Dog and Fox

Chapter Nine

"I take it you are both prepared for this kind of assignment?"

"With all due respect Hokage-sama, Uzumaki-san has proven herself time and time again to be competent in these sorts of endeavours and missions"

"Of course, I wish you the best of luck then"

Naruko was standing behind Hana in the Hokage's office with her hands behind her back while Hana tried to defend her while signing on for the mission.

The Hokage's office was located on the second highest floor of the Hokage's tower and was situated near the centre of the town; behind it sat the great Hokage Mountain into which four faces had so far been carved.

The early morning wakeup call had made Naruko less than pleasant and she was finding it hard to restrain herself from leaping over the desk and throttling the man who seemed intent on keeping her here by asking inane questions that were both pointless and annoying.

"Thank you Hokage-sama" Hana said, bowing to the aging man before turning around and walking out. Naruko remained watching the man for a few more moments before following after her teacher and mate.

"I can't believe him" Hana huffed once they were outside the tower and moving towards their usual training area.

"Which part?" Naruko asked as she stifled a yawn

"He asks me that question every single time I go there to receive a mission"

"He would"

"It annoys the hell out of me" Hana growled

"I gathered that part. Don't worry about it, it's how he is" Naruko explained as they stepped onto the dusty training ground.

"Doesn't mean it won't annoy me" Hana said while crossing her arms

"I know. Just try to relax; I don't particularly look forward to this mission regardless" Naruko said as she threw away her jacket and began to stretch.

"Why?" Hana asked while sitting on a nearby tree stump and watching Naruko but not without hunger in her eyes.

"Something's not right down there, and I suspect we'll end up encountering something or someone down there that will most likely be quite the challenge" Naruko told Hana cryptically, causing Hana to fold her arms and frown at her mate, getting quite used to how devious her mate could be at times. She never lied to her, perish the thought, but unless asked the right question you most likely would end up with an answer that did not sound quite right or that would lead you to believe something completely different from the actual truth of the matter .

"Whatever" Hana said while dismissing the matter with a wave of her hand, sounding a bit more irritated than she meant too thanks to the Hokage

Naruko finished her stretches and stood back up while taking out her two curved blades and taking up a basic stance, crouched low to the ground while Hana watched her. A few moments passed and Naruko moved, blades slicing through the air as she struck out at imaginary enemies and targets, flipping and diving as she did so.

Hana watched her move with a sense of desire within her, seeing how her mates body twisted gracefully as it glided through the air, turning on a dime to lash out again and again without breaking stride even once as the pace began to pick itself up, Naruko moving faster and faster until the blades were little more than silver blurs slicing through the air.

Suddenly Naruko stopped mid strike, breathing heavily as she put the blades away, seeing someone approaching who looked rather distinctive with the twin buns atop her head and the number of weapons apparently failing to weigh her down or inhibit her one bit.

"Hey Ten-chan" Naruko called out once the girl got closer, Hana turned around to see the young woman approaching. Tenten herself smiled brightly at seeing Naruko, causing Hana to frown at the young woman

"Now now" Naruko said, gently putting a hand on her shoulder and squeezing gently "there's no need for that" she told Hana who relaxed slightly and stopped glaring at the girl who stood in front of them.

"What are you doing out here Naruko-chan?" Tenten asked Naruko who smiled at the girl

"I could ask you the same thing Ten-chan. This is where I train most days with my sensei" she said while gesturing to Hana who waved back.

"I see" Tenten said "I was going to train here as well but…"

"You're welcome to join in" Naruko interrupted her, still smiling at the girl who blinked at the interruption

"Uh, okay I guess, are you sure you sensei…"

"She's fine with it. Aren't you Hana-sensei" Naruko asked while turning back to look at Hana who nodded

"Of course" she replied "Naruko-chan needs a training partner anyway" she told Tenten who nodded.

"I'd be more than happy to help" Tenten said rather honestly as she moved into the centre of the training ground and began to do her own stretches as Hana and Naruko watched.

Hana noticed Naruko's eyes fix rather firmly on a rather specific piece of Tenten's anatomy and stay there, especially as the girl began to stretch her back by leaning down. Though even she had to admit it was a rather nice view.

"A friend?" Hana asked Naruko who smiled and turned to look at her again.

"Something like that" she replied and Hana huffed at getting a cryptic response once again. Naruko just smiled at her before continuing "I helped her out a little while ago, and once I got into this ninja thing I decided that it wouldn't hurt in getting to know her a little more. She works at the weapon shop close to the Hokage tower, she's the one who gave her the knives for free" she explained to Hana who seemed happier at having it explained to her.

"I guess that's fine then" Hana said while watching the girl

"You jealous?" Naruko asked with a small, smug smile that made Hana blush

"O-Of course not" she spluttered out and Naruko grinned before tilting her head up and kissing her deeply much to Hana's shock and delight as she kissed her back despite knowing Tenten might see them.

"I love you" Naruko said softly to Hana who all but felt her heart rate jump at hearing those words. She smiled warmly at Naruko who pulled away and moved over to Tenten who had just finished her stretches.

"You ready?" she asked while pulling out a couple of kunai and going into her basic stance while Tenten pulled out a number of kunai and prepared to throw them.

"Bet on it" Tenten replied before flinging the kunai at Naruko who leapt forwards, quickly moving around the girl and avoiding her weapons before moving in.

