erect penis further into her moistening love tunnel and her body overlays the present pleasant sensations with the blissful aches of last night. The rush wakes him, groggy though he looks and his next thrust is more confident, burrowing himself halfway into her semen lubricated, tight, meat tunnel.

"U-Uzumaki!" she calls, repressing the tandem combination of lasts night's pleasures and the current dopey tramping. "Stop... this instant."

"Mnn," he mumbles questionably, before becoming more aware. "Yes, again!" he calls as he moves away from her.

"No-" she starts but then he lifts her resistant leg to get out. She almost felt embarrassed by her body's want to keep him there until he lifted her leg higher, so the inside of her thigh was resting flush against his chest. One leg pointed to the ceiling, the other between his, he's lined perfectly with her still on her side.

"Wait- Uzumaki-kun, stop," she calls as she fights her unbelievably palpable urge to continue. It's as confusing as this entire situation, when he returns, "why? You said this one-" he thrusts his hips forward, reaching the kiss of her womb to her great delight. "Is," he pulls out. "One," thrust forward again. "Of," pulls out and thrusts back in. "Your… favorite… Positions." he finishes, punctuating each word with a pull-out and push-in for deep penetration.

'When..'d I ssayy tha',' her creaming mind wonders as she tries to hold down her pleasure filled moans. The position always brushed her G-spot in the most delicious way, and no longer than a few minutes of energetic pounding and she was already moaning with every impact against her spine-arching weak spot. Her legs weakened considerable, which is apart of the reason she enjoys the one leg against his chest. He can wrap his arms around the boneless limb and keep pounding away.

"MMn… MM… MMnn… MNN! No- AAHN! You ha-ha- MMn, AHH! Have to- stop," she weakly expresses between moans barely above a whisper, repeating as best she can. For who's benefit, she couldn't say. She couldn't understand why his cock felt so good, and soon she couldn't care. She was debased and moaning for more. "Mmnn, ahn, ahn, aah, yes! Yeessss!"

Hearing the wet 'shlurp' with his every plunging, 'smack!' and knowing it was the mixture of his underage cock in her dripping pussy, excited an immoral pleasure she didn't know she possessed. Close to release, she sped her finger play against her swollen clit, expanding and unbearably tight coil set to be the death of her when detonated. Naruto could feel the way her ribbed walls were sucking him in with his every motion to pull out. The moist heat was the most wonderful feeling he can think to feel, but the way he felt when her body wanted him, was the most erotic thing ever.

"Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop," she kept repeating despite her hands working her hard nipples, and sensitive clit. Naruto would've been confused by her words if her actions weren't saying something else, but he couldn't stop his hips even if he tried. Holding her in this position as he pounds her slick walls flushed, he's mesmerized, unable to do anything more but relish in his rising bliss.

"I'm cumming- I'm cumming- I'm cumming- I'm CUMMMMM-," Kurenai screams as the great coil of bliss erupted and her vision blurs to a mesh to a surreal mess of colors and light. Her entire body flooded with spasms of electric ecstasy, curling her toes, gyrating her taut hips and tight butt, sending rivulets of unceasing pleasure up her spine and into her cranium. For many moments, Kurenai was nothing if not the rolling waves of buzzing euphoria. Her jaw slacks and her red oval lips trumpet her heavy breathy moans until she felt her entire pelvis lift off the soaked sheets, confusing her.

Naruto lifts her by the sweaty, muscular thigh still wrapped in his arms and buries himself as deep as he can go. Kurenai has enough mind to wonder why the boy's phallus expands until she feels molten man juice shoot load after load deep into her fertile womb. She saw white at the feel of such a massive ejaculation of hot thick semen pressing into quaking rupture of her accepting tunnel.

She regains awareness moments later, and thankfully a sweaty Uzumaki-kun is resting face down next to her, breathing heavily through his huge grin—very nearly making her smile by how elated he looks... but not near enough.

She takes the opportunity to move off the bed and away from him. He's not a threat by any stretch of the imagination, but Kurenai is not feeling like herself and her body is more sensitive than she ever remembers feeling before. Her usually strong legs, weak from the long night of pleasurable exertion, tremble to hold her weight. Taking a step away from the bed, a large—much too large—amount of thick semen oozes down her legs.

"I need to shower," she groans with embarrassment as she rushes to the bathroom. Twisting the nozzle for heated water, she vaguely notes the pearl-white glutinous ejaculate is flowing past her knees. Impatient for a hot shower, she touches the water to learn it's still freezing cold. Confused she tries the cold nozzle, but it changes nothing. Assuming he has no hot water, Kurenai, simply jumps in, violently snuffing out all the warmth, lust, and throbbing from her sensitive body. It was the shock that she needed as she feels more semen stream down her shapely legs.

