Chapter Forty-Four: Bonding

(Meanwhile In Konoha)

After a good amount of running, Haku was reaching the large gates leading into the Namikaze Estate. She knew it wouldn't be long until she met up with Naruto and inform him of what was happening. Haku took a moment to catch her breath as her lungs begged for oxygen. A few minutes later, Haku stood back up and started running again.

(Back In The Forest)

The entire surrounding region where Ryota and "Chizuru" previously stood rocked violently as flames and burning debris flew everywhere. It was a while before the land steadied and the ball of flames died out. After the chaos calmed, Deidara burst from out of the ground. Shaking the dirt from off of him, Deidara walked over to the large crater made from the explosion. There was still some flames burning from within and around the crater.

"An artistic way for you to reunite with your older sister little Ryota, yeah," Deidara smirked sinisterly. He then heard the sound of crumbling rocks. He turned to see Ryota's stone katana lying on the ground before breaking apart and turning back to the pieces of stones the katana once was.

"Hmm," Deidara grinned, "As I've always said: Art Is A Blast!"

As soon as he said those words a large boulder burst from the ground in front of him. Before he could react, the boulder sprouted spikes from all directions from itself.

"What?!," Deidara shouted as he jumped and evaded the spikes, only for the spike-covered boulder to retract the spikes to itself. The boulder, while levitating three feet off the ground, kept the spikes at two-foot extension from itself and began to spin profusely at a fast speed and chase after him. Deidara found himself running from the flying spinning spiked-boulder that sought to grind and crush him as it plowed through everything that came in its path. The Akatsuki-nin jumped and back flipped over the spinning boulder as it passed under him before he threw molded clay spiders onto the spinning boulder.

"Katsu!," Deidara yelled as the spiders exploded the boulder to pieces. When the smoke and dust cleared, Deidara looked to see who was in front of him in the center of the rubble.

"It's you," he smirked as he saw the serious looked on Ryota's face, "So you survived my trap, yeah."

Ryota said nothing as she remained reserved and calm.

"You've certainly came a long way little Ryota," Deidara said.

"…Bastard," Ryota spoke with a voice filled with malice and hate, "What you did was both cruel and low, and a perversion of my older sister's name and legacy! You're despicable, and I'm disgusted and ashamed of the fact that you were my favorite sensei!"

"Tell me, how were you able to see through my trap? There was no way for you to have speedily escaped from that explosion."

Looking at her former sensei in the eye, she said, "You don't know my sister like I did. You never did in fact."

"What's that suppose to mean," Deidara inquired.

"As cunning and deadly your trap was however," Ryota explained, "It had a costly design flaw."

"Hm," was all Deidara said.

"When you said that I followed in your footsteps in becoming a missing-nin of Iwa," Ryota continued, "It a small way you were right…"

(Flashback)

Looking at Ryota, Chizuru said, "So it's true that you defected from our home village to Konoha. I was shocked to learn that you were labeled as an A-class missing-nin in the bingo books after I went in search of you in Iwa."

A feeling of guilt overcame the young earth-type Jounin, "…I'm sorry…But…I…What happened was…"

"Don't worry," Chizuru assured, "I'm sure you had your reasons whatever they may be. I'm just happy to be with you again."

(End Flashback)

"One of Chizuru's greatest ambitions was to become the future Tsuchikage," Ryota said, "Though you at one time were considered a potential candidate. But unlike the two of us, my sister Chizuru was a true Iwagakure patriot. She loved her country and was willing to die for it. She had no tolerance for treason of any sort from anyone. When your fake Chizuru readily accepted me in spite of my crimes against Iwa, I knew then that she was not my real sister, and I used Kawarimi to switch myself with a tsuchi bushin (earth clone)."

"…Clever," Deidara muttered, "It's also surprising that you referred to Iwagakure as "her country" instead of "our country"."

"We no longer have any ties with Iwa in case you've forgotten," Ryota remarked, "I severed what little ties I had with Iwagakure the day I sided with Naruto-kun when he went after and killed Orochimaru. My ties now are with Konoha and Naruto-kun."

"…," Deidara said nothing to his former apprentice unitl, "Does that mean you now severed your ties with your late sister?"

"Don't get me wrong," Ryota corrected, "I loved my sister and I always regarded her as one of my precious people. But my sister was one who placed duty and her loyalty to Iwa ahead of everything else. And she would not have taken too kindly to my betrayal and siding with the son of Konoha's Yondaime. Chizuru despised Konoha's Yellow Flash for killing our father during the Iwa-Konoha War. Were she to still be alive, she would have done everything in her power to personally hunt and track me down, and bring me back to face Iwagakure justice by the Tsuchikage."

