Dog and Fox

Chapter Eleven

The early morning light pierced through the canopy of leaves to reach the small camp below them. The air was slightly chilly and faint dew covered everything, coupling itself with a cool breeze to form a brisk, but not cold, morning.

Naruko was sitting outside in the cold, watching the last of her fire die down as she watched the night bleed away to be replaced by the morning light. Even now the last few stars were vanishing in the slowly brightening vault of the sky, the moon having been chased away and the sun taking its place in the sky, shining its yellow-orange light down on the world, warming it from the nights chill.

She shifted slightly, she was not cold, but sitting in the same position for numerous hours was not the most comfortable thing that she could imagine doing.

It was day three of her joint mission with Tenten's team, and she had to admit she was not enjoying it all that much. The arrogance of Neji grated on her nerves and Gai and his prodigy Lee only further frayed her near limitless patience, as much as she tried to not let them get to her.

The merchants had been safely delivered to their destination and they were going to start heading back at a rather sedate pace, much to Naruko's own irritation. She wished to see her two lovers again, and as soon as possible. The fact that Lee and Neji had been fighting almost nonstop since they got moving probably had something to do with the decision.

She found their arguments petty and more than a little annoying. They had more important things to worry about after all.

"Morning Naruko-chan" Gai said as he suddenly appeared from his tent, teeth shining and green body suit already in place

"Mornin'" Naruko responded without enthusiasm. She was not that enthusiastic with this whole thing to begin with, save to spend more time with Tenten and get even closer to the girl than she already was, though she had kept her distance during the mission. There was no point in pushing it, Tenten would realise it sooner or later after all, and she really had no idea what Tenten's reaction would be when she finally found out.

Lee was the next to exit his tent, looking exactly like his sensei, and sounding just like him as well, much to Naruko's annoyance. She stood up and moved through a few stretches before opening up her tent to see if Tenten was awake yet.

She was not. Curled up in her sleeping bag and resting peacefully, Naruko was almost tempted to let her carry on sleeping, but they needed to get moving soon while the day was still young, and she had no wish to stay near the men for any longer than was absolutely necessary. No wonder Hana had warned her about them before she went.

"Wake up Ten-chan" she gently whispered to the sleeping girl, softly shaking her shoulder. Tenten groaned softly and shifted slightly to open her eyes

"Naruko-chan" she whispered and Naruko smiled down at her

"Yeah it's me Ten-chan" she responded, kissing her on the cheek "get up" she said and Tenten groaned while turning over and away from Naruko who just smiled at the challenge.

She gently touched the girls shoulder and rolled her back over, much to Tenten's obvious annoyance

"Let me sleep" she nearly ordered and Naruko chuckled softly

"You do that, and I'll kiss you" she said to her seriously, a teasing glint in her eyes as she waited for the words to sink in

"I'm up, I'm up" Tenten said, suddenly sitting up from her sleeping bag, cheeks flushed a furious red as Naruko chuckled softly

"See you outside" she said and slipped back outside the tent, blinking a bit at the light. She was used to being tired, but the sun that low in the sky, still managed to irritate her beyond all rational reason.

"Good morning Neji-kun" Gai suddenly said and Naruko glanced over to see Neji, hair and all already in place, exiting the tent, looking rather annoyed.

Naruko did not ask, she did not particularly care for the boy. Geniuses annoyed her, read a bit of history and it quickly became clear that many of these 'geniuses' died rather violent deaths at the hands of those who they would have laughed and spat at.

She heard Tenten exit the tent behind her and turned to smile at her dishevelled appearance. She had tried to fix it up in the first few days they had been travelling together, but had quickly given up due to the effort and the fact that Naruko did not care in the slightest

"Morning" she said and Tenten frowned slightly at her before walking off down to the nearby river to freshen herself up a bit.

Naruko did not move to join her, despite the urge, she knew that Tenten tended to be more than a little irritable in the mornings, especially when woken up from a nice peaceful rest as Naruko had just now. Naruko just shook her head free of those thoughts and decided to try and focus on the things that mattered at that moment. She had not been able to touch any of her reports for the duration of the mission, she had done a little during the nights, but it was hard to see by the flickering fire light so she gave up and kept watch. It was not something she was accustomed to, and meant she had a great deal of work to be looking forwards to when she finally arrived back in Konoha with the rest of this team.