Kurenai unintentionally analyzes the sheer amount and concludes the blond must've climaxed several times inside her. Aware most grown men ejaculate at most four to five times in a day, she can only assume teenagers are much more zealous, restoring there vigor faster than normal. 'Or it's possible Uzumaki is unique,' she considers as she recalls the plugging feeling.

Anko has mentioned running across truly unique sexual partners either on vacation or missions. Kurenai has heard of all sorts of abnormalities from Anko; odd bumps, subdermal implants, three testicles, and a really odd one who urinated his ejaculate. Kurenai recalls the busty kunoichi's tale of discovering a chubby civilian—not the seductress's usual target—with a birth defect of two penises. In her sheer excitement, Anko actually kidnapped him for the longest weekend of double stuffed debauchery that ranks in her top five. Anko was saddened when she learned his experience with her resulted in a phobia of women, ruining his ability to get aroused by women.

As for Uzumaki, he seems to be able to swell at the base of his penis when he ejaculates, but Kurenai is sure that it doesn't happen every time. The raven-haired beauty has also heard Uzumaki has very high stamina levels. Flashes of intense memories that prove the statement true makes her blush, despite the ice raining down her humming body. As she washes her dark locks, she shakes her head of vulgar thoughts. None of what happened last night should've happened, but now that it did, Kurenai considers this new predicament. Though parts of her just want to wallow in sorrow, she compartmentalizes her emotions as any well-trained shinobi can, and considers her options as rationally as possible.

Kurenai can't kill him. If he wasn't so important to the village, she would consider it, but as a Jinchūriki, he sadly must remain alive, which means the arrogant blond can talk. He can tell anybody he wants that he lost his virginity to one of the more popular kunoichi in all of Hidden Leaf.

While her reputation to her peers and the civilians of her village is very important to her, Hinata-chan's opinion is far more important. If Hinata-chan ever found out her sensei—the person she's supposed to trust her future to—had sex with the love of her young life, it would crush her to nothing. Kurenai can't even picture the indigo-haired Hyūga ever recovering. Kurenai needs to make sure Uzumaki stays quiet. More importantly, Uzumaki-kun is vital to her plans to encourage and empower Hinata-chan.

'How the hell did this boy become such an important piece in my plans?' she mentally bemoans. As much as she's dreading it, it's more than likely—especially after what they did last night—that the price for his help will go up. She hates the rational threat assessment but he's a hormonal boy, after all. She's not expecting an abundance of self-control. He'll want more, 'but will I pay it?'

Stepping out of the shower she notices her clothes horribly folded on the bathroom counter. Despite the cold, she feels mildly better as she changes. Stepping out of the bathroom, she finds Uzumaki-kun in his boxers waiting for her with a broad smile. Though fully clothed, she feels completely naked under his intense gaze.

"Ne, Nai-chan-" Naruto happily calls, attempting to take her hand.

"Do not call me Nai-chan," she yells at him, hopping back a step. He tenses in surprise by her outburst. Without preamble, she points to the shower, and he cautiously enters for a shower of his own. When Naruto exits the bathroom, he finds her behind the dining table. She points to the only dining chair he owns, commanding him to, "have a seat."

"Are you okay?" he tentatively asks, doing as she asks as his deep blue eyes stare straight into her large red ones. "What's the matter? Did- did I do it wrong?"

"Uzumaki..." Kurenai couldn't even properly express her chaotic thoughts. So much about this was wrong, not least of which was how vigorous she participated in their coupling. She would be furious with him if not for her own part in allowing it to happen in the first place.

"Uh, I can do better," Naruto tries to cut her off. "I promise, I'll do better next time! Just give me one more chance!"

With a long exhale, she continues, "last night shouldn't have happened nor will there be any more nights like it again. Not only am I an adult eight years your senior, but I outrank you. And while I can't entirely lay the blame on you, it'll be a mutual mistake that will never happen again."

"Wha- but it wasn't a mistake!" Naruto argues, getting to his feet. "It was great! The best! There's nothing wrong with that."

"Of course there is!" Kurenai can't help but snap back. Obviously, there's little chance a young boy going through puberty is going to turn down the opportunity to lose his virginity, especially to a woman who is as well-received as Kurenai is, but it didn't mean that he couldn't have stopped it. If he wasn't so insistent, if she wasn't so... woefully dejected, suffering the deep sting of rejection from the only man she truly loves, if she wasn't drunk, if her world hadn't tilted last night… than everything would've remained as it was.

"You don't realize how wrong it is because you're a child who doesn't know any better," Kurenai asserts.