"I must admit that I've clearly underestimated you," Deidara said, "You're not as gullible as I thought little Ryota."

"I'm not little anymore," Ryota retorted, "And I'm no longer your apprentice. I may have been fooled by you in the past when I was much younger and more naïve, but Chizuru wasn't deceived and her death by your hands that day showed me your true face and it saved me from becoming one of your molded pawns. My sister died and gave her life to protect me from you. And using her as a twisted means to kill me is a crime I can never and will never forgive!"

"Whatever," Deidara scoffed, "I didn't come to Konoha to ask for your forgiveness nor do I wish for it from the likes of-"

Deidara was cut off he narrowly dodged a kunai that grazed across a few strands of his blond hair in front of his face.

"Well now," said the masculine voice, "I'm sure I can get you to beg for mercy."

Deidara's eyes turned to see Kakashi standing from the side several feet away from him. Sasuke and Sai appeared and stood some distance from the duo while Sakura went over to where Ryota was.

"Are you OK," Sakura asked.

"Just fine," Ryota remarked.

"We saw and heard explosions from this direction while were on our way to perform our next mission," Sai explained, "So we came to investigate."

"Only to find another Akatsuki member," Kakashi said while keeping his guard up. Sasuke looked at Deidara with cautious eyes, "Seeing the clothes you're wearing could only mean that you know Itachi."

Deidara turned to look at the raven-haired boy. Smirking Deidara said, "You must be Itachi's younger brother, yeah. He told me some things about you…things pertaining to your lack of hatred and being the weakest one who survived the Uchiha clan massacre."

Sasuke growled while fighting himself from attacking the S-class ninja. If anything, he didn't want a repeat of what happened last time.

"Where's Itachi," Sasuke asked.

"What's it matter to you anyway," Deidara scoffed, "You'll just get your ass kicked again by him anyway, though I'm surprised that Naruto-san can give your brother a hard time considering his reputation."

That did little to calm Sasuke's anger as the cursed seal started acting up. Sasuke grabbed and held his neck while trying to keep the curse seal's influence under control as painful as it was.

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura said worriedly as she hurried over to him.

"Naruto-san is stronger than you Sasuke," Deidara said as he reached into his pouch carrying his clay. The mouth in his right hand reached in and bit into some of the clay before chewing on it. After a couple of moments…

"Careful," Ryota warned, "Hey specializes in long-range explosive attacks!"

The mouthed palm spat out the molded clay as Deidara placed it on the ground. Forming a seal, the shaped clay burst into a puff of smoke before clearing away. When the smoke cleared, what everyone now saw was a colored clay copy of Naruto.

"I think it's time 'Naruto-san' proves that point, yeah," Deidara said before the clay clone rushed at them. Kakashi and the others prepared to battle the clone when suddenly…

"Rasengan!," Naruto yelled as he speed dashed like a blur and plunged the glowing spiral orb of chakra into the clay clone, blowing and destroying it completely. Deidara smirked upon seeing the blonde, with Haku arriving and standing close by Naruto.

"You should know that you can never replicate the real thing with cheap clay imitations," Naruto said.

"Namikaze Naruto-san," Deidara replied, "Konoha's Second Flash and the strongest shinobi of Konoha since your father, yeah. In the bingo books a flee-on-sight order was given about you…none of the Sannins were given that privilege."

Naruto ignored the man as the ANBU appeared behind Naruto and the others all facing Deidara.

"You're surrounded," a female ANBU with long purple hair said, "Turn yourself in."

Naruto and Kakashi knew that female ANBU to be Uzuki Yugao, Genko Hayate's lover.

"As much as I'd like to stick around in Konoha prison before being executed, my time here is up, yeah."

As Naruto and Kakashi were about to charge at Deidara…

"Katsu!," Deidara yelled as a series of large explosions started occurring around the surrounded areas, knocking down trees and setting large fires. The explosions continued for a short while longer.

"Art is a blast!," Deidara shouted as his form disappeared into the flames and smoke before anyone could go after him.

"Quickly," Kakashi said, "We must get away from here!"

Everyone nodded as they took to flight from the burning forest. When everyone was safely out of the forest, Naruto pulled out a scroll from within his trench coat and opened it, revealing a kanji for "flood" inside the scroll.

"Do your thing Haku-san," Naruto said throwing the scrolling high into the air before activating the seal in it, bursting forth a massive deluge of water from it. Acting quickly, Haku, using her hyouton hijutsu, performed a one handed seal, and turned to falling floods of water into frozen rain and showered the burning forest with the frozen rain water, effectively dousing out the flames all around the forest. Ascending now from the forest were white smoke and the smell of burnt wood, with the flames completely extinguished.

"The coward," Sasuke remarked, "He escaped."