The time could not come too soon as far as she was concerned.

Eventually they were all packed away and moving, Naruko finally felt it safe enough to approach Tenten without risking her life to do so

"Ten-chan" she said as she fell into step besides Tenten who looked over at her.

"Why'd you wake me up so early?" Tenten asked while suppressing a yawn

"Sorry" Naruko apologised "but we needed to get under way fairly quickly"

"Why?" Tenten asked pointedly "there are no bandits, and besides, the merchants aren't even with us anymore" she pointed out and Naruko smiled at her

"Doesn't matter" she said "as far as we should be concerned, we're in enemy territory" she pointed out and Tenten sniffed

"I hate it when you're right" she muttered and Naruko laughed while gently hugging Tenten to her with one arm

"I'll make it up to you when we get back" she told Tenten who smiled a little at that

"Promise?" Tenten teased and Naruko smiled back

"Cross my heart" she replied and Tenten smiled at her again.

"So, you going to be coming with us again?" Tenten then asked, almost casually and Naruko looked thoughtful for a moment

"I don't know" she answered truthfully "the exams are coming up" she explained when she noticed Tenten's downturned expression "and besides" she continued while gesturing to the three males in front of them "I don't particularly enjoy them" she said before grinning and pulling Tenten close to her.

Tenten blushed furiously at the close proximity but Naruko pretended not to notice

"I certainly like you however" Naruko whispered into Tenten's ear and Tenten had to fight to stay on her feet at the feeling of Naruko's warm breath on her cheek and ear. Her knees trembled slightly but she stayed upright

"I-is that so?" she said eventually and Naruko smiled at her

"Yep" she replied while smiling "anyway" she then continued "what're you doing when we get back?"

"Taking a bath" Tenten replied and Naruko laughed

"Is that so?"

"Don't even think about peaking"

"I would never"

"Uhuh, what about yesterday at the river?"

"I didn't know, and I already apologised, and we're both woman"

"Y-yeah, but it was the principle of the thing!"

"...Okay"

"What about you, Naruko-chan?"

"Me? I've got some things to do here and there, need to meet a few people, and then I'll be subject to a night of relaxation until my sensei gets hold of me"

They walked along, talking to each other and generally ignoring the other three in front of them. However Naruko could not shake the feeling that something was a little bit off with this whole scene. It was too quiet, and not even the birds were singing. She said nothing but kept her senses open and her hand near several kunai on her belt.

"Are you being entered then?" Tenten was asking her and Naruko nodded while her eyes flicked across the scene around her

"Yep, since I'm a apprentice I could choose to skip it and go on a recommendation, however certain...circumstances have conspired against me" Naruko explained while her hand tightened slightly, finger slipping around the blade, ready to throw in an instant. Tenten did not notice, seemingly too absorbed in their conversation together to realise something was amiss, the same with Neji and Lee, though only Lee appeared to be talking.

Suddenly something burst through the trees on several sides, Naruko's kunai was sailing through the air before a word could be uttered, and then the fighting began.

Naruko moved with an uncanny grace, her kunai striking at any and all weak spots she could reach to cripple and kill her opponents as they swarmed them. Quite as to why they were still attacking them was a mystery to her until she remembered the size of the bounty on the head of Gai, it was rather sizeable, and more than a few bandit groups had been persuaded to attack him in the past because of it, even if they had only a snowballs chance in hell of winning.

She twisted and saw Gai moving like a force of nature, taking out everything in his path. She sucked her teeth and let fly with several kunai, driving two back that had gotten too close to Tenten for her liking.

She killed the man in front and then moved over to help Tenten with her own opponents. And then it was all over, just as soon as it had begun.

Gai called the team over and congratulated them on staying calm and relatively focused. Apparently Lee and Neji had been shooting heated glances throughout the whole affair

"You are very skilled Naruko-chan" Gai complimented her and she smiled modesty, bowing her head slightly

"Thank you"

"I can certainly see why Hana-san chose you. Certainly the flames of youth burn brightly within you" he said while striking an overly dramatic pose. Naruko decided to get moving before she got any other headache and soon they were back on the road, making good progress back towards Konoha now that the caravan was no longer with them, loaded down with whatever it was that it was carrying. Naruko had not read that particular part of the briefing; it neither interested nor was relevant to her and how she carried out her job.