"Wha- Well, if you're such an adult, than why was it okay last night," Naruto returns. "You liked it then, right? You came just like you said girls do. That means you liked it! And I may be young but I'm a ninja first!"

She lets out another long sigh, then warily says, "Uzumaki-kun, Ramen is your favorite food, right?" She asks, trying a different tactic as he nods vehemently. "If I purchased an extra large bowl exactly how you like it, and threw it on the ground, how would you feel?"

"Tha- You can't! That's so wrong, it'd break my heart. I'd probably fight you, or just get really mad," he easily answers letting the mental picture spur his ardent words.

"What if it made me feel really good to do that? I'd buy several bowls exactly how you like it just to throw it all in the dirt," she continues to ask.

Eyes wide with fear, he easily asserts, "than I'd definitely kick your ass! You can't do that! If you're not going to eat it, don't buy it!"

"There are no rules saying I can't do whatever makes me feel good after I've purchased the ramen with my money," Kurenai argues, seeing his growing confusion, she clarifies. "What I'm trying to say is, just because something feels good doesn't mean you have the freedom to do it. Even though there isn't a rule against it, everyone agrees buying food only to throw it away is wasteful and wrong. There are certain expectations in a civilized village that everyone should follow, for example, don't waste; eat what you buy. Don't murder, don't rape, don't vandalize, are more examples even though there are rules about those. In this case, you don't sleep with a person eight years younger than you! If you weren't a genin, this would've been illegal and I would've gone to prison."

"What!?" Naruto blurts out. "But this isn't murder or any of that bad stuff!"

"What I'm trying to convey is, simply because something feels good for you, doesn't make it right to society. We should not have done what we did."

She can easily see the wheels of his mind spinning before he asks, "but- but, I'm a genin, right? So- So, that means it's okay, then," Naruto reasons.

"It's still not okay!" Kurenai maintains. "You're not supposed to do that with an adult!"

"I don't care about what I'm supposed to do," Naruto yells back. "If all I ever did was what I'm 'supposed to do' than I wouldn't even be a ninja! I wouldn't have pushed Ji-chan to emanc- imantipat... to make me an adult so I can live on my own. I'd probably still be in the orphanage, getting hurt, and I wouldn't even think about being the absolute best Hokage ever! I don't let people I don't know—who don't even care about me—tell me what I can and can't do!"

Kurenai couldn't help pick up on a few key phrases in his emotional retort. An emancipated adult, being hurt while living in the orphanage, and a small question of who this Ji-chan that helped him become emancipated sparked her curiosity. It was a very revealing speech, and it certainly gave Kurenai's analytical mind more insight as to why the loud obnoxious blond was the way he was. It would almost be admirable if he had any skill or ability to show for it. It also led her to ponder his view on what they had done. 'This is just training for him. At the most, training with a partner,' she mentally hypothesizes. Willing to test her theory, she asks, "Uzumaki-kun, do you love me?"

Taken aback by the question, he comically ponders the question a moment, his cheeks stain red before he answers with a question of his own, "is that like a precious person? Like Ji-chan, Teuchi-jiji, Ayame-nee, or Iruka-sensei?"

'He doesn't completely grasp love it appears,' Kurenai reasons before responding, "no, I mean like a romantic love; a girl for instance?"

"Mnn, I... don't know. I mean, I'm super psyched you're helping me, and you feel really really good." Kurenai can't help but blush at the quick flashes of physical and mental memories the boy invokes. Judging by his reddening cheeks and the shifting from side to side, it's easy to interpret he's recalling last night as well. "I would definitely protect you, no question, but... but I still think about Sakura-chan, a lot... even though I know I can't ever be with her..." he says despondently. Oddly enough, Kurenai understands that completely. "But I think, as long as she's happy and strong, I'll be okay. Plus, I can still protect her if she needs it."

As a rule for his sessions with Hinata-chan, Uzumaki isn't allowed to speak about other girls, so Kurenai's never heard any of this before. It's slightly surprising to Kurenai that he actually has this side to him and even though she's fairly certain he sees their coupling as little more than training, she tells him, "listen, we can't ever do this again. It wouldn't be good if anyone found out. Lots of terrible repercussions can happen to you, to me, to my students if others learned about this and I don't ever want that to happen."

Naruto tilts his head curiously as he asks, "so, you want to keep it a secret?"

"Yes," Kurenai asserts. "A very important secret. Absolutely no one must ever find out."

"Well I'm really good at keeping secrets," he tells her with a vibrant grin. "I'm even keeping my training super secret!"

"Okay, good," Kurenai humors him so long as he understands.

"So that means we can keep training as long as no one knows," he asks.

Kurenai can feel the land mines ahead, yet answers, "no. No, we can't. We can't ever do that again. It's not proper for many reasons."