Tenten spun around and tried to block only to find Naruko already ducking her move and moving the kunai close to Tenten's neck. The girl pulled back and flipped away before flinging a number of kunai at Naruko who was already rapidly closing the distance between them, twisting out of the way of the projectiles she threw her own at Tenten, quickly pulling out another two as she got closer, forcing Tenten to back away, not realising where she actually was until she felt the bark of a tree against her back causing her to swear as she ducked, missing the second kunai as she felt the cold steel press up against her neck. She cursed and stood up as Naruko pressed against her making Tenten blush.

"I win" she said and smiled before turning around and walking off, leaving Tenten to collect herself as Naruko sat next to Hana.

"Your very good Naruko-san" Tenten said as she walked up to the pair "did …-san train you?" she asked and Naruko shook her head

"Nope" she said with a small smile "I learnt most of it myself" she told the bun-haired girl who stared at her for a little while.

"You're joking" she finally said and Hana laughed

"She's not. Hell most of the time I don't even have to do anything, most days she even gets here earlier than me" she told Tenten who looked rather impressed.

"And here I thought my teammates were a bit nuts" she said and Naruko laughed

"They can't be that bad. Hold on, you've got that prodigy on your team haven't you?" Tenten nodded "I take it back" Naruko said as she smiled at the girl who crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at Naruko who just smiled back "no offense" she finally said and Tenten backed off.

"I thought you two had a mission anyway" Tenten said

"How?" Naruko asked curiously and Tenten smiled at her

"I saw you both leaving the tower with a brown envelope that usually has mission orders inside it" she told Naruko who hummed in thought.

"We have, a C-rank" Hana said. Naruko raised an eyebrow at her and Hana smiled back, Naruko just shrugged and turned back to Tenten.

"Yeah, gotta' go an follow team seven after they screwed up" Naruko said

"How?"

"That's a secret" Naruko said, tapping her nose as Tenten pouted

"Really? After you told me all that?"

"Yep" Naruko replied as she smiled brightly and kissed Tenten on the cheek, causing her to go bright red as Naruko stood up and stretched.

"As much I'd like to talk some more, we need to go" Naruko said, turning to Hana who seemed a little put out by Naruko's show of affection.

"Fine" she said as she too stood up and followed after Naruko

"See you in a week Ten-chan" Naruko called out before disappearing with Hana in a burst of speed.

The sun was starting to set on the end of the second day into the journey to Wave, following the path of team seven, and Naruko was beginning to become a bit agitated.

"I still don't understand why we need to follow their path, it doesn't even follow the straightest route to the town" she said as they walked into part of the forest to find a suitable place to camp.

"Because we were ordered to" Hana explained as she pulled the pack off of her back and put it down while sitting herself on a fallen log.

"Damn old man making my life difficult" Naruko hissed as she started gathering fire wood from around them.

"I don't get why he does it, surely you could ruin him if you really wanted too?" Hana asked and Naruko shrugged her shoulders

"He knows I can, but can't prove it. However he also knows that I have no choice at the moment, I need to remain within Konoha for now" Naruko explained while setting up the sticks before using a basic fire technique to light the dry twigs on fire.

"Why?" Hana asked while pulling their provisions out of her pack. Naruko sat next to the fire and began to build it up until it was a decent size and the heat was comfortable.

"I need a base of operations to start my network, otherwise it will crumble, and it's too small to be of any real influence at the moment anyway"

"Is that why he wanted to keep you here?"

"Yep, if I'm under his eye I can't feed information, false or otherwise, to enemies and the like" Naruko said as she took the provisions from Hana and stuck them inside the glowing embers of the fire as she let it die down a little.

"But surely it makes more sense to have you on his side?" Hana asked "after all the opposite is also true, you could give Konoha information about enemies"

"That would be the case if I thought I owed Konoha anything, but I don't so I have no obligation to help them out in any way shape or form as far as I'm concerned"

"I see" Hana replied and Naruko sat back against the log, sighing as she did so.

She felt Hana's hands gently tilt her head back and suddenly felt a pair of soft lips against her own, she sighed and kissed Hana back gently for a few minutes.

"Better?" Hana asked and Naruko smiled up at her

"Maybe" she replied and Hana pouted, Naruko chuckled and kissed her again before grabbing their food from the fire.

"Military issue food" Hana said with no enthusiasm in her voice while looking at the suspiciously viscous stuff inside of the silver pack.

"Better than starving, and neither of us could be asked to go hunting so you don't get to complain" Naruko told her and Hana groaned before eating it while making a mildly disgusted face.

"What flavour was this meant to be again?" she asked Naruko who smiled

"Roast beef I think" she replied and Hana wrinkled her nose in disgust at the packet

"Tastes like spiced cardboard" she said and Naruko chuckled

"They all taste the same so stop complaining"

"Fine" Hana huffed as they ate in silent.

A little while later and their positions had changed with Naruko sitting on the log with Hana resting in-between her legs and looking up at her.

"Naruko-chan?" Hana suddenly asked Naruko who had been gazing up through the canopy in the trees to watch the stars.

"Hmm?" she replied while looking down at her and gently stroking her cheeks almost causing Hana to purr at the caress.