"Who were they sensei?" Tenten asked Gai who looked thoughtful for a moment before Naruko stepped in

"Bandits that wanted the caravan" she said and Tenten looked at her

"How'd you know that?" she asked and Naruko hummed

"This is the precise route that the caravan took; also I noticed they looked extremely pissed off for some reason. Chances are they missed the caravan and decided to take a swing at us and collect the bounty of Gai-sensei's head" she explained and Tenten looked thoughtful while Gai grinned at her while giving her a thumbs up.

She did not say anything to that, simply smiling until her turned away and she found herself shaking her head slightly in the ways that Gai seemed to test his teams to their limits. Not that she really cared for the amount of apparent physical conditioning he seemed to at least try and put them through. Not that Tenten ever seemed to take part, Gai was perhaps too smart to try and go down that rather dangerous path.

A few days later and the gates of Konoha finally came into sight. Gai and Lee grinned at one another and set off at top speed towards them. Neji just scoffed softly and walked a little faster, leaving Tenten and Naruko to their own devices.

"I really don't envy you" Naruko told Tenten who glared a little at her

"Thanks" she muttered sarcastically

"Well, try not to go mad before the exams, I need someone to give me a challenge at least" she teased and Tenten looked at her with a challenging smile

"Confident are we?" she asked haughtily and Naruko grinned while leaning in

"Very" she said softly, her breath brushing over Tenten's lips, making her tremble and nearly fall over, if she was not caught by Naruko

"Thanks" she muttered, an intense blush painted on her cheeks nearly permanently, from the number of times Naruko had successfully managed to embarrass her in front of her team mates and the like.

"No problem" Naruko replied with a smile

"You going home when we get back?" Tenten asked and Naruko smiled at her

"Something like that" she said cryptically and Tenten pouted cutely

"Don't tell be then" she said with a huff and Naruko laughed, hugging her briefly

"Far too distracting" she said and Tenten blushed, but smiled all the same at the compliment.

Naruko thought about what she needed to do. She had hoped to bring certain information with her on the mission, but it had been delayed in transit, although looking back she realised that she would not have got the chance to look through the many sheets of paper anyway, with how much they had to do and the like. Just the hunting along could take hours due to the number of people they had to feed fairly well.

She had ordered information from Wave about the teams due to arrive in Konoha a few weeks from now. Due to the various trades that took place, even as it just began to recover, there were many merchants from various parts of the Elemental Nations, and as such many of them had information on either who was going, or what that meant for everyone else. One name had caught her eye out of all the others, well a couple had, Garaa of Suna, and Kabuto from Konoha.

She did not know what, but something felt off about the two of them, and she was rather keen to find out exactly what that something was.

They arrived at the gates and Naruko hugged Tenten tightly, kissed her on the cheek, and then went off, leaving a blushing and stammering Tenten behind, much to the guard's amusement and Tenten's embarrassment, again.

She made it back to her apartment and sighed as she entered her familiar home. She put the bag down with a thump and sprawled out on the sofa with a sigh for a few moments before standing up and getting ready to go out again.

After showing and changing she emerged onto the streets as alert as ever and made her way towards the prearranged meeting area between her and the informant for Wave. Tazuna said he could be trusted, but paranoia kept you alive in this kind of business a lot longer than blind trust ever did. So she hid her face, altered her voice, and took the rather scenic route to the small shop, tucked away in a small dim alley on the edge of town.

She walked in and was greeted with the sight of a single man at a table, the bartender was there, but this early in the morning most people were either nursing hangovers or were still asleep.

"You the informant?" she asked, showing him a ring. He nodded and slid over an envelope while she handed him the money

"Tazuna sends his regards" the man said gruffly and Naruko nodded while leafing through the contents of the letter

"Anything else?" she asked crisply and the man nodded, handing over a sheet of paper with some names and numbers written on it "others?" she asked and he nodded again

"Tazuna spoke to some old friends, and they've given him these names. It pays to be well informed after all" the man said with a small smile and Naruko chuckled, handing over the spare envelope of cash she always kept in case something like this cropped up, as it sometimes did.