"But I learned so much," Naruto proclaims. "How do you expect me to go back to books and pictures after that?"

"Uzumaki-kun, I don't think I can keep helping you with... with what I've been helping you with. I think we should end this here," she softly voices, but to Naruto, it may as well sounded like a canon. He's stunned until he hears her moving to leave.

"Wait, wait," he rushes after her, getting in front. "You promised! You said you'd help!"

"I can't do that again," Kurenai maintains, walking away.

He follows her desperately. "But- but, it was good, right? You liked it, right? Please, I'll do better! You don't have to leave me," he pleads, wrapping his arms around her waist, trying to keep her from leaving... to keep another connection he's made from abandoning him.

Rather surprised, yet saddened to see, she weakly protests, "Uzumaki..."

"It's fine if no one knows, right? I won't say anything, so- so- so, just stay," he tries with a trembling voice. "Or I'll be a Jōnin too, if that's what you want. Then it'll be fine since we're the same rank! That works perfect, ne?"

"Uzumaki-kun, let me go, please," she somberly asks, and after some hesitation, he slowly lets her go.

She walks around him to the door as he continues to plead his case with pitiful claims. "I already know a B-Rank jutsu and I'm learning an A-rank right now! It won't be long before I make it an S-rank jutsu. It won't take long, I promise it won't... Please, Nai-chan."

Opening the door, she debates reassuring him, threatening him, explaining why it has nothing to do with rank, clarifying what has to happen and why, but instead she leaves, closing the door on him behind her.

NARUTO

'How can dawn start and end so differently?'

Naruto sat on the grass Indian-position, well away from his teammates, with a leaf in his left palm, and his right hand covering it. The entire time he waited for his Jōnin-sensei, he pondered about another. The night before had been the most amazing thing he's ever felt; possibly second to his afternoon with Ino-chan. Without allowing himself to recall the events for fear of popping a tent in front a distant Sakura-chan, he wonders how waking up could be that marvelous but less than an hour later, he drove another person away. He was starting to wonder if he was cursed somehow. Sakura-chan doesn't want anything to do with him, Ino-chan is just as distant, and now Kurenai-chan literally closed the door in his face.

Naruto had never been so quiet around his team, but they don't seem to mind. Though he can't help how miserable he feels, he's happy to see Sakura-chan again, healthy and best of all, standing far away from the teme. Sakura-chan might not want to stand by Naruto, or look at him apparently, but at least she's not by Sasuke-teme. He made sure she knew he was glad she was feeling better but again, she refused to look at him and only mumbled something he couldn't understand.

Like himself, she's also working on her talents. He can tell she's looking over a scroll on Iryō-ninjutsu, but he can't tell what specifically it is. Kakashi-sensei had been really surprised when she asked for more reading material on medical ninjutsu, or as surprised as a man with only one visible facial feature can be. It stung Naruto when she didn't give him the credit for her new direction, but their sensei had been supportive and supplied her with several scrolls for her to go over. Naruto would've surely loved it if she gave him the credit for the idea, but at least she's learning. So, instead of pestering and interrupting her, he tries to enhance his focus on his own training. He's still trying to cut the leaf using his chakra while he has three pairs of clones working on the final stage of the Rasengan a decent distance in the forest.

This would've been the first morning in a long time he would've preferred to stay home and wallow, but, he couldn't last more than ten minutes before dark thoughts started to materialize in his brain. Like many times before, he told himself all would be different once he became Hokage, and just like before, he started training. Though his thoughts constantly strayed to Kurenai-chan, he continues to push past the things he couldn't control for a better tomorrow. It's not the only drive sustaining him, but it's the best one he has.

When Kakashi-sensei shows up three and a half hours after the scheduled meeting time, he allows the uncut leaf to fall to the floor and begins dispelling his clones one at a time.

SAKURA

It's more difficult to look at the blond idiot than she had anticipated. Part of her wanted nothing more than to beat the boy's teeth into his brain then rip his dick off with her bare hand and stuff it in his mouth, but sheer will held her at bay.

Team 7 was quieter than normal. All throughout team drill training and the two D-Rank missions they had done, there was little more conversation than what was absolutely necessary. It unnerved her already ragged nerves. Sakura was simply too accustomed to hearing him yell, laugh, loudly slurp his disgusting noodles, ask her out on a date, bother Kakashi-sensei about training, challenge Sasuke-kun, or shout about becoming Hokage. It was actually strange to go without hearing the Baka say anything.