It had become a fairly common thing for them to share intimate moments like this on missions despite the regulations against such things. Nothing more than touches were exchanged though, anything more would likely wake someone or something up, and besides they both needed their strength anyway so anything like that was out of the question while travelling. Once they got to Wave it would likely be a different story entirely.

"Do you know anything about Wave?" Hana asked causing Naruko to blink at the seemingly random question before smiling at her older lover and gently kissing her for a moment.

"Maybe" she replied and Hana groaned

"Come on, you always do this" she huffed and Naruko chuckled before pulling back slightly and resting her hands on the trunk of the tree below her as Hana leant back against her stomach.

"Fine then. Wave's been taken over by a man by the name of Gato, he's a shipping magnate who brought up all the shipping yards and began charging insane taxes. Wave crumbled under the lack of trade and soon crime was rife, that was when bandits moved in an began 'taxing' those who couldn't pay" she told Hana who hummed at the information

"What about the ninja's team seven encountered?" she asked and Naruko thought to herself for a moment, running her fingers through Hana's hair, before answering.

"Zabuza is a name that well known, a rebel of the seven swordsmen he's powerful, at least a jonin level ninja, I certainly wouldn't be able to take him down without some heavy planning, and even then I'd be in for quite the fight I suspect" she explained

"Okay..."

"But I found something strange. Apparently Zabuza has someone else with him" Naruko said and Hana blinked, looking up at her again.

"Really?"

"Yeah, though I don't know if they're a he or a she, but they dress as a hunter ninja from mist usually" Naruko said, watching a Hana connected the dots.

"Zabuza's still alive" she said and Naruko nodded

"And he has help as well; I suggest that we'd better be ready for anything. Once we're in Wave I'll look around for any info on this ninja"

"And I'll train Kakashi's little brats to be able to fight them" Hana finished and Naruko smiled before kissing her deeply, leaving Hana out of breath and panting slightly.

"Don't do that" she whined softly "you know we can't do anything" she complained and Naruko grinned

"Not yet" she whispered and Hana shivered.

It was midnight and the moon was high in the sky, casting its cold silver light on the world. The fire was smaller than it had been but easily provided the two of them with enough warmth.

Hana was lying down, fast asleep while Naruko leant against a tree, one of her legs against her chest while she watched the surrounding trees for any sign of movement. Doing four hour shifts meant they usually got sufficient sleep to operate the following day, though getting up was always a difficult task.

Suddenly she saw a glint of something in the forest; she shifted, unsheathing her own blades silently as she crept into the darkness, moving behind whoever it was.

The silhouette moved towards Hana suddenly but failed to get very far as suddenly Naruko was in front of him, one blade pushing his gauntleted hand away, leaving his side exposed

"Hana!" she shouted, waking the sleeping woman immediately, as she twisted around and drove her blade straight into the man's side, making him cry out and clutch the wound even as he swung at her again.

Naruko risked a glance back to see Hana stab her opponent with a kunai in the gut, causing him to double over even as he rolled away from her. She turned her attention back to the man in front of her, dodging another of his swipes and slashing at his chest, the serrated tops of the blades ripping his flesh as he cried out. She quickly got behind him and slashed both backs of his knees, severing the tendons and sending him to the ground even as she put the tips of her blades against the two major blood vessels in his neck and pulled sharply, severing them both and killing him in a matter of seconds.

She stood back up to see that Hana had disabled, but not killed, her opponent.

"Do you think?" Hana asked Naruko who nodded

"Definitely working for Gato. Most likely sent to watch the roads for any reinforcements, though now that they won't report back he'll most likely step up whatever plan he's come up with" Naruko explained and Hana nodded

"Which means we need to get their rather quickly" she said while looking in the direction of Wave.

"You wanna disobey orders?" Naruko asked seriously and Hana nodded

"This is more pressing than checking for corpses on the road" she said and Naruko nodded in agreement as they both quickly gathered up their stuff. Naruko moved over to Hana who had just stood back up with her pack and kissed her softly

"Cheer up" she said at seeing Hana's displeased look, probably at being both woken up and forced to disobey direct orders.

"Okay" she relented and Naruko grinned at her as they both hopped away into the trees.

The sun was rising when they finally approached Wave, casting brilliant oranges into the sky above the horizon and chasing away the last of the stars that sat within the gradually brightening vault of dark blue sky.

Naruko and Hana had arrived at the edge of a large river that separated Wave from the rest of the mainland. The sun reflected brilliantly off of the water, setting it aflame with shimmering reds and oranges as the sky slowly bled back into its normal bright blue.

"So how are we going to do this?" Hana asked Naruko who smiled at her and walked straight onto the water, leaving Hana with her mouth open in surprise.

"Come on, do you really think I wouldn't have mastered this sort of technique at the first chance" Naruko said as Hana joined her on the water

"When will you stop surprising me?" Hana asked and Naruko laughed as they walked across the water

"Probably never, unpredictability is something I appreciate more than many because I know just how it can save your life" she said

"Like with the Hokage?"

"Exactly like that. He can't guess what I'm gonna do next so he's always struggling to keep up, so I'm usually safe" Naruko explained as they finally caught sight of the bridge through the early morning fog.

"Wow" Hana said at the size of the structure

"Yeah, it's certainly impressive, no wonder Gato doesn't want Tazuna to finish the thing" Naruko said as they kept on walking to the other shore.

