Fitting Out

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Tenjho Tenge

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Here we go! This mainly is setup for the upcoming advanced genin classes so no major battles this chapter. Here's chapter 7:

Last time:

Inoichi was quietly talking with his wife Yamanako Ayano. Ayano said excitedly, "You mean he's Uzumaki Kushina-sama's son? That means he's Uzu Royalty. The boy is a Prince!" she practically squealed. "Kushina-sama never talked much about it at the Academy when we were kids but it was always obvious she was special."

"Ayano, the fact he's Royalty is classified!" whispered Inoichi.

"But the fact he's Kushina's son isn't?" asked Ayano in full gossip mode (Ino had to get it from somewhere).

Inoichi said, "Honey, Naruto hasn't ever told anybody. I don't think he wants the public to know."

"Well why not?" asked Ayano with a raised eyebrow. "Kushina was a Kage level kunoichi. If I was him I'd be yelling it in the streets! Where's his sense of pride? Wait! That means his Father was-"

"That's classified too Ayano." said Inoichi in a deadly serious tone. "If that leaks out our heads will literally roll. Promise me you'll keep it to yourself?"

"Alright; I promise." said Ayano. "You realize it breaks my heart not to spread something this juicy around don't you Inoichi-kun?"

"I shouldn't have mentioned it Ayano. I'm sorry." replied Inoichi.

"It's alright Inoichi-kun." said Ayano as she kissed her husband. Then she thought deviously to herself, 'There's no reason I can't encourage our little Ino-chan to like him….she doesn't have to know why just yet.'

Upstairs …

"…You mean he's Uzumaki Kushina-sama's son? That means he's Uzu Royalty. The boy is a Prince!"

Yamanaka Ino heard her Mother's voice through the floorboards. 'Uzumaki Kushina; who's that? Is that the knucklehead's Mother?! He's an Uzu Prince?! Is that possible? I need to call forehead. We need to research this!' If Ino could count on her best friend/worst rival for anything, it was Sakura's incredible brain power. 'That may be why Maya, Hinata and Emi like him. They probably know due to their connections as nobles. It makes perfect sense!'

…

Chapter 7

Konoha, The Haruno Residence

It was a beautiful Saturday Morning in Konoha's citizens were happily frolicking in the streets…Actually, Konoha was crawling from the physical, financial and metaphorical wreckage of Operation: KARMA and many people were weeping openly in the streets at the sheer embarrassment of what had happened the day before…and Uzumaki Naruto was exonerated of all blame on the grounds that only an army of terrorists could do this much damage in one night. The Haruno family had mercifully been spared any collateral damage and was taking the weekend off to relax (read: hide indoors where it was safe).

It was to this quaint household that one Yamanako Ino paid a visit to. Haruno Mebuki answered the door prepared to blast another neighbor looking for handouts or free labor when she saw Ino. "Good morning Ino-chan, what brings you by?"

"Hi Haruno-san; I was wondering if Sakura-chan was home. I wanted to pay her a visit about our new classes and stuff." said Ino innocently enough.

"Come on in Ino-chan. I'll call Sakura-chan down." said Mebuki.

Sakura soon came downstairs to see her best friend/worst enemy. "Ino-chan, what brings you by? Did the Flower Shop get hit?"

Ino sighed. "Yes but it could have been much worse. Daddy's really not too happy right now and I wanted to talk to you anyway so I came over to see you right after breakfast. Are you busy today?"

"No, with everything that went down yesterday I figured I'd stay indoors with Mom and Dad." said the rosette. "Let go up to my room." Once the girls got upstairs behind Sakura's closed door they dropped all pretenses as Sakura sat down at her desk and Ino sat on the bed. "So what's your real reason for coming by Ino-pig?" asked Sakura.

Seeing no reason to lie Ino said, "Well forehead, I have three reasons. The first is to get out of cleaning the incense smell at the shop since it was giving me an awful headache. The second reason is I want your opinion on these advanced genin classes."