A fearful side of her wondered if he knows, and he's simply being quiet about it. The reckless side of her reasoning wonders if he's just scared that she'll tell someone, so he's staying distant. Maybe both Ino-pig and Naruto-baka were in on it to get between her and Sasuke-kun. Ino-pig would get to be with Sasuke-kun and Sakura would be blackmailed to be with Naruto-baka. 'It had merit,' her mind told her, but it's not like he was avoiding her. Even if she ignored him, he had told her he was glad she was better, and he didn't really seem nervous or scared, just introspective or focused on that stupid leaf... again.

The rational side of her mind reasoned that his uncommon behavior had nothing to do with her because it just wasn't in Naruto-baka's nature to avoid things. He's too simple to not talk to her about it. He didn't bring up what they had done—what she was forced to do—because he truly didn't know and that, at the very least, told her that Ino-Pig was telling the truth about him being unaware—which only disgusted her more. Sakura still can't understand how Ino-pig could be so jealous of her that she would go so far as to take that idiot's cock in her mouth... it was gag-inducing.

"Sakura-chan," Kakashi softly calls, interrupting her thoughts. "You're looking a little green. Are you sure you're feeling better?" She smiles weakly at her sensei's concern.

"Are you alright Sakura-chan, don't push yourself too hard," Naruto quickly adds. She ignores Naruto-baka.

Sakura eyes the raven-haired avenger in hopes of hearing a comment of concern for her health from him but when none was forthcoming, Sakura reassures her sensei, "I'm better. And thank you for checking on me."

"Ne, Sakura-chan," Naruto nervously starts. "I checked on you too."

She turned away, and his heart broke as Kakashi calls out, "alright my cute little genin, you're dismissed. See you all bright and early tomorrow." He disappears and Sasuke-kun promptly turns toward his family's compound. Sakura felt her body's great urge to follow, going so far as to begin moving along with the beautiful boy, as if pulled by some invisible string, eager to ask if she can accompany him, but she doesn't make it more than two steps before she remembers the photos; the life ruining photos in Ino-pig's possession that she won't hesitate to show Sasuke-kun or her parents if she disobeyed.

Her head was swimming and her stomach felt like upending its content, which hasn't been much lately. Turning around she spots Naruto walking away as well. She urges herself forward, to follow the blond for the sake of her love, but knowing how she now has to spend her time off—and with who—is more than enough incentive to root her to the ground. Sakura can't follow Naruto. 'Doesn't Ino-pig get that he disgusts me,' her mind yells, further adding, 'and now that I've done what Ino forced me to do, I'm disgusted with myself as well!'

Her breathing deepens but she's short of breath. Unable to stand, unable to follow one boy, forced to ignore the other, Sakura simply runs. She runs home to the comfort of her room and the safety of her own bed, to the picture of her love on the bedside table, but as she turns into her street, Sakura runs into a smiling Ino-pig.

"I knew you'd crack," Ino chuckles.

"I can't do it!" Sakura pleads the tears already rolling down her cheeks. "I feel like I'm going to die!"

"You couldn't possibly be more pathetic than you are right now," Ino says looking at her with disgust. "Lucky for you, I won't let you cry your way out of this one, so, stop being such a dry cooch, because you're making the rest of us real kunoichi look bad."

"Please, Ino-chan- Ino-sama," she begs, using a more affectionate honorific. "Anything but being around him!"

"Ino-chan is fine, and do you think this is some sort of vacation I'm forcing you on? Just a lovely time at the hot springs?" Ino asks looking at the green-eyed girl with disgust. "It's not supposed to be easy! Now, since you've disobeyed a directive, I'll have to punish you."

"No please, don't show him," Sakura begs. "I- I'll do it! Okay? Please, Ino-chan, I'll- I'll be around the baka. Just don't show Sasuke-kun!"

"Come on," is all Ino commands as she steps around the pinkette.

"No, Ino-chan please," Sakura pleads. "Anywhere but there," she begs with her old friend, rival, and current blackmailer.

Ino simply yells behind her, "let's go, now!"

With little option, Sakura reluctantly follows. Though her tears dry during the trek, she only starts feeling a little better when she realizes they're not walking toward the Uchiha district. They travel through some of the less active, much older training grounds, further than she's ever gone. Reaching Training Ground 28, Ino finally finds their target, oddly enough, sitting on the grass, legs crossed, hands on his knees like the perfect picture of meditation. What they couldn't see were the five pairs of clones much deeper in the forest practicing the third stage of the Rasengan on some unfortunate trees.

"Well, there he is," Ino tells the frightened girl. "Go. Now." Resigned to her fate, Sakura drags her feet as Ino continues to say, "you train as long as he does then you go home and work on your Iryō jutsu or the report that's due in two weeks."

"Will you at least tell me," Sakura gravely asks. "If you do ever decide to show that, will you at least warn me?"

