Time may tell

I AM SO SORRY, FRIENDS! I know I said the next chapter would be the Escort Mission to Wave, but some things I initially thought didn't need much explaining, quickly ballooned to a hefty size and I had to add other things as well and before you know it, I have an unexpected chapter all its own.

But do not worry, dear readers, because I also wrote the first part of the Escort mission that I will post tomorrow, so, not a long wait.

Since Game of Thrones is FINALLY coming back, I decided to post these chaps early so I can properly geek out this Sunday. I even requested out of work which is completely unprofessional of an AGM, but EFF it! It's Game of Freakin Thrones! Sorry. Rant over.

Enjoy!

NARUTO

"Naru-nii!" Naruto yells excitedly. 'Ow,' Naru-nii yelps as Naruto continues to say, "that's gotta be the best technique EVER!"

'Wait... you mastered it?' Naru-nii asks with disbelief. 'You really mastered Rasengan?'

"Damn right I did," he excitedly claims. "I couldn't sleep—just had way too much energy, so with Kurama's chakra I made a ton of clones and we trained all night. I've been blowing holes in trees all morning! If I ever peg someone with this, they're history!"

'Great job! Hell, man, I think you learned it a lot faster than I did,' Naru-nii happily remarks. 'Though, I didn't know about the way my clones could help me train until years after I'd already learned it... which really bums me out, actually.'

"Yeah! I thought Kakashi-sensei might've told me all about Kage Bunshin, but it was Kurenai-chan that told me about the side effects. Actually, I need to talk to you about her." Naruto tells Naru-nii about the day before about how much more involved she'll be in his life as well as her offer to help him train.

'…I've always been told I was lucky, but I never believed it till now,' Naru-nii mumbles, and Naruto even hears a slight sniff.

"Naru-nii?" Naruto calls worrisomely.

'Right, you lucky fox,' Naru-nii states after clearing his throat and focusing on business. 'Mnn, from what I remember, Kurenai-sensei was always wicked smart,' Naru-nii recalls aloud. 'She's a genjutsu master, which is really hard to do. Team Eight have always been pretty strong, so I know she's a good sensei.'

"Pfft," Naruto's tongue out spits. "Who isn't a good sensei compared to Kakashi?"

'Trust me, I know how much it sucks that he's training Sasuke-'

"Damn right it does," Naruto protests. "AND he never told me about Kage Bunshin training!" Naruto interjects.

'Yes, yes, AND his not telling you about Kage Bunshin training,' Naru-nii humors his younger self. 'But even still, you're doing crazy good too, way better than me at that age. I know you want them to acknowledge your strength, but the most important reason for that strength is to protect your friends, your precious people and most importantly, the love of your life... Kurenai-sensei-'

"Traitor!" Naruto calls as he hears Naru-nii laughing his ass off. "You know Sakura-chan is always in my heart!"

'I know, I know, I'm only teasing,' he jests with a laugh. 'It's just... man, I can't believe it! Kurenai-sensei!'

"I'll forgive you this time," Naruto admonishes humorously. "And only because I completely get it. I love Sakura-chan, but Kurenai-chan… that's a woman!"

'That, and someone willing to help you get stronger,' Naru-nii states easing off the playful banter. 'She's someone we need to protect, so I'm going to make sure you're strong enough to protect everyone.'

"Yeah," Naruto agrees, his tone turning more serious. "It's the promise of a lifetime!"

'Damn right it is!' Naru-nii calls with just as much enthusiasm.

Naruto then asks, "so, what do you think about Kurenai-chan helping us? I really, reaaallly think she should… you know cuz she's smart and all."

Naru-nii laughs heartily. 'Yeah, I bet you do. Um, I don't think it's a bad idea, but I still think we should be careful. If she starts wondering how you know things you shouldn't, it might turn out bad for everyone and get in the way of training. You won't be able to help anyone if you're locked in an interrogation cell.'

"Meh, I bet it'll be fine," Naruto responds confidently. "So, what do I tell her when she asks how I learned Rasengan?"

Naru-nii is silent. '… Damn,' the future-Naruto curses. 'Uhh, I'm not sure if you can. It's not written down in any scrolls and the only two people alive that know it are Ero-sannin and Kakashi-sensei.'

"So then what do I say when I use it?" Naruto wonders aloud, recalling his many daydreams of using his new jutsu to save princesses from evil warlords. "When I use it in front of Kakashi-sensei or if Ji-chan finds out, wouldn't they ask me how I learned it?"

'...that's a good question,' Naru-nii slowly admits, seemingly lost in thought. 'I can't believe I hadn't thought of that. I was just super focused on training you, I hadn't thought what others might say, you know?'

"Soo…" Naruto sounds, leaving it open-ending for Naru-nii to fill.

'Hey, why am I doing all the thinking here,' Naru-nii retorts. 'You help too. We're both pranksters, dattebayo.'

Rolling his eyes, Naruto asks, "mnn, can't someone have told us?"

'Hmm, if we said somebody taught us- well, taught you, than we'd have to say who they are. And we definitely can't say either Ero-sannin or Kakashi taught us cause I'm sure they'll deny it if Ji-chan asked them. If we say we learned it from a scroll, I'm sure you'll have to, if not hand it over, than at least show them proof.'

"Mnn, mmn," Naruto hums in agreement before asking, "can't I just say I taught myself?"

'Well, you could,' Naru-nii skeptically assuages, adding, 'I doubt they'd believe you, especially when you consider who the jutsu belongs to...'

"-The fourth Hokage," Naruto finishes.

'Exactly,' Naru-nii confirms before an idea forms in his time-distant head. 'Now that I think about it, there might actually be a way to kind of explain this, or at least make it impossible to prove otherwise.'

SAKURA

Naruto had left her thirty minutes ago after Sakura begged for a two hour break. They'd been training since she found him in Training Ground 28 at nine in the morning. Even with her perfect chakra control fueling her attacks in the most efficient way possible, her endurance is so pitiful, she can never outlast him. She spent the last thirty minutes on the grass, sore, sweaty, panting, and hungry.

Despite how difficult training with Naruto is, Sakura can't say she hates it. She's noticed the differences from day to day, and she can proudly say she's getting better. Every day she can do just a little bit more, and after a week of constant training with the idiot, she's not dreading it as she had in the beginning. She still hates Naruto, but the training, at the very least, is a clear benefit.