"And the third reason…?" asked Sakura

"It's the most important." said Ino conspiratorially. "I overheard my Mom and Dad talking last night about a kunoichi they went to the Academy with named Uzumaki Kushina. Mom said she was Uzu Royalty and I think she's Naruto's Mom. Have you ever heard of her?"

"Naruto's Mom…royalty?" asked Sakura in disbelief. "Did you get hit in the head pig? It sounds like your tiny mind is all jumbled up."

Ino growled. "I'm not sure if I believe it forehead. That's why I came over here to use that super sized brain of yours to figure it out."

"Well, we could go to the library and look through the Academy graduates yearbooks of your parent's year. If we find something we could look into clan history books. I know your Mom quit before she made chunin. Was she in the same class as your Dad?"

Ino nodded. "I knew you'd have some good ideas billboard brow. Let's head to the library."

"Right porker; I'll get my stuff on and we'll go." answered Sakura.

…

Natsume Clan Residence

Naruto was sitting and talking with Hinata and Maya as they all looked over the scrolls they had received from the Academy this morning. Maya was reading aloud. "Turn in the attached equipment requisition form at the ANBU Armory to receive your new uniforms and weapons for the advanced genin course. You are to report to room 301 in your new uniforms and are expected to wear them at all times during the course of your training."

"Personal weapons such as swords, bo staffs, et cetera are to be carried with you at all times as you will be receiving training in them as well during your advanced courses. Know that all of your new equipment is combat grade and you are expected to care and clean it regularly. If you lose or damage a piece of equipment beyond repair you will be billed for its replacement. Requisition forms are to be turned in no later than 12 P.M. Sunday at the ANBU Armory so appropriate fittings can be made."

"Well, they are certainly handling things differently if we have uniforms we have to wear." said Hinata. "Do you know where the ANBU Armory is Naruto-kun?"

Naruto smiled. "Of course I do Hinata-chan. I know this village like the back of my hand."

"Are you going to carry your family swords Naruto-kun?" asked Maya. "The Shippuuhime and Kurimuzo-kougou would give away your identity if there's someone who knows sword heraldry. Then again, so will the Reiki in my case."

Hanako came in and said, "Yes, you will be carrying your family blades. You will as well Hinata-chan."

"I have family blades Obaa-chan?" asked Hinata in surprise.

"Yes you do; they are the blades I carried as an active duty kunoichi long ago, the Hakutsume blades."

"The White Talons?" asked Maya. "I've heard of those somewhere…."

"I used them in the Second Shinobi War." said Hanako as she handed the box with the Hakutsume blades in it to her granddaughter.

Hinata gently opened the box and saw a pair of sheathed kodachis. The sheaths were matte black in finish and featureless –perfect for stealth. "Pull them out Hinata-chan." said Hanako with eagerness in her voice. "I've been training you to use twin kodachi's specifically so you could use these Talons to protect yourself and others you love."

Hinata gingerly picked up one of the blades and unsheathed it. It was pure white with decorative engravings on it. It almost looked like it was ceramic rather than metal. Hinata's eyes widened as she looked at the blade with her byakugan in wonder. "This is chakra metal Obaa-chan! I can see my chakra channeling through it with the slightest touch. These must be worth a fortune!" Hinata put the blade away and pulled out the other which matched the first one perfectly.

Seeing her eldest granddaughter's dazzled look; Hanako smiled and knew she'd made the right choice. "They are attuned to be used specifically with the juken style Hinata-chan. If you channel a juken strike through them they extend with edges like chakra scalpels and their cutting power becomes exponentially greater. They are yours now Hinata-chan. Take good care of them and I promise they will take good care of you."

"But I'm just a beginner Obaa-chan; surely I'm not worthy of your swords." said Hinata.

Hanako smiled again and said, "When I'm finished training you little one; those swords will simply be an extension of yourself. The juken you are learning is designed to work in concert with those very swords. Never doubt you are worthy of them."

"They are beautiful Hinata-chan." said Maya excitedly. "You're going to be elegant and deadly with those blades."

Naruto nodded. "Maya-chan is right. You're going to be awesome! Even better we each have our families' blades with us; we're going to be the best!"