"I'll promise you I won't ever show Sasuke-kun or your parents, or anyone, really, unless you give me a reason to. What happens is up to you, Forehead. As punishment for today's infraction, you get a final warning and a picture." Ino takes one of the polaroids out and hands it to Sakura, who quickly takes and hides it. "Don't throw it away," Ino instructs. "It's to remind you when you need it, so always keep it on you. I might randomly ask to see it one day and I'm sure you can guess what'll happen if you don't have it."

NARUTO

'… … … Kurenai-sensei?' the voice gasps with airy disbelief.

"Yeah," Naruto says with a mixture of giddiness and sadness.

'Long black hair, kinda shaggy, red eyes, pretty, very sexy,' Naru-nii, lists off still heavily skeptical.

"Yeah," Naruto answers easily.

'… … You're shittin' me,' Naru-nii continues to gasp.

"Even I wonder sometimes, but it's true," Naruto states, taking a step back from the hurt of the door she closed on his face to realize that he had sex with an absolute stunner of a woman.

'… … I never thought she would help like that,' Naru-nii gasps. 'I mean, I've heard about infiltration specialists learning a ton about sex and using it for missions… but… Kurenai-sensei? She actually went that far? Are you sure you're my younger self? You look like me right? Blond spiky hair, blue eyes, whiskers on your cheeks?'

"Yeup!" Naruto returns, smiling broadly.

'That's insane,' Naru-nii huffs. 'I didn't think it could get any more insane than Ino-chan!'

"So that never happened to you either, then?" Naruto asks.

'I already said I hadn't slept with anyone,' Naru-nii answers still in awe. 'I didn't know if anyone liked me like that, you know?'

"That's the thing," Naruto ponderously comments. "I thought they liked me, but then they leave afterward totally pissed. Ino-chan threatened me if I didn't stay away and Kurenai-chan even said what we did was a mistake."

Naruto can hear the curiosity in his future-self's voice as he asks, 'then why would she have sex with you if it was a mistake?'

"I don't know!" Naruto calls back. "Women are soo confusing."

Naru-nii then asks, 'you think you might be able to find out?'

"Maybe," Naruto wonders aloud. "Unlike Ino-chan, Kurenai-chan didn't specifically say she'd kill me if I didn't stay away."

'Alright,' Naru-nii states. 'Let's save that for later. We should get back to training.'

"…I don't think I can," Naruto weakly admits. "I want to train, really, I do, but I can't stop thinking about last night."

'Mnn, well, I can see that even if I don't get it,' Naru-nii sympathizes. 'Don't worry though. We can always go over some more plans,' he suggests.

"What kind of plans?"

'Well, I'd love it if we could do summons, but that can't happen until you meet your Godfather,' Naru-nii thinks aloud.

Annoyed by the information Naru-nii withholds, Naruto asks, yet again, "why can't you just tell me who he is?"

'He'll be in Konoha soon, don't worry,' Naru-nii reassures him. 'I've already told you he's really strong, and a pervert, but I'll make sure you know more before he gets there. Anyway, he's the one who teaches you to summon.'

"Fine," Naruto lets it go for the umpteenth time. "What other plans do you have?"

'A bunch of stuff really,' Naru-nii states generally. 'Sage Arts, Fūinjutsu, Fūton-ninjutsu, but those won't be for a while,' Naru-nii voices. 'Right now though there's one thing you can do that'll help you out a ton.'

"Really! Really! What? What is it?" Naruto rushes excited to focus on something that wasn't about last night.

'I want you to start talking to Kurama,' Naru-nii answers.

"Kurama?" Naruto quizzically repeats. "Didn't you mention him before? You said he's a friend."

'Yup, and he's your friend too,' Naru-nii asserts.

"Really?"

'It'll take some work—well a lot of work—but yeah.'

"No problem!" Naruto calls, easily accepting the hard work of it. "If you say he's a good friend and help me get stronger, I'm in! Where is he? Where can I find him?"

'He's in your stomach,' Naru-nii reveals, to Naruto's "Huh?" Naru-nii continues, 'he's the Nine-Tails in your seal.'

"You want me to be friends with the Kyūbi?"

'Yup! Now, I know what you're thinking, ' Naru-nii starts with a serious voice, prompting Naruto to listen carefully. 'But it's not like how the others say it is. All that nonsense about him being the epitome of evil and nothing but pure hatred is wrong. I'm going to tell you another secret so keep it to yourself or Ji-chan will be forced to detain you until you explain how you know things you shouldn't.'

Nary-nii explains Kurama's background, specifically how he was used like tool by a bad guy as well as the amount of hate he has for everyone who simply treated him like a monster. Throughout the explanation, Naruto understood all too well how it feels to be treated like a vile pest and followed Naru-nii's instructions on how to reach him.