"Thank Tazuna-san for me, I'll be in touch" she said and then she was gone and back in her apartment before anyone could even blink. She was not one for taking chances, and the man was not exactly inconspicuous with his tattoos and all.

A sudden knock at the door brought her out and she swift hid everything

"Who is it?" she asked in her altered voice

"Naruko-chan" Hana voices called out and Naruko relaxed a bit as the door opened and Hana stepped in with a small smile

"Getting a little paranoid?" she teased and Naruko scoffed before walking over and kissing her deeply. Hana's knees nearly gave out and Naruko put her on the sofa before they did. She sat next to her lover and pulled out the envelope again, leafing though it while Hana got her breath back

"Miss me?" she asked and Naruko looked over at her

"Of course I did" she told her with a slight frown, not liking that Hana apparently did not believe that Naruko cared about her. Hana seemed to realise this and apologised immediately

"I didn't mean it like that Naruko-chan" she said while pressing herself against Naruko's side. Naruko caressed her back while looking over the report in her hand "what's that?" Hana asked

"Something interesting" Naruko said, sounding far away as she read the information

"What?" Hana asked and Naruko glanced at her before sighing

"It's information on the teams attending this year's exams" she said and Hana nodded slowly.

"Same as always?" she asked and Naruko nodded slowly, a strange look on her face as she skimmed one of the documents

"What is it?" Hana asked, trying to peek only for Naruko to move it out of her line of sight. She pouted.

"Not for you" Naruko softly admonished as she kissed her softly so that Hana quite forgot what she had been put off about.

"Oh" Hana suddenly said while pulling out several documents and handing them to Naruko who skimmed them over with a slight smile

"Chunin exam?" she asked and Hana nodded with her own smile

"You can apparently skip the first part, however the Hokage has insisted that you take part in the rest of it" Hana told Naruko who hummed thoughtfully to herself

"Stupid old man" she muttered to herself "he wants information on me, how good I am and the like" she told Hana who looked a bit confused

"Surely he could just ask me" she commented and Naruko smiled

"You're not exactly objective when it comes to me" she pointed out and Hana just pouted but did not reject the idea, it was true after all. "Is Tsume coming?" Naruko then asked

"Yep" Hana said while nodding "she's got another meeting with that council but she'll be here in a few minutes" she explained and Naruko grunted slightly

"Bloody council" she muttered

"I thought you had them in your pocket" Hana teased and Naruko looked at her curiously

"As much as I wish that was possible, it isn't. Although I do have some rather interesting files on the Hyuga clan...and the Uchiha" she said while Hana lay down in her lap

"Uchiha? Like what?" Hana asked and Naruko frowned

"I don't quite know yet, it's all from the weeks leading up to the massacre. But whatever" she dismissed it with a shrug while stroking Hana's hair as the woman sighed and hugged herself against Naruko's abdomen with a sigh.

"This is annoying" Hana muttered against her and Naruko smirked while looking down at her

"Which part? The old man, or the whole thing?"

"All of it"

"Well, not much I can do about that at the moment" Naruko said while turning to the door as it opened to reveal a tired looking Tsume who sat on the couch with a heavy sigh while putting her head on Naruko's shoulder and seemed to go slack

"Naruko-chan" she purred softly, gently kissing Naruko's cheek so she turned and kissed her deeply, being sure to keep caressing Hana

"Hard day?" Naruko asked softly as they broke for air. Tsume shrugged

"Same as always with that lot" she said and Naruko smiled slightly

"They talking about the exams?" she asked and Tsume groaned as though not wanting to remember it

"All of them, and they're all boasting about their own children"

"Not you?" Naruko said with a mock expression of shock which turned into a grin when Tsume hit her gently

"Of course not" she said before yawning "Kiba either passes or I'll kill him" she said with a shrug, sounding rather serious as far as Naruko was concerned. Then again, she had no particular love for Kiba, so it was fine as far as she was concerned. She did pity him; however, considering how he seemed to be, he was liable not to pass. She would be sure to stay well away from the Inuzuka compound that day.