Stepping onto dry land Naruko sighed and ran a hand through her hair

"Bloody salt" she muttered and Hana grunted in agreement before they walked into the town.

Even this early morning people were up, many sat fishing on the piers while others sat around doing their best to carry on with a normal existence. The boarded up shop windows and dirty children in the streets, however, belied the true nature of their situation.

The very air seemed oppressive and thick with hopelessness, broken lives could be seen everywhere and Naruko wondered whether Tazuna's dream would really be able to bring Wave back up to the trading hub it had once been before Gato had arrived and systematically dismantled their entire economy, hell even their lumber yards had closed up due to the bandits in the forest, some of whom had once been citizens living perfectly normal lives.

"This place I broken" Naruko said as they strode through the streets, garnering plenty of stares

"I know. Makes you wonder if Tazuna can really do it" Hana replied and Naruko hummed in response before suddenly turning around as she felt a hand dart into her back pocket. She caught the small hand and blinked at seeing a young girl, no older than nine or ten, looking up at her with fear and tears in her eyes.

Naruko smiled kindly at the young girl an crouched down so they were the same height before removing some food and water from her pack and handing it to the girl who looked up at her with a surprised and questioning expression that turned into a radiant smile when Naruko nodded at her. soon others were gathering around her and she was distributing what food and water she had to the children who ran off to go give it to their families. Eventually they were all mostly fed and she waved to them as she walked off with Hana.

"You're a big softy aren't you?" Hana teased and Naruko smiled at her before putting an arm around her waist and kissing her neck, making her gasp.

"Of course I am, I'm with you aren't I?" she said and Hana blushed softly "besides they need all the help they can get, this place was a trading hub certainly but it was never a major one, however a connection to the mainland could change all that. Besides, no child to have to suffer because of another's greed" Naruko said and Hana nodded rather solemnly, aware of Naruko's less than rosy past.

They walked past the centre of town and moved to where they had been told Tazuna's house was. I was a rather quaint place that sat near a fairly marshy area, a wooden pier, of sorts, led to the doorway and the rest of the house that was built on solid ground.

"Go on then" Naruko told Hana who looked at her before shaking her head and knocking on the door twice.

There was a sudden sound of someone being hushed and then the door opened a crack and a young woman peered out at them

"Hello, I'm Inuzuka Hana and this is my apprentice Uzumaki Naruko, we're the reinforcements Kakashi-san ordered" Hana explained and the woman immediately opened the door. She stood in front of them and bowed

"I'm Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter" she explained and Naruko could not resist a quick glance over her, from her soft long black hair and gentle hazel eyes. "Please come in" she said and Hana nodded

"Thank you" she said as Naruko followed her into the house.

Tsunami led them to the dining room where team seven was already sitting, digging into a rather hearty meal that looked rather difficult to prepare. They looked over to see Hana and Naruko and all seemed to blink at once in confusion.

"Where is Kakashi-san?" Naruko asked them seriously and Sakura pointed above them

"He's resting in his room, first door on your left when you go up" she explained and Hana nodded before making her way up there.

Naruko sat down at the table across from Tazuna who watched her carefully

"Would you like some breakfast Uzumaki-san?" Tsunami asked and Naruko smiled warmly at her

"Naruko is fine Tsunami-san, and no thank you I've already eaten. Besides I'm certain your family needs it more than me" she said and Tsunami nodded with a soft smile. Both Sasuke and Sakura looked at their plate of food and seemed to be a bit ashamed.

"So you're the reinforcements" Tazuna asked and Naruko nodded

"Yes and please don't worry Tazuna-san my track record is quite good I assure you" she said politely and he grunted

"We'' see about that" he grumbled and Naruko's smile turned dark

"On our way here I killed a Chunin level ninja" she said and Tazuna gulped

"Right then" he muttered, putting his head down and quietly drinking his tea.

Naruko could feel two pairs of eyes on her. She looked up to catch both Sakura and Sai watching her, Sai quickly glanced away and down to his food, continuing to eat at a measured pace that looked all too mechanical.

"Can I do something for you Haruno-san?" Naruko asked politely.

She knew that Sakura might find her interesting. After all she was a near total opposite to the girl, she was strong and a good ninja, while Sakura certainly was not very good and was totally obsessed with one thing and one thing only.

"Eh? Oh n-no not really" Sakura replied, blushing lightly and looking down while fiddling with her hands that were on her lap.

Just then Hana came back down, a dark look on her face; Naruko did not have to ask to know why she had that expression, she knew that Kakashi was an arrogant prick and he had most likely given Hana orders despite them both being the same rank. Add in Hana's pack instincts and she was likely rather pissed off at the man who was so weak that a civilian could probably kill him at that moment.

"What are we doing?" Naruko asked, sounding as professional as she could, mostly for Tsunami and Tazuna's benefit.

"You can go and gather that information we talked about, meanwhile I'm going to train this bunch" Hana said while looking at team seven who gulped at the dark look Hana was giving them.

"Just don't kill them, you know how Kakashi would feel about that" Naruko said as she stood up and walked over to the door, not missing the small figure that darted away when she approached. She stepped out into the cool morning air and made her way back down to the town, leaving team seven to the tender mercies of her lover.