'You don't need to try hard, just concentrate on a cold, scary feeling, and follow it. It'll be unsettling at first but you'll get used to it the more times you visit the seal. I gotta go now, but remember, this is just a meet and greet. Unless they absolutely have to, friends don't keep secrets from each other so if you want to tell Kurama about me, go ahead, or if you just want to curse him out, I get that too, but if you try understanding him I think it'll go better. It took me a while to truly understand his pain so don't worry if you guys aren't friends right away.'

'Got it! If you say he's your friend than I feel like he can be my friend too. See ya, Naru-nii,' Naruto thinks as he focuses on making his way to the seal. He can't tell if he's doing a good job until he feels that cold despair Naru-nii had mentioned. He had no idea how long he followed that feeling; even less when the pitch black of his focus faded into a low-lite dank sewer. Despite the creepy unease, Naruto continues until he enters a huge cavern with just as large dull golden gates on the other end of the grand expanse.

Fat water droplets dripping in shallow waters is the only sound in the room, and for some reason it carries, adding to the gloom of the devouring feeling creeping up his spine. Far too uncomfortable, Naruto can't help but call out, "Hello!" as loud as he can. "Any demons home?!" he adds walking further into the room.

Two large eyes slowly open displaying large feral red irises with the vertical pupils of a predator. "You will regret coming here, boy."

"Huge!" Naruto can't help but say looking at the giant beast behind the gold bars.

Baring white teeth larger than Naruto himself, a low growl slowly reverberates throughout the chamber. It's sinister red eyes glare down at Naruto, who had forgotten to expect it and is wondering why he's even there. Despite the strong creepy killer intent, he held just firm enough not to back away.

After several moments, the Nine-tails growls words. "Come closer boy."

Slowly, Naruto moves toward the large gates with the seal in the middle, calling out with a shaky voice, "h-h-hey! You don't scare me! I know all about you!"

"You know nothing brat!" The large feral monster bellows so loud it shakes the room and rattles Naruto's teeth.

But Naruto doesn't relent, shouting back against the enormous monster ahead as well as the creeping fear within. "I know your name! Not the Kyūbi but your real name! I know you were forced to attack the village! And I know you miss your father!"

The room settles enough where Naruto feels like he can breathe again as the large beast pauses. "..." Before asking in a single long drawn out word, "...how?"

"I was told," Naruto answers honestly, staring unflinchingly into large red eyes. "Listen up you dumb fox! I want to be your friend, so- so, my name is Uzumaki Naruto! Greatest Hokage there'll ever be!"

"Friend?!" Kyūbi laughs. "A detestable human will never be friends with the strongest of the tailed beasts! You will tell me who told you!"

Naruto smiles, confidently, throwing off the fierce intimidation of the demon fox. "I'll tell you... as long as we come to an understanding."

The Kyūbi grumbles for a stretch before finally saying, "…Speak."

"You let me use as much of your chakra as I want, whenever I want, and I'll tell you."

"A deal with a demon… you have the guts of a doomed fool," the Nine-Tailed Beasts declares. "While my teeth may long to make a bloody mess of you, I accept."

Feeling more courageous, Naruto asks, "ne, can you tell me your name?"

"Are you so foolish you would lie to me?" the Nine-Tails challenges. "You claimed to already know it!"

"No, no, I do. I know it," Naruto reassures the grand chakra beast. "I just want you to tell me like friends do. Come on, you can call me Naruto if you want."

"Tell me what I wish to know and I'll consider it," the large fox responds.

Nodding, Naruto tells the large fox everything Naru-nii told him thus far. Naru-nii said it was okay and mentioned how they became partners, and Naruto wanted that as well, so he left nothing out; the group Akatsuki, Tobi, who is an Uchiha working for Madara, taking the other bijū, the Ten-Tails, The God Tree, and Infinite Tsukuyomi. Naruto finished by explaining what Naru-nii did to speak with his past self and by the end, the largest mass of dark chakra was silent... very silent… silent enough that Naruto missed the creepy fear up his spine from earlier. Kurama didn't even purr angrily. He held his silence so long, in fact, Naruto starts to fidget and quickly asks, "ne, are you alright?"

"I need time with this," Kurama conveys. "Return in two days."

When Naruto awoke he smiled to himself. His body resists movement but he gets up and stretches nonetheless. He can't say exactly how long he'd been sitting, but he can feel that it must've been for a few hours. Turning around, he's completely floored by the pink haired girl sitting in the shade against a tree, reading.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto curiously calls. The girl's shoulders deflate but she looks at him. The resigned expression on her face makes him wonder if she's sad, but his excitement begs the question, "what are you doing here?" She had the hardest time looking at him. It would've reminded him of Hinata-chan if it weren't for the constant scowling.