"Only because reinforcement arrived," Naruto said, "I'm sure he'd have stayed longer had we not showed up."

"You mean had you not showed up," Sasuke remarked.

"Excuse me," Naruto retorted.

"He only left because you appeared," Sasuke said, "He'd have fought all of us if you didn't show up. He made that clear if you haven't noticed."

"Don't underestimate the enemy Sasuke," Naruto replied.

"…," Sasuke said nothing as Naruto continued, "Deidara would have had to deal with the ANBU, two A-class Jounins, Haku-san, you guys and myself included. Despite this, I'm sure that as an S-class missing-nin he could have given us a hard time if he wanted to, but evidently we weren't his targets…Ryota was."

The female said nothing as all eyes looked at her.

"Why would Deidara go after Ryota-san," Yugao asked.

"The Akatsuki in general has no interest in Ryota," Naruto answered, "But I wouldn't put it pass them to use anyone close to me or my comrades as bait to lure me out into an ambush."

"You said earlier that only Ryota-san was the target," Sakura spoke up, "So why are you placing yourself as if you're the target?"

"Because he is in fact," Ryota made clear, "The only reason Deidara came here was to cause trouble for me because we both have a bad history with each other. The group Deidara, Itachi, and Kisame are in wants Naruto-kun for reasons we don't know. The thing we do know is that so far each member we've seen from the Akatsuki so far are all S-class missing-nins and wanted criminals. I'm sure that there are other members of that group and they're all S-class missing-nins as well no doubt."

"That's an excellent deduction," Kakashi said, "That's the exact same thing Jiraiya-sama told me sometime before Itachi's second return to Konoha."

"What is this Akatsuki of which you guys speak of," Sakura inquired.

"Very bad news," Naruto replied, "And so far, there isn't much about them that we know about them or their objectives."

Sakura, Sasuke and Sai knew that Naruto had run in with the Akasuki before either of them did. They sensed that he knew more than he was letting on but they chose not to dig too deep into the matter.

"Anyway," Naruto said, "The damage is done and Deidara is gone. Ryota, Haku-san and I will report to kaa-chan and give her a full report."

Kakashi nodded as he gestured to his Genins to follow him and resume their original mission. The ANBU took off speedily and left the scene, leaving Naruto, Haku and Ryota behind.

"Are you alright Ryota-san," Haku asked while examining her injuries.

"I'll be fine," Ryota assured, "Nothing a medic-nin can't fix."

"There are two here so let's heal you up," Naruto offered before both he and Haku tended to her injuries. It wasn't long until Ryota was completely healed up.

"C'mon," Naruto said, "We have to report this to Kaa-chan."

The three ninjas then turned from the forest and started on their trek back to the village.

(Later That Day)

It was surprising how so much could happen all in one day. First, Temari's arrival to Konoha, her betrothal to Naruto and inauguration as a Konoha shinobi and Chuunin, then having her escorted to the Namikaze Estate where she was later introduced to Hinata and Ino before getting them acquainted. And with all that happening, Ryota and Haku were busy hangingout with Konohamaru and his friends before running into trouble with Deidara.

Ryota and Haku gave Tsunade a full report with Naruto explaining everything that took place in the forest. The fact that she, Jiraiya and Sandaime now knew who the third member of the Akatsuki was proved useful though they found it odd at first that Deidara didn't attempt to go after Naruto. After the briefing, Naruto, Haku and Ryota were dismissed. While exiting the Hokage tower, Naruto started on his way back to his estate when Ryota went toward a different direction.

"Where are you going," Haku asked.

"For a walk," Ryota said, "I just need to clear my mind. That's all."

Before Haku could ask another question, Ryota turned and continued on her way.

"She's very sad," Haku said sympathetically, "She came face-to-face with the missing-nin who killed someone who was precious to her."

"That missing-nin was her former sensei," Naruto said causing Haku to turn and look at him.

"He was," Haku asked. Naruto nodded, "Ryota loved Deidara as her older brother at one time and she used to believe in him. But he later betrayed her and murdered her older sister in front of her before leaving Ryota behind like she wasn't worth killing. He did so without so much of a second thought."

"That's cruel," Haku said while feeling sympathetic, "It's sad that Ryota-san suffered such a loss."

"I know," Naruto agreed, "All we can do now is give Ryota sometime to herself. I'm sure she'll be OK."

With that said Naruto resumed his walk back with his estate, leaving Haku to her thoughts.

(Later; On The Hokage Monument)

Ryota was sitting alone on the ground on top of the monument watching the sunset. Ironically, she was sitting on top of the head representing the very man responsible for killing her father though she felt more anger at seeing the man who killed her older sister. Ryota never held it against Naruto for what his father did all those years ago since Iwa started the war with Konoha in the first place. The earth-type kunoichi wiped away the few tears that fell down her face while thinking about her sister and how Deidara used her "sister" against her.