She hugged her two lovers closer and kissed Tsume again.

"What're you doing tomorrow Naruko-chan?" Tsume suddenly asked and Naruko blinked

"Not much. Why?" she asked Tsume pushed herself closer to Naruko until she could smell her

"I want to go out with you somewhere" Tsume said. Hana looked slightly put out but did not object, she did get Naruko to herself, for weeks at a time sometimes.

"Where?" Naruko asked softly, caressing her back as she kissed her cheek softly, having deeply missed the two of them while she had been away. Tsume shivered slightly at the increased amount of affection before answering

"Anywhere" she said and Naruko smirked, she knew that Tsume did not want to be caught with her. If only to keep their lives from becoming increasingly complex, or more than they already were at least.

"How about the park?" she asked softly and Tsume nodded, she just wanted to spend time with Naruko after all "and then back to yours" Naruko continued and both women shivered at the soft growl in her tone.

"Of course" Tsume agreed before they kissed again.

The night passed by with the two women making Naruko some dinner while she read through several of the files. Specifically relating to Kabuto and Garaa from Suna, it seemed suspicious to her, though she could not understand why. She would have to try and get some more information out of her few Suna informants if she was to understand this. Some reports from merchants passing through Grass where also on her list of things to look at; they had apparently encountered something unsettling while passing through there.

She did not think the three were connected in any way; however one could never be too paranoid. So she would double check everything. If only to make sure that nothing was actually happening, she did need Konoha to remain as it was after all, otherwise she would need to move. Though Wave did look tempting enough.

Eventually the meal was served. Naruko, as always, thanked the two women affectionately for doing such things for her. They simply told her not to worry and the night moved on.

Eventually the three of them had moved back onto the sofa. Tsume was passed out on Naruko's lap, Naruko's hand caressing her hair as Hana slept on her shoulder with Naruko's hand on her back, touching the bare skin with soothing caresses while Naruko herself wondered both how to move from her current position, and what to do now that she had the information she did.

The following day found Naruko waiting outside of Tenten's shop for the girl to appear. She was dress in her usual broker attire while she leant against the door frame; the cold air really being the only thing keeping her fully awake.

It had taken quite a while for Hana and Tsume to wake up to move to the bedroom, where they trapped her again. She had woken up to the familiar feeling of both arms being numb, however this time she had managed to get loose and leave the house before they had woken up, however thanks to that she had only received four hours sleep, and did not look too good because of it.

"Good morning Boker-san" Tenten suddenly greeted her as Naruko turned her head to see her walking up

"Good morning Ten-chan" she replied with a faint smile as the two of them walked into her shop.

"Do you want to look at the new stuff?" Tenten asked and Naruko shook her head a bit

"Not today thank you. I'm here to request something of you" she said as Tenten got herself ready, already moving boxes and the like around

"What?" she asked as Naruko watched her

"I need information on the other teams" she said and Tenten looked at her

"From Konoha?"

"No. The external teams"

"Surely they won't be buying anything form here"

"They will after the first two exams. I also need you to give me anything you encounter in the exams, including anything relating to these two" she said while handing over a envelope with Garra and Kabuto's profiles in

"He's from here" Tenten pointed out as she read Kabuto's file. Naruko just nodded

"He is, but I want to make sure"

"You think he's a spy?"

"There's a possibility, though for whom I'm not sure of yet. But still, will you do this?" Naruko asked seriously and Tenten looked at her

"Of course I will" she replied and Naruko nodded

"Thank you Ten-chan"

"What about Naruko-chan?" Tenten suddenly asked and Naruko did not miss with slight tension in Tenten's face as she asked, looking for something. Naruko just smiled at her

"She's entering, and of course I'll be looking at her as well. However she won't be present for the beginning of the test, and so any information gleaned from that point will be coming from you alone" Naruko told Tenten who frowned

"Why isn't she doing the first part?" she asked and Naruko shifted her stance a little

"Because her sensei has declared she is fit for duty. Usually she would simply be allowed on a commendation, however the Hokage has declared it partially invalid, and so she will have to be present for the other parts of the exam. Despite, obviously, having no one to back her up"

"Surely that's not legal" Tenten said with a frown and Naruko chuckled slightly

"It's up to the Hokage who get's promoted and who doesn't. Though the council will certainly be piling the pressure on him to select certain candidates over others"

"It's just not right" Tenten huffed with crossed arms, Naruko just smiled at her again

"It very rarely is. But still, I don't think it'll be any problem for her" she explained

"Why not?"