Still, she needs to get up, head home, take a shower, and finish the first report for Ino on 'Obsessive Love.' Staying away from Sasuke-kun was an ever-present gnawing pain eating away at her intestines. While training with Naruto was a constant feeling of failure—not simply as a woman, but as a kunoichi—the most difficult rule for Sakura to follow is composing the report Ino expects. With a comprehensive analytical mind, Sakura can't help but pick up on patterns and cues, assign memory markers, and compare discrepancies between her personal experiences and the text she's reading. For some odd reason, they were claiming the expression of her love for Sasuke-kun was unhealthy.

It was ridiculous to her. Clearly, they didn't understand, which made writing the report all the more difficult. As the Kunoichi of the Year, Sakura has written many reports, all of which received perfect grades. It was easy with her memory and now that perfect recall has been tarnished with this poisonous psycho-babble. However, despite her denial, the research Ino is making her write stayed in her mind, taunting the purity of her emotions. There's actually a disorder called Obsessive Love Disorder and Sakura remembers it all:

'Obsessive Love has addictive qualities, such as speaking extensively about the object of their love, making repeated advancement toward the object of their love, alienating friends and family for the sake of the object of their love, self-destructive/self-sacrifice for the object of their love, a tendency to feel extremely good or extremely bad depending on the attitude of the object of their love, an inability to focus on one's social, educational, or familial responsibilities outside the object of their love.'

Sakura was forced to read, memorize, and even use her own life as examples for each warning sign, effortlessly forcing her sharp mind to recall exact examples. Sakura remembers talking to everyone about Sasuke-kun. Her parents, in particular, would never hear the end of everything she'd seen Sasuke-kun do in the academy that day. She'd always ask Sasuke-kun if he wanted to go shopping, for a walk, to breakfast, to lunch, to dinner, training, anything she could think he might say yes to. Likewise, anyone who also loved Sasuke-kun was naturally her enemy. In addition, anyone who didn't support her love for Sasuke-kun became impediments she couldn't allow; this included practically every personal relationship she had—not that she had many. Sakura recalls ignoring her father when he cautioned her to concentrate less on a boy and more on her studies.

'Ino became your rival overnight,' a voice adds.

Naturally, Sakura would sacrifice her life for Sasuke-kun, but can that really be called obsessive? The Hokage loves the village and everyone knows he would gladly lay down his life for theirs. How is Sakura any different? If Sasuke-kun hated something, she hated it too. Sakura heard he liked long hair and she let hers grow out. Naruto, in particular, felt her fists more times than she can count for his every slight against Sasuke-kun.

Sakura felt miserable—her insides dead and decaying. Day in and day out, she hurt at the direction her life is being forced to take all because of Ino. Sakura had devised a few plans to steal the blackmail material, but of course, she couldn't be sure if she got them all or if Ino made copies, which meant the risk Sasuke-kun would learn of her shame. She thought of personally speaking with the Hokage, pleading that he discreetly demand the embarrassing photos from the Yamanaka. But of course, Ino can lie and say she doesn't know what they're talking about, which would become a she-said-she-said, or Ino could spread the photos before they're retaken. There were just too many variables that would end with each plan breaking her heart.

And that would destroy her ultimate goal; Making sure her love for Sasuke-kun survived. If Sakura has to spend some time with the blond ball of energy and not ask Sasuke-kun out, then she'll do it. As long as there's a slim chance she can beat this blackmail, her love remains viable in the long run. For now, Sakura puts all her anxiety and frustrations into training. It's the best and only method for coping with this waking nightmare.

As much as she hates to admit it, she is getting something out of this indentured servitude. And for some reason, she's actually learning from Naruto. If it wasn't for him, she wouldn't have learned her elemental affinity was Earth with a minor in Water. Having explained his leaf training, she was actually fascinated. How the Dead Last of their class is training in nature manipulation years—possibly decades—before it's feasible is beyond her. Sakura was sure she wasn't ready for that kind of training and even pondered if Sasuke-kun is. She simply didn't have the reserves or endurance for that kind of intense conditioning, which actually warmed Sakura to the possibility that Naruto isn't quite the hopeless idiot she always assumed he was.

Though she felt like asking him questions, Sakura just couldn't allow herself to engage with the blond to that extent. There's no telling how he'll take it and the last thing she wants is for him to constantly hit on her again.

'Like how you had with Sasuke-kun,' a stupid voice in her head patiently asks. Squeezing her eyes shut, Sakura grips her un-conditioned and dirty hair and screeches to the open skies above. 'I'm dying,' she thinks, hating her thoughts, hating her memories, and hating Ino most of all. 'This is death!'

INO

Ino slumps pacified into her mattress, burying her head into her pillow to stifle her screams of pleasure as her second orgasm rocks her quivering sensitivity. 'OOhhhhhh, that wassss,' she mentally groans as her fluid thoughts melt into the sugary hum of the tail-end of her orgasm. Returning to her senses, she unclasps the photo bent out of shape in her tight grip, adding yet more folds to the image of her-as-Sakura sucking Naruto's dick.

Ino's grown accustomed to this daily ritual, dutifully performed at the bare minimum, three times a day—before and after sleep, and at some point in the middle of the day. Initially the dreams and memory were more than abundant stimulation to reach her gushing peaks, however, with every passing day, she could feel the potent effect dwindle little by little. It wasn't until her manipulation of Sakura, when that excitement shot up near the level of the first week after her deflowering.

She should absolutely hate what she had done with Naruto, and to an extent, she does, however, it was and wasn't of her own volition, strange as that sounds. Ino knows she wouldn't have ever done that with Naruto, but she did, and only because she felt out of control with her arousal. So despite knowing she should hate it, her conditioned mind can never get around the painfully honest fact that she really really wanted it to happen. Not necessarily with him, but she certainly loved the feeling to rip through her again; shredding her pleasure centers to white oblivion. Ino couldn't help wanting to pass out, squeezing a solid dick so hard it feels like she's trying to swallow him.

'Calm down, Ino,' her mind huffs, already feeling her excitement build at the thought of Naruto's dick filling her unprotected womb with his baby-batter. To this day she can't figure out why that overwhelming feeling of ecstasy struck her, but it had and she forced Naruto to satisfy her carnal cravings. It's this very fact that keeps her from truly hating him, or what happened. It's why she now pleasures herself every day.