I'm sure you would have been ashamed of me Chizuru-nee-chan, Ryota thought, But my mind is already made up. So I'm sure that we would have faced off against each other were you to still be alive.

"Are you alright," a feminine voice asked. Ryota turned to see Haku standing behind her.

"I'm alright," Ryota said.

"You were crying just now," Haku pointed out. Ryota found no point in denying it.

"I'm very sorry about your sister," Haku said sympathetically. Ryota sighed lowly, "…Naruto-kun told you, didn't he?"

"He did," Haku said as she went over and sat next to her.

"Naruto-kun is really rubbing off on me," Ryota said, "He always comes up here whenever he needs time to think and contemplate on things, and here I am doing the same thing."

Haku knew Ryota really likes Naruto, but she chose not to bring that up since that wasn't the subject she came to talk to Ryota about.

"I never had a sister," Haku said starting a conversation, "But I do understand the feelings of hurt, sorrow and betrayal when someone you loved betrays and kills a precious person in front of you."

Ryota looked at Haku as the ice-type medic kunoichi continued, "My mother loved my father and they used to be very happy though they didn't have much. They were joyous when I born to them and despite not having much in the way of money, we continued on and were a happy family. My parents were precious to me."

Ryota listened to Haku as she heard her voice turn sad, "But my mother came from a clan with a bloodline limit that was hated and feared in my home village. When my father found out about it, he turned on her and killed her in front me. He tried to kill me too, but my bloodline activated and I ended up killing him instead. I became a homeless orphan after that day, scavenging for food from garbage to garbage and no one was willing to take me in."

Ryota looked at Haku with a surprised expression. Though Ryota herself was an orphan however, she never lived life as a homeless since she was able to live off the monetary savings left behind by her older sister and father.

"Later, I was found and taken in by Momochi Zabuza-sama. He gave me food, clothing and shelter, and trained me to be a kunoichi and his weapon. He helped me develop my bloodline limit since he found use for it. Despite what others thought of him, he was precious to me and I was willing to give my life to protect him.

"Sometime late, a wealthy businessman named Gatō came to Nami No Kuni and employed us for a job to kill the bridge builder named Tazuna, a man Naruto-kun and his friends were hired to protect. I fought against Naruto-kun and lost. I cried and begged him to kill me feeling that I failed Zabuza-sama as his weapon. But Naruto-kun spared me, telling me that I could find a new way to live my life. That same day though, Zabuza-sama and I were betrayed by Gatō who had planned on killing us after the job was done. Zabuza-sama died after killing him and many of his other men with him. Zabuza-sama, before he died, said he wanted me to live my free and how I wanted to and not go through life the way he did. I lost another precious person and I was alone again."

Ryota couldn't believe that Haku lived the kind of life. From the way Ryota would see the young medic kunoichi conduct herself she honestly wouldn't have expected Haku to have gone through such an experience.

"But Naruto-kun saved me from being alone again. In spite of the fact that I was his enemy who had nothing personal against him, Naruto-kun never held it against me. He offered me amnesty, a chance to join Konoha and become a medic kunoichi while making this village my new home. He gave me a chance to find new precious people and a new purpose in my life. Naruto-kun is precious to me and I owe him a great deal."

Ryota turned her gaze from Haku and looked over at the village.

"You know Haku," Ryota said, "We seem to have more in common than you know."

Haku turned to the earth-type kunoichi as she continued, "Naruto-kun and I didn't start off on go terms either. In fact we were the worst of enemies.

"I was originally assigned by the Tsuchikage to go after and bring back Naruto-kun to Iwagakure by whatever means possible. I lost completely to Naruto-kun on the two occasions we battled seriously, once in Nami No Kuni and the second time in the Forest of Death."

"So those stories you told us earlier today at the ramen stand about how you beat up Naruto-kun were all-"

"Half truths," Ryota interjected, "I fought against Naruto-kun really hard, but I never succeeded in beating him. My defeats were so strategic and humiliating that I literally cried on both occasions and the second time I lost, I begged him to kill me. Yet despite our bad past, he spared and healed me, and sometime later after that he stood for me in giving me amnesty and becoming a Konoha shinobi.

"But life for me in this village as a foreigner is anything but easy to deal with. I'm hated and feared by many of the villagers because of my origins in Iwa and no one was willing to give me a place to stay at."