"Because she's well trained, and has asked for information already" she explained and Tenten frowned slightly

"What about me?"

"Who?" Naruko asked and Tenten stalled, she did not know who, and buying mass amounts of information from Naruko was expensive regardless if you had a friends discount or not.

"Fine" Tenten huffed and Naruko chuckled before passing something to her

"Temari?" she asked while looking over the file, Naruko nodded

"She's really the only one that could give you any real trouble. And she's from Suna, and they're not generally known for being nice to people from Konoha"

"Why?" Tenten asked while she put the file away somewhere safe

"We steal most of their missions. They've been in an economic slump for the last few years thanks to that, hell, it wouldn't surprise me if they were planning for an invasion right nowNaruko said

"When?"

"Never you mind" Naruko replied with a soft smile as she kissed Tenten's cheek before turning around to leave. "I'll see you at the exams"

"You'll be there?"

"Oh yes, most definitely" Naruko replied with a grin before leaving the shop, wondering if perhaps that was a little too obvious.

The rest of her day was filled up with double checking with various agents, and making sure that all of her requests were being followed up by the right people, the Hokage did not need to know about her suspicions. Besides, if this really was an invasion, she could make a fortune for the information from the military side of the council, while she did not like thinking about it like that, it was the unfortunate truth of the matter that war was money for people like her, and she needed quite a bit of the stuff to continue expanding her network, especially if it was to ever outcompete the toad sannin's own network.

He had not caught on to Naruko yet, but given the increasing number of carriers and informants, one of them would inevitably talk, and then it would be a secret information war. One she was quite well prepared for, but nonetheless did not wish to wage with the man at the moment, more ammunition was necessary if she did not want a major struggle on her hands. Her relationship with Hana and Tsume was excellent blackmail material after all, not that she would not hesitate to destroy the man if he did try something like that.

He had quite a large bounty on his head, and Naruko was certain that there were many people and mercenaries that would love to know where he was and what he was doing. It might not kill him, but it would certainly make his life far more difficult, which would suite her just fine.

He also had yet to return to the village and so would be unaware of her networks strength and reach until he finally arrived after the exams had taken place. He was travelling back from Grass after all, which only made Naruko think that there was definitely something there that she needed to know about if the world's greatest spy master was there as well.

Soon, however, she found herself back at her apartment. Opening the aging door she walked in and was surprised to see both Tsume and Hana were still in her apartment, apparently cleaning and relaxing, for an obvious lack of things to do.

"Um" she called out, getting their attention "is there a reason you two are still here?" she asked, sounding quite confused as they glanced at one another and then looked at her

"You promised to take me out" Tsume said and Naruko nodded, she definitely remembered doing that

"And I'm your sensei, if you're not there then I can't do my job, can I?" Hana asked and Naruko sighed while walking into the apartment and taking a seat on the couch again while the two women once again snuggled up to her

"My arms aren't gonna survive" she moaned and Hana lightly hit her

"Don't be a wimp" Tsume admonished her and Naruko raised an eyebrow

"Well then I'll just stop kissing you" she replied and Tsume kissed her, apparently not willing to go along with that idea, especially if the passion Naruko was feeling was anything to go by.

"Never" Tsume said huskily when she pulled back and Naruko smiled and kissed her cheek

"So affectionate" Hana said on her opposite side and Naruko kissed her before looking at her

"Do you not like it?" she asked and Hana and Tsume both shook their heads

"Of course we like it Naru-chan" Tsume said and Naruko nodded

"Well, while this is good and everything, I did promise to take you out somewhere, and then go back to your place" Naruko said and both women shivered a little but moved to get themselves ready to head back out.

