Hello everyone. Got majorly distracted from this for ages but I'm hopefully going to be

getting it back on track.

Please leave a review to let me know what you think (^_^)

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Chapter 24

Fumiko stood at the cooker trying to focus on making the household pancakes for breakfast, but it was difficult when Naruto kept power-napping with his head bobbing up and down, sometimes returning to the upright position with a little bit more butter, syrup or jam on his face. Every so often Kyuubi would snatch a pancake from him. Had Naruto been fully alert, like usual, the fox would have lost a patch of fur, as the blonde tended to fight tooth and nail for girl's pancakes. The canine was about to push his luck once again when Kakashi entered the kitchen with a stiff yawn.

"Morning Papa!" Fumiko chirped a tad louder than necessary.

Naruto jumped taking her hidden hint and gave his guardian a lazy wave. "Where did you go so early in the morning?"

Kakashi narrowed his eye at his charge. "I was summoned by the Hokage." He paused to gauge the boy's reaction. "There was an incident with the Tower ANBU and he wanted to know if I knew anything about it."

"Why would you know something?" Fumiko asked innocently.

"Whatever it was, don't look at me." Kyuubi snubbed. "I was with the vixen reading up on demon-lore." That freed him from Kakashi's suspicious glare, but earned him a new one from Naruto. Kyuubi merely smirked back at the boy.

With his full attention on Naruto, the older ninja continued his explanation. "It was the manner of the incident that had the Hokage call upon me. All of the ANBU stationed within the Tower and are charged with its security have had flowers mysteriously appear on their masks."

Kyuubi barked a laugh. "What kind of flowers?"

"It was hard to tell. They were really rather crap." He scratched his head in thought. "My guess would have to be daisies."

"Why would anyone go to all the trouble of putting daisies on the masks?" asked Kyuubi.

"No idea." Kakashi answered, beginning to doubt his suspicions in the blonde and felt guilty for being so quick to blame him. The boy simply had a look of hurt and confusion on his face. With a shrug he gave him the benefit of the doubt. "Alright Naruto, if you didn't do it, fine. Any ideas on who would be stupid enough to put something as meaningless as daisies on ANBU masks?"

With an audible growl, Naruto exited and re-entered the kitchen in a blur. "They're freaking PANSIES!" He yelled. "And they're not crap! I practiced on them for 3 days, see!" He shoved an open sketchbook under Kakashi's nose.

Kyuubi and Fumiko sweatdropped.

Kakashi stared at the pages in pure disbelief. How is it possible for someone fast becoming an unparalleled genius of sealing, and God knows what else, to be this shit at drawing? He pushed the unanswerable question to the back of his mind and snapped the book shut with one hand. "So…" he started. "Care to tell me why you pulled the prank, not to mention how in the Hell you weren't seen, yet alone caught?"

Naruto sighed and returned to his breakfast. "Any of our friends could have done it." He stated in a rather bored fashion. "The security at the Tower is pants and the guys stationed there are pansies."

"I see…so you were trying to prove a point?"

A satisfied smirk was his only reply before the blonde began begging Fumiko for more pancakes. He was reaching for the plate but it was swiped by Kakashi and its contents scoffed. The silver-haired ninja ignored Naruto's whines and left the house to inform the Hokage that he needed to heighten security if he didn't want frustrated screams echoing down the Tower corridors to be a common occurrence.

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"Target sighted." A girl with twin buns whispered into her radio as she hid in the alleyway. "Flower, can you confirm?"

"Sighting confirmed Bulls Eye." Added a young blonde from a rooftop across the street. "Healer, Hime, do you have a visual?"

"Affirmative. All units prepare to move on my mark." The pink-haired ninja nodded to her pale-eyed partner.

"Roger." Voiced Bulls Eye.

"Ready when you are!" Flower smirked. "This is going to be fun."

Healer's voice came over the radio again. "We go in 3…2…1…"

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Naruto and his half-demon teammate headed for the Hokage Tower. After Kakashi returned for the second time he had informed them that there were no missions for them today and the Third wished for Naruto to drop by at his earliest convenience. In other words he didn't want anyone to know Naruto was there. The poor boy was just about to get up the courage to ask Fumiko on an actual date when, in an instant, she was gone from his side with a small swirl of dust off the road. He saw her being dragged at speeds high enough to have her feet flying behind her for a spilt second before she was gone, and he was left standing there gaping. With his plans effectively ruined for the majority of the day, he shrugged off his surprise and made off in the direction of Shikamaru's favourite cloud watching spot.

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The group of girls arrived at the Den in record time. All except Fumiko were out of breath. Said prisoner was currently seeing 12 girls instead of 4 with her head swaying. She may have been able to run fast and be fine, but being dragged was a different matter entirely.