"I'm sorry," Haku said as she lowered her head, "I can't honestly say that I had it hard living here in Konoha. I was practically welcomed with opened arms by everyone and the fact I have a bloodline limit was all the more why the village council welcomed me as part of their village. I was given a small but reasonable apartment to live in with Naruto-kun's help the same day I arrived here in Konoha. Naruto-kun also helped me adapt to life in this village and had me introduced to all of his friends."

"I may not be completely accepted by the villagers," Ryota said, "But Naruto-kun never faltered in helping me adjust to life here. He was kind enough to allow me to live in his estate despite the protests from many of the villagers, primarily from the female population. He even saved my life and protected me when Itachi nearly killed me, making it very clear to Itachi that I'm one of the people he'd stake his life on in protecting."

"You're precious to Naruto-kun," Haku said. Ryota unconsciously blushed lightly though she kept a controlled demeanor.

"That's why he protected you with his life," Haku added, "That's why he helped us in ways no one else would. We're precious to Naruto-kun."

"Don't I feel special," Ryota remarked with a smile, "Thank you for listening and being around me without looking at me with indifference or scorn. I really appreciate that."

"You're Naruto-kun's friend," Haku said, "And I want to be your friend and friends help those precious to them."

Ryota smiled brighter, "Yes they do."

The two kunoichis sat there together while enjoying each other's company.

"Things are looking up for you Ryota," Naruto said while standing behind one of the trees a twenty feet away from the girls. Naruto came by earlier to talk to Ryota about what happened earlier but evidently Haku beat him to the punch. Rather than interrupting, he thought it be best for the girls to form a bond of some sort with each other. Leaving it at that, Naruto shunshin'd from the area and returned back to his estate.

(A Week Later)

It's amazing how word travels in large distances. Word about Temari's joining Konoha as a citizen and Chuunin spread like wildfire throughout the village. What was more shocking was when Naruto's betrothal to Hinata, Ino, and Temari was announced, especially when everyone learned that the girls were to be living with him in his estate with Ryota already living there. Of course, this didn't go without some kind of backlash.

During the week, the girls faced jealous glares and scorn from many of the female populous of the village. Others who knew of their relationship with Naruto weren't all that surprised. In fact, some figured it was eventually going to happen. The Genins were all up on Hinata, Ino and Temari as they bombarded the three girls with a whole bunch of questions. Sakura and Tenten were asking a whole range of questions, some of which were rather too personal to answer and a few were outright ridiculous.

The Genins were shocked when they learned that Hinata was no longer the Hyuuga heiress and that the position was given to Hanabi instead. Hinata told them not to make too big a deal out it since she accepted stepping down from the position as heiress without making a huge issue out of it. Also she explained that just because she's no longer the heiress didn't mean that she won't carry out her goals in helping to unite the Hyuuga clan. If anything she was sure she could help Hanabi acknowledge that the division between the two houses in the Hyuuga clan have to be done away with, along with finding an alternative to the bird-cage seal.

Kiba made remarks about how lucky of a dog Naruto was to be living in the house with bunch of hot girls. He asked Naruto if he was planning on having some wild and kinky fun with the girls in the future. This of course was rewarded with a smack to his head with a metal fan in courtesy of Temari. It went without say that neither Temari nor Kiba got along with each other since Kiba was still sore about how he and Akamaru lost to the wind mistress during the Preliminaries.

Sai made remarks to the group that females of various species are often attracted to the stronger more dominant males of their respective species. He further explained in details how Naruto's situation only proved his point about what he read and researched in that zoology book in how females seek strong males for mates to reproduces promising offspring with. He add that Hinata, Ino and Temari as all strong females, and as such, they need a stronger alpha male to lead and protect them and procreate with. Sad to say Sai's form of logic got him into more trouble than it was worth as Tenten, Ino, Temari, Sakura, Ryota and Hinata didn't too kindly to his words. For the sake of health, Sai spent the day running from the six girls as they sought to place him in the hospital. Several times, they nearly succeeded in capturing him, but he manage to give them the slip and escape their wraths.

Neji and Shikamaru didn't make too big a deal out Naruto's business. Shikamaru found doing so would just be too troublesome and decided to do some cloud watching as a means to being more 'productive' with his time.

Sasuke wasn't all that thrilled. The fact that Naruto was given special privileges in being inaugurated as the new Namikaze clan leader, allowed to be part of the village council and given two daughters from respected clans of Konoha and the daughter of a Kage as future brides to help revive his clan angered him. He didn't find it fair that he as the last of the Uchihas in Konoha wasn't privileged in being made the new Uchiha clan leader and allowed to be part of the council.

However, Sasuke grew to respect Hinata and Ino, and in a couple of ways Ryota as well. The three mentioned girls weren't like the fangirls he grew tired of and though Sasuke would never consider mixing his bloodline with either of the three however, he admitted to himself that if he were to have a girl betrothed to him, he'd want her to have strengths and characteristics similar to Hinata, Ino and Ryota.