"We going to the park then?" Tsume asked and Naruko nodded

"Unless you want to go somewhere else?" she asked and Tsume smiled while gently taking hold of Naruko's arm, pressing her sizeable bust up against it causing Naruko to look at her with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm fine with you" she said and Naruko smiled softly and proceeded to kiss her gently until Hana coughed, looking a little embarrassed.

Naruko smiled and gently kissed her again before they all made their way out of her apartment and exited onto the relatively quiet streets, seeing that there was nobody about Hana turned to give Naruko a rather chaste kiss before heading off towards her clans compound while Naruko and Tsume started walking towards the largest park in Konoha, where few people would be at this time in the day due to work and the like.

"How was your mission?" Tsume eventually asked, breaking the comfortable silence that had settled over the two of them. Naruko smiled at her

"It was...interesting, though I have to admit I don't particularly want to work with Gai ever again" she said and Tsume chuckled

"He does tend to annoy people" she admitted and Naruko scoffed

"That might be a large understatement" she said and Tsume shrugged

"Anything interesting?" she asked and Naruko shrugged

"Just some bandits, nothing too bad"

"Aren't the exams in two or three days?" Tsume then asked and Naruko nodded

"Yep"

"Shouldn't you be training then?" Tsume asked with a stern expression and Naruko stopped under the shade of a tree to look at her

"Do you want this date or not?" she asked and Tsume looked a little embarrassed before Naruko kissed her

"N-Naru-chan" she gasped, eyes darting round to make sure no one had seen them

"Besides" Naruko carried on as though nothing had happened "you're both more important to me than this exam" she said and Tsume blushed a little

"Thank you" she muttered and Naruko chuckled before gently taking her hand and leading her deeper into the park where there was more privacy for them to talk and actually have a date without being stared at by passing civilians and the like.

Eventually they were deep enough so Naruko stopped to sit down while pulling Tsume onto her lap so she was facing away from her.

"So..." Naruko began as she planted soft kisses over Tsume's neck, causing her to sigh and lean further back against Naruko who had no trouble in complying to her wants, putting her arms around her while letting a hand slip under her shirt to caress her abdomen as Tsume shifted to get a bit more comfortable.

"What do you think then?" Tsume asked and Naruko smirked a little into the soft skin of her neck before kissing it again

"Something big is going to happen during the exams. There are too many unknown variables and player on the field, won't take a genius to work it out, though the evidence is hidden in the numbers" Naruko admitted to Tsume before softly kissing her neck again as Tsume sighed and leant her head back to Naruko's shoulder as Naruko took advantage and started kissing her neck fully, making her purr in delight.

"Hmm, you sure?" Tsume asked and Naruko nodded

"But I can't just present these to them, they're going to have to want to see them" she said and Tsume sighed a little

"Why?" she asked and Naruko hummed into the flesh before pulling away a little to speak

"Because otherwise too many questions will be asked, and I need to be fairly anonymous, especially in this line of work" she said and Tsume grunted her acknowledgment even as she felt herself relaxing immensely under Naruko's soothing ministrations.

"What about the sannin" she asked and Naruko chuckled

"He moves around so he's hard to keep track of, I can't move around just yet" she explained and Tsume nodded before gasping as Naruko nipped at her throat

"Naru-chan" she whimpered and Naruko pulled back a little, she did not want to make a scene here, she would wait until they were both safely inside of the Inuzuka clan compound for doing that.

"Sorry she murmured before kissing her again "but anyway, you'll have to bring it up, I'm not going to give this away for free" she said and Tsume turned to her only to be kissed rather passionately by Naruko

"W-why?" she asked with a small stutter as her breathing picked up before settling as Naruko continued to relax her

"Because it's a gold mine and I need money to carry on living and to get somewhere" she pointed out and Tsume sighed while resting fully against her now

"But what about..." she trailed off as Naruko began caressing her back while holding her close.

"Don't worry about it, the Hokage will begin looking into it if you speak out" she said and Tsume sighed but seemed to be satisfied with her questions for now.

Eventually the two of them moved to the Inuzuka compound where Hana was eagerly awaiting their return, having sent her brother out on several fools errands, they had all the time in the world.

The End