Ino worries she might be a sexual deviant, a pervert; the very thing all women instinctively hate about men. This internal revelation disturbed her like nothing else has, forcing her to constantly wonder, 'can girls be perverts too?' Ino knows women gossip and play, sure but that is not an image for the general public. Unlike men, women respect themselves too much to catcall, peep, stalk, or steal underwear. And while she doesn't feel the need to catcall, peep or stalk Naruto, she knows that somehow he had changed her, possibly opened up a part of her she never knew existed, or may not have learned existed until much later in her years.

She was a girl before—a ninja as well, extensively trained in the elementary stages of the art of killing… or catching stupid cats—but now she was a woman; awakened with needs she didn't know how to completely deal with. She felt much better than the first week after being with Naruto, but her mind was holding on to those images, those sounds, and those intense feelings she experienced with him. Her mind was replaying them every night and her body reacted to them every time. Setting down the bent photo, Ino is starting to wonder what else might help her explore her salacious curiosity… what more there is to learn about her body… and how much she may end up liking it…

KURENAI

"I mean it, Anko," Kurenai adamantly reminds her best friend as they walk the streets of Konoha's bar block. Kurenai is wearing her sexy berry-red cocktail mini-dress with bustier-style cups and narrow shoulder straps. "One drink, and only if Asuma isn't there."

"Come on, where's the trust," Anko—wearing a shoulder cutoff leather-up bodycon dress, showing plenty of cleavage and fishnet stalkings—playfully asks with a sly grin. "Can't two sexy ass friends just hang out at the bar and make every guy drooling over us tend to our every alcoholic need?" At Anko's insistence, they were certainly dressed to kill sobriety and end marriages.

Kurenai can't help but smile broadly at her friend. The red-eyed beauty always felt they had an odd dynamic. Anko's certainly not someone she ever thought she would be close friends with, but Kurenai is happy they absolutely are. "I've had my fill of alcohol as of late," Kurenai says, pondering the liquid-cause of, and solution to, all her lingering woes. From the heartache of Asuma to the ecstasy of Naruto, Kurenai asserts, "I think I need to take it easy for a bit."

"I don't care if it's one drink or ten; water or sake," Anko tells her friend confidently. "I just want to hang with my number one babe. I hadn't seen that perfect ass of yours in weeks and I'm going through withdrawals." Anko pinches Kurenai's round cheek as a group of civilian men, already drunk on their blundering feet try to holler for a grab themselves. Anko easily ignores them as she whips out a kunai, spins it in the air like a propeller before effortlessly grabbing the handle and easily sliding it back in the lacy holster of her inner thigh. The civilian drunks sober up fast and moved away from the trained killers with purpose.

"I've missed you too," Kurenai says with a smile, bumping a smirking Anko's shoulder.

Kurenai notices the pause of conversation as Anko studies her, before curiously starting, "you know," in a serious, yet light tone. "I was expecting a lot worse."

Kurenai is certain she means Asuma, though still asks, "in what way?"

"Are you kidding," Anko snorts incredulously. "I know you were head-over-heels for him. To a room full of nosy Jōnin, that was never a secret and with this whole escort thing between him and that bitch-princess, I was expecting an emotional wreck to open the door… if you opened the door at all! Instead, your house is clean, not a single fucking snot-tissue anywhere, and if I'm being honest," Anko continues undeniably checking Kurenai's assets out. "You're looking kinda sexy."

"Anko," Kurenai calls mildly scandalized as she slaps her friend's shoulder to stop her from admiring her body. It's the afterglow she still feels from the tip of her ebony locks to her dainty toes. Kurenai hadn't realized how relaxed she was walking, possibly even sexy, until Anko said so.

Anko chuckles and grins hungrily at the raven-haired beauty. "Relax, I'm not hitting on you... unless you want me to-"

"Anko," Kurenai admonishes. Vividly recalling a couple of nights Kurenai experimented with Anko. Though fun to be sure, they both ultimately know their preferences.

"Alright, alright," Anko concedes, throwing her palms up in surrender. "Anyway, I was scared you might be depending on the training, you know? Using a mask, putting on a brave face while you bottle it all up. We both know how bad that can end up, but I'm not getting that vibe from you at all."

"I don't know what to tell you," Kurenai answers honestly. It's not as if she can confess how incredibly good her body feels after hours of sex with a genin. She still has trouble accepting it herself. It's not that Kurenai is free of her agonizing heartache, or able to stop the thoughts of Asuma from entering her mind every ten seconds, but she knows it won't conquer her. It's not unlike drowning for forty seconds and breathing for twenty. Terribly agonizing though it may be, it won't kill her. "I do hurt, Anko. I am hurting… but I also feel like it won't last forever, you know what I mean?"

"Of course," Anko answers. "It means there's a shelf life on that self-imposed agony and that's a relief in and of itself."

"I have hope it won't last forever," Kurenai admits, woefully, wondering what that says about her love. She's lost herself in the pleasures of the flesh to forget about the suffering ache of her broken heart. Does tossing aside the pain for pleasure mean she also tossed her ability to love again? Kurenai feels that's an answer she won't learn without time and opportunity. Her emotions are still a wreck but her body is tingling and that's all it is for now. "Without that silver lining, I'd… well, I guess I would be an emotional wreck with a mountain of snot-tissues all over the place."

"I'm sorry this happened to you babe," Anko sympathetically asserts, wrapping her arm around Kurenai's slim waist. "But I'm glad you're not off the rails bat-shit crazy. Bitches like that annoy the fuck out of me. Like they can't survive without their man! Fucking bullshit."

Kurenai laughs at her friends irks. "Obviously I'm not content with how things are going with Asuma, but he was clear from the beginning. I just... I overextended I guess."

"Well," the busty kunoichi starts, hugging her friend by the hip. "Lucky for you Anko-nee-sama doesn't buy her friends boxes of tissues... she gets them boxes of condoms," she proclaims, snaking her hand from Kurenai's hip up to her soft breast for a hefty grip. "Anko!" Kurenai laughs, trying to hit her evading friend as Anko continues to say with cheer, "so, let's forget all about that miserable shit and get laid!"

"How about I try to forget, and you handle the rest," Kurenai counters with a smile, to which the shorter beauty groans in playful disappointment. "I'm sorry, Anko, but as I've already said, I still have training plans to do."