Temari, being a foreigner, faced a measure of difficulties adjusting to life in Konoha. The fact that she was a foreigner from a recent invading village betrothed to the son of Minato Namikaze made her an unpopular figure among many in the village. Some of the people accused her of not even caring for Naruto and treated her as an outcast. And since she was to serve as a liaison between Suna and Konoha, some even looked at her as a 'business girl' whose only reason for marrying Naruto later in the years was just because it was her assignment in solidifying the alliance between the two villages. Naruto, Hinata and Ino comforted Temari who did quite a feat in masking her wanting to cry. The wind mistress found solace in befriending Ryota and Anko who in their own rights understood Temari's plight.

Temari, like the others, knew that Anko was Naruto's Jounin-sensei at one time and she as very well aware of how unorthodox her behavior was around Naruto.

(The Following Day; At The Namikaze Estate)

All four girls were at Naruto's mansion and pretty much had nothing to do today. Hinata and Ino decided to explain to Temari the history between Naruto and Anko. Ryota stuck around to hear that one since Haku was busy at the hospital helping Shizune. Both Haku and Ryota started hanging out together frequently since their conversation on top of the Hokage monument and they started becoming really good friends.

Anko came by later seeking to talk with Naruto about something that was on her mind. Seeing that only the four girls were there and that Naruto wouldn't by back until much later, Anko suggested taking advantage of the place before Naruto's return. Hinata was a bit reluctant at first, but when Anko and Ino reminded the girl that Naruto's mansion was their home now, Hinata eventually went with the flow. That day all five of them hung-out and girl-talked like nobodys' business and since Anko was around, subjects the girls wouldn't talk about openly in public were brought up and discussed.

Later Anko went over into the bar section of the living room and opened the cabinets to find what looked like expensive bottles of wine and imported liquor. What captured her attention was the fact that the bottles of wine she was looking at were really old, thus adding more to their value and taste. Grinning widely like a giddy schoolgirl, Anko took out one of the bottles and a tray of cups and brought them over to the girls.

"Who's up for a drink," Anko shouted enthusiastically. The girls turned and looked at the older woman questionably.

"Anko-san," Hinata said, "We're underage."

"Please," Anko retorted, "Old enough to kill, old enough to drink! Besides, why would Yondaime-gaki keep them around if he felt that way?"

Though they didn't say it, the girls saw her point. Ryota, liking Anko's attitude, grabbed one of the cups and had Anko pour her some wine in it. When she sipped the wine, she felt her eyes roll to the back of her head.

"WOW!," Ryota shouted, "This is some really strong shit!"

"Let me try that," Temari said before taking one of the remaining cups and getting some wine from Anko. Her reaction from the drink was just the same.

"Damn!," Temari exclaimed, "Naruto-kun has some really good taste in wine!"

"You drank wine before," Ino asked.

"I did a few times during my days in Suna," Temari said, "I had to sneak to do so while trying not to get caught by my father."

"Let me find out that daddy's little girl has been acting naughty," Anko teased.

"I was anything but "daddy's little girl"," Temari retorted. Seeing how the older females were enjoying the wine, Ino, not wanting to feel left out, took one of the cups from the tray and got some wine for herself. She was completely unprepared for the reaction as she coughed a few times.

"You're suppose to sip it not gulp it down like some 40oz.," Anko remarked. After clearing her throat, Ino got her bearings back.

"My father enjoys drinking sake with Chouji and Shikamaru's fathers," Ino said while getting her voice back, "I wonder how they could get used to it."

Hinata saw how the girls were enjoying the alluring taste of Naruto's expensive wine. She was about to dismiss herself when…

"C'mon Hinata," Anko invited, "Have yourself some of this good stuff!"

"No thanks," Hinata declined, "I'll pass. Besides, won't Naruto-kun be mad at us for drinking his stuff without his permission?"

"Like he doesn't have more than enough to buy more of this stuff," Anko retorted, "Listen, you're not living under your father's roof anymore and being a kunoichi and betrothed to Yondaime-gaki and all practically makes you an adult now. C'mon, you know you wanna…"

Hinata was debating with herself about it. One part of herself said "no" while another part wanted to let loose for once.

"C'mon Hina-chan," Ino encouraged, "A small taste wouldn't be that bad would it?"

Sighing to herself, Hinata consented and took a cup from the tray before Anko poured and filled her cup completely. Gulping, Hinata sipped the wine in its entirety until the cup was totally empty. Anko and the others looked at Hinata as they waited for her reaction. Hinata looked up at them with a large smile and light blush on her face.