By about midday Naruko had what she needed though it certainly had not been easy. Their spirit was broken and they were all so scared to speak of what they knew that many times she had been forced to move on and find someone else.

She walked out of one of the many shops just in time to see Hana and Tsunami walking towards her

"Naruko-chan" Hana called out as Naruko turned to face them

"Hana-sensei" Naruko replied, hiding a small smirk at calling her lover that, Hana lightly glared at her, having obviously caught the expression

"Naruko-san" Tsunami said "what are you doing here?" she asked

"Collecting information on our mysterious hunter ninja" she said and turned to Hana

"Still no confirmation on the sex, but I know they definitely have some form of bloodline from Mist"

"Which one?" Hana asked, obviously knowing that there had been quite a few bloodline limits in Mist before the civil war had broken out.

"Ice I believe, so chances are she's at least low jonin level if not slightly higher depending on how long Zabuza's been training her. I'll come up with something" Naruko said and Hana nodded

"Of course, now then I've got to help Tsunami here with shopping otherwise we'll all starve before the next battle" she said with a smile and Naruko smiled back

"Of course, I'll let you both get on then. I'm heading back" she said and Hana nodded

"See you late then"

"See you later Naruko-san" Tsunami said while waving as Naruko walked away from them.

But far from heading back Naruko decided to look for something. She had some here for another reason other than simple information gathering, one of team seven could have done that, no she was here to expand her network, and that meant talking to people, including children, and getting something set up.

She left several people letters, including two or three bandits, before finally walking into a bar that was still open and that had a reputation for not being strictly legal.

"What can I get ya?" the barkeeper called out as she walked in. The place was nearly completely empty save for a few drunks who had likely given away their very souls to still be able to buy the alcohol in here.

"I need your help with something" Naruko said, her hood masking her face and her ninja headband stuffed inside her pocket

"What's that?" the barkeeper said with a small smile that turned into an astonished look as Naruko suddenly pulled out several wads of money and put them on the bar. He quickly put down the glass he had been polishing and leaned forwards

"What do ya need?" he asked seriously and now it was Naruko's turn to smile.

"I need information" she told him and he nodded "this is the first payment, a kind of good will offer, if you will. Here's the deal, I'll pay you for the information you give me, better it is the more it's worth, you get me?" she asked and the man nodded, glancing at the money and licking his lips

"Yeah I get ya" he replied

"I've got several agents working here as well, they've been instructed to leave packages around in certain...discrete places" she told him "they'll inform you where they are by letter, okay?" she said and he nodded vigorously

"Certainly boss" he said and she smiled, pushing the money into his hands and watching him count it gleefully

"Pay the agents as well, I'll give you the info on that later, but for now" she said before giving him two pictures "I need whatever info you have on these two ninjas along with Gato's forces" she said before turning and walking away

"See you in three days" she said before vanishing out of the door.

That night team seven enjoyed their meal while both Naruko and Hana ate what few rations they had left

"Why aren't you eating Naruko-san?" Sakura asked Naruko who was leaning against the far wall from them

"Because I've got my own provisions, and besides I don't think Tsunami is made of money, nor do I think I need the food more than them. Especially when these ration packs have all the nutrition I need" she said while taking a final bite out of her bar and grimacing

"Even if they do taste like cardboard" she muttered under her breath just as Hana joined them

"How's Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked her and Hana just shrugged

"As arrogant as ever, the stupid twit forgot to cover his eye back up so now he's suffering chakra exhaustion" she told them

"He'll be out for about a week right?" Sakura asked and Hana hummed in thought

"Five or six days tops, he's been through worse so he should be fine, unfortunately" she told them, muttering the last bit under her breath and drawing a small chuckle from Naruko

"What's Hana-sensei taught you then?" she asked and Sakura shivered slightly

"Not much, I wanted to see how good they were in the three S's, unfortunately it turns out Kakashi's taught them fuck all" Hana replied and Naruko snorted

"Sounds about right" she muttered under her breath before seeing something pass by the window outside. She stood up

"I'll be back in a sec" she told Hana and walked upstairs before hopping onto the roof where a messenger pigeon landed on her outstretched hand.

She had sent a message back to Konoha to several contacts for information regarding Kakashi and Sasuke's relationship along with any information on Sai that they could dig up. The pigeon dropped the small scroll into her hand and she gave it some food along with another scroll containing her thanks and the location of a drop she kept for emergencies like this, it carried enough money to cover most transactions, including this one.

She read through the information and frowned before sucking her teeth and moving back inside the house just in time to find Hana ordering team seven to bed

"Me and Naruko-san will take turns watching" she told them and Sasuke huffed

"Why don't we all have a shift?" Sakura asked and Hana smirked

"Because not only I Naruko-san stronger than any of you, she's also the most experienced" she explained, Sasuke fumed while the other two simply seemed to accept it and moved to go to their beds, passing by Naruko who walked up to Hana.

"Is that it?" Hana asked her, pointing to the scroll in her hand.

"Yep"

"So?"

"Turns out Kakashi's been focusing almost solely on Sasuke, which was to be expected giving his past with that clan, but Sai is even more interesting

"How so?" Hana asked her as they walked into their own room, Hana began to undress, well aware that Naruko's eyes were trailing over every inch of her body as she did so.