"Kami, they're fucking genin!" Anko states in great disbelief. "You don't need to put so much effort into their training. They got so much basic shit to learn, their entire first year is just an idiots guide to, how not to die from Tree-Walking. Just toss 'em a few scrolls and wish em the best of fucking luck."

With a humored huff, Kurenai shaking her head in playful disbelief, asserting, "how they ever overlooked your exemplary skills in educating future shinobi of the Leaf, I will never understand."

Anko nods with viral meaning, stating as fact, "it's like they can't see how easily scorn and torture build character. My brats would make Hokage for sure."

The mention of Hokage reminds her of Naruto. It's an odd feeling to know beforehand, to actually plan on going over to a genin's home for the purpose of guiding sexual exploration. Kurenai is neither excited nor disgusted by her physical arrangement with Naruto. It just is. She can't deny it's immoral or loveless, but she can't deny having already enjoyed sex with him on multiple occasions for several hours. She can't deny how mortified she would be if anyone found out, but she can't deny how thoroughly she enjoyed losing herself on his thick shaft. She may have misgivings about the whole affair, but she's still going to meet him, and it's more than likely she'll experience many orgasms because of it.

The arrangement she has with the young blond, though unofficial, isn't so different from the seduction training of elite reconnaissance and undercover work. She's aware Konoha employs such tactics of information gathering, though not as much as many other villages. She, herself was offered to serve the village in that capacity. Kurenai turned it down, though she knows Anko did it for a number of years. It's how the curvaceous kunoichi found her love and talent for torture.

In the end, Kurenai knows it's not a matter of the heartfelt intimacy, but of guilty cravings of the flesh. Intellectually, it may be better to go without such carnal hunger, but she's not hurting anyone, there is a clear benefit to the village, and more importantly, she can forget about Asuma and her hurt, if only momentarily.

Since Anko knocked on her door earlier, Kurenai's been wondering if she should tell her voluptuous friend. They keep secrets from each other; there's no way they can't with their profession. This, however, isn't a secret for the security of the village. This is personal. It's personal and many would say immoral. It has the potential to change their relationship forever and Kurenai's not sure she's ready for that.

The two beauties enjoy their night out—the men lusting around them, more so. As promised, Anko took them to one of the larger bars that cohabitate shinobi and civilian alike. They dance and though they drink, Kurenai has no more than two, no matter how many times Anko or hopeful bachelors try to persuade her otherwise. It's not long before their friends join them, and much too soon than she's ready for, Asuma walks through the door to the cheers and adulation of many of her peers in the bar—minus Anko, Yūgao, Kakashi, and Genma.

Kurenai is easily savvy to his awareness of her, but as the nauseous tightness of her stomach dreads the thought of actually speaking with him, she informs Anko, "I should get going."

Anko breaks away from a muscular hunk, protesting after Kurenai, "Aww come on. Just stay for a little while longer. You're going to have to be around each other eventually."

"Maybe," Kurenai agrees. "But not now."

Approaching between the sexy kunoichi, Genma asserts, "I'll walk you," moving to join Kurenai without her consent.

"I'll be fine," Kurenai conveys simply. "But thank you-"

"I insist," he counters amiably, stepping to the side to invite her to go first.

Aside from his assertiveness, she has no reason to doubt Genma. They've all known each other since they graduated from the Academy. While he's always been a bit aloof about his goals, he's always had her back. Kurenai simply nods, and as they leave the rowdy bar, she can feel 'his' eyes on her back, like a concentrated ray of magnified sunlight. She ignores him as much as the clenching in her chest, not unlike how he disregarded her as Genma escorts her from the bar.

They walk to her home because she can't exactly tell him she's going to a genin's apartment to have copious amounts of sex. It's on the way back, on calmer streets, that he finally says, "he's being an idiot."

Asuma, Genma, Gai, Kakashi, Hayate, Yūgao, Anko and herself are not only peers but also friends which means that just because Asuma isn't there, doesn't mean his agent isn't and the raven-haired beauty truly doesn't want to deal with this right now. 'Genma is supposed to be my friend too,' Kurenai thinks with growing irritation, asking with a little heat, "are you here to speak for him?"

"I won't deny there are a few things he wants you to know," Genma simply states. "And as one of his more sociable friends, I suppose I fill that role."

"I don't..." she starts but only sighs the end of her comment. Rethinking her reactive need to be defensive, she rather says, "It's unnecessary, Genma. You shouldn't have to."

"I want you to know," he returns.

"If it's all the same to you," she says with more heat in her tone. "I'd rather enjoy my night."

"I want you to know because... Because," he huffs a bit of laughter. "I guess I'm selfish in the end." She looks at him confused. He sets his eyes and takes her hand, ending their walk. As delicately as their calloused hands can, he holds her fingers rather than her whole hand before revealing, "he isn't going to marry the princess."

She's shocked, suddenly feeling the cold of the night as goosebumps spread throughout her irresistible body but he continues to say, "he told me himself."

"Genma… I…" 'don't know,' she thinks as her emotions destabilize feeling more than she can process as he continues.

"But I don't think you should be with him," Genma tells her straightforwardly. "I want what's best for you, Kurenai, and though I care for you both, your happiness means more to me. I know him and I can say with confidence, he'll be fine if the two of you aren't an item. That's just the way he is. You are one of a kind, beautiful in every way. I know this is sudden, but you amaze me. We lead dangerous, often short, lives and a future with him may not be worth it. All I ask is you consider the possibility someone else can love and cherish you the way you deserve."

He raises her hands to his warm lips and imparts a deep kiss on the back of each hand. As one of his long-time friends, Kurenai doesn't want to say anything she'd regret later, and so says nothing. As a kunoichi, she doesn't recoil from the non-threatening, flattering gesture but as a woman with an aching heart to protect, she's stunned by his affection. With all her intelligence, Kurenai can honestly say she wasn't expecting a confession from Genma. Even when he raises his warm hand to her cool left cheek. She says and does nothing as he turns and leaves.

Kurenai's sharp mind replays his words as her feet continue walking. Learning about Asuma's non-marriage was shocking enough but in the same minute, Genma pronounces his romantic interest in her. It consumes her mind as she automatically walks home, and is surprised to find Anko leaning against the front door.

Walking up to her friend, she can tell she's inebriated by the blush in her cheeks and her unfocused eyes. "Anko? What are you doing here?"

"I juss wanted to make ssure my best babe was okay," she says with a slur.