"Pour me some more," Hinata said while holding out her cup. The females looked at the girl with a surprised expression, especially since Hinata was the youngest of them.

"She's a better drinker than we are," Ryota remarked with a disbelieving look.

"Wanna bet," Anko replied with a smirk on her face.

(Later That Night)

It was late and close to midnight when Naruto returned home. He had a long day training Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon. During his time training them, he gauged their strengths and weaknesses to see where improves were to be made. He saw that much work was going to be needed in their development as future ninjas of Konoha, especially as the kind of ninjas he had in mind in developing them into.

"They have a long way to go," Naruto said to himself while unlocking his door, "But I'll worry about that later. Now I can go home and relax."

With that in mind, Naruto opened and walked into his mansion only be greeted by loud karaoke music playing from the living room.

"…Spoke too soon," Naruto muttered to himself before closing and locking the door behind him. Naruto walked into the living room and saw a sight he wasn't prepared for. The living room was in a complete mess with scattered dirty dishes, cups and food crumbs around the floor and furniture. The strong smell of wine soon filled his nose and the karaoke music machine was still blasting loudly with the microphones on the floor. Obviously, the girls were singing and dancing earlier while in their drunken stupor.

He went into the kitchen and found it a mess as well. There were dango sticks and other sorts of food and opened snacks around the counter. Naruto slapped his hand to his face and was ready to scold the girls for pigging out and turning his living room and kitchen into a dump. He went back into the living room to find them. When he did, he found all five females knocked out and sleeping on the couches.

Ino was snoring lightly with her head up while sleeping in a sitting position. Her blond hair was released from its ponytail style and allowed to flow down pass her shoulders with some of it lying on her face.

Hinata, with her Eskimo coat resting on the arm of the couch, was lying on the couch while using Ino's lap as a pillow. Hinata's right arm was hanging loosely off the couch and down onto the floor.

Temari was knocked out on a separate couch likewise in a sitting position with her right arm holding her head up while resting her arm on the arm of the couch. Like in the case with Ino, her blond hair was let down and allowed to flow down to her shoulders.

Ryota was sleeping next to Temari on the floor while resting her arms on top of Temari's legs and laying her head on her arms like a pillow. Her headband, Jounin vest and dark uniform shirt were scattered around the floor. Next to her was an empty cup that seemed to have spilled over leftover wine onto the carpet. Ryota was wearing only her white tank top and dark ninja pants with white bandages still wrapped around the bottom parts of her legs.

Anko was asleep on a recliner that was opened up to allow her to put her feet up and lay back. Her trench coat, mini-skirt, leg guards and kunais were lying loosely on the floor by her. All she was wearing was her partly see-through fishnet body suit and Anko herself was sprawled out on the opened up recliner in a most inappropriate manner. From what Naruto saw, Anko was wearing nothing underneath her fishnet body suit and the sight of her would have given any horny pervert an erection if they didn't pass out first from blood loss through the nose. Happily, Jiraiya and Kakashi weren't around see the sight. Naruto didn't need to give them more fuel to use to tease him with.

Naruto sighed and shook his head before he looked around and found two empty bottles of his expensive old wine on the table. He didn't need to guess that all five of them were drinking themselves stupid thanks to Anko's influence. It also helped to explain the awkward scene he was looking at.

"Well at least my living room isn't a wreck," Naruto said to no one in particular while recalling being told a story from Tenten during his sparring match with her some time ago. She told him about how Lee and alcohol are a most dangerous combination. The fact that Lee was a natural drunken master surprised Naruto and from what Tenten explained to him, Naruto was sure that a drunken Lee would even give him problems in an actual fight since Gai, Neji and Tenten together had a hard time controlling Lee when he got drunk by accident after sake fell into his soup once.

Looking at the girls, he knew that they wouldn't remember what happened and that's when it hit him. The sight had Naruto running for his camera. He returned and took several pictures of them from different angles. There was no way he was going to pass this up. He knew that the girls were under a great deal of frustration and stress during the passing week and were in need of release of some sort. Ironically, he knew that their release was going to come with a price since all of them were going to wake up with hangovers.

During the passing days, Naruto made an effort to stomp out all of the ridicules made to Temari and Ryota. He made it very clear that Temari and Ryota were both to be treated exactly how every Konoha-nin were treated.

Making five kage bushins, he had each of the clones carry the girls to their rooms and placed Anko in a spare guestroom. He wasn't going to risk carrying the older woman home across the village in the condition she was in for everyone to see. Though it wasn't really anyone else's business however, Naruto knew the nosy villagers seeing them would want to know why Anko was coming back from his house drunk.

After placing them all in bed, Naruto had the clones clean up the mess the girls made in the kitchen and living room before cleaning himself up and going to bed.