Still panting, Ino looked behind her to check on their captive and froze. Eyes going wide, she urgently nudged Tenten on her left. She did the exact same as Ino and nudged the next girl in line to get her attention, Sakura.

Sakura to turned her friends and upon seeing their expressions followed their gaze back to Fumiko. Seeing nothing amiss she looked back at them. "What?" she shrugged.

Both frozen girls turned their heads in unison to their pink-haired friend in utter confusion before turning back to Fumiko to find she had recovered from her dizziness but was now in a scarier situation, well to her anyway. She was now backed up against the closed door, arms and legs spread apart in a desperate attempt to keep as much distance between herself and the advancing Hyuuga heiress. Hinata was inching her hands closer to the origin of Ino and Tenten's shock and confusion – two twitching, furry fox ears.

Sakura let out an exasperated sigh and placed her hand on Hinata's shoulder. "I think Fumi would prefer for her ears to remain attached to her head."

"But…" Hinata protested. In a half-hearted attempt to have her way she pulled the puppy act with the big eyes and quivering lip. This always works on Kiba.

The giant lavender eyes were tempting, but Sakura knew she shouldn't feed Hinata's obsession. She shook her head, the Hyuuga let out a dramatic sob and the half-demon let out a relieved sigh.

Ino and Tenten looked at each other again.

"I think we're missing something here."

Ino could only nod. Their eyes practically bulged out their heads when Fumiko walked past them and through to the kitchen, with a tail swaying behind her.

When they had all settled at the kitchen table, well all but Sakura who started to busy herself at the stove, they listened to Fumiko tell her tale. She went on to tell them the encounter with her village at the end of the Wave mission, leaving out the interactions with Naruto, and finished with an apology for not telling them sooner.

Ino cried as she held the girl in a one-armed hug. "Don't worry about it." She told her. "Both you and the idiot will always have us."

"Hell Yeah!" came from Sakura's direction, but she didn't look up from whatever she was doing. Whether she was cooking or making a chemical weapon was unclear.

"Anyway…" Hinata cleared her throat to get the groups attention. "Care to tell us what happened between you and Naruto?" she smirked devilishly.

Fumiko sat bolt upright with her ears forward, tail stock still and a blush staining her pale cheeks.

The rest of the girls mimicked Hinata's expression.

"Nothing happened." She squeaked.

"Bullshit!" Ino scowled.

Sakura then decided to pipe up. "I suggest you tell us or I'll let Hinata off her leash."

Fumiko's ears flattened against her head before Hinata whips out both hands and holds them at the ready in front of her. One containing a hairbrush and the other had several ribbons.

Sweat dripped down the fox-girl's face as Hinata's maniacal grin slowly grew. Finally her chin dropped to her chest and her ears drooped in defeat. Well if I can't tell them who can I tell?

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When Naruto arrived at his destination, not only was Shikamaru there, but the rest of the guys too. "Don't some of you have missions to do, or at least some training to get on with?"

Kiba paused in rubbing Akamaru's belly to answer the blonde. "The jounin all have a meeting about the chunnin exams."

"Isn't info on the exams classified?" Naruto smirked.

"Of course." The Inuzuka scoffed. "But gathering intel is a ninja's job." He grinned as his canine partner barked in agreement.

"Naruto my youthful rival," Lee started and the guys braced themselves, "why not take advantage of your flames of youth and take the enchanting Lady Fumiko on a date!"

Naruto let out an embarrassed chuckled. "I was going to, but she got kidnapped by the girls." He scratched the back of his neck and blushed when he realised he had basically admitted he liked Fumiko to his friends.

"IT IS WONDERFUL YOU ARE FINALLY AWARE OF YOUR FEELINGS! YOUR FLAMES OF YOUTH BURN BRIGHTER THAN EVER!"

Sasuke and Neji tackled the spandex-clad boy to the ground and clamped their hands over his mouth while the rest of the boys removed their fingers from their ears. "Lee!" Neji whispered harshly. "Remember that talk you and Gai-sensei had on volume levels?"

Lee nodded.

"Remember what we said we would let Tenten do if you didn't stop being so loud?"

Lee nodded faster.

"So, are you going to be quieter now?"

Lee nodded so fast the group thought his head might snap off. This somewhat reassured Neji that their eardrums were safe for the moment, so he and Sasuke slowly removed their hands. Their glares threatened retribution if the now terrified boy did not do as he was told.

Choji paused in chowing down on his candy bar and looked to Naruto, who had sat beside Shikamaru and was leaning back on his arms. "You gonna tell us what's goin on?" he asked the blonde.

Naruto sighed. He didn't know whether to let the rest of the guys in on his secret, even though he knew he could trust them, or if he should just let them in on the Fumiko situation. He looked to Sasuke then Shikamaru and lastly Kiba. They all caught on with what he was thinking and nodded their encouragement. So the time-traveller took a deep breath and got on with it, all of it, minus the time-travel part.