Before Kurenai can say more, Hinata-chan walks out with a glass of water and extends it to Anko. Having lied to her own father about training, the indigo-haired kunoichi arrived a day early, much to her welcome surprise. "Sensei, welcome back."

"Thank you Hinata-chan," Kurenai tells her student. "Go get ready for bed. I won't be back till late." With a short bow, Hinata-chan leaves and Kurenai nods to Anko to go.

"Thanks, kid," Anko says and slowly follows Kurenai. "So?" Anko asks as they slowly walk to Anko's apartment.

"I can't think about this right now," Kurenai states, having been attempting to make sense of the ways this is either right or wrong, exhausting or empowering, inconsequential or significant. Kurenai's emotions simply feel too raw, inflamed with aggravation, and her propensity to use her mind even on matters of the heart is failing her massively. It's just too overwhelming, and it's unlikely she can make the right decision like that, so Kurenai just breathes and walks.

"What'd he say," Anko asks with a bit of a snicker, adding, "not that I can't guess. No matter how cool he thinks he is, it's soo obvious to these chocolate eyes."

In a detached tone, Kurenai replays Genma's words verbatim as if she were reading a report rather than recounting a personal experience. "I recall having heard he had a crush on me when we were fourteen but nothing came of it. I suppose I can't say I'm entirely surprised by his affection," Kurenai figures aloud. "But his timing leaves a lot to be desired."

"Like an STD," Anko groans. "Cropping up at the worst time. But, you know, early bird does get the worm, and he's been wanting to feed off yours for years now."

"Kami, Anko," Kurenai huffs with mild humor. "Do you have to paint such a vivid picture?"

"I'm nothing if not creative," Anko chuckles happily, Kurenai laughing with her. "And yet, he's not wrong about the job. Any mission could be our last."

"He also said Asuma isn't marrying the princess," Kurenai states. "Though I have no reason to doubt him, I just find it hard to believe."

"What a shitty asshole," Anko bellows incredulous. "What's his fucking deal, chucking all that shit on you? Just say the word babe, and I'll forsake all men with you... for a solid month. Sorry, but going without dick for any more than that and I'll likely rape someone."

Kurenai smiles despite her preoccupied mind. "Don't ever change Anko."

"Not a chance, babe," Anko states as they near Anko's rough accommodations. Anko could find a better home but her past is not easily forgotten among the village. While not neighbors, Naruto doesn't live far from Anko, making Kurenai ponder if she's just a sucker for the shunned. "You want to come in?" Anko asks. "I'm pretty sure I still got a bottle of the good stuff."

"Thanks, but I should be off," Kurenai relays.

"Come on, you told the kid, you'd be back late and everything," Anko protests, taking her friend's hand.

"I'm just going to train a bit," Kurenai assuages, squeezing Anko's hand as she discerns how different their definition of 'training' is. "Take my mind off of things for a while."

Anko gives Kurenai a quick peck on the lips, "alrighty. Night babe."

Stepping in front of a disgusting red door, Kurenai wonders why Naruto lives here when it's leagues worse than Anko's place and he should be able to afford something better. Barely tapping twice, the door swings open. The golden-haired resident gives her the widest grin before he rushes forward and wraps her in a strong hug, planting his face between her lovely neck and shoulder. Her body shudders to feel his radiating warmth and toned muscles of his shinobi-body. Her sexy dress doing nothing to dampen the impregnating feel of him as she tells him, "wait, wait. Inside, inside, Naruto."

Rather than letting her free, he easily picks her up—to her humored surprise—and carries her in. "I'm so happy you came," he expresses jovially into her neck and ebony locks, forgetting the door as he walks into his apartment.

She closes the door with her free hand as she tells him, "I can see that. While there's nothing wrong with enthusiasm, this is still inappropriate."

Chuckling, he lowers her to solid footing but he doesn't let her go. He's beaming with a great smile as he immediately wants to know, "so, what's my treat? You said if I did good in my training, you'd give me a treat. What is it?"

The warmth of being so adoringly held doesn't outweigh how improper it is, so she reaches around her and unfastens his hands to pull away from his hug. Still, holding his hand, she leads him into the much cleaner apartment towards his old ratty couch—wondering what his personal attachment to the overly worn furniture might be before asking him, "does that mean you'd like me to help you train?"

"Sure! But you should probably know..." Naruto trails off after she plops him on the couch while she sits on the coffee table in front of him. Still wearing her berry-red, cocktail mini dress from her night out, the hem of the lace fabric rides up, nearly reaching the apex of her gorgeously crossed legs, showcasing a tremendous amount of toned thigh. Naruto's eyes grow incredibly dark, dilated pupils brazenly declaring his base want as he gazes at her beautifully crossed legs. Momentarily lost in need, they're close enough for Naruto to reach over, eager to touch her.

Kurenai grabs his hand as she sighs. 'This boy,' she mentally utters. "Naruto, remember to control yourself."

He shakes his head but it does little to regain his control. "I... You just look so beautiful and sexy... it's hard. This is three hundred times worse than waiting for Ramen." Gazing at her with pleading eyes, he craves to know, "can- can we start now?"

Fixing her lustrous pitch-black mane behind her ear, Kurenai can't deny how flattering being wanted to this degree is, though she doesn't appreciate how disruptive it can be when they need to talk. Letting out another sigh, Kurenai stands—sashaying the hem of her skirt to cover as much thigh as she can—she answers, "we can't start just yet, but thank you for the compliment." Kurenai then takes him by the shoulders and rotates him in his seat, positioning him to face away from her before she sits on the couch behind him. "For now, let's talk like this. You were saying?"

Thrown off by how odd it is to be looking at his blank wall all the while talking to her, Naruto asks, "what?"

"You were saying I should know something? About your training?"

"Mnn, oh yeah," he exclaims. "Lately Sakura-chan's been training with me, so I don't know if that'll be a problem or not. We're still keeping this secret, right?" He asks the wall.

"Yes. Yes, we very much are, yes," she tells the back of the blond's head. "In fact, unless I say otherwise, don't ever reveal or even admit to what we're doing to anyone. If you do come across anyone who suspects, deny it and tell me right away, understand?"

"Got it," he answers. "…It's kinda weird talking to you like this."

"Whose fault is that," Kurenai returns. "Haruno-chan was the Kunoichi of the Year... how often does she train with you?"