"I... I came to train... with- with you," she begrudgingly explains.

Eyes wide and light as air, he hops over to her with eager happiness. "Really! Really, really! You really want to train together?"

"It's just training okay!" She throws back, allowing her anger to look directly at him without wavering. "Nothing else! We're just teammates training, nothing more, nothing less, got it?!"

"Yeah, sure," Naruto eagerly responds, absolutely thrilled Sakura-chan actually wants to train with him. 'Maybe the day isn't a total bust,' he thought as he was already making plans to ask Naru-nii for any training tips for Sakura-chan. "What do you want to do first?!"

"I'm the team's medic so I have a lot of reading to do," she states and he seemed to deflate. "But, Kakashi-sensei said if I'm ever in the field, I need to be able to protect myself just as much as I need to heal others, so, I should also work on getting stronger."

Naruto quickly agrees, and they start with the physical training taught by the academy and the regiment Kakashi-sensei had taught them. They had planned to spar for the rest of the afternoon but Sakura was so physically drained that she lost focus easily and would get tagged by the simplest attacks. Laying sprawled on the grass, limbs spread and panting heavily, Sakura-chan can't help but ask, "how… are you... not tired?"

Naruto simply gave her a non-commutable mumble of, "I don't know," whilst shrugging his shoulders. He proceeded to make four clones to fight against while she rested. Eventually, she joined in, raising the odds to five against one.

Like a general, Sakura took demanding control of the clones. With her superior analytical intelligence, Naruto quickly learns her unexpected strategies continuously take him down. The pinkette uses timing to easily make his clones open Naruto's blind-spots for perfectly synchronized attacks, forcing him to really pay attention to his weaksides. From the memories he receives later, Sakura-chan is so enthusiastic about beating him to a pulp, she actually yelled at any clone who utters a word concern for their boss.

By evening, Naruto called the training to a halt, much to her extreme gratitude. Though the clones did most of the work, after every round she only grew more and more tired. If Sakura-chan's exhausted body hadn't practically ran home, he would've felt weird ending such rare quality time with Sakura-chan just so he can see Kurenai-nee. It was an odd feeling, loving one girl who didn't love him and trying to get the attention of another who may like him.

Standing by Hokage tower, he was rubbing his temple to sooth the headache from dispelling his clones. Unfortunately, mastery of Rasengan still evades him. After an hour and a half, he assumes she's not coming, and after another hour, he's certain of it. Rather than letting his disappointment drag him down, he helps himself to several extra large bowls of his favorite dish in the world, then returns to the forest for a late night training session.

The following day was a great surprise. Instead of following Sasuke-teme after being dismissed, Sakura-chan came up to him and asked when he was going to train. Though she was strict and standoffish, he was happy she wanted to train with him.

"How about now," Naruto replies.

"Now?!" she bellows. 'We just finished team duties for the day and he immediately wants to train afterward,' her inner self yells.

He nods fervently. "Sure, why not? The more training we get in, the stronger we'll get."

Praying to Kami for a small number, Sakura can't help but ask him, "how many hours a day do you train?"

Naruto tilts his head to the side, squinting his eyes to think on a reply. "Mnnn... well, when I'm not eating, sleeping, or with our team, I'm usually training. So, on the weekdays it's more than six, but no more than ten hours. Weekends is pretty much all day."

Choking on her gasp, she eventually asks, "how is that possible? You train all that time with nothing to show for it?"

"Hey, that's not true," he defends himself. "I'm working on a wicked cool move right now!"

"What move?" she asks, not at all believing him.

"I can't say," he defends even if he feels she won't believe him. "It's a secret until I've mastered it."

Pushing him to break and admit his lie, she says, "you might as well tell me since I'm going to be training with you."

"Training with me?" he gasps. "Really? For how long?"

"I," she sighs. "I don't know. A while... I guess. But it's just training!"

"Sweet! Let's get crazy strong Sakura-chan!"

"Ugh, Kami, kill me now," she weakly responds.

Yay! Kurama! Okay, now that he's in we can get moving on Naruto getting stronger. I've noticed some comments talking about how little training or action there is and I hear ya. This is a drama/adventure that is missing a lot of adventure. It's why I want to get to land of waves so quickly. It's a slow build but I'll get there.

Also, Haku will be a boy even though I totally agree that he looks like a girl. Sorry to all you FemHaku fans. Not an easy decision to weigh story wise. I debated with myself for a solid day before deciding to keep him canon gender.

As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts and have a great one,

-Moon

P.S. I have not abandoned From Ruin. It's just I got Naruto fever and I'm trying to sweat it out :)