Hinata smiled gratefully at her friend's faith in her and turned to her Grandmother. "Then I will humbly accept the Hakutsume blades and work to become a worthy wielder of them."

Hanako kissed her granddaughter's forehead and said, "Someday you will be a master of the Hakutsume blades; I promise you." Wiping a bit of moisture from her eye she said, "Let's get you all equipped with your swords and on your way to the armory. The sooner you get your new equipment the better."

…

Konaha Public Library

When Ino and Sakara came around the corner they saw the library (a round building) was decorated like a giant birthday cake. It was painted white and the top and bottom edges were trimmed with red 'frosting.' Sakura was appalled but Ino started giggling. "It's actually kind of clever. The piping sticking up on the roof is even painted like candles." As disgusted as she was, Sakura had to agree that the play on the building's shape was rather witty. That was until they got around to the from entrance where instead of the 'Konoha Public Library' sign it had written in oversized letters of red 'frosting' the words 'EAT ME.'

The two girls stood there staring in shock watching as several children asked their Mothers what the significance of 'EAT ME' was with mixed and embarrassing results. Finally, Ino could take no more and exploded into laughter. "Oh my gawd; that's terrible! It's scandalous! It's absolutely hysterical!" she said between guffaws. Sakura was just shaking her head in offense at the tastelessness of it all.

Since everyone was staring at Ino; Sakura grabbed her friend and said, "Come on piggy! We have work to do." Going inside they found the building was undamaged and nothing was amiss inside (although the librarian was glaring at the still snickering Ino). Sakura led Ino over into the restricted ninja section that Academy students had access to.

Showing their Academy ID's the pair went back to the yearbooks from the Third Shinobi War and started skimming through them. They soon found the year that Ino's parents were in. "Is that your Dad?" asked Sakura pointing at the picture. "He looks like such a baby!" she giggled. "Of course, they did graduate earlier at the time because of the war and all."

Ino chuckled too. "Yep, that's him, Choza and Shikaku; the original Ino-Shika-Cho trio. "There's my Mom. She looks so tomboyish."

"Given how elegant your Mom is now I can't imagine her dressed like that." said Sakura smirking.

"Now there is a cute boy." said Ino pointing out a blonde. "I but he grew up to be a real hunk later."

Sakura sighed, "Not that I don't agree with you but that's our Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato!"

The two girls continued to look over the class picture and then saw the pictures of the individual graduates. "Uchiha Mikoto…she looks so much like Sasuke-kun!" said Ino.

"That's Sasuke's Mother Ino-pig! Haven't you ever researched his family?" asked Sakura incredulously.

"I guess I'm just not as good at stalking as you forehead." sneered Ino as she turned the page. "Uzumaki Kushina…." They saw a pretty redhead sporting a toothy grin. "Her smile and around her eyes….I can see it in her face Sakura. This could be Naruto's Mom!"

"Shame her son turned out to be such a degenerate." said Sakura. "Of course he is an orphan so I guess he's not entirely to blame…She's so pretty. I'd never have imagined his Mom would be so cute." That's when they found all the proof they needed to prove this was indeed Naruto's Mother. Kushina was subtly giving the camera the finger. "Oh. My. God. All doubts that this redhead is Naruto's Kaa-san have been wiped from my mind Ino-pig." Sakura said shaking her head.

Ino snickered. "Yeah, there's no refuting this evidence. What do you think happened to her?"

Sakura said thoughtfully, "I heard at some point Naruto was an orphan because of the Kyubi attack. I'm guessing she died then. It's sad really."

"Do you think Naruto knows any of this?" asked Ino.

"I don't know but I really doubt it." replied Sakura. "He's always claimed he never knew who his parents were…"

…

With Naruto, Maya and Hinata…

They were on their way into town and headed towards the armory when they saw Isuzu Emi wandering around the area aimlessly. She was obviously lost. She saw them and trotted over with relief etched on her features. "Naruto-kun, Maya, Hinata; are you headed to the Armory?"

"Yes we are Emi." answered Maya. "Are you lost 'cause you sure look that way?"