"Hmm, before this week, we only ever trained during team meetings, but now we train together every day."

Thinking about the possibilities of the girl's change of attitude towards Naruto, Kurenai asks, "do you think she might be using training to spend more time with you?" Kurenai already knows Haruno-chan is of the same beliefs as most of the village when it comes to the Jinchūriki. It's possible the pink-haired girl isn't aware of a growing attraction.

"I don't think so," Naruto answers. "She tells me every day it's only about getting stronger and how much she loves Sasuke-teme," he says with a gag. Kurenai wonders about Naruto's love. From Kiba-kun, Kurenai knows about the Uchiha's popularity among kunoichi, and having seen his photo, she can understand the attraction. The future of Naruto's love seems destined for heartache. "I think she just wants to get stronger," he sullenly concludes.

"I don't feel that'll be much of a problem, then," Kurenai asserts. "Does she know about your secret training?"

She can hear his smile when he answers, "for the most part. She knows about my clone training and I told her I was working on shape manipulation, but she doesn't know what jutsu it is."

'Chakra shape manipulation?' Kurenai focuses on before curiously asking, "what jutsu is it?"

Forgetting why his back was to her, he abruptly turns around in sheer excitement, and eagerly exclaims, "it's the coolest jutsu ever! It's so awesome!" His fists are clenched from bubbling energy when his blue eyes are stunned by her sitting form. She's very seductively sat with her legs crossed, facing him with her elbow propped on the top of the couch and her head resting on the palm. With her other hand flat on the cushion between them, her breasts are more pronounced and he can't tear his eyes away. Her beautiful midnight black hair frames her gorgeous face and he swallows a large lump stuck in his throat. "It's- it's so awesome, it- it might be worth two- er, three treats," he nervously tells her as his eyes feed on her alluring figure.

Kurenai rolls her eyes at having to deal with his arousal again but allows him to remain facing her. She snaps her fingers and gestures for him to look her in the eyes, repeating the interesting bit of his explanation. "Chakra shape manipulation? As in changing the form and movement of chakra?" Still aroused he nods before she continues. "Though I hadn't expected you to be learning that quite so soon, I think one reward will more than cover any progress you may have made last night-"

"I mastered it," he quickly tells her, then clarifies, "well, I mean I can do the jutsu, it's just not quite battle ready yet- Ah! But that's more because I've never been in battle. But yeah, I mastered it! And it's really really good! You'll be so amazed, I'm sure of it," says Naruto as he shuffles a little closer to her. "So, um, can we do... you know, something extra?"

It's painfully obvious what Naruto wants; to the point she's half amused and half annoyed. Kurenai takes a brave metaphorical step toward amused, and inquires, "does the jutsu have a name?" He nods vehemently. "Do you know it's rank? Because if it's anything less than a B, you can forget this whole-"

"It's an A-Rank, but honestly, it should be S-Rank," he interrupts inching closer to her. Feeling his radiating heat in tandem with his growing arousal, she again wonders about his body. 'No one should feel so warm,' she thinks as she allows his eyes to trail up and down her tightly clad body.

Rather than move away from his growing lust, she instead looks at him suspiciously, curious about the details behind this A-rank jutsu he's mastered, especially since she very much doubts Kakashi had anything to do with it. It's possible that someone else is teaching Kakashi's student but even that seems unlikely. After she considers his reward proposal, she responds, "if—and that's a big if—if this jutsu is something spectacular, I'll consider a more appropriate reward. Now, what did you master?"

"Promise?"

"I'm your sensei," she responds, ignoring the nature of the study. "Sensei's don't lie to their pupils."

With a huge grin on his face, Naruto hops away from her and around the coffee table. Looking around his clean apartment, he explains, "I'm not going to use it on anything in here, but believe me, it's crazy destructive."

"That's fine," she answers with an amused huff, as if she needed to actually see property damage as validity. "I know nearly all of Konoha's and even some enemy A-Rank jutsu."

With a nod, Naruto calls, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

Lost as to the need for a clone, Kurenai watches on as, without any further hand seals, Naruto, with as serious an expression she's seen on any ninja mastering their skill, extends his palm forward. The clone seems like he's scratching the air above it, when—to her great surprise—blue wisps of visible chakra quickly grows into a solid sphere of spinning spirit energy. She can feel the extreme refinement of the dense chakra ball as he wills it into a perfect ball of energy. It nearly makes the hairs on the back of her neck stand up when he calls, "Rasengan!"

Her bewilderment at the miracle in front of her couldn't last long enough. No matter how long she stared, it wasn't until Naruto allowed it to fizzle out did she snap out of her face-stricken awe. She hadn't even realized she was standing so close to him until he canceled the highest form of shape transformation there is. Though she's never seen the incredible jutsu developed by the Yellow Flash himself, it's fame is nearly as widespread as his Hiraishin no Jutsu. She'd even heard of Rasengan from Genma when he was part of the Fourth's guard platoon along with Raidō, and Iwashi.

"How?!" is all she can think to gasp.

The toothy blond chuckles good-naturedly as he steps in to wrap his arms around her yielding waist, "pretty sweet huh?"

She rips his arms from around her waist and drags him to the couch, making him sit as she kneels down in front of him. It's easily an arousing sight for Naruto as she's effectively between his legs and he can easily picture her mouth wrapped around his member like in some of the pictures she showed him to satisfy his semi-hard erection. But her face is nearly in panic and he can't understand why she's so frantic, which has the effect of keeping him calm enough.

"You don't understand," she frantically starts. "Do you have any idea who created that jutsu?"

"Uh, the fourth Hokage?"

"Exactly!" she calls looking him directly in his unenthusiastic eyes. "And it took him three years to master it! That's not a jutsu anyone can just do, much less a genin fresh out of the Academy. Hokage-sama might be the only one in the entire village who can possibly do it. Naruto, this is a big deal. You have to tell me how you learned that technique."

Naruto didn't expect such a reaction but, fortunately, Naru-nii came up with something he can make work. "...well, I'm not sure I can say."

"Try!"

"No, it's... jeez, um, I mean it could be forbidden," he tries and she tilts her head and sharpens her eyes confused. Naruto slowly pats his stomach, looking away from her and tentatively asks, "you know about it, don't you?" When she looks down at where he pats, she understands. "That it's illegal to talk about it? I just don't want you to get in trouble."