(The Following Day)

The girls, as Naruto predicted, all woke up with hangovers with no memory as to how they got to bed. Anko was shocked to see that she wasn't back in her house and was instead in Naruto's place in one of his spare rooms. Naruto gave them all something to drink to help calm the hangovers they were having. All five females sat around the table in the kitchen, not one of them wanting to go anywhere until their heads stopped spinning. Hinata and Ino thought they were going to be sick for the rest of the day.

A while later Naruto came in and brought them all something to see. Placing what he brought with him down on the table, the girls looked to see what it was. Their faces turned several shades of red when they saw the pictures Naruto took of them while they were sleeping in the positions they were in while in the messy living room last night.

"Konoha's future kunoichis in their finest hour," Naruto remarked while laughing his ass off after seeing their expressions. Though Anko didn't care all that much, the other girls though begged Naruto to not let the others know about this, saying that they'd die from sheer embarrassment and loss of face. Naruto assured them that he wouldn't since he wasn't the type who sorts to embarrass them in from of their friends. However he didn't let the girls destroy the pictures. He kept them for his photo album so that way, they could have something to look back at and laugh at.

The girls apologized for the condition they left his kitchen and living room in and the trouble they gave him since he had to clean up their mess. Naruto forgave and told them not to make drinking a bad habit like Tsunade. He knew that if Tsunade had access to his liquor cabinet, she'd have cleaned him out.

Later, Ino and Hinata went to meet up with their respective teams despite the headaches they still had from their hangovers. When asked, the girls said things along the lines of having slept wrong. Luckily, they cleaned themselves up completely so they wouldn't have the smell of alcohol on them or in their breaths. Temari, in spite of her headache, went to perform her tour of duty after being given her assignment by the Hokage while Anko went to report to Ibiki for whatever assignment he had for her. While at work, Anko smacked herself mentally for forgetting to talk to Naruto about something had to tell him.

Naruto spent day talking with Haku and Ryota about the new hybrid training he was planning on putting Konohamaru and his two friends through. He explained that it's an experimental training that's never been tested or thought up before, and that he'd like to have Konohamaru and his two friends go through the training with the two of them helping out. He also added that later down the line during the period of training, he was going to call in a special favor from Tsunade in recruiting a particular ninja in helping in the training. After reviewing this ninja's records, Naruto found that requesting his help would be beneficial. The two kunoichis, interested in what the hybrid training entailed, agreed to join Naruto in helping in the training.

(Meanwhile)

Tayuya, Kidomaru, Jirobo, Sakon and Ukon, otherwise known as the Sound Four, were making their way to Konoha. They were allowed to leave for the village a few days ago to retrieve Sasuke. Since they finished their preparations ahead of schedule, Kabuto sent them on their way.

Kimimaro, the sole survivor of the Kaguya clan, wanted to go to Konoha with the Sound Four as well. This fifteen-year-old had a strong devotion towards Orochimaru and viewed him as the only person who cared for him. In his devotion to Orochimaru, Kimimaro stopped at nothing to guarantee the continuation of his master's dreams and ambitions. To this effect, he willingly killed any who opposed or hindered Orochimaru's progress and was willing to offer his body for Orochimaru to inhabit. But that couldn't be done because of the terminal illness he was inflected with. After learning that Naruto killed Orochimaru, Kimimaro wanted to travel to Konoha and kill Naruto for revenge. Kabuto had to deny Kimimaro's request since he was ill and in no condition to fight.

Speaking of Kabuto, he was currently in the research lab once used by Orochimaru. Though Orochimaru was dead, that didn't mean Kabuto didn't intend to continue his master's work for him. The Snake Sannin had left behind many scrolls, jutsus and potions that were to be used in the preparation of training Sasuke. Kabuto felt it would be a shame to let Orochimaru's hard work go to waste without fruition.

Looking over at the table in front of him, Kabuto picked up a wooden vial holder carrying sealed five vials in it. The vials were filled with blood and other organic properties that Kabuto managed to retrieve before Konoha's ANBU got their hands on them. What was next to where the vial holder was were three sealed jars, one containing what looked like skin with seal markings on them and the other two jars containng what appeared to be organic parts. There were preservatives in the vials and jars to keep the blood, skin and organic parts fresh. The teen medic ninja was determined to have Orochimaru's work and legacy live on through Sasuke, one way or another…

Things are happening in Otogakure and with Kabuto now in charge, the Sound Four have been dispatched to retrieve and bring back Sasuke. What could Kabuto be planning in fulfilling Orochimaru's objectives and will the Sound Four succeed in bringing back Sasuke? And what's this new hybrid training Naruto has in store for Konohamaru and his two friends? Stick around to find out next time.