"He literally doesn't exist until a little before the genin exams, it was like he suddenly appeared out of thin air. All the records are there and look to be correct, but it just doesn't look right"

"You think he's a threat?" Hana asked once she had finished stripping and lay down on her futon, not covering herself for the benefit of Naruko who smiled at the action

"No, he's probably just here to observe and keep Sasuke alive. Aside from that there's nothing note worthy" Naruko said before kissing Hana and moving to her own futon

"Hey" Hana complained softly and Naruko smiled at her

"If I got in with you we both know what you'd end up doing" she said and Hana blushed before huffing and turning over. A few moments later and she called out

"Good night Naruko-chan"

"Good night Hana-chan" Naruko replied with a small smile before trying to get some rest.

She was awoken a few hours later by the sounds of someone crying softly. She stood up and moved towards the master bedroom of the house. She opened the door to find Tsunami curled up in a ball and crying softly.

She walked over to the distraught woman and moved onto the bed before wrapping her arms around the woman who immediately turned over and pushed herself into Naruko's arms and continued to cry in her embrace even as Naruko murmured sweet nothings into her ear until they both fell asleep.

The next morning found Naruko outside before anyone else save for Hana had woken up. The cool morning air was the perfect time, as far as she was concerned, to begin going through her katas in peace and quiet before the rest of them woke up and disrupted her concentration.

However today it was not to be as she heard someone approach her from behind. She sighed and relaxed from her stance before turning around to find Sakura standing there, looking rather nervous.

"Good morning Haruno-san" Naruko said as she wiped some sweat from her forehead

"G-good morning Uzumaki-san" Sakura responded nervously

"What is it?" Naruko asked and Sakura shifted slightly

"Um, I was wondering if I could talk to you?" Sakura said and Naruko nodded while sitting on a stump

"Of course, what is it?"

"It's just that, um, I was wondering how you became so strong" Sakura said and Naruko blinked before smiling

"I see. You aren't exactly the strongest member of your team are you?" she asked and Sakura shook her head "very well. Well I became strong by training day in day out for quite a long time including proper dieting and the like" she said and Sakura seemed to sag at that "however my form of strength is not, perhaps, suited to you Sakura-san. While your physical skills certainly need improving you should look at doing something with your excellent chakra control" she said and Sakura looked thoughtful

"But Kakashi-sensei only trains Sasuke-kun" she said and Naruko hummed

"I know. However that is only one problem, the other one is your total obsession with one particular member of your squad"

"Sasuke-kun?"

"Yes, you simply can't be a decent ninja if your feelings are going to rule your life. We ninjas are murders, plain and simple, however he is also taking you away from training and even ruined your friendship with Yamanaka-san" she said and Sakura looked quite ashamed at that

"I know" she muttered

"Then it needs to stop. You can become strong by yourself as I did, but you might want to get someone else to help you. If Kakashi won't do it then ask Hana-sensei or one of the other team leaders like Gai or something" she said and Sakura nodded

"Okay, thank you Naruko-san"

"You're welcome" she replied, smiling warmly as the young girl walked back into the house where breakfast was now quite obvious being cooked, if the smell was anything to go by.

Naruko sighed and stood up before walking into the house after the girl. Tsunami saw her and blushed softly

"Ah, Naruko-san, um, thank you very much for last night" she said and Naruko smiled at her

"Please don't worry about it, I couldn't very well leave you like that could I?" she said and Tsunami smiled kindly at her.

Eventually everyone had eaten, including Hana and Naruko, and the shifts had been decided. With team seven remaining to train Hana would go to protect Tazuna while he continued construction and Naruko had essentially been given the day off.

So she was now sitting at the back of the house, watching as the entirety of team seven continued to run up and down the trees. Well Sai and Sakura ran up and down the trees, Sasuke kept on falling off, much to her undisclosed amusement.

"Sakura-san" she eventually called out, motioning for Sakura to come over to her

"What is it Naruko-san?" Sakura asked as Naruko stood up and stretched

"Well rather than sit here for the next six hours, I figured my time would be better spent training you" she explained and Sakura blinked before smiling

"Really?" she asked and Naruko nodded

"Yep, but first I'm gonna need you to go through the academy katas" she said and Sakura nodded, getting ready before Naruko stopped her. "Go through it slowly, keep all your muscles tense as you do so, I'll correct you as you go" she explained as Sakura began to move through the motions.

As Sakura moved through it Naruko kept on stopping her and correcting her posture while speaking.

"You really should do this every day if you can, it'll help tone the muscles and increase your strength and teach your muscles the motions" she gently tapped Sakura's back, causing her to straighten up "also you might want to look at getting some lighter clothing" she said while gently moving one of her arms "not just because it'll let you move easier, but it'll also provide a subtle distraction for male opponents, or female if their orientated that way" Naruko explained "outside of that I think you should probably talk to someone in the medical division in Konoha about learning medical techniques with your chakra control. That way you'll be a massive boon to the team and fully complement the whole dynamic" she said before stepping back and letting Sakura continue.

By the time they had finished Sakura had gone through the whole thing nearly four times and could already feel her muscles beginning to shake slightly with the fatigue of being held tense for such an extended period of time.