Emi nodded embarrassed. "My cousin and Shikamaru were supposed to come down here with me but they went over to the Nara ranch and haven't come back. I figured I'd be retirement age before they came back so I came down here myself but I don't know the exact location of the place."

"I didn't know you had cousins here in Konoha Emi-san." said Hinata politely.

Emi got a rather dour look on her face and said. "My Grandmother is an Akimichi. When she retired, she hooked up with Granddad because he 'likes fat chicks' in his own words. Choji is a second cousin of mine and I live in the Akimichi Clan Compound." She shook her head. "When Uncle Choza found nothing but granola bars back in the meat lockers yesterday he went berserk. He had a craving for bacon and boy did things go downhill from there. By noon we all thought we were going to die of starvation. We even had to ration out the ice cream at one gallon each for lunch. It was famine I tell you! Anyway, Choji and I had chocolate and-"

'So that's how she eats those super sized bentos for lunch…how come she's not huge?' thought the other three as Emi rambled.

"-Anyway, I ate nearly a whole brisket for dinner last night. After that we all agreed to tighten security around our food supply." finished Emi.

'She has a figure on par with Hinata and I yet she eats that much?' thought Maya in shock.

Hinata thought, 'Oh, dear. Treating Emi to lunch could put someone into bankruptcy…'

'…All this talk about food is making me hungry.' thought Naruto.

"Well, Naruto-kun knows where the armory is Emi." said Maya. "Why don't you come with us since Hinata-chan and I don't know where it is either."

"Great!" chirped Emi happily. "I wonder what kind of uniforms we'll have and what colors are available."

"If it's from the ANBU Armory it will probably look like ANBU Uniforms." said Naruto. "….With no orange." he added sadly.

...

Konoha Public Library

"Here's an Alumni book of Daddy's class." said Ino excitedly. "It looks like it commemorates the end of the Third Shinobi War."

Ino and Sakura looked at the Class picture and saw how few of them there were left. "It looks like so many of them died…" said Sakura sadly.

Ino nodded. "Daddy never talks much about it but he told me he lost a lot of friends during the war. Mom quit when she was a genin because her team was wiped out. She still never has told me what happened and Daddy told me not to ask." Turning the pages, they found the now adult members of the class looking like seasoned ninjas. "These pictures are a lot more informal. It looks like they were taken at the Akimichi Barbeque Restaurant."

They thumbed through several pictures that showed friends drinking or posing together with their autographs below the photos. "Namikaze Minato –The Yellow Flash. He sure looks heroic. No wonder he became our Hokage." said Ino as Sakura nodded in agreement. "There's Nara Yoshino and Shikaku together. I guess they were already a couple then...And there's the Ino-Shika-Cho trio again. It looks like they were all chunins or maybe jonins; I can't tell. They all look a little tipsy too."

"There's Naruto's Mom and Sasuke-kun's Mom together. They're both so beautiful!" said Sakura. "Uchiha Mikoto and Uzumaki Kushina –The Red Hot Habenero." The two women were arm in arm and each had their hands up in a 'V' sign. Mikoto looked reserved but highly amused and Kushina had a big smile and looked like she was bursting with energy. "I'm guessing Naruto got his hyper activeness from her. You can almost see the energy radiating from her in the picture." Sakura giggled.

"Do you think we should tell Naruto or bring him to the library and surprise him?" asked Ino.

The rosette raised an eyebrow. "I don't know Ino; if the two of us were to invite him out to the library people might think we want to date him or something."

"So?" asked Ino.

Sakura frowned. "So? Well, aside of the fact we both like Sasuke-kun there's the fact that Maya and Hinata might murder us. It's not like they haven't shown their fangs before. –Did that ever occur to you pig? For all that matter if we just came up out of the blue and said, 'By the way, we found out who your Kaa-san is.' he might think it's some kind of cruel joke since he's an orphan and that would be absolutely awful."

"I guess you have a point billboard brow." said Ino. "I didn't think about that. He may be a knucklehead at times but I really wouldn't want to hurt his feelings like that."

Sakura looked at her best friend/worst rival suspiciously. "You know, if I didn't know better, I'd say you actually like Uzumaki Naruto. What's the deal porker?"