"I understand," Kurenai claims, grasping what Naruto means. "For argument sake, what does that have to do with the technique?"

Naruto hums a second before answering, "sometimes, I'm in my head or, I guess it's the seal, and uh, I don't know... it's really hard to describe, but, it's like a maze in there, and I met someone-"

Her stomach tightens at the flash of her father's smiling memory as she asks, "you met... it?"

"No," he lies, though he hates himself for it. "I met someone else, well, it was more like a voice than an actual person I could see. Anyway, it warned me about the seal and taught me Rasengan." Kurenai is speechless and without thinking, she rests her extended forearms flat on his thighs. Naruto feels the perfect softness of her large breasts graze against his knees, but rather than be swayed by her incredible allure, Naruto has to ask, "ne, was I not supposed to do this? Did I do something wrong?"

Kurenai looks up to him and can easily read how worried he is, or to be more precise, how worried she's making him. She reaches forward with her right hand and lightly pats him square in the chest. With a smile, she reassures him, "hey, it's okay. You didn't do anything wrong. I'm only surprised. Have you told anyone else? Kakashi-sensei?"

"Pfft," is his reply. "I would've if he gave a damn. Even though you attacked me, you're still a way better sensei than him."

Her face winces a bit as she recalls her shameful assault on him. "Well, I can understand your point of view but always remember he's one of the strongest shinobi in the village, and he's gone through a lot." Naruto says nothing more on that, and when she notices his eyes travel down to her cleavage, she's quickly aware of her position; on her knees, between his own, leaning over so even her breasts slightly grazes his thighs. She spots his thick erection bulging against the restraints of his pants and easily recalls their deal.

'Kami, he learned thee Rasengan,' she mentally calls out in disbelief. 'What does a reward for that look like?'

"Nai-chan," he moans, becoming more aroused by the second.

'I suppose I'm already on my knees,' she points out, grabbing the waist of his flannel pants and boxers. She shimmies them down slowly all the while watching his pained face. Popping free of his cotton restraint, she's almost concerned by how hard and throbbing his veiny member is. Actually seeing him up close, her first impression is quite simply, 'yes.' Her second is, 'fuck me.' Like the potential she can see in his future, she can feel to the point of humming the potential for many orgasm-filled nights.

The purple crown of his cock is perfectly carved to slurp her insides with every thrust and drag. The shaft is thick and his base is faintly ringed with what she can only assume is the knotting muscle. Taking in fleshy musk of the upward curve phallus, her mouths waters. It pulses desperately for attention and Naruto cries again, "Nai-chan, please."

Taking his hot base firmly in her right hand, she gives him a sympathetic smile before leaning down and assuredly licking the head of his angry crown, coating it in her flowing saliva. He groans happily when she sucks at his bulbous head, unconsciously shirking his hips forward. Kurenai leans her weight on his thighs to keep him still, pressing more of her soft breasts against him as her mouth laps and sucks him off. With her lips sealed around his thick cock keeping the pressure taunt as she slurps up and down his meat, she isn't surprised when his hands dive into her raven-mane gripping her head as she bobs up and down his.

Though not exactly enthusiastic about giving him a blowjob, Kurenai does enjoy the sexual act as she takes his sizable balls in her free hand and massaging them. Naruto, in particular, is enjoyable to tease. She enjoys hearing his pained gasps, the way he scrunches his eyes shut, his legs spasms and how he grits his teeth as she starts taking as much of him in her small mouth as she can.

Taking the cock out of her mouth, Kurenai, informs him, "cum whenever you want Naruto. Just let me know," she adds before dragging her tongue along the double-ridged underside of his thick shaft when she feels two hands grip her raised bubble bottom. She whips around to see another Naruto. His clone from earlier smiles at her before focusing all his fascinated efforts on kneading and massaging her firm posterior.

Kurenai isn't sure how she feels about this, sandwiched between two Narutos… but the possibilities it conjures up… Kurenai grows sodden.

The tight material of her cocktail dress is peeled over the rest of her ass giving the clone a most beautiful view of her thonged ass. He can see the sheen of liquid coating the inside of her thighs and without much delay, he moves the thin silk out of the way and dives in face first.

"Mnnn," Kurenai moans around his saliva-coated cock. Feeling Naruto's hands all but force her on his shaft, she returns her attention to the meat pole in her grasp.

As the clone enjoys his meal, Kurenai devours hers to the throat, bobbing up and down his thick meat all the while sucking and swirling her tongue around him. When she feels two fingers explore her moist cavern, and his mouth sucks on the protruding bundle of nerves, she moans gutterly around Naruto's rod as she squeezes till he yowls.

"Nai- Nai-chan, I'm almos..." she hears but she's having some difficulty understanding since she's starting to get close herself. Doing the hard thing, she pulls away from both Naruto's. Though still jerking the original, she turns to the clone and asks for, "tissues. Or a towel."

The clone quickly returns with a towel and Kurenai is amazed by the amount Naruto cums all over it. The pungent tang probes her nostrils, arousing other centers of her impure brain, alerting her body to grow hotter and wetter and ready for more. She gives the towel to a disgusted clone before sitting on the edge of the couch. His warm hand is immediately pressing against her lower back, clawing at her mini-dress attempting to remove it. Though Kurenai still feels her frustration beg for release, she prefers finishing their conversation and so grips his eager hands and moves away.

"Naruto, we still need to talk," she says, though his eyes are so dilated she can barely see any blue left as her drinks her near nubile form in. The lust on his face unequivocally says he's overwhelmed with need and she sternly states, "you need to listen to your sensei. Calm down and regain control."

He doesn't. At least not initially. Still fully erect, he grips himself as he pleads with her, "I don't like this. Can't we just- I really want to just-"

"I know, but you have to control your urges," Kurenai explains as she readjusts herself in her mini dress. "Impulse control will help you be even better as a shinobi and a lover." Kurenai watches him calm down mentally—looking utterly heartbroken in the process—but physically, still fully erect. Sighing sympathetically, Kurenai walks over to him, takes him by the hand and leads him to his bedroom. Without the light on, closing the door behind them renders the room pitch-black.

"I can't see," Naruto states.