"Take a break" Naruko told her and Sakura nearly collapsed on the floor, eagerly swallowing the water she was given

"This is hard" she said as she felt the shaking stop

"It will be, but it'll get easier as you go along" Naruko told her while stretching

"Erm, what are you doing Naruko-san?" Sakura asked nervously and Naruko smiled

"We're gonna spar for a little while. Nothing major mind you, just the basics" she said and Sakura nodded, hoping that Naruko was not as severe as Hana had been the day before.

By the end of the day Naruko had completely exhausted Sakura who had to essentially be carried into the dining room by Naruko, earning her an odd look from Hana.

"Have fun Naruko-chan?" she asked with a smirk and Naruko just chuckled

"Very much" she replied after making sure Sakura could actually stay awake without her help

"Training her"

"Yeah, Kakashi hasn't exactly been a very good sensei to her" Naruko said and Hana nodded as the food was put out and they dug in.

The next day Naruko was greeted by a bandaged Kakashi when she walked downstairs. He smiled under his mask but she took no notice of him as she quickly wolfed down a nutrient bar.

"Good morning Naruko-san" he said and she snorted

"Please don't be so familiar with me Kakashi-san" she said and his smile diminished slightly

"So Uzumaki-san, I see you and your sensei were sent to assist us" he said and Naruko sighed

"That's right Kakashi-san, so please show a little more respect to my sensei. You may have been an Anbu level ninja once but you are all the same rank now" she told him and he looked at her

"Experience wins in ninja ranks" he told her and she just sighed

"Knew you'd say that. I'd be careful Kakashi-san, arrogance kills more ninja's in this world than you might think" she told him as he watched her carefully

"So I am aware" he said and she had to hold in the urge to snort derisively at that statement.

"Whatever Kakashi-san, can you please send Sakura-san out when she comes down?" she requested as she made for the door

"You are training together?" he asked

"No, I am training her. A most amusing thing, since she shouldn't be anywhere near as weak as she is now if her sensei had trained her correctly. Hell Kakashi-san, they didn't even know the tree walking exercise" she scornfully and he glared at her

"I had my reasons" he told her firmly and she just chuckled

"Don't try to intimidate me Kakashi-san, just know that I'm sure your reputation will take quite the hit once we get back to Konoha" she told him before walking out of the door, leaving the man to stew quietly with his own thoughts.

She walked herself through her katas while trying to calm herself down after speaking to that arrogant man.

She knew all about the man's past with his original team. How Obito, a member of Sasuke's clan, had died while trying to rescue their other team mate Rin from Earth ninja's. Ever since that day Kakashi had acted as though he had a debt to be paid and spent much, if not all, of his spare time staring quietly at the memorial stone that commemorated all the hundreds of lives lost in the first and second Great Ninja Wars.

However that did not excuse him neglecting one of the most promising members of team. She had a feeling that without intervention history would be forced to repeat itself as it had done with the original team seven, those who had eventually become known as the three great Sannin. With one leaving, one becoming a traitor and the other being the only one still truly loyal to Konoha.

She was brought out of her musings by the sound of footsteps approaching her. She looked to see Sakura walking up to her with a small smile

"Hello Naruko-sensei" she said with a small blush and Naruko smiled at her

"Hmm 'sensei' huh? I think I could get used to this. Well then, let's keep on going" she said while motioning for her to get into position.

The day ended with the team once again all gathering in the dining room while Hana and Naruko sat off on one side together.

"You don't like Kakashi I take it?" Hana asked Naruko who was resting after sparring with Sakura for several hours

"Personally I think I only hate the Hokage more" she replied and Hana laughed

"Bit too arrogant?"

"Just a bit yeah"

"What about Sakura?"

"She's got potential, at least as much as Tenten or Ino, it's just trying to dig through the crap to get at it. It still amazes me how the academy can let some people pass with the way their combat is" she said while looking at the kid, Inari, who had joined them for a meal for once.

Naruko could clearly see the anger and desperation looked inside of the young child, but now was not the right time to try to talk to him, she would have to try and catch him when he had vented most of his emotions otherwise he would simply explode at her.

"A bit like Kiba then" Hana replied

"He still doesn't know does he?"

"He doesn't even suspect anything. I think Akamaru might but he certainly doesn't" Hana said while grinning at the thought of her brothers face when he finally figured it out.

"He'll probably try to kill me when he finds out" Naruko said absently and Hana snorted

"He'd have to get through both me and my mother before getting to you" she said with a edge and Naruko smiled

"Thanks" she said making Hana blush

"Well...yeah" she mumbled

"Is Tsume doing well, what with you having me all to yourself" she asked and Hana shrugged

"I think so; I think she knows we don't exactly screw all the time when we're on missions. That and she trusts you to keep it fair" she replied and Naruko smiled

"Good" she replied.

The next day was Naruko's turn to watch over Tazuna.

"Do you mind if I join in?" she asked the man who blinked before shrugging

"Knock yourself out" he told her before nearly choking as she picked up several planks that usually required several men to carry, and proceeded to walk them to the edge of the bridge and hand them down to the men there.

She kept on transferring materials around the bridge until Tazuna called out for everyone to take a break for lunch.

She walked over to the bar and walked in. The moment the bar keep saw her he motioned her over

"I have what ya wanted" he said while handing over several scrolls and envelopes, all with their seals still intact.

"Hmm, I'm impressed" she said before handing over a wad of money to the man who took it and quickly hid it out of sight

"Good to be doing business with you" he said to her in a hushed whisper and she smiled

"And you" she responded, bowing her head slightly before walking back out of the bar and making her way back to the bridge.