Ino looked away with a light dusting on her cheeks. "It's not that I like him; I'm just really curious you know? When I overheard Mom say his Kaa-san was a princess it is hard not to be curious."

"Last I checked princesses don't give cameras the finger Ino." said Sakura.

"Stop being so stuffy!" said Ino forcefully. "At least we're ninety nine percent positive that is his Mom just because she flipped off the camera. Since we can't take stuff out of the ninja section let's look up the Uzumaki Clan and see what we can find."

Sakura nodded and the twosome went over to the clan histories to continue their research…

…

Hokage Tower

Sarutobi Hiruzen was standing in front of his ANBU. "As you all know, you are the most trusted group of all my ninjas. We believe a war is coming." The ANBU all suddenly paused but remained silent. "You all know that several programs have been instituted to beef up our defenses. This recent prank by Uzumaki Naruto only proves that we aren't ready for an invasion."

All the ANBU hung their heads in shame. "I have decided to institute a new policy. As you all know, the entire ANBU Corps had to be humiliated as clowns for the past twenty for hours until the masks came off." All present groaned in misery. "Do not feel ashamed, I too was forced to wear….inappropriate attire due to my own inattentiveness."

Shimura Danzo walked out to the podium and stood at Hiruzen's side and the Hokage continued. "Also as you know, there has long existed a ROOT ANBU force under Shimura Danzo. There is undeniable proof now as they all have been brought to light so to speak. I'll let Danzo explain the situation."

Danzo looked at the ANBU and could feel the distrust and the tension in the air. "I know many of you do not trust me and with good reason. The Hokage and I have been rivals since the time of the Second Shinobi War. I even tried to overthrow Hiruzen in an assassination attempt that failed and yet he decided to spare me." There was a slight murmur in the air. "I want to talk about young Uzumaki's prank that paralyzed Konoha completely for a good twenty-four hours. ROOT was also shut completely down and though I am embarrassed to admit it; we were completely at Uzumaki's mercy."

Shimura continued, "We strongly believe that Uzumaki used seals to cause all the chaos he did though we have no way to prove it. What if the boy had truly evil intent towards the village? What if he'd used seals meant for demolition instead of mere pranks? Let's give credit where it is due; through sheer cunning and brilliant execution Uzumaki Naruto could have leveled a good three fourths of Konoha and not one of us would have had the power to stop him."

"What happened to stop the ROOT ANBU's activities advisor Shimura?" asked ANBU Dragon.

Danzo said with a completely straight face, "While all of you were running around in assorted clown makeup ROOT was being progressively flooded out of the tunnels below Konoha by masses of raw sewage. ROOT is essentially homeless for now so I asked the Hokage for a compromise. There is no way to deny or even cover up their existence so ROOT will be integrated into the main Konoha Ninja Corps and in exchange they will be exonerated of blame for any unrecorded actions while under my command. Konoha needs military might for the upcoming conflict and this will help tremendously because everyone will be working in concert."

"Danzo will no longer be in command of ROOT and will be keeping his position as chief military advisor in exchange." said Sarutobi. "This has all been decided and I'm relying on all of you to help integrate former ROOT agents into both ANBU and the regular shinobi forces. Here is how this will take place: Our first goal is a disinformation campaign towards the public. This recent prank was done by an 'enemy army' and ROOT will play that role. ANBU will be 'defeating' them and they will be 'jailed' and consequently will vanish. Consider all of this full contact sparring. We will use this as an excuse to up our training and military budget with the public's approval. They are questioning our abilities as leaders and soldiers currently and this will quash that notion that we cannot lead and protect them. I'm 'promoting' Danzo to a more public position as part of this disinformation campaign."

ANBU Dragon spoke again. "Hokage-sama, do you think the public will buy it? It seems too convenient just to get Uzumaki off the hook."

"The citizens of Konoha will buy it." said Danzo. "They have grown complacent in these peaceful times and like sheep they can be herded in the direction we desire. We won't even provide a public a real reason as to why this 'enemy army' did what they did. We'll just suggest the pranks were a preemptive strike. The people can figure out whatever reason that suits their personal tastes after that."