They actually took it rather well, although most of them jumped when he summoned Kyuubi. After a couple of sniffs Akamaru proceeded to play with a couple of the fox's tails, which he didn't mind. It gained a couple of questioning looks and all he gave in explanation was, "Young pups should be allowed to play".

While Naruto answered questions about his heightened senses Lee got progressively louder and more youthful.

It got to the point that Kyuubi could feel his ears burning and turned to Shikamaru. "Does this guy have a mute button?"

"Unfortunately no." the strategist answered pinching the bridge of his nose.

The fox, desperate to save his sense of hearing looked pleadingly at Neji. "Hey!" he called raising his voice over the noise. "You're a Hyuuga right?"

Neji nodded slightly confused.

"Can't you use your Gentle Fist on his vocal cords?"

The Hyuuga was dumbfounded. He turned to Lee, held a finger at the offending spot and tapped.

For a few moments the area was deathly silent. They all thought that they had suddenly gone deaf.

Neji held the finger he had used in front of his face. "It…worked…" he whispered, his voice pure astonishment.

"Holy Crap…"Kiba cursed in disbelief.

Choji turned to Shikamaru. "Why didn't you think of that?"

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While the boys were busy enjoying their enlightening revelation, the girls were equally occupied trying to enlighten Fumiko. They couldn't blame her for being clueless; especially when they now knew the girl's – altered – history. Out of frustration Ino decided to break it down into simple bits for her friend.

"Look, does your heart beat faster whenever he's near you?" she asked.

Fumiko nodded slowly.

"Does it go even faster when he touches you?"

With an ever growing blush the fox girl nodded again. The other girls caught on to what Ino was up to and added in their own questions.

"Do you think about him a lot?" Tenten asked.

The lack of verbal response and start of hair fiddling was answer enough.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'."

"Does he make you feel warm, safe and happy inside?" Ino pressed as she leaned forward in anticipation of victory. She had to hide the start of a triumphant grin when she heard the mumbled affirmative.

Hinata smirked when she finished off the interrogation. "Do you day dream about him petting your ears and tail?"

Fumiko spluttered at this, but when the unbelieving faces of her friends made it clear that no stuttering denial would be accepted, she sighed and nodded. "Yeah…way too often…" She looked pleadingly at those precious to her. "What's going on with me?" she asked.

"Oh that's simple." Ino replied. "You're in love, or close enough to it!"

She couldn't believe her ears. Are they right? I know I love him, but am I truly in love with him? The idea was completely alien to her, but somehow it fit. If I told him would he love me back? The way we live we seem more like…..

The poor half-demon didn't know whether to faint or scream in frustration. Instead she decided to go with depressed. "Yet more proof of my shitty luck." She sighed.

The girls gaped at her dumbfounded at that. Even Sakura finally turned to stare at her.

"Come again…?" asked Tenten.

"What? It's just my luck that I fall for a guy that sees me as a sister."

They face vaulted. "You kidding me!?" Tenten exclaimed picking herself up. "The way he looks at you is not how a guy looks at a sister!"

She didn't believe them as they moved onto a more embarrassing subject.

Tenten squealed in delight. "Imagine what their kids would look like? Tiny fox ears and tails!"

Sakura and Ino giggled loudly while Hinata was lost in her own little world full of kids with adorable fox ears and ribbon-bound tails. Even Fumiko was caught up in the thought sporting a blush equal to Sasuke's favourite food.

All forms of fantasising were brought to an abrupt end when Sakura yelled out "Done!" she held what looked like a bento above her head for a split second before she made a mad dash for the door. As she was hastily putting on her sandals she called back to them. "Gotta go girls! I need to get this lunch to Sasuke!" she told them then flew through the door, slamming it behind her.

"She was making…lunch?" the bushy-tailed girl asked. A distinct thread of fear laced her voice.

With a shudder they looked to the kitchen and saw what could only be described as a disaster area. Hinata pointed to something. "What's that sticking to the wall?"

"I think its rice…" Ino answered.

With great worry for Sasuke Tenten enquired what they were all wondering. "Is it meant to be florescent green?"

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Once their legendary achievement sunk in the boys set about harassing Naruto on how he would win Fumiko's heart. When no answers were forthcoming they tackled him to the ground only for him to go up in smoke.

"When did he…?" Sasuke asked no one in particular.

"About 20 seconds ago." Kyuubi piped up. "Now there is some rabbit meat calling my name." With that he stood, reduced his size and took off into the woods.

"Should we be worried?" Neji wondered aloud.

"Nah." The Uchiha answered. "Naruto's been letting him out to hunt for years."

"Speaking of…" Kiba started. "Anyone else up for a hunt?"

Everyone grinned and nodded before taking off in pursuit of their blonde friend.