"I know," Kurenai acknowledges, leading him to the bed. Once naked in the darkroom, she settles them in the creaky old bed—Naruto on his side with Kurenai behind him. "Just relax against me," she tells him. "Focus on my voice, okay?" Holding him felt like sitting too close to a fire as she states, "right now, I want to talk about what we'll be going over. I've already explained in our lessons a bit of the practical side of things, what goes in where, why it feels good, varying positions, but most of that is simply technique. There's more to making a woman feel good than technique."

"How do you mean," he cautiously voices.

"Woman are sensual creatures," Kurenai explains. "We want to feel an emotional connection to the person we're physical with."

"I get that," Naruto admits, constantly looking for anyone that can acknowledge him. If he didn't have Ji-chan, Teuchi-jiji, Ayame-nee-chan, and Iruka-sensei, he knows he'd go insane. Not wanting to travel down that gloom, Naruto asks, "you don't…" Naruto turns around, enjoying the slide and settle of her fluffy soft breasts against his chest, and only barely managing to make out her eyes. "You don't love me, right?"

Allowing the change of position to stand, despite the stiff hot rod pressing heat against her pelvis, Kurenai answers, "I've already explained that we won't be romantic-"

"But that's my point," Naruto interjects, leaning in flush against her, his head in the crook of her neck, pelvis-to-pelvis, chest-to-chest and both growing warmer. "I know you don't think about me like how I think about Sakura-chan, but I still feel really really good when I'm with you. That might not be the same but you're super important to me."

"It's better with the person you love," Kurenai upholds, talking to the naked blond in his bed while thinking of a coal-haired Jōnin escorting a princess.

"The person I love doesn't love me back," Naruto answers flatly, angling his aching erection so its hard, curved length can hook up the moist apex of her legs in closer. "Doesn't that mean if I can't have that connection, all I can hope for is techniques to… you know, help me make sure no one ever regrets being with me?"

"I'm sure no one will regret being with you," Kurenai alleges, feeling him pepper her chest with kisses, often sucking hard enough to pull the skin, sending a delectable sensation throughout her body that makes her tighten her legs around his throbbing member.

"You did," he absentmindedly points out as he takes her hardening nipple in his mouth and starts sucking. His suction moves her supple flesh in his mouth delighting in the soft feel and her gentle whimpers.

"Tha- ahn, Naruto…" Kurenai tries, feeling his eager hips press forward enough to spread her leaking lips against it. "That wasss mnn, different."

"Why," he asks between massaging and sucking on her delicate teets.

'Why indeed,' Kurenai muddles to think before stating, "well, I didn't, AHHNN! Naruto," she calls feeling his head push in the drowning entrance of her cunny. Despite the slurping pressure, Naruto only slides in halfway. "UUHHG," Kurenai groans at the engulfing intrusion. Narutos shifts them over, putting his weight on his knees between her widening legs before he thrusts fully to capacity.

"Nai-chan, Nai-chan," Naruto groans in rapt pleasure. "You feel so…"

The bed is creaking loudly in tandem with the wet smacking noise of the growing hot room. Desperate flesh hunting for euphoric release rut against each other, Kurenai moaning in bliss from his unrelenting dick-digging, splitting her sodden center repeatedly in force for the steadily approaching point of no return.

As her mind slowly ascends to bliss, Kurenai feels as much as thinks that knowledge is half the battle and as he pumps furiously at her fluttering walls in a hungry rhythm, she concludes that there's more to Naruto than meets the eye. Putting the conflict and ache in her heart and mind to the side for the moment, Kurenai squeezes Naruto's pounding pleasure pole, forcing his head to snap back as he groans loudly. His hips don't relent doubling the intensity of their pleasure. The sweaty ebony haired moaned louder just as she's about to reach her peak when Naruto buries himself balls deep, tonguing her cervix and groaning as his own release fills her sodden quim to the brim.

At the pressured rush of steaming man-milk bulging her uterus, her entire sex spasms and clamps around him as her entire body erupts in volley after volley of mind-numbing, toe-curling orgasms. Her cunt sucks him in as she holds on to his flush body for dear life, barely withstanding the reverberating bliss of miniature aftershocks.

Though calming down leads to its own surprise when Naruto slides up against her to bring needy lips to hers. Though she felt his inexperience, she also felt his passion, his appreciation, his happiness and rather than reject his emotions outright she returns as much as assists, holding firm his head and tilting for optimum effect. They kissed until her lips felt swollen and in no time at all, his battering-ram was eager for more.

They rutted together in various positions to mindless orgasms for the rest of the night and the tree times his cock knotted her up, were the three times she collapsed from the extreme euphoria. Kurenai didn't leave until the early hours of the morning and though her entire body felt sore and ached, she hummed deliciously, like half her body was an erogenous zone. With the practical way he learns, he just needed to see her reaction and he would eventually exploit that sexual weak spot until she was gushing and begging him for rest.

Slowly walking back in her little red dress, Kurenai couldn't help the smile on her face. Not simply because her body was aglow with lively delight, but because she felt content in her decision to give her heart time to mend, to feel, to grow again. Asuma hurt her and though she hadn't counted on the blond bundle of energy to provide such a distraction, she can't simply forget that so soon. If Genma is right, than Asuma will truly be fine and if not, she'll eventually discover so. For now, Kurenai will take care of her students, her village, and let the loud blond genin to take care of her from time to time.

The stuff that I didn't think I was going to write about was Sakura and Ino's perspectives, Kurenai learning about Asuma, Genma's interest, and Kurenai and Naruto wasn't supposed to be so long, which is why I thought I would be in Land of Wave in this chap, but imagine my surprise when I did add all that and the chap was like nearly 10K. Like I said, after I go over Chap 11 one more time, I'll post tomorrow.

Somebody asked me how Naruto was going to explain learning the Rasengan without a teacher. I hope my answer was satisfactory.

That stuff about Obsessive love is actually real. Like I looked it up and it's no joke.

I want to say that I've always liked Anko, but I'm still not sold on her yet. I know she and Naruto have a lot of parallels, but there's something about how easy it would be that's off putting. I know I want to make it easy for myself but it feels different somehow. I can't explain it 100% as of yet, but I'll go with my gut for now.

After writing some of Wave, I want to say I think I have an idea for both Samui and Mei, but just remember, they aren't going to be for a while. I still want to dive deeper into Sakura and I haven't even brought in Tenten yet. So for the moment, I'll be operating like I have my nine, though, if I think of something better, I will change it. Sorry. I know that's indecisive, but whatevs.

As always, please let me know your thoughts, and have a great one,

-Grae