Hiruzen nodded. "We are ninjas and we have to take opportunities when they come. The public is clamoring for justice and we will strike when the iron is hot and deliver it to them. It sounds very simplistic to us as ninjas but the public will not question it. This operation will commence first thing tonight at midnight when ROOT will attempt to strike again. They will be easily identified by their masks which will have a red cross symbol painted across them."

"Your assignments have already been chosen to match your opponents." said the Hokage. "Use flashy jutsus but keep collateral damage to a minimum. We want this to appear to be a pitched battle in the middle of the night and want to show off a bit of our might. When the so-called battle is over tomorrow morning we will claim a hard fought victory but we will need to be better prepared in the future. Nice and simple…"

…

ANBU Armory

"Sure kids, you can have any color you want as long as it's black." said the grey haired, squared jawed ANBU agent behind the counter with a big obnoxious smile written on his face. "I'm afraid you're in for a large dose of reality. Combat uniforms are about form and function. Fashion is rarely factored in. Mura is our seamstress; she'll get you fitted out. Once she has you in your new uniforms, I'll issue you with your new weapons. I'm Taro by the way. You'll probably be seeing me regularly to get your weapons and armor checked and serviced. If you'll hand over your family swords, I'll approve them." Seeing their bodies go ridged and the looks of utter contempt etched on their faces he said, "Of course you'll be present when I check them over. I won't touch them without permission."

A short, stocky young woman with her black hair in a bun opened the side door and said, "I'm Mura. You first blondie; fitting girl's uniforms takes longer." After leading him through a set of double sealed doors she said reading off the list, "So you're the infamous Uzumaki Naruto. Set your weapons on the table there and strip to your underwear so I can take you measurements and fit you out."

Naruto blushed slightly and did as he was told. When he was stripped down she whipped out a measuring tape and moved him around in whatever position she needed to take measurements. Mura wasn't gentle at all and other than giving curt directions on what she wanted him to do she was silent. She vanished into the back and soon came out with mesh armor. The seamstress also handed him some protective underwear. "Lose the boxers and put these on first. I'll check the fit and then we'll put on the mesh."

Naruto asked nervously, "C-can you turn around so I can change?"

Mura answered with, "No, I can't. Hop to it!"

Three pairs of underwear later she was griping about him having 'unbelievably massive chakra reserves' and he was blushing up a storm. "There, finally." said Mura. "It needs to be snug but not too snug or it will damage the goods. Put on the mesh top while I go get you a different set of pants that are looser in the crotch." It wasn't long before Naruto was wearing mesh armor with black standard ANBU clothing.

He had a black armored flak jacket, fingerless gloves with metal plates on the back and black ninja sandals. He also had a black cloak for weather protection. "This is your standard uniform Uzumaki." said Mura. You'll get six more sets of clothes and you can add options like cutouts and additional armor like greaves if you want later. Taro will get you new holsters for your kunai, shuriken and whatnot."

She quickly loaded the extra clothing on the table along with a small backpack. "Do you want a bag for all that stuff? It's not like I'm going to deliver it to your address." she said bluntly. Naruto shook his head no and unsealed his sealing supplies. Soon the massive pile of stuff was all neatly put away in a scroll. It didn't escape Mura's eye that he created a specific sealing scroll on the spot.

'The ANBU seal masters they have aren't that fast.' she thought. As he strapped on his katana and wakizashi she said, "One last thing Uzumaki. Practice sliding into and out of you new gear and break it in a bit. Sometimes you need to change quickly on a mission…On a personal note I don't see why the hell you wore that orange tent. This uniform shows off your body much better and you look quite fetching if I say so myself. You're done."

Mura led him out and pointed at Hinata. "You're next Hyūga; move it." Hinata quickly jumped to her feet and followed Mura in.

'I wanted to admire Naruto-kun, damn it!' thought the Hyūga Heiress. She'd only caught a glance but she liked what she saw…

Naruto was back out in front of Taro. "I'll be damned Uzumaki! You actually could pass off for a real ninja now. Let's see those swords of yours and then I'll get you your new kunai and shuriken."