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Sakura heard Sasuke before she saw him in an exhausted heap on the ground with the rest of the boys in their group, minus a blonde. She heard one of them mumble something about 'stupid clones' before she took a hold of Sasuke's collar and dragged him off to 'give' him lunch, no force-feeding or blackmail intended, at all, really…

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Naruto sat at his favourite ramen stand relaxed and happy. He had hidden himself completely under the genjutsu he used to cover his ears and tail while his clone had waited for his friends arrived seeking him out. Once they had tackled it and it dispelled, they realised they weren't going to find him there so mentally checked the location off their list and moved on. After they were out of site Naruto had retracted his jutsu to its normal coverage and finished the bowl the clone had started before ordering the next. Normally he wouldn't have done such a thing in public, but no one else was around at that moment so no harm done. Each time a clone dispelled the whiskered boy would chuckle at his friends' antics. When the final clone reported the end of the search due to exhaustion he paid for his meal and made his way to the Den in the vague hope Fumiko would be there and he could finally ask her out.

Not even two minutes later a rectangular rock started to follow him. He decided to play along for now, all the while pledging to get the boy and his teammates up to standard asap.

After catching a whiff of his scent during her desperate flee from her kidnappers Fumiko hid in the shadows and watched the scene. She shook her head and laughed softly, but it was loud enough for Naruto to hear and the smile that had come on his face when she arrived only grew at the sound.

Firmly telling her pulse to slow down at seeing his expression, she dropped into sight and landed softly beside him.

"Hey Fumi." Naruto grinned. It was now an automatic response whenever she was nearby. "What did the girls what?" he asked and was even more curious when she just blushed and turned her head away from him.

As she did she caught a glimpse of the box and gave her teammate a questioning glance carefully hidden from their observers. With eyes bright with mischief he merely winked in answer and started to continue down the path. Concealing her smile Fumiko followed. As soon as Naruto's back was to the box his hands were a blur of motion and before a second could pass Tora landed right in front of the box, screeching. It was soon echoed by screams, a small 'boom' and a cloud of smoke. As it cleared three coughing kids could be seen. When they regained their composure they looked about in confusion.

"Where did the cat go?" the boy in glasses asked obviously worried that it was readying another attack. Instead of an answer all they got was laughter. The children looked to the older pair and scowled.

"One word." Naruto chuckled reigning in his mirth. "Genjutsu."

Instantly the demeanour of the three changed. "Cool Boss! Will you teach us it?"

"Maybe later." The blonde smiled as he couldn't help but look to Fumiko and add, "I'm busy just now." The implication completely flew over the half demon's head, but the younger kids caught it easily.

"But Boss you said you'd play ninja with us! Can't your date wait until later?" Konohamaru was not letting Naruto out of playing ninja that easy. He saw the girl's blush and because he liked her decided to add, "Even if she is very cute."

Naruto saw the deep blush on Fumiko's face and decided this was too delicate a subject at the moment so it was up to him to defuse the situation. "Alright, listen up!" he commanded with a hint of mirth. "You want to play so bad then we'll play. Loser gets hung by their toes and has to listen to Iruka-sensei talk about the history of Konoha." He finished with a sadistic grin.

"Ok…" Moegi agreed hesitantly. "What's the game?"

The blonde's grin only widened. "Simple. Don't get caught."

The three were stumped for all of an instant before they sprang into movement and ran for the sake of their sanity. The two genin shared a smile and took off after the trio. However their heightened hearing soon picked up an "oomph!" and sharp intakes of breath. The pair sped around the corner and Naruto was faced with scene from his past. With a sigh he walked forward. "Put him down." He told the boy holding his friend by his collar with enough authority to rival any Kage. This itself shocked the sand nin into obeying and he lowered the boy down. He was just starting to recover as Konohamaru ran to join his friends behind Fumiko's legs when Naruto shocked him and his sister, if the gasp from behind him was any indicator, once again.

"Good now get the spying raccoon down here." His voice was still commanding but had the smallest trace of humour in it.

Before either of the siblings could do anything the third member of their team appeared from a swirl of sand in front of them. He looked over at the blonde with cold eyes. "Why did you call me such a name?" he asked.

Naruto thought it best to lower his voice so the younger kids couldn't here. "It's easy to scent out a raccoon when you're a fox." He hinted.

This made absolutely no sense to Gaara, but his 'mother' was panicking like hell.

Shit! There is no freaking way, but if it's true I AM SCREWED!

What is wrong mother?! Should I kill him? Will his blood make you better?

God no! Do NOT piss this guy off! Shukaku knew what the blonde was hinting at him being and just who his prisoner was. He knew if the boy had the advanced senses of the fox then they were on very good terms. Meaning, should they fight, the sand demon would have his ass handed to him. Apologise to him and get the hell out of here!

The redhead could find no argument so did as he was told, much to the amazement of his siblings, but not before he got the boy's name.

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