"I think I might have to hire ninjas every time I want to build a bridge" Tazuna said with a grin as he and Naruko made their way back to his house

"Well I wasn't going to sit there for eight hours doing nothing" she said with her own smile and he laughed

"Well I certainly like you a damn sight better than those other brats" he told her

"Really?" she asked with a small smile, feeling as though the situation was rather humorous

"Yeah., that quiet one who always smiles just sat there drawing, that black haired one just sat with his arms crossed looking miserable the whole time and their teacher is useless. Although the pink haired one did actually do something to help, so I suppose she's alright" he said as they came back to the house

"Well I'm glad to hear it Tazuna-san" Naruko said and opened the door just in time to catch the tale end of an argument

"Its pointless!" she heard Inari scream followed by the sound of him running quickly up the stairs. Tazuna just looked down as she walked into the room

"Which one of you was it?" she asked team seven who all gulped at the look in her eyes

"It wasn't my team Uzumaki-san" Kakashi told her and she grunted

"Perhaps" she said before walking off to try and follow Inari.

Hana caught up to her

"Maybe you should leave him alone for now Naruko-chan" she said softly and Naruko smiled at her before kissing her deeply for the first time in days, leaving the woman a bit light headed

"Thanks for the heads up but I know how this works" she said, gently turning Hana around and smacking her firm bottom before making her way upstairs, leaving Hana to suck her teeth and try to fight her growling libido.

Naruko opened the door to Inari's room to hear the kid crying to himself while clutching a picture of his late father figure.

"Hey Inari" Naruko softly called out as she walked into the room

"Go away" Inari said miserably and Naruko shook her head

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked the kid who shook his head

"You wouldn't understand" he mumbled and she shook her own head

"I do Inari, I've also lived a life of suffering. I grew up with no one paying attention to me, my whole existence was just overlooked by the majority, and those who did care either did for their own personal gain or were out to hurt me" she told the kid who looked at her

"Really?" he asked and she nodded with a sad smile

"Yep, you're not the only one whose had suffering in their life, so why don't you tell me about it, maybe I can help" she said and he sniffed before nodding.

A little while later and Inari had fallen asleep on top of Naruko who lifted him and put him to bed before walking back downstairs.

"Is he...?" Tsunami asked when Naruko entered the dining room

"He's sleeping now" she told the woman who smiled at her

"Thank you Naruko-san" she said and Naruko just shook her head before sitting down next to Hana.

The next day passed in much the same way, with Naruko training Sakura into the ground and generally keeping watch around the house.

However about halfway through the day Sakura mentioned something to her

"Naruko-sensei?"

"Hmm?" Naruko replied as she once again checked Sakura's stance, moving her hand just slightly

"You know that I feel asleep in the forest yesterday?"

"Yep"

"Well when I woke up there was someone there" Sakura said as she moved into the next stage of her kata

"And?"

"Well, she asked me if I had anything special I wanted to protect. I said yes and talked about you and my team" she said an Naruko hummed in thought

"She seemed happy about that. But then she walked off, but she, and I swear she was a she, told me that she was a he" she explained and Naruko chuckled, but wondered about just why their mysterious hunter nin had not simply killed a member of the opposition while they were helpless.

Then later that night she walked into her room that she shared with Hana only to suddenly feel a pair of lips against her own. She kissed the shadow back before gently pulling away

"I thought you couldn't do this on missions" Naruko asked the shadow who just whimpered and rubbed her naked form against Naruko

"I don't care, this is your fault, so take responsibility" Hana hissed and Naruko grinned before closing the door and kissing her forcefully.

The next day Naruko was awoken by the sound of something being broken downstairs. She suddenly realised that she must of overslept after last night's activities and shot out of bed, grabbing her blades as she flipped out of the window and onto the roof where she watched two ronin approach the house with swords and twisted smiles on their faces.

"Remember" one of them said "Gato wants her alive" he said and the other just waved him off

"Yeah yeah I know" he said

They got to the front door before suddenly one of them fell backwards as though he had slipped

"Hey what's the matter" the other one laughed as he turned to look at him "did you sli..." he didn't finish his sentence as he saw the kunai embedded in the top of his partners skull moments before the sensation of cold steel came upon him as well, causing him to look down at the curved blade emerging from his chest, dripping with his blood

"You're dead" Naruko hissed in his ear before pulling her knife out and watching with empty eyes as he slumped to the ground, as dead as his friend.

She quickly grabbed the bodies and pulled them into the trees so they would be out of sight from either Inari or Tsunami. They'd both seen enough as it was, she reasoned to herself before taking off after the rest of her companions towards the bridge.

She arrived to see the bridge covered in a thick fog, so that she could only make out the hints of shadows moving within it. She walked into it, pulsing her chakra to try and push the chakra laced fog as far as it would go.

She passed by Sakura who was defending Tazuna and the two jonin's who were attempting to take down Zabuza, and stepping into a circular area full of mirrors

"Who are you?" the reflections said and Naruko looked up at the masked figure, ignoring the two unconscious boys on the ground as she watched it with cold, hard eyes.

"I am Uzumaki Naruko, and I will fight you" she said, tossing away the two boys before facing the reflection again and readying herself.

The End