Naruto set his katana and wakizashi gently on the Counter and handed Taro an envelope with the Hokage's seal on it. Taro raised an eyebrow but opened the envelope and read the contents which revealed they were the Shippuuhime and the Kurimuzo-kougou and they did indeed belong to Uzumaki Naruto. It also listed the consequences of what would happen if Taro (or anyone else) if they revealed the identity of the last Royal Uzumaki. Taro looked up into Naruto's eyes and saw a cold blue flame that made him gasp at the sheer intensity.

Nodding and destroying the note with a small fire jutsu he carefully inspected both weapons. He had no idea what they were made of, but the balance and sharpness was perfect. He quickly put the swords back in their sheaths and said, "You have been blessed with some truly superb blades Uzumaki-san. Let me get you the kunai and other equipment you need…"

Both Maya and Emi were admiring Naruto in his skin tight new combat gear. Emi had a slight nosebleed. 'I knew he was powerful and probably had a good body but kami he looks good enough to eat. Look at all that lean muscle! There's not a bit of wasted fat on there and it ripples under that mesh'…She licked her lips hungrily as she admired him while he strapped on all his new weaponry. 'A little more to the left! Oh, that's it Naruto-kun!'

Maya was enjoying the view as well but she already knew Naruto had a good body under that jumpsuit. Still, knowing and seeing it on display for her to admire were to different things. "That looks really good on you Naruto-kun! I know it isn't orange but it looks great!" 'Yes, Maya-chan approves! I really need him to move in with us for good. I'd love to see that every morning when I get up.'

…

Konoha Public Library

Ino was at her wit's end. They hadn't found much on the Uzumakis other than they were from the Land of Whirlpools and they were so feared for their skills with fuinjutsu that entire nations banded together to destroy them. There were no books specifically on Uzu and all the references the two girls located were just in general clan encyclopedias that had a short paragraph on every clan in the elemental nations without any specific details. Unlike Ino (who was ready to pull her ponytail out by the roots after three hours) Sakura was still going full steam.

Setting down her pile of books; the rosette went over to the chunin on duty that watched over the restricted section. "Excuse me but I'm looking for books on the Uzumaki Clan and there don't seem to be any on the shelf. I know they were associated with Fire Country so I can't imagine the library wouldn't have something."

The chunin turned from reading the paper and regarded Sakura for a minute. He said in a bored tone, "Those books are in the chunin and jonin sections and aren't available to Academy students young lady."

"But why? If it's just an extinct country's history…" asked Sakura.

"It was a choice made over a decade ago before I was in this position." said the chunin. "The decision was made by the Hokage and his advisors. If you need to know something that badly either ask your Academy instructor or complain to the Hokage himself." Then the chunin turned back to his newspaper.

…

Hokage Tower

"Now that we all understand our new situation I want to discuss the very real possibility of an upcoming war." said Hiruzen. A screen lowered showing a map of the Elemental Countries. "This is what we know; a new ninja Village called Oto has been formed in the Land of Rice to the north of Fire Country. Their leader is none other than my traitorous student Orochimaru."

A large murmur swept through the ANBU but Sarutobi motioned for silence. "We know they are building up an army and are mobilizing for war. They should be fully mobilized in eight months when we have our Chunin Exams. We also know that our 'allies' in Suna are mobilizing on the same timetable. Our information network has concluded that the two countries have been in close contact with each other for about a year now. We have come to the conclusion that both countries are intending to invade while we are holding the Chunin Exams. One or the other we could deal with but their combined forces are a serious threat to our village. We need to be prepared and many new programs are going to be instituted starting with the integration of ROOT…"

…

ANBU Armory

It had been two hours since the group of four arrived and Naruto was doing his best to hide the fact he had a major erection for Hinata-chan and then Maya-chan in their new form fitting uniforms. They were waiting for Emi and Naruto had taken note that Taro held the Reiki in great reverence but when he saw the Hakutsume blades he seemed somewhere between awestruck and frightened. When he returned the blades to Hinata Taro said, "I look forward to seeing you handle those in the future." and left it at that. For now the three very aroused teenagers were just sitting and waiting on the last member of their group.

While Naruto was fantasizing about peeling off the tight; tight flak jackets the girls were wearing Emi was in the back with Mura who seemed to be fuming as she was taking Emi's measurements. Emi was being silent as Mura muttered quietly to herself, "Grumble grumble…Goddamned early bloomers with huge chakra reserves and equally huge racks…grumble grumble…They must choose kunoichis by cup size these days. Three in a fucking row…god damn I feel so cheated…grumble grumble…And their bodies are all perfect too! If I had a body like any of these girls I'd have men begging to lick my feet! ...grumble grumble…So unfair. So goddamned unfair…"

Soon Emi was outfitted as the other girls were and was getting her pair of dueling kunai checked over by Taro who quickly approved of her weapons. They were of exceptionally high quality but given the Isuzu family resources it was no mystery as to how she could afford them. Once she got her new kunai and shuriken she made sure to give Naruto a very good view of her new uniform. Emi never considered black her color but she figured she could make this work. Having all three girls there looking like kunoichi fantasy mates was almost too much to handle for Naruto. He feared his hormones were going to get the better of him so he hopped up and led the girls out hoping he wouldn't get any harder (it was rather painful at this point).

Taro watched as the group left and saw Mura standing there looking after them as well. "I have to say that kunoichi sure do develop young these days. I see a bright future for Konoha." he added lecherously. Mura didn't say anything but gave him a roundhouse kick to the head that caused him to land in a heap on the other side of the counter.

"Pervert…" growled Mura as she headed to the back.

…

Hokage Tower

The ANBU were dismissed to perform their normal duties and to meet their new members from ROOT. All of them had mixed feelings but it was the Hokage's decree and they would carry it out. As they filed out Sarutobi called out to ANBU Cat and asked her to stay behind. Danzo excused himself leaving Cat alone with the Hokage. "You may remove your mask Uzuki Yūgao." said Hiruzen kindly.

"How may I serve you Hokage-sama?" asked Yūgao (age twenty-two) as she removed the Cat mask revealing her pretty face.

Hiruzen smiled. "Actually, I have a temporary job offer for you Yūgao."

She raised a delicate eyebrow. "A temporary job offer? What do you mean sir?"

"One of the programs we mentioned was our advanced genin program." said Hiruzen. "I need a tough, young and very competent shinobi to teach it and I believe you are that person. You were inducted into the ranks of ANBU before you were of graduation age. I believe your example could inspire them to do well."

Yūgao looked a bit confused and said, "May I see the curriculum Hokage-sama?" Hiruzen handed it over to her without flourish. After reading it over she said, "This looks like the training we received when we entered ANBU sir, although it has more specialization like kenjutsu and fuinjutsu. Are we training future ANBU here?"

Hiruzen nodded. "That is exactly what we are doing Yūgao. Since you have previous experience breaking in new ANBU troops, I felt you would be ideal for this job. You'd have regular hours as an Academy instructor but you would be receiving A-ranked pay the next two months for putting up with a bunch of brats. I also know Uzumaki Naruto respects you since his Cat nee-chan was the only regular ANBU that didn't end up dressed as a clown. He's the only one you are permitted to tell you ANBU identity to."

"It sounds like I'm going to have to throw Naruto-kun and the others through the meat grinder." said Yūgao. "I'll have to draw up a schedule and disguise it as extra hard Academy courses since we can't use the ANBU barracks."

"Then I can count on you with this task Yūgao?" asked the Hokage.

"Leave it to me sir; I'll whip the brats into shape." said the purple haired kunoichi with a grin.

"That's what I wanted to hear Instructor Uzuki Yūgao. Feel free to wear your ANBU gear minus the mask of course."

"Yes, sir!" answered Yūgao.

…

POSTSCRIPT:

Next chapter Naruto's class continues to prepare for boot camp from hell. The question is; will their teacher Yūgao survive teaching Academy students? She can breeze through S-ranked assassination missions but this may be her toughest assignment yet. See you next time. Blue out. 6/3/23